The Great Brownie Bake Off

Last week I was asked to be a judge at The Great Brownie Bake Off on 9th October at Look Mum No Hands in London. More importantly, I was asked to offer part of the prize, the chance for the winning recipe to be used as part of my "Piece of Cake" range. This is something I am really looking forward to. A chance to taste lots of different brownies (who would argue with that!) and a chance to see the differences in what makes a pleasing brownie to an individual. Brownies are not something that I do at the moment, they are saved for baking with the children, but as I look through what types are out there I begin to realise the size of the task in hand. How will I choose between a sticky gooey cake and a crusty one, how will my own taste compare. When I Google "brownie" I can see how seriously people take this cake and how their interpretation of recipe is vital to the enjoyment. So now my task is to help find a winning recipe that you will all enjoy but is original. I'm hoping to find someone who has taken their passion and tweaked it to perfection.

Now I need your help... do you have the winning recipe? Are you a home baker/non professional cook? Do you fancy winning 6 months supply of chocolate from Divine Chocolate as well as your name being given the credit on  as soon as it goes live? On the day you will have the opportunity to sell your goods on the day with 10% going to the Wheels for Wellbeing Charity. There will also be a variety of excellent demonstrations going on from baking with Edd Kimber to chocolate tasting with The Chocolate Consultantancy ltd. Interested? I'll look forward to seeing you then!

The Great Brownie Bake Off.

Date: Saturday October 9, 2010

Time: 10:00 – 18:00

Address: Look Mum No Hands, 49 Old Street, London, EC1V 9HX – www.lookmumnohands.com

Tube: Old Street

Price: £1.70 entrance fee, which includes re-entry.  Income from entrance fee will be donated to cycle charity, Wheels for Wellbeing.

Twitter hashtag: #GBBOchoc

For more information about the event, please visit: The Chocolate Consultancy Blog

Charity Ladies Lunch with Childrens' Adventure Farm

In June, I had the privilege of holding a stall at the Childrens Adventure Farm Trust’s (CAFT) ladies lunch at Mere Golf and Country Club in Cheshire.  A big event with nearly 300 people attending and something I wanted to do justice to, to boost the charitable donations of the day (you can also donate on my charity page).  I plotted and planned the best things to make for my stall, I am a cake maker by trade, mainly doing large birthday and wedding cakes locally, so I needed something different to sell on the day.  I work a lot with Divine chocolate in the slices of cake that I sell on my website nationally and have recently started doing cake balls… delicious balls of cake dipped in chocolate.  This was my plan! I thought jars of cake balls would be something unique, attractive and ultimately yummy on my table so I placed my order to stock up with Divine’s chocolate to make sure I would have enough for all.  Unfortunately, my order did not arrive in time, so I shot down to the shops and got some from good old Morrison’s!  Not as much as I would have liked but it had a mysterious impact on my day…!  As the ladies arrived and looked over the many things I had to offer including cupcakes, lemon and syrup cake and parkin they also partook of some samples. The most popular of which were the cake balls. Many people were surprised at the taste and texture but also that they were enjoying dark chocolate. Now, although it is something I generally swear by, I know many people enjoy milk chocolate.  Many people commented on how rounded the taste was and not at all bitter.  I directed them to my Piece of Cake and told them if they enjoyed that they would love this!  The moral of the story?  Let them eat cake!  A chance to combine many lovely things in many different ways.  Why not send a slice to a friend and see what they think too!  I’ve only ever heard good reports about how Divine chocolate works with my cakes.  Divine is an inspiration to many, thank you for inspiring so many at such a wonderful charity event!

And with the help of naked butlers and chocolate CAFT managed to raise an astounding £17,000 that day! They are my chosen charity of the year so you can donate now if you would like too!