Vintage and Cake

The Beatles cupcakes

2012-02-15T03:01:00.003-08:00

I was asked to create just one cupcake for a surprise to someones husband to be at their wedding this Saturday... he loves The Beatles!

I thought I would also make 4 cupcakes for my brother Phill's birthday tomorrow and post them to him as a surprise, as he is a massive fan also!

So here they are..

The stencils were made by hand and then I used black gel colour to paint the hair and mustaches, very time consuming and precise but they look quite good and very distinctively the fab four!

Vintage and Cake xx

A Vintage Valentine's

2012-01-23T02:06:00.000-08:00

I created a little vintage Valentine's tea party on Friday as I had created the new Valentine's cupcake collection. These are the cupcakes my customers will be creating on my Valentine's cupcake decorating workshop too. All the cupcakes are photographed using some of the vintage tableware we have available to hire.

Hope you enjoy the phohotographs

Vintage and Cake x

The Valentine's cupcake collection

Family Tree Celebration Cake

2012-01-19T05:17:00.000-08:00

I was asked just before Christmas if I would create a 60th birthday family tree celebration cake. Yes! was of course my answer. We agreed on the lovely design below and, well here it is for you to see...

Hope you like it

Vintage and Cake x

Brand New Cupcake Decorating Workshop

2012-01-04T07:24:00.001-08:00

Today I launched our new 'Tea party' cupcake decorating workshop, I thought it was a great workshop to really get your creative juices flowing!

In the workshop you will decorate 9 cupcakes with edible bunting, teapots, teacups and saucers and tablecloths all made from sugar.

You will also be treated to an afternoon tea served on vintage china, listen to lovely music and relax into being creative.

Workshops are running throughout the year and are £50.00 per person.

If you would like to book then please take a peek at the Vintage and Cake website.

I cant wait to teach the class.

Vintage and Cake x

Happy New Year Giveaway!!

2012-01-02T04:33:00.000-08:00

Hello lovely people!

I just wanted to start this New Year off with a little note on the importance of family. After spending the best Christmas for many years with my wonderful family including my new husband :) in my parents cosy, small holding in West Wales, I truly realise how important my family are to me, everyone pulls together to help a family member in need and support them through the good times and the bad times, they are always there no matter what happens. So thank you to the Cliffs and the Woods for being ace!

Now I know that January can sometimes be a tough month so I thought I would cheer you all up with a New Year giveaway. This giveaway is to encourage you to feel inspired so to help you do that I am offering the chance to win a beautiful vintage teacup and saucer to drink your tea 'properly' in whilst you take a few moments to yourself and think about what you want to achieve this year and what your family mean to you as lets face it no matter what we do we will never fail if we have our family beside us!

So to be in with a chance of winning all you have to do is the following;

♥ Sign up to my newsletter
♥ Follow my blog
♥ Comment on my blog about what your family mean to you and why

That's it very simple indeed

This competition ends at midnight on 31st January 2012 and is only open to UK residents. The winner will be announced here on the blog so keep your peepers open.

Happy New Year everyone, I will look forward to sharing it with you

Winner of my Christmas Cupcakes Competition!

2011-12-19T01:55:00.000-08:00

I am so happy to announce the winner of 4 Christmas cupcakes is...

Emily Parkes!

Yey! It just goes to show that entering in all the ways possible really does help your chances, well done Emily! I have your address already so a box of glittery, Christmas cupcakes will be winging their way to you just in time for Christmas Eve. Please let me know if you want them to go to another address!

Thank you to everyone who entered and see you all in 2012!

xxx

Christmas Giveaway!

2011-12-05T00:41:00.000-08:00

♥ Hello!

You could be in with a chance to win these lovely Christmas cupcakes just in time for Christmas. You can enter in a number of ways, its really easy I promise... right here we go;

♥ You can follow me and leave a comment here on my blog, leaving your email address
♥ You can follow me on Twitter and retweet about this giveaway using @vintageandcake
♥ You can like us on Facebook and share our giveaway status, leaving a comment on our page to let us know you have done this.

If you do all of the above you will have more of a chance of winning as the winner will be drawn at random from a number generator.

The lucky winner will be announced on the 19th December and your box of cupcakes will be posted out on the 23rd special delivery so they will be with you for Christmas Eve!

Good luck!

Terms: Competition is open for UK residents only due to postage. Deadline is midnight on the 18th December. Winner will be announced on my blog so keep your peepers open for it!

Lovely Lucy's Vintage Wedding

2011-12-02T07:33:00.001-08:00

Hello! I received these beautiful photographs from one of my customers, Lucy. I adored Lucy she was so much fun and thoroughly enjoyed her engagement and wedding to the full! Lucy and her hens joined me for a cupcake decorating workshop in July and then for her wedding I provided the vintage teapots for Kerry at The Blossom Tree to fill with gorgeous flowers and vintage teacups and saucers that Lucy's mum, Lyn filled with sweets to treat her guests on each table for the wedding breakfast.

The whole look was beautiful!

Thank you for the photographs Mr and Mrs Hassall and I wish you a very long and happy life together!!

The lovely Lucy enjoying her hen party cupcake decorating!

Vintage and Cake

x

Beautiful Snowflake Blossom Cupcake Stand

2011-11-27T23:32:00.000-08:00

Hello! I just had to write a little post about these beautiful cake stands designed by Jordan Almond Co. The lovely Shireen contacted me with photos of this stand and I just thought it was gorgeous and so Christmassy! Jordan Almond Co is based in London and this is one of their brand new designs. It is a 4 tier acrylic cupcake display stand and as well as cupcakes its perfect for little mince pies.

Really easy to assemble

A lovely Christmas gift

It is priced at £44.95 and if you would like any more information about it then all you need to do is visit Jordan Almond Co at the following places;

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JordanAlmondCo
Email: Jordanalmondco@gmail.com

They have lots more designs coming in the New Year and a lovely design blog coming soon too.

I will be posting a little Christmas giveaway post soon so keep your eyes peeled!
xx

Lovely Giant Chocolate Wedding Cupcake Tower

2011-11-23T01:02:00.001-08:00

I made a beautiful wedding cake on Saturday for a very sweet couple. They opted for a giant chocolate cupcake with lots and lots of of chocolate swirly buttercream. They then had a tower of cupcakes with a mixture of colours and flowers.

They had a great day and I wish them all the happiness in the world!

Love My Dress Wedding Blog

2011-11-15T00:22:00.000-08:00

Hello all, just wanted to share with you the blog that Annabel from Love My Dress wrote all about my vintage wedding, its a lovely feature!

xx

Vintage Lovliness For Your Wedding

2011-11-09T02:29:00.000-08:00

I thought I would share a few vintage ideas for your vintage weddings! I will let the photographs do the talking!

Write your order of the day onto a blackboard

Use lovely vintage china for your tables

Decorate your venue with reams and reams of bunting

Create a typewriter table for your guests to type you messages and leave you cards

Use buff labels for your name place cards and customise with vintage style stamps, string and personal messages

Use antique bottles and jars to fill with flowers

Make your own confetti cones from brown paper, fill them with rose petals and place them into a wicker basket

Make some signs from reclaimed wood and paint with blackboard paint to create a rustic look

A lovely guest table plan, made with wood and painted with a vintage pastel green, then painted with blackboard paint. Use buff labels to write your guests names

Use vintage suitcases for your guests to place their cards in

Pile up lovely old books to create a rustic vintage feel

Fill antique bottles of different shapes and sizes with beautiful wild flowers and herbs, your tables will smell gorgeous

Use jam jars, fill with flowers and hang on the backs of your ceremony chairs

Delightful Living vintage hand painted signs are a must

Beautiful Rustic Vintage Wedding cake

2011-11-08T07:24:00.000-08:00

Well here it is... my own wedding cake! This is what I created for my amazing day. It was 4 tiers of delicious vanilla sponge with a buttercream finish using palette knife techniques topped with hand made sugar roses. I loved the look of it as its so rustic and simple.

I placed lots of my pretty vintage tea plates all around it so people could help themselves to lots of cake. I also had a dessert table with many, many lovely cakes and puddings that I made but also some from my mum, mum in law and best friend, all were so delicious and a piece of art in itself. A wedding dessert table is a great idea for a wedding as you can get your friends and family involved too.

My guests loved delving into such a wide selection including tirimasu, triple chocolate brownies, rich chocolate cake, fruit cake, pavlova, Victoria sponge, coffee and walnut and lemon drizzle... amazing!

I loved my wedding day and was true to what myself and my husband love and that reflected in the cakes we went for too. To all my brides and grooms out there your engagement is such a precious time, take some time to have a good think about what you would like on your day, things that you love and both want and go for it!

All photographs taken by the wonderful Rachel Spivey

xx

Christmas Cupcake Workshops

2011-11-02T01:24:00.000-07:00

As we love Christmas so much and everything about it we are running two Christmas cupcake decorating workshops on the 3rd December and 17th December.

You will decorate 9 cupcakes in a Christmas style, learning how to make roses, bows and mini presents, you can experient with different colours to capture a vintage style, using edible glitter and lustres.

The afternoon will be filled with Christmas cosiness, with music, mulled wine and mince pies as part of our afternoon tea.

The price per person is £40.00 which includes all equipment and afternoon tea served on our best Christmas vintage china!

I cant wait to get into the festive spirit, I hope you will join us, if you fancy it just pop along to the Vintage and Cake website.

Feel free to come wearing Christmas bauble earrings!

Vintage Cupcake Decorating Classes

2011-11-01T04:24:00.001-07:00

Hello!

Just a little note to tell you all that we are running vintage cupcake decorating classes with afternoon tea. We have selected group dates for these workshops which you can book online for, however if you have a hen party or wish to book for a private group then please do get in touch as we have plenty of dates for you.

Come and join us for vintage tunes, bunting, afternoon tea and lots of cupcake decorating fun!

Vintage and Cake x

Host a Tea Party for Ovarian Cancer Month

2011-10-28T08:24:00.000-07:00

Celebrate vintage glamour and host a traditional tea party to help save the lives of the women we love - and be in with the chance of joining Lorraine Kelly at the live filming of ITV’s ‘Lorraine’

The Eve Appeal gynaecological cancer research charity is asking women to Make Time for
Tea during Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month in March, hold a tea party and celebrate the
revival of all things vintage to help save the lives of the women we love. Almost 7,000 women in the UK are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year and 4,400 will
die. Grim statistics, yet funding and awareness of ovarian cancer remains low.

The Eve Appeal is determined to change this and by taking part in the Make Time for Tea
campaign you will be helping all women by funding groundbreaking research into this deadly disease. This year’s campaign, now in its seventh year, has a vintage theme and will be spearheaded again by ITV presenter Lorraine Kelly Lorraine has offered ‘money can’t buy’ competition prizes open to anyone holding a tea party – the opportunity to attend the live filming of ‘Lorraine’ at the ITV Studios in London followed by brunch at a top London hotel – and winners of the 3 competition categories will also be treated to a professional cupcake master class.

This year (2012) the Queen celebrates her diamond jubilee so what
better time to put on that glamorous ‘tea dress’, get out the porcelain and invite your friends or colleagues to some vintage fun at a quintessentially British tea party - as it used to be. Or what about a tea dance? Girls in pearls, bunting and retro porcelain – vintage glamour amidst the hustle and bustle of modern life.

In the UK we drink 165 million cups of tea every day so next time you put the kettle on please think about the 4,400 mothers, sisters, grandmothers, aunts and daughters lost to ovarian cancer this year. Let’s make 2012’s diamond jubilee year the best yet – we’re aiming for 500 tea parties to help us reach our target of £150,000. Says Robert Marsh, CEO of The Eve Appeal “It’s such an easy way to fundraise. All you need to do is put the kettle on and host a tea party – at work, at home, at school, sports clubs and more. So come on ladies… and gentlemen, enjoy some retro glamour, put on a fabulous frock and invite your friends or colleagues to have some vintage fun during March while raising much needed funds for all women”

Lorraine Kelly, is just one of a number of celebrities who will be supporting the campaign. Says Lorraine “I can’t think of anything nicer than a refreshing cup of tea and a lovely slice of cake – particularly when this little indulgence could make such a difference to ovarian cancer research. Help out The Eve Appeal and hold a vintage tea party…. it’s so easy I’ll be putting the kettle on myself - and I’m sure I’ve got a twinset
and pearls somewhere!

“For more information about hosting your own vintage Make Time for Tea party and winning the chance to join Lorraine at the filming of her show, contact 020 7299 4430 or visit www.eveappeal.org.uk for a fundraising pack.

A lovely vintage wedding for a lovely couple

2011-08-22T04:57:00.000-07:00

I have just received these lovely images from one of my customers (We forgot our camera on this one!). Their wedding was a couple of weeks ago and they hired all of my vintage cups and saucers and I also made them some colourful cupcakes with a little fruit cake top tier (the little wooden peg topper was made by the mother of the bride, how lovely!)

This couple were the most chilled out couple I have ever worked with and I really enjoyed working with them. Even down to the day before when the bride realised that she hadn't got any flowers for the cake display, did she panic... no not in the slightest and we sorted it all no problem!

Nicola and Marcus you are ace and I hope you have a beautiful and happy life together!

Vintage and Cake

x

Horse shoe Anniversary Cake

2011-08-18T01:19:00.000-07:00

I was asked to replicate a wedding cake from the 1950's for an anniversary. A very traditional horse shoe shaped wedding cake with peach roses and piping, I added a little vintage style of course! So here it is, I hope you like it.

Buttercream Wedding Cake

2011-08-09T07:04:00.001-07:00

I delivered this buttercream wedding cake to a chef friend of mine as he was delivering the cake to the venue as I was too busy! So I didn't get to take a picture of it in all its glory with fresh flowers but I love this style of cake its one of my favourites this year! Lots more to do of them too.

This is what it looks like decorated with flowers from one that I did last year...

Flowers by The Blossom Tree Florist

x

Victoria Sponge Wedding Cake

2011-08-08T00:59:00.000-07:00

I attending my beautiful friend Laura's wedding on Friday, my present was her wedding cake. Her wedding was very simple so she opted for a lovely 4 tier Victoria sponge with summer fruits and here it is!

Love you Laura and James Dean! x

Cream and Gold Vintage Wedding Cupcakes

2011-08-04T03:48:00.000-07:00

These little vintage cupcakes are all ready for collection by the lovely bride to be...

Chocolate and vanilla flavours

Vintage roses, butterflies and pearls

Sprayed with gold lustre

I hope the bride likes them!

x

Vintage China At Weddings

2011-07-29T01:21:00.000-07:00

I was working late last night setting up lots and lots of my vintage china at a wedding at Rosliston Forestry Centre. It all looked so lovely once it was set up, unfortunately we didnt get to see the full set up so we had to take photos of empty cake stands but later on today they will be filled to the brim with cakes and other goodies.

The bride and groom are having an afternoon tea for their wedding breakfast and then an evening meal later on, this is a great thing to do for your wedding as it really treats your guests and is very simple to do, especially if you get me to style your tables! :)

Vintage china hire is still going strong and is a beautiful addition to your wedding decor and general feel of the day. I personally love it!

Thanks to Vicky and Alex for hiring us for their beautiful wedding we hope you have a wonderful day!

Vintage and Cake

x

5 Tier Wedding Cake

2011-07-25T06:49:00.000-07:00

I delivered a huge wedding cake this Saturday and it was a lovely one!

The actual design was based on the bride's business which she runs with her brother, called Pocket Typewriter, they design adorable stationary and are a very talented duo. The cake was designed around their 'Lets Eat Cake' wedding stationary collection... beoooootiful!

The flavours were rich fruit cake on the bottom, vanilla, double chocolate, lemon drizzle and banana and walnut on top. Resulting in a very heavy cake indeed, you should have seen me driving to the venue with it... VERY slowly, people must have thought they were following an old age pensioner!

When I got to the venue I was overwhelmed at how absolutely stunning they had made it, I thought I would share some photos with you so you can see it too. The couple had paid such attention to detail in every little nook and cranny of their venue even the toilets were decorated beautifully with heart wreaths, flowers and their own personalised soaps and hand creams with severe warnings that using them might cause outbreaks of dancing, brilliant!

Lovely isn't it!

Leckie and John you are both fabulous and we wish you a very long and happy life together, you creative pair you!

Vintage and Cake x

Hen Party Vintage Cupcake Class

2011-07-21T01:27:00.000-07:00

Hello!

I held another lovely hen party at the weekend, well I actually run them every weekend but I don't always take photographs. I thought I would this time as everyone dressed up in their finest vintage, both the bride to be and her best friend had on their grandma's dresses from the 50s and they looked gorgeous!

They all spent the afternoon sipping champagne from vintage teacups and enjoyed a full afternoon tea whilst listening to Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra and Nina Simone amongst others! They came away with 9 beautifully decorated vanilla cupcakes which I was told went down very well during the rest of their hen weekend.

Lucy, the bride to be is hiring my vintage teapots to fill with flowers at her wedding and my teacups will be filled with old fashioned sweets, cant wait to see the photos.

We wish you a beautiful wedding day Lucy!

Love

Vintage and Cake x

Vintage Wedding Table Centre Piece Ideas

2011-07-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

Vintage teapot filled with flowers

One of my gorgeous brides shared her photographs with me from her wedding last weekend. She hired out my vintage teapots, tea plates, cake stands and cake slices. The teapots were filled with flowers and placed on top of a pile of lovely old books and the cake stands were used for Victoria sponges, chocolate cakes and cute mini cakes and treats.

The lovely bride and her bridesmaids cutting into cakes with their vintage cake slice!

The bride, Amy only managed to take a few snaps as they were too busy dancing the night away! They look fab don't they, I love it when my brides take the time to send me the pics of their day its a real treat for me to see them all set out and how the couple have used them and in this case very creatively!

Teapot filled with flowers and placed on top of old books to create a centre piece

So thank you Amy it all looked beautiful!!

xx

A sneaky peek at some white wedding cupcakes

2011-07-12T07:15:00.000-07:00

These little beauties were made for a consultation, their theme as you might have guessed is predominately white! They have gone for a mix of beautiful vintage cupcake designs including cameos, buttons, roses and a little hint of green in some delicate leaves. I cant wait to design these cupcakes and deliver them to the amazing Chatsworth House!

Jam making!

2011-06-30T04:52:00.000-07:00

Last night at precisely 11.38pm we finished making all of our raspberry and strawberry jam. It was hard work but worth it!

All of the fruit is from our own allotment so it is organic and very tasty.

I will be using our jam in all of my Victoria sponges and afternoon teas at my cupcake decorating workshops.

Hurray for jam!

Look whose joined the Vintage and Cake team!

2011-06-27T03:59:00.000-07:00

We have 8 lovely chickens who will be working hard to produce the fresh free range eggs we use in all of our baking.

They are all the same breed so we cant really tell the difference between each one, I wanted to call them all Mrs Higginbottom but is that just cruel?!

I love them, they are so sweet; they will be a valuable and cherished asset to Vintage and Cake!

x

Vintage Wedding Cupcakes

2011-06-20T11:09:00.000-07:00

I made some vintage style cupcakes for a wedding on Saturday, they had it in a little place called Alison House in Cromford, Derbyshire, it was gorgeous! The bride and grrom were so lovely.

Here are the cupcakes...

Flowers and prettiness

2011-06-13T12:33:00.001-07:00

Hello! I have had a very busy week with cupcakes! 500 mini corporate cupcakes on Thursday. 100 blue cupcakes and a giant cupcake for a lovely wedding on Saturday. 135 cupcakes for 15 ladies to decorate at my workshop on Saturday and finally 80 cupcakes for an 80th Birthday for Sunday, phew that is a lot of cupcakes!

Here are the 80th Birthday cupcakes, I will share the wedding cupcakes with you when I have the photographs from the bride.

A busy weekend of wedding cakes

2011-05-16T09:11:00.001-07:00

First up on the delivery schedule on Saturday was a VERY heavy 4 tier wedding cake. I couldnt actually lift this cake once it was tiered so my lovely fiance had to help me!

The cake was a medley of lovely flavours, including, a rich fruit cake, a rich chocolate brownie cake, a lemon drizzle and a vanilla bean buttercream. It smelt delicious!

After that was delivered to Donington Park Framhouse safe and sound with flowers placed onto it by Kerry at The Blossom Tree we headed over to Tutbury Castle for our next delivery which was 100 chocolate and vanilla cupcakes and a top tier with an English Country Garden theme, so lots of dolly mixtures and pink roses to tie in with their colour scheme.

The rest of Saturday was mine to relax and then Sunday I ran a cupcake decorating workshop for a hen party of 11 very excitable ladies... then it was home to sleep!

x

A very glam vintage hen party

2011-05-09T01:13:00.000-07:00

I held a cupcake decorating workshop with afternoon tea for 11 very glam ladies on Saturday, they were told to dress in 50's chic (not by me!!) and they certainly did, they all looked amazing!

They each decorated 9 cupcakes and learnt how to pipe with buttercream in two ways, buttercream swirls and buttercream roses, they also learnt how to make and use glace icing plus they had a lesson in sugar rose making and how to use lots of cutters and moulds.

I think they came up with some pretty lovely cupcakes.

Well done girls and congratulations to Tina on her engagement, we wish you a lovely wedding day!!!

We now run 2 new cupcake courses, take a peek at our webiste for details

Vintage and Cake x

Giant Cupcake Wedding

2011-04-27T03:29:00.000-07:00

I delivered a very lovely and simple giant cupcake with matching cupcakes to Tutbury Castle over the Easter weekend and here it is!

The giant cupcake was vanilla sponge and the cupcakes were vanilla too... classic!

Bunting Cake and Vintage cupcakes

2011-04-21T02:16:00.000-07:00

I was asked to create a vintage style cake for a 21st birthday, the brief was 'she loves vintage' so I eagerly put forward my bunting cake, a cake I had been dying to do for ages. My customer agreed! So here it is! A two tiered affair with sugar bunting around the edges. The cake itself was a simple Victoria sponge.

The cupcakes were made for a customer who popped round for a wedding cake consultation, her brief was 'Wedgwood, daisies, pearls, pink roses, vintage style' so this is what she got :)

I used a little bit of black sugar paste mixed with white and a touch of royal blue gel colour to create the Wedgwood blue colour, I just played around with it until I got the right grey/blue tones.

Vintage style cakes rule!!

Cupcake Decorating Workshops

2011-04-18T03:17:00.000-07:00

Students with their finished cakes

Student piping with Royal icing to create a vintage style

You can now book yourself onto one of my cupcake decorating workshops and pay online, yey!

I had some workshops this weekend and was joined by some really lovely ladies, I thought I would share some photos with you.

Students work

This workshop was a vintage inspired cupcake decorating workshop; the ladies decorated 9 cupcake each both vanilla and chocolate. They used buttercream piping techniques and learnt how to pipe with royal icing to create beautiful vintage designs. To decorate their cakes they learnt how to make sugar roses, teapots and teacups as well as how to use lots of different cutters and get the best look from them with lots of tips and advice.

Students work

Students work

Students work

Students work

On top of all this they enjoyed a delightful afternoon tea served on vintage china which consisted of delicate finger sandwiches, freshly baked scones with clotted cream and homemade jam and lots of little cakes, they have to keep their energy up!

Students work

Students work

To be a part of this cupcake decorating loveliness all you need to do is visit my website and get your self booked on to the date of your choice.

See you soon x

Vintage Wedding Fair in Leamington Spa

2011-04-11T04:03:00.001-07:00

I exhibited at the Vintage Wedding Fair in Leamington Spa yesterday and it was great! I saw two of my lovely friends there who are getting married soon, one of them bought her dress yey!

I also met up with some good old Twitter friends, Rachel Spivey photography and Daisy Cupcakes, two fabulous businesses and lovely, lovely women! I was amazed by the quality of the stall holders and felt so inspired by the wonderful vintage businesses we have out there. I was also very impressed with all of the lovely brides and grooms I met on the day, they were all so chilled about their days and had a clear idea of what they wanted or at least a colour scheme which is a start!

The day was set off beautifully by the Polka Dot Dolls who sung fabulous 1940's and some 1950's songs, it was dreamy, I could have stayed there all day. I would definitely recommend these ladies for your wedding.

I will very much look forward to meeting up with lots of brides and grooms I met on the day to chat afternoon teas, vintage china and cupcakes!

Thank you to my amazing boyfriend for the photographs!

Alice In Wonderland Cupcakes

2011-03-31T11:12:00.000-07:00

I have just completed the best order ever! Alice in Wonderland cupcakes with a giant cupcake for an 18th birthday. Do you remember the lovely teapot cake and little teapots and teacup cupcakes I did a few weeks ago? well they were for an 18th birthday too and the birthday girl's friend saw them at the party and asked her mum to get onto the phone to me immediately as she was desperate for some Alice in Wonderland cakes for her birthday and wanted Vintage and Cake to do the honours... well I jumped at the chance! I loved making these, the little teapots and wonky teacups were time consuming to say the least but well worth it as they look so cute.

I hope you enjoy looking at them.

x

Short but sweet Ruby Wedding Anniversary Cake

2011-03-30T07:39:00.001-07:00

Hello, just a short blog to tell you about my latest cake. I created a Ruby Wedding Anniversary cake for a party held on Saturday just gone.

The cake was vanilla sponge with vanilla buttercream and the cupcakes were a mixture of vanilla and chocolate buttercream roses.

To celebrate your Ruby Wedding Anniversary (40 years!) is truly amazing!

Spring Cupcakes and a Giant Cupcake

2011-03-25T02:10:00.000-07:00

These were delivered last night to a lovely couple heading off to Bath today to get married, just an intimate wedding of 20 guests. I hope they have this lovely weather!

These cakes were great to make, the little bees are so cute and such a nice idea for Wedding Cupcakes.

The flavours were carrot with cream cheese and honey topping, chocolate with chocolate buttercream and lemon with lemon buttercream.

I hope Patricia and Christopher have a wonderful day!

x

Vintage Cupcake Decorating Workshops

2011-03-16T02:12:00.001-07:00

I am now running vintage cupcake decorating classes with afternoon tea. You will learn how to create nine beautiful vintage style cupcakes, including;

♥ How to pipe with buttercream using lots of different techniques and nozzles, including a fabulous buttercream rose
♥ How to use embossers and other tools to create a vintage look
♥ How to create that pearlised vintage sparkle
♥ Make very delicate roses and other flowers
♥ How to make other vintage inspired sugar designs
♥ Make and use sugar pearls
♥ How to pipe with royal icing
♥ Have a vintage afternoon tea!

The workshops are £40.00 per person and include a full afternoon tea with lots of tasty treats.

I am very excited to be able to run these courses as vintage is my speciality and something I love doing and do lots of. The courses are held in The Thomas cook Memorial Hall in Melbourne, Derbyshire which is a great hall with a lovely vintage feel.

If you would like to book then please call 07814 600596 or email vintageandcake@me.com, I would love to hear from you.

Mother's Day Gift Ideas

2011-03-07T07:09:00.001-08:00

Mother's Day is nearly here! This year it falls on Sunday 3rd April.

I thought I would give you a few ideas for some gifts to spoil your lovely mum with.

A teapot cake is a great gift idea, you can personalise the message to anything you like and choose your colours and design.

A beautiful Mother's Day hamper from The Blossom Tree Florist, an array of beautiful seasonal flowers with a cute little cupcake inside a lovely basket.

This personalised tea cosy by Milly and Pip is another brilliant idea for Mother's Day, again it can be personalised with a message of your choice.

Go on treat your mum! x

Cupcake Decorating Baby Shower

2011-03-06T09:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I spend the afternoon with 6 lovely ladies teaching them how to make little sugar ducks, roses and booties! They came along to one of my cupcake decorating workshops with afternoon tea. They created some really beautiful cupcakes, I was very impressed with their creativity. I had a really lovely afternoon, they were a pleasure to teach.

I also welcomed my first assistant to Vintage and Cake, the delightful Emma, Emma will be helping me at the workshops over the summer, assisting people with icing techniques, sugar craft and answering whatever baking questions you can throw at her!

This is a great idea for a baby shower, the mum to be was literally showered with gifts and made to feel really special by her lovely friends and mum. She is actually due next week so was under strict orders NOT to give birth before or during the workshop (I had brought hot towels just in case!)

A lovely afternoon, thanks ladies, I hope you will continue to make lots of fabulous cupcakes!

Teapot Cake And Cupcakes

2011-03-04T05:36:00.001-08:00

I have just completed another teapot cake, which I love making. This one was for an 18th Birthday party. The mum of the 18 year old got in touch with me and gave me some photos for inspiration, which I have added below. It is a total surprise for her daughter but funnily enough her daughter had actually been on my website looking at my vintage cupcakes, she showed her mum, but her mum pretended to be too busy.... little did her lucky daughter know that mum was plotting to get her a Vintage and Cake teapot cake and vintage cupcakes, yey for mums and their sneaky ways!

The inspiration photo

Inspiration photo

The teapot cake is vanilla sponge with vanilla buttercream and the cupcakes are all classic vanilla too. It was collected today and will be winging its way to the party for tomorrow, wish I could see her daughters face when she sees it!

4 tier wedding cake

2011-03-01T00:31:00.000-08:00

This weekend was VERY busy! I had 2 weddings, a 70th birthday, a hen party afternoon tea and family to visit!

On Friday I delivered a 4 tier wedding cake to Donington Park Farmhouse, one of my favourite venues, while I was there I had a good nose around at the decorations of the wedding, which I love doing as it always looks so pretty. The bride had hundreds of fairy lights all over the barn where they were getting married, it looked stunning.

The 4 tier cake was rich fruit cake on the bottom, vanilla sponge, chocolate and cherry and finally lemon drizzle, so a good mix of flavours in there.

The giant cupcake was a Madeira cake with vanilla buttercream and the seaside cake was a mix of chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with a rich fruit cake top tier and a giant sugar bow on top.

I delivered the afternoon tea to a lovely group of woman staying at Emily Barn in Carsington, Derbyshire. A very beautiful place to have your hen do and lovely owners too. The ladies had finger sandwiches, scones, cream and jam, Victoria sponges and cupcakes all served on vintage china.

A busy weekend but worth it!

Just a few things I spend my time doing!

2011-02-17T07:54:00.000-08:00

Roses, macaroons and blossoms

Hello,

This week I have been sugar crafting like a mad woman in preparation for what is to be a VERY busy few weeks! I have been designing and creating lots of very cute toppers for cupcakes; teapots, teacups, roses, daisies, macaroons, bees and ladybirds as well as preparing teapot handles and spouts. I have taken photos of some the designs before they proudly adorn their rightful cupcake or cake, at the moment they are waiting patiently in a dark draw before they can come out and wow their new owners!

Little teapots and teacups ready to sit on top of cupcakes

Afternoon tea wedding

2011-02-16T02:11:00.001-08:00

Last year I catered for a wonderful wedding at Beechenhill Farm in Ilam, Derbyshire. The couple had a full afternoon tea wedding complete with vintage china, tea and cakes! It looked so lovely and the venue very in keeping with the theme!

Beechenhill farm is a great venue to get married at and the couple who own it are lovely and very accommodating to your ideas.

Lights, camera...cake!

2011-02-11T03:18:00.000-08:00

Hello! I wanted to share with you how to make a camera cake!

I made this cake for my friend Si's birthday. His lovely girlfriend Wendy decided she wanted to have a little surprise get together for his birthday and was after a cake that reflected him... he is a photographer and a brilliant one at that, so a camera cake it was!

Here we go...

Firstly I baked a 10 inch square vanilla sponge and then popped it into the freezer overnight, this really helps when you come to cut it to shape as when its defrosted its nice and cold and easier to work with. I then cut it to shape using a photo of Si's make of camera as a guide. This is the crucial stage and one that you should take your time on, as once you have this part right the rest is easy; famous last words!

Once I had it to the exact shape I wanted I filled and covered it with vanilla buttercream; make sure you really cover the whole cake as the buttercream creates the lovely smooth finish of your shaped cake. This is the canvass for your icing so take time and get it smooth and even. I iced the lens of the cake separately to the main body of the camera just because it will be easier when you come to ice it later. I cut the lends out of the sponge using a large circle cutter.

Woooow lens is way too big...

That's more like it, wouldn't want Si to get a big head now!

Now you can add your finishing touches

When you have your finished butter creamed cake, put it into the fridge for about 20 minutes so it forms a 'crumb crust'. Go and make a cuppa... then take your cake out of the fridge and using a palette knife dipped in boiling water smooth your cake.

Take your black sugarpaste and cover your cake. Now I know this is the hard part but practice makes perfect. Just ensure you have enough sugarpaste so you can cover the cake and then place it over with a rolling pin, tucking and smoothing down all the sides with your hands then with cake smoothers, making sure you don't get any folds in the icing (VERY hard but oh so satisfying once its done!) Then do the same with your lens.

So when that's done and you are happy with your icing, get on with making all your buttons and wheels etc for your camera and then place them on using edible sugar glue. Really take your time as this is the fun part and the time when you can get it looking like a real camera.

The finished cake

Side view...

...and the back complete with little happy birthday message

As you can see Si is very happy with his cake, gimmick mustache and all. Happy Birthday Si!

x

The Winner is...

2011-02-07T03:08:00.000-08:00

The winner of my Valentine's cupcake giveaway is...Steph from Cupcakes and Crafting! Congratulations Steph, please email me your postal address and you will receive some lovely cupcakes in time for Valentine's Day! xx

Beginners millinery workshop for Cancer Research UK

2011-02-03T07:28:00.000-08:00

I have been asked by the Vintage Amours girls to help promote their new brilliant workshops to help raise money for Cancer Research. So of course I jumped at the chance! They will be running a series of millinery workshops; you will get the chance to create your very own cocktail hat as well as raising money for an amazing charity. To book just head over to their website.

Over to the Amour Girls for all the information you need...

"The 31st March sees the first in many workshops to come from the Amour Girls.

With spring fast approaching and weddings hot on everyone's lips why not stand out of the crowd and make your own cocktail hat with Vintage Amours.

Whether you’re a stay at home mum looking for a fun filled girly evening or a new graduate wanting to leave your work at the office - this beginners workshop is definitely for you!

No experience is needed our experienced Amour Girl Charlotte will be there to guide you. An experienced milliner working with the renowned Jenny Packham, Stephen Hakes and Marchesa she is currently designing a range of fascinators for a London accessories designer, Anjili Shah on the internationally famous South Molton Street.

With Charlotte you’ll learn basic millinery techniques to keep for life as well as making your very own cocktail hat that you’ll be able to treasure forever! So come on down to The Railway on Clapham High Street on the 31st March from 12pm to 5pm and help us raise money for Cancer Research UK.

Places cost only £38, with that includes your cocktail hat base and other necessary materials (as well as a sneaky cocktail). After all if you’re going to do something you might as well do it in style!

For every place booked we'll donate £7 to Cancer Research"

Photo credits: Charlotte Emilie Hardwick

Valentine's cupcake giveaway and all things pretty

2011-01-26T01:10:00.000-08:00

I recently got together with Kerry from The Blossom Tree and we did a little photoshoot with cupcakes, flowers and a sprinkling of old fashioned sweets and vintage china too! I also used some lovely party picks that Joanne from the fab Vintage Twee made especially for this shoot, so thank you very much to her! and you can see in one of the photos that I have used my amazing Vintage and Cake sign made for me by Vicky Trainor. I won a giveaway on her lovely blog and this was the prize! All in all I am very happy with the results of the photoshoot so thank you to Ben my ace boyfriend/photographer!

This blog isn't however just about me bigging myself and The Blossom Tree up oh no, its about another giveaway for you all! I will be giving one of you fellow bloggers and readers the chance to win 4 Valentine's cupcakes, all you have to do is follow me, leave a comment making sure you include your email address and that's it!

This giveaway is for UK followers only I am afraid.

I will be drawing the winner randomly on the 5th February, so get your comments in before that please! I will then announce the cupcake winner on my blog so make sure you keep your peepers out for that.

Good luck everyone

Julie x

Vintage rose and pearl cupcakes

2011-01-21T08:29:00.001-08:00

I designed these for a wedding consultation that I have tomorrow. The cupcakes are a mixture of lemon drizzle, vanilla and chocolate, my bride and groom to be will also be treated to some lovely fruit cake too!

The large rose is made with layers of thinly rolled out florist paste using rose cutters and shaped using a bone tool (brilliant tool!) it is then assembled and the petals eased out as necessary.

The little party pick that you see with 'love is sweet' is from the fantastic Joanne over at Vintage Twee. You will be hearing more from her work in my next Valentine's blog!

Well tomorrow I shall be up bright and early and the table will be set with tea and cake galore!!

Sign up for more vintage and cake news here!

xx

Shells and Seahorses wedding cake and cupcakes

2011-01-18T02:13:00.001-08:00

Lovely seashells and seahorse wedding cake with a gigantic sugar bow on top!

The top tier is a rich fruit cake and the cupcakes are chocolate and vanilla topped with sugary sea life!

High Tea and Afternoon Tea... what's the difference?

2011-01-17T01:27:00.000-08:00

I have been meaning to write this blog for quite some time now and well, here it is!

I wanted to outline the distinct differences between afternoon tea and high tea so with the help of Helen Simpson who wrote the wonderful book 'The Ritz London Book Of Afternoon Tea' given to me by my boyfriends lovey grandma this Christmas I shall tell you!

Afternoon Tea

Traditionally this meal was served at 4 o'clock due to Anna, the Duchess of Bedford growing so very tired of the 'sinking feeling' in her poor tummy at around this time. In 1840 she simply decided enough was enough; she was famished so she plucked up the courage to ask for a tray of tea, bread and butter and cake to be brought to her room. Goodness me she was cheeky! Once this habit had been formed she just could not break it and soon it spread amongst her lady friends who started donning long, frilly gowns for the occasion. Tea services kept up to with side plates, bread and butter plates, cake stands and every other accompaniment you could think of. The china was always delicate and the chat kept light with a side of gossip.

Afternoon tea to this day is a graceful event and brings people together to really chat about life and love over a comforting cuppa and a slice of cake.

High Tea

Unlike the Afternoon tea, High Tea is certainly not a dainty affair. It is usually served at 6 o'clock and divides day from night. It is a very hearty meal, so much so that dinner isn't always a necessity.

What you will find at High Tea...

Heavy brown Firestone teapots with ridiculously strong tea, as they say 'to trot a mouse on' (who says that?) large white, crisp tablecloths, smoked hams, egg and bacon pies, wedges of cheese, potted shrimps, kippers, bread and butter with pots of jam and full bodied fruit cakes.

What you will NOT find at High Tea...

Delicate fingers hooked through pretty bone china, social chit chat or little cakes and scones.

So there you have it the differences are pretty distinct and traditionally they were and still are a very different type of meal in both food, tea and conversation!

Wedgwood wedding cake

2011-01-13T00:36:00.000-08:00

Here is my latest cake... a Wedgwood inspired 4 tier cake. This is actually a dummy cake made for me to practice my skills as I have a real order for one this summer and of course I wanted to photograph it and blog about it. I also wanted to see if I could achieve the right blue and I think I did with lots of royal blue gel colour and a hint of black, I think that is a pretty good Wedgwood blue even though I do say so myself!

The bottom tier are some lovely vintage moulds that I received just before Christmas so was itching to use. The second tier is delicate roses and blossoms arranged in a swag, a very typical Wedgwood style. The third tier is my Wedgwood Cameo brooch pushed into the icing and the top tier are little cameo moulds.

I have to say that I found it much harder to ice a foam cake than an actual one and no way near as satisfying but I am glad I have the dummies now as I will be experimenting with lots of different designs in the next few weeks to photograph and take to my next vintage wedding fair in Lemington Spa on 10th April.

I love Wedgwood and have had my lovely Wedgwood Cameo brooch for years now, my friends gave me a collection of them in fab vintage tins for my 24th Birthday, it was the best present ever. I am a big fan of wearing a brooch, it makes any outfit stand out.

See...a vintage brooch brightens up this outfit!

So I would like to thank you Josiah Wedgwood for playing with barium sulphate (caulk) and producing Jasperware, which is the blue and white ornaments, china, jewellery and now cakes that we see today and adore!

How about a giant cupcake wedding cake?

2011-01-12T07:54:00.001-08:00

This wedding cake is certainly one to impress your wedding guests, you can have it in whatever colour you fancy! You could even top it with sugar designs of your choice.

The giant cupcake in this photo is a Madeira cake and the cupcakes are all chocolate, vanilla and lemon topped with luscious buttercream.

I love making this particular cake as the giant cupcake is incredibly satisfying to ice, lots and lots of lovely buttercream, this cake makes me smile!

Just thought I would share this one with you

xx

A white rose wedding cake

2011-01-03T04:04:00.000-08:00

Christmas wasn't all about the eating and chilling out for me, oh no there was work to be done as weddings took place over the festive period, well on the 28th December anyway!

I had two weddings on this date one was for a large vintage china order for a British themed wedding, delivered to a lovely village hall in Nottingham (sorry no photos as yet!) and one was for a very simple yet elegant white sugar rose stacked wedding cake. So on the day after Boxing day it was back into the kitchen for me and then 7 hours later this cake emerged!

I must say I do find it rather a challenge stacking wedding cakes as there are so many processes involved and the doweling and icing is key so that your cake doesn't sink at the venue, that would be a nightmare, in fact I do actually have nightmares about that happening or the cake falling when the couple go to cut it, luckily that has never happened and I will make sure it never happens!

This cake had 3 layers, the bottom was a rich fruit cake, the 2nd and 3rd tiers were a simple vanilla sponge with whipped vanilla bean buttercream. I set it up at Donington Park Farmhouse, one of my favourite venues in Derbyshire as the staff are great and the place is so cosy. This couple had their wedding in the old piggeries and it was gorgeous, very lovely for a cold winters day.

My next wedding cake is another shells and starfish cupcakes with top tier, I love making that cake. The fruit cake is already made and maturing nicely!

Happy New Year everyone and please check back for my New Year giveaway soon!

x

...and the winner is...

2010-12-21T03:02:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-12-15T08:28:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-14T07:02:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-01T04:05:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-17T03:26:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-16T04:42:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-11-04T06:01:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-25T01:34:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-10-18T03:51:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-28T02:10:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-20T06:20:00.001-07:00

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!

Wedgwood cupcakes

2010-09-15T12:58:00.000-07:00

I designed some samples for a wedding cake consultation today. The bride booked with me, so I take it she liked them!

Watch this space for the final cake; its an amazing one, nothing I have done before and will certainly test my piping skills!

x

Original vintage weddings...

2010-09-14T07:35:00.000-07:00

I have just completed another fantastic vintage wedding, the Bride and Groom were so creative and had some wonderful original ideas!

My job was to provide the afternoon tea for guests, so that I did. All guests were treated to 7 of my home made cakes; Victoria sponge, Coffee and Walnut, Lemon Drizzle and Chocolate and Cherry. The bride and groom had a Victoria sponge for their wedding cake, which I thought was fab.

My favourite part of this wedding set up was the little bride and groom area, with the cool deck chairs and vintage place settings, such a great idea, something I may well pinch if I ever get married!!

The venue was the really beautiful Beechen Hill Farm, Sue is a Twitter friend of mine so it was great to finally meet her in the flesh. They have a lovely farm and its a perfect place to get married, I would highly recommend it to anyone, as the personal service you receive is amazing.

So there you have it another vintage wedding done. I will be looking forward to meeting new brides and grooms at the vintage wedding fair this Sunday.

x

A stunning vintage wedding

2010-08-30T03:34:00.000-07:00

I met Hannah and Rob at a vintage wedding fair in February this year; such a lovely couple to chat to you and very open about what they wanted, plus had their total trust in me straight away that they wanted me to just style it all how I had my stall table set out! They were great to work with in every way and not once did Hannah panic or get stressed out about any of the ‘at times complicated’ details.

They popped over to have a consultation with me and they were treated to an afternoon tea with cups of tea, Victoria sponge all round and examples of my china to look at. We chatted through exactly what they wanted and how they envisaged it all looking and well that was that, sorted! One vintage wedding coming up.

There was a vintage style wedding breakfast for 15 of Hannah and Rob’s closest friends and family, held at the Leopold Hotel in Sheffield and then later for the reception at St Paul’s Hotel. Both are lovely venues; very helpful and professional too. I loved the fact that the wedding breakfast was so intimate, I thoroughly enjoyed styling in all and making it look beautiful.

Everything you see on the wedding breakfast table is vintage, including the cutlery, all polished up and shining! Oh and I also sourced all of their napkins (all vintage) and created their name place tags. My lovely mum made the bride and groom Lavender hearts, they were for Hannah and Rob to keep. The only thing that isn’t vintage, is of course the cupcakes, they are fresh obviously.

They had a three tier buttercream finished cake of chocolate and vanilla flavours, topped with amazing flowers by The Blossom Tree for their main wedding cake. They also had my Victoria sponge, carrot cake and lemon drizzle all placed on vintage glass cake stands with pretty doilies to finish the look.

All of the flowers you see are provided by The Blossom Tree, they nearly brought tears to my eyes they looked so beautiful! For the reception they chose to have 14 3 tier cake stands filled with flowers and topped with old fashioned sweeties, very effective.

All in all I loved this wedding and I hope they enjoyed their day and that they will spend a life time of happiness together as they deserve it!

Congratulations Hannah and Rob!

My next vintage wedding fair will be on 19th September at the St George Hotel, Harrogate from 11.30am - 5pm. Entry is only £2.00. So any brides and grooms out there fancy a vintage style wedding then I advise you to come along as this fair is utterly fabulous with some really talented suppliers, beautiful vintage wedding dresses and of course vintage china hire and cakes!

I hope to see you there
x

A black and white wedding

2010-08-22T07:27:00.000-07:00

Hello, not blogged for a while, I am saving up for an amazing vintage wedding blog that I will have for you in the next few weeks but in the meantime to assure you all that I haven't disappeared, here are my latest wedding cupcakes.

These were for a lovely couple; Alec and Victoria, they had a fairy tale, black and white wedding with candelabras entwined with ivy for their table centre pieces and gorgeous black name place cards tied to the backs of the chairs.. very stunning and the most eye catching wedding I have seen to date. The venue was the stunning Hassop Hall, very romantic but not good for those who suffer with car sickness, very windy roads indeed!

I am very much looking forward to seeing some of their pictures from the day, as I am sure they both looked gorgeous!

Cupcake decorating workshops and afternoon tea

2010-07-27T04:16:00.000-07:00

Cupcake workshops are fabulous, that is why I have decided to run them, as I have lots of great tips, sprinkles and glitter that I would like to share!

Come and join us for a lovely afternoon tea where you will be served pots of tea until your hearts content, finger sandwiches and slices of my specialty... the Victoria sponge all on my beautiful vintage china. You are also more than welcome to bring along your own bubbly as I will provide the vintage coupes or flutes. Your afternoon tea will be followed by a cupcake decorating workshop, there will be lots of beautiful chocolate and vanilla cupcakes to ice and decorate yourself however you fancy; pick up some handy tips and impress your friends.

Perfect for hen parties, children’s birthday’s and corporate events.

wedding cupcake tower

2010-07-26T08:53:00.001-07:00

I set up a cupcake tower for a couple on Friday, their chosen venue was Colwick Hall in Nottingham, very lovely hotel for a wedding and extremely polite and friendly staff, I would definitely recommend it!

These cupcakes looked so effective and I must admit I really wanted to eat one whilst I was setting up as they smelt lovely. They were a mixture of chocolate and lemon with lemon and vanilla buttercream and flat fondant which I embossed with a vintage lace pattern.

The bride chose the designs and I think they worked beautifully.

x

Vintage Twee

2010-07-12T03:00:00.000-07:00

As you know anything to do with vintage and I am there! so I was delighted to be contacted by Joanne Linder, owner of the gorgeous 'Vintage Twee' I would like to share her creativity with you, over to Joanne...

...Vintage Twee is home to an enchantingly English range of hand crafted, vintage-inspired table décor for the loveliest tea party, wedding or shower. My aim is to add a touch of English authenticity to your special occasion with my range of unique favours, table centre pieces and dining accessories.

My work is inspired by my British heritage, love for tea and classic romance and imagery from a bygone era. Whether you are having a vintage themed tea party or special event, or are just looking for something that little bit different, Vintage Twee will ensure you host a beautiful and elegant experience for all your guests.

Every item produced by Vintage Twee has been individually hand crafted to the highest standard and is not mass produced. I use vintage materials where possible to create my items such as lace, pearls, jewels, music sheets and imagery – even old love letters from the 1940s – which I source from a variety of unusual places!

I would love people to contact me if they are interested in any of the items that I make – I encourage custom orders, regardless of size, and enjoy working with people on an individual basis to ensure they match desired colour schemes and style.

1st Birthday Tea Party

2010-07-02T01:38:00.001-07:00

Well Vintage and Cake's 1st Birthday certainly did not go by unnoticed! I threw an afternoon tea party to celebrate and thank friends, family and customers. It was a wonderful afternoon; homemade Elderflower champagne was served in vintage teacups on arrival, there was tea and cake in abundance, including my speciaity... the Victoria sponge. Guests just sat back and relaxed whilst listening to the soothing tones of vintage singer Simon Partridge. The bunting was all handmade by my wonderful mum, thanks mum! and the flower arrangements in vintage crockery were by Kerry at The Blossom Tree.

If you fancy coming along to a tea party like this one then you are in luck as there are several running this summer. On the 17th July at Donington Manor hotel there will be a Tea Dance, Deb at Fabulous Places will be running a 'Great Blooming Tea party'in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care on the 29th July and the Hallmark Hotel will be running a Tea Dance on the 7th August, lots of choice for you and all you need to do if you would like tickets is to contact me plus if you book your tickets to any of the above events by the end of next week you will receive a box of 4 vanilla cupcakes!

Thank you to Claire Sutton for the lovely photographs.

I hope to see you soon

Blooming Great Tea Party!

2010-06-22T03:02:00.001-07:00

Come and join us for 'A Blooming Great Tea party' in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care.

A quintessentially British tea party! Heavenly homemade delights, fine teas, vintage crockery & fabulous shopping.

Hope to see you there! x

Canal boat cake

2010-06-18T05:40:00.000-07:00

This is my latest creation! I actually live right opposite the canal in Willington so I was able to peek out of my kitchen window whilst I was creating this cake. It is for a 40th Birthday and the man receiving it loves his canal boat dearly. It is named 'ESIO TROT' which is a Roald Dahl book and spells Tortoise backwards! The lady who ordered the cake told me they thought it was relevant to name their boat after the book as they go so slow, lovely!

The original boat

As you can see its not exactly like the original but as close as I could get it. I thoroughly enjoyed making this as it was a challenge to get the shape and details right.

Afternoon Tea Dance

2010-06-14T02:35:00.000-07:00

Well, who would have thought in the 16th Century, when the Portuguese and Dutch traders brought the first tea from China into Europe, Britain would adopt the drink as its national beverage?

Who could have anticipated the changes this drink would make to our society?

At the beginning of the 20th Century, Tea Dances became popular for the 'Young Set' The eligible ladies and gentleman of the wealthy and aristocratic families used to entertain their friends by dancing in each others homes.

A new sensational dance arrived in London in 1910. The Argentine Tango soon became all the rage. The Waldorf Hotel began offering Latin dance classes, soon Tea Dances were being held on a daily or weekly basis at the Waldorf, Savoy and other London hotels. Gradually the tea dances went nationwide as popularity increased. The fashionable set continued to patronise the Tea Dances until 1920...

...and now in 2010 the Tea Dance is back! on the 17th July the Donington Manor hotel will be holding a truly vintage afternoon tea dance, with vintage crockery, tea and many many cakes! Please do come along and celebrate this wonderful tradition, there will be a dance workshop so you can learn the moves and dance the afternoon away.

Tickets are only £12.95 per person, to book your ticket please email enquiries@doningtonmanorhotel.co.uk or call 01332 810253.

Winners of the May newsletter competition

2010-06-01T09:27:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all that entered my little competition from my monthly newsletter. Here are the lucky winners below, there are two this time!

Mandy Hibbert from Shug Toscana
Haylee Green

Well done! you two both win one of these gorgeous teacups and tea lights from the Kate Aspen UK range.

If you would like to subscribe to my newsletter then please go to my website to be added to the mailing list. There are lots of competitions, offers, exciting updates and news, and it would be great if you were in the know too!

x

How to make a Ferrari cake

2010-05-31T02:35:00.000-07:00

I thought I would write this how to as I found this one quite a challenge and couldn't find any advice or how tos out there, so now there is!

Firstly, bake a 10 inch square sponge, mine was vanilla. I find it is best to then leave this over night in an airtight container as the sponge is a lot easier to work with the next day.

Take the sponge and carve it into the shape of a Ferrari, I took a picture of an actual Ferrari and tried to copy this, this is the tricky bit but absolute crucial part so take your time over it, getting your desired shape. Once you have achieved the shape you want, slice the cake in half horizontally, ready to buttercream. I use a bread knife to make the cut definition in the sponge, then take some cotton thread and use this as a cheese wire, if you know what I mean; you get a really even cut then.

This is the sponge, carved and waiting for the final coat of buttercream

Even out the fondant icing by using a pallet knife and smoother

Sandwich your cake with buttercream, then buttercream the whole of the outside, make sure its very smooth and even as this is the base for your fondant. Leave the buttercream to form a 'crumb crust' then take a pallet knife dipped in boiling water and smooth over the whole cake, this then makes it super, super even and smooth.

Next comes the fondant icing... the key part and the part that I find the most nerve wracking when icing any cake never mind a novelty shaped one like this. Take your red icing and knead until it is nice and pliable, then roll it out to the size you need to cover the cake in its entirety and a little bit more. Place the icing over your rolling pin and lay over the sponge, then using your hands smooth it down around the shape of your cake, really getting the icing stuck down firmly. Now take your pallet knife and chop the excess icing away. Smooth the icing down with a plastic smoother. Just keep repeating this until you get the icing as you want it.

Now its time for the decoration and final touches, I wont go into too much detail here as this is the fun part and something you can do to the minute detail or not, its up to you. I will let the pictures do the talking from now on!

Ball tools are ace!

The car now has wing mirrors, front and back grill plus front lights

The finished cake, complete with man driving it, I seem to have made him a wee bit smarmy...!

Hope that helps anyone out there wanting to make this.

Vintage and Cake

2010-05-26T01:28:00.000-07:00

Hello, I felt inspired last night by all things vintage, flowers and cake, no surprise there then! So my lovely boyfriend took some photos of one of my vintage teapots filled with Peonies, I felt inspired by Kerry at The Blossom Tree as she arranged some gorgeous flowers for me to display at the summer fete by Fabulous Places. I obviously cant arrange them as well as Kerry but they do look lovely in this teapot, which is purely for flower decoration now.

I bought the bird from a fantastic company called Kitty and Dude, they make such beautiful vintage inspired pieces, my friend and I came across them at an arts and crafts fair in Nottingham last year. I was completely inspired by what they do, I also bought the Keep Calm and Eat Cake vintage plate too, love it!

On the feeling inspired note I am very excited to start making Elderflower champagne this year, we are just waiting for our kit to arrive and the flowers to bloom and then we are off! I will be serving it in pretty teacups at Vintage and Cake's Birthday party in June.

An ode to SATC and shoes!

2010-05-24T04:47:00.000-07:00

I made this cake for someone and thought it was very apt as this week sees the release of the new Sex and the city film. I can not even express how much I cant wait to see this film, I am a huge, huge fan!

Hope you enjoy the pics x

A seaside wedding

2010-05-24T04:35:00.001-07:00

A seaside themed wedding with shells in little bottles and buckets with chocolates for the favours.

The cakes were all topped with a shell, starfish or a seahorse. The bride and groom met on the beach so thought this was a nice way to go for their wedding theme. A rich fruit cake served as the top tier and 60 chocolate and vanilla cupcakes.

I loved the way the room had been set out, very simple with the white bunting and little seaside details.

Fabulous Summer Fete

2010-05-17T01:45:00.001-07:00

I held a stall at Shottle Hall yesterday for the first summer fete this year. It was an amazing day, I completely sold out within four hours so I had 2 hours to enjoy the event. I only wish I had made more cakes but you just never know! It was such a great event run by Deb at Fabulous Places, I urge you to check this website out if you are looking for some great things to do this year in and around Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.

There will be more exciting events coming up soon for some brilliant charities!

x

Fabulous Charity Ball for Born Free

2010-05-13T05:43:00.000-07:00

I will be attending an amazing charity ball in aid of the charity 'Born Free', it is a wonderful charity. My dance teacher Val has organised this Ball for 11 years and has raised a phenomenal amount of money for it;it is something so close to her heart and a big heart it is at that!

I will be auctioning off a celebration cake as part of the huge and exciting auction that takes place, one of the prizes is afternoon tea at the Ritz!

I really hope you will come along and help raise money for a great cause. It will be an evening of dinner, entertainment and of course my favourite thing of all time... old time dancing! and of course there is dad dancing aloud its not strictly ball room! There is also a live band and a stream of entertainment all through the night with a chance to win £100 whilst you eat, brilliant, I hope that's me!

It is on the 12th June which is a Saturday evening and will be held at Pride Park Stadium, hence its name Pride in the Park. To book your tickets all you need to do is visit the Born Free site at this link

I hope to see you there, it really will be an amazing night.

Hazy, summer days

2010-05-12T05:55:00.000-07:00

Another Vintage and Cake production...

Please click here

Vintage picnics

2010-05-10T03:30:00.000-07:00

A vintage picnic - what a romantic, original way to propose to your loved one! Just picture a lovely sunny day, a picnic basket filled with delicious food and sparkling wine, bunting in the trees and no sound apart from the birds and perhaps a babbling brook nearby, ok sorry that was a little cheesy but still very lovely!

I am now offering a vintage picnic service, you can hire all of my lovely vintage china to take on your picnic, plus a set up service at the location of your choice (or ours if you wish!) and gorgeous food too; consisting of salmon and cream cheese bellinis, sandwiches with a choice of 3 fillings, a cupcake, a pot of tea, milk and sugar, scones with jam and cream, elderflower cordial and a punnet of fresh strawberries. All you need to do is chat to us about your menu and we can put it together for you.

All of the fruit is home grown by us at the Vintage and Cake allotment and everything will of course be home made, so you can guarantee fresh, lovely, home baked tastes.

It is a novel way to propose to your loved one or even for a hen do, no matter what your occasion a vintage picnic is the way to do it this summer.

A Vintage and Cake production

2010-04-30T11:14:00.000-07:00

Very short and sweet, please have a nose at Vintage and Cake's first video

Beautiful wedding favour ideas

2010-04-21T08:10:00.000-07:00

I thought I would write about wedding favours today as I want to shout about two lovely companies who have some gorgeous favours and ideas for packaging them up for your guests. Let me start with a little bit of history for you as I think we all take this age old tradition a little bit for granted;

The tradition of giving wedding favours is a very old one. It is believed that the first wedding favour, common amongst European aristocrats, was known as a bonbonniere. A bonbonniere is a small trinket box made of crystal, porcelain, and/or precious stones. The contents of these precious boxes were generally sugar cubes or delicate confections, which symbolize wealth and royalty.

As sugar became more affordable, bonbonnieres were replaced with almonds. For centuries, almonds were commonly given to wedding guests to signify well wishes on the bridegroom’s new life.

Today, gifts to guests are commonly known as wedding favours and are shared in cultures worldwide. Wedding favours are diverse and usually complement the theme or season of the event.

Mandy at Shug Toscana has some simply beautiful Italian inspired wedding favour boxes in her range, plus you have the option of filling them with her Tuscan beauty products, any guest would be thrilled!

Kate Aspen has just launched their UK company and let me tell you it is fabulous. Laura who works for the company has been kind enough to share some of her favourites with me for this blog. I love the Doves and the Tea for two (of course I do its tea related)

Lots of the brides I am working with for their vintage weddings are providing their guests with home brewed beer for the men and jars of homemade jam for the ladies, this is just so lovely, I found the photo below at a delightful blog, you can find it here

and for the men... Photo found here