And so we're here again! 2026 Great Taste Awards have now been released and I'm so proud to announce that for the 4th consecutive year, four of my cakes have received those sought after stars.
- 2 stars - Black sesame, calamansi lime and jasmine tea - described by judges as 'magnificently constructed' with 'excellent, unusual flavours'
- 2 stars - Lemon, elderflower and blackcurrant described by judges as 'technically stunning' and 'absolutely delivers on the flavour it promises'
- 1 star - Chocolate, orange and rosemary described by judges as 'instragrammable and innovative"
- 1 star - Chocolate, tahini and salted caramel (re-entered due to recipe changes after 2023) described by judges as "show-stopping"
Winning awards 4 years in a row is huge for a small business, I now proudly have 12 awards to my name :O To put this all into context, over 15000 products were judged this year, from chocolate to bread to cheese to ketchup and honey by over 800 expert judges across 105 days who meticulously evaluate every product. They will award 1, 2 or 3 stars (or none!) and the higher the rating the more people judge and taste your product, to ensure a fair approach. 4,286 products were awarded a Great Taste 1-star – ‘simply delicious’, 1,596 were awarded a Great Taste 2-star – ‘outstanding’, and 306 were awarded a Great Taste 3-star – ‘exquisite’.
Recognised as a stamp of excellence and actively sought out by food lovers and retailers alike, Great Taste Awards, organised by the Guild of Fine Food, values taste above all else. Great Taste is the world's largest, longest standing and most trusted and respected food and drink accreditation scheme for artisan and specialty food producers. Great Taste stars are highly respected seals of approval.
If you're reading this, you're probably already a customer, which means you're in the right place. The most important thing about the Great Taste awards is that it’s a verification that food is about flavour and taste, and not necessarily appearance. Great Taste awards are blind tasted and not measured on looks and it is this criteria alone that is important to me. In the public eye and in many other industry awards, cakes are mostly judged first on how they look, and how they taste second. My business exists to flip this way of thinking on its head and Great Taste awards does just that.
Whilst the awards have had a measurable halo effect on business growth, it is the personal impact that for me is immeasurable. Some of you know that the business was born in a period of challenging mental health and a difficult redundancy in the midst of an industry in crisis as a result of Covid19. I had little self confidence as a result and was in a mentally poor position when I started the business. I often didn’t fully believe in the potential the business had or that people loved my products. The awards I’ve achieved in the last 4 years are a personal symbol of determination, energy and hard work in an economic climate that is so difficult for small businesses.
Some of you might be new here, and wondering about how this business became what it is today. In mid 2022, after being in the cake market for nearly 2 years, I spent a lot of time focussing on my menu recipes and flavours. The business was already becoming well known in London & Surrey but I was keen to focus on unique and unusual flavours and completely revamped my menu. An industry friend suggested I enter the awards but I'd already missed the 2022 deadline. I entered into the 2023 awards and came away with two 1 star awards. This gave me the confidence that I was headed in the right direction. After an extremely successful 2024 awards (a golden fork nomination for England aka the Oscars of the food world, a 3 star, two 2 stars and a 1 start, I felt like all my hard work was paying off - this was everything I had worked for over the last 4 years. I began to attract a lot of customers actively seeking out something different the market. I entered 2025's awards with less ambition due to a stressful and intensive bilateral wrist operation and recovering but still achieved a 3 star and 1 star for two products. These awards sets my business apart from the crowd and provides an unrivalled level of credibility and meaning to a small, sole trader run company which are the highlight of my two decades of working the food industry.
Thank you to the team of expert judges who meticulously evaluated and judged over 15000 products and to The Guild of Fine Food for executing an incredible awards programme that enables tiny businesses like mine to be judged alongside products from all over the world from companies often a million times bigger in size. I'm so very grateful that the industry's most respected chefs, critics, writers and buyers put me in this sought after category alongside so many other incredible products.
I couldn't run the business without the support of incredible suppliers without whom creating these products would be impossible, venues and other industry suppliers and connections who support my business (and who I can laugh or cry with, or just have a rant) and my highly efficient VA Maddie, who supports the administrative needs of my business seamlessly. Thank you to everyone who supports my business and to you, reader, because you love cake.
To browse 2026's winning products visit the Guild of Fine Food website.
Click here to view my full menu.
Media and trade enquiries: For interviews, photos, trade enquiries or further information, please contact Adele Hing: hello@madebyadele.com