A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to attend a very special Clandestine Cake Club event at John Lewis in Leeds. Located in their Place to Eat cafe, this was very different to any CCC's that I had been to in the past.
The theme was "Never Knowingly Underbaked" and as the event was due to take place at 5pm on a Monday I decided to treat myself to an afternoon off work as I knew there was no chance I would get from Bradford to Leeds in time. Thankfully Tom didn't have any after work commitments so he could do the nursery run and bedtime. With the date in the diary I asked my bestie Rhianne, if she wanted to come along too.
I haven't spent an evening with Rhianne where I wasn't "mum" in so long, before I had Ethan in fact. As he was breastfed it was more hassle than it was worth to try and be away during bedtime so to have an afternoon off work where I got to browse around the shops and catch up with my bestie was a real treat.
The reason why this event was so special was due to the hard work of our CCC founder Lynn and one of the Leeds members, Duanne (who works for John Lewis). Between them and thanks to John Lewis they had organised fantastic goody bags for all of us bursting with treats from Nordicware, Mac and Lancome to name a few. The lovely staff from Clarins were also there offering free mini treatments - Rhianne had a hand massage while I opted for the shoulder massage and oh my, that was much needed. The beauty therapist actually commented that my back was full of knots, I guess having a one year old will do that to you!
I had such a lovely evening catching up with old and new friends (and my bestie of course) but the best bit of all was marveling at all of the delicious cakes that every member had produced. I think I managed a slice of all of them, they were divine! People often ask me are we judged at events but I remind them time and time again that CCC is not a competition, it's quite simply, a group of home bakers sharing their love of cake.
I'll let the photos do the talking as let's face it, pictures of cakes are more appealing than my rambles! I've also vlogged the event too - I do hope you like it. Thanks to Lynn and Duanne for organising this and an extra special thanks to John Lewis for such a wonderful event.
A lovely post Clare. Great pictures too. It was lovely to see you and Rhianne. I'm pleased that you both had a great time. I was told I had a few knots too.
I'm Clare and I'm a Belfast girl married to a Bradford boy. We live in a small village on the edge of Leeds with our two little boys, Ethan and Dylan. I love to share my baking and family adventures - please stop by and say hello.
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A lovely post Clare. Great pictures too. It was lovely to see you and Rhianne. I'm pleased that you both had a great time. I was told I had a few knots too.
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