Cake show!

Hey peeps

Last week a friend asked if I fancied going with her to a cake decorating show in London- of course I said yes! It was this show (still on tomorrow if anyone is interested).

When we first arrived we had a little wander, just to see where everything was. There were demonstrations, classes (but you had to book those in advance and pay, so we didn’t do any of those) and loads of stalls selling all sorts of cake decorating paraphernalia.

There were also competitions, so we had a wander around to see some of the winning cakes.

This was my favourite- so cute!

I also loved the panda- so sweet. There were loads of amazing cakes though- there was a section for flower art (or called something similar- basically flowers made with sugar paste) and they were amazing- they were so delicate and looked real. There was also a 4ft high warrior cake.

I stole this off my friends’ facebook page as I didn’t take a photo- I am sure she won’t mind.

I then saw a cake with spots and a bow (a bit like my Christmas cakes) but then I realised that was for the age 12-18 category! More my level I think!

We then went back to the start and bought a show guide, which we then got signed by Jo Wheatley (she won the Great British Bake Off and had a blog). She was presenting a demonstration a bit later on, so after buying a few bits we each bought a muffin for lunch (I was going to get a sandwich, but none of them looked that nice and then I saw the price- £4.30!!!) and went to watch the demo. Apologies for the photos- I have no idea how to zoom on my phone!

She was so sweet- she got kids up to help her, and gave all the things she made to the children in the audience too. She made some macaroons (something that I have never attempted but looked like they would not be as hard as I thought), some peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, and some chocolate lolly’s.

We also watched another demo, and this was rather weird. The chef made a chocolate cake, and got a child to help him decorate it with chocolate ganache and raspberries, but then he passed the bowl of left over chocolate ganache around the audience, and was encouraging people to dip their fingers in and have a try! Some people think I am a bit funny about things like that, but I do think that it was very unhygienic.

There was also a competition going on (a bit like the Food Network Challenge)- there were two teams of three, and they had to make a cake to show the four seasons. It had to be a certain height, and I think altogether they had about three and a half hours of time- during the day we kept popping by to see how it was going on.

They are the Easter themed ones from Friday.

The scariest bit to watch was when they had to transport their cakes from where they were working to the final table (again like those challenges).

You can’t see them that clearly, which is a shame. The really tall one (on the left) had a later for each season. The top one was my favourite- it was a little house with snow on the roof, decorated with candy canes- so pretty.

The one on the right was done by a group of friends (whereas the other team were professional) and the skill on parts of their cake was just amazing.

We bought a few more bits, then headed back to the car for a sit down! We had been walking around for hours.

Here are my goodies! I was quite restrained. In the end I bought a Fancy magazine (which came with jelly beans and some random oat bran!), a set of cake decorating tools (a bargain as they are usually about £4 each but the whole set was £6), some flavourings for icing/cakes (almond, coconut, lime and peppermint), some foil cupcake cases and a really smooth roll up mat to roll out icing on.

I got home at about 5 in the end, and was pretty tired from walking around all day. I had a little rest, and then headed out for a run/walk. I have been out twice this week already, and each time this week I have done 3 min run, 1 min walk (last week was 2 min walk)- my route is only just over 2 miles, but I have coped with it so far. It’s weird because at first I feel like I struggle to get my breathing under control, and my legs feel fine, but then towards the end my calves get more stiff, and my breathing seems fine. It rained a bit, but not too hard, so I didn’t mind- although I should have worn my visor as my glasses get hard to see through!

I had grand plans to make some bean/chickpea burgers, and roast some veggies, but I was tired and hungry (and Andy is out at the football all day so no-one to cook for me!) so in the end I toasted some left over sourdough bread (I made some on Friday) and had it with pesto, hummus, spinach and an Early grey tea. Perfect.

Right- Andy won’t be back for a few hours so I might have time for some baking now 🙂

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23 thoughts on “Cake show!”

  1. Wow, what amazing cakes 🙂 The Cookie Monster one is just adorable.

    I would have been squeamish about the chocolate ganache. And we all know how obsessed I am with chocolate. But the idea of not knowing where people’s fingers have been, particularly kids. To quote an American High Schooler, ‘Like, eeeww…’

    I keep seeing Earl Grey tea everywhere. Right, I’m buying it tomorrow.

    xxx

  2. Oh wow, that looks like such an amazing day out! 😀

    I bought a cookie monster cupcake at Exeter food festival which was cute, but that cake is definitely more impressive!!

    I wouldn’t have tried the chocolate ganache either. I always tease Liam for refusing to share food with me/the children, but eating something that was dipped into by lots of strangers’ fingers, ewww, no!!

    Love the sound of all your purchases – esp the flavourings and the decorating tools…I look forward to seeing what you do with them! 🙂

    1. I think I need to go on a decorating refresher course! 🙂
      It was lovely seeing all the cakes and I could have bought so much more! I already made a lemon/lime cake with the new flavouring as I had all the ingredients in.

  3. Such a treat to get to go to the cake decorating show because you enjoy baking and decorating so much. Did you pick up any ideas for your next project?
    Great stuff with the run walk as well, you are doing great and will be hurtling off in no time I’m sure leaving me in your dust again … and I’m fine with that btw 😉 xx

    1. There were so many fab looking ideas- I really want to try and make more 3D cake toppers (like the polar bear) but a will need to practise a lot I think.
      Aw and thanks for that too- it feels weird starting from scratch and every now and then I have a bit of a panic about how on earth I am going to get up to half marathon distance by the autumn, but all I can do is try.

  4. It’s great that you’ve been out starting to run again, you must be so pleased 🙂
    It’s stunning what people can do with cakes – that panda’s brilliant and so’s the Elmo… not quite sure why they gave away oat bran though 🙂
    and I’ve got to ask – what’s a warrior cake??!

    1. I put a pic in- basically it looked like an old Chinese warrior (like the terracotta army) but make of cake. Amazing.

    1. I know I think half of it is getting the idea- but of course the other half is being able to do it!

  5. I think you’re doing really well with the running. I’m quite worried about how I’m going to get back into it… I used to do anywhere from 4-8 mile runs several times a week but now I think I’d struggle with even 1 mile. It’s kind of depressing but like you say, we can only try and hopefully our bodies won’t have forgotten it all too much.

    1. Well you have not had such a long break as me. It has been hard, but not as bad as I feared, although I keep blocking out the fact that I need to do a half marathon in September – seems too close! But yes just start again and it will get easier.

  6. Those cakes are works of art!!!

    Well done on your return to running, i too will be starting to run from scratch, it’s so disheartening that i have ran 2 half marathons yet currently i probably would struggle running for 30 seconds!!! But i suppose I have to start somewhere!

    1. Exactly, and as I have done it before I know I can do it again! Just have faith in the plans I think.

  7. Those are quite the cakes! My sister is def. the baker of the family. The closest I’ve come to baking is the break n’ bake cookies I buy from the grocers freezer. I am always impressed seeing what people can do from scratch!

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