Toowoomba Royal Show’s cake decorating sections to be judged by international pastry chef Serdar Yener in 2025

One of the world’s most talented pastry artists and cake decorators is bringing his skills and knowledge to the 160th edition of the Toowoomba Show as part of a beefed-up competition.

There is not an object on Earth that Serdar Yener cannot turn into a cake — and now he’s going to bring his expertise to Toowoomba to examine our region’s finest decorators.

The man twice named the world’s best pastry chef who boasts 25,000 followers on Instagram will judge a number of contemporary baking categories at the 160th Toowoomba Royal Show next year, which is building to be one of the section’s largest fields in years.

International award-winning pastry chef Serdar Yener will judge cake decorating at the 160th Toowoomba Royal Show in 2025.

The celebrity chef’s inclusion is part of a major revamp of the baking and cake decorating at the show, with even more prize money on offer and new categories introduced.

Mr Yener, who started his career in Turkey more than 50 years ago, won two world titles in 1987 and 1990 and now judges international competitions for cake decorating.

He said the winning pastry artists would be those who could marry sound techniques with creative flair to wow him.

“I’m looking for an idea, the quality of work and the degree of difficulty,” Mr Yener said.

Examples of Serdar Yener's cake decorating skills.

“Then there is the wow factor, which is talking about artistry — we see it and we never forget, when you enter the room, that cake has to catch your eye.

“Another thing is the degree of difficulty and that looks at the different skills you use, like the use of structure, and (evident) patience of the entrants.

“If you have a good idea and you execute the idea with quality and you have clearly spent a lot of time with it, it will (score highly).”

Mr Yener said he was hoping for more than 30 entrants — an extraordinarily high number — but organisers believe the entire section can crack 50 entries.

Holding the new Suzie Holt Perpetual Trophy is (from left) donor Suzie Holt, chief cookery steward May Gossow and RASQ chief executive Damon Phillips.

Chief steward May Gossow said this had been driven by strong sponsorship for each section, notably from community organiser and political hopeful Suzie Holt who is donating a perpetual trophy in her name.

“Since back in June, we have talked about building on the contemporary cake section and having the wonderful sponsors like Grazier’s Daughter, Lily’s Artisan, and Craig’s Pool Maintenance come on board has been really great,” she said.

“We’ve got excellent prize money for next year and now we’ve got the international judge in Serdar coming, so it’s going to fantastic.

“We’ve received the beautiful perpetual trophy from Suzie Holt for next year, and it’s going to be presented to the winner of the best in show in cake decorating.”

New sections include Out of The Box and Prime Time categories, which are designed to encourage more casual entrants to give the show a go.

Toowoomba cake decorating legend Mary Reid said cake decorating had long been a highlight of the show, and believed it would expand its reach in 2025.

“Following a record attendance of over 37,000 visitors in 2024, the 160th show is poised to surpass previous years in both visitor numbers and competition entries,” she said.

“This surge in participation underscores the importance of recruiting additional volunteers, including a new stewards training program, to spearhead the event’s success.”