Baker's incredible 12kg dog creation goes down a treat at Wrexham dementia home

When Ann Chapman was asked to make a cake in the shape of a pedigree dog she took to the task without a single paws for thought.

The care home manager, who is barking mad for baking conjured up her creation of Daisy the snowy white Samoyed – which is an impressive 18 inches tall.

Ann, who runs Pendine Park’s Bodlondeb Dementia Centre in Wrexham was asked to muster up a masterpiece by owners, Mario and Gill Kreft.

Five-year-old Daisy and her sister, Rosie, three, are regular visitors to the organisation’s eight care homes where they are firm favourites with the residents.

Ann, who has spent her entire working life in the care sector and is a registered mental nurse, took up baking soon after starting at Bodlondeb to create a talking point for residents as part of the home’s activities and enrichment programme.

“I took up baking relatively recently to give me an interest away from what can sometimes be a quite stressful job and also to do something a bit special for my workmates and our residents at the home,” she said.

“Discussing daily concerns while you’re eating something tasty together is just a nice way of doing things.

“I also love to share my baking with the residents and they seem to like it too. Just because someone suffers from dementia doesn’t mean they can no longer have the nice things in life like eating cake.”

Since she started her popular sampling exercises, Ann has had numerous commissions to bake cakes of every type and a couple of years ago ventured into sculptured versions.

The 61-year-old said: “I’ve done all sorts of different shapes like handbags and shoes, football boots and teacups. Lots of people ask me to make them specially, including fellow staff members, residents and relatives.

“At the moment I’m working on a Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs one for the birthday of a colleague’s young granddaughter.”

But Ann admits that the cake she’s just finished is the largest and most complex she’s ever attempted.

“Mario and Gill Kreft, who own the Pendine Park care organisation, are passionate about their two all-white Samoyed dogs and they asked me if I could produce a cake shaped like one of them, five-year-old Daisy,” she added.

“I knew it was going to be a tough one but I accepted the challenge. I was working on it for over a week and it really tested me.

“The cake is made from four separate pieces of lovely rich chocolate cake and then covered with more chocolate to give it extra strength.

“I used 6kgs of icing sugar for the final covering – and that’s an awful lot icing.

“Samoyeds like Daisy are famous for their gorgeous feathery white fur and getting the right effect was also quite difficult. Before the icing dried out I had to sort of tease it into the right consistency using a very sharp knife and my catering scissors. I just hope it’s worked.”

According to Mario Kreft, the Daisy cake, which weighs in at around 12kgs on its base complete with two edible chocolate bones, is just what he and Gill were looking for.

He said: “Making and most importantly eating these wonderful creations is all part of our programme to enrich the lives of our residents and also our staff and I wanted something which took the whole process a step further by creating a confectionery version of one of our beloved Samoyeds.

“The cake is so incredible that it’s almost too good to cut but I’m sure that’s what will happen in the end as everyone can’t wait to taste it.”

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