A (Funny) Day at Sugar Paris!
Yesterday, on its second day, the Sugar Paris show — the first trade fair entirely dedicated to pastry — was held at the Parc Floral in Paris. A day I had been eagerly looking forward to for weeks!!! I’m almost tempted to say my excitement was only matched by my disappointment. Of course, I had a lovely day with my husband in a world dedicated to pastry, but in my opinion the promises weren’t kept.
Going back to the show’s official website (Sugar Paris), I can read that Sugar Paris is the fair for traditional and decorative pastry. Hmm… the word “traditional” may have been a stretch, because ultimately the show was all about cake design, fondant and tiered cakes — stunning, certainly, but aimed at a very specific audience. The website tells us the show is divided into several sections:
– le Grand Marché (the Grand Market), a huge retail area
– la Fabrik à Gâteaux (the Cake Factory), pre-booked workshops run by more or less well-known pastry chefs
– the Sugar Play Times, to “test products, meet fellow enthusiasts, take part in challenges, win competitions and discover the signing area”.
Reading all of that in detail on their website, I wonder if I missed something. The retail area is indeed enormous — in fact it feels more like one giant shop. As for the workshops, some were paid (and expensive), pre-booked online, like the one I attended and will tell you about shortly, and others were smaller but still paid. Then, testing products? I tasted 2 or 3 chocolates at the Cerf Dellier stand (delicious), with a little demo thrown in, but the poor chef had barely a square metre to work with — you wouldn’t believe the chaos behind the counter (I had a perfect view ^^). I didn’t see any challenges, I didn’t win any competitions (and knowing my luck, I never win anything anyway), and I walked past Elodie Martins doing a book signing — though it didn’t really appeal to me as I hadn’t bought her book. I was also hoping to see some sweet tables — I love them, and I’m already starting to picture my niece’s 2nd birthday as a sweet table affair, so I was looking for ideas and tips — but there wasn’t much to see. One decorated table and a few shops selling the necessary supplies, but again, I expected more.
In short… fondant, fondant, and more fondant. Some beautiful cakes on display, yes. Some stands I couldn’t resist buying from, yes. But for the rest — not quite.
And don’t even get me started on the crowds!!! I don’t know what Friday was like, but Saturday was madness! In the truest sense of the word!!! Arriving at the “Château de Vincennes” terminus, a free shuttle was supposed to take us to the Parc Floral. Huge crowds… and a little train! When we spotted it coming from a distance, my husband and I joked “all we need now is for that to be the shuttle!!” — and yes, it was indeed the shuttle! Just like pretty much everything else at the show, I don’t think they anticipated the number of visitors. The first little train slips away before we can board, so we wait some more. No way are we getting pushed aside this time — we’re getting on the next one!!! Eventually two little trains pull up. But ours takes a while to set off… time ticks by… a few minutes later (feeling very much like a tourist discovering the city), we arrive at the Parc Floral. Like sheep, we follow the flow. We walk quickly through the park, which is actually very pretty. Then: a huge gate, and a crowd gathering in front of it. It’s 10:30 a.m. and it’s already unbelievable. The queue isn’t moving — they’re controlling the flow of people (not sure that’s a great idea). Ten minutes later, we get through the gate and arrive at the show. Another queue, this time for the ticket desk. Can’t wait to ACTUALLY be inside! Right, tickets in hand, let’s go!
From that moment on, I had a feeling the day was going to be tough. The crowds are so dense that it’s hard to reach the stands, to walk through the aisles — you have to elbow your way through, whether you’re trying to browse a shop, queue to pay, or even watch a demo. What a mess, looking back! And very quickly, I realised that the show really wasn’t going to live up to my expectations (I’m almost grateful I had read a report of the Friday session on the blog Les délices d’Hélène — the disappointment was somewhat softened because I already had an idea of what to expect).
Now for the photos:
We got to see some very beautiful creations.
A few demonstrations — cake design, like here at the Dolce Mania stand:
or at the Decora stand:
And also a chocolate bonbon-making demonstration at the Cerf Dellier stand (by far the most interesting — a shame the stand was so small, the poor chef barely had room to put his chocolate slabs down!):
Time for lunch (and a sit-down too — thoroughly fed up with the crowds). Leaving the show, we walked past an impressive queue — nothing like this morning’s. I felt like calling out to everyone: “good luck in there, you have no idea what you’re in for!” Anyway… luckily I had also read on Les délices d’Hélène that there was nothing to eat on site (no little stalls selling pastries, which is a shame), so on the way we had stopped to buy sandwiches. I did eventually spot somewhere to eat on the grounds — like a restaurant (on a tight budget, though, so no regrets). A very welcome break, and all the more pleasant in the lovely weather!
Then my husband had to head off, and I returned to the show on my own. Nearly 2 hours ahead of me before my cooking class. I took the time to do another lap, but honestly, I felt a bit lost — I couldn’t quite make sense of how the stands were laid out (map in hand and everything!). I went back to the Cerf Dellier stand to make a few more purchases, but hadn’t factored in just how much time and stamina it takes to get to the baking accessories, not to mention the queue… time flew by.
I walked past Elodie Martins’ book signing at her very pretty stand:
Then I discovered another section of the show, near the Fabrik à Gâteaux, which we hadn’t visited earlier (and I had been wondering where my class was going to take place!!). There was an Eyrolles publishing stand, and I couldn’t resist picking up “She’s Cake” by Sefora Saada. I flipped through it quickly at the stand and fell in love! Even though I don’t eat cheesecake (yes, I know — weird, right?) her cheesecakes are so beautiful and elegant, reimagined with such ingenuity and taste — I can’t wait to give them a try! 🙂
Right next door, you could find Livy’s mini workshops from la Lettre Gourmande (sign up on the spot, small sessions from €10 to €20):
And here I am in the “la Fabrik à Gâteaux” section for my cooking class.
I still have 20 minutes before my class. I decide to go and scout the space. Here I am at the mini cooking workshop area (I can see we’ll be working with a KitchenAid — dream come true!) but… no chairs (obviously, you might say — but still…), and the anxiety sets in. This day has already been terrible for my back, and I’m wondering how I’m going to manage another 3 hours on my feet :S So I decide to sit down nearby on the floor and wait until 3 p.m…
3 p.m.: back for my cooking class on “little teatime cakes: madeleines, financiers and cookies”. A 3-hour class (3–6 p.m.) run by Cécile Coulier. A full write-up is in order…
To begin with, we’re supposed to arrive with our voucher (proof of payment) and a few items (a paring knife, scissors, a whisk, a marker pen and a tea towel). I already find it rather odd to have to bring your own equipment, and on top of that, no one even checks your identity. Anyone could have taken my place. Cécile and her assistant, who had been setting up the tables, aren’t quite ready. I politely ask Cécile if I could have a chair as I can’t stand for long, and she tells me to ask the person managing sign-ups for the small workshops at the stand next door. Damn — she’s just given her chair to another participant who also has health issues. But she goes off to check if another one can be found. Three minutes later she comes back with a high stool — perfect!! What a relief! I take my place at one of the tables, where there will be just two of us, and so I meet my partner for the class, Nathalie (who had come from Reims and hadn’t had time to look around the show beforehand — poor thing, she’d had to wait so long just to get in!). We’re given lent an apron, the recipes are handed out, and then — first surprise: no cookies! They’ve been replaced by mini chocolate chip donuts. First disappointment too.
This post is getting long, so I’ll speed things up and summarise. It wasn’t a great cooking class — Cécile is lovely, certainly, but not organised in the slightest. The madeleines were supposed to be orange-flavoured, but the zester had gone missing. Never mind. Time dragged on (Nathalie and I were genuinely bored), Cécile fell behind schedule, and she announced that we’d be using the financier batter to make the donuts (with chocolate mixed in) O_o Hmm… Some pairs didn’t have enough batter to fill their moulds, something was missing here, something else there. She clearly wasn’t in control of the oven…
Thank goodness Nathalie and I got on so well and had plenty to chat about — on my own I would have been bored out of my mind, that’s for certain!!! And given how the class was unfolding (knowing that we’d both done baking classes before), we decided to laugh it off… but at €65 a class, that’s steep! The financiers are in the oven, the madeleines are in the fridge — nothing left to do… Nathalie asks Cécile if she can pop out to see the show since she hadn’t had the chance before, and Cécile agrees, so I join her. Despite the exhaustion, what bliss to walk through the aisles without being jostled! It’s 5:30 p.m., the show is closing soon and it’s so peaceful… nothing like my earlier experience! After a small purchase (hurray — we found the moustache-shaped cookie cutter!! ^^), we head back to the class and something smells good…
Time to unmould our little treats and place them on a rack to cool. The financiers are done, but the (fake) donuts still need to be dipped in chocolate and scattered with colourful sprinkles (I’m still searching for those chocolate chips…). Nathalie decides to pop out for another look while I unmould our little goodies! Problem: the show is closing and a security guard comes to tell Cécile. Except the madeleines are still in the fridge!!! So we put the madeleines in the oven, and in the meantime pack the financiers into a small plastic bag and the donuts into a cardboard box. Nathalie comes back empty-handed. Time to take the madeleines out of the oven, and — fresh disappointment… they’re ugly!!! Flat and wrinkled! The oven’s fault, most likely. Nathalie and I are horrified! And to top it off, we have to rush to put them into a small plastic bag while they’re still hot. So on top of being ugly and wrinkled, they’re going to be soggy too. Brilliant! Quick quick quick, we pack up all our things, making sure not to forget our personal items (for the life of me I still don’t know what the scissors or the tea towel were for — we did write our names with a marker, at least…)
And so, after one last very necessary toilet break, we leave the show. The aisles are filthy — it looks like a hurricane passed through — and the worst part… it all starts again tomorrow! Out in the fresh air at last, it’s nearly 7 p.m. for a class that was supposed to end at 6. We console ourselves with a madeleine. Of course, they’re not even properly cooked!!! And needless to say, we missed the last shuttle back to the metro, but managed to catch a bus…
So there we have it — a funny sort of day in the end, with a rather mixed verdict.
– Far too many people: the show was a success and that’s great, but a much larger venue was clearly needed.
– A show exclusively focused on cake design and fondant. What happened to traditional pastry?
– Rather low-quality demonstrations in my opinion (I also wanted to discover the world of fondant decoration by watching some of the demos, and I was very disappointed!)
– Paid mini-workshops too
– Very poorly organised cooking classes, also low quality — and at that price, it’s a bit much!
– Quite a few non-French-speaking stands
But also:
– A day shared with my husband, who agreed to step into my world and my passion for pastry (because you really have to be passionate to put up with all of that!)
– A really lovely encounter during my class (yes, I’m talking about you, Nathalie! ^^)
– Some shopping (for which I have to thank my husband <3)
– And I’ll add: the chance to work with a KitchenAid 😀 (I’ve been dreaming of one… roll on my 30th birthday!)
And speaking of which, here’s a little preview of my haul! 🙂 (I didn’t pay for the magazines, I should say!)
