French fancies...

I popped over the channel for my dad's birthday and visited the lovely sea-side town of Boulogne.

I spent perhaps longer than a normal person should staring at these pastries in a patisserie window.

Election day cookies

Happy day-after election day!

I hope everyone who could voted, I certainly did. It was my first ever time and I was grinning like an idiot at the people at the polling station.

Here are some cookies to celebrate by xmalik

Zara's Happy Biscuits

Wowowow! I love these biscuits! Doesn't looking at them just cheer you up during this stupid fake English summer? 19 degrees yet no sunshine, it's just not right.

Tuck into these and dream of being somewhere scorching.

Thanks to Tomayto Tomaaahto for these. What a great blog name!

♥

Green Tea Doughnuts!

I'm all for experimenting, so give this a go...Green Tea Doughnuts!

Looks interesting to say the least! I love doughnuts and green tea, so perhaps the two together will be spectacular!

Enjoy!

♥

Vanilla and Dulce de Leche (Cajeta) Macarons

I have previously said how much I am in love with caramel...so when I saw these very tempting looking macaroons with Dulce de leche in I had to post them on here.

I scanned the list of ingredients to see if I could make them right away, but unfortunately blanched almond flour isn't a staple in my cupboards. I think this calls for a special trip to the shops.

To have a go at making these yourself, pop over to Teenie Cakes.








Happy baking!

♥

Easter cupcakes

Today, I am not alone in my baking. I have been joined by my dearest friend Kez.

We spent the whole day baking Easter cupcakes at her house. We used a recipe from the book she bought me for Christmas which I featured on here on my Christmas present post.

The cupcakes are a basic vanilla flavour with buttercream icing. And of course, they tasted wonderful!

We both had never used piping nozels before, so please don't judge our attempts too harshly :)

- Cooked 'til they're springy








A lesson to be learned. Never cook cupcakes on a wire wrack. It doesn't work.



Kaz & Kez

♥

St. Patrick's Day

These adorable shamrock cookies are by Brown Eyed Baker.
Makes me green with envy that I'm not Irish...(come on, there had to be a pun here somewhere...)

Cakeadoodle

Cakeadoodle are a North-West London based cupcakery who make cupcakes to order for any occassion as well as holding decorating parties, for kids and grown ups alike.

Pick your favourite from their website. Mine is the chocolate Labrador :)

Mothering Sunday

It's Mother's Day soon, for British readers anyway, and who else is more worthy of some delicious cupcakes than the special lady who fed you Calpol when you were poorly and kissed all those grazed knees better?!

Here are some ideas:

This reminds me of the, perhaps slightly over-used, I ♥ NY t-shirts, but New York is cool, and the only thing I know which is cooler than NY is my mum (and yours)...so these are pretty apt! From Cupcake Decorating Ideas

If your mum is the classic Brie-from-Desperate-Housewives-Martha-Stewart-without-the-imprisonment type, these are perfection! I love the idea of having the design running over several cupcakes instead of being confined to just one tiny canvas. By Cupcakekasih

Bakerella just never gets it wrong! Serve this cupcake to a delighted young-at-heart mum on mother's day.

These are very pretty and very Cath Kidston. Sometimes a lot of decoration can take away from cupcakes looking edible, let alone delicious, but that icing looks very tempting!

More ideas coming soon!

♥

Epicuuuute

My lovely friend Kez (who also works at the bakery I work at...my nickname is Kaz...how confusing is that?!) showed me this blog, EpiCute, and I posted it on here right away!

Get ready for a cute and pink overload!

Caramel Cupcakes

I got this nice surprise in my inbox today in my StumpleUpon recommended cooking site email.

I love caramel. So much so that love is the only word I can use. Nothing else can describe my feelings towards caramel.

If you share similar feelings towards this sugary confection, have a go at making these caramel cupcakes from the Piece of Cake blog.

Valentine's meal ideas - Meat Lovers

A meat lover's starter. This is a light way to start a Valentine's meal. There's nothing worse than feeling stuffed by the first course on a date!

Parma ham and melon salad

Valentine's meal ideas - Vegetarian Starter

Valentine's Day can be a chore. There's the pressure of letting your loved one know you care without looking clingy and insane. You have to buy a meaningful present, while steering clear of anything either fluffy or stuffed. Or both.

Cooking dinner together, or ,if one of you lacks basic culinary skill, cooking for your partner can be the perfect way to spend time together and feel close on Valentine's Day.

Cake and Saucer is here to help cater to every palette so the big day runs smoothly.

Today's recipe - Vegetarian Starter

Valentine's cupcakes

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you my Valentine's Day post! It's just a few days away now, but there's still time for all of you romantics out there to prepare.

I've picked a selection of photos that show the endless ideas to impress your Valentine with. There's something for everyone, from cute pink fairy cakes to utterly sinful chocolate cupcakes.

Valentine's Day is one of those occasions where making something yourself, however unsuccessful it is, is truly appreciated. So this year, take inspiration from these amazing cakes and have a go at making something beautiful for your loved one!

My Sweet and Saucy

These cupcakes by My Sweet and Saucy are simply stunning. They manage to be detailed and intricate yet elegant at the same time. If you're feeling brave, here is the tutorial on how to make them. They are by far my favourite.

Kumquat Cupcakery

These pretty cupcakes are perfect for those who prefer a more subtle approach to celebrating Valentine's Day. These mini-cupcakes are from Kumquat Cupcakery in NYC.

If you really want to go alternative this Sunday, they also sell maple bacon mini cupcakes!

Tortentante

Sometimes, you just need to let your partner know...

By Tortentante

Abbietabbie

Abbietabbie is a lady I found on flickr who describes herself as someone "who makes cakes as a hobby", which goes to show you don't have to own a bakery to put a lot of effort into what you do! Her other cakes are very impressive, but I love how simply and effective these are.

Breeleed

Breeleed made these beautifully iced cupcakes for her grandma, which reminds me of when my mum used to send cards to my brother and I pretending they were from secret admirers.

Mirabelle

If you are secretly admiring someone and feel it's time to let them know, just say the words Belgian white chocolate ivy leaves on a ganache glazed chocolate cake and watch them fall in love with you. You can thank me with an invite to your wedding.

Tasquah

Red Velvet cupcake filled with Barvarian cream and frosted with cream cheese, butter cream and topped with chocolate swirls and a dark chocolate dove heart...

This cupcake makes me want to hyperventilate...

Taking the big step of sharing these with someone definitely shows you love them.

Here's some more inspiration that Blogger won't let me share...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebleedingheartbakery/4284503761/in/set-72157623235332164/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pastrychef_gaby/3679336257/

Wedding proposal

This is too adorable!

Read about how a man proposed to his cake-loving girlfriend.

This also ties in with how soppy I am and therefore how much I enjoyed reading people's comments on LoveGivesMeHope.

Just to clarify, I'm not an old spinster longing for a marriage proposal whilst feeding my 200 cats. I'm just a hopeless romantic. Honest!

Come back soon for my Valentines cupcake post that I've been raving about on here! It will come, just after I have finished my NCTJ exams. (Shorthand on Friday, wish me luck!)

Lola's Apple Pie

There's something very homely about deserts with apples in. Apple always seem to be a key ingredient in what someone's Grandmother makes and their whole family loves. Apply pie, apple crumble, apple strudel are all family favourites that excited friends have told me about.

So, I had to share this recipe for Lola's Apple Pie that I found on Foodbuzz. It would be wonderful to think that something I posted on here would one day be a family's favourite Sunday lunch treat!

It looks like proper winter comfort food and altogether rather scrumptious! I'm also enjoying the presence of a cheeky single walnut on top too.

Happy cooking!

A very sad story.

Richard Harris – MacArthur Park

Wind up your Spotify and get out your tissues!

(If you've never heard this song...I've posted it for "LOL TIMES" because the chorus involves a cake catastrophe!)

Valentines cupcakes - pre-blogging excitement

I promised that I would show you some cupcakes I found that are perfect for Valentine's day. Then I found some more, and more, and more...

So I'm just going to do a post about all the Valentines cupcakes that I find I instantly fall in love with...it's likely there will be quite a few...

Don't forget to check back for my Valentines extravaganza at the beginning of February!

(Also to my darling boy friend who I expect to read my blog religiously, HINT ;] )

Absolutely LOVE this cupcake by Bakerella!

She's the one who came up the ingenious idea of cake pops which are adorable. The portions are pretty ingenious too seeing as its January and cakes are a bit naughty this time of year...

Hello Kitty cake pops, what's not to love?!

I digress. This cupcake is stunning and links nicely into the whole rockabilly trend that's going on at the moment.

Perhaps a nice idea for a less conventional Valentines day gift? Personally I'm not into the whole teddy bear and chocolates thing...

Speaking of Valentines, nearer the occasion I will post some amazing Valentines cupcakes I found a while ago. They are beautiful and worth the wait. Watch this space.

Pacman cookies

I wish I'd thought of this!

Turn a tulip shaped cookie cutter upside-down and voilà, pacman cookies!

Banana and Chocolate Mascarpone Crepes

Unfortunately I haven't been as attentive to my poor blog than I would like to be recently. I have my first NCTJ shorthand exam in two days and duty calls! I still haven't made a single recipe from the cookery books I got for Christmas.

However, I can't help but notice how utterly sinful and delicious these banana and chocolate mascarpone crepes I found on foodbuzz are!

Even though I don't have time to make them, that doesn't mean you can't have a go!

Here's the recipe!

Photos and verdicts are welcome!

Beardyman Kitchen Diaries

It ain't all about the bakin'!