By JESSE GRAHAM
A FORMER Healesville resident with over four decades of accolades under her belt has out-baked the competition for another year at the Royal Melbourne Show.
Angela Fleay was last week awarded with the McRobert Family Memorial Award, an honour given to the most successful cooking exhibitor at the show.
The award is her ninth thus far, and complements blue ribbons earned in each of the 43 years she has entered baked goods for judging at the annual event.
This year, Ms Fleay said she entered items ranging from scones and biscuit to sponge-cakes and breads.
But she said entering the show wasn’t about the prizes or the ribbons, but simply about taking part, meeting new people and displaying family recipes old and new.
“I just love baking as a general rule, and I love the enjoyment people get out of it when they eat the food,” she said.
“It’s a pretty good feeling, and it’s not about winning – I love the show, I love the tradition of it.”
Ms Fleay said the show had been a family affair, with her son, Matthew, and daughter, Bridget, both taking home prizes this year.
She said her award-winning sponge recipe was adapted from her grandmother’s original recipe 20 years ago, and that she had been entering the Melbourne Show’s cooking competitions for the last 43 years.
A former racehorse trainer, Ms Fleay now drives trucks full-time, and said her recipes were proof that people could make cakes, even when they’re short on time.
“The recipes I want to write are for busy people – it’s not hard to make cakes, it’s quick and easy, and much better than buying the ones at the supermarket,” she said.
