Amateur Baking Competitions

BriefWondrous

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone know of any amateur baking competitions in Ireland - apart from Great Irish Bake Off obviously :-)

All there seem to be is Sugar-Craft competitions which are completely different, I'm looking more for a competition for breads, pastries, patisserie etc.
Basically a competition where the taste matters as well as the appearance :-)

I haven't been able to find any and I don't understand why - is there no demand for them?

Thanks,
Ciara

MissFlitworth

They happen in agricultural shows/fairs. I know for sure the Royal Meath show has a baking/home goods section but don't think you normally have categories for patisserie or pastries at them

Kovu

Yup as Mrs Flitworth said, they happen all over the country at agricultural shows, these happen in most parishes, for example, in a small radius around me (about ten miles) I can think of at least seven shows that happen every year.

Mohill is prob the largest of these- http://www.mohillagriculturalshow.com/Show%20Schedule%202015.pdf The cookery classes start at page 31 in the book.
Tullamore is another large show- http://www.tullamoreshow.com/competitions/show-schedule-2015 Think it's about page 100 the cookery classes start in that one.

Just check around in your local area, the shows normally begin around April/May and they should be advertised in the local paper.

BriefWondrous

Thanks guys for the quick feedback, much appreciated :-)

It seems like very much a country thing, I'm living in Dublin at the moment and I haven't seen anything like that in my local community.
Although I don't always read the local paper so I guess I'm just missing it, I will definitely keep an eye out in future!

Do ye know why the ranges seem to be quite limited e.g. Brown Soda Bread, Carrot Cake, Bakewell Tarts, Scones?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm genuinely curious!
I would've thought that there might be people who wanted to compete in more technically difficult ranges particularly given the popularity of bake-off etc?

Thanks again!
Ciara

Kovu

They have always seemed to err on the side of traditional bakes. It is definitely a country thing though, I'm 27 now and have been going to shows like them all my life and have never seen much in the way of 'bake off' style cakes. The novelty/decorated cake would be the closest class I reckon.

Meath might be your best bet, or Kildare/Louth. They wouldn't be a million miles away!

BriefWondrous

Ah ok, cool I might take a look at the Meath one early next year! Thanks for the tip :-)

I guess the standard at these must be very high?
I hope you don't mind me asking but do you compete? Is it very competitive?

Kovu

The larger shows would be quite competitive, Meath has Oldcastle and Trim (also known as the Royal Meath show) shows, those are the only two I know offhand.

I'd usually enter a mix of things- Veg, paintings, photos, baking.....cattle :pac::D There are always the hard nuts that will enter almost every class in the hope of sweeping the board as well! The standard can vary, from teens just trying it out for the laugh to ICA members who'd glare daggers at anybody who looks like they might beat them, lol.

BriefWondrous

That's gas, thanks for the info!

Bit disappointed that there's not much around pastry etc my favourite things to bake are macaroons so it looks like I won't be competing with these! :-)

Thank you very much for all your responses!

Thanks,
Ciara