We have had the joy of baking these type of cakes for weddings, birthday parties and christenings. A delightful cake that is decorated with either a thin scraping of buttercream or just a dusting if icing sugar and an array of colourful summer or winter berries. Delicious for any time of year and perfect for any type of occasion. 

Last week I attended Cheltenham's first Clandestine Cake Club which was organised by Eve Middleton. 

As the day neared I become more and more excited about what type of cake I should bake, now I know I bake cakes for a living and I throughly enjoy every aspect of creating Vanilla Pod Bakery cakes for our wonderful clients. But this time when I baked it had a different feeling, this cake was truly for me to enjoy and share with other cake passionate people.

As the sun was shining I decided to make a three layer Lemon Drizzle and Raspberry cake, two of my favourite flavours combined into a delicious fluffy cake drizzled with tangy lemon icing and topped with fresh raspberries. I am ever so sorry I for got to take a picture of it!

I attended the event with my friend Hetty, who is also a professional baker and runs a stall at the Gloucester Quays Food & Drink Market called Hetty's Tea Party. 

As the event was secret we were't told where the location was until a couple of days before. The cafe we all descended on couldn't have been more perfect for our first meeting, it was the newly opened Green Coffee Cafe opposite the Cheltenham Spa train station. 

On arriving I was delighted to spy lots of yummy looking cakes, and even better we got to taste them all! My favourite was a delicious Almond and Cherry cake. We had a fantastic evening chatting about all things cake, sharing top tips and making friends. I am looking forward to the next event already!

So what is a Clandestine Cake Club, well it is a secret cake club that brings people together over the joys of tea and cake. Founded by Lynn Hill in the summer of 2010 the first Clandestine Cake Club was launched on December 11th 2010 in Leeds. 

"It had nothing to do with a resurgence in baking, neither was it because of any popularity in baking programs, it was purely a need in getting more people together over Tea and Cake, without having to do all the baking myself. The people can do the baking and they can invite a guest. It was that simple” Lynn Hill

There are now over 170 clubs world wide, a fantastic website and a cookery book. 

 Bake, eat and talk about Cake. Gather in secret locations, UK & overseas. Arrive as strangers, leave as friends. It’s all about CAKE. 

 Hopefully see you at the next Cheltenham Clandestine Cake Club!