Derbyshire company’s very own star baker helps mark its 75th birthday with 75-cake charity showstopper
A highly skilled baker from a Derbyshire company has helped celebrate its 75th birthday in a historic stately home by baking 75 cupcakes which were raffled off for charity.
Danielle Malik, who earlier this year reached the top 50 in a TV baking contest to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee, put her skills to good use when she baked 75 cupcakes to mark her employer Lubrizol’s 75th anniversary at its UK headquarters in Knowle House, Hazelwood.
Danielle spent 15 hours in the kitchen baking 25 vanilla, 25 lemon and 25 white chocolate cupcakes, which she decorated in a colour scheme specially designed to celebrate Lubrizol’s big birthday at Knowle House.
To top off her creation, she baked one large cake decorated with the Hazelwood 75th birthday logo, edible diamonds and fireworks. In all over 10kg of ingredients were used, including 5kg of cake mix and 5kg of buttercream!
In a week of celebrations, the company held a raffle giving employees the chance to win Danielle’s eye-catching creations, which together with a coffee morning raised £867 for Macmillan Cancer Support.
One of the winners, Kirsty Griffiths, said: “The cakes were delicious and looked amazing. I could have eaten all 25 but they were very warmly received by the other members of the finance team and my family at home!”
Danielle, a project manager at Lubrizol, said: “I love baking and I’m always willing to help out making money for charity with my baking.”
Earlier this year, she impressed judges from Fortnum & Mason in London with her stunning seven-layer purple and gold mousse cake, whose colour scheme was a reference to the crown worn by Queen Elizabeth II at her coronation. They deemed her cake worthy of being named in the top 50 entries sent in.
Lubrizol has been based at Knowle House in Hazelwood since 1947. The stately home was built in 1848 and was at one time one of the grandest country homes in the UK, with gardens designed by former Chatsworth gardener Joseph Mooney.
Today, it is home to more than 350 employees who work in research and development for Lubrizol.
To celebrate 75 years at Knowle, Lubrizol staff enjoyed a week of celebrations including lunch themed around each decade, with favourites from across the years including Steak Diane, pineapple upside down cake and even the delights of spam fritters from the 1960s!
Company staff have also been collecting 75 boxes of food and hygiene items which will be donated to the Padley Centre in Derby.