The Big Bake Masterclass

Overall Experience

The Big Bakes is a popular baking experience in the UK. They offer competitive baking sessions where participants create delicious treats in pairs or as a 3. The Big Bakes locations are currently in London. Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. For full transparency, we have attended an experience in December 2025 and at times we found it incredibly stressful and overwhelming, which led us to leave some very honest feedback on how inaccessible it was for people with learning difficulties and hidden disabilities and not neuro-affirmative. Evidently, a couple of months later, we noticed they came out with masterclasses, ‘a class where the bake is slower, learn more, master the craft with our relaxed, daytime baking experiences.’ This was huge for us because we felt our feedback made a difference for our community. In my opinion, I would return to both the bake-off sessions and masterclasses because I am used to the rush and the quickness of baking, as I bake and decorate cakes quite often, but in saying that, I did enjoy the masterclass as well, as I was able to think and enjoy myself more.

Things that stood out:

There were only 3 other groups, but you had your own work surface, which had enough room for 3 people. You didn’t feel like you were on top of one another.
When we were making the eclairs, you have to combine the water and butter, and then, when it is bubbling, you add the flour and stir continuously. We made the mistake of missing that the water needed to go in, as well as the butter, since it wasn’t clear on the recipe card. The instructor saw this and made a note to fix it.
The venue was accessible for wheelchair users, as when you entered the building, you went up a ramp and went to get into the tent, where there is a lift to access the tent. There is a disabled toilet behind the tent.
A difference we saw in the masterclass than the bake off was that you got extra leaflets as well as the recipe card to break down different things you were to learn and encounter.

Things to Know:

It is about a 7-minute walk from Moorfields train station (lift and step-free route if needed).
You have to arrive 15 minutes before the set time of your session or masterclass, as they do a safety briefing. If you are 5 minutes after the set time, you will not be able to take part in your experience.
Cake is available before your session (they have gluten-free and vegan options). For the drinks, you can get them before you enter the tent, then throughout your session, they come around to see if you would like another one. They also have a hydrate station with jugs of water you can get whenever.
As a person who has coeliac disease, I can’t work or touch things that have gluten or wheat in them. They gave me gluten-free flour, but made it clear that gluten is in the environment, so I didn’t eat anything, but I felt included. You do have to let me know beforehand, they send a form out if there is anything that they need to know.
For the bake-off sessions, the classic ticket is priced at £45.99, but other options include extras. As for the masterclasses, it is £74.90. Personally, I don’t like the price difference between the 2 classes, but I understand where there is a price increase. It would be nice to see an accessible version of the Classic ticket.

If you would like to book a bake-off session or a masterclass, here is the link: Home | The Big Bakes.com