‘Milborne St Applecake!’
 

In August 2023 , in our village magazine, the Reporter, I wrote an article for Yorkshire Day, August 1st, in praise of Denby Dale Pie. Denby Dale is a West Yorkshire village with a population about 2,700 people (MSA is just over 1,000) where for several years Ed and I used to stay on holiday at a small campsite in our caravan. The main attraction of the campsite was that it was very quiet, with no traffic noise but was also within a couple of hundred yards from a village pub which sold the most delicious ‘Denby Dale Pies’.
 

The owners of the pub told us about how, in 2012, to help celebrate the Olympic Games being held in our country, Denby Dale decided to produce another one of its famous giant pies. An appeal went out for villagers to help bake pastry squares to cover the top of the enormous 3.8 ton pie. The organisers were overwhelmed by the response and many individuals and organisations offered to provide one hundred small pastry squares which would be joined together to cover the top of the huge pie. Many were customised to reflect the Olympic year or local organisations, there was even one to draw attention to the appeal to save the local library from closure.
 

I thought this was a brilliant idea to bring people together in a joint venture and the first inkling of an idea came into my head. Could Milborne St Andrew do something similar? What is Dorset famous for? Well quite a few things, Dorset Knobs, buttons, Blue Vinny Cheese and….Dorset Apple Cake!  The idea took wing and I wrote these words at the end of my Reporter article.
 

“ P.S. Milborne St Applecake?

When reading about the patchwork of small pastry tops baked by local villagers to make a giant pie crust, I had a sudden inspiration that this could be done with squares of Dorset apple cake, and our village , at the geographical centre of Dorset, could produce the biggest Dorset Apple Cake in the world!

A hundred 7 inch squares would produce a 6 foot square cake, then the cake could be sold in slices or larger portions at a community coffee morning - anyone up for this?”
 

I didn’t really think anything much would come of this idea, but a little while after the article was published someone enquired on the Milborne St Andrew FaceBook page if they knew who could give more details of the Big Dorset Apple Cake idea. Soon there was a flurry of different people saying they would like to join in and I was heartened enough to ask a few people if they would like to help.
 

I first thought we could do this in October 2023, but it soon became obvious that it would take a lot more time and effort to get the whole village involved. Someone came up with Dorset Day as being a good day to do this, and someone else noticed that June 1st 2024 was a Saturday and so the idea became  a reality. 
 

All we need now are a very lot of cakes, so we are really hoping that everyone can help. Thank you so much to those who have already volunteered. I’m really hoping that a small idea can grow into something special and with everyone’s help I feel sure we can do this, make some money for our Village Hall and have a lot of fun in the process!
 
Rose Frost