Glasto Memories Pt 1 - Wedding Cake Bliss!

We sisters of the Glasto Cakes stall have literally JUST come back down to earth after what can only be described as a hurricane of fanfare for all things WI! In the coming days we look forward to sharing with you all of our memories from the week that none of us will EVER forget! We served tea and cake, shared the love of the sisterhood and raised funds for our international charity, ACWW.

First up - a wedding cake fit for the One Show!

In the run up for our cake selling extravaganza we were contacted via Somerset Federation Office to equire as to whether we would coordinate the construction of a FAB wedding cake fit for a feature on the One Show! A couple of  Glasto goers had been engaged the year before and were planning to tie the knot at Glastonbury!

Ade and Amanda tied the knot at Glasto - and we helped them get their dream wedding cake to celebrate!

As we were relying on the help of Somerset Federation members to bake for our stall we turned to the BEST local baker sister that we could imagine - Emma of Rainbow Bakes!
What Emma produced not only wowed the lovely couple but was featured on the One Show that evening in all of its daisy clad glory!

The GORGEOUS wedding cake fit for a One Show debut!

We were absolutely thrilled to be invited to the wedding, too - but after a long hard day of selling cakes to the Glastonbury masses, we gave our polite apologies and woke up to the most delightful note from the married couple...

A HUGE THANK YOU to the immense baking talents of Emma herself - please do hop over to Rainbow Bakes to fulfill ALL of your bespoke bake requirements!

Watch this space for more of our reminiscence from the week that was the debut of the WI at Glastonbury - how VERY proud we all are!!!

Green Futures Field - Our Glasto Home!

We've arrived! Today we have been unpacking our marquee, coordinating deliveries of delicous homemade bakes and spreading the word of the wonderful WI in the Green Fields at the world's biggest Contemporary Arts Festival, Glastonbury.

The FAB pyramid stage - HELLO Glastonbury!

If you are at the festival we are located in the Green Futures Field, next to a fabulous field of campers who are adjacent to the Glade! Do drop by darlings - we'd just LOVE to welcome you!

Green Futures Field - our new home!

We will be updating our Twitter and Facebook straight from Worthy Farm so please tune in online:

@WI_Glasto_Cakes on Twitter and on Facebook/wiglastocakes

We look foward to updating you all on our fantastic adventure and our news on how we are celebrating 100 years of the WI!

x WI Glasto Cakes Team

Baking Storms, Wooden Chairs of Epic Proportions & 3300 Tea Bags!

The Glastonbury adventure has gained SO much pace in the last 72 hours with baking vegan lemon drizzle storms, gathering the last few bits at the Somerset Federation office and our delivery of 3300 bags of tea!

We've all been buzzing around the many kitchens of Somerset in the last few days and stuffing our bakes into freezers across the reaches of the county. I alone have topped an epic proportion of 56 vegan lemon drizzles which are awaiting their Glastonbury fate in the coming week!

19 lemon drizzles in one morning baked - hooray!

Visiting the Somerset Federation office to collect all of our last minute flags and promo bits & bobs, I came across the gorgeous tapestry compiled by each WI which hangs proudly from the wall of the Federation office.

Gorgeous Somerset Federation wall hanging tapestry as hosted in the SFWI office

Teamed with the magnificent wooden chair bearing the 'For Home and Country' emblem, I couldn't resist a snap shot to remind us of our foresisters. I wonder if they ever had an inkling that one day their efforts would see us serving tea and cake in the Green Futures Field at Glastonbury?!

For Home & Country chairman's chair in the SFWI office

With a good bit of cake, comes the need for a GREAT cup of something hot, too! Thanks to local Somerset Tea & Coffee merchants, Miles, we are now well and truly stocked for our Glastonbury mission - with 3300 tea bags, huge tubs of coffee and hot chocolate to boot - all entirely fair-trade, of course! Our tea urns will be humming along to the sounds of the beat across the fields with this booty!

Our hot drink stock of fair-trade goodness!

Lucy & Vicci piled together with cups & plates to serve to the Glastonbury masses!

Oh and we've got some very special fabric, too, that we'll be making into something tres exciting, too - but more of that next time….!!

Spotty teapot fabric for a special mystery crafting surprise!

x Joanne

Cambridge Glasto Cakes Correspondent

...with FAB WI Edible Cookie Discs to boot!

Just when we thought that our Glastonbury adventure couldn't get ANY more FABULOUS.....

...these have literally JUST come hot off the oven presses - aren't they GORGEOUS?!

 

Our pal from Roses and Rebecca is the mastermindess behind them - we are HUGE fans!

 

Breakfast Shows, Nail Art & 3.5 kg of Butter

At last, I've arrived in Somerset! The sun is shining, the oven has been going none stop and we are all gathering as the days become single digits ahead of our stall in the Green Fields!

First thing was certainly first! Our stall sister Teresa got us a fabulous shout out from none other than BBC 2 Radio's very own Chris Evans on his Breakfast Show! We were DELIGHTED to be mentioned - especially as Teresa's efforts were beyond mammoth with 19 bakes currently having residence in her village hall's freezer!

Teresa's baking effort - look at those labels!

Fast forward a few hours (and a few hundred miles), later and I land in Somerset JUST in time to join fellow WI Glasto Cakes stall sisters, Katie, Vicci, Margaret and Lucy at the fabulous Feel Better Days nail bar and beauty spot! We've all had tea and cake themed nail art applied and we are LOVING our new decals!

Vicci getting Glasto cakes nailed!

Vicci's end result! With a cake stand to boot!

WI teapot thumbs! YEAH!

Suffragettes teapot thumb!

 I went for a Suffragette themed banner across my cuticles with tea pots and cups on my pinky and thumbs - FABULOUS work, indeed!

…..and what day is complete without having a loving fellow village dweller donating 3.5 kg of butter to our Glastonbury baking effort?!

3.5 kg of butter as present from Alan Scott, Puriton Party in the Park, to help with the Glasto baking effort!

What a fabulous surprise it was to come home to following such a whirlwind of a day - delightful!

More soon darlings - 8 days and counting!

x Joanne

Daisy Change WI/Cambridge Blue Belles WI

Glasto Blog 5

Well, we are in the final run up to our huge Glastonbury Festival Adventure!

The wonderful ladies of Somerset are baking away, and we are excited about the wonderful cakes we will be receiving (and of course, selling!).  We have been sorting out how we will set up our stand, and as we have a good space we hope to be able to have some seating outside our marquee...very continental!

This week sees us planning our own kit lists, including a camping loo!  We hope we won't need it, but we have sorted out our wet weather gear...just in case.

We have seen the list of huge stars playing at the festival this year and we are excited about meeting just some of them...even the biggest name needs a cup of tea and a slice of cake, right?

We know that lots of fabulous WI members from all over the country will be coming to the Festival and we would really love to see you ALL.  Most of all if any of you feel you could offer us a hand for a couple of hours please, please contact us – we could do with the chance of a sit down!  The lovely Joanne has agreed to co-ordinate all the offers of help, so please contact us via our email or Facebook and we will be in touch!  Thank you in advance for your support!

Best wishes,

Katie

The Sunday Telegraph Celebrate 100 Years of the WI - With Glasto Cakes to Boot!

We are SO proud to feature in today's Sunday Telegraph with fellow WI members as the paper celebrates the diversity in this fabulous movement as we celebrate our centenary year.

Click over to the Telegraph's website, here, to read the full story.

Roll on Glastonbury!

Vicci and Katie are proudly representing Glasto Cakes in today's Sunday Telegraph

Stop the (Cookie) Presses! Glasto Cakes Served Up in the Media!

What a whirlwind of a week! Wow!

Like a (vegan, gluten free of traditional!) cake in the oven, we are SO pleased that following Margaret and Katie's appearance on BBC Somerset this weekend (with ginger cake and chocolate muffins as a taster for presenter Jack Murley!), many have turned their heads to the scent of our baking cakes and reported on our preparations ahead of our FABULOUS Glastonbury adventure!

Interested in what the BBC had to say?? Read it here!
 
What about a few words from the Mail Online?! Check it out here!

The Independent also reported on us - read that here!
...and last. but certainly NOT least - Joanne guested on Nick Conrad's BBC Norfolk show to talk all things 100 years of the WI.

A Snap of the BBC Norfolk studio in its full glory!

Of COURSE Joanne brought along a sample of vegan lemon drizzle to the studio for a critique - the very one which will be available on our stall at Glastonbury! The verdict? Visit the BBC Norfolk website to hear all about it!

28 days left and COUNTING!!!

Glasto Cakes - Cambridge Correspondent Reporting!

Hello to all here who are tuned in to take the journey beside us as we make our way to the gates of Worthy Farm and into the Green Fields of Glastonbury!

I was absolutely OVERJOYED to be considered to stand shoulder to shoulder with lovely Somerset WI sisters to help dish out some divine homemade cakes. In fact, it was following talking about vegan baking at the WI's unofficial camp out, Tea and Tents, that the lovely mastermind of the entire Glasto Cakes concept, Katie, contacted me and asked me to share my skills in vegan baking and potentially come along, too. How could I resist?!

A few months later and I find myself on BBC Cambridgeshire promoting the WI's cake stall at Glastonbury that will absolutely be one of the BEST ways that members from across the entire country can come together to celebrate the WI's 100th year! Can you imagine a better place to hold a birthday party than at the world's BEST festival of performing arts?!

I was SO proud to see Katie, Vicci and Margaret hosted on the same page as the Duchess of Cambridge this weekend - and how FABULOUS that we will shortly be welcoming her to our sisterhood, too?!

I'll be spending an entire week in run up to Glastonbury in Katie's kitchen and that of the local village hall, baking vegan cakes divine with a personal goal of 300 cakes in a week! Watch this space for more!

On that note, I leave you with a photo of the tattoo I have done to remember this EPIC journey from my local Friends Meeting House as Founding President of Cambridge Blue Belles WI to the Green Fields at Glastonbury - with a badge depicting the WI's Home and Country logo from wartime. What better way to remember, I say?!

For Home and Country -  celebrating 100 years of the WI!

More soon darlings,

Glasto Cakes Cambridge Correspondent, Joanne

Daisy Change WI
Cambridge Blue Belles WI

Glasto Cakes Blog 3

Well, that was the weekend that was! 

On Friday we found ourselves hurriedly organising a photoshoot for the Mail on Sunday, and much thanks must got to Glastonbury Abbey who very kindly hosted this bit of fun after closing on Friday evening!  Katie, Vicci and Margaret (with the generous help of Katie’s husband) set up a mini version of our marquee with gazebo and table set to serve teas.  The lovely Adam took a set of fabulous photos, he managed to get us posing like professionals by the end of the “shoot”.  We were right by the medieval kitchen in the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey, an entirely suitable setting we thought! 

Of course, our phones and social media pages went crazy once everyone got sight of us, on the same page as the Duchess of Cambridge no less, and I gather we have had mentions on various radio stations since!   I think you should be able to see the article online if you didn’t manage to get your paper yesterday!

Following that, our Sister Joanne appeared on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, promoting Glastonbury, #flowersforheroines, tattoos and, of course The WI!

Katie has been out and about encouraging the ladies of Somerset to get baking, the support is mounting and our lovely WI Ladies are heating up ovens all over the County for this!

Our Twitter Feed is lively as ever, and our facebook page gives you brief updates of our progress almost daily. 

Keep looking out for our posts and updates friends!

Best wishes, Katie Newell, Secretary, Puriton & District WI

Ecover, the Sunday Mail & BBC Cambridgeshire, here we come!

How EXCITING this weekend has been thus far!

First - we had our delivery from our FABULOUS friends at Ecover who are sponsoring us for ALL of our soap requirements in the Green Fields! We really do appreciate this generous offering and cannot wait to tell everyone how much we love using their product, inspired by no other than mother nature herself!

Boxes of beautiful Ecover bounty!

 We were also thrilled to host the Mail on Sunday on the grounds of the Glastonbury Abbey as they snapped photos to accompany their exclusive scoop on us which will be featured on the newspaper's pages tomorrow. Be sure to get your copy to read an interview with us all on our journey to Glastonbury's Green Fields.

Vicci, Margaret & Katie posing for the Sunday Mail's photoshoot on the lawn of Glastonbury Abbey

Katie & Vicci being snapped together for the Sunday Mail promo spot

Last, but certainly not LEAST, Joanne will be sitting in as a part of BBC Cambridgeshire's Sunday Supplement tomorrow from 09:15 - 09:45. She'll be talking all things WI and of course, Glasto Cakes! Be sure to tune in to hear more.

Glasto Cakes Blog - 2

This weekend sees the start of some serious promotion.  Our posts are being seen all around the Country and we are grateful to those wonderful WI sisters for sharing!


We have been in contact with local BBC and the national press, promoting our exciting adventure for our Centenary Year!  We'll be featuring exclusively in this weekend's Mail on Sunday and Joanne will be joining the Sunday Supplement on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire on the same day from 09:15 - 09:45.

In the meantime, practicalities are being covered too.  We are so lucky to have so many offers of bakes from the fantastic ladies of Somerset - a truly magnificent effort pulling us all together!  Our fabulous team are sourcing mugs and plates - no paper nonsense for the WI of course, and we have sorted our water supply, and are organising refrigeration and the like too…it is all beginning to feel very real! 

Keep looking out for our posts and updates friends!

Best wishes, Katie Newell (Secretary, Puriton and District WI)

If you aren't already following us on Twitter and Facebook - jump over now to stay up to date on our journey to Glastonbury - one cake at a time!

Glasto Cakes Blog 1

Well, we have really started our preparation for the first WI Tea & Cakes Stand at Glastonbury Festival.

A gathering of WI Sisters learnt the art of vegan baking from WI Legend Joanne Croxford (Cambridge Blue Belles WI/Daisy Change WI) on Saturday 2nd May.

Katie and Joanne mixing a gluten-free vegan victoria sponge!

We spent a morning discussing our plans as cakes rose in my oven through the magic of baking powder, and care…we even tried some totally ‘free-from’ bakes - using gluten free flour alongside the dairy free products.

Et voila! Gorgeous, light, airy and DELICIOUS

Here's a snap of the WI Glasto Cakes team tucking in to said gluten free vegan victoria sponge! YUM!

WI members from across Somerset have taken the challenge of this mighty bakeathon, and will be producing their finest cakes (including many suitable for those with specialist requirements).

Brave sisters of the Somerset Federation will bake a force to be reckoned with for Glasto's Green Fields

 Lovely Ladies from Somerset WIs, and across the UK, will be taking a turn on the Tea & Cakes Stand in the Green Fields at this greatest of festivals to ensure that the world knows the wonder of WI!  We will be sharing our love of all things cake and tea, as well as letting our customers know the massive amount of phenomenal campaigns the WI runs and supports.  To top it all we will hopefully raise some much needed funds for our sisters at ACWW!

So, if you fancy a cuppa and a catch-up, we will be ready and waiting for you for the whole of Glastonbury Festival 2015!

x Katie (Secretary, Puriton & District WI)

How Glastonbury Will Celebrate 100 Years of the WI

We are a group of WI members who will proudly serve homemade cakes in the Green Fields at Glastonbury. Come for vegan, gluten free & traditional delights!

This page will detail our trip to Glastonbury, one bake at a time!