Sunday 10 October 2010

The Great Brownie Bake Off!

The Great Brownie Bake Off was an event I went to in London yesterday. The Great Brownie Bake Off (GBBO) was organised by Louise Thomas who has the amazing job of a Chocolate Consultant! It was held at the cool cafe/bike-shop, Look Mum No Hands which was packed with chocolate fans! 25 foodies entered their own recipe for the best brownie, which were judged by 11 judges! The judges took the process very seriously – sniffing each brownie, examining texture, colour and taste and much more. Whilst this went on, there were demonstrations…DSCF7923The first demo I saw was by Edd Kimber. Edd is the winner of the BBC’s Great British Bake Off, a fab recent TV series that inspired the days Brownie Off.  Edd demonstrated banana whoopie pies with chocolate ganache and was superb against the tricky audience (distracted by free brownies!) – plus it was his first demo. I wasn’t quick enough to try one but they looked gorgeous and the recipe is now on his lovely blog so I look forward to trying them!DSCF7929 The other demo that I saw was by Stacie Stewart, a finalist from Masterchef. Since Masterchef, Stacie has set up The Beehive Bakery and her own cookery school.  She demonstrated chocolate and mascarpone cupcakes and taught me two interesting baking tips:

1) the reason butter has to be soft for cupcakes is it allows the fat molecules to expand, making your cake soft and light instead of heavy and dry.
2) sugar should be added to a cupcake mix slowly, not all at once, again for a softer cupcake.

I entered the fun with my brownies – I knew were too vanilla-y (accidentally used vanilla sugar!) and didn’t dare pick up my score card but I liked how they looked…DSCF7902 Congratulations to Louise M, the brownie champion, and a huge thank you to Louise Thomas for organising the whole day! It was so exciting seeing the people I’ve watched avidly on TV in the flesh, and tasting many fab brownies. Can’t wait to attend my next foodie event very soon…

12 comments:

Dewi said...

Sounds like fantastic event ! Louise's brownies must tasted really delicious!

La Table De Nana said...

Congratulations to you! You should have picked up your note..you may have been surprised..What a fun event..And I think your brownies look pretty

Kavey said...

Very well done for entering!
As one of the judges, I must say it was a daunting prospect working through so many brownies and scoring them on appearance, texture, flavour, recipe and quality of ingredients.
I tried to be positive about all that I could but also when I was negative to try and give constructive feedback.
Did you manage to get the notes written by the judges on each brownie?

I heart cupcakes said...

I personally love the taste of vanilla so reckon I'd have liked your brownies!

I had hoped to come along to the GBBO yesterday but had to go and buy a new mixer the other side of London. Sounds like lots of fun though - would've liked to meet Stacey!

Lucy said...

Kavey: I saw them being given out but decided not to get mine as was a bit too nervous!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

An awesome event! Brownies are so irresistible!

Cheers,

Rosa

Danielle said...

Sounds like fun! I love baking contests. I think your brownies looked great!

Anonymous said...

Hi Lucy,

Thanks for the link! I had a great day too, but stupidly went home before the announcement, so I didn't get my cards either!

Louise

Faith said...

What a fun event! Congrats to the winner! I actually think your brownies look pretty amazing though!

Rhiannon Bosse said...

What a fun day Lucy!! Your brownies look delectable!! And the Banana Cake sounds heavenly too. I sometimes like the bananas and sometimes don't; so I know what you mean :) Have a great day lady! xo

Choclette said...

Great write up Lucy and looks as though it was a great event to be at. Your brownies look lovely, well done for entering.

Ash said...

what a fun event!! I bet you got to try lots of goodies!!