Archive for category Events
Cake Club Master Baker 2010
Posted by Louise.Rowlands in Events on February 23rd, 2010
Well the first ever Powwownow Cake Club has drawn to a close and we have a worthy winner.
The last two cakes were very impressive, Nick and Carl made judging the final very difficult.
Cake A was a Chocolate mousse sandwich with speckled sweet sponge and shatterproof icing.

Cake B was a Pecan Toffee Cake with maple syrup and dates

With 9 votes to 6, Nick waltzed off with the prize (a bottle of Champagne!) and the title:
Cake Club Master Baker 2010
Well done Nick!
And thank you to everyone that took part!
Curry Club
Posted by Maria.Serna in Events on February 22nd, 2010

Powwownow Curry Club started last year, with the objective being that all of those involved would showcase what they think is the best curry house in London – and they’ll all vote at the end to find the winner!
So basically, if anyone feels strongly about curry and wants to open up the minds and tastebuds of their friends and colleagues to what they feel is the best curry to be found in London, they can jump on the Powwownow tuk tuk ride and steer us in the right direction!



December was Twickenham with Mark. In his words, “It is a well kept secret that Twickenham is actually the Curry capital of London; with over 15 Indian restaurants each specialising in their own aspect of fine Indian cuisine; from tandoori restaurants, vegetarian restaurants to south Indian cuisine…Twickenham has it all!” The carefully selected venue of the evening was the Twickenham Tandoori in Church Street – the very same road as featured in that annoying ‘here comes the girls’ Boots TV advert. The tandoori and curry were very nice, as well as being reasonably priced! There were some snow fights and a nice end of the night in a very “local” pub.



Then January was Louise’s turn and they all trooped off to Putney and drank cocktails in the very glamorous Upper Lounge. The party then moved on to Kathmandu Valley – a lovely Nepalese restaurant in Wandsworth. They were greeted with a welcome drink and then sampled amongst other things Bhunas, Lamb Sag, Dahl and Butter Chicken. It was then back to Louise’s fashionable home for after dinner drinks and a game of ‘Who’s In The Bag!’ which was won by, John, Stew, Amy and Maria, ably assisted by Fernando the dog. Everyone rolled home around midnight.



Last week was Maria’s Curry house in Angel, where an exception was made because it wasn’t Indian curry… So after a tumultuous journey to Angel tube station they had a quick beer at the Camden Head and then a delicious and generous Afghan meal in a lovely and very small restaurant called Afghan Kitchen; and although the place looked too tiny to fit us all – somehow it did! Finally they ended up drinking Mojitos and dancing in Barrio North… so it was a good end to a very good night.
Where will March Curry Club be? Could it be Joe’s in Tooting? Or Nick’s in Sudbury Hill? Who’s up for the next challenge!

Cake Club 2nd Semi Final
Posted by Louise.Rowlands in Events on February 16th, 2010
Hello Cake Clubbers,
Our second Semi Final saw Marketing pitted against Development.
Unusually for this competition both cakes created were sponges:
Louise’s was chocolate sponge sandwich with cream and raspberries.
Carl’s was a Pecan sponge with a butter cream filling.

Despite an exceptionally high standard of cake from both competitors Carl clinched it with 9 votes to Louise’s 5.
Carl will now meet Nick in the final on 21st February
Cake Club Quarter finals 4
Posted by Maria.Serna in Events on February 12th, 2010
So the last of the quarter finals and Jana and Louise battled it out.
Jana made ‘piskoty s bananom’ which were described by some members as ‘Banana Jaffa cakes’!

Louise made Victoria sponge with butter cream and jam.

With seven votes each it was a draw, so Mick was drafted in to decide it.
In the end Mick liked cake A the Victoria sponge and Louise was declared the winner.
So now we have four surviving competitors:
Semi Finals:
Monday 8th February 2010 – Mark v’s Nick
Monday 15th February 2010 – Carl v’s Louise
Final
Monday 22nd February 2010 – TBC
Cake Club Quarter finals 2
Posted by Stewart.Millard in Events on January 21st, 2010

This week saw the second quarter final with Nick and Zarah battling it out for a place in the semi finals, both cakes were amazing.
Zarah produced a lovely Chocolate Banana Cake (bottom) and Nick produced a Carrot Cake (Top one)
After much tasting and votes being cast we saw Nick Triumph to a 9-5 victory.
Next week we are due to have Carl and Mike fight for a place in the semi finals
Tune in next week for the result!
Cake Club Quarter Finals 1
Posted by Louise.Rowlands in Events on January 15th, 2010
The first quarter final took place on Monday between Mark & Aurelie.

Mark made a chocolate cheese cake…

…and Aurelie made a tart with apple and dried fruit:

Both were delicious but Mark triumphed with 7 votes to 5.
I am away for the next two weeks and for this time Stew will be in charge of cake club.
I have had to make a slight change to the running order so Nick & Zahra are up on Monday.
11 January – Mark v’s Aurelie
18 January – Nick v’s Zahra
25 January – Mike v’s Carl
2 February – Louise v’s Jana
Cake Club Round Five
Posted by Louise.Rowlands in Events on January 15th, 2010
Many thanks to John and Zahra for making this weeks’ cake club a very eventful affair!

It was the first time we have ever had a hung jury with both cakes, and I am using that term loosely, gaining 5 votes each. We were forced to draft in Juha, Luiza and Chris as reluctant deciders.
In the end Zahra’s cake triumphed with seven votes to John’s six
Well done both, top marks for effort and taking part.
Zahra will now meet Nick in the last of our quarter finals.
Cake Club Round Four
Posted by Louise.Rowlands in Events on December 22nd, 2009
This week cake club became embroiled in scandal…
So it’s week four and the competition is going from strength to strength; the standard is at an all time high.
Enter the next two combatants Andy CEO and Casey Marketing Manager. Both were reluctant competitors; Andy “didn’t have time” and Casey “can only cook Zuccini loaf” , whatever that is!
Anyway, the big day arrived -Monday 7th December- and as I entered the Cake Club tasting arena I was confronted by two similar cakes… Too similar as it turned out…
The cakes tasted the same: Both Victoria sponges and both decorated with fruit and white chocolate the only difference was that one of them had chocolate icing in the middle.

We judged the cakes and Casey was voted the winner by 8 votes to 7.
Then it all started to unravel and I realised that there was something wrong. After careful investigation I was forced to send this email to the cake clubbers:
Dear Cake Clubbers
It is with great sadness that I type this email. Indeed it is an email I never thought I would have to write…
It has come to my attention that there has been some foul play. I hate to say it but actual blatant cheating has taken place…
Last Monday Andy and Casey battled it out, with two very similar cakes (too similar it turns out) it was our tightest competition yet, Andy received 6 votes and Casey received 7…… Casey was crowned the winner and was through to the quarter finals against Jana.
Well cake clubbers I am very sorry to have to reveal that Casey & Andy colluded and Andy in fact baked the cakes and Casey iced them breaking rule 1 of cake club which states:
1. It must be a cake YOU have made not bought and not by anyone else
This behaviour will not be tolerated so I have no alternative but to disqualify Casey from the competition.
So we now have a space in the quarter finals, so I would like to ask you to please vote for one our excellent runners up whom all made their own cakes to go through to the next round: Alena, Neil or Aurelie.
L.R.
Finally, it was agreed that Andy and Casey could remain in Cake Club but will not be able to take part in any further heats, so I am delighted to announce that Aurelie will now compete in the quarter finals and will meet Louise on 11th January 2009.
Cake Club Round Three
Posted by Louise.Rowlands in Events on December 14th, 2009
This week Cake Club got all European.
Jana from Slovakia took on Aurelie from France….
The cakes were probably the highest standard we’ve had so far, and both girls produced chocolate based cakes which looked stunning:
Jana’s cake was a Madeira cake sponge with cherries in the sponge, a chocolate covering and cherries in the centre. It was lovely and soft and the cherries contrasted very nicely with the chocolate.

Aurelie made us delightful little hedgehogs, with dried apricots and almonds for spikes. They just melted in the mouth and were really delicious.

This was a very difficult decision as both cakes were great but Jana clinched it with seven votes to five.
Well done Jana, she will face the next winner in the quarter finals.
Cake Club Round Two
Posted by Louise.Rowlands in Events on December 14th, 2009
Big week this week – our first all male contest!
So Neil from Sales was up against Mark from web development, neither is particularly famous for their cakes but they did themselves proud.
Neil was first up with a Banana cake made to his mother-in-law’s special recipe all the way from the Seychelles. It was delicious, covered in banana chips, and was Neil’s first ever cake… it took him four attempts, so a fantastic achievement.

Mark had made a pumpkin pie for which he hollowed out two pumpkins. He also made his own pastry and the whole process took three hours!

Cake clubbers duly tasted the offerings and after careful consideration, with 8 votes to 4, Mark was declared the winner.













