Cake Mission – Cake Convention/Everything Baking Perth
Have you ever wondered what goes on at a Cake Convention? Cake Appreciation Society sent their Chief Taste Tester over to Perth for Australia’s first Cake Convention/Everything Baking Show February 4 and 5. Follow the Cake Mission here.
Flashback to a few months ago
An early morning phone call wakes me up from a deep sleep…okay so it’s nearly 8 o’clock here but for a person who didn’t always know there were two 5 o’clocks in the day, it is still a rude awakening. It’s Cake Appreciation Society HQ on the line. I can hardly keep up with what’s being said due to the excited screeching at the other end of the phone. ”Buddy Valastro, the star of the Cake Boss is coming to Australia for the first time for a live show and there’ll be a Cake Convention and Everything Baking Exhibition and cake competition and oh yeah, it’s going to be held in Perth! Your mission should you choose to accept it is to go there and report on it. Are you in?” Is Posh Beckham up for attending an international fashion parade fresh from the birthing suite I ask? Of course I accept…you had me at ‘CAKE’!
London, Paris, Perth
Why in Perth, the most isolated capital city of the world, cake lovers wanted to know, especially those living in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and everywhere else not on the far west coast of Australia. The story behind Australia’s first Cake Convention/Everything Baking Exhibition goes like this. A terminally ill lady in Perth had a wish to see Buddy Valastro, the Star of the American TV Show The Cake Boss. Perth radio station Nova 937 contacted Julia Pergoliti, the Director of Cupid’s Delight Cake shop and Cake Artist’s Australia and then in conjunction with Make A Wish Foundation arranged for Buddy to visit Australia. From that initial wish request, evolved the Cake Convention and Everything Baking exhibition.
What a proud moment that will be when the doors swing open at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre on Saturday 4 February 2012. It’s a coming of age celebration for cake artists, cake decorators and cake lovers in Australia as well as for those attending from overseas and naturally where there’s celebration, there’s cake but on this occasion, there’s going to be lots and lots of cake all under one roof. Of course it goes without saying that the Cake Appreciation Society is a firm believer in it being a ‘small cake world after al’l and that cake brings people together all over the world. You can feel the excitement mounting as the aroma of sweet smelling cakes fills the air above the city of Perth.
Why Perth?
For those who live outside of Australia, it’s probably worth mentioning the distance between the east and west coasts of Australia. Unlike Europe where it’s not a big stretch to have breakfast in Italy, lunch in Switzerland and dinner in Austria while cruising comfortably in a car, here in Australia we’re talking about a plane flight from Brisbane to Perth for example which takes 5 hours travelling at an average speed of 800 plus kilometres per hour.
According to Perth tourism promoters, Perth is no longer simply a nice place to holiday on the Western coast of Australia. It’s all grown up as a cosmopolitan city with a host of cultural activities and leisure pursuits on offer. It boasts being Australia’s sunniest capital with more than 3000 hours of sunshine each year, a coastline comprising of 80 kilometres of pristine beach, more than 1.5 million residents with the highest population per capita of self-made millionaires in the world and the largest inner-city car park which is even bigger than New York’s Central Park. Surely, that impressive collection of boasting stats explains why Perth is as good a place as any to host the Cake Convention/Everything Baking Show. As Chief Taste Tester for the Cake Appreciation Society, my mission would be to discover the vital statistics of cake decorating and cake appreciation in Perth.
Cake Mission Launch
Cake Mission Launch Day arrived and meant an early morning start to catch the first flight of the day to Perth. Packing my bag was the easy part. The essentials for a travelling cake appreciator are quite minimal and include elastic waisted pants, a few free flowing caftan tops and comfortable walking shoes. The not so easy part was walking out the door with a young daughter who’s a budding baker, asking why she couldn’t come along as well. I couldn’t bring myself to tell her about the child friendly baking workshops and even a cake competition that toddlers can enter at the Cake Convention.
On board the flight I was leafing through the inflight magazine when a review of Sherbet Cafe and Bake Shop in Perth caught my eye and made me start fantasising about trying the nostalgic recipe cakes they have on offer including classic treats such as Vanilla Bean Cupcakes, Gingerbread Loaf, and gluten free options such as Turkish Orange Cake and the decadent and popular Red Velvet Cake.
I began to wonder, would this mission turn into a cake version of Man VS Food? I’d originally planned to check out The High Tea at the Hyatt Hotel which was highly recommended by those who’d previously been there, done that. The dilemma was I’d be arriving in Perth at lunchtime but it would actually be afternoon tea time according to east coast home time. I opted to throw caution to the wind. Any time is cake time for a woman on a Cake Mission!
A quick peruse of the inflight menu prepared by Luke Mangan, one of Australia’s leading chefs and restauranteurs didn’t bring much joy for cake appreciation. Banana bread was the closest thing to cake on the menu and to satisfy the chocolate cravings, there was Toblerone Chocolate Bar selling for $5.
Just over 5 hours in a plane is a long time between cakes! The clouds outside the plane window were starting to resemble fluffy meringues or was that buttercream? Speaking of meringues, word at Cake Appreciation Society is that meringues might be the next big thing as they seem to be popping up like field mushrooms after some Summer rain. They’ve been spotted at various markets and in cafes. (Not Macarons, but baked clouds of egg white and sugar, flavoured with vanilla or chocolate and about the size of a large scone.)
And speaking of Macarons, thanks to the publishers of Virgin Australia Voyeur Magazine for including a recipe for Chocolate Macarons from the Savour Chocolate and Patisserie School which I’m pretty sure they won’t mind my sharing with you as compensation for having to sit in front of a screaming baby the whole flight. This recipe is one of the best ones for easy to follow instructions for successful Macaron making which is handy to know because there’s many a tragic story to be told about Macaron disasters especially from those attempting them for the first time.
Chocolate Macaron Recipe
Makes 20
Ingredients
190 grams ground almonds/190 grams pure icing sugar/Additional 20 grams icing sugar/20 grams Callebaut Cocoa Powder/150 grams castor sugar/7 egg whites/pinch Cream of Tartar
Instructions
1. Crack egg whites one day in advance and let them sit uncovered at room temperature. Combine the ground almonds and pure icing sugar in a food processor (do not create a paste) then sieve with additional icing sugar and cocoa powder.
2. Whisk egg whites with Cream of Tartar. When egg whites are semi whipped, gradually add castor sugar.
3. Sprinkle almond mixture into whipped egg white and fold through until the mixture is supple and shiny.
4. Pipe onto a lined tray 3cm diameter and 1cm in height. Bake at 150 Degrees Celsius for about 10 minutes.
Ganache Filling
260 grams thickened cream (35% fat)
20 grams unsalted butter
280 grams Callebaut Dark Couverture Chocolate (58% )
1. Boil cream and pour over the chocolate. Whisk together then add the butter and mix.
2. Cover and set aside for 2 hours before sandwiching Macarons together with ganache filling
Pre-Event Cake Warm Up
I hit the ground running, not literally thank goodness as the plane did touch down on the tarmac smoothly but with less than 60 hours to spend in Perth and the stopwatch counting down, there was no time to waste. Straight into Perth airport where the pick of the cake fare was at Dome Cafe, a franchise which you’ll find dotted all throughout Perth. A better choice one could say than at some airports but no match to Dubai Airport which has Paul, a French Patisserie franchise conveniently placed at regular intervals that act as pit stops as you walk from one end of the massive airport to the other and I’m sure would provide a reason to visit the airport even if not flying anywhere.
At the hotel, obligatory check in details done, I didn’t even stop in the room long enough to adjust the air conditioning off the temperature of ice making. The Concierge suggested I need to venture outside of the central business district in order to locate some really good cake. Coincidentally he also mentioned Sherbet Cafe and Bakery as a must -visit destination and I was convinced that was the place to go when a local lady standing next to me said they have great cakes with a glazed look in her eyes at the mere memory of her last visit there. The only catch was that Sherbet is located at Mayland which is either a taxi or train ride away from where I was staying. In a moment of random adventure seeking, I chose to catch a train. This was much easier said than done however as I’ve only ever been on a train once or twice in my life back home. Luckily for me, there was a very nice young man to help me out with the process of purchasing a ticket, negotiating the maze of platforms to find the right one and then waiting for a train to head in the right direction and knowing which stop to get off.
In another stroke of luck, Shertbet Cafe and Bakery turned out to be located directly opposite the train station. The shop itself reeks of nostalgia with laminex tables, tin signs, and a great array of cakes that don’t look anything like the commercial pre-frozen ones typically found in most cafes today. There were still a good half dozen cakes on display at the time of my visit although most were down to just half cakes by that time of the afternoon. After a lengthy decision-making process involving eeny-meeny-miiny-mo, I chose the Coconut and Raspberry Cake with Lemon Syrup after being told that the last piece of baked cheesecake had been sold. The cake was served on a vintage plate with fresh whipped cream and took me back to an age when you’d probably catch the train home from school and Grandma would be there with a nice big slab of home made comfort cake and a tall glass of milk. The only difference now is it was a Piccolo coffee instead of the milk and the cake and coffee cost me $10. Not the cheapest cake and coffee around but as stated on the blackboard sign, all the cakes are baked in store using the freshest free range, highest quality ingredients and the proof is in the taste. They also make whole cakes to order.
Coconut Raspberry Cake with Lemon Syrup
Unfortunately time waits for no woman on a cake mission and the enjoyment was cut short because I remembered the train ticket is only valid for a return trip within 2 hours. On the way back to the train station, I stopped off at Chapel on Whatley, a place that can’t be missed with lots of red Chinese lanterns hanging along the shop front. Here, the cake cabinet offerings including Macarons, Rocky Road slice, and scones. Chapels stock over 80 teas from Tibet, Korea, Japan, Ghana, Vietnam and Mongolia as well as a selection of herbal teas, French teas and blooming teas. The blooming teas are most fascinating to watch as they unfold and ‘bloom’ when hot water is added. I’d first experienced the delights of a blooming tea served during High Tea at Melbourne’s iconic Windsor Hotel so just had to buy a little take home pack of the blooming tea. Chapels offer Tea Tasting for groups of four where you can learn all about the exciting world of tea.
There’s so many more places I would have liked to visit but time did not permit. The Official Day 1 of Cake Mission will be commencing bright and early in the morning so I bid you Sweet Dreams Cake Lovers!
Tags: Buddy Valastro, Cake Artists Australia, cake boss show, Cake Convention, cake decorators, Coconut Raspberry and Lemon Syrup cake, Cupid's Delight, Everything Baking, everything baking exhibition, Macaron Recipe, Macarons, meringue, meringues, Perth convention centre, tea tasting, The Cake Boss