One of the highlights of 2020 was helping to host THE GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE OFF 2020 SUMMER PICNIC. We were overwhelmed by the support from WordPress bloggers and we truly hope you enjoyed this international blogging event as much as we did!
It’s important to remember that what makes the GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE OFF so special is you – yes the great bloggers that make up a warm hearted friendly international community on WordPress. Without your fantastic baking photos, wonderful poems and your lovely comments it would not have been anywhere near as much fun!!
To make it easy for to find the baking photographs, special guest poems and all the other fun that made up this special event, we have compiled a directory of all the posts featured during our 2020 SUMMER PICNIC weekend!
Many of you were able to take part in THE 2019 and 2020 GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE OFFS, so you will have an idea of what to expect this year.
But we know there are lots of new bloggers who are keen to take part this year and wondering how THE GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE OFF works. Well…I have prepared two separate pages featuring all of the fun from last year and the year before. Please feel free to peruse them to see how we went about hosting THE GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE OFFS.
This is a family fun blogging event, one of the sweetest gatherings on WordPress, a chance for you to discover many wonderful bloggers. We will be featuring baking photographs from lots of truly great bloggers. Many bloggers will be creating their own posts to feature their baking, and we will create links to their posts so you can find their blogsite and see other posts they have created.
The 21st and 22nd August will be the weekend we display all of the baking photographs that bloggers have sent us. WordPress will be flooded with pictures of yummy bakes and stories to warm your heart! This year…it will be in the format of a FESTIVAL OF LOVE!!!
We have an amazing judge, Jeanne, who is the creator of the fantastic foodie website A Jeanne In The Kitchen. After we have featured all of the entries for this year’s 2021 GREAT BLOGGER’S BAKE OFF FESTIVAL OF LOVE, Jeanne will decide who to award the accolade of 2021 STAR BAKER to.
If you cannot bake, please do support all of the other bloggers who have sent baking photographs in by viewing, liking and commenting on their work. We would love you to forge links with other fabulous bloggers and contribute to a warm international blogging community who can always be counted on to bring a smile to your face and warm your heart.
We are thrilled with the photos coming in already from bloggers who are baking from the heart for THE 2021 GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE OFF FESTIVAL OF LOVE!
Now is the time to bake and to send in photographs of your bakes (older bakes are fine!) to:
crushedcaramel@gmail.com
…so that we can start preparing posts to feature your work on 21st and 22nd August 2021 during the FESTIVAL OF LOVE!
Our theme is LOVE and we are asking you to bake from the heart, or share something special from your heart.
do you have special memories of baking as a child?
was there a recipe your grandmother handed down to you?
would you like to bake something special for the person who has won your heart?
is there someone you want to thank for their support through challenging times?
is there a family pet who you could pay tribute to in cake-form?
is there a bake that makes your heart glow with happiness?
This year’s GREAT BLOGGERS BAKE OFF is all about international flavours, family fun, music, the joy of giving and will be a celebration of love!!! For what the world needs now…is LOVE SWEET LOVE!
Gary, Jeanne and I are very excited about THE 2021 GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE OFF FESTIVAL OF LOVE. Please do send in your baking photos now to:
crushedcaramel@gmail.com
…so that we can start to prepare posts for THE FESTIVAL OF LOVE which will be held 21st and 22nd August 2021.
Every year we receive questions about THE GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE OFF and I try to get back to everyone with helpful information. I have compiled a few tips below that may help you find the answers to any questions you are wondering about:
YES – you can send in older baking photos. They don’t have to be bakes that are made in the next three weeks. That would be a lot of pressure. This is all about having fun. But as it is the school holidays for many – if you could take the chance to bake something as a family – my we would especially be delighted!!
NO – your bakes do not have to be perfect! In fact, the truth is that we particularly love baking mishaps. Although we have an amazing judge and give out STAR BAKER accolades, this is not so much a competition, but more about having lots of fun and supporting one another! One of the highlights of the past two years were seeing some kitchen catastrophes exhibited.
YES – of course we love bloggers to prepare their own post featuring their own bakes. We will make sure we create links to your posts so that other bloggers know how to find your site. Please mention THE GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE OFF because we want to make sure lots of bloggers know we are holding an event that will enable them to discover some wonderful wonderful bloggers! But if you don’t have time, you don’t have to prepare your own post. We welcome your photos anyway, and we will prepare a post to feature your baking photos.
NO – there is no limit to the amount of photos you send in – however, if the amount of photos we receive is too crazy, there is a possibility we won’t be able to feature a hundred entries from the same blogger.
YES – you can advertise THE GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE-OFF on your site or on your social media pages so that your readers know that they are very welcome to join in the fun.
NO – you should not feel bad if you cannot bake. But we would absolutely love you to take part by viewing the posts of the bloggers taking part, liking and commenting on their posts.
The suspense has been hard to endure! After the amazing display of BAKING and PICNIC creations we saw from THE GREAT BLOGGERS of WordPress, we have awaited with breathless anticipation for the announcement of the 2020 STAR BAKER!
At last our wonderful judge Jeanne, the creator of A Jeanne in the Kitchen, has had chance to peruse all of the gorgeous photos she received and has made her decision!
Scroll down to discover who THE GREAT BLOGGERS BAKE-OFF 2020 STAR BAKER is…
Please give a huge cheer to this year’s STAR BAKER…
…and to find out who it is…click the link below to read Jeanne’s post where she makes the announcement!!!
It has been a hard year for so many of us. In one way or another, we have all been anxious, stressed, confused and afraid by the events of this year.
That’s why this weekend has been an absolute joy for us! Thank you all for a perfect perfect weekend! WordPress bloggers and writers and all those who joined us for the weekend have made us forget so many of our worries and look forward to great times ahead.
For our final post, we are featuring the PICNIC creations of our 2019 STAR BAKER, Sheree, the creator of View from the Back. Sheree certainly knows how to picnic!!! This is the post she published sharing with us the contents of her PICNIC basket:
And you really do need to visit Sheree’s post…there are so many amazing PICNIC snacks…I did not know which to show in this post! I hope you had chance to see Sheree’s STAR BAKER (2019) interview. If not, head on over, it is great!
What a great day! What amazing BAKES and PICNIC creations. We have seen some outstanding talent and we have drooled throughout the parade of photos sent in by our superb bloggers.
I want to say a few THANK YOUS to some very special bloggers who behind the scenes have been supporting THE GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE-OFF 2020 SUMMER PICNIC to make it something very special. The first person I would like to thank is:
Last year Bee was one of our wonderful bakers who made a beautiful sandwich cake (last year’s themed challenge). Bee is not only a very strong and inspiring woman (and if you follow her posts, you know exactly what I am talking about) with a heart of gold, but she is also a wonderfully supportive blogger. Bee – thank you so much for reblogging our promotional posts and drumming up support for this year’s GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE-OFF. We appreciate all that you have done! We send you so much love ❤
In addition I would like to thank our special guest contributors who both wrote stunning poems for this weekend. Our special guests were Puman, the creator of paeansunpluggedblog and Kristian, the creator of Tales from the mind of Kristian, two of our great WordPress force of creative writers. We love your work.
Thank you also to the WORD OF THE DAY hosts – we loved that you chose CAKE for your WOTD on Saturday!! We loved seeing the creative posts from the many great bloggers out there who were inspired by this theme!
We are super grateful for all of the bloggers who have supported this weekend by viewing, liking, commenting on the posts featuring our amazing BLOGGERS who submitted photographs, and thank you so much for visiting their sites and making blogging connections! That is what this awesome BLOGGING PARTY has been about – contributing to a fabulous BLOGGING community!
We would also like to thank Jim Adams, the creator of A Unique Title For Me, the host of the hugely popular SONG-LYRIC-SUNDAY, who very kindly chose a baking/picnic theme for SLS. He has helped to make THE GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE-OFF even more of a party all day on Sunday!
I would also like to thank Jeanne, the creator of A Jeanne in the Kitchen, who is just the right person to handle the judging – I think Gary and I are agreed that we would not know where to start with choosing a STAR BAKER! Jeanne has a huge task this year. What an amazing array of BAKES and PICNIC creations. After this post, you won’t hear another word from me about THE BAKE-OFF until after Jeanne has revealed who the 2020 STAR BAKER will be – it’s so exciting!!!!!!
Special thanks go to Gary, aka bereavedandbeingasingleparent, who last year had the idea of holding a BAKE-OFF FOR BLOGGERS. We have been so impressed to see Gary take on extraordinary BAKING challenges in his own kitchen which quite frankly we are still trying to come to terms with – apologies to any who were offended by the Soufflé. I am so glad that Gary had this idea to begin with…and it is such a joy to work along with him on throwing the most awesome BLOGGING PARTY on WordPress!!!
And then there is Jack! Now…I have two reasons to thank Jack. First of all because all weekend he has been looking after me! He has been making me drinks (he went out and bought a watermelon so he could make Ribana’s watermelon cocktail!) and he made me a summer fruits salad too! He injured himself trying to recreate a Choco Lava Mug Cake, so I had to play nurse yesterday afternoon. (Hee hee, in a wholesome way!) I am so glad he has been willing to keep me company while I was glued to my laptop all weekend.
Secondly, because some months ago, when I told Jack that I had been planning for THE 2020 GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE-OFF, but then the coronavirus seemed to wreak havoc everywhere, I was worried it might not be possible this year (because we could not find flour, eggs or baking powder at the supermarket)…Jack thought about and said, “why don’t you open it up so that anyone who cannot bake, can still make something foodie?” Jack suggested a PICNIC theme, just like the grand finale PICNIC they have on The Great British Bake-Off. As soon as I said it, I knew he had been a clever monkey!!!
Lastly, we want to say a gigantic…
THANK YOU
…to all of the GREAT BLOGGERS who were busy in their kitchens BAKING and making PICNIC treats! We are absolutely thrilled with the array of photos we received, and totally stoked that so many of you took part! You are all THE BEST!!! I know some of you have had huge health challenges of your own recently. I also know from your own blogging posts that many of you have lost loved ones during this year’s pandemic and may have been anxious and stressed about finances and the safety of your family during recent months. We are so glad you took some time out to get involved in THE BAKE-OFF…it is overwhelming to see the PICNIC FEAST you all helped put together.
Thank you for making THE GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE-OFF 2020 SUMMER PICNIC such a spectacular weekend!!!!!!! We are so proud of you! Remember this important rule essential in blogging and in life in general:
“IN A WORLD WHERE YOU CAN CHOOSE TO BE ANYTHING YOU WANT – BE KIND!!!”
Sorry about all the teasing Gary!! You are awesome!!!
We are almost reaching the end of the BAKING submissions from our truly wonderful WordPress bloggers. It’s time to return to a sweet note.
We have two delicious sweets from theresaly520, the creator of the beautiful website Culture Shocks, who has been very busy in her kitchen, making a stunning Glazed Fruit Tart (this is something I really want to make, so thank you for supllying the recipes you followed Sa!) and some delicious Melt-In-Your-Mouth Butter Cookies – yummy!
This is Sa’s gorgeous post where she shares with us her fabulous baking and the great recipes she followed:
I mentioned yesterday that Sa produces very beautiful posts, so I wanted beautiful music videos to go with her bakes. I also wanted to say THANK YOU! Thank you to Sa for her gorgeous baking and to all of other brilliant bloggers who have made THE GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE-OFF 2020 SUMMER PICNIC such a fantastic party!
Thank you to everyone for putting up with the musical choices of the weekend – that was a big responsibility and I know it may have been testing to some of you. On that note…here is another famous ABBA song!!! Yayyyyyy!
For most of my life, I was not particularly keen on coleslaw. That was only because as a kiddo, I ate a lot of shop-bought coleslaw, and I began to loathe the site of it. But when you taste homemade coleslaw, it’s a different experience. I started making coleslaw a couple of years ago when I realized my food processor could make easy work of the vegetable preparation.
When I saw Margot’s pulled pork sandwiches post, it reminded me that I had these photographs in my drafts folder and it seemed like a fitting addition for our 2020 SUMMER PICNIC.
There are two elements to a good coleslaw, the vegetables and the dressing. These are the main ingredients that go into my home made coleslaw:
One white cabbage
One onion – finely chopped
Two carrots
Three sticks of celery (Jack says it looks like there are only two in the picture but I promise you there are three)
60 g Sultanas
Salt and Pepper
90ml Mayonnaise
The first step is tackling that cabbage. I cut it into quarters lengthwise and then removed the core.
Then I set up my food processor with the slicer. I love that in seconds the cabbage is slashed to fine ribbons. I finely chopped the onion, but to be honest, I probably should have added that to the food processor as well!
I put the shredded cabbage and chopped onion in a bowl with plenty of salt and pepper.
The second important part of a coleslaw is the dressing, and here are the ingredients I use:
6 tbsp of olive oil
2 tbsp of white wine vinegar
1 tbsp of lemon juice
1/2 tsp honey
Salt and Pepper
After mixing the ingredients for the vinaigrette dressing I pour it over the cabbage and onion and mix thoroughly. Then I put it into the fridge and allow it to marinate overnight (at least eight hours).
The following day, I slice the celery finely and grate the carrots before adding them to the marinated cabbage, along with the sultanas and the mayonnaise. After another good mix I put the coleslaw back into the fridge for a good hour before serving.
Coleslaw never seemed very special to me, but now I have requests to take a bowl of my homemade coleslaw along to barbeques and garden parties. It’s a winner! It goes together with all sorts of al fresco dishes.
I have had to reshuffle the scheduling for posts to be published so many times this weekend But I wanted this post to follow Margot’s so much, so that we could continue the Grease theme…with “We Go Together“!
Jack mentioned to me yesterday that our picnic so far a vegetarian event. I just happen to be a vegetarian, so there are no complaints from me about that! However, I can assure you that one of our fantastic bloggers has brought some meat to the picnic!
If you like meat, I am sure you will be very glad to see that Margot Hamilton, the creator of Margot Dreams of Baking, has brought along to the PICNIC these amazing pulled pork sandwiches on homemade buns with coleslaw.
Margot please forgive me…the BAKING and PICNIC creations are testing my ability to make a musical connection. I chose this song because I was struggling to think of a song, but I am not saying pulled pork is greasy…or is it? I have no idea!
But it is such a fun track for a SUMMER PICNIC – don’t you think!!!
Gary, aka bereavedandbeingasingleparent, is clearly growing in his baking prowess! He is taking on more and more ambitious BAKING challenges and pioneering new flavour combinations. Gary is pushing through all baking boundaries and forging together fantastical fusion food!
I believe these two exclusive and unique dishes are the result of Gary’s LIVE BAKING CHALLENGE over the course of this weekend. After today, we will be taking Gary’s pioneering fusion modern cooking combined with contemporary art on tour. You will be able to pay a fortune for overpriced tickets to see exclusive showings at his enigmatic exhibitions. We have a great ambitions for Gary’s pioneering pizza and pudding productions.
Look out Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal!!! Gary has created two signature dishes which have already made a sensation amongst WordPress bloggers!!! I loved reading through the comments Gary received on his post:
It has been a hard year for so many of us. In one way or another, we have all been anxious, stressed, confused and afraid by the events of this year.
And you really do need to visit Sheree’s post…there are so many amazing PICNIC snacks…I did not know which to show in this post! I hope you had chance to see Sheree’s STAR BAKER (2019) interview. If not, head on over, it is great!
We would also like to thank Jim Adams, the creator of 
And then there is Jack! Now…I have two reasons to thank Jack. First of all because all weekend he has been looking after me! He has been making me drinks (he went out and bought a watermelon so he could make Ribana’s watermelon cocktail!) and he made me a summer fruits salad too! He injured himself trying to recreate a Choco Lava Mug Cake, so I had to play nurse yesterday afternoon. (Hee hee, in a wholesome way!) I am so glad he has been willing to keep me company while I was glued to my laptop all weekend.
Caramel 