Team Spirit Winners from the Great Birmingham Bake Off 2023

The best way to enjoy The Great Birmingham Bake Off is by joining the competition!

Pull together your team of 1-4 bakers—friends, coworkers, neighbors, whomever you’d like—and sign up. Plan your recipe using the WE Made baking mixes as your canvas. Have a great time while giving back to the community!

Each team costs $125, regardless of the number of bakers.

Rules of the competition can be found below. If you agree to the rules and want to participate, sign your team up by clicking here.

Once signed up, we will be in communication with you to pick up your welcome kit, which will include one of each WE Made baking mix—no later than March 25th. After experimentation and research, your team will choose which baking mix you would like to bake with. We will be in communication with you regarding your final decision. We will then prepare your official baking box to use for the competition.

Your team will have that you can send out on social media leading up to the event to help raise money on your team’s behalf for Workshops Empowerment Inc.

More about Workshops Empowerment Inc.       

For more than 120 years, Workshops Empowerment Inc. has provided employment opportunities to people with disabilities. Today, WE Inc. continues that legacy and provides much more. Through training and workforce development, we’re helping individuals be their best selves. Through handwork and fulfillment, we’re providing businesses with outsourcing solutions vital to their success while also providing jobs to people with employment barriers. And through the creation of retail goods through the WE Made program, we’re training job seekers in a variety of essential skills while offering our communities quality products and producing revenue to support our ongoing efforts.

The Great Birmingham Bake Off is an annual fundraiser that supports WE Inc.’s mission of providing jobs and job training to people with disabilities and other barriers to employment. By utilizing the WE Made mixes, made at Workshops through our workforce development training program, the Great Birmingham Bake Off is a great way to celebrate where we’ve been over the past 120+ years, and where we have the potential to grow!

Rules for the Great Birmingham Bake Off

1. Teams are comprised of 1-4 members and must enter by March 25th. The entry fee is $125. Teams can register here.
2. Submissions must be home-cooked (not store-bought).
3. Teams must use one of the baking mixes made by WE Made as the base ingredient. This includes Buttermilk Cornbread Mix, Buttermilk Biscuit Mix, Hummingbird Cake Mix or Pound Cake Mix. WE Inc. will provide the mixes to each team.
4. All baked goods must be fully baked and complete. Contestants must prepare samples for judges and bite-sized samples for guests.
5. Portion cups will be provided for samples for ticketholders.
6. Plates will be provided for samples for judges. The judge sample should be a full-sized version of the treat, rather than a sample-sized version.
7. Baking Teams are encouraged to use creativity in both their baked creations and in decorating their tables for the event. Each Baking Team will be supplied with a 6-foot table with a tablecloth.
8. Any leftover items will be the property of the contestants.
9. Do not submit anything that must be refrigerated.
10. Contestants must submit the recipe used, including all ingredients. Ingredients will only be shared with judges and teams can opt into sharing their recipes on the WE Made website.
11. Any allergens will be identified by posting them prominently on the team's table.

Contest Day Information

Check-in begins at 12:30 p.m. at the check-in table on the porch of Cahaba Brewing Co. Check-in closes at 1 p.m. Set-up must be completed by 1:30 p.m.

1. At least one representative from each Baking Team must be present to give a brief description of the item and answer any questions for ticketholders throughout the event. Judging will begin at 3:00 p.m.

2. WE Inc. will announce the winner at 3:30 p.m.

3. Your table must be staffed with at least 1 member from 1:30-4 p.m.

4. Teams must clean off their table, leaving only the tablecloth.

Awards

The Grand Champion Team will receive the Golden Rolling Pin trophy. 

The People's Choice Team will receive the Golden Spoon trophy. 

The Team Spirit Team will receive a Golden Spatula trophy. 

Prizes will be awarded at the event. A team member must be present to win.

The Scoring System

1. Submissions will be judged on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest.

2. Contestants will be judged on taste, creativity, and originality, and the appearance of the complete product displayed on your table.

3. The Contest Committee will tally the scores. The team with the highest score in each area will be the winning team in that category.

Proceeds will benefit Workshops Empowerment Inc. and its mission to enrich lives by helping people with disabilities and other barriers to employment achieve their vocational potential.

Thanks for supporting Workshops Empowerment Inc.!