Clandestine Cake Club Dundee

I have been pondering starting a cake club in Dundee for some time. I have hummed and hawed and generally put it off. I have friends who are already in the club and love their meetings. I am always reading about their creations and their excitement as each meeting draws closer. So, I decided to take the plunge and start a club. I got in touch with Lynn Hill the Founder of The Clandestine Cake Club and wheels were set in motion.

Next thing I had to do was find some members. I put a little shout out on facebook to see if there were any takers. I thought a small group would do to start with. A few people got back to me to say they were interested, so it seemed like it was a good idea after all.

While I was on The Scarlet Bakery facebook page (I did a cupcake decorating course with them last month), I saw that there was mention of a cake club, so of course I piped in to say I had started The Clandestine Cake Club in Dundee if anyone was interested. A few people were and this is where I met Becca, my co-host.

Becca has a small cake business and blogs over at Becca Bakes. It turns out that Becca had also submitted a request to host a club in Dundee. So, I asked Becca is she wanted to co-host with me and the Clandestine Cake Club Dundee was born.

For our first venue I approached the lovely Sinead from Whitehalls Bar & Grill, a fairly new restaurant in the heart of Dundee city centre.. She was delighted for us to host our first cake club there.

We had our first meeting in Whitehalls on Sunday .My plan was to get to the venue early,  ready to greet everyone as they arrived. Unfortunately things rarely go to plan.

Sunday was earmarked for a trip to Ikea. Cooper had a great time running around spotting all the arrows and keeping us in the right direction. He even had his own wee trolley so he could help. We got everything we went for and Graham didn't get too irate. It was all going swimmingly until Graham took a wrong turn coming out of the car park and we got lost. This is when I realised how invaluable it was to have Becca as co-host. Becca was there in plenty of time and I arrived with my friend Andrew only slightly harassed.

What a fabulous evening it was. The venue was perfect, the staff were friendly, there was a jazz band playing in the background and there were eight of the most terrific cakes to taste.  Our theme was 'Getting Fruity' and our bakers came up with a good variety of cakes. There was a Date & Orange Ring, a White Fruit Cake, a rather spectacular Hummingbird Cake, a St. Clements Cake, a Victoria Sponge with a Strawberry Filling, a Blueberry & Raspberry Sour Cream Cake with Cheesecake Frosting, White Chocolate, Blackberry, Rose & Lavender Cake and my own offering was a Flourless Chocolate & Raspberry Brownie Cake filled with Creme Fraiche and piled high with raspberries. My cake did not look impressive set beside all the others, but everyone got stuck in and there wasn't any to take home, so that is a good sign.

Such a lot of cake. Even though we brought tasters, invited other diners and staff to partake, we came to the conclusion that we need more tasters next time. There was a bit of a competition as to who could taste the most cakes, but I had to step down from that one. I won't name names.

Everyone went home happy, with a selection box of cake, a group of lovely new friends, full tums and a smile on their faces.

Roll on the next meeting!

If you would like to join or even start up a Clandestine Cake Club, head over to the official website for more information. The Dundee club now has 23 members and counting.

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Whitehalls Bar & Grill

13 Whitehall Street
Dundee
DD1 4AA
info@whitehallsdundee.co.uk
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01382 200811