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.
Brides Magazine Live
We were thrilled to be invited by Conde Nast Brides Magazine to do a cake making workshop at their live show as they thought it would inspire their visitors to do it as a fun hen activity. . I went to host the workshop myself and I took along a small film crew who are making a little promo for us. I really wanted to give the group of 16 a taste each of our different cupcake decorating levels. So they had the opportunity to work with cream cheese icing as well as buttercream. The girls applied themselves to the cake making lesson and got some amazing results. After piping a variety of swirls and leaves they did an amazing job on their buttercream ruffles and buttercream flowers during their cake class. Some of them were really keen on booking their hen parties with us. One girl wanted to know if we could come to Oxford for her hen do and I said that as long as it was a large group we would be able to do that. At the end of the cake decorating class they were very happy with their end results and we packed every ones cakes up for them to take home and share with their families. We are really looking forward to seeing ourselves featured in Brides magazine in a couple of months.
Hen Day Cake Making
What a brilliant time we had hosting a cupcake making hen party for Bhavini. It was a big group of 20 hens for the hen do, including family and friends from all over the country. They had a great, bonding time learning how to ice and decorate 8 cupcakes each. It was a great cake making ice breaking event and despite the fact that most of the girls were meeting each other for the first time there was soon a great atmosphere with everyone laughing and joking together. Most of them couldn't resist tasting their cupcakes during the class and were thrilled to discover that as they were hand made (by me) they tasted delicious. I even made some vegan versions for those with special dietary requirements. At the end of the cake workshop they were thrilled with there end results and happy to be taking home their cupcakes as well as a fantastic new skill set! All in all they loved there hen activity.
Kate's Hen Do
What a great time Kate and her Hens had at her cake making hen do. Her mum had come all the way over from Oz with one of her oldest friends (Kate is Australian). The rest of the Hen Party where made up of stage managers from various west end shows. They did a fantastic job with their cupcake decorating creating some beautiful buttercream swirls. As you can see there was a lot of laughter between them all. As they were a small group it was a lovely intimate event and I was able to give them lots of individual attention. At the end of the cake class they couldn't help but admire their cake making achievements and were thrilled to be able to take back their beautiful cupcake creations to share with their friends and family.
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!
Made in Chelsea Hen Party
Emilys sister Rachael did a fantastic job getting 20 of her nearest and dearest to Londons Sloane Square for a fab cupcake decorating hen workshop. They had come all the way from Stoke to celebrate Emilys hen day in style in London. Instead of staying in hotels they had the genius idea of booking into a serviced apartment building to celebrate the hen night. That meant not only could they make there own meals but they also had space for me to host a cake making hen party there. The girls were from a variety of professions including police officers, teachers and bankers. They got the hang of the hen activity quickly. They perfected the swirl piping techniques and were soon decorating to a professional standard. They were such a fun group of hens and there was a lot of hilarity involved and even a little bit of accidental cupcake sabotage. They all had the most fantastic hen day and the ladies were over the moon with the end results of their cake decorating efforts. When I left the hen party was continuing as they were on their way to get blow dries before their big hen night out. They were certainly making the most of their trip to the capital.
Hannah's Afternoon Tea Hen
When we were asked to host an afternoon tea hen party for 18 I wasn't quite sure our kitchen was big enough. It turned out to be one of the most fun events that we've done here at Cookie Girl HQ. As you can see from the photos bride to be Hannah and her friends and family could not have had more fun. Her sister Naomi did a wonderful job planning the cake making class and afternoon tea. Naomi, her mum and Auntie arrived early to decorate very tastefully as you can see from the photos. We started off with a delicious afternoon tea created by me (obvs). This consisted of; Scones, Chocolate eclairs, Mille Feuille, Strawberry Tarts and Chocolate Brownies. Alongside a selection of sandwiches, curtesy of M&S, (there is a limit to what I can make for a group of this size!). And lashings of tea (English Breakfast & Earl Grey) as well as Cappuccinos. Once they had eaten their fill we moved on to the real reason they were there. The cake decorating class. The girls loved learning how to perfect the art of cake decorating using a variety of coloured butter cream, glitter and edible decorations. The decorated cupcakes they created were really beautiful and they were thrilled to take them home to show off to friends and family. They were a really lovely group and hopefully some of them will come back to take one of our cake, biscuit or cupcake baking classes. Or maybe they will decide to build on their skills and join us for an intermediate or advanced cupcake decorating class in the future.
Mariam's Cake Baking Birthday Party
Mariam had the great idea to have a cake making class for her birthday. She is a big fan of The Great British Bake Off and really wanted to have her very own cake class. She got together seven of her dearest friends and together they baked up a storm in our lovely HQ kitchen at their very own cake baking class in London. They really appreciated the relaxed atmosphere and the fact that it felt like they were 'home from home'. They did a great job making the cupcakes from scratch using free range eggs and butter to ensure the tastiest, most melt in the mouth cupcakes imaginable. They then showed off their competitive piping skills which I must say were generally very impressive and led to some beautifully decorated cakes. They were thrilled with the end results from their cake class and excited to be taking their freshly baked cakes home to share with their families. As a lot of them are getting married soon there was a lot of talk about hen parties. It was even discussed that they could do one of our cake making hen days. Watch this space as they may all be back to improve their skills before too long!
Afternoon Tea Hen Party
I was asked by Natalie, who was organising Weeta's cake making hen party, if I would also be able to provide them with afternoon tea. Although I new that it would be a lot of extra work I though 'Why not?'. It gave me the opportunity to create some delicious pastries which was a refreshing change from my usual repertoire of cakes, cookies and biscuits. As well as a selection of savoury sandwiches I made them; plain, fruit and gluten free scones. All served with clotted cream and strawberry jam. They then tucked into; mini Mille Feuille, mini strawberry & vanilla tartlets, mini lemon meringue pies, mini pecan brownies and mini chocolate eclairs. Needless to say this was one group of hens that didn't get started on the cupcakes they had made during their cake making class. As far as hen days go it was a very civilised one with only a couple of bottles of bubbly drunk but much fun and games had by all. Weeta is lucky to have such a wonderful group of friends who ensured her hen party was a day to be remembered.