A Watermelon Affair

Hi all,

I thought I would share my latest cake with you.  The very sweet bride to be came for a consultation with her sister and they were VERY precise about what they wanted; four individual wedding cakes, all with designs in a watermelon colour....right then best crack on!!!  

The largest tier was a vanilla sponge cake in a hexagon shape which was a first for me but it was so satisfying to ice, very clean edges.  This was then iced in ivory sugarpaste and piped with watermelon royal icing...took an age!  

The next tier was a 10 inch round rich fruit cake iced with marzipan and ivory icing, it was supposed to have an actual watermelon ribbon around the bottom but could I find one that matched in the UK...nope!  so I made a pretty one from florist paste instead and I think it completes the look nicely.  

Next was an 8 inch vanilla sponge cake with strips of ruffles...

...and finally a 6 inch rich fruit cake with the same design as the largest hexagon cake...phew!  

It was hard work as it was just so hot but its all done now and I was happy with the result.

Next up this week are my specialities...x3 tiered Victoria sponge wedding cakes...

...some pretty vintage cupcakes...

 ...and a batch of melt in the mouth buttermilk scones, I can't wait to get started.  Oh and just because its starting to become a little tradition, here is my little pudding, Henry, he came along to set the cakes up with us and was so good.  Love him :)

Thanks for reading.

Vintage and Cake

x

Hello and a little giveaway!

Hello!

Sorry I haven't blogged for such a long time, I have been a tad on the busy side giving birth to this little pudding and generally learning how to be a mummy and loving every second of it!

Henry Bernard Woods is the light of my life!  Things have changed, in fact I have changed (for the better I think) so much since having him but Vintage and Cake is still here!

I am starting my blog up again after maternity leave with a gorgeous giveaway for you all, these vintage cupcake cases are up for grabs, provided by the Cake Decorating Store.

  All you need to do is follow my blog and comment on this post leaving your email address... that's it, ridiculously simple!  the winner will be picked out of a hat, perhaps one of Henry's (he has loads of very silly ones!)

I really hope you will all enter, the giveaway closes on Friday 8th March 2013 and I will announce the winner here on my blog so keep your peepers peeled.

It is open to EVERYONE in EVERY country yey.. in other words Internationally!

Good luck!

Love

Julie

Vintage and Cake

Giveaway! A fab new cake book

I have a lovely little competition for all you people out there thinking of or in the process of starting up your very own cake business from home.
I was contacted by Alison McNicol who is a UK author. She has just published a new book for UK bakers wishing to start their own cake business, so we thought it would be a great idea for us to devise a competition for all you lovely people who read my blog to enter. If you simply can't wait then you can buy Alison's book at Amazon
All you have to do to be in with a chance of receiving this book is answer the question below with your email address; the best will be picked and announced on my blog, Alison will then send out a copy to the lucky winner.
Question: If Jessie J had her own cake business, what would she call it?
The competition ends at midnight on Sunday 1st July and the winners will be announced right here shortly after that. UK entrants only.
Good luck, I cant wait to see your answers!
Vintage and Cake x

A little vintage cupcake prettiness

I have a consultation this evening for a lovely bride who is going for a village fete theme at her wedding reception in July. So she got in touch with me and asked if she could pop over for a consultation to look at some vintage ideas for cupcakes. I thought I would share her samples and examples.



The flavours for her samples are lemon and vanilla each are flat iced with embossed icing and vintage style designs.




The rest are some of the cupcakes that my students learn to create in my vintage cupcake classes including the piped rose using a petal nozzle.

You can see some mini handmade cupcake bunting this was an idea inspired from the lovey and creative Daisy Cupcakes, I hope she doesn't mind that I used it to display my cupcakes for my bride this evening!

Vintage and Cake x

Happy New Year Giveaway!!

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

Lovely Lucy's Vintage Wedding

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

Love My Dress Wedding Blog

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 Wedding Table Centre Piece Ideas

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

Look whose joined the Vintage and Cake team!

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

Afternoon tea wedding

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!

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

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