Another late blog post as usual, but I know you'll forgive me ;) And it's a bit of a long one I'm afraid, so I suggest you grab a cup of tea/coffee/glass of wine/G&T (delete as appropriate), and one of those spare cupcakes off the side, sit on the sofa and relax .....
I've always thought about heading to
the big cake shows, like Cake International, but as a cupcaker who is
VERY scared of 'big' cakes, I've always shied away from them. Until
last year that is, when mini-me (8 going on 16) and I went to Cake &
Bake in London and loved it! I'm a member of a couple of
Facebook-based cake communities and when a 'meet-up' was suggested at
Cake International in London, I was in! I was finally going to meet
my longest-standing caking buddy, and 5 new friends too! I also
found out that another cakey lady who lives local to me was going, so
I had someone to talk 'cake' with for the drive there as well.
I was given the opportunity to write
this little piece on Cake International, and the news that I could
feel important for the day wearing a 'press-pass' was very exciting.
If I'm honest, it was also a little scary for this fairly shy
cupcaker, who prefers to hide at the back of the crowd (or in my
kitchen), and who sent her 8 year old to get Paul Hollywood's
autograph last year! But anyway, time to bite the bullet - this was
too good an opportunity not to have a go!
I purposely stayed away from the cakey
pages and groups online for the first 2 days of Cake International
because I wanted to see everything with fresh eyes. We arrived at
9:30am on the Sunday morning to a VERY quiet Excel arena. Having
been to 'Cake and Bake' and been in the queue to get in that felt
like it was miles long, I was surprised to be able to park so close
to the doors, and then to see a queue of only about 50 people waiting
for the doors to open at 10am. I was waiting for my cakey friends to
arrive (some came from Wales just for the day – now that's
dedication to cake!), so decided to have a cup of coffee and watch
the queue grow. I bumped into the lovely Rosie from Cake Masters,
who I'd had the pleasure to meet last year when I participated in one
of her ever popular Cake Crawls, and we had a quick catch up. I
really wasn't jealous that she'd just been to interview Paul H and
Mary B. Nope. Not at all. Not a sausage. OK, so maybe a bit …
I was sat just opposite the entrance
when it opened. Even the doors gave off an aura of being tired as
they slowly rolled open, but I thought it was maybe just a Sunday
morning feeling. The queue had probably doubled, but they were all
in within about 10 minutes, and there was a little bit of a buzz
emanating from the hall. I couldn't wait to get in and see what was
happening.
The girls arrived, and with excitement
we went into the hall. Show programme in hand we made a plan of how
to get round the show. I'm going not going to give you a
stand-by-stand account – to be honest you can go online and see who
was there and what they have to offer. Instead I'm going to give you
a few of my random ramblings on the stands that I thought stood out
and seemed to attract the most attention, some of the amazing cakes
we saw and also other things I wrote down about the show (if I can
read my notes!).
Moulds, cutters, mats and impressions
were definitely the leaders among the most popular things for sale at
the show. There were a few stands that stood out in this area
though. Rosgar Pins had a big crowd congregated around their stand
as they were demonstrating their impression rolling pins. Their
demonstrations were impressive, as was the sugarpaste they were using
(PME). After all the news and talk recently about the supermarket
brands changing their recipes and making their sugar paste difficult
to work with, we noticed didn't seem to crack or rip. There was a
collective “Ooooooo” from the girls! Sugar paste aside – the
impressions that the Rosgar pins made on the sugar paste, and the
effect that they had when draped over or wrapped around the dummy
cakes was certainly eye-catching and a little creativity-sparking (it
was one of the stands which made me think “how could I convert that
to cupcakes?” ). And I wasn't the only person to think so - they
certainly seemed to be selling a lot of their pins, so I'm watching
out for the photos of cakes starting to appear in my newsfeed.
The biggest bargain of the day came
from the Renshaw's stand – 250g coloured sugar paste for £1 per
pack, and white flower paste for £1.50. Or a show special of 4
coloured 250g packs and 1 500g white pack for £5. There was
(another) “Ooooo” from the group (this noise becomes quite common
during the day), increased heart rates and slightly quicker feet
towards the stand. It was reminiscent of the Christmas sales –
the crowd congregating around the stand were 3 deep, money in hand
and waving the icing colour cards! So we sharpened our elbows and
battled through. The result was one heavy shopping bag to carry
around for the rest of the show, one aching shoulder the next day,
and a little pile of coloured bricks on my kitchen side now calling
me!
We got completely sidetracked by the
lovely looking, and beautifully smelling 'Brownie Bar', who were
offering a wide range of different flavour brownies and blondies, as
well as other goodies like salted caramel sauce (which I brought to
try drizzled over some cupcakes!), and BIY (Bake-It-Yourself) (OMG –
I think I may have developed a new acroymn!) kits. Their 2 best
selling flavours were the 'Millionaire' and the 'Salted Caramel'
brownies, and after reading some of the reviews online, I now wish
I'd tried one! I totally meant to go back and get some Pistachio
ones for the other half, but forgot – no-one tell him will you?
Another stand which was getting lots of
attention, was the small but well-manned 'Foodie Flavours' –
selling (as you'd expect) a massive range of flavourings. They
probably had the smallest floor space at the show, but managed to
have a crowd extending right out into the aisle. Fortunately they
also had a representative at the back of the crowd clutching bottles
which smelt yummy, and answering questions. The representatives were
cheery and knowledgeable, and enticed you to spend money (it didn't
take a lot) – the only question what which flavour to pick! I
brought home a bottle of rhubarb flavouring and can't wait to bake
some rhubarb and custard cupcakes.
One of the ladies I was with was on the
hunt for a mould to make magnolia flowers, and hadn't been able to
find one. Until she came across the small and understated stand
'Flowerveiners.nl'. On display were the most amazing, colourful and
delicate flowers I've seen. They could almost have been real, not
made out of sugar. Especially the chrysanthemum, which I just wanted
to look at all day. In fact I wanted to run away with it, bring it
home and continue staring at it! The gentleman running the stall
(who was the owner I believe) was charming. He told us how the
moulds were all made using real flowers as templates, which is how
they contain so much detail. I asked him how long it took him to
make the chrysanthemum - “I started when I was 4” he replied,
“now I'm 55!” But in all seriousness, he said it took 6 hours
work, spread over a couple of days to allow for drying time for the
glue in between the 3 sections. He showed my cakey friend a magnolia
mould, which she promptly brought, and then he offered to demonstrate
for her how to make a few petals from it, and didn't mind being
video'd doing it. He was fascinating to watch, and kept half his
focus on my cakey chum to make sure she was seeing what he was doing.
A great example of customer focus. As a matter of interest, he was
using Modena sugar paste at the show, but normally used modelling
paste.
I spotted the EdAble Art stand, and
knew I wanted to ask them 'that' question. The one we've all be
talking about for months. 'Glitter-gate'. I just didn't know how to
approach it (refer to earlier comment about how I prefer to stand at
the back of the crowd!). Luckily another of my friends wasn't quite
as reserved as me, and asked straight away - “Are your glitter's
edible?”. Mark told her that they can't be classed as 'edible' as
they are not absorbed by the body, but they are food safe for
consumption. I asked him if they were approved by the FSA, and he
replied that they were, and that EdAble Arts had had all the
supporting documentation for 10 years. That's it – that's me
becoming reacquainted with the glitter then! Hurrah! Well, I
would've done if they had anything other than shades of orange left
(PLEASE bring more stock next time EdAble!) ! I had to satisfy the
glitter craving with just one pot of a lush blue-black for now, and
internet shop later!
We rounded the next corner and happened
upon the stand by Christina and Valeri from Queen of Hearts Couture
Cakes. We were mesmerised by their buttercream work. Their cakes
were extraordinary, and inspiring. It was hard to believe, looking
at Christina's patchwork square tiered cake, that it was decorated
buttercream. But close inspection proved that it was – and all in
tiny dots. No wonder it took her 30 hours to decorate! Valeri's
incredible award-winning cake was inspired by 2 different
Tiffany-style lamps, and took her only 12 hours to decorate. The
yellow gloss finish on the cake looked like glass, and I'm still none
the wiser how she achieved that effect. It was stunning. All we
could keep saying way “wow”. Suffice to say we were in awe.
A short while later there was a squeak
of “Oh My God – It's Paul Bradford!”. I've never seen so many
lip glosses appear quite so quickly! Paul was very happy to talk to
us (it helped that he knew one of our party!), and even posed for a
picture (which apparently he doesn't like doing – thanks Paul, you
made our day!). I asked him how long it took to set up his stand,
and he told us how they started at 11am on Thursday morning, and were
finally done by 5:30pm! I asked how the show had been for him. He
had enjoyed it, although the Saturday had been very busy – so busy
that they couldn't see the carpet for feet by the stand, and there
was even a queue for the gents! I was totally struck with one
particular cake on Paul's stand – a magical wintery creation with
icy baubles nestled in shards of ice is how I'd describe it. Then
Paul showed us a picture of how it lit up. IT LIT UP! Whoa!
After we'd visited Paul's stand, we
decided that the time had come to look at some of the display and
showcase cakes. There were some very impressive pieces of work from
the colleges. I'm still in awe of anyone who has the courage to
enter their creation into a stage such as Cake International. I wish
I had taken photos of all of the cakes, but at the time I was too
busy flitting from cake to cake looking at them all!
We were beginning to look around one of
the competition classes, when I stumbled across a judge talking to an
entrant in class F (a wedding cake of 2 or more tiers). The entrant
was asking the judge how they felt they could do better next time.
From what I could hear, the judge was very encouraging, and was
talking about the use of dummy cakes rather than 'real' cakes, and
the use of boards between the tiers (but covering them up). I could
tell the entrant was appreciative of the feedback.
My biggest regret of the day was not
finding the press room to see just how good the cakes were by the
'Queen of Hearts' ladies! Especially as we found that the food
available at the Excel was VERY expensive! Nearly £11 for a jacket
potato and cold drink – phew! I didn't have one, my brain was in
that quandary of food 'vs' shopping (I'm sure some of you are nodding
in recognition at this point), so I hope they were good!
After lunch we had a good look around
the rest of the cakes in the competition classes. What can I say
except WOW! There are some seriously talented people out there!
There were cakes which completely blew me away. The ones that
immediately spring to mind (and here I'm afraid that I didn't make a
note of who the talented bakers were – they just have my admiration
and envy!) are the 'Leaky Cauldron' from Harry Potter, the Dragon,
the Alligator, the show-winning Mulberry handbag, and Carina
Bentley's wedding cake because I loved how it was staged within the
frame. Oh, and then there was the Madagascar cake, and the Winnie
the Pooh book, and ….... and …... ! The list is quite long
actually! There were obviously cakes which split opinion. I liked
hearing people saying “I love that” while others say “it's not
my cup of tea” - because it means people are talking about the
cakes, rather than overlooking them. A cake is like a piece of art
in my opinion – it needs to spark imagination, creativity, and an
opinion.
A special mention has to go to the
cakes entered in the junior classes. I could not believe that some
of those were decorated by young people under 12. They really were
outstanding. Sharp edges, smooth lines, faultless modelling.
Incredible. I can only dream of achieving half of what they can do
and I'm double their ages. Ok. I admit it. Treble their ages. And
a little bit more! Some of these guys have long careers ahead of
them.
As I was walking around the cakes, I
noticed some of the judges talking to the entrants. Ahhhh – that's
what 'Judge's Forum' meant in the show guide! It was great seeing
the judges taking the time to talk to the entrants – going and
standing by their cakes giving them honest and productive feedback,
and suggestions as to what they could do 'next time'. I over heard
one of the judges, Alan Shipmen, giving an entrant advice on
modelling animals (they were comparing 2 cakes both containing
modelling of horse figures) – talking about proportions between the
legs and the head, and muscle structure. He said to the entrant
“There isn't anything we don't look for.”
I caught Brian Taylor, the Chairman of
the Judges, as he walked past me. He told me that it took them a
full day to judge all the entrants. I asked him what they looked
for, how did they decide the results as there were some amazing
entrants. He said “It's fairly easy in some cases, not so easy in
others.” Then he ran off - I guess either he thought I was a crazy
person, or I caught him on the way elsewhere! As it happens, he went
to get Alan Shipman and they retreated into their little office. I
like to think that they were making the 'Best in Show' decision, and
not hiding from me :)
During the day, I didn't sit in on any
of the speakers, but if I'm honest, I don't feel like I missed out.
It was this area that I felt that the 'Cake and Bake' show was far
superior in my experience. There, there were multiple stages, and at
each the crowd were double capacity and sitting on the floor in order
to hear the greats of the baking world divulge their wisdom. As Cake
International it felt like more of a subdued affair. But then 'Cake
and Bake' is a much bigger arena, but far more different areas of
specialism. Cake International is exactly what it says on the tin.
Cake. I was disappointed that the great Mr Hollywood and Ms Berry
weren't there on the Sunday, but I guess that's the way the cookie
crumbles as they say. I'll know to check the timetable before I go
next time, to set my own expectations.
I was briefly chatting to a lady on one
stand (OK, I admit it, I was listening in to her conversation with
her daughter and couldn't help but join in!) - she was commenting on
how dis-interested some of the stall holders appeared to be, and even
to the point of rude when she'd asked a question about the price of
an item! I understand that it'd been a long few days for the stall
holders, and this was Sunday afternoon, but the room was still
buzzing with potential customers – not just those who were buying
on the day, but those (like me) who go home, flick through the show
guide and look at websites to see what they might like to buy. First
impressions count and all that, and unfortunately It would make me
choose a different supplier if it has happened to me.
Talking of shopping and bargains, now's
probably a good time to say that we were a little disappointed as a
group at the apparent lack of special offers and bargains at the
show. Many of the big website names were there – you know, the
ones we've all spent our money at at some time or another – and we
were excited to investigate the products we've only usually seen in
print or online. We were surprised that they weren't advertising
'Show Specials', and that the products were to our understanding,
the same as you could buy online. They might have been offering
products at a discount, but it didn't appear to be advertised as
such. I certainly wasn't drawn to buy as much there as I thought I
would. Although I did pick up a few new things to play with.
Numerous non-cakey people have asked me why I needed foam half-balls.
I'm tempted not to tell them and keep their wondering! We felt
that for the ticket price, there might be more 'freebies' and more to
see.
Please don't get me wrong - I had a
fabulous day, but that this was more down to the company, gossip and
giggles, and being able to talk 'cake' face-to-face instead of
online. As a cupcaker, I did get some inspiration from the entrants
in that class of the competition, rather than the exhibitors, which I
felt were primarily aimed at 'big' cakes. And I have come home
wanting to try out some new flavour combinations and new decoration
styles. So Cake International gets a thumbs up from me. Would I go
again? Yes, of course! But definitely with other people – we had
a sugary ball! :)
(All my photographs can be found on my Facebook page - in
THIS ALBUM )
