You know you’ve married the right man when he agrees that a visit to a show which celebrates cake and bread is simply the best way to spend a spring Saturday.
So yesterday saw us trotting off to Manchester to the Cake and Bake Show at Manchester Central.
We had a spanking time. Plenty of stalls with inspiration for baking and decorating cakes. Speakers in the various “kitchens” throughout the day. Artisan bakers and flour millers. Vintage tablewear.
Right up our street.
We bought flour and another banetton for The Husband. Piping bags and nozzles for me. I might have succumbed to a couple of recipe magazines.
And some oversized Bonne Maman jars which each hold a bag of sugar and are too cute for words.
The best purchase of the day was two beautiful Hammer Stahl knives.
It’s taken us nearly seven years to agree on a set of knives, so I wasn’t passing up the opportunity.
I attended a macaron workshop with Rashmi from Anges de Sucre and came out muttering repeatedly “how have I never eaten macarons before”.
image from http://www.angesdesucre.com/blog/
Oh my! They were wonderful. Rashmi completely demystified the making of the Italian meringue. And, yes, she really is that cute in real life. I’m totally committed to giving these a go…I’ll report back!
The day at the show rounded off with the delicious Eric Lanlard showing how to make fabulous petal paste decorations for the top of cupcakes.
He is delightfully funny, quite naughty and so ridiculously skilled at icing a cupcake, it would make you weep. Even with cream cheese topping melting under the heat of the lights, he piped perfect swirls and peaks without missing a beat in his delivery to the enraptured audience.
The cakes weren’t bad either! 😉
To round off the perfect day we treated ourself to dinner at Browns. (with apologies for crappy iPhone pictures).
Lobster linguine…
Salt caramel cheesecake…
Hazelnut martini…
And this, plus the red wine we also had, is why I’ll never be a size 6. 😉
But I’m a very happy girl! And I have all the ingredients for macarons in the kitchen…
Pendle Stitches 
Sounds so exciting! I love looking at all those kitchen utensils. I never had macarons either despite having lived in Belgium and Luxembourg…you’ll have to tell us what they taste like…can’t wait to see yours.
I’m always a happy chicken browsing in kitchen shops so this was a real treat. I can’t recommend macarons enough. So perfectly delicious.
Oh yum! What an awesome event. Is love to go to one, one day.
It was fabulous. I’m itching for a little quiet time to have a crack at the macarons.
Looks like a brilliant day! I was tempted to get myself a ticket and now I wish I had, next time!
I can recommend it. It’s smaller than some of the sewing shows but lovely and inspiring nontheless.
What a delicious way to spend a Saturday! And yes, please do report on those macaroons.
I certainly shall. I’m contemplating salt caramel and peanut filled….hopefully divine!
How much fun does your day sound… Those knives look wonderful! And I was a latecomer to macarons as well — I don’t think I ever had one until about 5 years ago — but it was love at first bite!
Love at first bite…that sums it up.
We were like fools last night chopping up bits of green beans with no effort. The knives are as perfect in use as they are beautiful to look at!
Oh. My. That looks amazing. And Knives? Pffft. Even better 🙂
It ridiculous how excited we are about having a couple of lovely knives…
Oh you lucky, lucky lady. Sound slike a perfect day with your darlign husband 🙂
It was perfect. I love that we have a shared interest as well as our individual ones. 🙂
I really am very envious!What an amazing day the pair of you had. I started making macarons a few weeks ago and after a few fase starts I now seem to have got the hang of them and making them has now become something of a passion. The only downside is that my fridge is full of egg yolks. Hope that you post some photos when you next make some. 🙂 xx
I have one word for you…carbonara! 😉
I’m hoping to have a crack at them next week when the wee ones are back at school. I shall post pics…even if they are disastrous. I think they may become a bit of an obsession here too! 😉