Brits are going baking crazy since The Great British Bake-Off aired recently © RexBrits are stocking up on baking equipment and ingredients like never before in an attempt to become star bakers, according to new retail statistics.
TV series The Great British Bake Off is thought to be behind the staggering increase in the sale of baking-related goodies. Since series two of the show aired last month, sales of baking trays have increased by 25 per cent and baking ingredients are up 10 per cent.
Just last week, shoppers bought 23,000kg (50,706lb) of flour, 2,200kg (4,850lb) of marzipan, 360 litres (630 pints) of vanilla extract and 15,000 bottles of food colouring, according to supermarket Morrisons.
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“We thought the show would inspire the nation [to bake] so we made sure our baking aisle was fully stocked. It’s a good job we did, given the sales increase,” said a spokesman for the supermarket.
And once you’ve baked your show stopper, it’s got to be displayed for all to marvel at, right?
Presumably for that reason, sales of traditional cake stands are also sky high, up 207 per cent on this time last year – the biggest rise of all baking equipment, according to Debenhams.
And new bakers have paid attention to Mary and Paul, investing in essential kitchenware such as food mixers, baking trays, measuring jugs, scales and oven mitts, which are all selling like hot cakes. Overall baking accessories have seen a 38 per cent increase in sales.
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“Thanks to Mary Berry, Britain is becoming a nation of bakers once again,” said Alice Duggan, head of Home Buying at Debenhams.“Her reassuring yet authoritative tone of voice makes all food lovers want to do ‘the decent thing’ by baking beautiful, hand-crafted dishes at home rather than buying them in a supermarket.”
We have to admit, there’s nothing like tucking into a home-baked Victoria sponge.
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And with it being National Cupcake Week this week, why not try one of our exotic cupcake flavours to display on your fancy new cake stand?