The Cake and Bake show was a two day event held at London's Earls Court. Apparently over 21,000 people attended during the two days and I can certainly believe that. I went along with my sister and our friend Verity and it was jam packed!

The first thing we stumbled across was the "Edible Beach" competition.

These were some of my favourite entries.
My poor photography doesn't do them justice but the attention to detail is incredible, I can't imagine how many hours must have been spent perfecting them.

I'm afraid my cakes would look pitiful in comparison but watch this space as I'm still learning.

Taking the opportunity to learn some new skills at the show, we joined a couple of the classrooms on offer. There were so many it was difficult to choose between them but as each class was an additional £5, we had to be selective

On a side note, I was gutted to find out Lindy had joined the show after I'd already booked my tickets :(

Rachel Hill from Rachelles

The first classroom we joined was "Hand Decorated Cookies" with Rachel Hill of Rachelles. 

Rachel shared her recipe for perfect cookies and demonstrated how to pipe and "flood" with royal icing. She gave us some great tips such as the 10 second rule for checking your icing consistency, and using a spray bottle to thin the icing. She also showed us several techniques to decorate cookies including icing lace and embroidery patterns.

Icing cookies is a first for me, so I'm looking forward to a future baking date with my sister and Verity to put our newly acquired knowledge in to practise.

Laura Edwards from Mamma Jamma Cakes

The other classroom we opted for was "Cake Sculpture" with Laura Edwards of Mamma Jamma Cakes.

Starting with a 10" (or possibly a 12") round Madeira cake, I was amazed at what she turned it in to.

Laura demonstrated how to make this Koi Carp fish, sculpting, covering, decorating, and air brushing it all within half an hour!




In this picture, the cake on the left is the one from the show, the one on the right is the one above, the "and here's one I made earlier" one.

I actually got to try the Dinkydoodle airbrush at the show. I did really like it but I don't think it's for me at this moment as my cakes are mostly one block colour. I imagine it'd need some practise to be able to get an even coat with the airbrush, also I'm too impatient to let it dry and I don't really have a space I can airbrush in. It could be a purchase for the future if my cakes become a little more elaborate :)



My favourite part of the show without a doubt was star speaker Mary Berry. I'm a huge Mary Berry fan. I love her recipes and I love The Great British Bake Off.

When I discovered she would be doing book signings, Mr Chris very kindly bought me "Mary Berry's Baking Bible" to get signed. Unfortunately I missed out as we were in one of our classes at the time she was signing, but I can't wait to try some more Mary Berry recipes. Expect to see some on here shortly :)

Whilst sharing funny stories and tales from GBBO, Mary whipped up a Hazelnut Meringue Roulade and the hugest Chocolate sponge cake. Both looked delicious, I was only sad I couldn't get anywhere near the front to pinch a bit.

Mary Berry in action

The Cake and Bake Show returns again next year but I'm not sure if I'll go back yet. Whilst I really enjoyed the classrooms and demos I felt the event was far too crowded. Most of the items on sale were overly priced, or at least I know I can get them cheaper on line, and there was a distinct lack of freebies. Whatever happened to the freebie? I remember when one of the perks of going to a show was all the freebies you would collect on your way round. So come on the Cake and Bake Show, when you return next year... more freebies :D