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Inese Krūmiņa and cake “Upene šokolādē/Black currant in chocolate” become the winners of the Latvian Cake Parade 2026 competition

Latvian Cake Parade 2026, everyone’s favourite competition of the Riga Food 2026 trade fair in Ķīpsala, took place on the Gemoss Stage on 12 September. 20 pastry chefs from all over Latvia took part in the competition, bringing cakes to attempt to outdo each other in terms of tastiest, prettiest and most unusual creation.

This year’s competition followed new, professional-level format, with greater focus on excellence and diversity of Latvian pastry cooking.

Competition fused traditional flavours and beloved stories with modern interpretations, multiple techniques and bold ideas. Judges were asked to evaluate the taste, visual and aesthetic qualities, concept and traditional elements, technical delivery, presentation and story behind the cake.

This year’s competition also had a special twist. As Gemoss marked 30 years since it created the “Zelta Rieksts/Golden nuts” brand, contestants were asked to use at least one product from Golden Nuts line in their cake. They were tasked with integrating it into their recipe while also creating at least three different textures and showing off their best pastry cooking skills.

This year’s competition and main prize, the whisker, was won by Inese Krūmiņa and cake “Upene šokolādē/Black currant in chocolate”.

For the second year in a row, Ieva Fišere came second – this time with her this year’s cake “Diplomāts Jānis/Diplomat John”. By thew way, two years ago Ieva’s chocolate cake won bronze.

This year, however, bronze went to Lauma Posipaiko and her cake “MMM”.

Riga Food 2026 people’s choice award was presented to well-deserving Lalita Podkaļuka with her cake ’’Uzplaukt kā ziedam’/Blossom like a flower’.

All three winners will receive GEMOSS gift cards: 1st place – €500, 2nd place – €300, 3rd place – €200. There were special gifts for cake makers for all contestants.

Tasty cakes presented at the Ķīpsala Expo Centre were evaluated by a jury consisting of five industry professionals:

Gemoss Managing Director and Competition Patron Ieva Treija,
Diāna Goba, pastry chef and founder of “Garden Cakes” brand,
Kristaps Sīlis, chef of the one-star Michelin restaurant JOHN Chef’s Hall,
Gunta Duka, Executive Manager of Latvian Bakers’ Association,
Linda Bekmane, pastry chef and Technology Manager, Puratos Latvia.

Latvian Cake Parade is part of the Gemoss initiative celebrating Latvian pastry chefs and cake masters by creating a single platform for highlighting Latvian pastry cooking traditions, their modern recreations and professional growth in the industry.

The theme for the Latvian Cake Parade 2027 will be Cake of the future, inviting pastry chefs to look behind the curtain and generate their vision of what Latvian cakes might look in future in terms of taste, ingredients, technique and presentation.

Cake competition of Riga Food is organised by Gemoss.

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