We can’t quite believe that our 25th anniversary exhibition has been and gone! It was a brilliant weekend with more demonstrations than ever before and the most competition entries we’ve ever received.

The exhibition even had a royal visit from Will and Kate - well, in the form of a giant Jelly Belly Bean portrait anyway! The amazing artwork had pride of place on the stage in the Great Hall, overlooking the trade stands and enthusiastic visitors.

Eddie Spence MBE, Phil Vickery, Beverley and Robert Dutton and members of the Squires Kitchen team opened the show on Friday morning to start the celebrations.
The atmosphere was buzzing with creative people, stunning displays and knowledgeable traders sharing their top tips and secrets for getting the most out of your favourite sugarcraft products. There were lots of new products launched too, including book releases from the Squires Kitchen’s Guide to range; Modelling Sugar Animals by Jan Clement-May, Making Macaroons by Mark Tilling, and Cake Shaping by Helen Penman. The 2011 revised edition of Starting a Cake Decorating Business from Home by Kathy Moore was also launched at the show.

Our judges were amazed at the quality of the competition entries and commented on the particularly high standard – we’d like to congratulate everyone who entered.  The winning pieces will be published in the next issue of Cakes & Sugarcraft magazine, on sale 28th April. The winners won some great prizes from our sponsors National Garden Gift Vouchers, Callebaut, Smeg, Tate & Lyle, Mermaid, Renshawnapier and Squires Kitchen.

Everyone loved watching the demonstrators doing what they do best and visitors went home with the confidence to try new skills and techniques for themselves.
Award-winning chocolatier Mark Tilling unravelled the mysteries of working in chocolate and displayed a huge macaroon tree complete with giant clear baubles full of colourful miniature treats. Alan Dunn and Paddi Clark showed how to make sugar flowers for cakes, Natalie Seldon from Estella Cupcakes and Squires Kitchen’s Ann Skipp demonstrated how to make perfect cupcakes and Carlos Lischetti shared his figure modelling techniques. Other demonstrators included Ceri Griffiths, Jan Clement-May, Helen Penman, Maki Searle, Susan Griffiths, Alyson Lilleyman, Fumi Fukumuro, Vivian Lee, Ildo Nicolello, and BBC2’s The Great British Bake Off finalist, Miranda Gore Browne.

As always, Eddie Spence MBE was a popular attraction at the show, demonstrating his expert royal icing skills and signing copies of his new book.
The Wedding Cake Showroom was beautiful, featuring wedding cake displays from some of the UK’s leading designers: thank you to all the contributors in this stunning area.

We read each and every feedback form that was handed in at the exhibition and were delighted to see that many of you had an enjoyable and inspiring weekend. We are now busy planning the next event and will be taking on board all of your comments.

We would like to extend our special thanks to all those people who helped over the course of the weekend, particularly Andy at the Dish Ceramics Studio for designing the beautiful bespoke trophy plates for the children’s competitions, to Jelly Belly for the Will and Kate Jelly Belly Bean portrait, and to Eden Blooms for the floral displays.

We’d also like to thank the British Sugarcraft Guild, Callebaut, delicious. Magazine, Eddingtons, Guy Paul & Co, McDougalls, Renshawnapier, Patchwork Cutters, Silikomart, Sun-Maid California Raisins, Tate & Lyle, and Unifine Food and Bake Ingredients who generously sponsored products for the goody bags this year.

Thank you too to all who helped raise money for this year’s charity, Macmillan Cancer Support. In total, over £900 was raised for this worthwhile cause, so thank you to everyone who entered the raffle and helped with fundraising over the weekend.

2011 Competition Winners

For a full 12 page exhibition report, click here to buy Cakes & Sugarcraft issue 113 now.