Local giant cupcake makes top three in UK

Louise Cardwell, who runs Made for You by Lou, covered an enormous cupcake in intricate blue forget-me-not flowers, the symbol of Alzheimer’s Society.

The cake was commissioned to raise awareness of Cupcake Day in Northern Ireland, and used in photos at Titanic Belfast, a dementia-friendly visitor attraction, before being sliced up and sold off to raise funds.

Louise, who also works in Belfast as PA to the operations director of Alzheimer’s Society in Northern Ireland, was one of more than 25,000 bakers nationwide, including Paul Holywood, and one of nearly 450 bakers in Northern Ireland to sign up for Cupcake Day.

She only started baking 12 years ago when her husband bought her a cake mixer, which included a few recipes. Already a ‘crafty’ person, she used to make cards before turning her attention to cakes, baking a christening cake for a neighbour unmasked a whole new talent, and in 2010 she turned Made for You by Lou into a bespoke cake company.

Louise’s gran had Alzheimer’s Disease, so she has first-hand experience of the help that Alzheimer’s Society can give to individuals and their families, and this added a personal aspect to her involvement in Cupcake Day.

“I often take cakes into work, and was really delighted to be asked to create a giant cupcake. I had the idea of using the forget-me-not, the flower of the Alzheimer’s Society, but then found I had to hand craft and paint more than 100 of them to cover the cake, which took four hours of painstaking work!

“It was worth it as I was over the moon when my cake was named in the top three in the whole of the UK – the competition was stiff with some really amazing creations from around the country, so it was a real honour,” Louise said.

More than 25,000 bakers up and down the UK, including hundreds in Northern Ireland, have been hard at work to celebrate Cupcake Day.

Every cupcake sold will help Alzheimer’s Society find a cure for dementia, fund vital services and campaign for the rights of people with dementia.

£60 would pay for a dementia research-focused blood test, £20 would pay for someone to attend an Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Café for a month.