Rose Berryman is passionate about two things in her life: baking and the Collingwood Football Club. At the moment only one of those is really working out well for her.
She walked away from the third round of judging in the state’s premium boiled fruit cake competition with a third place, so you can probably work out that it’s the Magpies that are not holding up their end of the bargain.
There is one quirky fact which the devoted Collingwood fan wasn’t letting out of the bag too early in our conversation, being that she doesn’t even like fruit cake.
“That’s right, I don’t even eat fruit cake,” she said.
“I love baking them and I love the muffins, but I don’t think I could ever eat it.”
Rose said she understood completely what people were looking for in a fruit cake, and she does not have to eat it to know a good fruit cake — a fact made obvious by her position on the podium of the state’s best junior fruit cake makers.
Rose, and her mother Marg, shared their story with The Riv last week after judging had been completed at Bendigo in the Victorian Agricultural Show fruit cake competition.
Restrictions meant competition was a little unusual, in there was no major showing of the fruit cakes and muffins (also part of the judging) for the public.
“We (competitors) took the cakes to Bendigo, left them in the room with the judges and they let us know the result,” Rose said.
She had earlier won gongs at Echuca and Swan Hill, which was the regional level, in order to qualify with seven other juniors from across the state.
The 19-year-old has competed in the event for the last three years, making the state level on every occasion.
“I received a highly commended the first year, then in the second year was the carrot and date muffin state champion,” she said.
Rose, who only a week or so ago started her baking apprenticeship at Sutton’s Bakery, said she entered the competitions for fun.
“It’s an honour just to get to the state level,” she said.
Rose and Marg were in attendance for the judging, Marg herself a well-credentialed baker.
“Rose has been cooking fruit cake all her life. She has been entering biscuits, cakes and muffins at Echuca since she was five,” the proud mother said.
What started with decorated Marie and Anzac biscuits has now evolved to the highly competitive fruit cake arena.
Judges are looking for an even distribution of fruit and that all the set ingredients are present.
Then, of course, it comes down to the tasting.
“They cut a bit out of the middle and taste it,” Rose said.
For now, however, it is pastries, sausage rolls and pies that are keeping Rose busy, spending most of her time at the moment with her team of three on day shift at Sutton’s Bakery.
The Echuca 208 school student and St Joseph’s graduate paid homage to three of her teachers from secondary school who set her on the path to success.
Judy Thomson and Matthew Scott, along with Jenny Sudholz, all earned recognition from the award-winning baker.
“They all helped me to get to where I am today.”
As for Marg, well she has never even got to state level.
“I cook the sweets, Mum cooks the savouries,” Rose said.
Such is Rose’s passion for the Collingwood Football Club, particularly the Brown siblings, Callum, Tyler and Tarni, all three of whom play with the Magpies.
“For a long time there I wanted to start a food truck called Rosie B’s Brownies and drive it around selling food at Victoria Park, the Westpac Centre and MCG,” she said
Rosie’s prize-winning cake was the third she had cooked for the competition, but next year she will be competing directly against her mother in the senior class.
Marg said while she had won at the Echuca show before, she had never reached the regionals.
Rose will be a steward in the Echuca show event. It will be a VAS competition in a home-based format, as per the Bendigo judging, early next year.