They were flown to Johannesburg to compete in the live bake-off held at Sandton City on Saturday, July 5. The competition is now in its second year.
Scholz so impressed the judges with her recipe, Sylvia's Temptation, that she claimed top honours and her creation now has the title of SA's Best-Tasting Chocolate Cake 2014.
"Quality dark chocolate is a must!" reveals Scholz, who says her recipe is an eclectic coming together of different recipes which she adjusted to her taste.
"Most recipes are too sweet for me, but they don't use enough chocolate, so I wanted to create the ultimate chocolate cake that is really chocolaty, creamy and indulgent, yet not too sweet. My credo for a good chocolate cake: Don't count the calories and only use quality dark chocolate. And you must always try new recipes even though you think that you have found the perfect recipe."
For Scholz the highlight of her VIP visit to Johannesburg, apart from winning that is, was the four-course dinner at Sandton Hotel which was hosted by Sunday Times food editor, Hilary Biller, whose brainchild the competition is.
"We talked about the stories behind our cake recipes and it was so interesting because each story was different.
It was also great to meet the other participants too, who were just as interested in baking as I am. None of us was over-ambitious, only focused on winning the competition. We all enjoyed the whole experience. We were nine ladies and one brave guy!"
Murphy, whose baking business is called Cake Troll, says she too had a blast and wrote the organisers a letter to thank them for an unforgettable experience. Scholz was happy to receive some tips from Murphy about how to market one's own baked goodies.
The panel of judges included highly respected chefs and expert bakers including Siba Mtongana of the Food Network and Abigail Donnelly, editor of Eat Out magazine and food editor of Woolworths' TASTE magazine. Highveld FM radio personality, Sam Cowen was the MC and host at the event.
Scholz's winning recipe will be featured in this week's edition of the Sunday Times Food Weekly on Sunday, July 13.
PHOTO GALLERY
READ THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH SYLVIA
Sunday Times Weekly Food editor Hillary Biller (left), whose brainchild the chocolate cake competition is, has a chat with some of the contestants, including locals Sylvia Scholz (second from left) and Brenda Murphy (next to her). Photo's: Louise McAuliffe/Sunday Times.
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