desserts/events: 2011 TAIPEI INTERNATIONAL BAKING SHOW

I had my eye on the 2011 Taipei International Bakery Show ever since I saw the write up by Yi on My Several Worlds last year and I had to wait a whole year for it to come back around! So when I spotted the coupon/flyer at a neighborhood bakery, I snatched it up and luckily caught it on the last afternoon of a four day run.

It's definitely worth checking out if you are looking for baking supplies or just want to browse the eating side! They had tons of stuff for the hard core and bakery owners- industrial mixers and ovens, as well as for the home baker- sprinkles, cookie cutters, candy molds and mega packs of cupcake liners.

The Wilton area had a lot of great supplies, cake toppers and cutters. I even picked up a cupcake carrier there for a 15% discount since it was the last day.

One day, you will be mine...

There was no shortage of too-cute-to-eat confections to gawk at and take pictures of.



One of my favorite eats was the gelatos- there were quite a few vendors on the "professional side."

How do they get the colors on these cakes to look so smooth? Spray on 'frosting' in spray paint bottles.

Where else would you see shoes made out of chocolates?

It was kind of cool to peek inside the world of industrial baking. The sizes of these mixers and baking molds was kind of awesome. I can't even imagine the price tags. It's hard to tell, but the last mixer in the picture below was probably almost as tall as I was.

Huge silicone rubber baking molds that were the size of the rubber mats that would go on the floor of your car.

It was cool to see non-bakery things like cheeses and flour too. I was surprised to see Din Tai Fung even having a mini display, that of course had a line going for it.

Would you buy Chiahe flour because Din Tai Fung uses it?

I got suckered into buying a few packs of this wheat noodle and the sesame/chili sauces, but it was actually a good purchase. The packs were huge and separated into individual portions and cook quickly. The sauces, I'm kind of addicted to now. I'll have to do a separate post on these and find the ordering/purchasing information.

There was a sugar molding competition where the chefs created amazing delicate and huge displays that you could get up close to see (behind the glass, of course!)

The one sample area that I found was not worth getting mobbed for. Everyone elbowing and gunning for a small sample, many people grabbing 3 or 4 at a time. This small toasted slice was brushed with sugar so it was crispy and sweet.

I thought I'd be swimming in samples and food, but I realized that the showroom is split in two sides- the industrial side and the bakery side. Turns out, I ended up wandering around the supplies and vendor side first after spotting a shop full of cupcake liners. By the time I made it to the "bakery" side, they were packing up and getting ready to clear their stalls... like this guy:

But popular bakeries like How Sweet, Florida Bakery and others were selling their popular items like egg puddings and cheesecakes.

I'll definitely be back next year and be a little bit more organized about walking around and getting better photos instead of doing it last minute for a few hours like I did this year (thus all the iPhone pictures). Mark your calendars- March 2012!