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Baking and cake decorating specialist Renshaw has taken the pulse of the baking nation to find out what’s been cooking up a storm and what’s failed to rise in the kitchens of the UK.
Renshaw’s Big Baking Trends Survey 2016 asked professional and home bakers to list their favourite cake and baking trends of 2015 and asked what they would like to create in 2016.
The question ‘which cake types are you hoping to bake more in 2016?’ was topped by occasion/celebration cake at 13%. When asked, ‘which occasions will you be baking for in 2016?’ respondents highlighted Christmas (24%), Easter (17%) and Mother’s Day (14%).
Renshaw also posed the question: ‘Which cake and baking trend would you like to try in 2016?’ A total of 13% said hidden centre cakes, 12% said cake painting, 11% said gravity defying cakes and 11% said rainbow cakes.
The cake decorating skills that respondents want to crack this year include modelling (20%), sugarcraft (17%) and piping (13%).
For favourite cake flavours, chocolate was the number choice with 19% of votes, followed by lemon (16%) and vanilla (13%).
The most commonly used toppings cited were buttercream/frosting (25%), sugarpaste/fondant icing (17%) and chocolate (13%).
In all, 93% of respondents said they bake from scratch and 85% said they create cake decorations from scratch when baking. And when it comes to cake decorating inspiration, the countries looked to the most are USA, France and Italy
Renshaw also quizzed two celebrity baking professionals for their views on the most sought-after baking trend in 2016.
‘The Great British Bake Off’ 2014 semi-finalist Chetna Makan highlighted cakes decorated with fresh flowers, or with various forms of chocolate.
And what cake trend has had its day? “For me, there is no such thing as out of fashion as I think we should make and eat whatever we wish, especially when it comes to cakes,” she said.
Fellow ‘The Great British Bake Off’ contestant Luis Troyano, who was a 2014 finalist, claimed hand- painted art decoration is on the way in.
But he said his favourite trend is the way bakers are using natural ingredients for decoration. “We’ve seen manufactured sprinkles and the like used less than less,” he said. “And cake pops are fading away. I think 2016 will also see the end of dribbled ganache down the side of cakes.”
Renshaw is a British manufacturer of ready to roll icing, marzipan, frostings, caramel and mallows. It supplies specialist sugarcraft shops, bakery and general wholesalers as well as major grocery retailers.
