Karen Wright: Looking forward to March after a flipping fantastic February

​​It is hard to believe that we are in March already. I love March, it heralds the start of spring, when the days are longer, and the bite of winter has hopefully been left behind.
By Karen Wright
Published 2nd Mar 2023, 17:15 BST
Matt Allwright and Karen cut the cakeMatt Allwright and Karen cut the cake
Matt Allwright and Karen cut the cake

I had a fantastic February though, quite a whirlwind of activity that was mostly, but not exclusively, work related.

In one burst of five days I had two slots on the demo stage at Wakefield’s Rhubarb Festival, two workshops in the Ridings, one hen party baking event at York and a full day with the Caravan and Motorhome Club at the NEC in Birmingham.

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For the NEC, I was commissioned to design and make a huge cake. On this occasion I wanted to use Victoria sponge, rather than rich fruit cake, so I had to be super organised and efficient with my time as the sponge has a short shelf life and I didn’t want to risk a dry sponge for such an important cake.

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I think that my planning and organisational skills were honed to a tee during my time on Bake Off.

With so many bakes to make, recipes to develop, and deadlines to meet, I now seem to be able to fill my diary and juggle my busy days with ease.

Back to my busy week then. First up, the Rhubarb Festival. On the first day we were battling a storm.

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I was first up on the demo stage and the pesky weather was causing a few issues.

The induction hob I was using went from four rings working to just one.

You know, it didn’t matter in the least! I had students from the college to help and a large supportive audience and we had a fabulous time despite it.

The afternoon’s workshop in the Ridings was great, the kids took home a rhubarb crumble made with their own fair hands.

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The hen party in York was a dream and my second demo in the Rhubarb tent went perfectly too.

Onto the big cake: it was assembled in the evenings over the weekend and on the Monday, I proudly delivered it to the NEC.

The event opened on Tuesday, which was pancake day so I did a couple of stints flipping them to the delight of our club members.

Matt Allwright from Watchdog helped me to cut and serve the cake, it was so big I am sure we must have served several hundred people.

What a fantastic day, I thoroughly enjoyed every second!

Related topics:Karen WrightYorkRidingsWakefieldBirmingham