Easter was approaching, and the Big London Bake had organized another exciting British bake-off. The attendees were given the opportunity to create a cake and enter it in a competition with other individuals.
It is a two-person team baking a cake, and all of the elements are in good working order. The attendees had 90 minutes to mix, roll, and drizzle our way to a delicious baked good. Also, the directions, materials, and tips were given on how to make a masterpiece (or a complete disaster).
To begin, I'd visited their previous London locations and found them to be more enjoyable and relaxing than the one at their new location, The Big London Bake East.
The new location is fantastic, and when we arrived, we were greeted by a refrigerator-like door, which was amusing and intriguing. The whole place is decorated quite nicely and looks really cool.
The start time for the competition was unclear because they appeared to begin early. Everyone was already in aprons and cooking when my friend and I arrived. As a result, we didn't know if they explained how the venue operates and the protocols at the outset. Fortunately, I had previously attended their other baking competitions, and we soon worked out what to do. The event was generally disorganized, and those assisting didn't appear to be particularly enthusiastic.
The staff seemed bored, and they appeared more concerned with ensuring that attendees would not use too many ingredients. They were also moving quickly and not ensuring that everyone knew what was going on. The woman who set up the oven for us, for instance, because she was distracted and inattentive, set it to the wrong temperature. After reading the recipe card, I noticed it was at the wrong temperature and that we needed to change it after ten minutes. As a result, our cake ended up not baking quickly enough, and because of that, it had to cool down later than others.
As a result of that setback, we finished late and were told that we wouldn't participate in the contest. They hadn't started judging yet, so we asked for a little more time and were permitted to bring our cake over and enter it into the competition. Nobody seemed to care about minor mishaps like this, even if their staff caused them.
Overall, the way they ran it was rushed and uncomfortable, but it was a good time. We baked a great cake during the competition, albeit slightly undercooked, but we had a lot of fun.
The judges were not allowed to taste the cake, perhaps because some cakes could have been underdone, and they didn't want to risk falling sick; they never explained why, but they only rated it on its appearance. That's unfortunate when you're looking for feedback on your cake's flavor, moistness, and other qualities, not just its appearance.
Finally, it was supposed to be an Easter explosion cake, but they only had a limited quantity of Easter ingredients, such as the toppers. We had to do a dog instead because we ran out of Easter-themed ingredients. Everyone, including ourselves, was dissatisfied; we had actually intended to prepare a bunny-shaped cake. It didn't and still doesn't make sense why they didn't have bunnies, yet it was Easter.
I was only disappointed in the actual venue because of the lack of ingredient supplies and the staff's service, which appeared rushed, inattentive, and unsatisfactory. But overall, it was a delightful and entertaining experience. In my opinion, it is ideally something to do with a partner or friend to put your communication skills to the test while having fun at the same time.
