Random Act of Kindness

I recently saw a lovely post by 'I am baker' where she wanted to make cookies to cheer everyone up. It was such a success that she had to reach out to other bloggers to help to cheer people up, so I volunteered to help!

I decided to keep it simple with some sugar cookies with inspirational messages. I found it a bit tricky to decide how to decorate them without sounding patronising. Hopefully they will be received in the spirit they were meant!

It gave me a great kick to do something for someone else, I really appreciate the sentiment.

Ok, I'll admit it, I'm a sucker for the royal wedding!

I managed to find these pictures on Flickr, thanks to Darlene. I just loved the chocolate cake, you just want to dive right in! Having tried this kind of cake, or snack or whatever you call it, I'd say that this would be totally yummy but you'd only need a tiny piece! Chopped up digestive biscuits with nuts and raisins, all held together with a magical mixture of chocolate, golden syrup and butter. Yum!

And one of these days I'll try and get into chef James Foran's chocolate class so I can master the art of chocolate!

I found the other wedding cake a little more over the top and its not really my style, all the fussy piping and jumble of flowers, but very well executed, and so grand for such a great occasion. I wouldnt say no to a piece of fruit cake, I hope this tradition comes back into fashion. Since it lasts for years, you can decorate it at your leisure once it is 'fed' with alcohol and enrobed in marzipan and rolled icing.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday, I'm trying not to be jealous of my friends across the pond who are embarking on their second four day weekend in a row!

More pics here:

A beautiful wedding

What a whirlwind of a weekend! I recently had the enormous pleasure of seeing my dear friends get married on a stunningly gorgeous weekend in the beautiful Suffolk countryside.

The day started with the ceremony in a catholic church, something I'm not really used to, but it was very touching, with a small gospel choir from Paul's school and some lovely readings. Here's an excerpt from my favourite reading:

I Like You (by Sandol Stoddard Warburg)

I like you and I know why.

I like you because you are a good person to like.

I like you because when I tell you something special, you know it's special

And you remember it a long, long time.

You say, "Remember when you told me something special?"

And both of us remember

I noticed that all the kiddies were captivated and found the poem extremely funny. Maybe partly because my friend, John, is a great performance artist, but also because the poem really engaged them!

The bride carried a bouquet which was constructed from antique brooches, very pretty indeed. It should be noted that it was pretty heavy to carry!

Upon reaching the reception, at the wonderful Milden Hall tudor barn, we were greeted by these very dapper gentlemen who gave us a glass of prosecco and rhubarb. We were entertained by some folk music on the lawn and we greeted the happy couple with confetti. We were also served tasty canapes of torta and salmon blintzs The event was filmed in super 8 film by our friend, some of the shots involved a little engineering, like this one where confetti was thrown up in the air for an effect.

I was in love with the venue, a beautiful tudor converted barn, which had a rustic feel but was very comfortable too. We were extremely lucky with the weather, this was not an ordinary April day!!

There were stunning touches all over the site, a very cute illustration of the couple was used to accent the menus, invitations programs etc, and jars of flowers were used all over the reception venue with wonderful scents.

I was so captivated by the jars of stocks lining the dining table, which also had a really heady but not overpowering scent.

The foodies weren't disappointed, there were large plates of antipasti and bread, which we munched on with champagne during the extensive speeches, which were all just lovely and many happy tears were shed. We were treated to delicious comfort food, 'bangers and mash' for the meat eaters and mushroom wellington for the veggies. Dessert was sticky toffee pudding, which did not disappoint. I could eat that dessert every day, I think I can safely say it is my favourite!

The wedding 'cake' was a little unusual too, a stack of wheels of cheeses, which were a very welcome snack after an evening of dancing! The brides sister also made some delicious cakes to accompany it.

UPDATE! here are some stunning photos from the very talented anna marie stepney, the wonderful photographer.

Share our strength bakesale-May 14th

I'm very excited to announce that I'll be preparing some baked goods along with lots of other San Diego food bloggers on May 14th at Great News cooking school in Pacific Beach from 10-2pm. Marie from meandering eats is organising the sale, if you'd like to be involved, or would like more info.

I hope you'll stop by and check it out and buy some goodies! I'm planning on making some scrumptious cupcakes and delicious cookies.

I'd love to hear what you'd like, so if you are reading this, please let me know what you fancy in the comments!

Also let me know if you'd like to preorder anything, I'd hate for anyone to be disappointed!

I'll announce the week before the sale what I plan to make so keep checking back!

Lakeside Baking Supplies

I thought I'd share a little known gem in San Diego County, Lakeside Bakery Supplies. They are really a wholesale supply store, so dont expect bells and whistles, and dont expect fantastic customer service. They make their money on huge orders, not the little bits and pieces that bakers like me need!

Having said that, everyone is super sweet there, and they have some great stuff at unbeatable prices. One of the downsides is that you have to think of it then ask them if they have it, it is a warehouse type of store with a counter. Most of the items are in bulk, but I've found them very handy for things like 10lb tubs of Fondx rolled fondant, and also for almond paste at Christmas time.

They also stock bakery boxes, cake circles and everything you need to go into a bakery business, although bear in mind you'll have to plan for storage.

If you are a business they are happy to deliver for minimum orders of $350.

Fun at the cake show

A couple of weeks ago I entered a cake in the San Diego Cake Show. It was a fun weekend with lots of cake related events, and it was fun to decorate a 'dummy' (styrofoam) cake with no specific purpose other than to make a pretty cake.

I got some great advice from a friend, not to go crazy, just do something small and neat. So I took a little teeny 4" round, and a 6" round and I decorated with white fondant, and a simple bird decoration and made the star of the show a giant peony. I've experimented with this color scheme before and I really like the shocking pink, brown and white. I thought this would be a sweet and understated cake for a baby shower. It was also really simple to transport compared to some of the behemoth cakes I saw!!

Unfortunately I didnt win a prize, there were some truly stunning pieces of artwork there, but it was fun to enter, I got a brilliant goody bag with some great stuff in, including a truly terrifying cake topper, which I would be more than happy to pass on to a good home. I think it might have to wait until my next white elephant comes around!

Happy 90th Grandma!

l recently popped back home for a week so that I could celebrate my wonderful grandma's 90th birthday, along with all the family. It was so wonderful to spend a week with my mum, brother and niece and then end the week with a party with 35 others to celebrate grandma's 90th.

On all my recent trips abroad, I've had some kind of fragile sugar pieces in my luggage and this was no exception, I had a bright fuschia peony, which I was delighted to find made it all the way home in one piece with only one petal damaged.

We practiced all week singing 'Happy birthday great grandma' with Poppy, and she sang the loudest of everyone! Maybe partly because she had been patiently waiting for several days to eat the birthday cake!

The cake was a dense chocolate mud cake with a marscapone whipped cream and whipped milk chocolate mocha ganache, as I know grandma likes tiramisu, so I used that as inspiration. I was very honored when the event manager grabbed me to let me know that it was the best cake he'd ever had!!

After the candles were blown out, each of the grandchildren read out a verse of a fantastic ode that my cousin wrote.

When Violet Joyce Griffiths was born
her name caused a family storm
With a grandmother’s outburst,
Violet came first
But everyone knows “Joyce” is the norm

An education she set out to get
Being female was not a great bet
Evacuated to Wales, but hard work prevails
She got her degree and off she set

To Africa young Joyce did go
Researching nutrition and farming you know
Then back at home, in her field she became known
The title world expert they did bestow

She has always been an adventurer
Len wooed her out in the Gambia
In their caravan home, through Europe they roamed
With every passing year they grew happier

With three daughters the Doughty family starts
Her sense of adventure to us she imparts
Now four generations, there’s big celebrations
Her love of life is in all of our hearts

She retired then life really got going
Her interests and talents ever growing
Wood carving art, Scottish dancing apart
Too many to keep this verse flowing

For a better role model we couldn’t have dreamed
She’s broken barriers, she’s the feminist supreme
What it’s possible to achieve, if in yourself you believe
We’re so lucky to share her great genes

I wanted to say a big thank you to Jaqueline from Petalsweet Cakes, it was so wonderful to try using one of the peonies I learned to make with her. I'd encourage anyone to take a class with her, she is so serene and well organized, it is a very relaxing way to spend a couple of days.