tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88080764876054779302024-02-08T02:58:33.330+00:00I Heart CupcakesInside me is a thin girl screaming to be let out. I keep her quiet with cupcakes and heavy metal.I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.comBlogger861125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-76086392908108175842013-06-24T17:12:00.001+01:002013-06-24T17:29:59.363+01:00Is it *really* vegan?This post is about a month or so late and for that I apologise. <div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0nAuHBZE-Z4tgRbe7Blrls6g2TwQdfAcK8gQd9-g3BrhbTBkp4FdPoP5vkfqeWt-HpbQYwRelH-Qh4_kwHY_YMrDuVgEF0CmIslISr3B5Dxn0lm8iPkkX6fjekVCVTQO_Q9Tjf20hut4N/s640/blogger-image--547274751.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0nAuHBZE-Z4tgRbe7Blrls6g2TwQdfAcK8gQd9-g3BrhbTBkp4FdPoP5vkfqeWt-HpbQYwRelH-Qh4_kwHY_YMrDuVgEF0CmIslISr3B5Dxn0lm8iPkkX6fjekVCVTQO_Q9Tjf20hut4N/s640/blogger-image--547274751.jpg"></a></div><br><div><br></div><div>Ms Cupcake's The Naughtiest Vegan Cakes in Town was published last month and I was lucky enough to receive a review copy. </div><div><br></div><div>As soon as I opened it I knew what I was going to make - my favourite from Ms Cupcake - the Bounty cupcake. </div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO6O4dd6E4Z3_N0deaQ8v4Os75RkMoLO40H4vaEPF2o1djiucgQpvkOKO40JZ6nM67J-yOW5VpJ7ME1gW9GB3lhBwUtZonFohB_U3webDsxrfv-T6fzEWSu6I8cwpSRByDGwsNYeGLxxql/s640/blogger-image--768287709.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO6O4dd6E4Z3_N0deaQ8v4Os75RkMoLO40H4vaEPF2o1djiucgQpvkOKO40JZ6nM67J-yOW5VpJ7ME1gW9GB3lhBwUtZonFohB_U3webDsxrfv-T6fzEWSu6I8cwpSRByDGwsNYeGLxxql/s640/blogger-image--768287709.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><div><br></div><div>Obviously the recipe meant I had to buy a couple of vegan friendly items - soya margarine and milk. Everything else I had at home. </div></div></div><div><br></div><div>Working in a bakery I'm used to creaming for ages to get light fluffy cakes so the method here was completely new to me but everything was well explained and easy to follow! In fact, the cakes were <b><i>really</i></b> easy and quick to make. </div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTC5g3aE69BCECxXMNQUDQaz017LaqPe5I1t7GDnc3fZOP4_8oQjYZXxdFwZ44l9sTNBkwb1GuZMcWjl_1fQr7TdBzmpyx2AIYXBh4231wse7BiXZn_p5IqGbVUVUghmFEqdPV5lWs7Faq/s640/blogger-image--769132301.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTC5g3aE69BCECxXMNQUDQaz017LaqPe5I1t7GDnc3fZOP4_8oQjYZXxdFwZ44l9sTNBkwb1GuZMcWjl_1fQr7TdBzmpyx2AIYXBh4231wse7BiXZn_p5IqGbVUVUghmFEqdPV5lWs7Faq/s640/blogger-image--769132301.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Once baked it was time to make the two frostings. I admit here I cheated a little I made one batch, which I then halved. The first half I added coconut extract and shredded coconut too for the bottom layer. The rest I added some cocoa powder, vanilla and a pinch of salt too to make chocolate frosting. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The title of this post comes from Manny's reaction when I gave him one to test. They were really moist and tasty. And best of all you couldn't tell they were vegan! And I mean that as a compliment! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">And this wasn't the only recipe I plan to make. The book is full of really great looking cakes, cupcakes, tray bakes and savoury treats to make. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Definitely not just for vegans!! </div><br></div><br></div>I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-69277971903571987992013-02-18T22:13:00.000+00:002013-02-18T22:13:22.900+00:00Butter v Stork challenge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was watching Food and Drink last week with Mary Berry and Michel Roux Jr and the question - <i>what makes a better cake, Butter or Stork</i> - came up again. They tasted two cakes made to Mary's recipe one made using butter, the other with Stork and all three testers preferred the taste of the Stork cake.<br />
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As well as shocking me, this got me thinking that over the years I've always argued that butter is <b>always </b>better....<i>but is it</i>?<br />
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The Butter v Stork baking challenge was conceived.<br />
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I'm arranging an event in London (venue to be confirmed) hopefully in March. I'm aiming for a Monday (hopefully evening) so people can bake on the Sunday when they have no work. This is where <b>you </b>can help - we'll need a few bakers to bake cakes as I cannot bake them all myself. No fancy baking is required - just basic good old fashioned cakes - two of each, one with butter, one with Stork. Once we have the bakers decided we can arrange what butter to use (I think it's best we all used the same butter) and what cakes to bake. Obviously we can do cupcakes or cakes - this can all be decided once we have more info.<br />
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We will obviously also need some taste testers.<br />
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If you are interested please get in touch via email, Twitter (@annecupcake) or leaving a comment below.<br />
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And thanks to Helen at <a href="http://fussfreeflavours.com/">Fuss Free Flavours</a> for putting me in touch with people on Twitter who are aiming to help out with venues.<br />
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Please get involved so we can finally answer this very important question once and for all.I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-4936070689534418212012-11-21T15:04:00.001+00:002012-11-21T15:04:22.039+00:00Wedding anniversary at Peggy Porschen's Parlour<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Halloween was our 11th wedding anniversary and of <i>course </i>we needed cake and where better than my favourite cake parlour in London - <a href="http://www.peggyporschen.com/parlour.html">Peggy Porschen</a>. If people ask where to go for tea and cake in London I <i><b>always </b></i>suggest Peggy's - who can fail to fall in love with such a beautiful pink parlour? This is the colour <i>everything </i>in my house would be if Manny would allow it! </div>
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We opted for a cupcake each - Manny going for Chocolate Heaven and I opted for Sticky Toffee - one of their range I've wanted to try for some time. </div>
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Manny's Chocolate Heaven cake was delicious. I'm sometimes put off chocolate cake by bad frosting - this one was as light as a feather. As was the cake.<br />
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My Sticky Toffee one was fabulous. The addition of walnuts was a little strange at first but I think it added some good texture to the cake. Again the frosting was divine.<br />
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When we finished Manny went and got the Halloween special - a pumpkin and cream cheese cupcake which we shared while finishing our coffees. I'm not that fond of pumpkin - sometimes I find it makes me gag - but this one was lovely. And the cream cheese frosting was again lovely. The cake itself was heavily spiced which I really liked. </div>
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We left clutching two take away cupcakes (I know we're fatties but we just couldn't resist), for our trip around <a href="http://www.brompton-cemetery.org/">Brompton Cemetery</a> where we snuggled, fed squirrels and crows, and had a lovely day. There are no photos of the second lot of cupcakes alas as when we were taking some photographs in the Cemetery I put the cakes down and the box blew over. We still ate them obviously! Manny had a Black Forest and I had a Banoffee - Manny loved his (I tried a bit and it was really flavoursome), however my Banoffee wasn't my favourite cupcake ever I have to admit - the banana flavour wasn't that strong but it was moist and fresh so better than a lot of cupcakes I've had previously. </div>
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The <i>perfect </i>anniversary day out in London. </div>
I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-29159443683531551392012-10-08T18:09:00.000+01:002012-10-08T18:09:02.817+01:00Review of the Cake and Bake show and Cake International ticket giveaway<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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A couple of weeks have now passed since the first Cake and Bake show in London's Earl's Court. Before the event social media was awash with excitement about it, after the event a little less so with more moaning about crowds, lack of loos etc. </div>
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We went along on the Saturday afternoon, already bored with the amount of Tweets proclaiming '<i>I'm in the press office</i>' from bloggers keen to let us know they were, well in the press office. Yawn. I lost a few Twitter followers for pointing out that covering an event by constantly tweeting '<i>I'm in the press office</i>' was a little boring. Oh dear. </div>
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Also being tweeted were horrendous pics of queues and lots of issues about crowds. Yes, the venue was too small and very shoddy looking (I believe it's going to be demolished soon?) and yes there were too many people trying to look at too few stalls BUT the main problem wasn't any fault of the organisers but the fault of the people attending - lack of manners mainly. The organisers didn't make the lady next to us during Mich Turners excellent demo talk loudly and hit several people with her giant fake Cath Kidston bag while insisting loudly '<i>take my pic with this baking woman</i>'. They didn't make people push in on queues, or nearly knock others of their feet while they were paying/looking at stalls. I'm a big girl and I was nearly knocked off my feet by some rude woman while I was paying for some purchases as she just HAD to get to the front of the stall. Seriously what happened to having some manners? The same thing happened at Cake International - rudeness appears to be an epidemic amongst those who like baking. They should eat some cake and chill out a bit. I was also appalled to read on Twitter on Sunday that people were stealing unattended goodies bags which were being sold to raise money for charity. For the love of god -what kind of people are these? Possibly the kind who looked horrified at tattooed people being at the Cake and Bake show - who knows. </div>
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My main gripe re the organisers were a complete lack of anywhere to actually eat cakes or bakes. Surely this kind of event was calling out for an afternoon tea area or similar. The cupcakes/cakes on offer were not the enticing - some looked like small children had decorated them so we gave them a miss. Manny did however eat a couple of brownies and loved them and I took a pandan cupcake home which was lovely. </div>
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The other main problem in my opinion was the cake decorating area. We went there so Manny could decorate a cupcake. I was APPALLED at the state of the cupcakes they were selling for £2 to decorate - more so when I found out a professional baker had made them. Seriously Cake and Bake next year get in touch - I could churn out better looking vanilla cupcakes in my sleep. Manny at least had fun decorating - and he's in his 40s so it wasn't an issue telling him the cake wasn't fit for human consumption, but good luck trying to tell kids they couldn't eat the cake that felt like it was weeks old as the mothers next to us had to do. </div>
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I did manage to brave the pushing crowds to buy a few good things including a lovely Kozial cake stand that I've been after for ages for the bargain price of £15 from a company called <a href="http://www.bakerandmaker.com/" rel="nofollow">Baker and Maker</a>. I also got some lovely straws from them. Other purchases included some chocolate moulds, chocolate transfer sheets and some other little bits to play around with. The scrum around areas like Peggy Porschen's stall was too much to bear so if I want anything I'll just go to her store and enjoy a civilised cup of tea and cake at the same time. </div>
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If you fancy attending a similar event, hopefully without hoards of elbowing women I have two tickets to <a href="http://www.ichf.co.uk/cake/?show=birmingham">Cake International</a> in Birmingham from the 9-11 November to give away. The tickets can be used for any of the days. To enter please leave a comment below saying what you would like to see at the Cake and Bake show, or Cake International. Giveaway closes on the 15th October and is for show tickets only - does not include travel. </div>
I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-73029269867423131682012-08-20T17:44:00.000+01:002012-08-20T17:46:02.732+01:00Holy Fuckcakes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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If you're reading this from London and are a fan of street food then I'm sure you'll need no introduction to <a href="http://www.theribman.co.uk/hot-sauce.php">Holy Fuck hot sauce</a>, the infamous hot sauce made by the Ribman.<br />
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What you may not know is that this sauce is now available baked into a cake.<br />
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Two weeks ago Kaelie from <a href="http://www.mysweettoothfactory.com/">Sweet Tooth Factory</a> made some Holy Fuckcakes to celebrate the Ribman's birthday and sold some at <a href="http://www.streetfeastlondon.com/">Street Feast</a>. After reading about them on Twitter how could I resist?<br />
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We bought three cupcakes from the lovely Kaelie - Manny nearly exploded with excitement when he saw the triple chocolate ganache cupcake so obviously we had to get one of those, and I opted for a salted caramel cupcake. If it'd been up to Manny we'd have bought all the flavours. And cheesecake.<br />
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We sat down with a Brown Betty of tea and got to scoffing. I didn't have much time to take pics, and it was dark so please accept my apologies for the pics - they don't do the cakes justice.<br />
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First up was the chocolate ganache. <i>Oh. My. God</i>. I'm not usually a fan of very chocolate'y cupcakes but this was really tasty. Well the bit I got to try was - Manny wolfed it down superfast. And the ganache frosting was amazing. I may have to kidnap Kaelie till she tells me her secret!<br />
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The salted caramel cupcake was really nice. I never used to like salted caramel but since working in the bakery and making salted caramel goodies I now love it, and this one was good, with really lovely salted caramel sauce oozing out from under the delicious frosting.<br />
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And finally, the <a href="http://www.theribman.co.uk/hot-sauce.php">Holy Fuck</a> cupcake - aka the Holy Fuckcake.<br />
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On first bite, I thought '<i>oh it's not that spicy</i>' and then ....oh my....<b>the heat HIT</b>. <b><i>Wow </i></b>these cakes were hot! And tasty. Very very tasty. A total hit!<br />
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They were such a success at Street Feast Kaelie has now added them to her cupcake menu so if you want to try them make sure you follow her on Twitter to find out where she's selling them. Next time I visit I shall be buying all her cheesecakes!<br />
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On a non cake point we tried The Ribman's Holy Mother of God sauce - bejesus that stuff is EAR BURNING.<br />
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<br />I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-29416117256101597652012-04-18T19:30:00.000+01:002012-04-18T19:46:00.845+01:00I Heart Cupcakes on Tour - Brighton<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The third and final part of my recent travels takes us to the lovely coastal town of Brighton. I know not quite as glamorous as Paris but I <i>love </i>Brighton.<br />
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Alas I did not love their cakes - this final part is the 'downright ugly' of the trilogy.<br />
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I had wanted to visit <a href="http://www.choccywoccydoodah.com/index.html">Choccywoccydoodah </a>for years. Every time we went to Brighton we seemed to get swayed by other things - usually the pub - however we finally made it on Valentines day this year. I really wished I hadn't bothered.<br />
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First we visited the chocolate store.<br />
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The cakes in the window were amazing and the shop has some lovely things in it but I'm afraid I find myself unable to justify paying £20 for a chocolate kitten or a tenner for a pair of chocolate lips. I actually toyed with buying a small cake but decided to go to the <a href="http://www.choccywoccydoodah.com/page/Bar+du+chocolat">Bar du Chocolat</a> first. Thank f**k I did.<br />
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I'd read online about the <i>intimate boudoir</i> where <i>sumptuous hot chocolate</i> is served - however when walking in we were faced with a modern looking cafe which smelt a lot of cheese and oil. We were shown to the back room, aka the boudoir, which was very cramped and rather shabby.<br />
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We ordered their luxury (<i>sumptuous</i>?) hot chocolate and some cakes; a chocolate coconut cupcake for me and for Manny lemon cake as strangely they had no chocolate cake available. Not a great start for a chocolate cafe.<br />
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Our hot chocolate was ok - nothing luxury or <i>sumptuous </i>about it though. It tasted less chocolate'y than a Starbucks hot chocolate, was covered in masses of cream and contained a LOT of really cheap tasting marshmallows which added nothing to it at all and made it all gloopy. If I was to guess I'd say no real chocolate was involved in the making of this hot chocolate. It tasted like it was from a packet. My home made hot chocolate is nicer than this and, even using expensive chocolate, cheaper.<br />
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Manny liked his cake with ice cream. I tried some and it was quite nice, nothing spectacular.<br />
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My cupcake was in fact a cake covered in melted chocolate with some dessicated coconut on top. The cake itself was rock hard and tasted of nothing. The chocolate was hard and rather unpleasant. But nothing was unpleasant as taking a bite and finding....a hair. A longish curly hair that <b><i>did not</i></b> belong to me.<br />
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Vile.<br />
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Now normally I would've pointed this out to staff, however we had a <i>charming </i>couple and their children squashed into the area next to us - he was threatening to beat the crap out of her for not eating any of their, frankly disgusting looking Rocky Road, and being incredibly unpleasant to the staff who were young and I felt had enough on their plate. However I did email Choccywoccydodah afterwards and tell them I was disappointed to find hair in their cakes and mention how old/stale the cakes were but received no response.<br />
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Next time I'm in Brighton I'll stick to the pub.I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-85950124694140752382012-04-09T20:46:00.001+01:002012-04-09T20:48:12.799+01:00I Heart Cupcakes on Tour - Athens<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is part two of my three part series about my recent travels - aka 'the bad'.<br />
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A few days before we boarded the Eurostar to <a href="http://i-heart-cupcakes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/i-heart-cupcakes-on-tour-paris.html">Paris </a>for my 40th birthday we flew to Athens for Up the Hammers festival as Manny was playing there and as I'd never been to Greece I decided to tag along.<br />
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I was <b>not </b>a fan of Athens on arrival, mainly because we were staying in an area labelled the 'Greek Camden' which I can only say looked more like the Greek version of downtown Basra after a raid by lots of junkie prostitutes. Our hotel was lovely but the area outside it was not.<br />
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However the rest of Athens <b><i>was </i></b>lovely. The people on the whole were amazingly friendly, the food was good when we found it (our area was very much in the recession hit part - everything was closed apart from several toilet seat stores - Greeks must go through a LOT of loo seats) and the sights were amazing. Standing on top of Lycavittos Hill or the Acropolis just takes your breath away. The stunning beauty of it is awe inspiring. And how can I not love somewhere where trees with juicy ripe citrus fruit are everywhere!<br />
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It was near Lycavittos Hill we chanced upon <a href="http://www.cake.gr/">Cake</a>.
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Their selection of cake was quite disappointing if I'm honest. Chocolate, vanilla and red velvet ALL with incredibly bright frosting - all vanilla frosting as far as we could ascertain.<br />
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Tasting them helped in no way decipher what flavour the frosting was. We are still trying to decide what the fuck it was made out of. I'm pretty certain it was <b>NOT </b>butter based that's for sure, and if it was, butter in Greece is <b>not </b>something I'd ever wish to try again. In trying to decide what it was I had to eat a few bites and the only thing I've ever put in my mouth of a similar taste and texture was play-doh. I am about 90% sure it's made of some kind of edible modelling clay. Oh and dear god the cake was dry and tasted of <b>absolutely </b>nothing. Just air and dryness, oh and a sweaty stickyness that was not pleasant. Even Manny couldn't eat more than a bite of his 'chocolate' one. It was one of those instances when we had to immediately brush our teeth after tasting these. Vile is the only way I can describe it. And wrong. Ok that's two ways.<br />
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I kinda smooshed about with the 'frosting' to try and show the texture but I'm not sure it comes across in the photo - it was totally mouldable - just like play-doh. I honestly think I ate play-doh.<br />
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I said to Manny we should move to Athens and open a cupcake shop immediately in Athens as this place has several locations - imagine how nice tasty cupcakes with actual flavour and buttercream would be received!!<br />
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To make up for the vile cupcakes I had to share the best food we ate while there - pork chops and Greek salad from <a href="http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/thin-pork-chops-at-telis-athens">Telis </a>in an area that was described by our cab driver along the lines of <i>'very dangerous, you may die'.</i> It was a little run down, with police everywhere but the chops and wonderfully fresh Greek salad made up for it. And the staff were lovely and friendly and no-one tried to kill us so..bonus.<br />
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And some amazing Gelato pre the walk up the Acropolis on a hot Saturday afternoon!<br />
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Finally, we had some lovely macarons in Costa - I know, I know another chain but we needed a sit down and some coffee!I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com5Athens, Greece37.9753357 23.736149737.9252692 23.6571857 38.0254022 23.815113699999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-61410000628121844322012-04-03T19:41:00.000+01:002012-04-03T19:42:18.482+01:00I Heart Cupcakes on Tour - Paris<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is part one of a series of three blog posts about my recent travels - the good, the bad and the downright ugly.<br />
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Paris has the pleasure of being 'the good'</div>
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I went to Paris early in March for my 40th birthday. And fell in love. Not just with the cakes but with <b><i>everything</i></b>. I LOVED it there. I think it could be because you can buy anything flavoured with Speculoos. </div>
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Whilst there the best thing I ate wasn't actually a cupcake but a Speculoos cake from ...Starbucks. I know, we went to Paris and the best thing we ate was from Starbucks...but this cake was AMAZING. So good we went twice and ate it. We'd originally just popped in to use the loo and fell in love with the cake!<br />
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We also shared some Cookies and Cream cake - Starbucks in Paris have <i>much </i>better baked goods than here.<br />
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We didn't make it to half the places we meant to go to eat in in Paris - mainly because we spent the two days walking round enjoying the city. Oh and buying lots of gore DVDs (Manny found the shop of his dreams just near our hotel). Oh and buying chocolate. And beer.<br />
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We did make it to <a href="http://www.berko.fr/">Berko </a>however - Paris's main cupcake store. We went to the branch just up the hill from Moulin Rouge, a few minutes walk from our hotel, <a href="http://www.hotel-chatnoir-paris.com/en/">Le Chat Noir</a>, which I highly recommend.<br />
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We took the cupcakes back on Eurostar and unfortunately they got a little squished but we managed to salvage them so it wasn't a total cupcake disaster.<br />
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Our choices included Speculoos and the Hi Hats you can see above. We also got banofee, cookies and cream and chocolate. Although the Speculoos was rather bland and uninspiring, with some odd tasting frosting, the rest were rather good, if a little dry. I think if we'd eaten them there they'd have been much fresher. I would definitely go back to try some other flavours if I went back to Paris. I was especially taken with the fact they use little pipettes to inject coulis into the fresh fruit cakes - as I've done with alcohol into my cupcakes previously.<br />
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We also ate some macarons at <a href="http://www.dalloyau.fr/macarons/boutique.html">Dalloyau </a>- the Champagne one being very nice.<br />
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The same cannot be said for <a href="http://www.maison-kayser.com/">Eric Keyser's</a> pink praline brioche - dry, tasteless and I <i>really </i>didn't like pink pralines. Thankfully I'd resisted buying a giant bag I saw earlier in the day in G. Detou.<br />
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Finally for my 40th birthday we chose not to eat anywhere fancy but instead went to Quick, the local burger chain to have Star Wars burgers - I had the Jedi burger while Manny opted for the Darth Vader one. We are totally classy non?<br />
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Oh yeah And I brought back quite a bit of Speculoos.<br />
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Oh, another finally - we didn't make it to Ladurée in Paris but we did go to Harrods yesterday and have coffee/hot chocolate and a cake - my first Religieuse - a chocolate one which was amazing. I also bought a box of six macarons in their new limited edition Hello Kitty boxes.<br />
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Too cute. </div>I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-57961449415350884672012-03-15T22:35:00.000+00:002012-03-15T22:35:03.397+00:00Secret Ingredient St Patrick's day cupcakes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was thinking about what to bake for St Patrick's day for a long time - I've done all the stout/Bailey's combo's already and while they're very tasty I wanted to do something different. So what's Irish, can go in a cupcake and I'd not done before?.....the clue is in the video below.<br />
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POTATO.<br />
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I'd been thinking about making these since they appeared in Sainsbury's magazine when Delia had her How to Cheat show on tv and everyone was getting excited about tinned mince and Aunt Bessie's frozen mash.<br />
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God the frozen mash. I went to Asda to buy it and felt shame in doing so. Surely life isn't that hectic that you cannot make mash? Well maybe it is if you have kids etc so maybe I shouldn't judge. What I can judge is the use of frozen mash in cake. And I say <i>NO</i>. I repeat <b><i>frozen mash has NO PLACE in cake</i></b>.<br />
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The <a href="http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/cakes/chocolate-cupcakes.html">recipe</a> itself was pretty easy to make - melt chocolate and condensed milk together - which seized the first time and the second time wasn't too great either so if you make the recipe be warned. If I was to make it again (which I won't unless someone asks me to) then I'd melt the chocolate separately. Then you mix everything, including the defrosted mash discs and bung it in the oven. The only thing I changed in the recipe was that I halved it, left out the Chinese five spice and added a splosh of vanilla in it's place.<br />
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Usually cakes leave a lovely smell throughout the house when they're baking - these did not which immediately set off warning bells with me.<br />
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I left them to cool and set about making the frosting. I <i>really </i>didn't like the sound of Delia's 'frosting' - condensed milk, melted chocolate and butter (boak), so I made some of my favourite Bailey's frosting which kept in with the Irish theme and I hoped would help me forget that within these cakes lay potato.<br />
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Alas even with a lot of Baileys in the frosting it did not detract from the potato. They were quite chocolate'y but I could still <i>sense </i>potato in there - there was a smell like Smash about them and I just couldn't eat a whole one as each bite left a bit of a taste. I ate the frosting though - why let booze go to waste? Manny ate two cakes and said he <i>quite enjoyed them</i>. He couldn't taste potato but thought they tasted '<i>peppery</i>'. Numpty.<br />
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So if you're feeling adventurous for St Patrick's on Saturday you could make these, or you could instead get some good Irish Stout (there are so many better ones than Guinness) and make Nigella's <a href="http://i-heart-cupcakes.blogspot.com/2011/02/cake-makes-me-stout.html">Guinness and chocolate cake</a> instead - they can easily be made into cupcakes.<br />
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I couldn't resist a final photo with the little leprechaun card my (hot dog obsessed) friend from Chicago sent me today as it seemed kinda appropriate. I reckon hot dog cupcakes would taste better than potato.<br />
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Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig for Saturday.I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-80617796049371881192012-02-29T21:06:00.000+00:002012-02-29T21:06:31.225+00:00Birthday rum and coconut cupcakes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I baked these cakes in memory of my Auntie Kate whose birthday is tomorrow.<br />
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My auntie Kate was my second mum and I miss her every day, more so around times like birthdays and holidays. She was one of the people who taught me how to bake - I used to stay with her in the holidays and we'd get out some cook books and decide what delicious cake we were going to make. One of my favourite memories is making a steamed apple pudding in the microwave with her - we'd never baked in a microwave before and we were so happy it turned out perfectly. </div>
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Although she struggled with eating disorders she was a born feeder - I still remember Manny's face the first time we popped to hers for a 'snack' when visiting and she'd laid on a banquet of home made baked treats. </div>
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She loved to party and dance and I always remember her and my mum showing Manny how to dance properly to Status Quo. </div>
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As you can imagine drink was often involved in our lives (once I was old enough obviously!), so I decided to make a nice boozy cupcake to toast the wonderful life she led that was taken from us far too soon. </div>
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The cake recipe is adapted from a Screwdriver cupcake recipe in <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Booze-Cakes-Krystina-Castella/dp/1594744238/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330538517&sr=8-1">Booze Cakes</a></div>
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3 eggs</div>
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174g unsalted butter softened</div>
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1.5 cups caster sugar</div>
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2 tsp orange zest</div>
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2.5 cups plain flour</div>
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2.5 tsp baking powder</div>
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1/4 tsp baking soda</div>
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1/4 tsp salt</div>
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1/2 cup orange juice</div>
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1/2 cup bacardi (or any rum)</div>
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1 cup sweetened flaked coconut</div>
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Preheat oven to 180 degrees. </div>
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Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Beat eggs and then add to the mixture with the orange zest. </div>
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Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl or jug mix the orange juice and vodka. I used freshly squeezed orange juice and added some of the pulp as well. </div>
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Add flour and vodka mixtures alternately to the butter/egg mixture. Fold in the coconut and bake for 21 or so minutes. </div>
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Let cool before frosting. </div>
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The frosting recipe in the book made a soup consistency of frosting, so my recipe is a little vague. </div>
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85g unsalted butter, softened</div>
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1/5 tsp vanilla</div>
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3 tbs orange juice</div>
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1/2 cup double cream</div>
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3 tablespoons rum (I may have added extra)</div>
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icing sugar</div>
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The book states 2 cups of icing sugar but I used <i>way </i>more than that but didn't measure how much I used. Start with two then add until you have a good piping consistency. </div>
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To make the frosting you cream the butter and sugar for about 5 mins. Then add the vanilla, orange juice and cream. Mix again. Add more sugar if necessary and then add the rum. </div>
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Top with some orange zest and more shredded coconut if you wish. </div>
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These cakes were delicious - light and moist with a nice hit of boozy'ness. The shredded coconut kept the cakes moist for days. I'm starting a campaign to have it available here - why isn't it? </div>
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Happy Birthday Auntie Kate - I raise a cupcake to you x</div>I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-23842228643799145372012-02-02T19:33:00.000+00:002012-02-02T19:33:25.794+00:00Chicken and Waffles Cupcakes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This weekend is the 46th NFL Superbowl featuring New York Giant and New England Patriots.<br />
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There you go that is my entire knowledge of the Superbowl in one sentence - mainly gleaned from Google.<br />
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The Giants appearance gave me the perfect excuse to make some cupcakes I've been planning to make for just over a year, when I first read about them on <a href="http://www.blondieandbrownie.com/2011/01/chicken-waffles-and-lobster-roll.html">Blondie and Brownie</a>'s blog - my own version of New York bakers <a href="http://robicellis.tumblr.com/">Robicelli's</a> Chicken and Waffles cupcakes. Also any excuse to take pics of my gorgeous Statue of Liberty Hello Kitty.<br />
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Robicelli's cupcake is a waffle flavoured cupcake covered in vanilla buttercream topped with a pie of maple glazed fried chicken - mine is slightly different.<br />
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I went with a buttermilk cupcake - adapted slightly from a <a href="http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2008/10/13/Birthday_Cake.pdf">recipe </a>in Nigella's How to be a Domestic Goddess. I added quite a lot of vanilla to this and omitted the lemon. This cake is perfect to make cupcakes, giant cakes, bundts etc as it's quite sturdy.<br />
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It's topped with some <i>absolutely delicious </i>maple syrup frosting. I was lucky enough to get some 100% pure maple syrup from my friend Dennis in Ann Arbor - how cute is this. And it tastes amazing.<br />
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The recipe is from Lola's - honestly you won't regret making it - but maybe make double, this doesn't make much.<br />
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65g unsalted butter softened<br />
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup<br />
65g light muscovado sugar<br />
150g cream cheese at room temp<br />
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Mix the butter, syrup and sugar until light and creamy. Add the cream cheese and mix until just smooth. I can not explain how <b><i>great </i></b>this frosting tastes - honestly make it and see!<br />
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The fried chicken I made myself - just like regular fried chicken. You need buttermilk, plain flour and some paprika. Dunk the chicken in the flour, then the buttermilk, then the flour/spice mix and fry.<br />
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The waffles I'm afraid I bought in a fancy coffee shop as I don't have a waffle maker and thought buying one just to make some cupcakes a little extravagant.<br />
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Once the cupcakes were assembled we drizzled over some more of the amazing maple syrup and then tucked in. At first I wasn't sure but then I took a bit of everything at once and it worked. <i><b>Honestly</b></i>. The chicken got a lovely sweet taste from the maple, and the frosting brought everything together. Manny loved them and ate two (I only made 5) in one sitting!<br />
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I saw today that Robicelli's are doing a variation for the Superbowl - the original <a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_lyq9k9b5QF1qbymxro1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ6IHWSU3BX3X7X3Q&Expires=1328296626&Signature=sv7%2FwyFWrs8prGID3Qx9aC0YXJo%3D">Buffalo Chicken cupcake</a>, a carrot and celery root cake, Point Reyes blue cheese buttercream, citrus tinged Buffalo fried chicken. Not sure about the blue cheese frosting but I do love the sound of the Buffalo chicken on top - maybe next time!<br />
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Finally for those of you who can't stomach the thought of chicken on your cupcakes, the leftover mix was made into cute little bundt cakes which I filled with the leftover frosting!<br />
<br />I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-49259671701069558432012-01-29T19:04:00.000+00:002012-01-29T19:04:39.018+00:00Bananas about butterscotchManny has occasionally accused me of buying too many bananas <i>just </i>so we have some left for baking banana bread. If I was American I'd say here that '<i>I plead the fifth</i>', but I'm not so I won't.<br />
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Due to my <i>occasional </i>over buying of bananas I have baked <i><b>a lot </b></i>of banana bread - one of my favourites being to bake the bananas in the oven with some rum and sugar first before adding to the bread batter, however we may have found a new favourite. <i>Even better than rum baked bananas?</i><br />
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I give you my new favourite baking ingredient - <b>butterscotch morsels</b>. I was given two packets a while back by an American friend and <i>oh my</i> they add a touch of deliciousness to everything. And are quite tasty straight from the packet too.<br />
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Banana bread isn't the prettiest is it? Butterscotch morsels make it <b>taste great </b>but don't do much for the look of it. It didn't help that my house has been completely dark for the last week due to massive mounds of earth outside due to Overground engineering works - so sorry for the incredibly dark pics.<br />
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The recipe I tarted up is from How to be a Domestic Goddess and is bake for this months <a href="http://blog.maisoncupcake.com/forever-nigella-11/#comments">Forever Nigella</a> hosted by Maison Cupcake.<br />
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The recipe can be found <a href="http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/banana-bread-142">here</a> and to make my version all you do is take out the sultanas and replace with butterscotch chips. Butterscotch beats sultanas every time surely?<br />
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Oh and I may have overdone the walnuts a little - I like a lot of them in my banana bread - as you can probably see. Just follow the recipe if you don't like quite so many. I promise it makes a lovely banana bread - delicious with a cup of tea.<br />
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Btw does Nestle Tollhouse remind anyone else of the Friends episode with <a href="http://www.comedycentral.co.uk/shows/friends-season-07/episodes/friends-season-7-episode-03/video/friends-703-nestle-toll-house-s-cookie-recipe-725778/">Nezle Tulhouze</a>?I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-10569605122362034012012-01-26T20:36:00.000+00:002012-01-26T20:36:14.475+00:00Poofy Woolly Biscuits<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This morning I woke up to a spate of references to Lamington's on my Twitter and Facebook feed, as incase you didn't know, today is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Day">Australia Day</a>. I don't really know what Australia Day involves but it seems to involve the eating of Lamington's and Anzacs. Or maybe that's just people I know who celebrate.<br />
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When I worked in an Aussie run cafe over the summer baking all their lovely cakes and biscuits I became sick to the back teeth of Anzacs - rolling 100's of syrup'y balls at 6am will do that to you, so I decided to make some Lamingtons to celebrate. Any excuse for cake. And I had been meaning to make them for ages - I badgered the owners of the cafe to let me make them but they said they were 'boring'. I notice now they have an Aussie baking person they're making them..tsk.<br />
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There are several accounts of where the name Lamington comes from but most agree it was named after Lord Lamington, who served as Governor of Queensland from 1896 to 1901. Ironically he is said to have hated the cake named in his honour and called them '<i>poofy woolly biscuits</i>'. See I wasn't just being offensive with the title.<br />
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These are pretty simple to make. Bake a quite basic vanilla sponge. I used Dan Lepard's recipe, adding more vanilla, from his wonderful book Short & Sweet, which was turned out ok, except the cooking time was about 5 minutes less than stated. Then you section the cake, split each section in half and slather on some jam. Then it gets <i>messy </i>- the cakes are dunked into a chocolate/cocoa coating, then covered in coconut. I suggest being near a sink when doing this - I made a proper mess.<br />
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They're not really much to look at but they do taste good. Next time I may use a coconut sponge instead to give it a bit more ooomph.<br />
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Happy Australia Day everyone - I'm off to have a Lamington and a cup of tea.<br />
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I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-63084328684761504042012-01-21T19:08:00.000+00:002012-01-21T19:10:57.621+00:00Kicking off 2012 with a healthy(ish) cupcake..and some not so healthyWhen I first saw that <a href="http://lolas-kitchen.co.uk/lolas_specials_jan_passionfruit.html">Lola's </a>were introducing four <i>healthier </i>cupcakes this month made with all natural fruit I was slightly dubious as we've not done well with previous healthier cupcakes. Yes <a href="http://www.petitpoiscakes.com/about-the-cakes/">Petit Pois</a> I'm looking at you and your <a href="http://i-heart-cupcakes.blogspot.com/2011/04/we-dont-need-no-vegetation.html">crapcakes from hell</a>.<br />
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However I found myself in Selfridges last week and thought I'd give them a try. And I'm glad I did. I opted for the passion fruit and it was incredibly nice. Really soft sponge with a passion fruit custard and topped with really tasty frosting. </div>
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As well as passion fruit they have raspberry, blueberry and banana. I think they're only available till the end of January so be quick if you want to try them!</div>
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Also scoffed recently was this lovely cupcake from <a href="http://www.lilyvanilli.com/the-bakery/">Lily Vanilli's</a> new(ish) cafe just off Columbia Road. We visited on a Wednesday night before Christmas, but usually the cafe is only open on Sundays -it's worth travelling for. </div>
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My gingerbread cupcake was fabulous - with a brandy buttercream frosting. I had a LV cupcake from Harrod's over a year ago and was not impressed, really dry and flavourless but this was totally removed from that - very fresh and bursting with flavour. In the background you can see perhaps the best sausage roll I've ever eaten - well I can't really say eaten - the tubby one whose sausage roll it was didn't share - I had a bite, but it was a <i><b>good </b></i>bite. Then again, can anything that comes surrounded in a duvet of lardon filled puff pastry be bad? I think not. </div>
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As well as a sausage roll, Manny managed to scoff a brownie - and it was a slab of a brownie. Again I got a bite - melt in the mouth delicious. I would definitely go back just for the brownie. And maybe a sausage roll. And a cupcake. This is why I'm fat. </div>
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The cafe looks pretty cool too - covered in a zombie style mural at the back to go with the theme of Lily's book. </div>
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Also eaten recently, although not a cupcake I HAD to include this amazing Guinness cake I had from Bea's of Bloomsbury's Kings Road branch last week. I had popped to Jane Asher to stock up on edible glitter amid rumours that it's due to be taken from our shelves soon due to stupid people not understanding that you need to use EDIBLE glitter on cakes not just any random glitter (I call that Darwin's law - weeding out the stupid people) and needed coffee and a sit down and Bea's isn't too far away. </div>
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The Guinness cake was very moist and the frosting was divine. Just sitting in the cafe was enough to tempt you to buy lots of cake - there was so much on offer, including cupcakes.<br />
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I enjoyed it so much I actually made this very cake from Bea's book last Saturday as a welcome home for Manny after he'd been to Germany to play a gig. The cake itself came out really well, but I followed the recipe for the frosting and it was a gloopy mess - it didn't seem to have enough icing sugar listed in the recipe. Luckily, I managed to save it and really liked the inclusion of golden syrup in the frosting although it meant it was very sweet. And I must learn, stop licking the syrup spoon, I was on a sugar high for hours. </div>
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Sorry the pictures crap - it was about midnight when I finished making it - I find it hard to sleep when Manny's away. </div>
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Finally, my final cupcake ever from Love Bakery. Just before Christmas I received a DM on Twitter from the lovely <a href="http://www.iwannabeadomesticgoddess.com/">Rebecca </a>to ask me had I heard that Love Bakery was closing down - I hadn't heard but checked out <a href="http://lovebakerylondon.blogspot.com/">Sam's blog</a> and discovered they were closing the <i>very next day</i>, 23rd December. Obviously I had to go one last time.<br />
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Sorry about the festiveness of the pics, I was meant to blog this ages ago. I've been a bit lax at blogging lately due to some issues with photo theft etc but aim to blog more in 2012.<br />
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Anyways, the cakes were <i>really </i>good, especially my rhubarb cheesecake one, and Love Bakery will <i><b>definitely </b></i>be missed from the London cupcake scene.<br />
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So there you go - I've eaten a few cupcakes lately and not a crap cake amongst them - a good end to 2011/beginning to 2012! </div>I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-32449411020880804842011-12-30T15:57:00.004+00:002011-12-31T20:31:22.501+00:00I raise a Baileys cupcake to you all<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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2011 has been quite the year for me.<br />
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In February I got a <a href="http://i-heart-cupcakes.blogspot.com/2011/02/happy-birthday-dear-i-heart-cupcakes.html">Kitchenaid</a>, and love it as much today as I did the day I brought it home squealing all the way from Chiswick to New Cross. I still often stand in the Kitchen stroking it in a way that isn't particularly normal for a girl and a stand mixer.<br />
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In March left a job that I for some time <i><b>despised </b></i>with a rousing chorus of <i>so long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu, adieu, adieu, to yieu and yieu and yieu. </i>And yes I did sing it LOUDLY as I was leaving. Lots of Jägermeister may have been involved.<br />
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Then in April I buggered off to Madrid on a whim to see Manowar, visit <a href="http://i-heart-cupcakes.blogspot.com/2011/04/i-heart-cupcakes-goes-to-madrid.html">twin baby pandas and eat cupcakes</a>.<br />
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Then I started working in baking - first in a cafe in Brixton where I covered the bakery for two days a week while the other girl had time off. It was great while it lasted but alas I couldn't survive on just 5 or so hours of work a week and thankfully one of my favourite bakers in London was hiring and I was lucky enough to get the job. This led to months of baking, and learning, with someone I really admired. It also led to me getting more work with another fab baker. I can honestly say the time with these two has been the best time I've had at work in many years. I've learned lots - including NOT to turn a Kenwood to pulse just after adding the red colouring to red velvet batter or to turn it to pulse while only cream cheese is in the bowl. You will not look pretty afterwards. Mainly, don't pulse anything ever. And check the baking powder, bicarb each and every time - then recheck. Oh and don't pick up cake tins straight out of the oven with bare hands. This hurts. Lots.<br />
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I'm hoping 2012 leads to <b>lots </b>more baking and lots more good cake! Oh and can we hope that it's the year when some <a href="http://i-heart-cupcakes.blogspot.com/2011/07/its-final-crapcakes.html">crapcake</a> purveyors stop peddling their old tasteless poor excuses for cake please?<br />
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That shall be I Heart Cupcakes call for 2012:<br />
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<i>What do we want?</i></div>
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<i><b>Fresh n tasty cake!</b></i></div>
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<i>When do we want it? </i></div>
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<b style="font-style: italic;">NOW! </b><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">please</span> </i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">* </span><i style="font-weight: bold;"> </i><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Happy New Year everyone - may all your cupcake wishes for 2012 come true. </span></b>
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<b>Cheers, and thanks to everyone who continues to visit my blog!</b><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">* remember manners cost nothing</span>I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-48127931370093198862011-12-30T14:53:00.001+00:002011-12-30T16:01:17.806+00:00Christmas Presence - Nutella for everyone<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sarah aka <a href="http://blog.maisoncupcake.com/">Maison Cupcake</a> has announced that <a href="http://blog.maisoncupcake.com/forever-nigella-10/">Christmas Presence</a> will be the last <a href="http://blog.maisoncupcake.com/forever-nigella/">Forever Nigella</a> in its current format so I <i>had </i>to post an entry. Luckily I'd already made something suitable as a Christmas gift for my lovely friend Kirsty. </div>
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The Nutella Cheesecake <a href="http://www.stylist.co.uk/life/recipes/nutella-cheesecake">recipe </a>comes from Stylist magazine which Nigella recently guest edited. The <a href="http://www.stylist.co.uk/people/nigella-lawson-covers-stylist">cover</a> was the talk of the town and the magazine featured other exclusive recipes including <a href="http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/bacon-brownies">bacon brownies</a> which I also made - I didn't eat any but Manny said they were tasty. I just can't get my head around bacon and chocolate. </div>
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As well as the giant cheesecake the recipe was big enough to make a couple of mini ones for myself and Manny (I knew all those Gu glass pots I insist on keeping would come in handy) so we could taste test it <i>just incase</i>. I can report that it was delicious, so much so that I had to stop Manny from sneaking Nigella style into the fridge late at night in his silk<span style="font-size: xx-small;">*</span> robe to steal a huge slice!</div>
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This was so good I'm hoping to make another for our New Years eve dinner- complete with edible glitter of course! </div>
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Happy New Year everyone, and thanks for reading!</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*Manny doesn't really own a silk robe although he wants a red one with dragons on after watching too many bad Kung Fu movies -I've threatened divorce should he ever buy one</span></div>I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-48922564153241623412011-12-06T15:49:00.001+00:002011-12-06T16:21:31.129+00:00Penguin Snowball cupcakes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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These cupcakes are <i>perfect </i>for the positively Arctic temperatures out there. Ok, not <i>quite </i>Arctic but blooming freezing nonetheless.<br />
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I was sent some lovely <a href="http://www.hotelchocolat.co.uk/christmas-gifts-for-him-P111159/">chilli penguins</a> from Hotel Chocolat, part of their <a href="http://www.hotelchocolat.co.uk/christmas-gifts-CHCOXMAS/">Christmas gift selection</a>, and decided to use them as cupcake toppers.<br />
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I opted for a coconut cupcake topped with a coconut covered snowball of coconut frosting - what can I say I love coconut and thought it would go well with the slightly spicy chocolate.<br />
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The chocolate penguins went really well with the cakes, and would make a lovely stocking filler for a fan of chocolate with a little chilli kick. If they're not a fan of chilli chocolate the penguins also come in <a href="http://www.hotelchocolat.co.uk/christmas-stocking-CHCSTOCKING/">caramel</a>! Yum<br />
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Finally, don't you just <i><b>love </b></i>my little penguin guarding the cupcake?I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-69378329510352996392011-11-09T19:24:00.001+00:002011-11-09T19:24:48.354+00:00Making Marshmallow Hi Hats with Lola<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I buy a LOT of cupcake books, but my favourite recent purchase is <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Making-Cupcakes-Lewis-Victoria-Jossel/dp/1849751862/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top">Making Cupcakes with Lola</a> by the girls behind <a href="http://lolas-kitchen.co.uk/">Lola's Cupcakes</a>. </div>
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I got the book about two weeks ago and baked these the next day - I <b>HAD </b>to bake something from it as it all looked so good. </div>
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The book itself is really pretty, with a photo for each cupcake - something not all books have. The recipes are all pretty easy to follow and don't require lots of unusual ingredients - they include lots of Lola's favourites that you may have had from their stores including some boozy cocktail inspired cupcakes.</div>
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I couldn't resist the Hi Hat Marshmallow, co-incidentally Lola's <a href="http://lolas-kitchen.co.uk/lolas_specials.html">flavour of the month</a> in store now. Last months apple pie cupcake was one of the nicest cupcakes I've had recently - the candied pecan on top was delicious. </div>
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For those of you who don't know a Hi Hat is basically a cupcake with some kind of topping which is then dipped into chocolate (or butterscotch or a similar topping). The Lola's recipe is a chocolate cake topped with Marshmallow then dipped into chocolate. </div>
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The cake itself was a doddle to make and resulted in a nice moist, very chocolaty base. </div>
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The marshmallow was a bit of a faff to make but really rather easy. I think there should've perhaps been a bit more though as we had to be a little mean when piping the marshmallow out, or maybe I just like a LOT of topping? Also it is <i>very </i>sticky - I was covered in the stuff. </div>
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I waited for Manny to come home from work so we could have a go at dipping them together. It was a lot of fun and the only disaster was some where I had dyed the marshmallow blue as a pre-Halloween experiment - they just kept falling off so we drizzled some chocolate on top and they looked <i>kinda </i>gruesome, especially in my Martha Poison cupcake wrappers. </div>
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The 'normal' Hi Hats were a success - I'm not particularly fond of chocolate cake but this one was really good, and I loved the chocolate covered marshmallow. </div>
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The book is full of stuff I want to bake, and shall be doing so in the next few weeks. They are having a launch tomorrow at <a href="http://www.selfridges.com/">Selfridges </a>with free cakes, champagne and book signings - further details can be found on their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lolas-Cupcakes/49587884874">Facebook </a>page. I'm sure any fan of cupcakes would love to find a copy in their Christmas Stocking.</div>
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<br /></div>I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-14185328085827247682011-10-30T20:36:00.000+00:002011-10-30T20:36:14.725+00:00Raining Blood cupcakes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmk6UV1hibBimZVZd6mrtUsH81R1K8zQTXzh63UV9KrfuOhUCMIJ9eB3goVjPs8hcRuxluC0ggEjQdi_byrmeH9W4O3AgwdTor99qca7_E9fLa0zRa8v_OxAYao6k6PyeqTypfyF4ZHbuU/s1600/2011+10+26+blood+cupcakes+112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmk6UV1hibBimZVZd6mrtUsH81R1K8zQTXzh63UV9KrfuOhUCMIJ9eB3goVjPs8hcRuxluC0ggEjQdi_byrmeH9W4O3AgwdTor99qca7_E9fLa0zRa8v_OxAYao6k6PyeqTypfyF4ZHbuU/s320/2011+10+26+blood+cupcakes+112.JPG" width="239" /></span></a></div><br />
I thought long and hard about what would be my special ingredient for my Halloween cupcakes this year. About a month ago I decided and tried to source my chosen ingredient from various places including local shops and even resorted to asking a chosen few people on Twitter (thanks for your help if it was you!!). I then found out a special license was required to handle my chosen ingredient and I didn't fancy getting into trouble just for baking a cake so I kinda gave up for a few minutes. Who'd have thought pigs blood was so difficult to obtain? That's right - <b><i>pigs blood</i></b>. Ever since I'd read about <a href="http://www.boccadilupo.com/food-and-wine.php?menu=3">Bocca Di Lupo</a>'s Sanguinaccio desert, a sweet pate of pig's blood and chocolate I've wanted to try it and thought Halloween would be the <i>perfect </i>time to try my own cupcake version. <br />
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Thankfully Bocca Di Lupo's gelato shop, <a href="http://www.gelupo.com/todays-flavours.php">Gelupo</a>, came to my rescue with their Sanguinaccio gelato - a gelato with chocolate, Marsala and PIG'S BLOOD. Perfect. <br />
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I pootled on down to their Soho store and got a few scoops of their Sanguinaccio and rushed it home on the bus to New Cross. The girl in the store was lovely and put it in a special take away container thing for me and it was still frozen when I got home. <br />
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I weighed out what I'd need and put the rest in the freezer. I'd tried some in the shop and was pleasantly surprised - a friend had bet me it would taste "<i>like black pudding</i>", (gag) but thankfully it didn't. It was very chocolaty, with a hint of cinnamon and an iron background from the blood. Quite tasty actually.<br />
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So I took a photo of the ice cream. It looks kinda like poo...<br />
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I <i>did </i>warn you.<br />
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Anyways, moving on from the poo image. I used one of my own recipes for boozy cupcakes and replaced all of the milk in the recipe with slightly melted gelato, and also replaced <i>some </i>of the booze with it. I added some Marsala to complement the gelato, and a wee tipple of Cointreau for good measure. I'm not going to type out the recipe as I'm not sure many people want to make pigs blood ice cream cupcakes. If you do, mail me and the recipe is yours.<br />
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I covered them in some creamy marscapone frosting - mainly because I wasn't sure what went with blood (does anyone?) and wanted something a bit lighter to balance out the quite brownie like cakes. I resisted covering them in glitter to signify my <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=edward+cullen&hl=en&prmd=imvnsuo&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=HbKtTqPJDcnK8gOutLSUCw&ved=0CD4QsAQ&biw=1366&bih=643&sei=%20J7KtTuD6B4W98gPu8OSSCw">favourite vampire</a> in the world as Manny would have ridiculed me with his 'ooooh sparkles' routine and I tire of it and instead splattered them with some coulis.<br />
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So how did they taste? Rather good actually - they were like a brownie but a bit lighter -quite squidgy and moist with a boozy kick and just a hint of iron'y goodness. While eating them though I couldn't quite get it out of mind that I was <b>eating blood </b>which is odd as I eat meat but in a desert it just seemed different and a little silly really.<br />
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Incase you are wondering where the blog title comes from check out my inspiration - the fabulous Slayer covered in blood playing <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrDhwGxrXmI">Raining Blood</a> live.<br />
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Happy Halloween everyone and remember everyone's entitled to one good scare! <br />
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I had a lot of Pink Lady apples in the house so decided to make my <i>f*%k you Monday </i>cake my entry into the <a href="http://www.thepinkwhisk.co.uk/2011/10/the-pink-whisk-challenge-october.html">October challenge</a> from <a href="http://www.thepinkwhisk.co.uk/">The Pink Whisk</a> where the theme was apples.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thepinkwhisk.co.uk/" target="_blank"><img alt="The Pink Whisk" border="0" src="http://www.thepinkwhisk.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/pinkwhisk_CHALLENGE-3.png" /></a></div><br />
I based the cake on one of my favourites from the new Cake Days book from the hummingbird bakery - the apple streusel cake. I have made this twice before - once with apples and once with lemon and blueberries (this was <i>amazing</i>!). The cake is easily adaptable, which is the reason I love it so.<br />
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For this one I added one of my favourite ingredients to the apples - <a href="http://www.lotusbakeries.be/products/speculoospasta">Speculoos </a>spread. The recipe below is my adapted recipe - for the original please see <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hummingbird-Bakery-Cake-Days-Recipes/dp/0007374798/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318884197&sr=8-1">Cake Days</a>.<br />
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Streusel Topping:<br />
1 tsp cinnamon<br />
40g cold unsalted butter, diced<br />
70g soft light brown sugar<br />
70g plain flour<br />
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Sponge:<br />
60g unsalted butter at room temp<br />
100g caster sugar<br />
140g plan flour<br />
1 large egg<br />
1 tsp <a href="http://www.ocado.com/webshop/product/Nielsen-Massey-Pure-Vanilla-Extract/21932011?from=search&tags=|20000&param=vanilla&parentContainer=SEARCHvanilla_SHELFVIEW">vanilla extract</a><br />
1 tsp baking powder<br />
pinch salt<br />
80ml milk<br />
3 pink lady apples<br />
Speculoos spread (optional)<br />
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Preheat oven to 170 . Grease 8 inch tin (I line with <a href="http://www.lakeland.co.uk/5522/20cm-Baking-Parchment-Circles">parchment circles</a> from Lakeland and brush with <a href="http://www.lakeland.co.uk/4198/Cake-Release">cake release</a>).<br />
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First make the streusel. Put flour and cinnamon into a bowl. Add the butter and rub until they resemble breadcrumbs. Stir in sugar and set aside.<br />
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Now the cake - cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix again, scraping down the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is thoroughly mixed.<br />
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Sift the flour, baking powder and salt and add half to the creamed sugar and butter, followed by half the milk. Mix well on medium, scraping down the sides frequently. Repeat with the rest of the dry and wet ingredients.<br />
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Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin.<br />
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Peel, core and slice the apples into thin(ish) slices. Arrange on top of the cake batter, and if using dollop spoonfuls of Speculoos on top of the apples, before sprinkling with the streusel topping to form an even layer.<br />
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Bake in over for about 35 - 45 mins - until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.<br />
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Leave to cool in tin, the scoff with a cup of tea, and some cream/ice cream if you choose and your Monday blues will disappear.<br />
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Sorry about the photos - it was a dark and dank day in my New Cross kitchen (f'ing Monday) and our light was all being blocked by scaffolding outside!I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-15284414933056751562011-09-28T22:53:00.000+01:002011-09-28T22:53:36.829+01:00Only 87 days till ChristmasI've been feeling very festive recently and now that Next have launched their <a href="http://www.next.co.uk/gifts/cup-cake-gifts">Cupcake Christmas guide</a> I'm ready to put up the tree and turn the fairy lights on!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0w2YZnoGIGcKqQzn30xFL2Eb41-nUqFixui8gBCvqP06knpxJ0vgqIjpdmMu5GFRNxrdAtmmpdjMS7aEY_UTLDuazB47whMpFztjyAtXbG4f_kExyezh13dSdG1s0D-I4fnI1y-jh1-Yz/s1600/2011+next+measuring+cups+and+ceramic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0w2YZnoGIGcKqQzn30xFL2Eb41-nUqFixui8gBCvqP06knpxJ0vgqIjpdmMu5GFRNxrdAtmmpdjMS7aEY_UTLDuazB47whMpFztjyAtXbG4f_kExyezh13dSdG1s0D-I4fnI1y-jh1-Yz/s320/2011+next+measuring+cups+and+ceramic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Every year they seem to bring out new things I want - this year the ceramic rolling pin is on my must have list.<br />
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Last year lots of you missed out on the ceramic measuring <a href="http://www.next.co.uk/g47622s2#746819g47">cups </a>and I still receive emails asking me to find them, or sell mine to people, so if you want them this year you'd best be quick. I also love the heart measuring spoons. I can never have too many measuring spoons.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjif3GjZtY5MU2BrXW-DNhNZ68TECFhhrDiFDbD_Gyq0XmpJU7p2euo8zZ333fyoB7l7cps0_K6Rf2uvASHpbE9OywxY4PfwKj_uVdKxWaqqSKb-eWfFVmLYVypS1PeDuLYUKCj34Nus8p0/s1600/2011+next+mixer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjif3GjZtY5MU2BrXW-DNhNZ68TECFhhrDiFDbD_Gyq0XmpJU7p2euo8zZ333fyoB7l7cps0_K6Rf2uvASHpbE9OywxY4PfwKj_uVdKxWaqqSKb-eWfFVmLYVypS1PeDuLYUKCj34Nus8p0/s320/2011+next+mixer.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I spotted the cupcake stand mixer some time ago, and had hoped to give one away on the blog but alas it wasn't to happen. It's cute though and good for young bakers I'd say. There is also a cute <a href="http://www.next.co.uk/g473620s4">cupcake kit</a> for beginners.<br />
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Also perfect for the cold weather ahead - the cupcake draught excluder. I have to get one to keep out the winter chills!<br />
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I also like how Next have incorporated the cupcake phenomenon in with crafting - the little sewing kit is very cute.<br />
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If you want any of the cupcake items I say buy them asap as they really do sell out quickly - last year we had to schlep to Bromley to get some of it!<br />
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Thanks to <a href="http://www.tcake.blogspot.com/">TCake </a>for alerting me to the new guide being online.I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-39168596316456573572011-09-13T19:32:00.001+01:002011-09-13T19:36:24.067+01:00Introducing the Lemmy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOEQZFrTekgb9CHOAdJ8dVsGh4esvTivE2UhjAAm-gzTWL9EDA3zeHSdr16Mc8utqJk1qRIGe0trGyCh6emgreDcKB8w9TDMvozi8dw0UVZbmNkEr5cLQdbAVIhMpt-x-ejAOZPtjhv-Fo/s1600/2011+09+12+lemmy+cupcakes+069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOEQZFrTekgb9CHOAdJ8dVsGh4esvTivE2UhjAAm-gzTWL9EDA3zeHSdr16Mc8utqJk1qRIGe0trGyCh6emgreDcKB8w9TDMvozi8dw0UVZbmNkEr5cLQdbAVIhMpt-x-ejAOZPtjhv-Fo/s320/2011+09+12+lemmy+cupcakes+069.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
This is a cupcake for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kbkSU98vlE">beer drinkers and hellraisers</a>, for fans of rock and roll, and more importantly, Lemmy and Jack Daniels.<br />
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I once presented Lemmy with a Jack Daniels cake and a giant bottle of JD on his birthday following another legendary gig at Hammersmith Odeon so it seemed fitting that I name a cupcake featuring his favourite tipple in his honour.<br />
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I have made some JD and coke cupcakes before following a recipe in a book where lounging on a set looking like Little Red Riding Hood appears to have been more important than recipes that resulted in flavoursome cupcakes so this time I went with a coca cola cake from Nigella, tweaked slightly and a chocolate and Jack Daniels frosting using my favourite chocolate frosting recipe. The Lemmy - aka the Jack Daniels and coke cupcake was born.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWl2R74QJJu9nRsLnCSJTW29Npn1UN4dl5wyppVdP_qJnw41Gf5Sn3b3TYk2_ovyoTBECpW0zujynVsqb3stoMHKq3e_W4ta-M6H5JRFHcGQoMFX1hzHAexoGmq3_n_owJOJS7nDbWHZaj/s1600/2011+09+12+lemmy+cupcakes+044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWl2R74QJJu9nRsLnCSJTW29Npn1UN4dl5wyppVdP_qJnw41Gf5Sn3b3TYk2_ovyoTBECpW0zujynVsqb3stoMHKq3e_W4ta-M6H5JRFHcGQoMFX1hzHAexoGmq3_n_owJOJS7nDbWHZaj/s320/2011+09+12+lemmy+cupcakes+044.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
Then came a little twist.<br />
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I've been thinking of ways to ensure alcoholic cupcakes retain that boozy element. All too often they are disappointing. If you bake it into the cake it bakes away. Make a sugar syrup with alcohol and it burns off, too much in the frosting can react badly with the sugar. My plan was instead to inject it into the sponge, but instead of injecting it in pre-frosting which can result in a soggy bottom, I decided instead to use a pipette featuring a shot of JD which you can inject into the base when you're about to eat it - giving the cupcake a good boozy kick and ensuring no soggy bottoms!<br />
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While the cake tasted fab with the JD shot in it I wasn't impressed with the coke cake by itself - it was rather bland, so next time I shall use my own recipe. Then again it wouldn't be a Lemmy cupcake without the Jack Daniels now would it?<br />
Turn the stereo to 11, put on the Ace of Spades and enjoy \m/<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii0B-JGM5_SvkoxoReSe496d-A4wIEbV6hdTylA7PNwQaNFW7y6VsofvMx8W6I-1SzXkezEDUZpdIxDEeWUNziquip9k2-KsJq_gY9QsRdH4n38RJAGr7OWiAriyoSvhGA7fFoFG06iqjm/s1600/lemmyjd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii0B-JGM5_SvkoxoReSe496d-A4wIEbV6hdTylA7PNwQaNFW7y6VsofvMx8W6I-1SzXkezEDUZpdIxDEeWUNziquip9k2-KsJq_gY9QsRdH4n38RJAGr7OWiAriyoSvhGA7fFoFG06iqjm/s320/lemmyjd.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Lemmy photographed at the Sheraton Park Tower,London, November 2010 Photograph: Levon Biss</span><br />
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Turn the stereo up to 11, bung on the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iwC2QljLn4">Ace of Spades</a> and enjoy \m/I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-41684658747613582632011-08-11T12:27:00.002+01:002011-08-11T19:01:09.705+01:00Chopping with cupcakes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAbCoEgVS_W2RC6KkVT6Uekh86JMiNUSZD5Te_zQ0R55TAj9vZCcu8apFZ7aOff0jWAikgall-MSbHYE3Jwz7BteExavbK6wpXP_NhPWCPWeIQtNkbd6B390VmcZPDhSQoFlcp2JToezmJ/s1600/cupcakeknife.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAbCoEgVS_W2RC6KkVT6Uekh86JMiNUSZD5Te_zQ0R55TAj9vZCcu8apFZ7aOff0jWAikgall-MSbHYE3Jwz7BteExavbK6wpXP_NhPWCPWeIQtNkbd6B390VmcZPDhSQoFlcp2JToezmJ/s1600/cupcakeknife.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Help wanted: Has anyone spotted these knifes instore? They are by <a href="http://www.kuhnrikon.co.uk/co-uk/en/products/knives/colori/colori_art.html">Kuhn Rikon</a> and you can't buy them via their site. I checked John Lewis yesterday and will probably pop to Lakeland next week - if anyone has spotted them please let me know. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Update: I have found them <a href="http://www.cookability.biz/colori-art-cupcake-pink/b_5372.htm">online </a>but if you know of a store, preferably in London, where I can buy the cupcakes ones that would be fab. I already have some plain ones I got in John Lewis and Lakeland some time ago -they're pink to go with my kitchen! Ta</div>I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-61704885238591900222011-07-25T22:54:00.000+01:002011-07-25T22:54:45.193+01:00Do you Speculoos?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDivQbKD6ahyphenhyphenuropzivPYUHAUakwUjqOl0wm_zBiU3LgUJ6FR9xQ-1rV29uhz2iZOqqIOBjaVSUXkpKdiIqVXc-ZAzK5OkQkLRhwkVnbrQjJlGAuHCnI2FN8u5cAig_-TNtP_rAu_B5PTE/s1600/2011+07+25+speculoos+062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDivQbKD6ahyphenhyphenuropzivPYUHAUakwUjqOl0wm_zBiU3LgUJ6FR9xQ-1rV29uhz2iZOqqIOBjaVSUXkpKdiIqVXc-ZAzK5OkQkLRhwkVnbrQjJlGAuHCnI2FN8u5cAig_-TNtP_rAu_B5PTE/s320/2011+07+25+speculoos+062.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
Why is it when you go abroad all the food just looks so much more interesting? <a href="http://www.belgianchocs.com/catalog/lotus-speculoos-spread-c-19-p-48.html">Speculoos pasta</a> is one of my favourite 'foreign' supermarket finds - it is a Dutch spread based on the lovely Lotus biscuits you can buy in UK supermarkets. I know it sounds weird but it is ADDICTIVE. I hearby start the campaign to get it sold here. You can email them via their, rather boring, <a href="http://www.lotusbakeries.com/corporate/countries/united-kingdom-0">UK site</a>.<br />
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Just before I left my old crappy office job in March a colleague mentioned he was going to Amsterdam for a day and he kindly brought me back a jar of paste and two packets of Speculoos sprinkles aka Hagel. Yesterday I finally got round to using them and <i>damn</i>, <i>why did I wait so long</i>?<br />
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I made two kinds of cupcakes - one stuffed with Speculoos and one with it baked in.<br />
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I used my <a href="http://i-heart-cupcakes.blogspot.com/2011/05/cupcakes-violet-beauregarde-aka.html">basic vanilla cupcake recipe</a> (except I used slightly less vanilla than usual), and scooped some into the cases with my trusty ice cream scoop, then mixed two dollops (approx 2 tablespoons - give or take some spoon licking) into the leftover mixture for the baked Speculoos cupcakes.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1skwRjSF8Lx_w-xj0CzBKD3KhbO7qiS3UxTUxX6BCY3DZAsMyMXvgVoDP5WqBefwSGNPSP-Z4rKhJGQLT4sfXg7nt00ug5HuI7KpqEGZNTHS0TG8KumgDOtwfCSqxUPoXldv1Vyr9zlFW/s1600/2011+07+25+speculoos+121.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1skwRjSF8Lx_w-xj0CzBKD3KhbO7qiS3UxTUxX6BCY3DZAsMyMXvgVoDP5WqBefwSGNPSP-Z4rKhJGQLT4sfXg7nt00ug5HuI7KpqEGZNTHS0TG8KumgDOtwfCSqxUPoXldv1Vyr9zlFW/s320/2011+07+25+speculoos+121.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>For the plain cupcakes - once cooled I scooped the middle out of them and added a heaped teaspoon into the centre of the cakes. Again spoon licking may have been involved.<br />
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The frosting is trusty vanilla frosting base (125g unsalted butter, 250g icing sugar - milk if necessary), without vanilla, with about 2 -3 tablespoons of Speculoos mixed in to taste. And boy did it taste pipe straight into your mouth good.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The plain ones got topped with a swirl of frosting and a good sprinkle of Speculoos Hagel - little sprinkles of biscuit. The baked Speculoos ones I did a circle of frosting and filled the middle with spread before topping with sprinkles. This was my favourite one I think, but it was difficult to choose - they were both delicious. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMQv8ofbUTfLBWkt_Y6T4nooAWwECCad1GR8G6ft1aiNfFVNXNEATg4SnKmnqwO9Cw5uwDwYmE1mfGLBQm20THTvSFDitvfizDsyY6x0lpLEa33v6N42pqnMy27rgUpQxZfhkPwc5sNk4z/s1600/2011+07+25+speculoos+131.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMQv8ofbUTfLBWkt_Y6T4nooAWwECCad1GR8G6ft1aiNfFVNXNEATg4SnKmnqwO9Cw5uwDwYmE1mfGLBQm20THTvSFDitvfizDsyY6x0lpLEa33v6N42pqnMy27rgUpQxZfhkPwc5sNk4z/s320/2011+07+25+speculoos+131.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
As I was baking these I realised the mixes go out of date next month so I am giving away an unopened box of Speculoos Hagel Mix, the biscuit sprinkles mixed with chocolate. The Dutch put these on buttered toast, but they are great cupcakes toppers, could be mixed into cake or just eaten from the box. <br />
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To win, just leave a comment below stating what item you have found on holiday that you wish you could buy in the UK.<br />
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You can get an additional chance to win by following @annecupcake on Twitter and tweet the following message: <i>I've just entered to win #speculoossprinkles from @annecupcake and you can too. Enter here: http://i-heart-cupcakes.blogspot.com</i><br />
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Open to Mainland UK residents only. Contest closes at midnight Friday 29th July. <b>PLEASE </b>ensure you leave an email address or @twitter name so I can contact you - if you do not I will award it to someone else as I work all weekend and can't chase people up! Winner will receive the prize early August and the use by date is August 18th so only enter if you are going to use it please!<br />
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Finally you can buy Speculoos paste in the UK <a href="http://www.belgianchocs.com/catalog/lotus-speculoos-spread-c-19-p-48.html">online </a>but compare the prices to <a href="http://www.lotusbakeries.nl/lotus/view.php?page_id=400">Hollands </a>- 1 Euro - I must get to Holland soon. They also have <a href="http://www.lotusbakeries.nl/lotus/view.php?page_id=553">crunchy </a>spread. The lucky sods.I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8808076487605477930.post-69242539643582302902011-07-19T20:36:00.000+01:002011-07-19T20:36:21.104+01:00It's the final crapcake(s)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihCaOwesQcNJZUViCShVpwPQRYJ0nsqlKuY87esgPcZf33BTrw7VswdkuY7FYXhxQcfjeuoi30A6JGgfIy-q-cDtJV84qCSj1SMCMcAW5BDlFjQ9nagPqOLsEtDYgLNW0SxyzhenywTrEQ/s1600/crapcakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihCaOwesQcNJZUViCShVpwPQRYJ0nsqlKuY87esgPcZf33BTrw7VswdkuY7FYXhxQcfjeuoi30A6JGgfIy-q-cDtJV84qCSj1SMCMcAW5BDlFjQ9nagPqOLsEtDYgLNW0SxyzhenywTrEQ/s320/crapcakes.jpg" width="289" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>You may have noticed that posts on this blog have slowed down a little. This is mainly due to me working odd hours at the bakery (4am starts!!!), but also because I <i>really </i>am TIRED of eating crap cupcakes. They are expensive and they sadden me - my heart breaks a little more each time I spend £2 on a cake that if you threw it as someone could lead to an attempted murder charge. Also, I'm tired of the hate mail I receive from bakers when they read my reviews, accusing me of trying to hate on them or lying etc - rather than question why their cakes are, quite frankly, so f**king awful. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Anyhow I have made the decision to only eat cakes I bake myself or from bakeries I know and trust for the time being. Don't worry I'll still review places when I travel but I am just tired of some of the awful cupcakes in London at the moment and shall be giving them a miss for a while. </div><div><br />
</div><div>However I couldn't leave without mentioning two truly awful recent(ish) cupcake exploits. </div><div><br />
</div><div>First up we travel to Birmingham and back in time to March. I know - it's taken me a while to get round to writing this up, for that I apologise. </div><div><br />
</div><div>As soon as I'm travelling anywhere I check out what cupcakes there are on offer - Birmingham seemed to be quite a cupcake-free zone so I was happy when I chanced upon the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/the90daycafe">90 Day Cafe</a> in a review about great cupcakes. Whoever wrote that review I'm imagining their pants are on fire as I type. </div><div><br />
</div><div>The cafe itself was quite cute but when we were told to "<i>pick whatever cake you like</i>" from a cake stand in the window I sensed this wasn't going to be a success. Manny put down the first one he picked up as he said it was rock solid. </div><div><br />
</div><div>I opted for...</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgESUP24epVrM1VaLzJEzFuPPJP1BBnsBJPsod_jxQBg9ORd6hbptuaT7-Iu1CUqrYZt_redfUSaX4kvbi5PKUXGbZiurc7wcMFZh3ilhlq0DVsTazaxpL_l7XYHCAB5QKbinvDG3aW0-VV/s1600/2011+03+28+Manowar+016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgESUP24epVrM1VaLzJEzFuPPJP1BBnsBJPsod_jxQBg9ORd6hbptuaT7-Iu1CUqrYZt_redfUSaX4kvbi5PKUXGbZiurc7wcMFZh3ilhlq0DVsTazaxpL_l7XYHCAB5QKbinvDG3aW0-VV/s320/2011+03+28+Manowar+016.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Which swiftly became...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0yvZnnAODm2kyXU04jHhCigtEhQ03tLt0eALNg1ITnybaJkXEQg3hc7fJnb4Mkm1u8fJb_q-qtlcyhYzd4SAS6WPsBtZEPE11AJtJNL9r6hWGfLp9Bj0MYX0dGp5PMYG-zFl1W9MTvz3I/s1600/2011+03+28+Manowar+040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0yvZnnAODm2kyXU04jHhCigtEhQ03tLt0eALNg1ITnybaJkXEQg3hc7fJnb4Mkm1u8fJb_q-qtlcyhYzd4SAS6WPsBtZEPE11AJtJNL9r6hWGfLp9Bj0MYX0dGp5PMYG-zFl1W9MTvz3I/s320/2011+03+28+Manowar+040.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>after my one and only bite. Completely tasteless - devoid of ANY flavour but rancid butter. And hard. Joy. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Manny opted for what we think was....</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxi-Od9Er7sgS_XxkP7whEeFM_ijf9uXsRARxFOUfPoZ5Riu72fn-_jF5LiSxblRXtKbKGgSJgyXiTQ1BG8_JFdibsEVbj3bGrXzVFJC3wX7GFGVss0EcKAVSbF02tGbzBDNRYO2TjW9a8/s1600/2011+03+28+Manowar+023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxi-Od9Er7sgS_XxkP7whEeFM_ijf9uXsRARxFOUfPoZ5Riu72fn-_jF5LiSxblRXtKbKGgSJgyXiTQ1BG8_JFdibsEVbj3bGrXzVFJC3wX7GFGVss0EcKAVSbF02tGbzBDNRYO2TjW9a8/s320/2011+03+28+Manowar+023.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>but we can't be 100% sure - it's the flavour Manny wanted, but <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIJt9LYbtBs">Andy Pipkin</a> behind the counter couldn't come out to show us which was which and instead opted for the old point and mutter '<i>that one</i>' routine. I would like to point out we were the only customers in the place but he still couldn't be bothered to properly explain which cakes were which. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Again this cake was hard, tasteless and just unpleasant. Both cakes were about £2.50 and both were left when we decided to leave. </div><div><br />
</div><div>I have a feeling this sign...</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ2IazKABCpO4LxkCjzNZrUCnCGarmQjVI2PJOJZaWSPNM3LIxFyp-BjnwnU2fr-C0ZtCxr4vF7ETnc2vYEiqodqGikWlTCVhM0K7vKEi_QxGiLU3nfGXDXSQGBjRnWovTB5VHa_jMNr40/s1600/2011+03+28+Manowar+048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ2IazKABCpO4LxkCjzNZrUCnCGarmQjVI2PJOJZaWSPNM3LIxFyp-BjnwnU2fr-C0ZtCxr4vF7ETnc2vYEiqodqGikWlTCVhM0K7vKEi_QxGiLU3nfGXDXSQGBjRnWovTB5VHa_jMNr40/s320/2011+03+28+Manowar+048.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>goes some way to explaining why the cakes were so incredibly dry - they must just bake in bulk (or buy in?) and keep them hanging round till they sell. Cupcakes in an hour will not be fresh people! Not sure why they were so tasteless though - I'd imagine a <a href="http://seychellestour.com/seychelles-islands/praslin/">Fruit Pigeons</a> fart would contain more vanilla than my cupcake did. </div><div><br />
</div><div><div>My review in one sentence - only visit the 90 Day Cafe if you like eating cakes that appear to have hung around the shop for 90 days. Blurgh. </div></div><div><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj90qu5We9mNSK4viTH539yw4j0P97Lr8EFB9W5Z-hag49CaSKjBL3w_F4rN57WaWeeZcp_0TGQnv1uLRApZS1Hf5g4V1Xfyw_mlh7BfB3h-o5x2U56xOvz2sw5HcHExF3tJ4JR8F78Pmx/s1600/2011+03+28+Manowar+057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj90qu5We9mNSK4viTH539yw4j0P97Lr8EFB9W5Z-hag49CaSKjBL3w_F4rN57WaWeeZcp_0TGQnv1uLRApZS1Hf5g4V1Xfyw_mlh7BfB3h-o5x2U56xOvz2sw5HcHExF3tJ4JR8F78Pmx/s320/2011+03+28+Manowar+057.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-size: medium;"><i>no she wouldn't, my mum has great taste in cakes </i></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXHufb6y3Hm-VmNIHzjE_ytwxsQ-zuml9Vd63jyGxl_sqDN5Vg2llMibJQcoVWgCmfZyEp2OEZT4uuQD5pamL4E997Mr8zcuoET0Prgn0Ri86A_GHJDNrVLcZWYSiZc8zo5eJSOP9xRc3G/s1600/2011+03+28+Manowar+223.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXHufb6y3Hm-VmNIHzjE_ytwxsQ-zuml9Vd63jyGxl_sqDN5Vg2llMibJQcoVWgCmfZyEp2OEZT4uuQD5pamL4E997Mr8zcuoET0Prgn0Ri86A_GHJDNrVLcZWYSiZc8zo5eJSOP9xRc3G/s320/2011+03+28+Manowar+223.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>While in Birmingham we also tried a couple of cakes from <a href="http://www.cupcakedelights.co.uk/">Cupcake Delights</a> in Selfridges - while they weren't the best cupcakes I've had they were edible - but a little sweet for me and the vanilla one was on the dry side, but Manny enjoyed the chocolate one. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Next up a bakery we first visited in February 2010, <a href="http://chewiesbakery.co.uk/">Chewies</a>. I remember the date as we also visited <a href="http://i-heart-cupcakes.blogspot.com/2010/02/wu-hu-for-bake-boo.html">Bake a Boo</a> that day. </div><div><br />
</div><div>I didn't blog it at the time as my photos were awful, as were the cakes. I was in the area, Chalk Farm, today and needed lunch and coffee and decided to give them another go. Sometimes I want to slap myself for my stupidity. </div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6zgqKuFOBfPlpTEvWdzpVmQms_eVyOBhFBiNRysmwK1L_AndCt4iUy_NLfVBcAEzGK66tfN3omrpDniMxzLft5eJWh-IXNjTCWcDceS1soOxCEUZQz1sYpL5vjiDM_YhOtJ67vTud2UMB/s1600/2011+07+19+crapcakes+020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6zgqKuFOBfPlpTEvWdzpVmQms_eVyOBhFBiNRysmwK1L_AndCt4iUy_NLfVBcAEzGK66tfN3omrpDniMxzLft5eJWh-IXNjTCWcDceS1soOxCEUZQz1sYpL5vjiDM_YhOtJ67vTud2UMB/s320/2011+07+19+crapcakes+020.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>There were three flavours of cake to choose from; vanilla, chocolate and red velvet. The red velvet looked frankly sweaty so I opted for the lurid blue vanilla. I should've just walked out but to be honest I felt rather conspicuous - I was the only person in the cafe - which btw is really rather cute. </div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibBSsl7UyahElDIiLNbNPpCYN9SNpz7Wj2l8oMelGA2in0HHj410ei0DQT8BPNnZW4des3qBGhvPwCSJHOMavUMs7cc4r1XjhbKS46iVQsmTJukQocq-p56lwv68dNJGV3jQtwMA2XE8lY/s1600/2011+07+19+crapcakes+026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibBSsl7UyahElDIiLNbNPpCYN9SNpz7Wj2l8oMelGA2in0HHj410ei0DQT8BPNnZW4des3qBGhvPwCSJHOMavUMs7cc4r1XjhbKS46iVQsmTJukQocq-p56lwv68dNJGV3jQtwMA2XE8lY/s320/2011+07+19+crapcakes+026.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn9m046o_fQ7P922aw5OQmURj5GTcNPc4LcQyvQebMjXLV06pieAcrBkKv6cbxJ8EGaIhI7U1BiairERg0l7MCPp3ThBRB3lL6VkXoB4S9yDo-cSAT4rGhveu-Ojzl0pkPASnXMLjxTwlM/s1600/2011+07+19+crapcakes+028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn9m046o_fQ7P922aw5OQmURj5GTcNPc4LcQyvQebMjXLV06pieAcrBkKv6cbxJ8EGaIhI7U1BiairERg0l7MCPp3ThBRB3lL6VkXoB4S9yDo-cSAT4rGhveu-Ojzl0pkPASnXMLjxTwlM/s320/2011+07+19+crapcakes+028.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Yes, that layer you see on top was <b>rock </b>hard. So hard when I tried a bit, for research purposes I nearly broke a tooth. HOW OLD are these cakes!!!? I jokingly tweeted that perhaps this cake had been sitting here since my last visit - I'm not so sure it was a joke now. Their website boasts that everything is freshly baked but I am hard pressed to believe this cake wasn't at least a week old - it was <i>that </i>hard.</div><div><br />
</div><div>And the frosting - I had one bite of it and it was <b><i>so </i></b>sweet I had toothache for about an hour - it was grainy and thoroughly unpleasant. How any baker can get frosting so wrong is beyond me. </div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_xz8HMzvd7v7Yo9b563ER3zdcTe5UICBDNy_GcTHuqupSNWO5WRLT_3llzQjOAJBZGOUA_NbU-w5EuvjVB12s4rEWZGuHp6LengOf2Ywuw5Ntgl4fSuzFf66Jk8vG0scbhInKJ_ncCDh-/s1600/2011+07+19+crapcakes+030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_xz8HMzvd7v7Yo9b563ER3zdcTe5UICBDNy_GcTHuqupSNWO5WRLT_3llzQjOAJBZGOUA_NbU-w5EuvjVB12s4rEWZGuHp6LengOf2Ywuw5Ntgl4fSuzFf66Jk8vG0scbhInKJ_ncCDh-/s320/2011+07+19+crapcakes+030.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>The photo above shows how little I ate of the cake - two members of staff were watching me the whole time (no one came in in the 30mins I was there) yet they didn't ask me if I enjoyed the cake or what was wrong - they just stood there. If it was my business and someone didn't eat my cake I'd want to know why. I can say this is one of the worst cakes I've had - no redeeming features at all. Another £2 + down the drain. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Now - can anyone recommend some good cupcakes, I'm sick of crapcakes. </div>I heart cupcakeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06898577388443071100noreply@blogger.com27