With The Great British Bake Off starting on TV this evening there’s no better time to get into the spirit of baking a cake and in Leicester cakes don’t come better than from Bitsy’s Emporium of Awesome. Now, lucky for you, Bitsy is opening up her Emporium and her creative mind and inviting you lot in to learn how she makes her beautiful creations.
Lucky for us here at Cool As Leicester, we’re good mates with Bitsy, in fact we were in the kitchen when she made some of her very first cakes. Since then she’s gone on to bake cakes for everyone from corporate events and weddings to Mcfly and Ed Sheeran. Yep… she made cakes for Ed Sheeran. Here’s the photo proof, look.
One thing that Bitsy has become known for is her creative design skills and she’s going to be teaching you a little about this in her 2 workshops focused on rainbow cakes. If you’ve ever wanted to know how to decorate and create your own rainbow masterpiece, this is your chance. There are 2 workshops, one looking at the rainbow layer cake and the other focused on unicorn cupcakes. Of course, you’ll even get to take the cakes home with you.
We caught up with Bitsy to find out a little more about what’s in store, her business and what else she has planned!
How did you come up with the idea for the workshops?
With the “Great British Bake Off Culture” of today everyone loves making a good cake and I often get asked lots of questions and for tips on social media so I thought people would like to learn how to sprinkle a bit of the cake magic that I sprinkle daily personally with me. Sat at the table in the Emporium. We’ll have a lovely a nice time.
Who are the workshops for?
Anybody with hands and an interest in pretty baking! I have had enquiries as to a starting age and I’ve decided to go with 15 years for the rainbow cake class and 12 years for the unicorn cupcake class. Mainly just because it’s a little easier to smooth buttercream on to a layer cake with bigger hands if that makes sense. But I’m guessing anyone under 15 is going to be brought the class as a gift so it’s really left to the discretion of the gift buyer. Whilst they can be a little fiddly it’s totally easy once you’ve had a go and got the hang of it! That’s why I’m going to teach you.
What skills will attendees learn from the attending the workshops?
With the rainbow cake you’ll be learning to level, layer and crumb coat your cake to get the best base. You’ll learn how to colour layer your buttercream for the rainbow effect and get a lovely smooth finish on your cake. You’ll also learn to make a fondant rainbow to top your cake!
With the cupcake class you will learn how to get the multi coloured rainbow effect using just one piping bag! You’ll learn different piping techniques and will also be making a fondant unicorn and other fondant toppers for your cake.
You also get hand drawn recipe cards and instructions so you can go home and do it all again from scratch including baking your own cake!
And the best bit is this all goes home with you so you can show off to your mates and eat alllll the cake. All for a super reasonable price!
Tell us a bit more about Bitsy’s Emporium…
I started making cakes for friends about 6 years ago. Just silly cupcakes and stuff. But I wanted to be GOOD! So I literally worked my arse off to get better. All self taught and I know how important and helpful it is to actually get hands on! Hence these classes. I now make all sorts of amazing celebration cakes and wedding cakes for really awesome clients. Including some celebs (Ed Sheeran, McFly, Example, Frank Turner, Billy Bragg, Warpaint, Bon Iver)! For all order enquiries please get in touch at [email protected]
What is your absolutely favourite cake you’ve ever made?
I love love love the trainer cakes I made. Just because the finished articles were so real looking it was insane! I would love to be able to teach classes to make stuff like this. But there’s a lot of swearing and crying normally involved when I take it to this level and I don’t think that needs to be shared!
Will there be more workshops coming up in the future?
Maybe! I’ve only managed to fit two dates into my diary this year though so don’t miss out!
Do you or would you also offer private bookings for cake tuition?
Yes! I also offer workshops For bigger parties like hen parties and birthdays. For any enquiries about this kind of booking please contact me on [email protected]
Bitsy’s Rainbow Cake Decorating Workshop will be held on Saturday 2 September from 11am to 2pm. Places are very limited and cost £48 (which includes the cake to take home). Book your place via Eventbrite.
The Unicorn Cupcake Workshop will be on Saturday 9 September from 11am to 2pm and places cost £43. Book via Eventbrite.
Both classes will take place in Leicester City Centre at Bitsy’s Emporium on Southampton Street.
For more information you can follow Bitsy’s Emporium on Facebook or Twitter.
