Living it Large in London, till Reality Hits Home...

This August I visited London with my best friend, Beth, and we lived it up, large. We visited the usuals, buying Hello Kitty teddies in Hamleys and sampling chocolates in Harrods. What more could a girl want?

Convent garden was beautiful as usual, I spent the entire trip spying on cake craft shops and indulging in the inspiration of others. London really just has the spark for me.

In addition to cake spying, we went to see The Woman in Black at the theatre and my gosh it was spectacular! I'm more of a musical lover myself, being a singer, but it was a masterpiece, cleverly devised to create tension and release, atmosphere and fear, with merely two actors. Unbelievable.

August disappeared with the summer sun and now we are nearly through September. It's scary really. I'm going into my second year of university, with a business kicking off, pursuing my interest in food journalism, whilst juggling a job in fashion retail. A challenge is really key to anyones success, I believe, so bring it I guess! Any of you foodies face a challenge? Embrace it, whats the worst that can happen? Email your inspiration and aspirations...jessicaaleisha@hotmail.co.uk...I find it so uplifting to see peoples efforts and achievements. :)

Red Velvet Baking wise, we have completed our third market stall, this time in Sheffield City Centre. Although a very slow day, I feel we learnt a lot from the experience and have gathered some more ideas for future stalls. I am excited! We are aiming for Chatsworth Christmas Fair 2013 and we really want to be ready to hit home with our delicious cakey goodness. 

Presently, we are working on flavour combinations and looking at new and interesting ideas to visually inspire and engage you, our beautiful audience. So keep your eyes peeled and watch this space, because there can never be enough cakey scrummyness in your life.

Keep calm and enjoy the rest of the summer sun, before winter sets in :)

Love & delicious wishes, 

RV xox

1st Time for Everything :)

Well...what an amazing month August has been!! I hope you've all been making the most of the holidays and baking your kitchens into a frenzy! Well I can assure you my kitchen has been mental, along with jam packed weeks, not to mention whats to come this September!

Mid August my best friend and I decided to hold a stall in Bakewell, and according to the feedback, we really did BAKE WELL. It was a fantastic experience, and since it was Red Velvet's first ever stall, we learnt a lot from the feedback and got amazing comments to take away and build on. Below a few of the traditional styled cakes and fun cupcakes we had for sale. For the customer market, it seemed that traditional banana breads and victoria sponges were popular, alongside bakewell cupcakes and double chocolate fudge brownies of course!!!

In fact, we enjoyed the few days so much, that we are planning on attending a Sheffield Day and Night market fair this September. September 5th brings a 12 hour market fair to the Peace Gardens in Sheffield, so do not miss it!!! There will be a multitude of crafts, edible treats and I will also be selling bakeware, courtesy of Pampered Chef. So make plans, venture down and for more information keep checking my blog or Facebook - Red Velvet Baking. It would be a delight to see your face!!

In addition, my website is well underway! I have launch plans for mid September and I will be taking cake design orders and requests from right away!! So even if it is just a question or a blog request, don't hesitate to contact me. I'd be ecstatic to help!!


Keep posted for a new blog shortly, as I recently visited the capital and ate scrumptious delights!

Keep calm and keep the holiday spirits,

Love, as always

Red Velvet xo

Blue skies, bright days ahead...

Evening Foodies :)

It seems summer is fast approaching; shorts, sunglasses and sun cream at the ready! And I can tell you that I am rather excited for what summer is to bring this year. Any of you got any amazing holiday plans?

In two months time, I'm jetting off to Bulgaria, of all places, to soak up some rays with my best friend. We are both super foodies, so we are so excited to try the unusual cuisine and get all bronzed up. In addition, in two weeks time it is my birthday, YAY! I've been pottering around in the kitchen and collecting ideas for my birthday cake...so keep posted. If you've got any super spellbinding ideas, email me at redvelvetbaking@gmail.com - get in touch!!!

As for recent antics, busy busy busy seems to be my current motto! March saw the development of a birthday cake, for a close friend of mine. She asked for a cake that embodied her enthusiasm for wrestling and this was the much appreciated result. :)

Furthermore, I had an order in for my friends brothers birthday sweetie cake. Although this was an unusual cake for me to do, I enjoyed the challenge and had a lot of fun making this cake.

Unfortunately, I was unable to blog on Easter Sunday, but I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! I spent Easter with my best friend, I baked milk chocolate cupcakes and we went on walks around Newmillerdam <3 beautiful this time of year. I left the cupcakes as a little treat for my parents...what did you bake?

I hid a little popping candy in each for that added wow - my parents said it was an exciting surprise :).

As this month progresses, more and more opportunities have become available, having completed all my hygiene awards this week and had legal support and advice. I am excited to say that Red Velvet Baking really is starting to take off! If you would like to be featured on here or have any ideas you'd like to see me whip up - email me at redvelvetbaking.gmail.com. Get in touch, I love to here from you!!!!

Keep calm and keep motivated. It really is the best way.

Love, as always,

Red Velvet xo

Technical Fault :(

Had a little bit of a glitch with the email...so I am terribly sorry if you've been trying to send in your inspirations and designs. This, thankfully, has been corrected! So I can now unveil our email as;

redvelvetbaking@gmail.com

No excuses not to email your scrumptious pictures and ideas now!!!!!

Keep calm and carry on...

Love,

Red Velvet xo

Ice-tastic :)

Morning my fellow foodies :)

Yesterday, I finally completed my piping tip mission! After weeks of research and searching, I have managed to find a set I am happy with and very excited to use. I was desperate to buy them in time for this weekends baking fun, and I cannot wait to share my ice-tastic results with you guys. Do you have a specific set of piping tips that you cannot part with, if so, share with me your pictures and results via redvelvetbaking.gmail.com :)

In addition, don't forget to share your baking treats for this busy weekend. St Patricks and Mothers day sweet treats...email pictures for features :)

Keep Calm and get creative,

Love baking,

Love Red Velvet xo

Keep Calm & Surprise Yourself This Spring

So it's been a little while since I last post and a lot is going on! The Enterprise competition is fully on its way and things are getting more stressful. I cannot stress to you how important the survey on the below post is - it will really help me get up on my feet! So please, if you have a spare 2 minutes, give it a bash and help shape the future of cake... <3

Currently, I am setting up tasting panels and focus groups - so if you're local to Sheffield, Leeds or Wakefield - get in touch and you could be involved in eating some yummy baked products! In addition, I am looking at marketing techniques. Obviously internet media is great, but how else would you like me to contact you? Offers, promotions and flyers? You tell me....

In terms of the season, we have a lot of celebrations coming up, don't we now :). And what better reason to get out the mixing bowl and bake up a delightful array of treats. In a few week we have St Patricks day and Mothers day...what will you be baking? Send me some pictures to share your ideas and i'll be sharing my take on the season too :)

Furthermore, in the not too distant future we have Easter!! I have some great ideas for easter egg baking in the kitchen, so keep posted for that too. No one can resist a bit of bunny baking and eggtastic cake!

Please feel free to contact me about baking for your birthday, wedding and any celebration, or even just for ideas and inspiration. You can contact me via Twitter, Facebook and my new email redvelvetbaking@gmail.com :)

Keep me posted on your baking antics foodies.

Keep calm and surprise yourself this spring,

Love and baking wishes,

Red Velvet xo