As the dark November nights drew in, we thought we’d bring a bit of colour into our evening with our ‘Bright Sparks’ theme. There are many festivals of light at this time of year – Diwali, Hanukkah, even Bonfire Night – many celebrated with candles and fireworks, so the idea was to produce a bake either linked to one of these festivals or simply celebrating light and brightness with colour at this dark time of year.
This was a theme that drew most of us towards sweet bakes, although Sue – joining us for the first time – gave us an interesting sweet/savoury mix of miniature apple tartlets with cheese pastry and chilli jam. She thought the chilli would be perfect for the fiery theme.
Chelsea and Cat’s bakes referenced Bonfire Night – from Cat sticky ginger parkin, a bake from her Yorkshire roots, traditionally served on Bonfire Night. And Bonfire Cupcakes from Chelsea – the buttercream ‘flames’ took ages to get right!
The colours theme was taken up by both Faye and Vicky, with a brightly coloured Funfetti Cake and a swirly Vanilla Cheesecake, and Abigail gave us some beautifully bright Red Velvet Cupcakes.
Jan’s bake was something a little different
– again on the bright colours theme – but with a little surprise… A beautifully decorated Pinata Cake so when we cut into it a cascade of rainbow Smarties fell out!
It was great to see some inventive bakes again this month. Looking forward to Sweet Treats and Edible Gifts when we next meet on 11th December!
The full list of bakes was:
Faye – Funfetti Cake
Vicky – Rainbow Vanilla Cheesecake
Jan – Chocolate Pinata Cake
Abigail – Red Velvet Cupcakes
Chelsea – Chocolate Orange Bonfire Cupcakes
Cat – Sticky Yorkshire Parkin
Sue – Apple and Chilli Tartlets with Cheese Pastry
Winchester Cakes and Bakes 