Happy 4th July

Some of you may  have seen my trial run at my all-American cupcake last week.

It's a rather simple idea - a red white and blue cupcake. Nothing special but it does look kinda fab. And very patriotic.

I just took my favourite vanilla cupcake, and....dyed some red and blue. Simple.

As you can see the colours kind of merged, and the blue on top went kind of green, but when you bite into them there is still a hint of white in there and you can see the three colours. Sorry I don't have a cross section picture - it began to fall over while I took it but you can kinda see how it works.

I had planned to top the cupcake with some red, white and blue fondant hearts to signify I Heart NY (my favourite place in the US..well the world actually),  but after a long weekend of working, and getting up at 4am today to open the bakery I just couldn't face fannying about with fondant. Also I couldn't find my small heart cutter and just didn't have the energy to go through my tonne of cupcaking paraphernalia. I did manage to find my USA cupcake cases and toppers that Ann Arbor Dennis brought me back recently though.

So to top the cupcakes my second plan was blueberry and strawberries on top of vanilla frosting, but then I decided to dunk the strawberry in some blue chocolate (Lindt white coloured with food dye) and voila - my perfect all-American cupcake was born.

Happy 4th July everyone!

We don't need no vegetation

In February I reported about a new cupcake* company on the block, Petit Pois, who were aiming to make us  less tubby cupcake eaters with their healthy take on the cupcake.  Their USP is that their cupcakes are healthy, gluten and lactose free and less than 180 kcal per cupcake, oh as the packaging reminds us "there are more grated vegetables in these magical cakes than any other ingredient". 

I was slightly sceptical of these as they just seemed to be bandwagon jumping - eventually someone always comes out with the healthy version of everything, but in the name of blog research I finally got round to popping along to Selfridges yesterday to buy some.

There were two flavour combinations available - lemon and orange, or vanilla and chocolate. As readers of this blog know, we always opt for vanilla and chocolate so this was perfect. I paid my £5 and carried them home.

As you can see they like to remind you that these cakes are HEALTHY cakes. As if the lack of a giant wodge of buttercream isn't reminder enough.

First up the vanilla.

The vanilla cupcake contains 29% courgette and a lot of other stuff including rice flour (13%). I am not sure if it was the rice flour that made it taste funky, or as Manny put it HORRIFIC, but there was most definitely something wrong with this cupcake. It was VILE. I couldn't even swallow my first bite of sponge and rather disgustingly had to spit it into my hand. Their was an indescribably offensive taste to the cake and the texture was revolting - it kind of broke up in your mouth and was so unpleasant I just couldn't swallow it. I tried some of the fondant topping, which I thought couldn't be bad. I was wrong - it was repulsive. The ingredients include lots of stuff like agar, locust bean gum, glucose syrup - I'm not sure which of them made it taste overly sweet and really unpleasant but it certainly didn't taste like anything healthy.

More than three quarters of the cake ended up in the bin (Manny swallowed his bite!). So that's a cupcake with less than 180 calories - and I just saved myself all of those calories. Is this how they stop making you fat(ter)? by making them too disgusting to eat?

Next the chocolate.

The chocolate cupcake contains 29% beetroot and again to me tasted weird. Manny said it was chocolaty but I couldn't really get it at all, perhaps because chocolate is the 3rd last listed ingredient? In fairness cocoa powder is slightly higher, as the 5th last but still to me tasted incredibly wrong. The fondant again tasted odd and cloying and the texture of the cake was again flaky and unpleasant in your mouth. At least I managed to swallow my bite of this one. Manny ate it, but he also said it had a cabbage like taste. I asked Manny if he'd eat another of the chocolate ones and he said no, he also refused to take a second bite of the vanilla one to describe it further.

Also, both cakes seemed pretty stale to me - but that could just be the lack of any kind of moisture giving ingredient.

So there you have it - vegetable cupcakes are gross.

Execpt they aren't. I've made beetroot cupcakes before and they're delicious. I've bought courgette cupcakes that rock and let's not forget sprouts. And it's not the lack of things like milk and butter either - hello, Ms Cupcakes cakes are vegan and don't make me spit up. My opinion is that these cupcakes just try so hard to be healthy they've forgotten that the end product has to be tasty and edible. They may be healthy, but to me they seem like a fad, a way to make money off those poor Stylist readers who so want to eat cupcakes and be thin. My advice, if you're dieting don't eat cupcakes all the time but treat yourself to a proper one occasionally -these really are not a substitute for real cake. I really hope others agree and these horrific excuses for cake are off our shelves soon. However I have a horrid feeling magazines like Stylist and other fashionista types will keep them going. Although the one good sign that people may have more taste was that I was the only twonk buying these (there were lots of boxes of these going out of date v.soon unsold) while everyone else ooh'd and aaaah'd over Lola's display - how I'm kicking myself now I didn't go there instead!!

Finally, as you may recall our cat Angel LOVES cupcakes and usually we can't keep her away - however this picture speaks a thousand words.

When Pudding Cat refuses to move towards the cake you know you have a bad 'un!

*Btw I've called these cupcakes throughout my review as this is what they are marketed as. In my opinion they are fairy cakes - buttercream on top = cupcake, fondant on top = fairy cake.

De-constructed oozing Tiramisu

Ciao lettori bella, this months Forever Nigella theme was Italian,  Ciao Italia, and had to either be an Italian recipe or a recipe which showcased an Italian ingredient.

I had my thinking hat on for some time, until this weekends deadline was looming and I'd still baked nothing. Then inspiration struck, I decided to make a version of Nigella's Irish Cream Tiramisu from Nigella Express but instead of using the Savoiardi as the base for the dreamy gooey marscapone (Italian!!) mixture I baked some of Nigella's cupcakes, from How to be a Domestic Goddess using my new filled cupcake tray, a birthday gift from my gorgeous friend Rene in Chicago.

The cupcakes were a doddle to make and filled 11 of the wholes in my tray. I wasn't complaining though as (a) it meant I could like the bowl clean (and it was delicious batter- just the kind I like, nice consistency and nice and sweet but not too much - you can tell how good a cake is going to be from the batter!) and (b) It meant I had a spare if need be, or I could just eat it as a tester!

When they came out of the oven it was a bit of a faff to get them out of the moulds, even though it says they're non stick and will come out with no hassle (I slightly greased the tins as well just incase). Most came out ok, although some of the swirly edges weren't keen to release.

Instead of Irish Cream I used a hefty glug of Marsala (Italian!!) mixed with some fabulously strong Monmouth coffee I bought earlier in the day. The girl in Monmouth was lovely, helping me choose the right blend for this -  you don't get that service in Starbucks, or many other "fancy" cafes for that matter. I dunked the cake tops and bottoms in the mixture, maybe a little too much as they got quite moist, and then left them to dry a bit.

The tiramisu topping was made with marscapone, egg yolks, sugar and a whisked egg white. Oh, and lashings more Marsala. This is where I think I went a little wrong as I added some extra booze as I like my tiramisu to have a good kick so my topping didn't set quite enough I think, or this could be because we didn't set it in the traditional way.

As you can see it's a little runny but it tasted really nice so we slapped it into the cavity on the bottom cupcake, then placed the top of the cupcake which had some more of the filling inside. Be warned these cupcakes aren't very pretty but they do taste amazing!

Ooooh look it's a bit of a gooey mess....and it's about to get worse....

We poured a little more of the filling over the top to soak the Marsala soaked cupcake some more, and covered with a dusting of cocoa. As Nigella might say the topping ooozed seductively down the cupcake topper.

It doesn't look the prettiest cupcake but boy was it good - very rich and very boozy but very very good.

I can see Nigella pouting seductively at the camera eating this, she does love food that oooozes after all!

Drowning my sorrows in cupcakes

Last weekend saw me descend into my last year of my 30's. Not only was I old(er) but to make matters worse my birthday was on a Sunday I couldn't get to my favourite cupcake emporium for some birthday goodies as I was in the wilds of the Highlands of Scotland visiting my mum as a surprise for her 60th so no Kooky for me!

We spent 5 days in Scotland and it wasn't until the 4th day that we discovered some cupcakes. We did find some other lovely cakes but no cupcakes. FYI Mohammed Al Fayed's cafe at Shin Falls does a wonderful meringue!

My first birthday cupcake was from the local bakers in Dingwall, Deas. They have two outlets on Dingwall High Street, including a cafe where you can sit with a cup of tea and the pie or cake of your choice. Manny went for a haggis, neeps and tatties pie (shudder) and we got the cupcakes to take away. The lovely girl serving gave us a free cupcake after deciding the pink one was too girlie for Manny. He has this effect on girls -they often give him free cake!

My cupcake was a vanilla sponge with some raspberry frosting. I didn't hold out much hope for it as it looked kinda blah (the holes on top worried me) if I'm honest but it was actually quite nice! It was moist and the frosting was really tasty - which is more than can be said for cupcakes from many of Time Outs recent list of the best cupcakes in London (more on that in another post!).

Manny's was plain vanilla and he seemed to enjoy it. Again it ended up in his belly rather than the bin so result. You can see the holes on the top of the cake in this pic - I think its from either over mixing of the oven being too hot? The cake underneath was moist though and the frosting wasn't just a lump of sugar or flavourless butter so all was good.

Our second cupcake in Scotland was from a small cafe inside Inverness Airport. This one looked a little prettier than Deas' offering but alas it was all style and no substance. My raspberry and white chocolate was overly sweet and didn't really taste of anything much. The middle raspberry jam made it slightly better but unfortunately I couldn't eat most of it. 

Manny's mocha chocolate fared better and he said it was incredibly chocolaty. He scoffed the lot so it must've been ok.

The highlight of Inverness Airport for me wasn't the cupcake but spotting Danny Dyer there. I would've gone and said hello as I have a bit of a crush on him but he looked so hungover I couldn't bring myself to bother him!

Back in London we decided to have a little day after my birthday celebration with lunch and a cupcake. I choose Moolis as my lunch venue (yum) and we headed to Hummingbird to try one of their new daily specials. Monday's special is chocolate fondant; a rich chocolate sponge, with a decadent chocolate fondant centre, iced with a rich chocolate cream.

I don't know what to say really. This cake was nice but nothing that special. It was chocolaty but didn't really taste of chocolate. There was a depth of flavour that was missing - when I compare it to the Gü cupcake from Lola's it just wasn't in the same league. I found it a little dry and the fondant centre in mine appeared to have been forgotten. The frosting was ok but again not chocolaty enough somehow, yet, a little too rich for me. I'm not sure if its due to the chocolate they used or what - I'll be trying the recipe from the book Cake Days when it's out to see if it fares better when I bake it using Green and Blacks - my trusty baking chocolate of choice!  Manny of course scoffed it and some of mine, although he agreed the Gü cupcake was better!

I will be popping back to try Tuesday's flavour - S'moreAnne cupcake - how could I resist it! And perhaps on a Sunday for their Boston Cream Pie one, a cupcake I've been meaning to make forever!

The best thing about our visit was the cheesecake brownie we shared - we couldn't say no to it. And it's not every day you turn nearly 40!

Peggy Porschen's Parlour

Isn't it the most gorgeous cake shop you've ever seen? That shade of pink is enough to turn me into the girliest girl ever. I adore it.

Peggy Porschen's Parlour opened in Belgravia last autumn and today we finally got round to visiting. The location is rather odd - walk past perhaps the grimmest place in London, Victoria Coach Station, and you can see this gorgeous vision of pastel pink on the horizon. Like an oasis calling to you in the desert of scummyness.

As were were stomping towards it I had everything crossed we could get a seat inside, as although there were a couple of outdoor tables, it was freezing.

Inside the Parlour is small but perfectly formed. There are two smaller tables for two, and a larger one for about 5 or 6. Photography of the store wasn't allowed, but we could take photos of our gorgeous cakes. There was a choice of approximately 6 cupcakes, some layer cakes, macarons and some other baked goods. Of course we opted for cupcakes. I had a vanilla chiffon and Manny went for a chocolate heaven.

They also offer a selection of house blend teas, including a lovely sounding gingerbread one, but I was tempted by the lovely smelling coffee, and opted for a cappuccino. Manny had a divine smelling hot chocolate.

The vanilla cupcake was lush! The frosting was cream cheese vanilla which is quite unusual but it was absolutely delicious. The cake was moist and tasty, and incredibly fresh, the frosting was, well the icing on the cake. Really well flavoured and really moreish.

Manny's eyes lit up when he spotted the chocolate heaven cupcake. Look at the amount of frosting on there! Wow. And it was incredible. Seriously, delicious! I tried some, and the frosting was a velvety ganache and absolutely delicious. If ever there was a frosting I could have in shot form, this is it! The cake was, again, incredibly moist (I hate to harp on about moist cakes but a moist, fresh cupcake is so important - there are a couple of well known bakers out there I've sampled recently that could do with some lessons in injecting flavour into their cupcakes and about them  being fresh but that's a whole other blog post!). There were no such worries here, the cakes were simply magnificent.

As you can see we thoroughly enjoyed them, one of us ensuring we scraped off every last crumb of cake!

I had a little peruse around the shop before paying. As well as cakes and delicious iced cookies, there are Peggy Porschen homewares,  lovely home made preserves (including lemon and lemoncello, which I may have to return to buy), and Peggy's blends of teas. We decided we couldn't leave without trying one of her beautiful black forest cupcakes so got one to go, which was lovingly boxed up by the staff. Oh and the staff in the Parlour were really nice - checking we enjoyed everything and ensuring we didn't have any complaints.

Alas disaster struck as we had a long walk through a very windy Hyde Park after our scoffing, and the cake alas was a casualty of the elements.

Even though it was slightly squished, and way less pretty than when it had left the Parlour it still tasted lovely.  The rich, delicious chocolate cake cake is filled with some Griottine cherries inside and topped with a kirsch and vanilla frosting. I wished I'd bought two as I had to share it with Manny. Hurumpf.

I highly recommend popping along to Peggy's Parlour for tea and cupcakes. They also do afternoon tea and obviously takeaway. The cupcakes would make perfect little gifts for friends, if you don't want to make your own, and although slightly more than you would pay in other cupcake stores in London, they are worth every penny! I must go back to try the banana toffee asap! And a carrot one! Or I could dig out my copy of the Sainsbury's Magazine with her recipes in and make my own. That's next weekends baking taken care of!

Finally, you can see some photographs of inside the parlour here.

A whole lotta baking going on

Some of the people who follow my Twitter seem to think I bake a lot. I don't really, but baking is never far from my thoughts. For example in meetings when they're 'downloading' about 'moving in the right direction', 'bottoming out' and 'parking ideas in the carpark', I tend to be sitting updating my list of cupcakes I must bake rather than stir frying ideas in my intellectual wok. There are never enough days to bake all the things I want to and this is when I miss Iron Cupcake - it was a perfect excuse to bake. At least this month we have Cupcake Camp, and the list of ideas for that is v.long.

However sometimes my list gets cast aside when something else takes my fancy and I leave work early to knock up some cupcakes. This usually occurs after a particularly bad day in the office - I find baking soothes me. Last month I spotted some rather cute looking cupcakes in Jamie Magazine. The accompanying story was about a girl, Georgina Bragg, who is a piercing artist by day and a cupcake baker by night. My kinda girl. The recipe was for some very simple, but very tasty lemon cupcakes and as I had  a few lemons mooching round the fridge I decided to make them. I added a little chunk of my new favourite chocolate, Green &  Black's white chocolate into the batter of each cupcake before baking and they were delish! The frosting didn't work as well unfortunately - it tasted really good but didn't stiffen up very well. I took them to work and no-one seemed to notice as they were eaten in seconds!

Slightly less successful were my attempt at the Hummingbird banana cupcakes. The cupcakes turned out well but as you can see the frosting really didn't want to get hard. All I can say it was one of the hotter days of last month!

They did taste really nice, with a banana base which was really moist and flavoursome. I used my favourite caramel Bonne Maman Confiture De Caramel in the frosting and although it didn't set to stay in lovely swirls, it did taste delicious!

Finally, we had a bake sale to raise money for the flood victims in Pakistan last Tuesday so I decided to bake two lots of cupcakes. I made some malted cupcakes with a vanilla and maltester frosting and some good old vanilla. Two seconds into baking my mixer, yes the one I bought just over 3 months ago, broke. So everything was done by hand. Alas I only don't have any picture of the vanilla cupcakes as I was using my phone (the day before my mixer exploded my camera stopped working also..damn), but they were pink and very glittery.

I loaded up a few boxes of cupcakes and schleped them into work in the morning rush hour and I was so happy at how excited everyone got when they saw them - everyone except the 'lady' who organised the sale who didn't say thank you to any of the bakers, and insisted on telling people I'd bought my cupcakes - grrrrr. Jealous much -  her cake was drying than Gandhi's slipper I'm told. My cakes sold out in about 15minutes and I was so happy to receive a lot of emails from my co-workers telling me they enjoyed them and offering to be my taste tester! I think her cake ended up in the bin. All I can say is KARMA!

The Chelsea Teapot

Manny and I spend quite a few weekends in the Sloane Square/Kings Road area - mainly because its a way for me to get him out of the house on a Saturday by bribing him with curry from The Indian Kitchen Co at Partridges Market and a chili for dinner with the fabulous beef I can get from the lovely Woodwards Farm stall. And lets not forget Yummy Boutique, Sobo Chocolate and Crumbs and Doilies. Oh, and Love Bakery and Hummingbird Bakery are not that far away either! It's a little bit of food heaven in SW London! And it's such a nice area of London to spend a Saturday in!

Yesterday we had a new place to check out - The Chelsea Teapot. It's been right down the other end of the King's Road for a while (a year or so if my googling is to be believed) and is well worth the walk (or you can jump on a bus to World's End if you prefer).

It's a really cute pastel painted cafe with a couple of seats outside and a window full of cakes to tempt you. Once inside there are lots of lovely cupcake and other items for sale as well as teas, coffees, soft drinks (including the Fentimans), ice cream and of course - cake!

We opted for a vanilla cupcake and cappuccino for me, and a chocolate cupcake and peppermint tea for Manny and got a seat. There's room for about10-15ish people inside and more room out in the secret garden at the back!

Lots of the crockery is cupcake themed, including Manny's teapot of peppermint tea, and the walls are covered in lovely pastel framed prints or vintage plates and there's a gorgeous chandelier. It's a very pretty and quaint cafe. You probably can't tell from my pic below however as I didn't want to use the flash in the cafe as it was peaceful and relaxing and I'd have disturbed others.

The cupcakes were really tasty and fresh. My vanilla one had a hint of almond but it didn't detract from the fact it tasted lovely and was very flavoursome. Manny tells me his cake was incredibly chocolaty and there was lots of hmm'ing so I think he enjoyed it! The coffee was good and Manny's huge pot of tea for under £2 was a bargain!

The staff were as welcoming as the cafe and we shall definitely be making a return visit - we usually end up in Starbucks or Peter Jones for a drink after shopping but this is a much nicer alternative!

Oh and finally - the loos were so pretty I could've stayed there for some time. Again lots of cupcake/cake prints and a teapot rug at the bottom of the stairs. I believe they hold children's cake decorating skills downstairs in the large mirrored area, and there were adverts for tarot evenings. Hopefully their website will be up and running soon to keep up to date with what is going on.

I couldn't resist photographing the whimsical sign on the kitchen entrance