A brief account of a day spent at the Big Cake Show in Exeter. The star of the show was Mary Berry, but there were plenty of other cakey bakey things to see and do.
Living down in the far South West, it can often be difficult to get to some of the big baking events held around the rest of the country. I have not yet managed to attend one. However, this year, everything has changed. Amidst a fanfare of excitement and incredulity, the very first Big Cake Show came to Exeter last weekend.
The Big Cake Show
It was a three day extravaganza of baking demos, workshops, competitions, book signing and shopping.
I received an invitation to attend The Big Cake Show on one of the days. How very exciting. This was especially so when I was given a Golden Ticket on arrival. As well as a goodie bag and a dedicated refreshment area, this gave access to special seats right at the front of the main demonstration theatre – well worth having.
Stars from the Great British Bake Off (GBBO) were there to give demos, with Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood being the star attractions. On the day I attended, it was Mary in residence. I was pleased to see a number of our fabulous local chefs were much in evidence too.
My first thoughts were of astonishment at the size and busyness of the event. It took nearly an hour to make the two mile drive from the motorway to the show’s venue, Westpoint. The place was heaving. I’d arranged to meet up with Jill from Lapin d’Or. So it was very lucky that she arrived just as Tracy, the PR and Marketing Manager, was handing me my goody bag.
I’d been hoping to meet up with her, but with no wifi and so many people, it would have been a near impossibility if we hadn’t happened to arrive at the same time.
Not having wifi and no signal either was rather annoying as there was so much of the moment I wanted to tweet and instagram. This was a marketing opportunity lost, I felt.
All in all it was a very busy day. The South West, it seems, has taken cake to its heart and the date for next year’s Big Cake Show, has already been set. Diaries out – 20-22 March 2015.
Cake Competitions
I was especially wowed by the main cake competitions where the theme for both the junior and adult category was the South West. The winning cakes were fabulous, but there were so many clever and quirky cakes there I would have found it very difficult to pick winners. Here are three of the ones that particularly appealed.
Baking Demonstrations
On the day that I attended, Mary was showing how to make her whole lemon cake. As I’d seen this on iPlayer very recently, I watched it from afar whilst enjoying a very welcome cup of tea. Not surprisingly she was hugely popular. She was also professional, interesting and very natural, showing herself to be completely at ease in front of the crowd.
I sat down to watch two of our local chefs, Chris Tanner and Peter Gorton. They made a meringue roulade and chocolate tart respectively. Both offerings looked fantastic and I was hoping we might get to try them, but sadly not.
One of the tips I learnt is to spray water on the back of the meringue paper if sticking becomes an issue. I may now become emboldened to try making a meringue roulade for myself.
The Big Cake Show: Shopping
Although I was there for over five hours, there was heaps I didn’t see or do. I’d like to have seen more of the cookery demos, but there just wasn’t time. There were a huge number of exhibitors and I’d like to have had a good look around.
It was nigh on impossible to even see what the stall were selling as they were so crowded. Turns out I needed elbows sharper than mine to position myself in suitable vantage points. A tad annoying, but hopefully the exhibitors did well.
Despite this, I did manage to make a couple of purchases:
- Some red dust which I subsequently used on my mother’s lavender cake
- A glass textured rolling pin which I was really looking forward to trying out. I’ve subsequently used it on these chocolate biscuits.
There were a couple of finds that I found particularly interesting. The first was Choc Edge, a prototype for a 3D chocolate printer. Jill and I watched it do a couple of turns printing Mary Berry’s face onto some paper.
I don’t think it’s quite there yet, but I suspect it will be soon. A brave new world has arrived, but at least it’s chocolate.
The Big Cake Show: Chocolate Tasting
The second find was Caprine Capers, a chocolatier making chocolates using milk and cream from their own goat herd. Now I’ve made goat’s cheese chocolate truffles before, but these were the first commercial goat chocolates I’ve come across. I was very impressed. They are perfect for those with a cow’s milk intolerance and there seemed to be plenty of takers on the day.
The good folk of Caprine Capers were somewhat concerned their stocks would run out before the show had ended. Nevertheless, they kindly gave me three of their truffles to take home and try: vanilla, calvados and brandy, all enrobed in a layer of dark chocolate. Rich smooth ganache, with complex flavours, including a touch of goat.
All were highly satisfying and a great antidote to mindless scoffing. Of the three, the calvados was my favourite with it’s hint of apple and warming alcohol. Both CT and I were quite enamoured. Yes, I did share – reluctantly.
I managed to blag my way into getting a couple of Fuffle bars to take home and try. Fuffle you might well ask? Chatting to the creator, I discovered this was a cross between fudge and truffles. The Little Devil (his words not mine) doesn’t like crumbly fudge, so he came up with something that has the texture of a truffle and the taste and sweetness of fudge.
Fuffle is handmade in Worcestershire using simple ingredients I enjoyed both of these creamy bars: Baileys Comet and Gary’s Chocolate Orange. The chocolate and Baileys liqueur fuffle was my favourite as it really did taste of Baileys, one of my favourite tipples. It was colour coded with a green inner wrapper. For its Emerald Isle provenance, I assume.
The second Fuffle was perfectly pleasant, but I felt the orange rather drowned out the chocolate. This one had an orange inner wrapper – a nice touch.
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. Have you ever been to a cake show? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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Choclette x
With thanks to Tracy for the VIP pass and goody bag. I was not required to write a positive review and as always all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the organisations and brands that help to keep Tin and Thyme blithe and blogging.
Heidi Roberts says
Looks like you had a great time! Hard to believe some of those cakes are cakes!
Sylvia F. says
Looks like you had a great time! I don’t have much shows in my area but would deffo attend one if I had! So many delicious looking cakes!
Kate@whatkatebaked says
This sounds just as busy as the Cake and Bake show was in London last year! Sounds as though you made the most of a brilliant day and those Fuffle bars sound lush!
Ren Behan says
I almost stopped in at a Chocolate Festival in Brighton but ran out of time! I don’t tend to do shows, but this one sounds really good. Glad you enjoyed
Jacqueline Meldrum says
It sounds like a great day out Choclette! So much fun, but a lot to take in I suspect.
Karen S Booth says
BRILLIANT photos and such amazing cakes too…..I bet you were on cloud nine!
belleau kitchen says
such a fab day… you clearly loved this very much… love that top cake!
Janice Pattie says
What a great day you had! I can’t believe they didn’t have wifi, what a missed opportunity. I hope they read this and that you have fed back to the PR that invited you.
Lou, Eat Your Veg says
I’ve never been to a big baking event either, but do fully intend to try to get to one this year. How wonderful that it came to Exeter for the first time. Sounds like you had a fun day out, with lots of goodies and managed to see a few people at least. The goats milk choccies sound like a great idea and I shall look out for Fuffle, Worcestershire’s the next county to me.
Vohn's Vittles says
Sounds like a lovely, if somewhat busy, event. What a shame they didn’t have wifi – I guess the event is busy enough that they don’t feel the need to promote it further – but it would be invaluable advertising for the small producers there. x
Susan Lindquist says
This trip gets a big yum … what a great opportunity for you! Glad the event was hosted in your neck of the woods!
Johanna GGG says
looks like a great event to visit – seems that they want it to be busy but you need to balance the crowds and allowing people to see what is on offer – your takeaways sound like excellent purchases – look forward to seeing you use the textured rolling pin – and I love those cakes