An award-winning Huddersfield novelty cake maker now aims to put the town on the map with his homemade fudge.

Cake supremo Robert Firth has called his fudge Huddersfudge to leave folk in no doubt where it comes from and ultimately aims to sell it nationwide.

He’s selling it from his shop, Cake Castle, on Westbourne Road in Marsh but already farm shops are interested in stocking it. His ultimate ambition would be to have his own speciality fudge shops.

Robert said: “I was in a fudge shop just before Christmas and bought a box which cost me £17 which was a lot for what I got. I tried it and thought if I could make something half as a good then it would be a success.

“I’ve spent ages trialling it and now believe it’s as good as, if not better than, the expensive fudge I bought.”

Robert is selling his at £3.50 for 200g, undercutting all his rivals by some way. And he’s perfected his flavours with the top five now rum and raisin, salted caramel, vanilla, chocolate and butterscotch.

He said: “I make my fudge the traditional way with it all rolled out on a marble slab which helps with the cooling process.”

Robert won’t give everything away about how he makes it but one of his essential ingredients is the Holmfirth produced Longley Farm butter while another is evaporated milk.

Robert and partner Rebecca Clarke live in Cowcliffe with their two young children, four-year-old daughter Molly and one-year-old son, Bobby.

Robert, 35, said: “Molly has certainly loved trying out the fudge to the point she’s become obsessed with it. Every day I come home she’s wanting to know what flavour fudge I’ve brought.”

Making the fudge is a three-hour process and involves cooking the ingredients, pouring it onto the marble slab, folding it so it looks a bit like a baguette and then slicing and cubing it.

Robert said: “I often have the door open while cooking it and the smell is fantastic. You can see people walking by suddenly stop and wonder where it’s coming from.”

Robert, who will have a stall at Lindley Carnival which is on from Friday, June 23 to Sunday, June 25, now makes up to 10 novelty birthday cakes a week and his designs have a phenomenal reputation.

Robert with his award winning cake at Birmingham NEC

He won a gold medal for his frog-designed cupcakes at the Cake International show at the NEC in Birmingham and came second in a cake class for his shoes and handbag cake which he made in tribute to his friend, cake-maker Jennifer Lofthouse from Thirsk in North Yorkshire, who sadly died during the Covid pandemic. She was well-known for making shoe and handbag cakes.

Robert has had Cake Castle in Marsh for six years and he also makes handmade novelty cakes and chocolate bars and sells absolutely anything you could think of to go on a birthday cake.

Instead of competing at this year’s Cake International show at the NEC in Birmingham from November 3 to 5 he’ll have a stall instead selling his fudge.

“I’ll be aiming to put Huddersfield well and truly on the fudge map,” he said.

Cake Castle is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and Robert’s Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/cakecastlemarsh

Written by ANDY HIRST who runs his own Yorkshire freelance journalism agency AH! PR (https://ah-pr.com/) specialising in press releases, blogging, website content and copywriting.