May 2013

Granny’s 90th Birthday Cake

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

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Happy Birthday Ginetta

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

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Pimms Macarons

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.

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Biscuiteers Butterflies

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

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