BBC Good Food Bakes & Cakes Show 2014

Last weekend I went to BBC Good Food Bakes & Cakes Show at the Business Design Centre in Islington. One of the companies I work with as part of my job is River Street Events, the organisers of this Show, so I very kindly got a comp ticket to go along. I was really excited about this Show, not only because I had worked on the show guide and not only because it was about baking, but it seemed a much more all round Show than the Cake & Bake Show a few weekends before.

Look at the beautiful show guide! After checking the one most  important thing, the floor plan (which was fine) I set off to look around.

When you walked into the Business Design Centre you had the massive Lakeland stand to your left, the Show Competition in front of you and the interview Stage and WHSmith book shop to your right. If you've read my previous post about the Cake & Bake Show, you'll know that one of the downsides of that Show was the lack of Lakeland's presence. This was more than rectified here. They had a very wide range of items from their latest catalogue and I could have bought everything!

Past these stand was the mezzanine level and that was where the real action was happening. Stands were packed in everywhere and people were milling about chatting to stand-holders and stocking up on goodies. There was a great mix of general baking stands with cutters and decorations on, sugarcraft stands (but not too many which was good), stands selling all the delicious treats you could think of – brownies, cakes, meringues etc, general food stands and other stands like Cats Protection and Papworth Trust. Add to that the Masterclasses and Afternoon Tea features on the Gallery Level as well as the main theatre and there was so much to see and do. You could easily spend a whole day there!

I went off to speak to a few people who I had got into the show guide and the shopped 'til I dropped! Throughout the time I was there, mid-morning, the crowds got bigger and bigger and the atmosphere more and more electric. One advantage was that the roof of the Business Design Centre is glass so the beautiful Autumn weather shone through and made the whole event light and bright.

Here's my haul:

• Two cake toppers from Culpitt Cake Club
• Baking Beans from Lakeland
• Two glade tankards from Simply Vintage
• Baking dished from Lakeland
• Two sausage rolls from Little Jack Horners
• Cupcake toppers from Holly Cupcakes
• A tub of Biscuit Butter (amazing!)
• Four tubs of sprinkles from Purple Cupcakes
• Grater, peeler and brush from Garlic & Grater
• Food colouring from Lakeland

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Dark Chocolate & Peanut Lion Brownies

Look at the gooeyness of these! There is nothing better than a fresh pan of brownies straight from the oven still warm and sticky!

These are basic brownies which I have 'trashed up' by adding Peanut Lion bars. I love adding things like nuts, biscuits and different chocolate bars to my brownie mixes. In this case I decided to kill two birds with one stone and got my nuts and chocolate bars together in the Lion bars! The bars I actually used were the second lot of Lion bars I bought as my lovely boyfriend and his friend decided to eat the first batch!

The basic mixture came from this fabulous book that my friend got me for my birthday ages ago – Fabulous Brownies. It starts off with some simple recipes for brownies and blondes, then moves on to more intricate and indulgent recipes, even one involving sugar work! There is a dedicated kids section too with fun brownie decorating styles, including how to make your brownies into owls!

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John Whaite: The Haunted Collection

Take a look at these delicious and creative Halloween recipes from one of my favourite bakers – John Whaite. This 14 page collection is FREE (always a winner!) and features original recipes by John, all shot and designed up by his partner Paul. Some are stunning, some are gruesome but they will all make for a spooky Halloween celebration this year!

I am not the biggest fan of Halloween, I hate how Americanised it has become and how it is an excuse for people to dress up in nearly no clothes at all! However, no 'holiday' can pass by without a bake happening and I will definitely be trying either the Cobweb Cake or the Poison Ivy Cake next weekend.

Here is the link to his website explaining his love for this time of the year and at the bottom of there is the link to the PDF.  Alternatively, download it from here and get baking!

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Cake & Bake Show 2014

Yesterday I spent the morning surrounded by the sweet smell of sugar at The Cake & Bake Show at Earls Court! I had been looking forward to this for ages and my excitement had grown every Wednesday evening whilst watching GBBO! We arrived bang on the dot of 10am and made our way up the escalators to the show. After picking up our goody bag we were off.

We did a scout around first and stumbled upon the Culpitt stand giving away another goody bag if you filled in a questionnaire. Others must have done the same as the crowd around it was at least three deep! We also found a lot of exhibitors running competitions to win a Kenwood mixer. I entered them all so fingers crossed I win one (and don't win them all!)

After going around one side of the hall, we ventured over to the other side where more of the food stalls are. I hadn't had breakfast yet and was enticed by the smell coming from Little Jack Horners. Makers of homemade sausage rolls, we couldn't walk past without trying them. We got three and scoffed them there and then. Absolutely delicious! And what's more, they do next-day delivery when you order online – brilliant!

Another highlight of my day was the demonstration we watched with all four previous winners of GBBO – Edd Kimber, Jo Wheatley, John Whaite & Frances Quinn. They were all so funny and had such good banter between them. The demo was a bake-off challenge where the two teams had to make a batch of madelines. This was secondary to the chats that Wendy was having with them and the questions they were being asked. We learnt a few inside facts about GBBO, who they are tipping to with this series (a draw between Richard & Luis) and some tips about how to get on the show (have Google on your screen!) After the demo Dave was straight up to grab one of the fresh madelines from Frances & Edd. It was delicious, still warm and very fluffy. I was quite excited to have eaten a bake from the GBBO winners!

I thought I would give you my thoughts about the show:

Pros
• As you wander around you will spot things that you never even considered buying or didn't think you would need but when you see them you want them! For example the baking bags in the left of the pic above. We stumbled upon their stand and thought 'yes we need those!'

• Seeing a host of top chefs and cooks giving demonstrations, chatting and answering questions is great.

• Your choice of cake to eat is endless!

Cons
• If you are looking for general baking equipment eg. scales, cake skewer, baking beans, you may have to look very hard to no avail. A lot of stalls were selling the same thing, sugar paste and items for sugar craft. I don't do much sugar paste work and like baking a lot of different things, not just cakes. I was on the lookout for equipment but didn't find much at all

• Lakeland weren't there. This relates to my point above. They are obviously a very large brand but I think their presence was missed. Even if they were there providing pans, piping bags, cutters etc., there were still enough stands selling decorations, ribbons, cases and boxes that you could have gone to.

Overall it is a great show and I really enjoyed my morning there. I came away very excited about all the bakes I was going to make and the new brands I had seen. Roll on next weekend when I can next bake!

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Shortbread Squares

A couple of weekends ago I was looking for something quick and easy to make for Dave before I jetted of to America. I wanted to tackle my nemesis again and after flicking through my recipe folder I came upon these shortbread squares. Not only did I have all the ingredients, shortbread is also one of Dave's favourites.

These took no time at all to whip up and within a couple of hours I had fresh shortbread making the flat smell lovely. I had to make sure it was ok so gladly tested a slice while it was still warm – delicious!

I made this from a recipe that I had written down but as I didn't note down the origin I'm not sure where it is from! Anyway, here's a selection of shortbread recipes for you from my favourite bakers:

• BBC Good Food
• Paul Hollywood
• Nigella
• Delia (more of an informative article!)

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