On Tuesday Anne and I were invited along to the fabulous Tate & Lyle Tasting House in London. If you can imagine Alice in Wonderland mixed with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory you’ll have some approximation of the sweetness induced heaven we were in!

Tate & Lyle had created a Hansel & Gretel style wonderland of themed rooms and decadent staircases all baked with their brand new range of taste experience golden and brown cane sugars, inspired by regions around the world.

On entering a hallway decked with wooden spoons and macaroon covered walls we walked into the British inspired room.

A giant cake version of the Tate & Lyle lion laid on one table, while others were adorned with Jelly spoons, sugar cookies and a doughnut edifice to name just a few.

Everything was created using Tate & Lyle Sugars Golden Syrup sugar 🙂

Next we ventured to the Caribbean, a dimly lit cabin with a giant Vanilla Sponge chest at it’s centre.

We raided cupboards to find Gingerbread swords, doubloons and Belgian Chocolate cake pops.

A candle lit table held chocolate animal skulls and Orange Spice Cupcakes. All made with the brand new Taste Experience Light Muscovado sugar.

Next we climbed macaroon clad stairs, eating a few window cushions as we went 🙂 to the Mediterranean Inspired Bedroom.

A huge clawed bath was filled to the brim with sparkling popcorn, cupcakes and jams. Bath lilies (I ate one) floated on top.

The bed was festooned with cushions (that were really made of chocolate, lemon and vanilla cakes!)

Even the rug in front of the fire was made from 1081 meringues and the books weren’t just a good read, they were a good feast! All made using the new Taste Experience Light Soft Brown sugar.

Next came my favourite room, the Guyanese room using the new Taste Experience Demerara Sugar.

First we were introduced to a giant Sea Turtle made from vanilla sponge cake. She laid in a sand pit where she had buried her eggs. We were encouraged to route through the sand to find the eggs (poor turtle).

The eggs were in fact real duck eggs, but when we cracked them open they were filled with Vanilla Cake! I instantly felt a return to childhood, filled with wonder at this most amazing of marvels. I’m still marvelling two days later, I mean it was a cake in an egg, a real egg!

With huge goggle eyes we made our way into the Barbados inspired library. Books and maps galore stood on the shelves and I paused to admire the antique display of shells and coral. At this point I was informed with a smile that they were all in fact made from gingerbread!!!! Baked with the new Dark Muscovado sugar.

Up more macaroon stairs and we entered the Misissippi Room. A huge 5ft long rainbow cake with an slightly creepy golden babyhead stood proud in the room. The cake was decorated with Mardi Gras style beads and seriously delicious feathers. Made with the new Taste Experience Dark Soft Brown sugar.

Over the corridor to the South Pacific room where in the centre stood a huge Easter Island Mud cake head. I actually didn’t partake of any of this because I only realised it was a cake later on, I did however eat some Chocolate Rubble 🙂 Made with the new Golden Granulated sugar.

Finally we made our way downstairs to the basement where we entered an eery Mayan fantasy. Golden pots containing spiced cookie coins, tablet and Chocolate stood on pedestals. A chocolate skull, Tablet calendar and Sacrificial (chocolate) hearts stood to one side. The centre of the room was filled by a huge fudge temple. All made with the new Taste Experience Golden Caster sugar.

As you can probably tell we were more than a little amazed and inspired. The bakers involved in the creation of the house are obviously artists with amazing skill. I don’t think I’ll forget the experience in a hurry.

The premise of the new range of Taste Experience Sugars from Tate & Lyle is to make baking with sugar much more than just adding sweetness, it’s about adding flavour! Each bag of the new sugars gives hints and tips on how to use them and what food they best compliment. I came home with a few of the new flavours and I can’t wait to test them out. If the house is anything to go by they really do add a whole new depth of flavour to your cooking, really lifting it above the ordinary!

The whole house took 14 cake makers more than 2000 hours to bake, 900 hours to decorate and used more than 600 kilos of Taste experience sugar!

Now what ordinary household item shall I attempt to make into cake….