Cake and Bake Show

My love of British baking continues! 

Within walking distance to our house is a large conference center. One day a while back I was walking by the center and noticed banners had gone up for that weekend's conference… and it was the Cake & Bake Show!! 

Once home, I looked it up, noticed it started the next day (Friday), and decided then and there that I would purchase tickets, including add-on skills courses taught by some of the TV chefs / bakers here in England. So, the next day, tickets in hand, I walked down and had myself a right jolly old time! 

Volunteer pouring batter at Rosemary Schrager's show

First up was a course taught by Rosemary Schrager (she's on the right in the pink photo, above) where we learned how to make a fig and cheese tart. The blond gal was plucked from the audience as her helper, but with only 30 minutes for the demo, it seemed a stressful situation. I am glad I wasn't chosen! 

Next up was a hands-on class teaching us how to make sausage rolls. I arrived early, and since it was Friday, the least crowded day of the convention, the TV baker let us early birds take photos with him. I made sausage rolls that I was so excited about, I ran home and drove them out to Bill at work for his lunch. Peter Sitwell promised to post the recipe on his Facebook page, but he doesn't accept new "friends" and I couldn't find out how to access the recipes. So, I hope Bill enjoyed the sausages, because he'll likely never have them again! :-/

Just before Peter Sitwell's show

That afternoon I went back to the cake and bake show for my third and final class, on ombre piping. I thought we were going to try it ourselves, but we just got to watch the famous London baker show us how to do the ombre piping. The most interesting thing I learned was that this London baker (whom I've never heard of before) had been selected for a new BBC show. The next week she was going to be whisked away to an undisclosed location with many other bakers, and they would all have to work together and run a baker… with only victorian era equipment, technology, and ingredients. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for that show - sounds like a fun one! 

Learning how to pipe ombre frosting

In between the classes, I roved the conference floor, saw lots of stuff for sale, tried a lot of food, and saw amazing cake decorating and displays. My favorite was the upside-down hanging wedding cake, pictured below. How amazing is that?! 

Upside down four-tiered wedding cake