Recipe Book 'Eat Me!' Anniversary

I can't believe that it was 10 years ago today that my book was released!

So much has happened since then. I've had two little girls and I've also sadly lost my amazing Mumma, who played such a big part in the creation of the book. It was a big success getting to number 17 in the book charts and receiving a huge amount of press.

I felt that my life and career was on an upward swing. Nothing could have prepared me for how much having the girls was going to slow down my trajectory. Luckily, being self employed and having my own business meant I was able to mainly be a stay at home mum, which I am truly grateful for.

What I hadn't realised was how hard it would be to continue building up my profile as a performer and writer. Now, 10 years later I finally feel as if I am back to where I was then. My podcast has recently ben released, which is a fictional story based on “The Cookie Chronicles”, similar to the column I wrote for 5 years for Grove Magazine. I

t has taken a while for it to sink in that (unlike when I was first wanting to act and write) I don't need anyone's permission. I don't need a director, producer or casting director to deem me worthy to be who I want to be. I can create my own material and connect with people through it.

There are so many routes to an audience and the technology to do it ourselves. Watch this space! xxx

Husband & Wife Private Cake Class

Husband & Wife Private Cake decorating Classes london

Kelly’s husband Bill is a great baker. She thought it would be a perfect present to give him one of our gift certificate for a private lesson. And she decided to book a cake class for two so that they could attend together.

Bill was really keen to get his cake decorating skills to a high level so we worked through beginners, intermediate and advanced cupcake decorating techniques. I taught them both how to make cream cheese frosting which has a good ‘flow’ for piping rose swirls and classic swirls.

I also taught them how to make a firm buttercream frosting which is ideal for the advanced buttercream piping techniques. We use this to pipe ruffle swirls as well as individual petals one by one. I also explained that all the buttercream piping techniques could also be used on a full sized cake.

At the end of the 3hr cake making class they were thrilled with the end results and went home with two dozen beautiful cupcake creations to share with their friends and family.

Unicorn Cake Class

Pamela got in touch to ask if I could teach a group baking workshop for her daughter Ava’s birthday. She was turning 8 and wanted to celebrate with her family. When I found out that unicorns were her favourite then I knew that the Unicorn Cake making class would be the thing to do. The group had no experience with baking or decorating cakes and were not sure that they were up to the challenge. By the end of the 2hr cake workshop they were amazed by the end results and went home very happy with their stunning, unicorn cake creations.

Cake Decorating Classes in London

The ladies at Dodo’s cupcake decorating hen had the most fun. Her friends and family were an absolute blast laughing and joking and keeping me entertained. I should have known that they were going to be an ‘up for it’ crew when Dodo arrived wearing an extremely detailed naked lady all in one! Once we had got over the initial hilarity of that they knuckled down to learning all my expert cake piping tips. Before long they had mastered the art of cake decorating with buttercream swirls and even created some of there own experimental designs. One of the girls was so good I asked if she wanted to join the Cookie Girl team! At the end of the two hour cake making workshop they were absolutely thrilled with their cupcake creations. Dodo wasn’t sure where they were headed next (it was a magical mystery tour type of hen) but she was very excited to get home and share her little cupcake works of art with her husband to be.

Vineet's Cake Decorating Birthday Party

Vineet was celebrating a significant birthday and wanted to celebrate with her closest friends by having a creative time doing a cake making workshop with us. They were a lovely bunch of girls who couldn’t wait to get started piping buttercream swirls onto the delicious cakes I had made. There was time to have a glass of bubbly whilst they waited for the last couple of girls to arrive. They were soon getting stuck in trying out their piping skills on a variety of different buttercream swirl techniques. They were soon getting the hang of it and making professional looking cupcakes. They absolutely loved the vast array of decoration that we had, especially the rainbow unicorns and mermaid sprinkles. The girls found the cake class a great ice breaker and way to bond as not all the girls knew each other. They piped, they laughed and they got competitive. At the end of the workshop they agreed that they had absolutely loved learning a new skill and were excited to get practicing the next time they baked. In the mean time they couldn’t wait to take the cakes back to share with their families.

Wedding Cake Baking Class

Genevieve got in touch to enquire about learning to make a naked wedding cake with me. It was something that her and her step mum wanted to do together. The company she works for Karmarama treated her to the cake making class as an early wedding present. Geneveive and her step mum have such a great relationship and it was really refreshing to see how well they get on. Certainly a much better relationship than many of the step mother daughter relationships that I’ve come across. We had so much fun spending time together and they learnt how to make a naked wedding cake from scratch which is what they wanted to cover in their cake making experience. They had some great flavour ideas including lemon & elderflower and cardamon & vanilla flavours. They learn everything from how to bake the cake to how to get the perfect ‘naked’ icing effect at the end. As well as how to create the support structure and decoration ideas. As they were heading home with so much cake I suggested that they freeze some of it so they can use it on the actual wedding day. This works as long as you put the cake in Tupperware or use plenty of clingfilm to make sure it doesn’t get frost damage. They left the cake baking lesson with a new found confidence and excitement about collaborating on the wedding cake.

Red Velvet Cookie Class & Recipe

I had a lovely time teaching a private baking class to Imer and her daughter Emine. They anted to learn how to make red velvet cookies and chocolate fudge cupcakes. I’d never tried making this flavour of cookie before but soon realised that I could easily adjust my class is cookie recipe. I have to say that the results were absolutely delicious. So I thought I would share the recipe with you.

Red Velvet Cookies (double quantity)

2 tbsp milk

2 tsp vinegar

3-4 tsp red food colour

2 tsp vanilla extract

225g/8 oz butter, room temperature

340g/12 oz granulated sugar

85g/3oz sof dark brown sugar

2 eggs

425g/15 oz self raising flour

200g/7 oz white chocolate

Preheat oven to 190/375/Gas Mark 5. You will need a large, heavy, ungreased baking sheet.

Add the vinegar, food colour and vanilla to the milk. Set aside to curdle. Cream together the butter and sugars, then add the eggs, one at a time.

Now add the 'buttermilk' mixture alternating with the flour, mixing well between additions. You should now have a soft dough. Chop the chocolate into small pieces and add to the dough. Now use a spoon or ice-cream scoop to portion up balls of cookie dough. Place these  inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes until they are just cooked/dry on top but still wet and gooey under the top layer. Leave to cool on the baking sheet for 10 mins then place on a wire rack to cool fully.

Kids Cake Making Workshop

Aquaclean had a fab idea for the product launch of their new stain resistant sofa The Monica (Gellar, natch). They invited a group of kids to set up The kids Kafe! They wanted to prove just how stain resistant their sofas were and what better way than by small people spilling sticky drinks and dropping food all over them? I was brought in to supply a fun cake making workshop for the kids to take part in between takes (The whole messy experiment was filmed to be shared on social media). The mummy bloggers and kids customers were also able to get involved in my cake class. As you can see the kids did a fantastic job with their cake making. They got vey experimental working sweets and licorice string into their cupcake designs. They even managed to master piping buttercream swirls! At the end of the cake decorating lesson they were very happy to have their cakes packed up for them to take home. A lovely surprise was seeing the fabulous Scummy Mummies who were there to interview the staff and customers in their own inimitable style. It is always a pleasure when our paths cross at various family blogger days throughout the year.

Mermaid Birthday Party

As you probably know by know I love cake decorating and there is nothing I like more than creating a cake table. They are a lot of work though so I only do them twice a year. Once for Teddy's birthday and once for Cosy's. Luckily they are six months apart which gives me plenty of time to recover! For some reason my husband always seems to be away in the lead up to Cosy's birthday which is frustrating as it's when I need him most. This year he was at his brothers stag party and didn't get back till the night before the party. That meant that as well as effectively being a working single parent for the week I had to work cake making night and day to get all the treats prepared for the cake table. When I say had to obviously I mean want to but it does always turn into a big commitment on top of everything else. This year I did a couple of things I haven't got round to before. One is I printed off some mermaid themed 'food cards' from Etsy which my talented adult daughter wrote on in calligraphy. I think this really pulled the whole look of the table together and made it look more finished. The other thing is that I set the table up and photographed it before the guests arrived to make sure I got some good picks before everything got mauled. Also, I got a pic of the mermaid birthday cake in situ before whisking it away to bring out as a surprise for the magical moment when everyone sings 'Happy Birthday'. Unfortunately the mischievous birthday girl snuck a good look at whilst I was taking the pics. Next year I may need to arrange someone to take her to the park whilst I do that. Having done all this in advance did mean that I was able to socialise a bit during the party and have a few drinks rather than my usual rushing around like a mad person. I did indulge in a couple of bottles of Corona beer and relaxed whilst the kids did a great job entertaining themselves. In fact I relaxed so much that it wasn't till everyone had left that I realised that I'd totally forgotten to do the Pinata! Still at least I didn't forget the cake! The funny thing was I had thought I was so organised, wrapping the parcel for pass the parcel (or parcel, parcel, as my kids call it) and prepping the party bags in advance. There's still always something I've overlooked!

Family Hen Day

Kathryn's Hen was a last minute booking made by her good friend Emily. She had no idea what we were doing and was over the moon when she realised it was a cake decorating workshop. Her outfit couldn't have been better co-ordinated with her apron- or her cupcakes! It was a small intimate group made up of a cousin and a childhood friend, her mum, mother in law and some aunties. It was very relaxing for me and I got the opportunity to get to know everyone a little over the 2hr cake class.  They all really enjoyed the workshop and created some really beautiful, jewel like cupcakes. Kathryn was very happy with her signed copy of my recipe book and delighted with her cake making. At the end they all enjoyed a glass of bubbly together. It was such a great occasion. I got to hear all about the outfits the mothers of the bride were going to be wearing at the wedding which was taking place in France. By the end of the workshop I felt like an honorary family member!