POLKA POPS: Cakes on sticks help Ribble Valley baker scoop top award

Polka Pops, a bakery based in Ribchester, won the Best Wedding Cake prize at the County Brides Awards ceremony at St George’s Hall in Liverpool.

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The awards are in their fifth year and cover everything from venues and transport to entertainment and floristry – and the judges were wowed by the company’s inventive designs.

Amy Gilmore, 34, of Church Street, picked up the title for what she calls her “cute moist balls of yumminess on a stick”.

She works from home in her farmhouse-style kitchen using eggs laid every day by her grandfather Derek’s chickens, tailoring the designs for weddings, christenings, birthdays and special gifts.

She cut her teeth working for eight years in the supermarket bakery at Blackburn Asda before deciding to go it alone in 2012, when she was on maternity leave with her youngest boy Toby, who is now three.

Amy said: “I first saw them in the States a few years ago but they were round ones with just bits of drizzle on.

“My eldest lad Morgan, who is 12, is a keen swimmer so I did him some with goggles on and a swimming cap, while Sam, who’s seven, likes superheroes. Toby likes animals and my husband Dave will eat anything.

“The most unusual ones I’ve done were racing cars where I used Smarties for the wheels. The sheep are also popular because they look like Shaun the Sheep and Minions are very popular at the moment .”

Last year Amy won the Best Wedding Accessory Award and two weeks ago was runner up in the Great Northern Wedding Awards in the wedding cake category at a ceremony held at Beeston Manor, Hoghton, in the Ribble Valley.

She now organises cake pop parties for children and will showcase her wares at Southport Flower Show this August.

The designs are already on sale in three Selfridge stores and Amy is also looking at new collaborations.

She said: “I am hoping they are going to be stocked at Chester Zoo this summer and I am starting on some strawberries for Wimbledon.”