Over 30 years ago Lockhart resident Jean Urquhart competed in the final of the State Rich Fruit Cake Competition held at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show and now this year her great granddaughter Grace Cox is following in her great grandmother’s footsteps.

Grace has qualified to compete at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show as a result of her fruit cake winning the Group 8 final held recently at Ungarie. She had previously won the State Rich Fruit Cake section of last year’s Lockhart Show Lite, which made her eligible to compete in the Zone 7 (Group 8 and 9) competition.

Long-term show cookery judge Joy Schultz of The Rock, who saw Grace’s fruit cake prior to it being sent to Ungarie for the zone judging, commented, “When I looked at Grace’s cake, I thought it would be hard to beat.”

Participants in the State Rich fruit Cake competition must follow a set recipe to bake a cake that is full of fruit and full of flavour. The fruit is finely chopped, then soaked in sherry or brandy. Following this butter, eggs, sugar, flour, essences and spices are added and the cake is baked in a slow oven for up to four hours.

It is a time-consuming process to cut up the fruit in preparation for soaking, but the result is a cake that is both pleasing to the eye and pleasing to taste!

The art of cooking a good fruit cake was handed down by Jean to her granddaughter (Grace’s mother) Juanita Cox (nee Morgan). Juanita spent many hours in her grandmother’s kitchen as a teenager and young adult learning the skills of fruit cake preparation.

“Each time we cooked a cake, we learnt from the experience. Nana and I kept notes on the techniques we used, oven temperatures for cooking, and things to try in the future, as we attempted to perfect the fruit cake cooking technique,” Juanita said.

Jean also taught Juanita’s sisters Lucinda and Laurelle Morgan to cook for the State Rich Fruit Cake competition, so refining the technique has certainly been a family affair.

Several years ago Juanita handed the fruit cake cooking ‘baton’ to Grace, with Grace’s first win at the local level occurring at the Lockhart Show when she was nine years of age.

After a number of years competing in the local and zone competitions, Grace is delighted to have now made it to Sydney.

At 15 years of age, she is one of the younger competitors in the State Rich Fruit Cake competition. However, it is clear that her achievement is the culmination of much practice in perfecting the fruit cake cooking technique, as refined by her great grandmother, her mother and aunts and now Grace herself.

This article appeared in the Narrandera Argus, 7 April 2022.