Galway Bake Fest Round up

Galway Bake Fest 2014 took place at the weekend in Leisureland in Salthill in aid of ACT Meningitis. With a fantastic turn out it was great to see the amazing cake entries for the cake competition as well as meeting some great small Irish businesses all in aid of such a wonderful charity.

We arrived just as Lilly Higgins demo started on the Saturday. Lilly made some amazing ‘raw’ recipes which included a chocolate & hazelnut cheesecake which tasted amazing and not an oven in sight. The main piece of equipment used was a food processor which is the great thing about raw cooking. She then showed us how to make mini carrot cakes which unfortunately were devoured before I got a chance to try one.

Lilly serving up that beautiful raw chocolate and hazelnut cheesecake

Up next on the demo stage was top blogger Nessa Robbins showcasing how to make scones, blueberry compote and sweet and spicy chickpeas.  After watching the demos the hunger definitely kicked. The first stop was the Waffle crepe stand and looks like Lilly was feeling a bit peckish too. The  Nutella crepe was just what I needed.

Wandering around the stalls I met some great food businesses such as these:

A great stall which has some gorgeous knitwear such as these cute little tea cosies. 

Cornude.ie was a great find. It is an online shop selling artisan popcorn ranging in all types of flavours from smoked paprika & lime to strawberry & cream. Yes they tasted as good as they sound and they deliver nationwide!

If you love all things baking then you will love stuff4cakes.ie an online shop selling anything and  everything related to baking.

The amazing Cake Dahls were also on show at the festival:

The Bake Fest was aimed at families with lots of activities for kids and they did not disappoint, they have nail painting, face painting, gingerbread man decorating, clay making and drawing.

One of the winning cakes from the cake competition. How amazing is this cake?! 

In April 2008 Siobhan and her husband Noel lost their beautiful 4 year old daughter Aoibhe to Meningitis.

Siobhan, “Losing Aoibhe changed our lives and we felt we needed to raise Meningitis Awareness and try and set up some  support for families and individuals affected by Meningitis”.

In August 2011 they set up ACT for Meningitis. They offer free support services to those affected by Meningitis.

The services include: 

• Free counselling service..for families or individuals who have been affected by Meningitis
• One to one service. Contact with someone who has had a similar experience to yourself can provide valuable support.
• Free Family Support days,bringing families together to share their experiences of Meningitis .Parents can get to meet each other while their children can play together.
• Creative therapies, including play and art therapy which helps children deal with the impact of the disease..
• Alternative therapies, including Emmett & Bowen therapy
• They also distribute hundreds of meningitis awareness cards around the country every week and also give free Meningitis awareness presentations.

Check out the website here