On Friday I spent a very enjoyable day at the Squires Sugarcraft exhibition in Farnham. It makes such a nice change to be on the other side of the fence…. free to look around and even sit down for a coffee and chat with old friends – the height of luxury!!
One of my favourite rooms to visit at the exhibition is always the wedding cake showroom. I was actually one of the very first wedding cake makers to have a table in this showroom, back then the showroom was in the ‘Dance Studio’ and I was still taking commissions for cakes – gosh doesn’t time fly!! I love to see how trends influence the styles of cakes on display and how they change year on year. Some cakes were amazing, some were very commercial, some not quite my cup of tea but all of them are made by very talented people who make a living from their passion for beautifully decorated cakes.
So here are some of the cakes that caught my eye:
Thank you to everyone who has helped me put names to cakes, if you know any more details about the remaining cakes please do let me know…..
Love the lime green and black colour combination on the front cake and doesn’t the oversized black double hellebore make a Wonderful topper? I made my first sugar hellebores for a competition piece for the Squires exhibition back in 1997, it was my first ever competition and I remember being totally thrilled that Alan Dunn presented me with my prize!!
I had to include this next cake, being as it’s a wonky, I always like to see other people’s interpretation of what can be done with this wonderful shape! The cakes above and below were all created by Jill Fisher – Cake Creations
This next cake is a true stunner and I’m not usually drawn to white cakes, so this is a rare exception!!! It was created by Liz Finch of “Cakes by Elizabeth Finch“. I love the way Liz has folded over the sides of each petal to create a beautiful textured fabric flower look. And of course, I love the matching mini cake on its own cake stand (was it a cake stand Liz?)
Love Me Tender, I think it was the colour combination that drew me to this simple cake by Janet Endean – ‘The Cake Fairy’
Stargazer lilies have always been a favourite flower of mine so I was naturally attracted to this impressive cake by Louise Wilson – Lou’s Amazing Cakes. The painted detail was superb!
I love colour, as many of you will know, so the cake below by Fiona Barnett caught my eye, I particularly like the board and base tier – flowers are fab!
A lot of work has gone into the next cake
Colour and pattern, in a room full of many white and pastel cakes, certainly made an impact!
It was the cake stand that I first noticed on the cake below……having spent hours looking for stands for my recent photoshoots! Isn’t it lovely and the cake compliments it perfectly. It’s my guess that the stand cake came first and the cake second, but do tell me if it was the other way around! The cake was created by Lucky Sixpence
Of course, I am drawn to the cakes that appeal to me, so my apologies if you spotted ones that you preferred – cakes are very personal and we all have different tastes. If you weren’t able to attend the exhibition this year, I hope you find the cakes I have selected inspirational – perhaps you have a favourite? Do let me know.
You may also Like...
-
I’ve just spent a very enjoyable day at the Squires sugarcraft exhibition in Farnham. It made such a nice change to be on the other side of the fence…. free…
-
Yesterday I spend a very enjoyable afternoon at the annual Squires Kitchen exhibition in Farnham. I always enjoy this exhibition and have been, in some guise or other, at the…
-
Over 25,000 people attended Cake International last weekend... so that explains it! What a show, what a buzz, what a busy stand we had! This is Lindy's 9th NEC Cake…
Denise Allen says
Hi Lindy
Great to see your blog about the show; I went yesterday and although it was so busy to get close access to the exhibits, seeing the cakes in the wedding cake showroom was the highlight for me – so inspirational! Funnily enough, almost to a one, you have photographed and featured here the cakes that I picked out as my “best in show”. My absolute fave is the lime and green colour combo, and I too loved the flowers on the bottom tier of the “bride & groom” cake. I like to make what I consider to be “fun and funky cakes” and so the Love Me Tender cake and the wonky were high on my list – but the Royal Wedding cake with “Love” written on the top tier was one I would have been very proud to have designed and made (featured on an earlier blog of yours I think). Hope to see you at the NEC in November….”tip us the wink” which is the quietest day to go??!! All the best, Denise
Emma says
I noticed that there seem to be a lot of cakes with what look like craft diamonte stick on’s as part of the design – are there edible ones that I don’t know about or how does this affect the ‘edibility’ of a cake? I’d be frightened that someone would eat one by mistake!
Lindy Smith says
Denise
You obviously have similar tastes to me! And yes the red white and blue ‘Love’ cake by Liz Finch was featured on an earlier blog: http://www.lindyscakes.co.uk/Blog/2011/03/11/royal-wedding-sugar-inspirations-squires/
Regards the NEC I don’t really think there is a quiet day!!!
Liz Finch says
Hi Lindy,
Yes – that is actually a tiny cake stand that I picked up in “Lakeland” – I just couldn’t leave it there! One of your mini dummies underneath the icing too.
The cake will actually appear as a project in Wedding Cakes a Design source at the end of April and was inspired by an Alan Hannah wedding gown. So if anyone would like to find out how the flowers were made – all is revealed. They would look great in bright colours too on birthday and celebration cakes. (It’s so hard to get brides to go for any colour!) Simple 5 petal rose and blossom cutters are all you need.
To help with names – the top two pictures are cakes made by
Jill Fisher. “Love me Tender” is made by Janet Endean. “Stargazer Lily” by Louise Wilson. “Fun Flowers” and “Adorned with roses” Fiona Barnett and “Smokey Elegance” by “Lucky Sixpence” – I don’t know the other one I’m afraid.
Liz x
Denise Allen says
Thanks Lindy, my question about NEC was a bit “tongue in cheek” I must admit; sugarcrafting and baking is clearly a very popular pass-time right now! Loving your work, thanks for all the inspiration. D
Fiona Barnett says
Hi Lindy
I can’t believe that you consider my cakes to be inspirational. It was because of your books and designs I started making cakes, and I will always think of you as ‘cake royalty’. I can help with some of the names you are looking for. The top two pictures are Jill fisher (Cakes by Jill fisher), The ‘love me tender’ cake is Janet Endean (The cake fairy), the stargazer lily is Louise Wilson (Lou’s amazing cakes),The next two are mine, the colourful patterned one is from Brooklands college, and the last one is (lucky sixpence)
Jill Fisher says
Hi Lindy,
The black and green cake and wonky cake are my designs and I would like to thank you for the lovely comments. I really appreciate praise from someone whose work I have admired for many years.
I think your ‘dragon cake’is one of my favourite novelty cakes of all time and a design I still clearly remember admiring and amazing at the time it must have taken.
kind regards
Jill
jackie burden says
Cakes 1&2 are Jill Fisher Cake Creations; Cake 4 is Janet, The Cake Fairy; 5 is Lou’s Amazing Cakes and 6&7 are Cakes By Fiona Barnett. Glad you enjoyed your day, I had a wonderful weekend being totally blown away by the work on display!
Lindy Smith says
Thank you Fiona, Liz, Jill and Jackie for helping me put names to cakes, I really appreciate your input.
Best wishes
Lindy
Lindy Smith says
Hi Emma
This is an issue and yes I spotted some too! I however assume that the cakes in the wedding showroom were all dummies so not designed to be eaten! I would not recommend sticking diamonte directly to a real cake, one that was to be eaten – too many health and safety issues. You can buy edible diamonds for cakes but they are not as impressive or as shiny as the real thing!
Janet Endean says
Hello Lindy,
Many thanks for giving my ‘Love me Tender’ cake a mention, it lovely to have such a well known cake designer noticing your work. It was a scaled down version of the original design, which was to have a juke box topper with red and black dots decorating the side of the cakes (must start earlier next time).
I had a wonderful and inspirational time at Squires and lots of catching up with all the other ladies in the Wedding Cake Showroom
Yvonne says
Lindy, just found your blog so this is my first time here. Thanks for posting pictures of the cakes, they are all wonderful and amazing and the time taken to make them must be amazing. My favourite is the green and black one though, loved it straight away!!!
xx
Lucky Sixpence says
Hi Lindy,
Thanks for the lovely comments about the cakes in the Wedding Cake Showroom. Our cake Smoky Elegance that you like the stand of was as you rightly said inspired by the stand – we planned a vintage pink and grey cake after purchasing the smoky glass beads, we knew we wanted art noveau piping around the sides and when we saw the stand it was just ideal to pull the whole thing together – it’s amazing what an afternoon on ebay can produce!
Kind regards, Rachel and Louise (lucky Sixpence)
Rachel @ Yummi Cakes says
Trully stunning Cakes and the photograph quality is amazing!
Victoria says
Love the smokey elegance cake! x
Lisa says
Love the hand painted Lilly cake! I think these type of designs will be popular in 2012.
Mille @ DIY wedding cakes says
oh wow – what fabulous cakes! As a young-ish cake maker it is so nice to see some fun & funky cake designs. They are such an inspiration. I made my own wedding cake (married last Dec) and at the time thought it was a good idea!! What I didn’t realise was what a bad client I was!! It was so hard trying to narrow down a design when I love so many different designs and styles. In the end I went for a classic 4 tier ivory cake with sugarpaste flowers finished off with satin ribbon and a vintage brooch.