Brand Activation For PlayStation

I had so much fun preparing for this cake making event. When I was asked if I could make edible lego bricks for this PlayStation bloggers event I jumped at the chance. Fondant icing is basically edible plastacine for grown ups. There is not a lot you can't do with it and there are a huge variety of molds available. I spent a few nights in front of the telly happily playing and creating a lot of bricks in different primary colours. As we thought that this brand launch would appeal mainly to boys we made sure there were plenty of football decorations and loads of blue icing. In fact we ended up with lots of girls and event more mums getting involved. The mums were particularly thrilled with the cake decorating as they didn't all want to spend the day playing computer games. As a result I met lot's of lovely new blogger mums whom I'm looking forward to checking out on social media.  It really was a great product launch, as well as the cake making and cupcake decorating, there was yummy food by Pear Drop catering, fun arts and crafts, colourful golf and PlayStation games obvs. I had an interesting chat with Ellie from Scummy Mummy's (who I am a big fan of) about my one and only gaming experience. It was many years ago when I got my daughter (now grown up) a copy of a game called Jak & Daxter. I become obsessed. I could barely leave the house until I'd completed all the levels. I vowed never to play again..... She is a gaming journo and it turned out she had helped come up with the name and written the journal for J & D! She then told me that the new 'Crash Bandicoot' game, being launched at the event was made by the same people. I looked across the room and even from a distance I could see that it had the same appealing visuals. I tore my eyes away and reminded myself of the vow I'd made many years earlier. The trouble with those PlayStation games is they are just so damn addictive! I really enjoyed making the edible PlayStation logos for the kids to colour in. My job is basically creating an environment for both adults and children to play. I think we all need more of that in our life! My little girls came for the last hour of the event and had a fab time going home with fabulous Tote bags that they'd decorated themselves. We all agreed it had been a really lovely event.

Expedia Team Event

When Expedia asked us to do this event we were only too happy to help. We get lots of requests for conference activities, team building and client events. This one was a bit different. Although all twelve of the attendees for our cake making, team bonding event worked in the same department, they weren't all in the same country. initially I found this surprising but seeing as Expedia are a worldwide travel company it did make sense. What's great is that they get together in one of the four different countries 4 times a year to do a team bonding event which is where we came in. Cake decorating is a great activity to do in order to get to know each other better. It's a really good ice breaker as there are so many opportunities to have a real laugh with each other. The speed cupcake decorating element is was very popular and led to mild hysterics as you can see! We really enjoyed hosting Expedia's fun filled cake decorating workshop and look forward to doing another with them. Perhaps tropical themed biscuit decorating would be appropriate....

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.

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.

Unicorn Rainbow Cake Table

I was really excited about doing this for Cosy's 6th birthday party. Having thought there was no theme she would like better (ever since her princess party last year) i was a bit miffed to discover that she wanted a My Little Pony one instead! Having already invested in unicorn balloons, plates etc I dug my heels in. As you can see she couldn't have been more thrilled with the results. I made a Rainbow Unicorn Cake, Rainbow Cupcakes, Unicorn Bark, Unicorn Cake Pops. Recipes to follow....

Family Hen Party

What a wonderful group of ladies came along to Sarita's cupcake decorating hen party. It was a family get together and included both the brides mum and the future mum in law. Who was clearly already a well loved member of the clan. They had a great time making cakes that looked really professional. I think that a couple of them were already quite experienced cake decorators, although they tried to keep that a secret! The girls were all limitting themselves to one cupcake each as they didn't want to eat too much pre wedding (especially the bride who didn't want to have her dress refitted!) They loved the huge variety of glitter and sprinkles we had provided and had a healthy bit of competition going with regards to who was piping the most perfect buttercream swirls.  A glass of bubbly got them in the hen party mood and by the end they were thrilled to be taking home 8 perfectly iced cupcake creations. They said it was well worth coming to London for the cake class hen day. In fact they are even talking about joining us for one of our cake baking classes in our North West London HQ. Maybe not before the honeymoon though!

Polly's Hen Party

Polly's hen was a fun mixture of tasteful and tacky. Her girls did a great job decorating our Covent Garden Venue with vintage style banners and bunting. They ensured there was a light sprinkling of smut with her 'cupcake boobies' apron and other naughty 'bit's and pieces?! (Maybe you can spot some in the pics)'. The cupcake workshop hen party was a lovely mix of girls including her mum and a cross section of friends from school, work and uni. They absolutely loved the class and did a great job with their cupcake decorating. As you can see they were very focused on their cake making. Loving the edible decorations especially the hearts and glitter. There were a couple of anatomically correct creations which lead to much hilarity amongst the ladies who had by then got stuck into the bubbly. After they had finished their cupcake making they went to the private room next door where they sat down to a delicious meal and more party games.

Fun Cupcake Class

What a lovely way to start the weekend spending time with these gorgeous girls teaching them my cake baking and decorating techniques. This group was nice and small so I got to spend lots of one to one time demonstrating the tricky Rose Swirl. Everyone in the class was fairly new to cake making so they gained a lot of knowledge in this 2hr class. We worked with delicious cream cheese frosting and piped a variety of swirls. All the girls were thrilled with their cupcake decorating technique by the end of the class. As long as they go away and practice their Rose swirl technique they will all be ready to move on to my intermediate class soon. I'm really looking forward to seeing them again soon. http://www.cookiegirl.co.uk/empty-land/

Team Building Event with TK Max

This was a really entertaining and effective team event. The participants created their own 'Ultimate Cupcake' from a variety of different flavoured cakes, fillings and icings. Then they tasted them and picked the best to represent each of their teams. After naming the cupcake they had to brainstorm a brand including shops, packaging, pitch and slogan. The winning cupcake was delicious. It was a banana cake filled with peanut butter and topped with chocolate buttercream. They named it 'Chunky Monkey'. This was their leaping off point for the brand. This was their pitch- 'Man cakes, not fairy cakes. Cakes for men, real men. Men with beards.' Their concept was a chain of shops looking like caves with vines and monkeys hanging from the ceiling. The customers would be served by men in loincloths with, you guessed it, beards! The whole room was in hysterics by the end and there was no doubt that they would take home the prize. They got a copy of my recipe book as well as a Cookie Girl branded cake decorating kit each. If you want to do a similar event then call us on- 020 3573 9135

Unilever Cake Class Client Event

This was an event that we hosted for Unilever and their clients. As you can see they found it a huge amount of fun and a really bonding experience. They loved the fact that we organised the whole event for them. This meant that the could have their drinks, cake workshop and supper all at the same venue (the fabulous Crusting Pipe in Covent Garden). We provided everything that was required for the event, leaving them free to relax, chat and get to know each other better. They were thrilled with how much they accomplished with their piping and decorating. Plus they all went away with boxes of their lovingly created cupcakes. The memories of the event will stay with them long after the cakes have been demolished and they will be able to test out their new found skills every time they have an office bake sale.

If you would like to experience one of our workshops or for us to create something bespoke for you then do let us now- info@cookiegirl.co.uk.