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

Cake Making Class - Unicorn Cake

This Unicorn Bento Cake Class was so much fun to host:

The vanilla sponge cakes they baked in the cake baking lesson were just delicious.

We used a mould to make the horn, ears and eyelashes using sugarpaste. This meant it was easier to achieve a professional finish than if we’d rolled the horn by hand, which can inadvertently lead to a rather inappropriate end result! I was very impressed by how well the students did with all of them getting fantastic results in the cake class.

They did a great job using a palette knife to get a smooth finish with the delicious buttercream, and they created the swirling rainbow unicorn mane by piping buttercream swirls and roses - this gave them the opportunity to get lots of practice with their buttercream piping techniques. By the end of the 3.5hr cake making class they were amazed by what they had been able to create. They went home really excited to share their Unicorn Bento Cakes with their families.

Dinosaur Cake Class

When Morgan asked me if I could give her a baking lesson to help her make her little boys birthday cake I was thrilled to help. I thought that my dinosaur cake was the perfect model for him. I pre baked the cakes (one 4pt pudding basin and one 2 pint pudding basin) with a vanilla sponge recipe. (Here’s one I made earlier: http://www.cookiegirl.co.uk/blog/2016/9/20/dinosaur-cake?rq=dinosaur%20cake) . We spent the first part of the cake class assembling the sponged together (securing them with wooden skewers) to make a cute dinosaur shape. Morgan and I then set to work creating the eyes, tail, mouth and teeth out of rolled fondant. We made up a large batch of bright green buttercream and I gave Morgan a demonstration in using a palette knife to cover the cake with a thick layer of icing. We then added the eyes, teeth, mouth and tail to create a cute and friendly edible dinosaur. We managed to finish the whole thing within our 3hr half day private baking lesson. Morgan sent me a video of the cake which was a huge hit and she got lots of great feedback for her work.

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.

Cake Making Birthday Party

Camilla wanted to celebrate her birthday by getting together with her best friends and having a cake making workshop. They had a great time. Firstly they learnt how to bake the cakes from scratch using organic eggs and real butter as well as fair trade sugar and flour. I explained how much better ‘mouth feel’ and flavour you get using real butter rather than margarine which I really don’t think is good for you. I try and use organic and free range whenever possible in my baking lessons. There was plenty of time do chat over a glass of bubbly whilst the cakes baked. We even put on Heart FM for more of a party vibe. They were a really interesting group of girls. All of them lawyers in different fields and at different companies. Some of them want us to go into their offices to host one of our popular cake making team bonding, client and networking events. We’ve worked a lot with law firms over the years. They seem to really like how well are events work as icebreakers and bonding experiences. Once the cakes were baked I showed the girls how to trim the cakes using a cake cutter (a bit like a cheese wire) and a bread knife. Then I demonstrated filling and crumb coating the cakes. Finally I taught them how to ice the cakes with a palette knife and some different styles of decorations they could finish decorating the cakes with. As you can see they each did something totally unique in the cake class They were really thrilled with the end results and excited to take them home to show to their family and friends. What a great cake making birthday party Camilla had. And who knows, perhaps I will be seeing her soon at a cake making company event in her offices!

Vanilla Cupcake Class

This was a lovelys small cake making class. The ladies had a great time learning how to bake delicious vanilla cupcakes from scratch. This gave me the opportunity to work with each of them individually giving them tips and guidance on how to improve their cake baking and decorating techniques. Michelle was originally planning on bringing her 9yr old daughter as she is a passionate cake maker and really wanted to have a baking lesson. Unfortunately the daughter ended up double booked so she brought her friend instead. Michelle enjoyed herself so much that she is now planning on bringing her daughter back to do the same class! They did a great job with their baking and all turned out to be fairly proficient at piping buttercream swirls and by the time we finished they were getting to a near professional level of cake decorating. We spent a lot of time focused on creating beautiful buttercream roses. These are the one time of buttercream flowers that we cover in the beginners class. I love the fact that people can move from beginners to a high standard in a short time when it comes to piping swirls on cupcakes. They were thrilled with the end results. We even made a few extra cakes so that they could sample their creations and still take home a full box of a dozen of their gorgeous cupcake creations. What a great cake class!