Apple Computer Cupcakes

My little brother was 27 this weekend, and he came up to visit to celebrate our parents wedding anniversary (also this weekend!). He’s a visual effects artist and has done films like Harry Potter, Stardust, 2010 and Inception – how cool is that? So computer cupcakes seemed like the way to go…. They’re lemon, filled with lemon curd and topped with lemon butter cream, finished with blue fondant icing and sugarpaste decorations.

Shoes and Cupcakes

I made these girly shoe and handbag cupcakes on Monday and took them into work today as it was my boss’s last day – she loves shoes and bags. I made the decorations at the weekend, and really had fun with them although they took quite a long time to do as I cut the shoes out by hand. I’m definitely going to get a shoe cutter set to make the process quicker and easier. I tried a new chocolate cake recipe, but was not very impressed with the results – will stick to my normal recipe in future!

I also made these record and headphones cuppies to coordinate with the shoe and handbag cupcakes for another colleague leaving on the same day. He DJs, so I thought these would be appropriate, even if they are a bit pink and girly, lol!

Baby Shower Cookies

These are practice cookies I made for my friend and line manager who leaves this week – I’ll really miss her! The real ones had tiny lilac flowers on the pram instead of the white flower and the wheels turned out  a bit better that the practice ones but I still found them hard to do! On the babygrow, I replaced the white flower with a little lilac flower and left off the “baby” writing as I felt it wasn’t up to scratch. I went for all lilac wrapping rather than the pink spot paper and yellow ribbon as she doesn’t know if she’s having a girl or a boy…

I got the cutters and cookie presentation box from Cakes Cookies & Craft Shop who I use quite a lot for supplies.

Racing Car Cupcakes

It was my friend’s little boy’s birthday on Saturday, so this is what I made for the party. He was six! Aw :) The board is covered in fondant with a track and little boulders and flowers, most of which you can’t actually see in the photo. The cupcakes are chocolate with chocolate buttercream topped with racing cars, sixes or candles and checkered flags.

Japan-Inspired Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes this weekend for the Autumn issue of UK Handmade magazine. I don’t get time to do baking at the moment, other than when I’ve committed myself to something, so it was really nice to have to make them for the deadline next week. The theme is Japonism, so I’ve topped green tea cakes (made with matcha) with fondant circles and fondant decorations – sushi, chopsticks and cherry blossom. I think they look really cute, although I think they looked a bit nicer in real life – a little set of Japanese-inspired cakes for a special occasion :)

Japan-Inspired Cupcakes

They were quite simple to make and the instructions will be in the magazine when it comes out in September. I quite liked the green tea, although it was a bit grassy for my taste, despite being a big lover of green or herbal tasting things! I made an almond cake base and added the matcha powder to it, so it had quite a nice almond flavour and then the hint of grass… I think I’d describe them as like eating sugared almonds whilst lying on a freshly mown lawn ;)

Japan-Inspired Cupcakes

Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes

It’s finally strawberry season… I’m hoping to have time to make these for a family barbeque on Sunday. They’re simple to make and the strawberries take no time at all to dip into chocolate and leave to set, but the results are fairly impressive!  I originally made them for UK Handmade magazine (see the post below) – click here to read the recipe on page 27.

UK Handmade Summer Cover

It’s going to be a long hot summer at UK Handmade! Our lovely new summer edition of the magazine is out online now, packed with summery features, articles and tutorials. Check out my picnic food recipes for yummy outdoor food :)

My Summer Picnic

Volunteers' Week Baking

It’s Volunteers’ Week this week! To celebrate, I baked some biscuits and cakes and invited volunteers in to have a tea party with us at Community Corner in Stamford Library. I made * a lot* – this pic is just some of them :)

You may have read in this morning’s papers that the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a series of Louis Vuitton print ads ruling that they suggest that Louis Vuitton products are handmade when they aren’t.

Like me, your initial reaction may have been to throw your hands in the air in dismay that a mega-brand such as Louis Vuitton, with all its money and clout, is trying to muscle in on the hard-earned turf of independent artists, designers and makers who really DO make their products by hand. But, there is a silver lining to this story, the very fact that a company like Louis Vuitton wants to get a piece of the handmade revolution shows just how much times have changed!

Gone are the days of nauseatingly slick advertising, increasingly companies are realising that consumers want bespoke, handmade, one-of-a-kind products of which they know the provenance. People are paying far greater attention to how their products are made (fair trade/ethical), by whom and where and this isn’t some sort of passing fad. At the risk of preaching to the converted (after all, if you are reading this blog you are likely already part of the handmade revolution) but, as we talk about in UK Handmade’s Mission Statement handmade is a way of life,

“In a time when people are realising the importance of spending quality time with the family, small businesses are being started from the kitchen table and becoming an integral part of our overall lifestyle. We want to bring back the skills of our grandparents, grow vegetables with our children, to make do and mend and return to an ideology that previous generations took for granted.”

I think we, as a community, can take heart from the events of this morning and feel proud that we are clearly part of a movement that is gathering pace and the voice of handmade is being heard and embraced.

Anna Stassen, Editor, UK Handmade Magazine,
editor@ukhandmade.co.uk

Lovely little weekend break in Brussels and Bruges.

Good: the real hot chocolate, the waffles and the company :)

Bad: the wind and rain!