. the cAke & bAke show . aKa . cAke . cupcAkes . & . a little bit more cAke .

after the excitement of the start of the new series of the Great British Bake Off you'd have thought i'd have had my fill of cAke . { although i'm not sure there is such as thing as too much cAke ? } . i settled down to watch the first episode with a little miniature version of the showstopper . a perfectly-portioned-for-one black forest cupcAke . a lovely light chocolate genoise sponge . with a light cream cheese frosting . & . a chocolate dipped cherry on top . tomorrow i am tackling the signature bake . this wonderfully delicious looking madeira cake with caramelised tangerines from eat in my kitchen . which will be lovingly handed over to my sister . { well out of temptations way ! } .

but back to the subject of this post . many many weeks ago i took a little roadtrip up to hArrogate in search of cAke . lots & lots of cAke . & . the first stop on this cAke hunt was the cAke & bAke show . a little haven of baking heaven for bakers & eaters alike . after first being { almost } seduced into buying a beautiful Smeg mixer . { yes, i am certain i would be a much better baker with one of these . or a KitchenAid . or to be fair even the lovely KenwoodChef mixer that seems to be the subject of much Bake Off controversy } . we wondered through to a wonderland of cake . & . chocolate . & . more cake . & . a few cupcakes . & . well, yes, a bit more cake . even for a cake lover like myself it was a little overwhelming . so in answer to my question above, yes, perhaps there is such a thing as too much cAke !  but, we did our very best, we walked, looked, chatted to the lovely cake sellers, tasted a few things, bought a few things, & here are my favourites from the shOw .

. cumi's quirky baked treats .

one of the sweetest stands at the show with a wonderfully vintage vibe . gorgeous mis-matched china hosted the most whimsical { princess castle } & { snow white } cupcAkes . { dreaming of a chocolate } brownies . { you're the road to my treasure } rocky road . all named in the loveliest of ways .

. crumble & slice .

one of the friendliest stands at the show with a very tempting array of sweet treats . beautiful bags of pillowy soft marshmallows . & . lovely little layer cakes perfect for one . & . i loved the meringue slabs . as did a lot of other people too judging by how few were left in the tray ! 

. big bakes bakery .

possibly the stand that made me smile the most . wonderfully kitsch with gingham & polka dots . over-sized . over-the-top . & . all in instantly recognisably classic favourites . just looking at those jammy dodgers makes me smile { & then slip into a sugar induced coma ! } . & . if you struggle to choose between cake & cookies then choose the jammy dodger cupcake & have the best of both .

i'm now off to pin lots of biscotti & cookie inspiration ahead of next weeks biscuit week on the Bake Off . 

. have a very sweet dAy .