Monday, July 1, 2019

Balfours Winter Warmer 165th Anniversary Event!




Hi guys! Last week I was lucky enough to attend the Balfours Winter Warmer event in Adelaide, to celebrate their 165th AnniversaryBalfours is such an iconic South Australian brand. I've grown up enjoying their pies, pasties, chocolate donuts and custard tarts and have fond childhood memories of being treated to the occasional frog cake if I was good!

Balfours website:
"Balfours Bakery is Australia’s oldest Bakery established in Adelaide, 1853. Today, we manufacture and distribute quality sweets and savouries from our oven doors in South Australia and New South Wales. We are proudly South Australian owned."




We arrived at the Grand Lodge of Freemasons building on North Terrace and went through to the foyer, which was dimly lit and mysterious! It was kind of exciting sipping on champagne whilst not really knowing what was happening. There were lots of tasty Balfours treats coming out on platters to try, from the classic mini meat pies with tomato sauce, to Thai chilli chicken rolls and sausage rolls. There was an impressive donut display that seemed to defy gravity and a charming string quartet playing in the background. Props to my husband for attempting numerous quite bad champagne glass Boomerangs with me, one day he will get it right, haha. I really enjoyed chatting to fellow food bloggers and introducing myself to new ones. It was so much fun talking with people in the Adelaide food and lifestyle Instagram community who have similar interests to me!






Before long the massive doors behind us opened and we entered a magical room filled with music, neon lights, sparklers, fun frog cake mascots, wine, beer and Balfours displays as far as the eye could see! In the centre of the room was a demonstration area where staff were putting the final touches on chocolate donuts, frog cakes and more. It was so cool to watch them decorate the iconic baked treats.




I didn't realise Balfours produced such an extensive range, but in looking around at all the displays, this soon became obvious.

THE RANGE

Better Bites range: Pizza Pie ~ Beef Pie ~ Sausage Roll ~ Potato Pie

Traditional & Premium range: Square Pie ~ Pasty ~Beef Sausage Roll ~ Square Chicken & Veg Pie ~ Kransky Banger ~ Pork & Fennel Roll ~ Spiced Pumpkin Roll ~ Butter Chicken ~ Red Thai Chicken Pie ~ Cornish Pasty ~ Pepper Beef Pie

Bakehouse Collection: Thai Chilli Chicken Rolls ~ Wagya Savoury Rolls ~ Cornish Pasty ~ Beef Pie ~ Potato Pie

Legends range: Custard Tart ~ Choccy Donut ~ Iced Donut ~ Gingerbread Men ~ Caramel Slice ~ Cherry & Coconut Slice

Traditional Sweets: Cafe Style Cookies (Dotty ~ Choc Chip ~ Double Choc Chip ~ Fig & Walnut ~ Date & Caramel ~ Apricot & Almond ~ Ginger & Coconut) and Homestyle Muffins (Blueberry ~ Apple Crumble ~ Double Choc ~ Raspberry & White Chocolate ~ Banana ~ Choc Chip ~ Orange & Poppyseed ~ Carrot & Walnut ~ Honey & Oats)

And in exciting news, their VEGAN range was launched: Curried Lentil & Potato Pie ~ Mushroom, Kale & Leek Pie ~ Potato, Leek & Rosemary Roll ~ Roast Vegetable Pasty




After a hectic fifteen or so minutes where the majority of people in the room were attempting to photograph the same displays (lol) were we able to sample the range and enjoy the delicious beverages on offer. I found more blogging friends and delighted in catching up with them. Another bonus of these events is that you get to see the people you interact with on Instagram. It's weird and fun!




I'm going to call it; my absolute favourites from the Balfours range would have to be their yummy custard tarts, chocolate donuts (by far my 11 year old son's favourite, too!), frog cakes and Thai chilli chicken rolls. Now don't get jelly, but we were also provided with a white take-home box that we could fill with Balfours goodies, and by God was this part fun. Just like a kid in a candy store, but a baked goods fanatic literally set loose in a huge open bakery. Exhilarating!






There were lovely speeches on stage about the history of Balfours and as we sang Happy Birthday, the hugest Green Frog Cake I ever did see was carried out! It looked even bigger next to the tiny adorable mini frog cakes, check out my photo below for the comparison!




You can keep up to date on all things Balfours by liking them on Facebook or following them on Instagram!

This was such a spectacular night, I am still buzzing about it, nearly a week later! Many thanks to Callie Rose Communications and Balfours Bakery for the invitation, kind hospitality, generosity and for a delicious and amazing evening!




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Disclaimer: Max The Unicorn + guest attended on a PR invite. All food and drinks provided. There are no affiliate links in this post. Please see the Disclosure page for further information.

What's your favourite Balfours baked item?

20 comments:

  1. My favourites sound like the same as yours! I especially love custard tarts and chocolate donuts!

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  2. Wow! Sounds like a magnificent event, everything looks so delicious. Wish there was a Balfours in Perth :)

    Amy | Her Quarters

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    1. Oh no, sorry to hear you don't have it over there. Yes the event was amazing!

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  3. This would be like all my baked goods dreams come true!

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  4. I have to admit I've never heard of Balfours but enjoyed your post and all the yummy photos . #Lifethisweek

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  5. What a feast there. Glad you were part of the celebrations.

    Thanks for sharing for Life This Week. Next week's optional prompt is Self Care Stories. Hope to see you there linking up. Denyse.

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    1. Yes, a delicious feast! Thanks again for the link up!

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  6. Despite the amount that I bake, I don't actually have a sweet tooth - I did, however, salivate over those sausage rolls and the sounds of some of those pie flavours. You get all the good gigs! #Teamlovinlife

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    1. Their savouries were very tasty too! Yes, it was such a fun night :)

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  7. It all looks so, so good, Di! I had no idea Balfours was South Australian.

    SSG xxx

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    1. Yes! Actually it's weird to me to think that interstate people (with the exception of NSW) haven't heard of Balfours!

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  8. The lentil pie sounds awesome. And the potato roll!! Wonder if we get it here (In NSW) - my daughter only eats their pie with the potato on the top #Openslathr

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    1. Hopefully you do! Yes, loving their new range, so great! :)

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  9. Looks like such a fun event - I so want a doughnut now, haha!

    Hope that you have a great weekend ahead of you! Going to be a rainy one here so will be a quiet one for us :)

    Away From Blue

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    1. Their donuts are amazing! Hope you have a lovely weekend Mica, a quiet one sounds ideal x

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  10. Yes! I haven't had a frog cake in years, I am craving one now! I buy the balfours pasty four packs in the supermarket, they are the best lazy dinner for the kids :) #openslather

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    1. I wish my son wasn't so fussy and would eat the pasties because I love them!

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Max and I love reading your comments! We will do our best to visit your blog and comment, too :)

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