My Vintage Valentine

 Afternoon foodies!

I FINALLY got myself down to the Sheffield Clandestine Cake Club and it was fantastic! I baked a simple cake, in the February vintage valentine theme and really enjoyed sharing my ideas with loads of other baking fanatics. My pretty in pink cake was a rose, raspberry and pistachio layer cake, with rose piped buttercream, fresh raspberries and crushed pistachios to decorate.

 I was so pleased as it went down well, but still had plenty to share with house mates when I got home!

 Before I went I even took a few cheeky cake selfies! They get progressively worse, or more entertaining - I will let you decide!

All the cakes varied from vintage recipes, to styles and there we even some delicious bakes by little bakers! Upcoming talent right here! Check out the other masterpiece cakes :)

 Chocolate box cake...

 Honey for my honey cake...

 This cake had a secret red velvet love heart surprise!

 Bubbly bundt, made with champagne and apple juice.

 Traditional courting cake with orange and fresh strawberries.

Love heart shaped cake with a beautiful orange and strawberry drizzle.

Cake for my cake - vanilla sponge with jam and buttercream!

Crazy for this coconut cake, with a tasty texture. 

 Nanna's coconut and cherry pound cake.

 LOVE Heart sweetie cake, with crushed love hearts in the buttercream.

Last but not least would be this delicious sponge with fresh fruit and a cute love heart boarder.

The CCC Sheffield was held at newly opened Jamesons Cafe on Abbeydale road, which is well worth a visit. Check the cuties out online at Jamesons Tea Rooms.

 We shared our cakes by the slice with a little drink, I opted for traditional lemonade! There was plenty to take home, check out my box below!

 Luckily, we had a movie and cake night, back at the house and my house managed to devour the contents of the box, with ease. We also used these little beauties below, which I got from the Tea Room shop, attached to the cafe. Definitely worth a visit for some beautiful, vintage pieces for the home and even for your curves!

 I would honestly recommend to anyone who is a huge cake lover, like myself to dabble in the joys of the Clandestine Cake Club. It is a fun, friendly way to experiment in the kitchen and taste some delicious cakes, new flavours, new styles and what better way to get some new found cakespiration.

Keep calm and let's get cakey!

Love,

Jess

Chief Baker ;)

xxx

Dad's Love Cake too!

Evening foodies,

Just a little catch up as work is busy as ever. Thought I would post a picture of the cake I did for my Dad last month. As you might have guessed, we have a sweet tooth - I say it runs in the family! That obviously means I HAVE to bake for family birthdays - a party without cake is but a meeting, Julia Child, are you with me foodies?!?!

I made a very simple victoria sponge, sticking to the classics for my parents as they LOVE it. As a little girl my Dad and I took pictures of trees and he used to hold me up to the top of my growing sunflower in the garden. A simply sentimental cake...

Keep calm and bake a message...

Love,

Jess

xxx

Whisks at the ready; It's Pancake Day!

Evening and almost morning foodies,

We are barely minutes away from pancake day, so I hope you're planning on having some tasty pancakes! Whether you like french pancakes, like crepes, or American style fat pancakes, sweet or savoury - this day is the day to get your pans at the ready for some flipping!

I mean, I really cannot flip a pancake, so I admire anyone who can. I am the one with the spatula, messing the pancake up trying to turn it over. Embarrassing.

I made these for my house mates the other week, with this cheeky, little Good Food recipe. So get flipping foodies...

• 200g self raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• 300ml milk
• 15g butter (melted)
• oil or additional butter for the pan

1. Mix together the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Beat the egg with the milk, make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and whisk in the milk to make a thick, smooth batter. Beat in the melted butter.
2. Heat a teaspoon of oil or a small chunk of butter in a medium sized non-stick frying pan. Drop a large tablespoon or ladle of the batter into the pan (around 7.5cm across). Cook for three minutes until bubbles appear on the surface of each pancake and then flip over for 2-3 on the alternate side, until golden brown. If you want to make a big stack, cover with kitchen paper to retain the heat.

Serve with traditional lemon and sugar or fresh blueberries, syrup, nutella or even stew if you prefer savoury. Go wild!




Keep calm and get your whisk on!

Love,

Jess xo

Have a Heart, Give a Heart...

Evening Foodies,

Hope you are having a great weekend so far! How was Valentines this year? Spend the night having takeaway with friends or did you end up out for a posh meal with your partner? Either way, it is all about the FOOD these days. I mean I am definitely not one to complain, what better way to say it...

For Valentines this year me and George (my partner) went out for a gorgeous Thai, in Sheffield, and I made him a cute cake. There has to be some perks to dating a baker and free, tasty cake MUST be one of them. 

Check it out...

You could easily add a lid to make it look more like a box of chocolates, but I just wanted to keep it simple. I cut out the fondant heart and piped red icing around the chocolates, to give the effect of a box of chocolates. You can cut more of the cake away, to make them look embedded, but for this cake - it was more about having lots of yummy cake to eat! Needless to say he was very happy.

Keep calm and eat your heart out!

Love, 

Jess

xox

Mini Meringue Kisses...

Morning foodies,

Last weekend I also took my hand to trialling some mini swiss meringue kisses and oh wow aren't they cute! Very simple with only 2-3 ingredients, the only difficulty is not eating them all once out of the oven!

I made a couple of little raspberry swirls, for the "love" factor this week and some chocolate ones, clearly because I am a chocoholic! Paired with fresh fruit or lightly whipped Chantilly cream, these are sure to not only satisfy your sweet tooth, but leave you desperate for more!

Why not give them a go? Simply get whisking...


Keep calm and whisk up some magical, mini meringues...


Love Jess xox

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Love is in the air; Valentines is on the Horizon...

Evening foodies,

Feeling a little bit rosier now, potentially had a winter sickness bug, which isn't so great! I have spent this week catching up and doing a little baking this weekend to cheer me up. My house mates have been loving it...

Isn't this just the cutest?

With valentines on the horizon, I have been baking with a little bit of a theme, although Easter got a little bit involved with the brownies! Don't blame me - they're tasty! Check out my pictures below!

I mean who can say no to a Creme egg brownie?

A little early you say? Well, I plan to make more of corse!

Rich and fudgey...

Don't forget to answer the poll. Valentines is rather controversial and everyones opinion is valid!

Mini chocolate brownie love bites...

In love? Or maybe just in love with brownies...

More to come this week...

Keep calm and bake up some love <3

Love Jess xox

Rosey Red Piped Cupcakes

Evening foodies,

I may have mentioned in my last post that as well as doing orders I am determined to bake one thing a week off my personal bucket list of favourites and believe me the list is long! Last week I finished some cute, little, rose piped cupcakes, for my boyfriend's mum's birthday. Sadly, this weekend I have been super poorly, but I am on with a few super sweet Valentines treats, so do watch this space!

Vanilla & Almond cupcakes...

What is your opinion on Valentines day then foodies? Do we celebrate it or is it another waste of money? I mean, personally, I think it is a great excuse for more cake?! Not that I really need an excuse, to be fair.  Answer on the poll above, I am intrigued to see what you guys think!

If you are game for some Valentines cakey loving, what are you going to be baking up for your sweetheart? Share your ideas! I will be blogging about mine super soon...

 Almond...

Vanilla...

  Simple rose piped and topped...

  Little box display...

Rose petal piping...

 

Ps check out these cute little earrings :) Faye from Keep Your Fork, where I also work as a marketing assistant, got me them with a dual meaning - I am sure you can guess!

Keep calm & practice pretty piping.


Love,

Jess xo