Macmillan Coffee Morning

09/13

image

As many other people yesterday, I took part in a Macmillan Coffee Morning at the Pro Health Therapy Rooms in Maidstone and it was amazing!

Fresh from the She Who Bakes kitchen was a luscious lemon cake, a moist carrot cake, hidden Oreo cupcakes with an Oreo cream cheese frosting, madagascan vanilla cupcakes and milk choc chip cupcakes with a salted caramel frosting!

As well as tasty treats, there was also face painting from ‘In Your Face‘ (Great name!), beautiful jewellery from Kathryn Cooper Jewellery, Georgina making a cracking cuppa and Nicola proving to be the hostest with the mostest!

But the BIGGEST news of the day was the beautiful and amazing Ali Hollands, local hypnotherapist (probably the best in the world fyi) who had her head shaved to raise money!!

Running TOTAL is £633.02 – BUT there is still time to donate! You can now Text to Donate £5 on 70550 using code COFFEE 1GM!

Here are some pictures to sum up the day!

image

Britt xo

 

Then & Now

09/13

Hey Muffins.

Hope you are ok and enjoying the crisp Autumnal weather! I know I am.

Todays post is all about personal growth. When I first started baking and cake decorating I was so proud of each and everything thing I created. Mainly because I’d never been that sort of girl to know her way around a kitchen. So with every cake and bake, I grew more and more in love with it.

Now, a few years down the line, even though I look back at my previous creations and think they aren’t great, it will never take away the feeling of happiness and pride that I felt when making them.

The old adage that practice makes perfect is so true. I’m learning new and wonderful things every day and I’m a firm believer in the fact that we never really stop learning! (Or making mistakes, but they are lessons in disguise!)

I recently made a Christening cake for the daughter of an old school friend. It was a three tier, simple but girly cake that I really enjoyed making. It got me thinking of the first ever tiered cake I made. I was practising and made it for a friends birthday in January 2011. Whilst I was very proud of the finished result, it was one of the hardest and most stressful things I had ever created. It brought me to tears and there and then I wanted to quit and never ice a cake for as long as I lived.

But when it was stacked up (wrongly, I hasten to add), I was so happy. And I knew that it was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

On the left is my first ever tiered cake which brought me through so much emotional turmoil, and on the right is the Christening cake which got picked up yesterday and caused me no trouble whatsoever.

Find something you love to do, and you’ll never work a day in your life” – Harvey MacKay


Happy Baking!

Britt xo

Cake and Bake Show 2013

09/13

Hello Muffins!

Hope you are all ok!

This weekend I was lucky enough to be invited along to the Cake and Bake Show at Earl’s Court as Sainsbury’s guest. I had a fabulous day, saw some old friends and made some new ones too!

Highlights of the day definitely include meeting all the lovely guys and girls from Great British Bake Off past and present. Catching up with Luisa Zissman from The Apprentice and her fab company The Baker Shop. (VERY excited for the release of her fabulous new brain child The Bakers Toolkit!) Being in a Q&A on the Lakeland stage with the charismatic Eric Lanlard. Watching Stacie Stewart on the Cake Kitchen. So much cake and bake awesome.

Special mention really needs to go to The Marshmallowists, who serve delicious gourmet marshmallows. You need to check them out!

Also a MASSIVE thank you to Sainsbury’s and if you are interested in baking you NEED to check out their new range. Fab baking products at affordable prices. Themed decorations and easy to use kits perfect for doing with the kids!

Britt xo

Q&A with Cat Dresser

09/13

image

Hello Muffins!

The very lovely Cat Dresser from 2012’s Great British Bake Off has been kind enough to answer a few of my questions about her experience on GBBO. Cat is honestly, one of the nicest , most talented people I have ever met.

Thanks for this Cat! So what made you audition for GBBO?

I am a super mega GBBO fan and loved it from series 1. I looked at the application form for series 2, just out of curiosity, filled it in, sent it away and heard nothing at all (as expected). I watched and loved series 2, and did the same again…obviously knowing I would again not hear anything…but I did! I was SO shocked and never ever imagined that I would actually have been selected!

Was the audition process tough?

The audition process is top secret, but I can tell you that it is a long process and there’s lots involved but it was so much fun at every stage!

What was it like baking in front of the camera?

Baking in front if the cameras was initially terrifying but as you get to know the amazing crew you begin to relax and settle into it, plus the baking is the most important thing to you while you’re there and so this remains more of a focus than the cameras.

How/where did your love of baking start?

I am from a food obsessed family and my mum and three aunties are all incredible bakers (better than me…shhh!!!) so I have always been surrounded by wonderful things to eat, picking things up along the way.  Then I left home and had children and wanted to give them this love and experience too and so started to bake a lot more on my own, for and with them.

What was your favourite week on GBBO as in, what wsa your favourite bake?

I loved making my Wellington (giant sausage roll) the most mainly as it was the thing that all my family loved best during practice and also it went well on the day too and Mary really liked and understood my recipe.

What has been the most amazing thing to happen since doing GBBO?
I have been so incredibly lucky during and after Gbbo, I guess the most amazing thing is my book, I couldn’t have imagined doing any of the things I have done and am so indescribably grateful!

What advice would you give to someone wanting to audition?

My advice for someone wanting to audition is…. GO FOR IT, I can’t describe what a wonderful thing it is! Be Very honest with your application but also think of ways to really show and describe your skill and love!

Thank you again Cat for being part of She Who Bakes.

You can follow Cats adventures on twitter here;

https://twitter.com/cat_dresser

Happy baking!

Britt xo

Sign Up to my Newsletter

Subscribe here to my newsletter!

Designed by Clockwork Moggy
503 Service Unavailable

Service Unavailable

The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later.

Additionally, a 503 Service Unavailable error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.