Cake International 2010 in Birmingham, UK... finally!!!

Well, it's about time I let you all in on what goes down at an exclusive cake decorating exhibition... The day after my arrival in the UK, I had rented a car to have for the duration of my trip. I haven't even had my license for a full year yet, so I was pretty freakin' nervous at the prospect of driving on the other side of the road. I had a mini adventure driving through the New Forest with my lovely friend Ranger; the New Forest is my ultimate favourite part of the UK still to this day. It is a region in which ponies, donkeys, pigs, sheep, and cows all have the right of way. You'll be moseying along, cruising through some gorgeous little villages, when all of a sudden you have to stop because there's a herd of ponies hanging out in the road! While I imagine this could get a little frustrating when you're running out the door and late for work, as a visitor, it is so refreshing to visit somewhere that the animals still have the run of the place. Ranger and I stopped off at the New Forest Owl and Otter Centre, where we came across a rather hungry little deer! It was a close escape, but we both made it out alive.

My driving experience that day was pretty uneventful - I didn't have any accidents, and I wasn't even honked at... however, I hadn't exactly travelled very far! The next day, I was heading to Birmingham for the cake show, which was over a 2 hour drive away. I've driven to Toronto and back a few times, but it's not the same when you're in unchartered territory on the other side of the road! I brought my cousin Joan and her sister Jean along with me, as they were coming up for the day and taking the train home at night. I was happy to have the company for that trip, as I was still a little nervous. Luckily, nobody had to wear their crash helmets and there wasn't even a single scream from the backseat. A success all around! We safely pulled in to the NEC at around 10:30am, and that's when the real fun began...

First off - the cake show was definitely anything but exclusive (which is what I love about cake decorating; it brings together the most unlikely of hobbyists!)... there were so many people there, that within the first 5 or 10 minutes of being there, I was immediately separated from Joan and Jean. You really had to stake your ground and take your time to make sure you saw everything. We had thought that by going the first day, we'd miss at least some of the crowd... we were totally wrong, as this was definitely the busiest day.

There were about 5 sections to the whole exhibition - student display cakes, competition display cakes, vendors, live competitions, and workshops. There was some incredible talent at this show. It was so inspiring - and of course some pieces just made you wonder why you even bother! There were some cakes made by children students that would give me a run for my money... why didn't I discover this art all those years ago!? It's kind of impossible to transcribe how I felt while going up and down the aisles of the competition pieces. There was one cake (right) that was decorated only using royal icing which didn't even make sense. I have a pretty good understanding of royal icing and how different techniques and effects are created, but this thing was ridiculous. It didn't necessarily appeal to me aesthetically, but the technique and skill required practically took my breath away. Look at the collar on this thing!! I don't GET it!

After carefully inspecting each and every cake, cupcake, and sugarpaste flower (so much inspiration in one place!), I moved on to the vendor tables. Oh. My. God. Living in Ottawa, we are deprived of a well-stocked, high quality cake decorating supply shop. I do most of my supply shopping online, and a lot of it comes from Toronto. Unfortunately for us, a lot of stuff originates from the UK and is then shipped to Canada. So the prices obviously have to reflect that... but then on top of that I end up paying extra shipping to get it here in Ottawa. (There is a very important reason that I have laid out this thought process... it was my entire justification for buying everything that I did at the show. It was a lot. I had to tell myself this reasoning every 20 minutes or so.)

To be perfectly honest, it's not as though there was anything I absolutely needed... I would have been absolutely fine if I had come home with nothing. But that just wasn't happening. I swear the stuff was calling my name! I could hear it! Even above all the noise and hubbub of the show! Resistance was futile. I won't bother naming everything that I got as it's probably only of interest to me... but I was a happy lil girl at the end of the day when I got back to my hotel room and started going through everything. The photo you see here isn't even close to everything that I got, as I accidentally bought more stuff over the next 2 days of the show.

Anyway... after scouring each and every vendor table, I met up with Jean and Joan (who had lost me and were sent in to a bit of a panic! I hadn't left the show at all, but with the masses of people I guess I was difficult to spot. I even ate my watercress sandwich as I walked! No rest for the wicked!). They were heading back to Southampton on the train, so I gave them a hug goodbye and lugged all of my loot to the hotel. I slept well that night, that's for sure.


On the Saturday morning, I returned to the show to be there when it opened, and I took another walk around the tables. There were a few more things that I hadn't noticed the day before, so I accidentally bought some more stuff. My workshop with Alan Dunn was at noon that day, and I knew it was popular so I lined up pretty early. It was a good thing, too, as the classroom was packed. Unfortunately, as close as I was, I also had a giant pole in front of my view... that was kind of annoying. Nevertheless, Alan did not disappoint - he provided an incredibly informative, entertaining, and inspiring workshop. He was showing us how to make passion flowers - his favourite exotic Christmas flower. I picked up a few really simple but different tricks that will help save time and improve the quality of my work. It was an honour to be able to see him in action! I hope he one day makes it over here so I can take a full course with him.

After the workshop, I left the show for the day. I headed into downtown Birmingham, which was so busy that I didn't spend very long there. It was another early night for me.... On Sunday morning I woke up early and headed to Kenilworth Castle. This was once owned by Sir Robert Dudley - Queen Elizabeth's favourite. She visited the castle many times, and the gardens were installed there specifically for her visits. It has been added to one of my alltime favourite heritage properties. I loved that some of the building was in ruins, and some was still in tact. You really got the best of both worlds!

I went back to the cake show after a pretty thorough visit to the castle. I knew there were a few more things I had intended to pick up, so I wanted to get those before heading in to the last demonstration of the weekend. This was the workshop that was supposed to be held by Eddie Spence MBE, but he had to cancel at the last minute due to illness. Unfortunately, I can't remember the gentleman's name who replaced Eddie for the demo, but he did a very good job. I think he was nervous, as he must have known everyone had really wanted to see Eddie in action - but he did really well despite that. The royal icing was acting up (any change in temperature or humidity can completely ruin a batch), but he worked through it and gave us some really neat tips on creating unique royal icing sunflowers, hydrangeas, and English roses. I quite enjoyed his demonstration!

That brought me to the end of the cake show weekend. It was bittersweet to be leaving - I was so happy and content with everything that I had seen, bought, learned, etc... but as I have no idea when I will ever be able to return, it was sad that the event I'd been excited for for so long was now over! I will have to take comfort in my new purchases and toys... I have come back entirely re-energized, and completely inspired for the new year. Later this week, I'll have a couple of announcements of some big events coming up next year!

OK I think this was a ridiculously long post... Hopefully this was somewhat interesting to you! Keep an eye out for what's going to be coming up soon... And before I go, here's a quick Top 3 of the most innovative things I saw at the show:

1) Sugarveil ... I have read about this before, and have done a little research, but had never seen it in action. It's unbelievable. The Sugarveil people were demonstrating their products, and if I lived in the UK I would probably have been taking one of everything home with me (despite how insanely expensive it all is). I won't go into the details of how they make this stuff, but when they finish, the final product is a lacey and fabric-like piece of sugar that can be folded, draped, tied... it looked amazing, and not like sugar at all; we were even allowed to sample it in order to prove it wasn't a scary chemical make-up, and it was just sugar-y goodness. Amazing stuff.

2) Magic dust ... Completely natural & vegan-friendly coloured dusts and sparkles that don't dissolve (as some naturally coloured dusts do); this was a very popular booth, and I stocked up on a whole bunch of colours!)

3) Stephen Benison's hummingbird cutter (and basically everything at his table) ... I have seen Stephen Benison's stuff before when I attended the other cake show back when I still lived in England, but I still didn't really understand what he was all about. This second time around, I got it. His stuff it quite modern, and very artsy; he has a very distinct style which I really appreciated. These hummingbird cutters were just gorgeous - I didn't buy them, as I couldn't justify the 20 pounds it cost; it's not often that I will get a couple walking in our door asking for a cake adorned with a modern style of hummingbird! But I watched him demo these cutters about 5 times before finally pulling myself away from the table. He is a new inspiration of mine.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!
Don't worry - it'll be a long time before I get back to a cake show and write a post as long as this!
Have a great week, and hopefully we don't get snowed in!
XOXO
M. Kate