Oh my goodness!! I have just received the sweetest gift. Belinda Bassett drew me this fabulous picture to congratulate me on hitting 20K likes on Facebook. Thank you so so much! I LOVE IT!!!
(For those who don’t know just how obsessed I am with Doctor Who, which explains the 10th Doctor themed apron and SONIC WHISK!)

Britt xo

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1. You will need modelling paste, three dowels, a rolling pin and a cornflour dusted surface.
2. Roll out a strip of your modelling paste to the thickness of about 3mm.
3. Space your dowels evenly on your surface.
4. Lay your modelling paste over the top and gently press down onto the dowels, making sure you can clearly see them through the paste.
5. Pull your dowels out carefully.
6. Pinch together the modelling paste to create pleats. 
7. Cut off both ends and affix to your cake with edible glue.

Hope it helps and make sure to let me know on Facebook or Twitter how you get on!

Britt xo

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Afternoon all!

The other day I was told about a Jane Asher range of bakeware at Poundland. So, I of course had to go check it out! I’m not going to lie, I was very impressed. Even in my local store which isn’t that big, there was a large range of baking equipment from tins to whisks to liners.

Now, if anything costs £1 you are obviously going to be skeptical. I was. So I picked up 5 items I actually needed as it’s easy to go a bit mad when things are so cheap!

I got a tin, a cake set complete with slice and cake forks, a zester, a cake pop set (20 sticks, bags and ties) and 40 cake tin circles.

Having opened and used all the products, I must say they are good quality and I’m especially impressed by the cake tin circles! Pre-cut for the lazy cow in me and they work perfectly!

The tin is small but great for storage. The cake slice & forks and zester are sturdy and work great. And the cake pop kit is fab, everything you need for 20 cake pops.

I don’t know how they have done it, it must be witchcraft in my opinion but I’m really impressed and will be stocking up before they sell out!

To see the full range you can check out the Jane Asher section of their website here.

Happy baking (for £1!)

Britt xo

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She Who Bakes goes to France – the vlog!

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Hello muffins, hope you are all well.

So, last week my good friend Travis and I went on a French adventure. We got an early ferry from Dover to Calais and spent the morning driving along the French coast. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. On our drive we stopped at Nord-Pas-De-Calais and basically had the beach to ourselves!

We drove down to Boulogne, parked up and went for a walk. Found a fab place to have lunch and started to discover! We found a beautiful patisserie called MTD Lestienne where I picked up some colourful and delicious macarons (with one ‘o’ because you can’t get more french than a macaron made and bought in France… But let’s not start THAT debate again…)

We continued onwards only to fall into a beautiful chocolate shop called Leonidas. I bought a selection of chocolates and went on my merry way happy with my purchases!

After more shopping, sun and sweets, we headed back to Calais for some duty free before getting an evening ferry back to England.

After a fun filled day in France, Travis and I were shattered!

But I had an amazing day, met some lovely bakers and chocolatiers, did some networking (never a day off…) filmed some short videos too and you can see my fabulously edited vlog on YouTube here.

Britt xo

*Some photos shamelessly stolen from Travis’ Instagram which can be found here.

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Hello muffins!

As promised here is my article all about the #AOcooks first blogger event in partnership with Neff for a day of demos and baking at the Neff’s test kitchens in Milton Keynes with special guest John Whaite (off of Great British Bake Off! He won in 2012 and is one of the nicest guys I have ever met.)

When I got to the centre I was greeted by some familiar faces from Neff whom I have met before and some new guys an gals from ao.com. I was given my name badge and a coffee, which was much needed after the train journey from London! After all the tweeting, it was really nice to meet my fellow bloggers and writers in person too!

We were then given a tour around the showroom by the lovely Stephen who is the head trainer at Neff. Turns out, he’s a fellow Maidstonian! I fell in love with all of the Neff appliances. From the Slide & Hide oven which is one of my favourite things (Although, they seemed to forget to put one in my goody bag…) the Aqua Assist and all of the touchy hobs. (They were touch sensitive, not angry.)

We were then moved into the meeting room where we had a brief overview of the Neff brand and AO.com as a company. And we got to view the cool stop motion videos! (I will share links to these at the bottom of the page)

Carl Andreas Neff founded the company in 1877 and it was made originally and still to this day for people with a passion for cooking. He famously said;

“The heart of the kitchen isn’t the oven, it’s the people”

In 2013, one in five ovens sold in the UK was a Neff. They have also branched out into the ‘Bake it Yourself’ brand which is a great forum for bakers and cooks at all levels. There is a Facebook page, twitter page and free app that goes with this. I recommend you check this out!

AO.com was started in 1999 after a bet in a pub! This solidifies my beliefs that bets in pubs are a good thing for all those concerned! (See; Dave Gorman…) AO.com has 1.38 million ‘likes’ on Facebook – a million more than rival Currys PC World. The electricals specialist offers customers Eco Delivery whereby customers can choose to cut their carbon emissions by opting to receive their goods at a time when one of its lorries is in its area.

We then got to move into the test kitchen where John Whaite and Neff’s Home Economist, Lynn Williams were waiting. John was a delight as always. Very friendly and welcoming and it was great to see him again. Lynn once again showcased her talent as we watched her bake salmon and watercress tartlets and lemon and poppyseed muffins. Here’s the kicker though people, these two bakes were put in the SAME oven. Neff were proving that their CircoTherm technology means that the smells and flavours do not blend into one another when baking. These were put into the oven and left to bake whilst we all had some fun.

John then showed us how to bake cranberry and orange scones. I’d like to point out at this point that Mr Whaite loves a scone. He is full of handy tips and tricks to get the perfect one and I’m hoping he takes my advice and brings out a book that is exclusively scones!

Once the demo was complete we were then allowed to get stuck in! Everyone partnered off and I was with Stephen, the super cool head trainer I mentioned earlier! Under the counter were all the weighed out ingredients to make cheese scones. Some of the room also had cheese scones and some had the cranberry and orange ingredients the same as John. It all felt very Great British Bake Off – I loved it! 

Once the scones were mixed, cut and in the oven, we had time for a cup of tea and a taste test! The scones and tartlets that were baking in the same oven were now ready for us to try and, as promised, none of us could tell the difference! The amazing Neff CircoTherm technology was clearly demonstrated. The air is circulated around each rack and does not mix or mingle the flavours meaning the muffins weren’t unaffected by the salmon tartlets. I was super impressed and fell a little bit more in love with the Neff ovens than I already was! (Seriously guys, there WASN’T one in my goody bag…)

We were then told that tea was served and were brought into the beautifully decorated dining room where all of our scones were laid out as well as the salmon and watercress tartlets, lemon and poppyseed muffins, goats cheese tartlets, quiche and other tasty goodies! I found a seat, poured myself a cup of tea and got stuck in. Everything was so tasty! 

John and I had a discussion about which should go first on a scone, the jam or the clotted cream. We didn’t come to any sort of agreement I don’t think as we were too busy eating them!

Once we could not eat another bite, we finished off the day with a Q&A session with the guest of honour himself, John Whaite Bakes. (That’s actually how you have to say his name.) I will be posting the Q&A as a separate blog post with all the gossip soon!

After a fun and informative afternoon it was sadly time to leave. We were given our goody bags which contained all sorts of treats, including our scones, John’s cookbooks, a Neff recipe book, a selection of tea and AO tea towels! The books made for great reading on the train home and I can’t wait to try some of the recipes!

All in all it was a brilliant day. I want to thank AO.com for inviting me as a special guest, Neff for hosting in their fabulous kitchens and John Whaite for being a fountain of knowledge as always. I hope to see every one who went again very soon.

Until next time, happy baking.

Britt. xo

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This week I received something very lovely from the equally lovely people over at The Cupcake Company. I now have my very own ‘She Who Bakes’ stamp to brand every cake that leaves my kitchen.

It’s small and discreet, like a clothing label! And I’ve been putting it on the back in the cake’s colour scheme. Like a signature!

So, here’s the stamp;

And here’s the Planes birthday cake;

How cute is the stamp!! I think it’s fab.

If you would like to order one you can do so here.

Happy baking!

Britt xo

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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!

Britt xo

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I have been chosen by Sainsbury’s to be one of their official food bloggers!!! I am SO excited!!!!

I am now listed on their media pages and they have given me this review;

‘She who Bakes, aka blogger Britt, certainly knows how to keep her kitchen sugary sweet. Challenge yourself to keep up with her step-by-step guide to creating ‘gooey nutty marshmallow chocolate fudge’, testing your taste buds as well as your talents. There are simpler ideas too; her meringue kisses are a simpler way to satisfy your sweet tooth.’

Check out their ‘Meet the Bloggers’ page and find me here.

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On my trip to Sainsbury’s today, I spotted several new products in the ‘home baking’ section. (Even if I don’t need anything, I still find myself wandering that way subconsciously… Well played Sainsbury’s.) There are now things on sale, shall we say, generally, that not so long ago you would have only been able to find in specialist cake baking and decorating shops. So imagine my surprise when I stumbled across this little beauty;

As sad as I am, I grabbed it instantly. As far as I’m aware (and please, correct me if I’m wrong) I’ve never seen flower paste or modelling paste sold commercially in a supermarket before, so I was very excited. And at £2.50 for 250g it was fantastic value.

Once I got it home, the fun began. The packet says it’s ‘perfect for modelling cake decorations’ so I thought I would put it to the test.

The packaging is lovely. It’s pink, pretty and polkadot. Three things I love. AND it’s got little cartoon cupcakes on it! Irresistible. The cupcakes on the front are a great touch too, showing the little white roses that can be made with this stuff. They have also provided a guide on the side of how to make basic roses;

So the packaging is a yes from me. Now, how about the product. Upon opening, the paste has no obvious scent and I found it really easy to knead but still tough enough to tell that it is a strong paste. I did several things with the paste including rolling it thinly, used both veined and plunger cutters, made the roses in their suggested way and also used silicon moulds with it too. It passed every test I threw at it! Also it coloured really easily and streak free with the sugarflair paste colours that I swear by. And once dried, I painted on it well without any bleeding or disfigurement.

So 10 minutes later, here’s what I ended up with!

So, what’s the verdict? The sort of customer I feel this is aimed at, the home baker, will LOVE this product. To the mum or dad who want to make a teddy to go on their child’s christening cake, the teenager that wants to practice their love of decorating or just to experiment on, I have to say, I’m very impressed. Great value, great packaging, great product. Well done Sainsbury’s.

I give it 5/5 cupcakes!

Have you tried it? What do you think? Let me know either on my Facebook or Twitter. Don’t forget to check out Sainsbury’s baking page for recipes, hints, tips and lovely things to buy!

Britt xo

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