Stamford cake club saints and sinners

In an historical turn, the Stamford CCC met on Sunday, August 4, for a sermon, service, and slice of cake at St John's Church. This 15th-century church isn't active in the sense of regular services, but rather serves as an historical base for visitors and cake lovers alike. Once everyone arrived in the church and took a pew, standing with my notebook I did feel compelled to give a sermon - but, luckily for the members, I simply encourage some cake eating instead.

It was fascinating to learn about the history of this hidden Stamford gem while we scoffed down 12 cakes, all baked to the theme of 'Saints and sinners'. We had three new members, and three guests, giving a congregation of 15 altogether.

The group was evenly split between saints and sinners (I thought we'd have more sinners!) - six of each:

Saints:
'More tea vicar' Earl Grey cake - Sophie
Angel cake - Kelly F
Low-fat orange and poppyseed cake - Vic
Victoria sponge - Sarah G
Baked berry cheesecake - Katie
Strawberry and white chocolate cake - Anthea

Sinners:
Devil's food cake - Rhoda
Sticky toffee cake - Vicky
Red velvet cake - Katerina
Devil's food cake - Jane
Chocolate orange marble cake - Louise
Chocolate cake - Natalie

Poor Vic had a total caketastrophy - a mechanical failure of her cake tin meant her low-fat orange and poppyseed cake went all over the road 100 yards from the venue.... However, following a detailed risk assessment and in-depth warning sheet, several of us adhered to the motto 'a little bit of dirt won't hurt' and gave the cake a go - and it was delicious. My 10-minute warning from my stomach didn't kick in so we all assumed the 3-second rule on the floor had worked OK.

It was great to see Louise ventured into the realm of baking after coming as a guest a couple of times - long may your lovely cake baking continue! The new tin was worth it!

Despite the rain, everyone had a good natter and enjoyed all the cakes, filling our cake troughs to the brim at the end of the afternoon. Kelly missed out on a couple of cakes in her trough however, as she was chatting too much about the history of the church!

It was great to support the Church Conservation Trust while enjoying our cake and conversation. Giving something back to the community that supports our cake group feels as good as the baked goods in our stomachs.

I'm loving our cake club. I have to admit to being totally nerve-racked during the events, running around like a blue-arsed fly and talking to everyone without actually talking to anyone - I love the organising, and the write-ups afterwards, but I am so nervous and high on adrenalin that I don't enjoy the meetings themselves! I am getting better each month, though, and hopefully one month soon I'll be able to relax...