Northern Ireland Sugar Expo

WOW. I'm not really sure what much more I can add to that. I've not long returned from Northern Ireland where I have competed at the first Northern Ireland Sugar Expo. And I am returning home with another Best in Class. As I said....WOW.

The NI Sugar Expo was being produced by a cake friend Emma and I wanted to go to support her, never imagining the standard of entries would be so ridiculously high! Northern Ireland, and Ireland, as a whole, have some of the world's leading cake artists and of course they were all going to come to play and enter!

Being a smaller show than the previous two I have competed in, it was friendly, and relaxed, and just so lovely to be at. I made new cake friends and caught up with old cake friends, we ate, we drank, we laughed, a lot!

But on to the cake. Being Northern Ireland I took inspiration from the green surroundings and nature in general. Beautiful greens with splashes of gold contrasting beautifully against the crisp white. The bottom tier resembled something like an artichoke, the most delicate pressed herbs growing up the cake, and the crown placed gently on the very top was a swirling sea of greenery like a crown you may find on Mother Nature herself.

I am overjoyed to have another Best In Class, more certificates and even a medal, to add to my growing collection. But with each competition I feel the stakes are ever higher, people seem to expect success, and I place more weight on my own shoulders to meet those expectations. This is the last competition now until Cake International, and I am taking on board all the judge's feedback to come back to CI with a showstopper of a cake. Fingers crossed!

Love