My sugar coated life...: Cake International 2012

Last weekend saw the return of Cake International. The event used to be yearly in Birmingham at the NEC but the recent baking boom has seen it expand to 2 new locations in Manchester and London so you can get your cakey fill 3 times a year. Yessss!

There are a few new cake events that have popped up this year but Cake International has been around the longest and attracts competitors and demonstrators from around the world so the range of cakes on display in the competition is always fascinating.

The competitions are what attract a lot of visitors and once again the standard was very high! There were some new categories this year and I see from the website that there will be even more introduced at the Manchester show in 2013. I had a few baking buddies who entered cakes this year and I'm pleased to say they all came back with merits/medals - I'm very fortunate to know such a talented bunch :)

I attended the exhibition on Sunday and had a great day out. My first stop was Sweet Success (gotta respect the workplace) and I calculated I must have done 7 laps of the place before deciding to spend my pennies. know, I'm as surprised as you are! Although, my first 2 purchases were piping nozzles which is somewhat less surprising...

If you haven't been before I'd definitely recommend attending. I've only been to the NEC exhibitions but there are demonstrations you can book onto throughout each day which is great if you want to learn a new skill. Most stalls also have live demos happening which I always find fascinating as some new products need to be seen to be believed and being able to talk to demonstrators can be invaluable.

Most stalls also advertise 'show offers' which can be really good but I'd still recommend taking a shopping list as I did notice some prices were extortionate and being caught up in the moment can leave untold damage on your credit card :o

I'll leave you with a few of my favourite cake pictures including the work of same of my friends as I just wanna show off their amazing talents. Did you go to CI? If so, do tell what you bought! What was your favourite cake?