Tuesday 29 July 2008

You wanna be in my gang....?



After writing about the rather fab sounding "cupcake club" earlier this week I have since found a UK based one, in fact based about 10mins from my house!!! Cupcakes and Bakes, whose cupcakes I bought a couple of months ago at Greenwich food market, offer 3 different cupcake clubs

All you need to do is supply us with the recipient information and a preferred date for the package to begin, and we will send them a dozen different flavoured and decorated cupcakes every month. Because we are always baking, not all of our recipes make it onto our website. Therefore your lucky recipient will get lots of new flavours to try out.
A subscription to the Cupcake Club is perfect for all gifts, or just for those discerning cake lovers. Corporate orders are also welcomed. Prices below are inclusive of delivery. All you do is pay one price for a gift that will last all year round.
Choose from:

Three month package £ 72.00

Six month package £ 138.00

12 month package £ 240.00


While I do like the idea of a cupcake club, I'm not sure I would only want to eat cupcakes from one supplier every month - I like being able to hunt out new cupcake places, or try whatever, for example Outsider Tart have flavourwise for their cupcake day each month! While the thought of a cupcake club is great I think I'd only do it if you could get 4 a month, for example! Great idea for a gift though ;)


Monday 28 July 2008

How to look cute baking...




These cupcaketastic aprons from Modern June's Etsy store are just adorable!


I love them! I can just imagine me in my kitchen wearing one of these baking a lovely batch of cupcakes :)

Sunday 27 July 2008

I wanna join the cupcake club!




How fab does this club from The Cupcake Crew sound...


6 Month Cupcake of the Month Club
You will get our Flavor of the Month Cupcakes automatically delivered to the address of your choice for 6 months. Each month will feature a new seasonal flavor such as Augusts' Strawberry Shortcake or Octobers' Caramel Apple. Each months cupcake delivery will be as follows: one dozen uniced cupcakes, 2 tubs of buttercream, 2 piping bags, and directions. 2 Day Shipping is included in the price. Great as a gift or even better for yourself!!!
Price:
$340.00


I've never heard of this "club" idea before but then I've not checked EVERY cupcake site out there - (I'm trying but there's LOADS and occasionally I have to work at work..lol), but how COOL does a cupcake club sound! Although after my incident with the piping bag last week I might be best kept away from those!


They also sell mail order tubs of frosting and I'm loving the sound of their mexican hot chocolate cupcakes - maybe I'll arrange for some to be delivered to NY next year for my planned birthday trip!! I like the idea that they're delivered with the frosting separate as then they wont be all smooshed when they arrive!
Both pics are from The Cupcake Crew website - look rather yummy don't they!

The Lavender Bakery - a cupake adventure


This has taken me ages to write up as I've been trying desperately to get the pics I took from my phone to the computer but alas its just not working but will keep trying as I took some good ones, including Manny covered in some rather scrummy caramel frosting!


The lovely Michelle from Lavender Bakery offered me some cupcakes via email after I contacted her as I'd been to the LRB cafe to try some of her cupcakes and was disappointed they weren't there! So one Friday last month I sneaked out of work to meet Michelle's boyfriend and collect my cupcakes, I was only expecting a couple and there were LOADS! A BIG box full of utterly gorgeous, beautifully decorated cupcakes. The bases were really soft and the frosting was really yummy. Guess what I had for lunch that day..lol


We were going to a gig that night so Manny and I met at Lincoln's Inn Fields for a cupcake supper before going, which is where the aforementioned Manny covered in frosting incident happened - he looked rather amusing in his denim cut-off with frosting all over his nose!! I shall post the pics once I have figured out how to transfer them! The pic above are the actual cupcakes I got, borrowed (with permission!) from Michelle's flicker site - go check it out and see how pretty her cupcakes are!


I think the LRB cafe does the Lavender Shortbread which sounds rather yummy and deffo worth popping into the cafe for!

Saturday 26 July 2008

Today I went to....




Buttercup Cake Shop....aren't they lovely!! I think this is my favourite shop in London


We had banoffee, vanilla purist and chocolate purist - I resisted the temptation to get a sticky toffee one but they do look like they're missing one don't they!


As usual the frosting was melt in your mouth and the cake/batter was soft and yummy.


Cupcakes are the best gift!


I met my lovely friend Helen for coffee earlier this week and she brought along two gorgeous and scrummy cupcakes from Lola's Kitchen @ Selfridges for myself and Manny. You can't help but love people who give you cupcakes ;)
* Please note - we like Helen even without the cupcakes - I'm not that fickle!!!

Plates of cupcakes


We popped into our local Asda this week and I got this really cute plastic plate for £1! They also had water bottles, glasses (tiny kids size) and some bowls (again v.small childrens size) all for under £2!! It's a perfect size for a cupcake, or two :)

Friday 25 July 2008

Moomin Mania



I just HAD to post these adorable cupcakes from the ever fabulous Crumbs and Doilies Blog as Manny often calls me his Snorkmaiden


Utterly adorable!

Saturday 19 July 2008

Baking cupcakes...Donna Hay style






So Donna Hay is the Australian Queen of Cupcakes and some time ago I bought a couple of her cupcake mixes. Today, while mooching around the house I decided to make the Lemon and Coconut one - and although they don't look as great as the pics, they taste fab! The icing is a bit too buttery, even though I used the amount stated, I think maybe I've not blended it enough or something, or maybe they have more buttery cupcakes in Australia?? Who knows - all I know is that they are absolutely scrummy and I'm having to use a great deal of willpower to stop myself from walking to the kitchen and scoffing them! I added my own little touch with some neon yellow glitter to them! You can see in the last pic how shiny the frosting is - it's like its pure butter or something - I'm letting them "set" a bit to see how they go! Don't think I'll be using my icing pump thing again either - I could've made them prettier without it! And I definitely need a bigger baking tin!


I really like the coconut lemon base of the cakes - will definitely be checking her magazine (I read it in Starbucks/Borders when I go there for my monthly read of glossies I don't want to buy!) and her books for the batter recipe!


And next time I'll be making my own cakes from scratch - I was going to today but at the end of the month I cant' really justify spending £7 on vanilla extract!

Craving cupcakes...Daisy Cakes to the rescue





So today I was home alone and craving cupcakes - I have gone nearly 2 weeks without a "fix" so I woke up thinking FROSTING! Then I realised I really wasn't in a 'getting on the bus and listening to each stop being announced then jostling with a zillion people' mood so I decided to ditch my idea of going to Buttercup and went to Daisy Cakes Bake Shop in Greenwich instead.


As soon as I walked into Daisy Cakes and smelt the fresh cupcakes baking I knew it had been a good idea - I quickly got a red velvet and a vanilla and headed home to enjoy a people free Saturday!!


Both cupcakes were gorgeous (I liked the red velvet base best and the vanilla frosting...go figure!) and my people free day has been great :)

Tarts are coming to Soho!!!!


One of my favourite cupcake bakers are coming to Soho, London this Monday, 21st July! I can't wait - although I shall have to ensure I don't visit too often or I'll explode!


Info below from their blog

Is it Monday yet?!? yes, this Monday we will be open for business. We are not letting little things like the kitchens not being completely finished and our entrance not open stop us! So try and come down to see us next week on Frith Street. 56 Frith to be exact, inside Profile, London W1D 3JGNow between now and then we have our markets so here is what's on offer this week.
I CANNOT wait :)

Thursday 17 July 2008

A sweet surprise






I found this very cute shop on my daily trawl of Etsy - I think I shall be ordering the necklace when pay day comes around :)


The necklace is $8, the barrettes are $3 and the earrings are $6. Some of the items come in different cupcake styles, such a cherry and chocolate so click here for all cupcake goodies! Check out her other items too - there's some fab panda and octopus things :)

Monday 14 July 2008

A font thats good enough to eat!


Thanks, once again, to the fabulous All Things Cupcake for alerting me to this superb font! Isn't it cute - not sure I'll be able to type all my emails in it though :)


Available free from Font Cubes.

Hello Kitty cupcakes


I adore Hello Kitty and I heart cupcakes so when I saw these I thought I might explode with glee - that frosting is just crying out to be scoffed! From Sugarcrushmiami via the ever fabulous All Things Cupcake.


Just adorable!!

Monday 7 July 2008

I wish every day was cupcake day!!



I made it over to Richmond early on Saturday - mainly cuz I left a very hungover Manny in bed feeling sorry for himself so was able to get out of the house without too much faffing, and this early start paid off as they still had a full range of cupcakes left when I arrived!! I had been drooling since reading their flavours for "cupcake day" and they were worth every second I spent drooling!


I bought 4 - strawberry vanilla and red velvet for me and brownie chunk and Boston cream pie for Manny and all 4 of them were utterly fantastic! The strawberry one was SO good I didn't want it to end - each bite of frosting was like having a zillion of the yummiest, juiciest strawberries you've ever eaten exploding in your mouth all at once! Seriously it was THAT good! My red velvet was utterly fabulous too, nice and soft with a really moreish frosting! Manny seemed to enjoy his also (I swiped a fingerful of his filing from his cream pie one and it was very good and a nibble of his chocolate frosting which was incredibly tasty!)...there were no complaints and lots of yummy noises and it seemed to help cure his hangover - see cupcakes can heal!


The guys from Outsider Tart were really friendly and gave me a gorgeous jute bag to carry my goodies home safely!! I really hope their business grows and grows, like I would if it was cupcake day every day ;)


Go buy their cupcakes ASAP - if you don't you'll only regret it! My only regret - I was so eager to get stuck into eating them my pictures suck..sorry guys!

Pink pandas!!


I saw these on Bakerella (which I ADORE!) and I simply MUST buy some of these lovely pink Oreos when we go to NY next March so I can make these. Pandas and cupcakes are two of my favourite things in the world so these will definitely be FAB!
I do hope Bakerella don't mind I've borrowed their picture to show you how great these look. You can find the recipe for these in Hello Cupcake (a really great book!)


Saturday 5 July 2008

Time to take up running


Well that's unlikely to happen, although after losing some weight I can now run without giving myself black eyes and passing out, but the thought of this lovely track jacket might encourage me to be sporty - I could run to the cupcake store :)


I'm trying to hold off buying it till we've been away on holiday to MAGIC CIRCLE FEST but I'm not sure I can hold out much longer as its just so cute and its only $32 which is nothing for something so cute! I'm really worried I'll come back and it'll be sold out as Shana Logic have a habit of selling out v.quickly!!


Oh it's a dilemma!!!


Thanks to my lovely chum Kirsty for forwarding me the latest Shana Logic update as for some reason I didn't get it!!

Update - first posted this 10mins ago but have now bought the jacket....bad Anne!

Friday 4 July 2008

Drooling with anticipation




Actually ignore the post below- I'm not going to Hummingbird tomorrow as I'd already planned to go to Richmond Farmers Market to pick up some Outsider Tart cupcakes as its their cupcake weekend (as is the first weekend of every month!!). I've just read their flavours for this week and I'm already hungry...yummy


Day! Market Menu 5th and 6th July
It's cupcake day at last. The flavors for the day are:

Filled Cupcakes:

Chocolate Mint

Lemon Poppy

Boston Cream Pie

Lime


Unfilled cupcakes:

Brownie Chunk

Blueberry

LavenderVanilla

StrawberryRed Velvet
The pics are from Outsider Tart's website gallery - that wedding cake is to die for!!

Cupcake-less 4th of July


So I went to Selfridges this am, ready to get my lovely 4th of July cupcakes (below) and alas they didn't have any. The man serving at Lola's didn't have any idea about them, although he didn't seem to have much of a clue at all, it took him 10 minutes to stop his conversation and come to serve me, while another woman just stood there blatantly ignoring...nice staff they hve there!
I think tomorrow I shall go to Hummingbird and see what they have - I have to say I heart Lolas but the staff at Selfridges are just rather unpleasant to deal with and if you promise special cupcakes maybe you should have them :(


However we can trust good ole Martha Stewart to be patriotic today and clicking here will find you her American Flag cupcakes!

Thursday 3 July 2008

Today we celebrate our Independence Day



Celebrate the 4th July with a delicious box of LOLA's red velvet, chocolate and vanilla cupcakes. Each gift box will contain cupcakes iced in red, white & blue and decorated in an assortment of sprinkles & images with an American theme.


Lola's will be sampling red velvet cupcakes at Selfridges on Friday 4th July for the "United Tastes of America" - I shall be there at about 10am! I hope they're doing single red velvet ones - they're my favourite, although I'll get a box if I really have to ;)
Happy 4th July my American chums - wish I was in NY to celebrate!!!!

Wednesday 2 July 2008

Cupcakes can make a difference...



LOLA's has South African roots, so it was only natural that we decided to celebrate the 90th birthday of this great man.


Our Mandela's 90th gift box contains images of Nelson Mandela, the AIDS symbol, and cupcakes decorated in the South African flag colours. Each box is tied with a ribbon and finished with your personal gift note.


Orders can be collected or hand delivered to the recipient.


30% of proceeds go to the 46664 campaign which raises awareness about the impact of AIDS, especially in Africa, and promotes HIV prevention measures throughout the world.

Its cupcakes o' clock!



How fantastic is that expression!!?


Lola's Kitchen have launched their Wimbledon cupcake box to welcome summer and the Wimbledon season! What better way to celebrate the game of tennis than stuffing yourself with a box of LOLA's strawberry cupcakes...yummy!


Their strawberry box contains cupcakes smothered in strawberry icing and topped with a whole fresh strawberry on top. The tennis box sounds rather funky as each cupcake is iced like a tennis ball but I can't find any pics!


New balls please :)

Tuesday 1 July 2008

Cut your cake..


and eat it!


I think it might be a bit fancy to cut your cupcakes in half but I'm sure not everyone scoffs them in the same fashion I do. Manny for example likes to use a teaspoon to eat his, although this is because if not he ends up with frosting on his nose! However if you do fancy cutting your cupcake in half and being dainty, or any other cake for that matter, this fancy knife from Rockett St George is just the tool for the job as supposedly the cut out letters lead to a cleaner cut cake..so no wasted crumbs! :)