Year of the Cake: An Evening with the Edinburgh Cake Ladies

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the Edinburgh Cake Ladies first event of 2012 at the uber earthy Earthy Foods Cafe.  I say uber earthy because this cafe is all about local, fresh, in season, and good for the environment...organic veg, free range eggs, fair trade coffee and fully biodegradible diapers under one roof! Not to mention that local artisanal cakes and pastries and lunch time goodies.  

This is the fourth bake I've been to and I have to say it just keeps getting better and better.  These ladies (no gents this time) know how to bake...and more importantly they know how to eat and work the cake buffet. 21 cakes this time...all different...and all incredible.  

My colleagues at work think I am totally bonkers when I blab on and on about the Cake Ladies and the great people I have met and our mutual love of not just eating cake but baking it.  It is so apparent that each and every cake I have ever tasted at the cake ladies has been born out of love (and maybe a few stressful tears) and that's what I enjoy the most.  These ladies love to do this, some are in the food industry, some are just setting out (more on this another time) and some...like me...wish we could quit our day jobs and do what we love.  Bottom line is the Cake Ladies don't judge...

I arrived a little bit late and the feeding frenzy had well and truly begun, but I managed to get a couple of snaps before the plundering really took hold.  Two of my faves in the foreground of this picture Made By Fi's moorish Bakewell Cake and Michelle's gorgeous Raspberry Ripple.  Ashamedly I didn't manage to eat them on the night...but snuck two rather large slices home in my doggy bag! Two I didn't manage to get a decent picture of were Edinburgh Eats' luscious Espresso Chiffon Cake and Sophie from Scottish Food and Drink Fortnight's Parsnip and Maple Syrup Cake (I know...parsnip...so great!) 

One of the bonuses (if there were any) of arriving fashionably late was that my cake plate was infact a Cake Slate Plate! I don't, as a rule, like slate plates...but for cake it was incredible...more like a platter, actually! On here you can see Lea's drool worthy Tipsy Trifle Cake and the lovely Helen's Red Velvet Cake (my all time favourite cake flavour). 

The other piddly piece on the slate? Well, that's mine! 

My family favourite...(Nearly) Dead Apple Cake, which I blogged about way back in September 2009.  I have to say my reasons for picking to make this cake were numerous, but I mostly picked it because it is one of the first cakes I learnt to make, it is one of the first cakes I ever made for David when we met at university, it is one of the first cakes I ever blogged about and it is probably my comfort cake.  It makes me think of so many happy times, and also the time the ants got into it at my mum's house one summer and they came crawling out when it was sliced...but, thankfully that didn't happen last night.  

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Shhhhh it's a secret...the 3rd meeting of the Edinburgh Cake Ladies

It is hardly a secret...the word is well and truly out...the Edinburgh Cake Ladies are in print! Last Thursday I attended the 3rd meeting of the Edinburgh Cakes Ladies, hosted by the wonderful Hilary of My Monkfish fame.  

The theme this time...Bake Your Fear...

And my fear I did bake...I've been nervous about making this pumpkin roll with orange cream for a while.  The recipe was given to me by my brother's girlfriend...who just happens to be a fantastic baker.  While the original recipe is for a gluten free treat there are instructions for regular flour.  

I've never made a swiss roll/roulade cake before so I was pretty nervous...and the fact that a large group of spectacular bakers was going to be sampling something I had not made before...yikes! Well...I tell a small lie, I did practice the cake over Thanksgiving weekend...mere days before the ACTUAL event.  

Now...to the event itself...what an evening! There was a fantastic sugary buzz in the air all night and I managed to try more cakes than I did at the previous event, where I ashamedly only ate 3 slices...shame shame.  The selection of cakes were incredible and I was totally in awe of each and every one of them.  I loved the selection, I loved the effort everyone made, and I loved loved loved the cake.  

If the baking of a new "fearful" cake wasn't enough...a journalist from Scotland on Sunday was writing a feature about the EVENT and there was a photographer shooting what seemed like billions of snaps...

Read the Official Blog for links to other member's entries...and for further info about the spectacular Edinburgh Cake Ladies!! 

Oh! The groovy photo of my cake was taken for the Facebook album...can you believe I didn't get one decent snap of my cake?? 

SHHHHHH it's a secret...Edinburgh Clandestine Cake Club

Edinburgh ladies (and gent) sure know how to make cake...and eat it too! Yesterday evening I attended (with some trepidation) the second meeting of Edinburgh Cakes Ladies' Clandestine Cake Club at Frederick's Coffee House.  I will not lie...I was nervous...as I tenderly wrapped my cake in foil and slowly made my way over the cobbled streets so as not to damage the icing too much I couldn't help but think about how my cake might stack up...was it really Cake Club worthy?  Only one way to find out...

The event was themed...The Last Cake on Earth...and the only stipulation...cakes must be full sized (no cupcakes).  I actually had a lot of trouble deciding what to make...lemon...vanilla...red velvet...chocolate? I finally settled on Nigella's Devil's Food Cake from her Kitchen book.  I love Devil's Food Cake...rich, moist chocolate cake with a thick, glossy chocolate ganache icing.  I'll be perfectly honest, before "practicing" for this event, I had only made Devil's Food Cake from a mix...sometimes Duncan Hines really is THE only option...but, I am converted, this cake is light, it is moist, it is full on chocolatey and the ganache is easy to make and even easier to devour!

Walking up the stairs to the cafe I was nervous...seriously...but upon seeing the tables of cake laid out before me and all the lovely ladies (and gent) snapping away like the paparazzi my nerves subsided somewhat.

At six o'clock on the dot the feasting began...and boy do these ladies (and gent) know how to eat cake! I was totally embarrassed by my lack of cake eating skills...seriously! I managed to make my way slowly through 4 slices...Lemon coconut, Red Velvet, Carrot Cake and then a lovely berry loaf cake.  I'll be honest, I couldn't even FINISH them all.  There was something like 25 cakes brought in total...it was incredible.

My cake club virginity truly became evident when people started taking tupperware containers out of their bags and choosing slices to take home....TAKE HOME! I hadn't even thought that there would be cake leftovers! I honestly underestimated the sheer amount of cake.  I snagged a largish slice of ginger cake, another bit of carrot cake and a little bit of my own to take home to enjoy when I can pace myself!

A big thank you to Allison for organising and to Frederick's for the venue (I'll be back...) and, of course to all the amazing bakers and eaters!!