A BAKER in Cwmbran, who turned his hobby into his profession only a year ago, has scooped two awards at the world’s biggest cake show.

Cake International – The Sugarcraft, Cake Decorating and Baking Show was held at the ExCeL in London on April 10-12 and attracted more than 18,000 people.

Among the 500 people who entered the cake competitions was Paul Williams, 47, who opened Happy Occasion Cakes on Llantarnam Road, a year ago.

It was the first time he had entered the competition but picked up gold in the sculpted novelty cake section and silver in the decorative exhibit section.

He said: “I never expected to win, especially as it was my first time, so it was a great surprise to find out I had not only won two awards but that one was gold.”

For the competition he made a castle with a dragon on it, which scooped the silver, and one of a dragon laying down that won the gold.

He said: “I have always liked dragons since being a kid and for some reason I always come back to them.”

Mr Williams has been creating cakes for over 25 years as a hobby after he undertook a three-year college course in the 1980s.

He said: “I would bake cakes for friends and family to mark special occasions and everyone always said I should do it as a career.”

Then last year, he decided to quit his job as a manufacturer in a factory that made office equipment, and transformed part of his house into a studio and cake showroom.

Mr Williams explained: “We moved to the property and it had quite a lot of space so I just thought why not.

“I have no regrets and I still really enjoy baking.”

Currently working on his own, but hoping to expand in the future, he believes that anything can be created and often likes to be challenged with his novelty cakes.

He said: “Many customers come to us and ask if we can do this, or if we can do that for them, and the answer is always invariably yes.”

At the competition cake-decorating expert, Mich Turner MBE, opened the show and offered tips to bakers, while chef Paul Da Costa Greaves demonstrated a range of easy to bake recipes for visitors.

For more details visit happyoccasionscakes.co.uk