I always like to do something different and love to learn anything new. On the Salton facebook page I came across an invitation to a Christmas themed workshop run by Salton and SA Culinary Club. One of my main hobbies is baking and there is always something new to learn. It was a real treat to have a real pro sharing tips with us. The pro was Chef Ed who is a Springbok Olympic Chef from team SA. I was proud to learn that the South African team are ranked 15 out of 100, very impressive!

We worked in teams of 3 and our task was to make Christmas themed cupcakes using the Salton Cupcake Maker. Other groups made doughnuts using Salton doughnut makers. The mini doughnuts looked and tasted very good but I should have watched a team making a few to get an idea of how they work.

While we worked on our cupcakes Chef Ed did Demos making gingerbread men and apple crumble. I am a bit skeptical about the trend which has an appliance for everything you do in the kitchen, the most silly being appliances for doing boiled eggs and rice, a pot on the stove has worked for generations, why take up more storage space? None the less I found myself rather keen on the Salton Cupcake Maker and would try to justify the expense if I made more cupcakes and muffins, on the other hand maybe I would make more cupcakes and muffins if I had one. On thinking about it I’m sure it uses a lot less electricity than heating up an oven. The texture of the cupcakes was good and they tasted lovely.

I thought that we rather duffed our task, our ‘red’ fondant icing was pink which is not very Christmassy and our decorating skills looked rather bashful next to other teams efforts. Chef Ed showed us how to make a piping bag using baking paper, I will use this trick next week when I decorate Christmas biscuits with Fjord. I think that Chef Ed was being kind when he chose our team as one of the 4 winners. We split our prize between the 3 of us and I brought home a nice looking set of Multix containers and a pack of ziplock bags. All participants were given Multix baking paper and piping bags.
There were some nice looking products on sale at the door at discounted prices, if I had cash on me I would have bought the set of Wiltshire Staysharp knives, my knives are always blunt and when Chef Ed was using them they cut like a dream.
You can find the Culinary Team SA on their facebook page
What a cool experience! Those doughnuts look inviting..