CPB. Event 1.

So kids! Last week was the first Chimney Pot Bake event! And i must say, it went rather swimmingly :)
Both myself and Becca both made a carrot cake and chocolate cake each. That was the only stipulation, one had to contain carrot, the other chocolate. Whatever else was to go in the cakes, was purely from our inspiration.

I knew that I wanted to do one of my cakes as large cupcake, I just thought it would set me apart from the crowd having something smaller. After figuring out that my chocolate cake was more of a show stopper as whole and not to be divided up into smaller cakes, the decision was final. Carrot cake was to become, carrot CUPcakes.

It was a fairly bog standard recipe. I used olive oil instead of the recommended vegetable as i think it makes a lighter cake, mine also included crushed walnuts. No raisons please. (I still can't stomach them anywhere else apart from granola/muesli). They were topped with a deliciously light orange cream cheese icing and an caramelised carrot wafer.

FUNNY STORY ACTUALLY.

There was quite a nice sense of healthy competition between the two of us competing in the blind bake off. Becca and i helped each other out while baking, comparing recipes and whatnot. BUT, when it came to our 'finishing touches' for our cakes, we realised we had the exact same recipe for caramelising carrots. Ever since becoming obsessed with Ina Garten in my early years of baking, i've been a fan of decorating things of what is in the actually food. So i chose to slice wafer thin slices of carrots and cook them in caramel and leave them to air dry so that they became carrot shards. Perfect for topping a carrot cupcake. Guess what kids, BECCA DID THE SAME. It was quite a LOL moment actually, we had the exactly same recipe, whereas i left mine to dry into shards... Becca curled hers into spirals around a wooden spoon.

So, after the votes were tallied. Mine and Becca's Carrot Cakes tied, 2:2. She had opted for a traditional double layer cake with a white chocolate ganache centre, covered in cream cheese icing. HOLY HELL, it was MOIST and YUMMY.

Next up was our chocolate cakes.

Again, i decided to think outside the box and do a flour-less cake, partly to show off and partly because after the pure amount of cake.. i thought it might be nice to have something a little lighter.

The chocolate cakes divided much opinion. My Cloud Cake was amazingly light but at the same time, dense with deep dark chocolate flavour, topped with soft chocolate flecked whipped cream. Becca's was dense, moist and covered with an delectable rich chocolate ganache.

I won 3:1 :)

So, after all that we learnt that we need to advertise the event more. Although the cakes were a triumph, we really didn't get the opportunity to talk about the degree show.

Ah well, we will be doing this soon again, i think with cheesecake and tarts.

Both of our chocolate cakes in the centre. The carrot cakes on the side :)