The Wedding Cake

More pics to come, but here's Mr & Mrs E's wedding cake. Cupcakes went down a treat and the beautiful top tier was the handiwork of Pat, cousin of Mr E's mum.



Just to keep it real, Mr E challenged me to a cupcake-off: stuff a cupcake into your mouth in one go... needless to say, since it was his wedding I let him win!

The first 12...

Voila!

The icing-a-thon

This is what vanilla cream cheese frosting for 104 cakes looks like...

104 cupcakes

Is that enough now?

84 cupcakes

Batch 3 part 1 is out of the oven, bringing the current total to 84 quality cakes and about 12 rejects. Or seconds. Or DBFB's tasty snacks as he likes to call them. He is very excited about them.

Why is it that...

the first batch of baked goods is never as good as the subsequent ones? Batch 2 of the cakes has just come out of the oven and they look far superior than batch 1.

Batch 1:


Batch 2:


Same goes for pancakes. Why is the first pancake always a write-off? Serious thoughts for 11.15pm. Is there some scientific reason for it?

What I do know is that there will be some misshapen cakes taken into work!

Butter nightmare

Organic it may be, but it is also as hard as bricks.

First batch of cakes in the oven now.

So let us begin...

I am now back home assembling ingredients for the bake off.

But beginning at the end... I need boxes to transport the cakes on Friday. Luckily my ebay order has arrived and I will be able to get them to the venue. Hurrah!



Want to see what you need to make cupcakes?



The real question is: will I be able to bake 100, or will I just eat the cake mixture before it even gets to the oven?

Epic cupcake bake off

My lovely sister is getting hitched at the weekend and I was meant to bake her wedding cupcakes on Sunday. But I caught a cold and therefore felt it would be rather irresponsible to bake.

So it is now Wednesday.

And tonight I have to bake about 100 cupcakes.

Wish me luck!

Results to come...

Nothing says 'I love you' more than...

A High School Musical advent calendar.

Mr DB was not impressed. Although it didn't stop him scoffing the chocolate. And I think he now takes pleasure from eating chocolate out of Vanessa Hudgens' face.

One of my colleagues commented on Sharpay having a lot of hair. I am worried about this on two levels: firstly are high school kids having their locks enhanced for TV (which is so wrong); secondly I know one of HSM's characters is called Sharpay...

On a separate note, my friend Daisy (aged 5) has the same advent calendar.

Go have yourself a star dazzle Christmas!

Coffee in London and Edinburgh

I've sampled two excellent coffees in the last week in two different countries.

First up, Lantana on Charlotte Place, Fitzrovia. Flat white to go after a lovely lunch of soup of the day. Surroundings excellent - comfy seats, lots of wood and white walls and a groovy mural. I was tempted by the salads and the pie at lunch (especially as I'm now on a self-imposed mission to find a pie as good as the Lime Tree Pantry ones that can be sourced locally) if your food requirements extend beyond soup.



My second coffee was at Artisan Roast on Broughton Street, Edinburgh. Again a flat white, this time supped in their quirky back room - Morrocan style seating, hessian coffee bags on the wall and some unusual light fittings made from a tea cup, a cafetiere and a mug (check out their panoramic tour). The front room looks just as bonkers - more cosy, dark, a sign declaring JK Rowling never sat and wrote there and a proper roasting den.

Both were so good I almost gave up Champers. But dismissed such ravings after 10 seconds.

However, if there are equally good coffees to be sampled in Wales and Northern Ireland that might turn me off the fizz, then please let me know!