Want to SEA some insanely well decorated seaside themed cakes? They SHORE are great.

PLUS photos of everyone’s favourite bakers, Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, in action. Right this way.

Last week I went, along with my sister and approximately a gazillion middle-aged mums and their daughters, to the Cake and Bake Show 2012 at Earls Court. The C&B Show is basically like Glastonbury for homebakers. There are stages specialising in various cakey and bakey things like bread, sugarcraft, and cake decorating, upon which famous bakers and makers appear. In the headlining slot were the stars of the Great British Bake Off, Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood. Easily 1,000 people flocked to the main stage to watch Mary do her thing for half an hour, with Paul occasionally assisting, but clearly mainly acting as eye candy for all those mums. At the end she let a bunch of little girls from the front row taste the chocolate cake she’d just iced. It was all quite adorable.

Now, as obsessed as I am with Bake Off this year, easily my favourite part of the C&B Show was display of extraordinary entries in the cake decorating competition. The theme was ‘edible beach’ and there were 3 categories, amateur, professional and junior, but I could hardly tell the difference because the standard was so darn high – from cutesy cartoon figurines to unbelievably realistic looking fish and chip suppers, all made out of sweet stuff. Click through the gallery below and prepare to be amazed – and hungry.