Hello all, Hope you are all well, on his cold march day! We get the odd ray of sunshine and i get my hopes up that Spring is finally here, but alas, i am always wrong. I hope it doesnt take too long, i am looking forward to some nice weather!

Well, had a few cakes this month which have kept me slightly busy! I had a very last minute pool table cake request :-S it was definatly a learning experience, would like to try it again, and maybe do certain bits differently as it wasn't quite what i wanted it to be.


I had a 60th Birthday cake too, wasn't too big as they were not having a party, just some friends. I was really pleased with this, i wanted simple, and clean, and the wife who requested insisted on a 60 just to rub it in abit more!! haha.




I also rustled up some cupcakes for two of my closest friends Birthdays, they were almond and vanilla with a yummy cream cheese frosting and decorated with handmade letters and flowers.



There were more cupcakes for my brothers girlfriends birthday, pink, orange and black! very bright!




I am beyond excited about Emilys 1st Birthday cake, have been making some of the decorations for it this week as i wanted to do all of the decorations myself. Next week will be very busy, got alot of baking, cooking, prep to do, but will be sure to post after her party!

Mandy xx

Hot Pink (hands!) Cake

Hello all! Just thought i would pop on and share with you my latest cake for a 17th Birthday. I was told she likes Pink and Black and nice and simple, not too fussy, so i got thinking and this popped in to my head, and it actually turned out almost exactly how i had it in my head!

It is Vanilla sponge with sandwiched with buttercream and jam and covered in Hot pink icing and lots of little handmade black flowers. It was the first time id made these type of flowers and i made tonnes, had a case of cramp in my hands after a couple of hours! The icing took a little while to get the correct shade of pink, but after alot of kneading and pink food colouring, the cake (and my hands!) were a lovely shade of pink! The photos aren't brilliant, really need to invest in a decent camera.

I have been asked to do a 60th birthday cake for March and a 'fun' 80th one for June, so have got my thinking cap on to come up with some ideas, hoping they tell me of some interests or past hobbies, this should be fun!

Also planning my daughters party and cake and i just keep getting so excited,i can't believe my baby is going to be one next month!

Take Care, Speak soon!
Mandy xx

Who loves Red Velvet!? Me!

Well i promised some photos so here they are! My Red Velvet cake went down very well, who can deny themselves the pleasure of deep red sponge and lashings of cream cheese frosting! Now, please excuse the writing, my weakness, i will get better! Also did a batch of brownies, one of my favourites, fudgy, nutty and full of chocolate!

HAPPY NEW YEAR - 2010!

Hello and a Happy New Year to my faithful followers!

It’s been a chaotic and fun-filled Christmas, made wonderful by the snow (that which puts the rest of the country into chaos is a field day for us non-drivers!). I have to be honest, my commitment to baking this holiday has been mediocre at best so I have little bit of catching up to do. I will, however, post some photos of the projects I did get around to and a collection of cupcakes and cakes that I have baked since the summer.

I am now starting to plan my beautiful daughter’s 1st birthday party and am unnaturally excited! I have some wonderful ideas for her cake, including some new techniques I am hoping to perfect

Leisure baking aside, I have made it my New Year’s resolution to get my business up and running this year. I have almost decided on a name for the business, i will reveal that very soon and i also have a couple of kind friends working on a logo for me. Besides those technicalities I need to get registered and, frighteningly, hold my first farmers market!

As we speak I am in the kitchen (with the kids in bed) baking a three layer red velvet cake (one of my favourites I must confess, a delight to the eyes and taste buds!). It is my first attempt at it in cake form, rather than cupcake, and I am just preparing the cream cheese frosting. For my sins, I am also baking brownies at the moment which are my family’s favourite so they won’t be around for long! (It may sound idyllic to live in such an environment but trust me, if you value your waistline you would disagree!)

I have more photos on my flickr account under mandylp1, accessible here: www.flickr.com/mandylp1. This will be updated in the next few days so watch this space!
Thanks for visiting!

Mandy

My first post!

Hello!

Welcome to my very first blog post! I am still getting to grips with this bloggin business so please bear with me!

For those of you who have not been pressured into visiting this blog and have, instead, stumbled upon it whilst travelling the interwebs, Welcome to you! I am Mandy! I'm 22 and I live with my fiance and two children, Ben, 3 and Emily, 8 months, and I like to bake!

I've always enjoyed being in the kitchen, cooking and baking, and trying new things for family members' birthday! There's nothing better than seeing someones face light up when they see a home-made cake, crafted especially for them! I never took it too seriously and did it because I really enjoyed it, but more recently I realised how much I get out of it. The variety of different cakes and bakes that are out there, and the room for personal creativity, leave me drooling at the mouth as I think of the possibilities!

I have spent this summer busy in the kitchen, baking more than usual for every birthday, christening and get-together, to brush up on my skills and experiment with flavours and designs (enjoying chef's perogative as taste-tester too!) and have realised that it is a true passion - my favourite project being cupcakes! It has sparked something in me, so you are witnessing the birth of what I hope will become a successful business. I have a fair way to go, and lots to do, but please follow me on my journey; I'm going to need all the support I can get!

I am planning to start with the local farmers market to get an idea of my target market and which would be the best-sellers. This will also give me an opportunity to talk with potential customers, and also bless my little community with some beautiful cupcakes! I am looking forward to my first experience of the market and feel I will learn an awful lot from it too.

I will keep my blog updated with pictures of the cakes I am working on and my progress with the business too.

Please come back and visit me soon!

Mandy

x