ARMY chef Elaine Morris tasted sweet success when her fruit cake won her a top catering prize.

Mrs Morris works for defence catering company ESS Support Services Worldwide as second chef in the officers' mess at Battlesbury Barracks, Warminster.

Her two-tier cake, decorated with hand-made sugar paste flowers, won a gold medal in the annual Salon Culinaire catering contest's celebration cake category.

The competition for staff working for Compass Group's Government Services division, of which ESS is a part, attracted 80 entries from across the UK to Highbury College, Portsmouth, last month.

Mrs Morris baked her winning fruit cake herself and decorated it with pink peonies and a green leaf arrangement.

Mrs Morris, 45, of New Road, Codford, said: "The cakes in the class were of a very high standard so I was really pleased to win.

"I decorated the cake in my spare time and it took about two months to finish. The petals and leaves all had to be made individually."

Bob Ellis, ESS contract manager at the Land Warfare Centre, said: "Elaine has done brilliantly and we're absolutely delighted for her.

"Her cake was outstanding and it's great to see all her hard work being recognised."

A few days after taking gold Mrs Morris picked up a bronze for her cake at the 2003 Combined Services Culinary Challenge.