...and the winner is...

Amanda from Pandy Potter. CONGRATULATIONS! You have won 4 Christmas cupcakes just in time for Christmas. They will be winging their way to you tomorrow.



Keep your eyes peeled for my New Year giveaway!

Merry Christmas everyone!

xx

Christmas cupcake giveaway!

I recently posted some of my Christmassy cupcakes and I thought seeing as its the season of goodwill to all men (is that the saying...??) I would give you all the chance to win 4 beautifully decorated vanilla Christmas CUPCAKES woo hoo!!!

If you live in Derby then I will deliver them to you on Christmas Eve, however if you live further afield then please do enter as I will post them out to you in time for Christmas.

All you need to do is answer the question below, then post your answer on my blog and of course make sure you are following my blog. When you leave your answer just make sure you leave an email address and your name so I can contact you. The winner will then be picked at random.

Question: Who supposedly coined the phrase 'Let them eat cake'?

Terms:
UK only
Closing date: 21st December 2010

I will notify the winner via email.

Get posting and Merry Christmas!

Christmas cupcakes and edible glitter

I LOVE edible glitter as I am sure many cake makers and decorators do!

I recently made some lovely little Christmas cupcakes for Vintage Amethyst who won my blog post competition quite some time ago which entitled her to four tasty cupcakes. I hope they arrived safely! They are each topped with gorgeous edible glitter in sparkly peacock and deep purple, you can get so many different colours. Check out this website for an amazing array of colours and other delightful sprinkles.

Edible glitter certainly adds a bit of glamour to whatever you are baking. Why not sprinkle some onto your mince pies, Christmas cake or some gingerbread cookies. Your guests will be so impressed.

Christmas gift ideas

We are now offering gift vouchers for our cupcake decorating workshops with afternoon tea; a lovely gift for friends or family this Christmas.

What's included I here you ask?

♥ Cupcake decorating workshop with vintage afternoon tea:

♥ Cupcake decorating - You will decorate 9 cupcakes, chocolate and vanilla. You will learn to pipe luscious buttercream swirls, use glace icing and then make your own sugar designs to decorate your cupcakes with. There will also be an abundance of sprinkles, glitter and pre cut sugar designs available for you to use. You will then be free to take those cakes away with you at the end of the workshop to share or eat all to yourself!

♥ Afternoon tea - You will be served steaming pots of tea, dainty finger sandwiches (a choice of 3 fillings, can be discussed on booking), scones with clotted cream and homemade, organic jam and slices of Victoria sponge, all of which are served on elegant vintage china. You are also more than welcome to provide your own bubbly as we will supply the vintage teacups for you to sip it from.

♥ Duration of workshop - 3 hours at a time that suits you.

♥ Price per head £35.00 for 2-4 people (£30.00 for 5+ people)

♥ Location - Derbyshire

Whether it's a treat for yourself, a friend or family member we can guarantee that you will be thoroughly spoilt!

To order your voucher all you need to do is email us. We will then sort out suitable dates for you.

❄ Christmas Cakes

❄ To order please contact us. You have a choice of 4 lovely designs; take your pick!


Blue snowflakes with purple edible glitter
£9.00

Christmas trees with peacock edible glitter
£9.00

Holly with red edible glitter
£9.00

Pink snowflakes with silver edible glitter
£14.00

Christmas cakes make lovely gifts

I am now really focused on Christmas, now that the vintage wedding fair is over! I cant wait for my next event which is at Kedleston Hall National Trust. It is such a beautiful place especially at this time of year.




I have completed all of my Christmas cake baking and have been maturing and feeding my cakes over the last few weeks, I am now ready to start decorating them which is the best bit as I can really get creative with lots of fab vintage ribbons and sugar designs. I will then be holding a stall on the 27th and 28th November at Kedleston Hall for people to buy, either as a treat for themselves or for a little gift this Christmas.

Come along, have a mooch at the lovely gifts then go for a walk across the beautiful Derbyshire countryside, it will be a lovely weekend.

The Vintage Tearoom

Well we went to London and held our little vintage tearoom... was it busy? well me and my lovely helpers did not even have time to eat or drink! You know those queues you see for Betty's Tearoom in Harrogate? well it was like that, which is brilliant for business but not so good for delicate vintage china. Some of it did get broken and I was very upset but these things happen I suppose, no point crying over beautiful, irreplaceable vintage china now is there!!:(





The vintage wedding fair was very busy so I hear but I didn't even get the chance to go and have a mooch around like I usually do as I was busy serving tea and cakes to the masses of people. I wish I had more time to chat to all the lovely brides to be but unfortunately I was too busy cutting slices of lemon drizzle and Victoria sponges!



The next Vintage wedding fair is in Lemington Spa on the 10th April, I will be posting more details on that one soon, this time I am just holding a stall so will have lots of time to chat to all the vintage brides to be.

x

Vintage wedding fair in London!

Hello all.

I am so looking forward to the vintage wedding fair in London next Sunday 14th November. I hope you will join me there as we will be holding a lovely vintage tearooms for people to come along, sip tea and eat cake! Let me tell you I have a lot of cake to make next week and many many cupcakes too! You will have a choice of Victoria sponges, lemon drizzles and coffee and walnut cakes. Also there will be chocolate, lemon and vanilla cupcakes with cute designs available too.



I am very excited as I love the vibe of the vintage wedding fair founded and run by Discover Vintage, I always come away feeling extremely inspired, I actually nearly bought a 1940's wedding dress last time I was there, purely because it was so beautiful (I am not even getting married!!!)



So please come along and join in the vintage loveliness, also do pop upstairs and drink some tea with us, we would love to see you!

xx

Hen party ideas

Cupcake decorating with a vintage afternoon tea is a very lovely and might I add very civilised way to spend your hen party. This group of ladies organised their hen do in record time but it all went very well indeed! The champagne was flowing, one of the ladies even brought her homemade Elderflower champers along for everyone to enjoy. There was lots of tea and cakes piled up on pretty vintage cake stands. The room looked gorgeous and then the icing sugar and edible glitter were opened and every where was covered! If you don't get covered in buttercream and icing sugar whilst doing this workshop then you haven't worked hard enough quite frankly!

I held this particular workshop at a beautiful place called New Farm, it is owned and run by Chris who is a top chef. It is a unique barn conversion on the rural border of Staffordshire and Derbyshire. They offer exclusive private dining and also provide external catering to stately homes and other venues.





I had such a nice day teaching these ladies and I must say they produced some amazing designs; none of them have ever done it before either so I was very impressed! I ran a little competition for the best decorated cupcakes and you can see the winner pictured here. They won a little teacup and saucer candle from Kate Aspen Uk.


The winner of my little competition

The hen, Lauren is getting married in November and I hope she has a wonderful day! she has lots of really lovely friends to share it with.

Congratulations Lauren, all the best for your wedding day!

x


The finished cupcakes!

Christmas cake baking!

I know some of you may simply not want to even hear the word mentioned... but I couldn't resist a little blog about... Christmas! I have been baking Christmas cakes every day for the past week and my final ones are now happily baking in the oven.

I absolutely love the whole process of baking fruit cakes as they remind me of baking them with my mum when I was young. We would have a ritual every year in November when my dad was out at work and my brothers were staying with friends. We would soak the fruits the night before which was so satisfying and the smell... divine! Then we would mix and blend and chop and get it in the oven, once it was safely baking away we would watch films and eat crisp sandwiches (nice and healthy!) after about 30 minutes of baking, we could start to smell that beautifully homely smell, 5 hours later... it was done. As I write I can smell that same nostalgic smell of Christmas and feeling all warm and cosy at home!




I soak my fruits in brandy and then feed my cakes several times before Christmas, but you can of course soak them in whatever you fancy.

I will be at Kedleston Christmas Craft fair on the 27th and 28th November, with my individually iced Christmas cakes, some of the designs are pictured here. It will be a lovely event so I hope you can make it.

Cupcake decorating workshops with afternoon tea

Cupcake Decorating Workshops

Come and join us for a lovely afternoon of decorating cupcakes and afternoon tea. You will be served pots of tea until your hearts content, finger sandwiches, scones and slices of Victoria sponge, all of which are served on vintage china.



You are more than welcome to provide your own bubbly as I will supply the vintage coupes or flutes. Please just state this on booking.

Cupcake decorating workshop. You will learn how to create sugar master pieces and decorate your cupcakes in a creative, fun way. You will also learn how to make and use different icings. Come away with lots of useful tips and of course your finished cupcakes to share with friends and family.



Perfect for birthdays, hen parties, baby showers, gifts for friends and family and corporate events.

2011 dates

Vintage wedding ideas

I exhibited at the vintage wedding fair on Sunday and it was amazing! I love going there, getting inspiration and seeing all the fab products, dresses and ideas for a vintage wedding. I thought I would share a few as they are just too lovely to keep to myself!





Vintage afternoon tea wedding.

Treat your guests to afternoon tea, with classic cakes and pots of steaming tea, this will certainly keep them very happy. You can have a sit down wedding afternoon tea or let guests help themselves, whatever you decide you simply must have vintage china and cakes to complete the look.







Vintage style flowers

I recommend you contact Kerry at The Blossom Tree for vintage flowers, a very beautiful and professional florist...love!


Flowers by The Blossom Tree, Derbyshire




Wedding stationery.

I love Vintage Twee and Lucy Ledger Designs for creative, vintage inspired stationery for your wedding. They can create anything you like and are lovely ladies, I would highly recommend you get in touch with them immediately.






Fabulous vintage hair

Create your perfect hairstyle from any era, 1920's to 1950's, you name it Beth from The Vintage Beauty Parlour can create it for you... so fabulous. I was lucky enough to have my stall next to Beth so I certainly took the opportunity to photograph her and her beautiful ladies, styled ala 1940's. To get in touch with Beth, just call her on 07791 703 535 or email her at daviesbethany@rocketmail.com






There you go, lots of vintage ideas for you to create your perfect vintage wedding.

I will be at The Vintage Fair in London on the 14th November, serving tea and cake to the masses, so get down there, I urge you, its fab!