Page 20 - COBH EDITION 2nd NOVEMBER DIGITAL VERSION

CALLING ALL BAKERS FOR THE FIRST “GREAT CORK BAKE OFF” - as
part of the Chocolate and Baking Weekend

Bakers from around Ireland are invited to take part in the first ever “Great Cork Bake Off” as
part of the Chocolate and Baking Weekend which takes place this November in Cork.
Paul Kelly, Executive Pastry Chef from The Merrion Hotel and judge on The Great Irish Bake Off
will judge “The Great Cork Bake Off” which will take place on Sunday, 25th November from 12
to 2pm.
If you fancy yourself as the next Mary Berry or Rachel Allen then this is the competition for
you. To enter for the Cork Bake Off please go to: https://www.corkchocolateweekend.com/
great-cork-bake-off On the day The Cork International Hotel will be raising money for Bumbu-
lance, the charity of choice for the hotel.
To enter bakers are being asked to send a photograph of their latest bake and upload the
image on the website. The top 15 bakes will be selected to participate on Sunday the 25th No-
vember and will be asked to bring their Christmas themed ‘Show stopper’ to The Cork Choco-
late and Baking Weekend at the Cork International Hotel for the final competition with fabulous
prizes to be won.
General Manager of the Cork Airport Hotel, Carmel Lonergan said: “We are very excited to host
the Great Cork Bake Off in November. We are inviting bakers from all over Ireland to come
and compete to be crowned the Champion Baker. This is just one of a number of very exciting
events taking place at the hotel over the Cork Chocolate and Baking Weekend. It is going to be
a weekend of non-stop excitement at the hotel.”
The Cork Chocolate and Baking Weekend will return to The Cork International Hotel on 23rd to
the 25th November 2018. Chocolatiers and bakers from Ireland and abroad will host a week-
end of events and workshops centred around chocolate. There will also be some very special
Christmas themed baking events as part of the weekend. World renowned chocolatier, Paul A
Young will be flying in from London and will be taking part in events over the weekend along-
side Paul Kelly.

The event will be open to the public on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th November 2018, from
11am - 5.30pm each day. Throughout the weekend visitors will enjoy mini tasting rooms, with
30 minute tasting sessions. While the main exhibitor area will feature a variety of chocolatiers
and bakers, a large marquee will host chocolate and baking cookery demonstrations. It is here
that “The Great Cork Bake Off” will take place on Sunday. There will also be a children’s zone
on the first floor with workshops for the younger guests who are budding bakers. In the mini
tasting rooms, guests can enjoy 30 minute tasting sessions and get a further in depth culinary
education regarding cocoa content within chocolate.

On Friday 23rd November, the annual Cork Chocolate Dinner will take place with guest chefs
cooking individual courses featuring chocolate in a subtle way. Weekend packages are avail-
able on www.corkinternationalhotel.com or for the day events are €15 per person and include
access to the fair, cookery demonstrations and workshops for the three hour period. There will
also be children’s tickets on sale for €5 - and will also include children’s workshops. Tickets will
be available to purchase in advance for either the 11am - 2pm slot or the 2.30pm - 5.30pm
slot.
The Cork International Hotel is part of the Trigon Hotel Group, which has 334 guest rooms
across three hotels in Cork. The group comprises of the Cork International Hotel, The Metro-
pole Hotel and the Cork Airport Hotel. Some of the other events which took place at the hotels
over the last 12 months include the Cork Cheese Week, The Oyster and Seafood Festival and
The Cork Craft Show.