You may remember I said my friend Emma recommended cupcakes from Eat. Well now I do too, as I popped down to my local Eat at lunchtime and tried the chocolate cupcake. It was good.
Beautiful daffodils
Daffodils are by far my favourite flowers, which is lucky, because they are all out having a spring-time party right now. I’m really impressed by this beautiful table display and bouquets Chelsea Fuss designed for the Once Wed Table Trends series - she explains how to do it without it sounding totally impossible, plus it’s a real bargain. Imagine serving up a slice of lemon tart with this as your backdrop…
Photos: Chelsea Fuss
Who doesn’t love pretty post?
I always get so excited to get real post. Bills and junk mail are just such a let-down. So imagine my glee to find a package containing some necklaces from Danni of Oh Hello Friend’s etsy shop. They arrived so beautifully packaged I wanted to share it. Go check out her shop as it’s packed with cute bits and pieces.
I discovered her after reading an interview on Darling Dexter which is well worth a read.
I really wanna cupcake
Photos: Lola's Kitchen
Sometimes I’m sitting at my desk at work and have an absolute craving for a cupcake. It’s like an “if I don’t eat one right now I think I’ll collapse on the floor” type craving. Unluckily for me I actually have to do some work, rather than enjoy afternoon tea, but my friend Emma knows how desperate this urge is and often emails me suggestions for great bakeries. Her latest hot tip is the Eat raspberry vanilla sponge cupcake, which I think I need to try. It would be rude not to.
So anyway, Emma was a real champion and went to Lola’s Kitchen to buy four sweet cupcakes for us to take to our friend Claudia’s for the weekend. How nice is that?! Anyway, they are so scrummy you can’t believe it, they are just amazing. You can get them in Selfridges and Harrods, as well as their shop in Primrose Hill. So if you come to London go and get one, you won’t be disappointed. (I had one with an Oreo on top, which you can see in the top right photo above. Oh. My. God. It was like heaven in an edible form.)
Tags: cupcake, Lolas cupcakes
A Most Curious Party
Rooting around in car boot sales for cute teacups is one of my favourite hobbies. But my love for vintage crockery pales into insignificance next to my friend Becky. She collected mountains of beautiful pieces for her vintage-themed wedding last July, and rather than let it sit unused she is putting it all to good use by hiring it out through her new business, A Most Curious Party.
She’s got a great eye for cute pieces and you can use them out for parties, weddings, even picnics! So if you like polka dot tea pots, home made bunting and chintz cake plates, get yourself over there!
Ban.do beauties
These beautiful creations were made by Jen and Jamie at ban.do. They make the most divine facinators and fancy headwear. I would love to snap up all of them! These are four of my favourites, and they all have such fun names; (clockwise from top left - Aren’t You Green with Envy, No. 10, Shazam! and Pink Show Stopper) Can you imagine anything more dreamy than wearing one of these to a wedding? Or just out and about when you’re feeling fancy!
Bake sale
We’re having a bake sale at work for Comic Relief, soooooo many treats!!
Grapes galore
I received some fabulous glass grape beads the other day from Readesign’s etsy shop. I bought them to use on a fascinator I’m hoping to make for a friend at work - she’s got a purple dress to wear to a wedding and needs a nifty piece of headwear to match, so thought these might work. I don’t think she needs it for a while, but I’ll show you the finished creation once made.
It’s icing…but not as we know it
I’ve just iced a cake for my friend’s birthday. The cake itself is just a chocolate sponge, but the icing is amazing! I amalgamated a few different recipes and made something so darn delicious I felt it needed to be shared:
Yummy chocolate icing
This will cover an 8″ cake
75g butter
55g cocoa
4-5 tablespoons of milk
340g icing sugar
1. Melt the butter and as it starts to melt tip in the cocoa. Beat the hell out of it until it’s melted and all mixed together. It should look really shiny
2. Take it off the heat and stir in a tablespoon of milk
3. Add about a third of the icing sugar, with a tablespoon of milk, and beat it together
4. Repeat step three, until your icing sugar is gone. Keep back the last tablespoon of milk - you may not need it
5. The icing should now be a lovely gloopy consistency. You can add a bit more milk now if you need it, but if you dollop it on your cake it’ll spread out a bit with the help of a spatula, and looks really nice and glossy. If it’s too runny it’ll go everywhere, so keep an eye on it
Tags: cake, chocolate icing, icing
Happy pancake day!
Shrove Tuesday…mmmmm…pancakes.
Dan makes a mean pancake, and I make them even better with the help of Mr Nutella (and Ms Golden Syrup)
