The Cake and Bake Show - London

I was kindly sent an invite to the Cake and Bake show but as I wasn't able to go, a friend of mine went instead and had a fantastic time!  Here's Jonathan's write up about the day.

Last weekend saw The Cake and Bake show return for the second year to Earls Court and I was luckily enough to go along on the Friday.  To be honest I am not a great baker, not enough patience and too much estimating. But this show was amazing.

Below: Ceri Olofson’s wedding cake with edible flowers.

Firstly, and most obvious, there’s loads of cakes.  For me the showstopper was the Wedding Cake of The Future exhibit.  Some amazing creations of tier upon tier of beautiful cakes. One by Ceri Olofson with rice paper flowers that looked so real but apparently just melt in your mouth – not that I got to try one.  These cakes just optimized the saying “too good to eat”.

There was also the Cake Catwalk.  Sponsored by Stork both professional, amateur and junior bakers created cakes that were inspired by London Fashion Through the Decades.  I think what really struck me here was the creativity, detail and artwork that had gone into these creations.

Well I joined the swooning ladies for Eric Lanlard who showed us how to make a salted butter caramel cake from his latest book Chocolat.

Below: Eric Lanlard explaining the wonders of salt in only a way a Frenchman can.

After that I rushed over to see the Fabulous Baker Brothers demonstration of pitta bread and smoked mackerel – yes they did smoke a mackerel on stage and without setting off the smoke detectors.

Below: Friendly banter between tom and Henry Herbert.

Below: Cake by Ramla Khan a professional baker.  The design depicts a pile of pearls, fashion magazines and shoeboxes from British designers in a fashion-mad girl’s bedroom.  Topped with a Philip Treacy hat and a Vivien Westwood shoe.

If all this got your appetite going then there was every type of cake you could imagine that could be purchased and eaten.  From tiny cupcakes to slices of whole cakes to macrons to muffins this show had the lot.  Not all of it sweet, there was an incredible display of bread by the Flour Power City Bakery.

Below: Flour Power City Bakery bread display.

But this show wasn’t just about buying and eating cakes, nearly at every turn there was a demonstration or interview or competition where you could learn and discover new ideas and get inspired to bake bake bake.  

I was stuck here.  At the same time was Channel 4’s Baking Mad Eric Lanlard and on the other side of the hall the brothers Tom and Henry Herbert had a more savory demonstration.  

In fact there were not only demonstrations in The Cake Kitchen and The Bakery every hour but also many of the exhibitors had demonstrations and the opportunity to learn from some great professionals.  Lakeland not only had every baking gadget for sale but also an interview area where victors could get the chance to quiz them on their favorite recipes.

Below: Mark Tilling – holder of the UK Chocolate Master for 4 years demonstrating his skills on the Squires Kitchen stand.

 

Last year the show in London attracted 21,000 visitors and this year they are claiming a 45% rise in attendance with 30,508 baking fans making there way to Earls Court.  If you are into baking this show is a must. 

What makes it for me are the demonstrations so be prepared to get there early and spend the day, but don’t worry you wont go hungry.  

If you did miss this years you won’t have to wait a whole twelve months as the show will also return to Manchester on 4-6 April 2014

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Post by Jonathan Foster Kenny from CookSomething for A Glug of Oil

Many thanks to Sarah and The Cake and Bake Show for such a great day!