The ultimate competitive baking experience.
Are you a fan of the Great British Bake off? Do you enjoy a brew and a biscuit whilst you watch, or do you sit on the sofa, screaming at the TV – don’t open the oven! Maybe even think to yourself ‘Oh, I could do that!’. Well, I’ve got some good news for you.
If you live in or around Leeds, you probably already know about this little gem. Ready steady bake it is a quirky activity that is perfect for anyone. Couples, friends, co-workers. You name it.
From star bakers to soggy bottoms, it doesn’t matter how skilled you are. Ready steady bake it is a fantastic experience for bakers of all skills. Whether it was the odd loaf of banana bread during lockdown (yes, I see you!) or deliciously colourful macarons, it’s a fun, exciting experience that you definitely don’t want to miss out on.
How does it work? That’s the big question – and the answer is a simple one really. Think back to those Saturday afternoons you used to spend in the kitchen with your grandma as a child. ‘Helping’ to make a deliciously fluffy Victoria sponge filled with strawberry jam and cream. Now forget all of that. Ready, steady, bake it! is exactly what it says it is.
You and your friends or co-workers will go head to head against the clock to bake and decorate a cake in as 90 minutes. For you pros out there, this sounds like nothing. However, for those of us who aren’t quite on par with Mary Berry, things get pretty intense. Pretty fast.
The staff at Ready steady bake it! will give you the recipe for the month. I visited here in January 2022, and the recipe for this month was the anti-gravity cake. Already, at the sight of those words my inner inexperienced baker fell into a whirlpool of panic. But I pulled up my big girl pants and got on with it, for the team!
Working in pairs you’re required to create the cake on the recipe given to you within the allotted time, no pressure. You’re given your ingredients which are all pre-measured out (sigh of relief). With the recipe changing each month, that means the ingredients will too. In my experience, I had the chance to decorate my cake with sweets. Some of them obviously had to go through quality control, just to make sure they tasted good…
As time ticked away, the announcements of how much time we had remaining had us running around the kitchen like headless chickens – in a true GBBO fashion.
After a solid 90 minutes of whisking, beating eggs, staring through the oven window and a bit of amateur icing, the cakes were finished and ready to be judged. And OH, were they judged.
Swooped away from your station and taken to the front of the kitchen, your cake was then put in a line-up so everybody could look at the variety of cakes that were created. Some undeniably much better than others.
Overall, this was an extremely fun experience and I would recommend to anybody who is in the Leeds area to get down there and give it a go.
If that isn’t enough, you get to take your cake home with you. AND – you don’t have to wash the pots. It’s a no brainer for me!
Pandora'z Blog 