Celebration is sweet success for sugarcraft guild

The get-together at St Mark’s Church in Brickhill on Monday, October 2, welcomed current and former members of the branch and colleagues from Luton, Milton Keynes and Wellingborough.

Members of the Bedford branch served up a wonderful buffet of sandwiches, scones, choux à la crème, together with a two-tier fruit and lemon celebration cake decorated with sugar flowers and diamante. There was also a very decadent death-by-chocolate cake and an Alice in Wonderland themed display of cupcakes and biscuits featuring white rabbits, dormice, Cheshire cats, caterpillars, playing cards and Mad Hatters.

Around 80 enthusiastic cake bakers and decorators from across four local areas enjoyed a most social occasion swapping tales of legendary cakes, hints and tips amongst themselves as well as admiring the cake displays …. and then eating them!

A highlight of the evening was a demonstration of how to make delightful and quirky sugar crafted figures by Georgie Godbold, the nationally renowned sugar artist/author and international demonstrator from Essex. These ‘Wobblies’, caricatures of people, animals and objects, are made from fondant icing and pipe cleaners that wobble gently when touched – hence their name.

Georgie has visited the Bedford branch several times over the years to demonstrate her skills. As creator of ‘The Sugar Wobblies’ she had crafted hundreds of such models and had brought with her an eclectic selection of her work to show to the meeting. Georgie kindly donated the ‘Wobbly Dolly’ she had made in the demonstration to a raffle.

An enjoyable part of the demonstration was the relaxed and highly amusing banter between Georgie and her friend and demonstration partner, Beryl Puffett. A specialist in creating sugar flowers, she often accompanied Georgie. The branch had discovered that Beryl had very recently celebrated her 90th birthday and she was was very surprised and delighted when presented with an orchid and a birthday cake on behalf of the branch.

Bedford Sugarcraft Guild are a group of enthusiastic cake bakers and decorators of all ages, from total beginners to the more experienced, who meet montly on Monday evenings at St Mark’s Church.

Meetings consist of demonstrations, occasional hands-on workshops with tea, coffee, biscuits and a raffle during the evening. The cost is £2 for members, £6 for non-members, (workshops extra). There is also a Cygnet Group for young people (8-16 years) who meet monthly on Saturday mornings. The branch is open to new adult and Cygnet members who may be interested in learning more about sugarcraft.

Contact the branch secretary, Val, on 07594 674202 and the Cygnet Leader, Bev, on 07933 775326. Find The Bedford Sugarcraft Guild on Facebook.