cakes... or are they?!

On Sunday I took a day trip. .... I did a day out just for me, that included a lot of looking at cakes and items to decorate said cakes!  Now I do bake a little for my job, but it certainly isn't going to be a big part of Evelyn Mae, and I wanted to get baking back to being an enjoyable hobby.  So off I went on a coachful of other like minded people, to the Excel in London for the Cake decorating and baking show.

I met some wonderful and talented people on the day, not least a lady called Emma on the coach, who runs Ems cupcakes, and who makes the best red velvet cake I have ever tasted!!   And believe me when I say I have tried a lot! I first saw her stand 18 months ago at the Kent food festival, and have been hooked on her baking ever since!!!

In the show I had a chat with Ruth Clemens of The pink whisk, and runner up of The great British bake off.  She was lovely, and was more than happy to have a chat with me, and I got to tell her how wonderful her chocolate and orange cake was.  It is now a firm favourite of me and my husband!  To those of you who don't follow baking blogs, this is one that I would highly recommend.  Not only do you get to hear about some lovely recipes, with step by step photos, you get to hear about the family behind the recipes, and for me, that is what baking should be about.  Sharing baking with the family.  For me it was baking doughnuts and Easter biscuits with my Nan, and learning how to make stew and fairy cakes with my Mum.  For Ruth, its sharing her passion for baking with her boys.  This is how it should be.

I spent a few hours looking around, but what I enjoyed the most was the display of cakes for competition.  I thought I would share some with you....

Does it get any better than these two little beauties??  I love the detail on them, and I also love that they are not too girlie ... As with a lot of cake decoration, and card making, its all too easy to make a pretty item for girls, but not so for gents.

Another cracking cake that was more masculine, was the following wedding cake..... How many wedding cakes suit the blokes too??

Which part do you eat first??!! ................

One good thing that came from the show was trend spotting ... There really is a huge cross over between baking and paper crafts, and the show was no exception .... Everyone seems to have gone jubilee and tea party crazy!!

Hmmmmm, battenberg .......... one of my all time favourite cakes .... Mary Berry did a coffee and walnut battenberg on the bake off this season... I might just have to try it sometime soon.

There were also cupcakes .... 

All sorts of decorations were used, some were so delicate, and some looked more robust, but it was inspiring to see such a varied assortment. 

I especially liked how the wine glasses were used to make the stand, that was really clever, and I think I may be able to borrow this idea in the future when displaying cards.

Some of the decorations there were stunning, and this really caught my eye. .....

They were handmade by an Italian company, and they were just beautiful.. You would never know they were made out of sugar.  Just amazing.

Much to my happiness, butterflies seemed to still be in fashion !!!!  There were a few cakes that had some beautiful butterfly work on them, but none more lovely than this little cake, by Kelvin Chua.  The level of detail in it must have taken forever.

I had a lovely day, and although was a walking zombie by the time I got home, I did enjoy it!  

My apologies for not  getting the names of the artists who produced these beautiful cakes, I got snap happy before thinking about blogging about the day, and I don't have names for you.  I am sure though if you got in touch with the organisers here, they may be able to help you further.

Thanks for stopping by today, back tomorrow with a post all about my Saturday exploits!!

Take care all 


Shelly X