Gin and Tonic Cupcakes

I was recently asked to make some Gin and Tonic cupcakes for a birthday party, and as I had never tried an alcoholic cupcake recipe before, I was keen to give it a go! Plus Gin and Tonic is one of my favourite tipples, so to be allowed to combine it with cake, what could be better!

I started by making the candied lime peel for the decoration. Using a vegetable peeler I stripped off the top layer of the lime and sliced the zest into thin strips.

I then boiled sugar and water to create a syrup, and soaked the zest strands in it until soft before transferring them to a bowl of sugar. 

The end result looked lovely with their sugary crystal coating, and they passed the 'drop' test by making a tinkling sound when dropped onto a plate.

The cupcake batter was a basic lemon sponge, and then soaked with a lemon juice, tonic water and gin syrup, at this point it's best to think of it as a lemon drizzle cupcake! I used Bombay Sapphire gin for my cupcakes, and was worried that the slightly subtle taste would get lost. Unfortunately I couldn't taste the gin flavour when I tried a sample, but on a couple of taste tests, it was decided that the quantity of gin was enough to give an alcoholic twang. I would have maybe used slightly less lemon juice as it's such a strong flavour and can overwhelm more delicate ingredients. 

The butter icing also contained the gin syrup, which gave a lovely smooth and glossy appearance to the icing when piped.

The silver '70' decorations were cut from fondant and then painted using an edible silver paint. I loved the contrast between the pale icing, silver numbers and sharp green of the zest, and in silver foil cupcake cases and with a sprinkle of silver glitter on top, I think they looked perfect for a birthday celebration.

Furnishing The Nest

A couple of weekends ago I popped into two of my favourite interiors shops, The Nest at No.9 and My Little Vintage, both in Olney. I find it so hard to walk past both of these shops as they always have something beautiful and inviting in the window that would make it rude not to go in for a browse! I treated myself to a few lovely bits for The Nest, including a beautiful 'paper' cut leaf, some gorgeous hand painted ceramic and metal hooks and a lovely stone heart with a lace print.

The creamy yellow card backing of the picture fits in perfectly with the deeper yellow of our walls and I loved the unusual hexagonal gilt frame

Little tactile and textural elements will all add to your scheme and I loved the old fashioned delicate lace doily pattern on the heavy stone underneath

I am still working on the interiors and decoration in The Nest, and I love gathering little bits and pieces to add to the decor. The poor person that has to put up / hang / drill holes in my walls probably doesn't appreciate it too much but it's nothing a piece of cake can't fix! 

As soon as I'm happy with a room I'll share some photos of my handmade bits and bobs, up cycled furniture and decor so you can see what I've been up to over the last year. I would definitely advocate living with a space before you rush in and decorate as that way you'll know what will work best for the space. Along with this, just buy what you love. That way you will create something that is unique and personal to you and the scheme will evolve over time. 

Chocolate, port and cherry cake

As it was such a success last year, I decided to make the chocolate, cheery and port cake from my Mich Turner recipe book. The cake is so wonderfully rich and chocolatey with a hint of alcohol in the cherries, what could be better!

I remained true to her design and kept it simple with piped ganache and whole cherries to decorate, however as it was quite warm when I took these photos, the ganache does look super shiny! That is the peril of making ganache in the middle of summer (However as I listen to the rain pound against the widows today I am wondering if that was our summer!)

I had some brilliant cards for my birthday as well, and these set off the setting for my cake perfectly, especially the cute grumpy cat with the bow which was from my boyfriend, I'm not sure exactly what he was trying to tell me there...!

A Weekend of Baking...Birthday bunting cake

It was my grandpa's birthday in May and to get all of the family together to celebrate, we of course had a little party! I was asked to make the cake, and as it is his favourite I made a Victoria sponge with a few little extras!

I used a Nigella recipe which I have found gives lovely light, fluffy and tall sponges, and then filled the cake with buttercream and fresh strawberries. I then also decorated the top with buttercream swirls, a decorative strawberry and a dusting of icing sugar.

To add to the decoration I decided to make some cake bunting that has been everywhere this year, especially for weddings. You can buy it ready made, but I decided to make mine as for an added handmade twist. Here's how I did it...

I used calico fabric remnants to stamp the letters onto, and then cut them out individually to make the little flags. I used some thin ribbon and cut a length so I had enough to leave long tails, then glued all of the flags onto the ribbon to make the bunting. Depending on how thick or sturdy your ribbon is you could sew the flags on, but as mine was so thin it kept getting caught up in my sewing machine, so in the end I had to revert to glue.

If your flags are different sizes don't worry, it all adds to the rustic charm! In fact I like mine a little higgledy-piggledy, I think it adds to the vintage charm of a 'naked cake'!

Pinning the flags in place will let you see if they are centred on the ribbon before you tie it to your skewers

 I then tied the ribbon onto two wooden kebab skewers, making sure that the flags were centred and secured the knots with a little dab of glue. Once dried you can then insert them into your cake to create a pretty decoration and to add some height to your bakes. It also adds a lovely party feel to your cake, and makes it stand out on any dessert table or buffet spread.

VW Camper Van Cake

I was asked to make a VW Camper Van cake for a colleague earlier this month, and I have had great fun working out how to make all of the different bits that go together to create a camper van! My original thought was 'Oh no I've got to carve a cake!' but from doing a bit of research and a chat with my client we decided that a flat decoration was best for this cake. I have been able to experiment with lots of techniques and different materials, and have made a list of 100 other bits I need, but I've thoroughly enjoyed getting into back into my stride with sugarcraft again.

As with all my projects i start of by making detailed lists, timetables and sketches days before I even start so I know exactly what needs to be done. Only when I am happy with a plan do I start kneading!

I first cut out all of the letters required for the cake and then the daisies, topped with small pearlescent balls for the centres. 

I made a small indent in the centre of each flower using the end of a paintbrush so the balls have a little dip to sit in when attached.

Next I made all of the small bits for the front of the van like the headlamps, numberplate, windscreen wipers,  wing mirrors and of course the badge. I picked up some edible silver paint to use for these metallic parts and I'm really glad I did, they wouldn't have looked as good if I had just used lustre dust. I used a gold shimmer for the centre of the indicators and painted the numberplate using dark brown food gel to give a slightly more vintage look. 

The next step was to cut out the large parts of the van. I used a small knife for this part but even so it snags the icing and can pull your design out of shape. I think I may have to invest in a scalpel to stop this from happening as it can throw out your detailed design if the icing stretches. I built the van up in layers and added each piece separately to make sure that it was correct. My favourite part is watching it all come together so I was very excited to stick on all the fiddly bits I had made. The background of the cake is a lovely grass green, so I am hoping that all of my elements will stand out against this colour when added to the cake and it is all assembled and ready to go. 

I used the textured edge of a lid to create the tread on the tyres which gives the design an extra little piece of detail. 

I used a mix of professional grade red gel food colour and a Dr Oetker's gel for the red velvet cakes this time, and was amazed at the results! The cakes were so vibrantly red and when I filled and put the crumb coat of cream cheese frosting on, I was really pleased with the finish. It was beautifully smooth and perfect for it's sugarpaste cover. 

Once the cake was covered I decided to hide the baseboard as it was larger than the finished cake.

 I cut strips of icing in different lengths and cut into them with a knife to create grass. 

Then to assemble (my favourite part!) I placed the letters on the baseboard to check the spelling and then stuck them on. The camper van was then stuck on top of the case and I placed the daisies at random across the sides of the cake and the baseboard. 

A silver ribbon around the cake board finished the design perfectly. 

I was really pleased with the outcome of the cake, however I hadn't released how much the camper van had stretched whilst making! Although I had used a template drawn inside the circumference of the tin, it still came up bigger than the top of the cake. In future I will have to make sure that I scale down any decorations to make sure that they fit onto the finished cake, as the original design saw the camper van sit neatly in the middle with no overlap.