Giant cupcake for Tegan

This is one of the three cakes that started my business off.  It was made for my daughter's friend, Tegan, who was celebrating her 11th birthday in March.

The sponge is vanilla with chocolate flavoured fondant covering the base of the cake.  The top is piped with vanilla buttercream swirls in various shades from yellow (her favourite colour) through to a bright and vivid orange.

It's trimmed with fondant flowers and leaves.  The bottom is piped with buttercream 'grass' and I've added a couple of friends to the board; namely a snail (on the left hand side peeping round at you) and just about to crawl onto the log at the front of the cake is a ladybird (with the bright googly eyes!)

Thankfully Tegan loved her cake and all who saw it were pretty impressed too.  Not bad for one of my first attempts at a giant cupcake.

Picture credit goes to my husband Will for making it look so incredibly bright and vibrant.

Cheesecake

We love cheesecake, but the stuff that supermarkets pass off leaves something to be desired, not to mention the frozen ones you can buy (don't get me started on the taste & mushiness of these), so, as requested by some of my friends over on my Facebook page, Freycob's Cakes, here's my recipe.

We were invited to friends for a BBQ today, and this is what I made for dessert to take with us. The conclusion was that this was the BEST cheesecake they've ever tasted!

400g digestive biscuits
200g butter
300ml double cream
600g Philadelphia cream cheese
1 lemon, juice & rind
4tbs caster sugar
Fruit for topping
Caster sugar to taste

1. Crush the Digestive biscuits.
2. Melt the butter.
3. Mix the butter and biscuits together then press firmly into an 20cm (8") springform tin. (I line the base of mine with parchment to make it easier to remove).
4. Place in the fridge for 30 mins to cool & set the butter.
5. Whisk the cream, Philadelphia, lemon juice, rind & sugar together until well combined and thick.
6. Spread on top of the cooled base.
7. Return to the fridge for at least an hour to cool.

You can leave it plain or use berries in season to top the cheesecake or make your own coulis as follows:

8. Blitz a large punnet of blueberries with 100g of frozen raspberries and 50g (or to taste) of caster sugar.
9. You can sieve your fruit if required, or as we like it, leave it as it is.
10. Top your slice of cheesecake with a generous portion of fruit and enjoy!

If you prefer, you can defrost 400g of frozen berries to mix with your sugar to use as your topping.

Home made vanilla extract

I recently had a go at making my own vanilla extract. I'm an immense fan of Nielsen-Massey but get through so much that at £5.51 a bottle it's getting a bit on the expensive side. So, I read the ingredients list and came up with my own alternative.

* Take some clear alcohol with a minimum 35% alcohol (I used a half bottle of vodka).
* Take out (& drink if you must) a few tablespoons of the vodka.
* I split 5 long premium Madagascan vanilla pods and added them to my bottle.
* I then topped the bottle up with some soft brown sugar, replaced the lid & shook vigorously for several minutes until some of the vanilla seeds had been dislodged from the pods.
* Place the bottle in a dark cupboard & shake well every week for about 6 weeks. You'll see the vodka change colour & darken as it becomes infused.
* The longer you leave it, the better it becomes. Remember to shake it regularly & keep it in a dark place.

You can add more sugar & vodka as you use it, alternatively when you get down to half a bottle, buy another & start again.

Now, Sainsbury's sell their own brand half bottle of vodka (350ml) for £5.80 (as at 15/05/2012). Nielsen-Massey is £5.51 for 118ml. I buy my vanilla pods from Vanilla Mart for £3.25 for 5 pods. I always have soft brown sugar in for making cakes, and a few tablespoons is merely pence.

Therefore for just over £10 you can make almost 3 times the quantity for only twice the price of the GOOD quality vanilla extract.

I've started my bottle of homemade vanilla extract and so far I'm really impressed with the fragrance it's giving off, both in the bottle and also in my baking.

I can see me continuing to make my own in the future now.

Remember to buy really good quality rich dark Madagascan vanilla pods. Buying in quantity from a reputable place such as Vanilla Mart really does make sense. They don't sell the dry, often sad looking vanilla pods that you see in the supermarkets at extortionate prices for 2 pods. I buy mine in packs of 20 (normally packed as 4x5 pods as I make my own delicious vanilla sugar too.

If you do have a go at making your own on my recommendation, please come back & tell me, won't you?

Love & cake

Rosie
xxx

Things have moved on

Further travels down the road to launch my little cake making business saw me taking my Chartered Institute of Environmental Health Level 2 Food Hygiene course & exam last week. I'm very proud to say I passed with flying colours with a very respectable 30/30 marks!

I also had my kitchen inspection & have been awarded 5 stars, but I wait my certificate to prove it!

My business cards have arrived, thanks to Vistaprint, & I even ordered myself some post cards to advertise that little bit better.

My boxes were chosen, ordered & delivered. I've gone for a very understated plain white; clean & simple for any occasion, I think!

Apologies for the photo quality as it was taken on my phone, as opposed to my proper camera.

I continue to be graced with trust & the orders continue to arrive at a nice & comfortable pace of a few a month, booked to the end of June now, which is good.

Thank you to everyone supporting me along my journey to create beautiful cakes to celebrate birthdays etc.

Rosie
xx

British Blogger in support of British Flowers

My lovely friend, Vanessa Kimbell, a fellow local Northamptonshire girl, author and creator of the gorgeous recipe book 'Prepped' is starting a campaign to make us think about the miles that our flowers travel to adorn our lives and homes. 

Over 80% of the flowers that we buy have been flown halfway around the world and all too frequently from countries where the rights and welfare of the workers haven't been given due credence.  I know that some countries are reliant on our business and I really don't wish to encourage you to turn your back on those completely as we all have to earn our living to eat and stay healthy.  What I would like you to consider though is whether you can buy a British alternative.  Our climate may now be hot or tropical but it does produce some of the most amazingly beautiful and delicate blooms that the eye can behold.  Take the Sweet Pea for example...

They're delicate and incredibly beautiful; they have an amazing scent and will grow in abundance given the love and tending of even a novice pair of hands.

These Cosmos flowers are so beautiful and so different in variety to each other; from the delicate pastel shades of Sweet Sixteen to the striking richness of Rubenza.

Whilst these Zinnia's are just bold, spectacular and a miriad of colour!

To kick start British Bloggers in Support of British Flowers Campaign, Vanessa has invited  some fellow food & lifestyle bloggers to step up and make a difference by growing our own posy.  This is so exciting because Thompson and Morgan have offered the seeds and a fabulous prize to the best bouquet to make this campaign happen and it’s going to be gorgeous! 

You too can support this change by looking out and buying British flowers in your local supermarket, farmers markets or farm shops.  When buying a bouquet from your florist, why not ask for British flowers to guarantee the freshest, most in season blooms to adorn the recipient's life?

I've signed up to Vanessa's British Flowers Challenge and can't wait for my seeds to arrive so that I can plant and tend to them whilst watching them bloom in to spectacular home grown beauties.

Over the next few weeks, Vanessa will be researching British flowers that are currently in bloom and will be sharing those results with us.  Why not follow her and all us blooming marvellous people as we proceed to bring some home grown British colour to our lives?

I am taking the plunge...

I've been asked recently to make birthday cakes for my neighbour's two children, Sammah who has just turned 6 and Zain who has just turned 3 along with my daughter's friend Tegan, who was 11 in March.  I've always been a baker and maker of cakes and to have the honour of producing cakes for such special occasions really touched me.

This was Tegan's cake - a giant cupcake in tones of yellow (her favourite colour) and orange.  I have to thank my husband for taking this photo and making it look so beautiful (Thanks Will! x)

The cake I made for Sammah was this 8" square one (on the finished version I added her name):

This pond themed cake was for Zain:

(Apologies for the photo quality; they were taken on my iPhone).  I will try to remember to replace them with 'proper camera' photographs.

This was made for a friend to say 'Thank You' for her kindness

Whilst this one was for my lovely friend Susan's birthday:

Remember my Whitworth's cake mix I was given?  Well this is what I made with it and decorated up with white fondant and some bright red and yellow flowers (photographs courtesy of hubby).

Inspired by these cakes and also by the fact that my neighbours seem to love my frequent baking gifts to them, I registered my kitchen with my local Environmental Health Department and am now waiting for my inspection to start a little business doing something I absolutely LOVE to do!

Business cards and postcards have been ordered tonight from Vistaprint.  Although not necessary, my Public Liability Insurance will be organised next week and my Level 2 Food Hygiene course has been booked for the beginning of May.

I already have orders for cakes, starting with a Hello Kitty cake for my great niece Shannon's birthday next weekend, followed by 4 more for May and June and an enquiry for wedding cupcakes to accompany their wedding cake.

I'm hoping that this is the start of something good.  Wish me luck!


Rosie
x