Cantillon Cupcakes

June 16, 2013 //

I know nothing about beer. I know I like a cold Bud or a limey Corona every now and then but nothing about specialty or craft beers. The most adventurous one I’ve ever tried was a banana bread beer which tasted like those foamy banana sweets you get at the cinema. But while my cousin, Christopher, was visiting this week we went on a sort of craft beer crawl and tasted lots, including cherry beer, coconut beer (served in a coconut) and limoncello beer. I wanted to bake him something while he was over as he lives in America so we never see him for his birthday. I bought these raspberry Ferrari gummy sweets from Sugar Sin last week in the hope of making something for Christopher while he was over (he also loves cars), but wasn’t really sure what. As soon as he told me about his favourite beer over a family lunch I knew it would be fun to make it into a cupcake. Cantillon beer is from a brewery in Belgium which produces lambic beer, made by the fermentation of the natural yeast known to be in that area. He also told me this particular one was raspberry flavour (perfect for the sweets I’d bought) and that it had a naked lady on the label, probably the real reason why he likes it. Apparently it’s super rare in America and not the easiest thing to find here in the UK either. I managed to track some down at The Hops & Glory who had a case in their basement and my lovely sister picked it up and brought it back on the train. To make the cupcakes I doubled this recipe but instead of using all milk for the liquid used some beer. I added the first 120ml and then with the eggs added the other 60ml and then 60ml of beer. When they had come out of the oven and were still warm I poked the tops with a cocktail stick and brushed more of the beer on top so it would soak in. To be certain the flavour came across I also put some in the frosting and topped it with some raspberry sherbet to lift the flavour a bit and balance out the sour beer. I knew something was working when I was told the kitchen smelt like a brewery but they really did have that rich beer flavour. It was cool to make something unique and memorable for my cousin. Although we miss him already and want him to come back SOON I’ll be happy to go back to drinking cocktails and cider for a bit.

Categories Alcohol, Beer, Cupcake, Raspberry

Retro Radio

June 16, 2013 //

When I handed this cake to the waiter he reacted like I’d just handed him a baby whale to look after. To be honest, when the restaurant agreed to let us bring our own cake to celebrate, they probably weren’t expecting a three-tiered retro radio the size of small suitcase. This beast of a cake is for my lovely Uncle who recently turned 60. He lives in America, so we celebrated this week while he and his family are visiting. Radio has always been a passion of my Uncle’s; he even hosts a radio jazz show in America. I used this image as a reference for the design. Instead of writing Happy Birthday I personalised the cake by putting JRF (his initials) and age as a radio station identity. To make the cake I started off with three tiers of vanilla sponge which I baked in a swiss roll tin so they wouldn’t be too deep. I then stacked it and carved the ends off to round off the sides. It was really nice to make something special for my Uncle and I think he really loved it. Happy 60th Birthday Uncle John! x

Categories birthday cake, Fondant

Doctor’s Coat Cake

June 2, 2013 //

By the time I finished this cake I was a little bit in love with it. Probably because of all the little personal details which made it so special and because it indulged my endless desire to make things out of fondant. I got so into making this cake I even forgot to take photos as I went along. I was asked to make this cake for a Doctor who is retiring. I was told she likes to wear floral shirts and has a pink stethoscope (she sounds awesome). It turned out to be a pretty hefty cake as it needed to feed around 30 people, so I made two super large rectangle cakes and sandwiched them with raspberry jam and vanilla buttercream. I coated the whole cake in more buttercream and then covered it in white fondant. The most fiddly part of the cake was making sure the shirt of the collar looked right and in proportion to the rest of the coat. I made a paper pattern for the lapels of the white coat so that both sides would be exactly the same. I used all sorts of things to decorate with and bring it to life including flowers, sprinkles, jelly beans and my new favourite, edible metallic paint. I hope that she was a little bit in love with it too.

Categories Cake, Fondant

Granny’s 90th Birthday Cake

May 17, 2013 //

Today was my Granny’s 90th Birthday. I don’t even know how to begin describing her to you, for she is the most incredible person. Granny tells the best stories about her childhood in New York and countless other tales from her interesting life. All her anecdotes come with every detail as if it happened yesterday and I love hearing all her memories. My favourite accounts of hers are about the amazing foods she remembers, such as halloween ice cream cats from Manhattan or famous cookies from Boston. I hope she will be recounting her 90th birthday cake to people for years to come. I of course wanted to make something extra special for such an important birthday. I had the idea to make a cake version of a painting I did for her one Christmas. For the cake I made a three tier vanilla sponge and sandwiched the layers with raspberry jam and vanilla buttercream. I covered the outside of the cake in a layer of white vanilla buttercream, then added the colour on top. To achieve the paint-like appearance I mixed the white buttercream with food colouring as if I were mixing paints and used a palatte knife to create the brush strokes. I topped the cake with flowers I made in advance and let dry. I learnt how to make flowers out of flowerpaste especially for this cake and I loved it. I started with the roses as I vaguely knew how to do those and used the internet for help where I needed it. I made up how the other flowers would look just based on the painting and created the purple one by stacking lots of cut out flower shapes in different shades. I finished the cake with a ribbon that matched the border of the painting. I think it really does look like the painting, almost too pretty to eat. Almost. I absolutely adored making this cake, especially as it combined painting and baking. But mostly I adored making something special for a very special Granny. Happy 90th Birthday! x

Categories birthday cake, Flowers, Granny

Happy Birthday Ginetta

May 16, 2013 //

I don’t really see Ginetta as my friend’s Mum, but as one of my own friends. She is amazing for so many reasons. Not only is she one heck of a scrabble opponent (we’ve been constantly playing ‘Words With Friends’ for years now),but she is warm, kind and has always been so welcoming to me. She is also one of those incredible people full of drive, ambition and passion for things she loves. For her 50th birthday cake I decided to combine two of these things, horseriding and flowers. As soon as I saw this stand I knew I had to use it for the base of the cake. It took me ages to track it down and it finally made it’s way to the UK thanks to my Dad via hand luggage (oops). Not knowing a lot about flowers I was lucky enough to have the help of Alexia from Bluebell and George. She helped me figure out how to arrange the flowers on the cake and chose the gorgeous yellow and purple calle lilies. I adore the shades she chose they work so perfectly together and stood out so nicely on top of the cake. For the cake itself I made a three tier Madiera cake using this simple recipe, then filled it with strawberry jam and vanilla buttercream. To decorate it I covered the whole thing in more vanilla buttercream and then wrapped a piece of clear acetate around the cake, so the flowers wouldn’t be directly touching it. We glued the calle lilies onto the acetate and secured them with a matching coloured ribbon. I love that the cake is kind of hidden and the beautiful flowers are the focus. I hope she enjoys her cake and her special day. Happy 50th Birthday Ginetta!

Categories birthday cake, Ginetta, Purple, Vanilla, Yellow

Pimms Macarons

May 14, 2013 //

So it was summer for like 5 seconds. Over last weekend’s bank holiday there was actual sun and it was warm. I wasn’t aware that this country was capable of warm anymore so it was a pleasant surprise, and perfect timing too. I mentioned we went to a birthday picnic but after that we went to a BBQ. This BBQ was amazing for many reasons, but one being the Pimms that was served. It was stuffed full of fruit and having not had it in so so long, it tasted even better. Although this weekend we didn’t have a repeat forecast (It rained and I got drenched. Boo) my friend Fiona came to stay and we decided to make macarons and immediately I knew what flavour to make. Pimms has such a great flavour and it’s one of those drinks that doesn’t taste like you’re drinking any alcohol (Dangerous. In a good way.) and reminds me so much of summer and tennis and our garden. For these macarons I began by making the shells using this recipe and had a tough time getting the pimms colour; they ended up a bit pink but I now I know for next time. For the fiilling I made a buttercream, flavoured with neat Pimms and mixed in strawberries, cucumber and mint. When assembling them I added in a large piece of strawberry in the centre which I might not do next time as it made the macarons go softer the next day and ooze strawberry goo. But boy did they taste like Pimms, especially when they were still a little chilled from the fridge. These definitely distracted me from the lack of sunshine and made it feel like summer again for 5 seconds.

Categories Alcohol, Macarons, Mint, Strawberry

Biscuiteers Butterflies

May 12, 2013 //

I can’t think of a better way to spend a Sunday morning than icing butterfly biscuits at Biscuiteers. My sister bought me a class at their icing school which is part of their shop in Notting Hill. The shop was lovely, packed wall to wall full of biscuits and inspiration. I had a good look at all the biscuits before the class to see what I was aiming for. The class itself was so much fun. The school part is tucked downstairs in an adorable kitchen area and in a cosy booth my sister, my friend Fiona, another lovely lady and I we were shown step by step the icing process by our brilliant teacher Charlie. We were given plenty of biscuits to practice and learn new skills. I learnt a lot including how to get air bubbles out of piping bags (finally!), how they dry the icing quickly and how they layer the different types of icing. My favourite new trick is blending the colours by dragging them across one another with a oversized cocktail stick. I’m so pleased with how they turned out. The colours we used were gorgeous and we topped them off with gold paint which made the wings come to life. I could have spent all day playing with different designs and combinations but we only had a couple of hours. We did however leave with a generous gift bag complete with book and apron (score!), a tin full of pretty biscuits and huge smiles.

Categories Biscuits, icing

Strawberry and Pistachio Cake

May 9, 2013 //

Wednesdays are becoming my favourite day of the week. As I mentioned before we have been invading our friends house to watch Mad Men every Wednesday evening since the season began. There’s something nice about a mid week gathering that allows you to pause and relax with friends. Last week I made no contribution to the evening and merely consumed everything I was offered. So this week I thought I would make something special. I didn’t have any thoughts on what this would be until I was in the supermarket and picked up the June issue of Olive Magazine. A recipe for strawberry and pistachio cake caught my eye immediately, mostly due to the gorgeous colour combination. The cake was super simple to make with few steps and clear instructions. The only change I made was to make it in a round tin. I also went a bit overboard arranging strawberries on top. It was somewhat therapeutic. I hardly use pistachio when baking but loved the texture it added to the cake and it was great with the fresh strawberries and frosting.

Categories Cake, Frosting, Pistachio, Strawberry

Teddy Bears for Teddy

May 6, 2013 //

Teddy (and Emily) are new friends but somehow they feel like a firm part of our friendship group already. Teddy has had all the birthday luck this year. Not only did her birthday fall on a bank holiday, it also was one of the warmest days we have had so far this year. We celebrated by having one of the best picnics ever on top of Primrose Hill in the sunshine. I totally had this in my head the whole time. I of course wanted to take her some birthday cupcakes and couldn’t resist making tiny teddy toppers. As she is over from Canada I chose red and white and finished them with a teeny red flower. I hope she had a lovely day and a memorable birthday in England! x

Categories birthday cake, Cupcake, Red, Toppers, White

Maple Bacon Cupcakes for Andrew

April 28, 2013 //

There are people in my life that I just know I’m going to be friends with forever. I know this because I can be far away from them and only exchange a few funny texts from time to time, but when we do get together it’s like they were never more than a few streets away. The distance doesn’t really matter. They are equally as important to me as the friends that I love and see most days, but it’s special when they come home to visit and I get to see their faces. Andrew is one of these people. I’ve known him for most of my short life and it was really annoying that he decided to move to Dubai to work. Stupid. He came back to visit this week and requested some baked goods and blog love so I made him these. Vanilla cupcakes with maple syrup frosting topped with crispy streaky bacon. I wanted to make these for a couple of reasons. They reminded me of the road trip we took across America a couple of years ago and being at an IHOP. Also because we laughed at him a lot for going via Canada to meet us in LA for the roadtrip. Stupid. So the maple bacon combo was perfect for reminding him of this. These cupcakes have the same feeling as pancakes, fluffy and kind of comforting. One of the best things about making these was the smell of bacon that lingered in the kitchen all morning, my favourite. If I made them again I would add some blueberries to the vanilla cake to make it extra pancake like. I hope he liked them and comes back again soon!