
Being the foodie that I am, I love going to pop-ups in London, boozy brunches and Instagram-popular restaurants, so when tickets went on sale back in May for London Dessert Festival, I just knew I had to go!
The festival took place The Old Truman Brewery back in August for the weekend, with over 50 different stalls exhibiting in the venue, from cheesecake, boozy cocktails and frozen yoghurt to freakshakes, ice cream and cookies.
The venue was decked out with photo props, hanging accessories, a doughnut wall, small immersive dessert installations, a marshmallow ball pit and the sweetest chocolatey smell filled the entire place. We were greeted with a photo opportunity with candy floss trees – and an edible bubble machine to taste before heading into the main rooms to check out all the different stands.
The vendors at London Dessert Festival
With over 50 vendors at the dessert festival, there was certainly something for everyone to enjoy. Some of the big name brands included Pan-n-Ice, Dum Dum Donutterie, Bloom Candy Floss, The Chocolate Cocktail Club, Whipped London and Pleesecakes.
I went with my friend Jade, and we decided to walk around the whole dessert festival to check out all the different stands before making a decision on which ones we’d really like to try!
The desserts we tried
The Chocolate Cocktail Club
First up, we tried a Salted Caramel cocktail (£6) from the Chocolate Cocktail Club. The cocktail was made from a delicious combination of salted caramel liqueur and chocolate liqueur, topped with a chunk of caramel fudge. The cocktail was really sweet and strong, and would work perfectly as an after-dinner drink!
Pleesecakes
Next, we checked out Pleesecakes. I’ve seen their cheesecakes across social media so when I found out they had a stand here, I knew we had to try it! For £3.50, you could build your own cheesecake from selecting a biscuit base, cheese and toppings. Jade ordered a biscuit base with Biscoff cream and a flake, sprinkles and white chocolate toppings and I ordered a Biscoff base with Oreo cheese and white chocolate chunks and a flake for toppings. The portion seemed small but it was incredibly rich and filling so it was just right. I LOVE cheesecake so this went down an absolute treat!
Pan-n-Ice Cream
Pan N Ice are famous for their rolled ice cream creations (not forgetting the viral videos of the owners making them!!).
We shared a pot of their rolled ice cream (£4) and chose the Kinder Bueno and Ferraro Rocher combination. The ice cream was nice and had a good texture, but I would have liked it to be a lot sweeter. It’s a fun concept though and something different in the market!
Bits to take home
We had some money left over, so we bought two cookie dough slices (£3.50 per slice) from Whipped London, two cinnamon bun cupcakes (£3.50 each) from Sweet Doris and I bought a Victoria sponge cake (£5) from Cake In A Jar as a present for my boyfriend’s grandparents.
The tickets cost around £25 per person for an allocated three-hour time slot. This ticket price didn’t cover any goody bags or vouchers, and the venue was a cash-free event so you had to register for cards to load money on to. Using a card would seem a good concept but you could only load money by £10, £20, £30+ so it quickly became an expensive event!
I would definitely go again to the Dessert Festival next year if they’re going to hold another one, I just think they should add a little something in extra for the ticket price, like a free dessert or a voucher to spend.
Would you go to the London Dessert Festival?