Tuesday 5th November 2019
Once again, cake decorators, sugar artists and cake fans from around the world descended on Birmingham for the biggest weekend in the cake calendar; Cake International at the NEC in Birmingham. What a brilliant weekend we had! It was incredible to meet so many people and see the work of a range of talented cake artists. It was an extra special weekend for us because we got to introduce you all to our brand new products.
We have added 2 brand new colours to our Ready to Roll Icing range in Autumn Gold and Latte. Autumn Gold will add a lovely warm tone to your cakes, and it also makes an ideal base colour for creating a metallic or shimmering gold tier using metallic paints or lustres. Latte is a soft colour which pairs perfectly with other neutrals, as well as pastels for a candy effect. It’s also the perfect fur colour if you’re creating an animal-themed cake like a Pug.
Visitors to our stand also got to sample or new Marshmallow flavour Renshaw Extra, which was a huge success! Renshaw Extra is extra strong and extra stretchy so it can be rolled extra thin for tall tiers or sculpted cakes, and our new Marshmallow flavour version is extra tasty too.
And for those fantastic flower crafters and model makers, our classic White Flower and Modelling Paste is now available in 1kg packs. Pretty good, eh.
But that’s not all…our good friends at Rainbow Dust joined us to launch their brand new Twinkle Dust – think Lustre meets Edible Glitter in a gorgeous shimmery sparkle. We can see Twinkle Dust in Snow White being a Christmas cake must-have this year.
We were very fortunate and appreciative to be able to support some fantastic features and collaborations at Cake International this year with a range of Renshaw and Rainbow Dust products. Did you get to catch all of the amazing creations on display?
This incredible lifesize polar bear was created by Emma Jayne Cake Design to celebrate and honour His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. Nearly 200 kilos of Renshaw paste was used for the fur, which was a 50/50 mix of Renshaw Extra and Belgian White Chocolate Modelling Paste! The armour was also made with Renshaw Extra, coloured using dark brown and black Rainbow Dust ProGels, then textured and gilded with Metallic Golden Sands Lustre and their brand new Twinkle Dust.
This interactive feature was a scarily good tribute to the work of Stephen King. Cake artists from around the world contributed spooky pieces made in gruesome detail, but we’re not scared to say we loved it! Visitors were greeted at the entrance by a full-size moveable IT cake…or was it…? Either way, it was our nightmares brought to life! Sugarlicious Cakes by Karen (Finalist – Cake Decoration Business of the Year 2019) was inspired by Carrie for her shockingly realistic pig creation.
Another great collaboration, this one led by Hayley O’Beirnes of Gadget Cakes, which united a wide range of cake artists for the great cause of raising money for Help Harry Help Others Cancer Charity. In Santa’s Grotto you could find a range of retro toy-inspired pieces, many with moveable parts, like the unicorn with flapping wings, the Furbie with opening eyes, and the lifesize moving Reindeer that you could feed! As if that wasn’t enough, you could also sit on Santa’s lap and tell him what you wanted for Christmas, in the fantastic festive piece created by Rob Baker-Gall of Mr. Baker’s Cakes.
The winner of Cake Decorating Business of the Year 2019, Shuga Budz, had their first stand at Cake International this year. Amelia Nutting was inspired by British artist Peter Smith for her feature and brought his ‘Impossimals’ to life in icing form. Amelia’s feature cakes were absolutely flawless, and she got Peter’s designs spot on!
This stunning collaboration led by Michelle Pattinson (VS Cakes) was inspired by the beautiful wedding dresses and evening wear of Ian Stuart. The team brought their individual creative interpretations to their pieces and captured the intricate details of the dress designs. The inspirational dresses were also kindly loaned to the feature which really did make it feel like you were inside a frock shop!
We hope you had a great time at Cake International, and if you didn’t get to make it this year then we hope to see you there next time!