The Cake and Bake Show 2015

On our annual visits to the Cake and Bake Show, I was looking forward to seeing the new show in a different location, that of the ExCel in the East End of London. I thought the show would be bigger and better than ever, but was a little disappointed. Although the space seemed larger it was very cramped and there seemed to be fewer places to buy various baking and sugar craft supplies. 

This year we decided to do a class and went to see a brilliant tutorial on how to make sugar roses. We also saw some great tools for sugar crafting and there was a range of delicious foods to sample and buy. I had a delicious pulled pork hog roast with crackling that was delicious, and I did bring some brownies and cupcakes home with me to try.

This years show competition was children's books, and it was amazing to see some of the creations that people had submitted. Children's literature is such a large topic, but a few people had chosen similar ones and it was great to see how they had interpreted them differently. It was hard to pick my favourite but I did love Paddington Bear, he was so lifelike!

Beatrix Potter

Peter Rabbit in Mr Macgregor's Garden

Various Beatrix Potter Characters such as Peter Rabbit, Jeremy Fisher, Jemima Puddleduck and Mrs Tiggywinkle

Matilda by Roald Dahl

Cruella deVil with Puppies from 101 Dalmations by Dodie Smith

Paddington Bear by Michael Bond

Disney's Pinnochio - Original story by Carlo Collodi

Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Original story by the Brothers Grimm

Alice in Wonderland by Alice Carroll

This was may favourite of all the versions - I loved the vintage playing cards and the March Hare was very sweet, plus it had a real working pocket watch!

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Harry Potter by J.K Rowling

New additions to the baking library

Recently I treated myself to three gorgeous sugar craft books. Not only do they have gorgeous and tasty things in them, but they also look beautiful on my shelf as well!

The first is Chic and Unique Wedding Cakes by Zoe Clark, and although I'm not making one in the near future, it's great to look through and get some ideas! I have my Nan's birthday coming up and I have a fab idea for what she may like, all from perusing the lovely cakes. The step-by-step instructions are so clear and she has given some lovely alternatives for mini cakes, cupcakes and cookies.

This Flora wedding cake design was inspired by a beautiful Caroline Castigliano wedding dress

My second purchase was Cakes in Bloom by Peggy Porschen, who is my absolute favourite cake decorator. This book takes you in picture steps though how to make a range of stunning sugar flowers to adorn cakes. This book focuses purely on the flowers as decoration rather than the cake itself, but as usual there is the very helpful section at the back that gives gorgeous recipes and tips on filling, covering a dowelling cakes. It was really hard to choose my favourite designs in this book, they all look almost too real to eat! 

My third was another Peggy Porschen book, Cake Chic. It does exactly as the cover promises, includes a stunning collection of chic baked goods. From cookies to cupcakes, fondant fancies to tiered cakes, everything is gorgeous to just look at, let alone eat! I'm really looking forward to making  something from this book, as there are lots of projects to practice piping techniques, and this is something that I really want to improve on. I haven't had a lot of practice and I think this would be a brilliant place to start.

I love Tiffany and Wedgewood Blue and would love to have a go at making this cake with all it's piping. It looks so simple but I have a feeling that getting all of those dots perfect will be a challenge!

I bought a cameo mould at last years Cake and Bake show and I have yet to use it. This would be the perfect project for its first use.

So simple yet so stylish! Love these cameo biscuits.

The Nest - Wardrobes completed!

I am very happy to announce that I have finally got completed gorgeous wardrobes! We finished them this weekend and I am so happy with the way they have turned out. They finish off the room perfectly and look so clean and fresh, yet have a gorgeous country print that fits in with the location and style that I had planned.

All of the credit for the making has to go to my mum and she did a fantastic job. Originally I wanted to go for completely flat curtains as this would show off the fabric perfectly, however to make sure that the fabric filled the space properly, we added a gentle gather at either end to ensure that the edges were hidden. The curtains also have weights sewn into the bottom so that they will hang flat once they have settled. 

I also have some fabric left over, so I shall be looking for my next project to use it up...!