Rising stars

Taking time to mentor his young staff members has paid dividends for one of Toowoomba’s most successful bakers, writes Megan Masters

Everyonekneads Abakingmentor

Antony Blackey is one of Toowoomba’s most lauded bakers after 10 years of entering the Heritage Bank Toowoomba Royal Bread Show. But this year he set aside his thirst for victory to make some room for the next generation.

The former King of the Bakers recipient is the proud owner of Antony’s Bakery and has a strong relationship with a number of Toowoomba high schools, which not only gives him a reasonable pool of potential workers but also allows him to give back to an industry that has been his main source of passion and success.

This year he spent much of the time he would normally devote to perfecting his own entries to mentoring his young charges through the competition, among the most prestigious bread shows in the country.

The hard work paid off, with apprentices Sarah Lindenmayer, Chris McCarty and Holly Tickner taking the top three places in the cake section, and Chris taking out the Apprentice of the Year award, pipping Sarah at the post by a single point.

Overall, the bakery won four major awards and 16 category awards and Mr Blackey said putting the haul on display might require a clean out of the already full trophy cabinet.

Mr Blackey himself got his start in baking as a starry-eyed 17-year-old and knows the importance of having good mentors and a supportive environment in which to learn –things he is determined to see his own young charges benefit from.

“It’s a lot of work [entering the competition] and proves you as a baker and pastry chef, and it’s a great way to encourage the young apprentices to make a better product,” he said.

“This year I went in mainly to put the three apprentices against each other and against the other apprentices that enter, even though it did affect my own entries.”

He said it was all worth it, however, in a climate where finding quality apprentices is one of the biggest challenges facing the industry.

With supermarkets now doing much of their baking off-site or with minimal on-site work, Mr Blackey said it was almost entirely up to independent bakeries to train up the next generation of skilled bakers and pastry chefs.

His other big reason for going the extra mile on entries is the huge respect he has for the bread show and its primary organiser, RASQ chief executive Damon Phillips.

“The bread show has been around for, I think, 54 years, and if we don’t support it, it won’t be there any more,” he said.

“Everyone says they’re really busy, but I’m in the same boat and I just think it’s important to show our support.”

Majorawards

RASQKingoftheBakers: Uncle Bob’s Bakery

MostSuccessfulCake: Antony’s Bakery

MostSuccessfulBread: Uncle Bob’s Bakery

1stand2ndYearApprentice: Chris McCarty/Antony’s Bakery

3rdand4thYearApprentice: Christine Walker/Uncle Bob’s Bakery

BestSpecialityBread: Mr Sourdough

ChampionLoaf: Uncle Bob’s Bakery

CommercialBread: Bakery Cakery

ToowoombaCup: Uncle Bob’s Bakery

FeatureProduct: Uncle Bob’s Bakery

Regionalawards

RegionalShield: Antony’s Bakery

RegionalBread: Theo’s Bakery

RegionalCake: Antony’s Bakery

Nosleepleadsto Showstoppers

It’s no small feat for any bakery business to hold the fort while trying to prepare entries for the Heritage Bank Toowoomba Royal Bread Show, but it was certainly a wild ride for Trent and Elizabeth Challenger of St George Bakery this year.

The team managed seven trophies, but between the bread show and the Dirranbandi Show they were awake for 48 hours straight, had served countless meals, mopped up a cake disaster, avoided a bushfire and travelled bumpy highways for hundreds of kilometres.

Mr Challenger said simply getting the entries in for the show has turned into something of a running joke after having to take the long way last year due to floods, and this year because of fires.

“Next year it’s going to be famine or plagues,” he joked.

“Seven trophies is nothing to cry about, but I did have a cry when I arrived.

“I usually go via the Moonie Highway but there were fires at Cecil Plains, so I had to take a much longer, bumpier Gore Highway.

“I was stopping constantly to check the cake in the trailer and it was fine the whole way, but when I arrived at Toowoomba I discovered the top layer had come off.”

Not one to be deterred, Mr Challenger said he has “the trophy bug” now and loves the challenge of entering one of the country’s premier baking competitions as a way of honing his craft and enjoying a challenge.

He said the vast majority of their show entries were things they sold in the bakery, a mainstay in their small town. Mrs Challenger and the other bakery employees make a formidable judging panel to get the right products to enter in the show.

While it’s always a challenge getting the

Thedetails

Venue: Jimbour Station

Dress: Wedding World Toowoomba

Hair: Pure Styling

Make-up: Pure Styling

Flowers: Western Downs Weddings

Entertainment: DJ 3MC – Mitch Harris

Photographer: Megan Henry

Photography

Videographer: Gerkies

Celebrant: Lee Dallman

Caterer: Pips ‘n’ Cherries

Cake: Buttercream & Pearls

Pictures: