Icing Bliss

'Cake Craft Made Easy' Book Launch Giveaway

2013-05-18T16:24:00.002+01:00

To celebrate the launch of my new book 'Cake Craft Made Easy' this week, I'm excited to be able to run a little giveaway!

There a 3 prizes available to win!

First prize is a copy of 'Cake Craft Made Easy' and an awesome pack of Spring-inspired cake decorating supplies: a Wilton bunny brownie/whoopie pie baking pan, assorted coloured cupcake cases, tubes of pink and green non-pariels, a tube of edible pearls, a lovely shabby chic rose tea towel, a Wilton bows and buttons silicone mould, and 8 Spring cookie cutters!

Second prize is a copy of 'Cake Craft Made Easy', a dual colour piping kit and five 'take a bite' cookie cutters.

Third prize is a copy of my book.

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED - CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF THE WINNERS!

~~How to Enter~~
~~Enter the giveaway in the Rafflecopter box below.~~
The only mandatory (required) item is the first one – leaving a comment on this blog post letting me know about your favourite spring-time bake. (Make sure you check that off in the Rafflecopter box). The other entries are just more opportunities to win.

~~Giveaway Details~~

~~No purchase necessary to win.~~

~~This contest is International.~~

~~The winners will be chosen randomly at www.random.org.~~

~~Winners will be contacted on Monday 27th May, 2013, and announced on this blog once contact has been made.~~

~~Leave all your comment entries here, not on Facebook.~~

~~Please read all contest entry details in the Rafflecopter widget below.~~

~~You do not need to use Facebook to use Rafflecopter, an email is fine. Your email will not be shared with anyone.~~

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

Springtime Cookies

2013-05-18T14:25:00.001+01:00

It is finally starting to feel like Spring in London so I couldn't resist digging out all of my pastel crockery and making a batch of Springtime cookies for afternoon tea.

With a few different piping nozzles, it's easy to make simple, pretty designs in royal icing to decorate your cookies. Below are step by step instructions to decorate two of my Springtime cookies.

Green Scalloped Cookies

Pink Frilly Cookies

Hope you have fun making Springtime cookies.

Vintage Tea Party

2013-04-26T07:38:00.000+01:00

Earlier this year I had a second wedding reception in Australia for my family and friends who couldn't join my London wedding last year. I spent months collecting vintage crockery from London car boot sales to send to Australia to recreate a British teaparty for my guests. Here are some photos from the day....

Flower arrangements from my neighbour's farm. Teapot biscuit favours made by me. I also made labels for the teapots that said 'Keep Calm and Drink Tea' to add extra Britishness!

I used paper doilies as name places and tied labels onto store bought jam with lace ribbon to add a touch of class. Table numbers were designed by In the Treehouse. A lovely assortment of cakes and sandwiches were made by High Society.

A candy bar featuring retro sweets, cake pops and meringues was put together by the wonderful Princess Jades Candy Buffet. I made the meringues, and got the lovely Savannah from Savvy Fare to make the pretty 2-tiered white chocolate mud cake, decorated with handmade sugar flowers for the centre of the table - just stunning.

All our guests were encouraged to take a little bag to fill with sweets from the candy bar - it was so lovely to see the faces on all of the kids there when they saw the candy bar - they thought they were in heaven!

Mini teasets were given to the children to play with in their activity bags. I also filled the bag with bubbles, colouring books and a retro tin of snap cards. I made the activity packs using simple white paper craft bags decorated with handmade paper pinwheels (Tilda paper) with button centres and a little name tag. The kid's activity packs rested on mini chalkboards which made nice placemats for the kids and also provided another form of activity to keep the kids occupied! A single head of white micro hydrangea was placed into a vintage blue Balls jar on each table. There was so much lovely crockery on each table already providing decoration so I didn't need a large flower centrepiece as well.

It was such a lovely day.

Springtime

2013-04-25T19:23:00.002+01:00

It finally feels like Spring has arrived in London after a very long cold winter. Time to get all of my pastel crockery out and start to adorn the house in flowers. Some of the spring touches I've added to my house this week are above. You can see a sneek peek of a few of my teasets as well. I must admit, collecting old crockery is my absolute favourite past time, apart from baking of course....

Here are a few things coming out of the kitchen at Icing Bliss to bring the sunshine into the house...

Cookie stacks decorated with delicate sugar blossoms

Sweet little bunny biscuits decorated with royal icing

Teapot cookies - they make lovely favours for a kitchen tea

Shabby chic grey and cream cupcakes - gorgeous for an elegant wedding

Frilly flower 6" cutting cake made as part of a display for a wedding

Hope the lovely weather is inspiring you all to create lovely bakes this week!

Shabby Chic Cookies

2013-04-15T16:17:00.003+01:00

Here are some photos of my cookies which I entered into the Decorated Cookie class at Cake International last weekend. I was really chuffed to get a bronze award as all the entries were incredibly beautiful.

Cake International - London 2013

2013-04-15T16:06:00.001+01:00

Cake International was held from 12-14th April at the ExCel centre in London. Thousands of aspiring and professional cake decorators flooded through the doors to see live demonstrations from baking experts and buy the latest equipment in cake decorating from over 100 exhibitor stands. There were also over 500 entries in the competition classes - almost double the number from the previous year. The buzz at the show was infectious and I was really excited to gaze at all the amazing talent in the cake decorating world. Here are a few pictures from the show....

There were so many amazing cakes and you can see many more of them in this great video montage. Congratulations to everyone who won an award at the show!

A day of vintage crafting

2013-03-20T20:37:00.000Z

On Saturday I had a lovely day with Sarah Moore, author of Homemade Gifts Vintage Style. Sarah regularly contributes vintage craft projects to Country Living Magazine and sells her beautiful vintage gifts and craft materials through her website Sarah Moore Vintage.

I was so excited when I found out that she is starting to run vintage craft masterclasses at her local village hall in Northchapel. I love her book and was eager to meet her and try my hand at some crafting.

Although it was a dreary day outside and pouring with rain most of the day, inside the hall, it was warm and cosy, decorated like Sarah's lounge room with beautiful pieces of furniture which she had brought from her home. Sarah created a relaxing environment and encouraged everyone to sit on the chairs, read her lovely books and have a cup of tea if we wanted to take a break from crafting at anytime throughout the day.

We started the day making pinboards decorated in a patchwork pattern with pieces of vintage wallpaper which had been cut into hexagons. Sarah has an enviable collection of beautiful vintage wallpapers to choose from. It took me at least half an hour to decide on which papers i wanted to use. We were really spoilt for choice. Here's how my pinboard turned out....

I couldn't resist taking some close up photos as well for you - all the papers were so pretty. If you want to make a pinboard you can purchase packets of vintage paper which has already been cut into hexagons on Sarah's website.

After the pinboards were finished, we had a lovely lunch, served on beautiful mismatched vintage crockery. Sarah is not only a craft expert - she is also a trained chef and we were treated to a lovely meze spread.

The afternoon was filled with more lovely little craft projects. First up was a little velvet strawberry filled with lavender....

I was really chuffed with my effort as I'm not a competent sewer. Sarah put me at ease and explained all the steps really clearly so even a novice like me could complete the project quite easily. We also sewed little corsages made from graduating circles of vintage fabric. Sarah sells finished corsages, and the kit to make them if you want to create your own on her website so if you can't make her masterclass you can have a go and make one at home. Here's a photo from her website of the type of corsages you can make with the kit....

So beautiful.....

To finish the day, we wrapped 6 bars of soap in gorgeous vintage wallpaper and placed them in a tin decorated with stickers which Sarah has designed. The soaps were transformed into little bundles of luxury once they were wrapped up - it's amazing how a little effort can make a common object look so special. Sarah also sells pieces of vintage wallpaper so you can wrap up your own soaps, or use them for scrapbooking etc. Or, you can buy a tin of 6 soaps already wrapped up beautifully if you are looking for a lovely gift for someone. Here are some of Sarah's soaps.....so pretty.

The afternoon also included a beautiful vintage afternoon tea, again served on Sarah's lovely vintage crockery. It was such a nice day, and I'm really looking forward to doing another masterclass with her again soon. If you want to try your hand at vintage crafting you can find out about upcoming courses with Sarah here.

Cake Craft Made Easy

2013-03-20T09:44:00.002Z

I'm excited to announce that my cake decorating book is now available to pre-order on Amazon! It is coming to book stores in June and features step-by-step projects to decorate 16 vintage-inspired cakes.

All the projects are broken down into simple steps to teach readers buttercream piping, pattern embossing, sugar pinwheels, stenciling, royal icing piping, sugar models & flowers, frills & ruffles, brush embroidery, rice paper work and much more!

I'll be running a competition for some free copies of the book closer to the launch so stay tuned!

It's been too long

2013-03-18T16:45:00.002Z

It's been too long since I last wrote a blog entry. I've been regularly posting my latest creations on Facebook, but just haven't made enough time to write on this page. A lot happened last year (I got married, had a baby girl and wrote a book) and I feel like I've only just caught my breath and now have time to get back to how things used to be.

You'll notice that I've spruced up the blog design, and I'm starting to do a lot more on Pinterest (you can see my latest pins on the right hand side of the page). I've also made a few video cake craft tutorials which you can watch through the 'cake craft' tab at the top of the screen.

I'm also starting to venture into the world of paper crafting, so I'll hopefully have some craft tutorials for you soon!

For anyone who hasn't seen my latest creations on facebook, here's a quick snapshot of what's been going on in the Icing Bliss kitchen for the last 6 months!

Cupcake and biscuit wedding favour from my wedding in London

Cupcakes and Tiered cake from my wedding in London

Birdhouse cookie

Playing around with coloured cookie dough - little button cookies

Cascading rose mini cake

Baby onesie cookies

Teabag cookies

Teapot cookie

Selection of shabby chic cupcakes which have come out of the Icing Bliss kitchen recently

Stay tuned for more pretty bakes coming soon!

White Russian Cupcakes

2012-07-11T13:15:00.001+01:00

On 2nd July, I had the pleasure of being a finalist in the National Cupcake Championships at the Institute for Contemporary Arts in London along with 55 other shortlisted bakeries. There were 7 categories this year including:

Best Handcrafted Cupcake for Multiple Outlets
Best Free From Cupcake
Best Classic Cupcake
Best Micro-Modelled Cupcake
Best Savoury Cupcake
Best Themed Cupcake
Best Cupcake Made with Alcohol

My White Russian Cupcake was shortlisted in the 'Best Cupcake Made with Alcohol' category and I had to make 10 identical cupcakes for judging. A winner and a runner up (highly commended) was awarded in each category. All of the cupcakes were worthy of winning - the standard this year was incredible. You can see the list of amazing entries here. I really thought that I was out of my depth a bit when I arrived with my little white cupcakes. But, at the end of the day I was awarded runner up in my category....I was so shocked!

This is a very boozy cupcake (adults only!) but you can easily add less alcohol if you would prefer a more subtle flavour. The cupcake sponge contains Kahlua, and there is a shot of white chocolate vodka ganache in each cupcake. They are also topped with kahlua swiss meringue buttercream for an extra kick. Here's the recipe if you want to make them:

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes

• 1 cup plain flour

• 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1/4 tsp baking soda

• 2 tsp instant coffee

• 1/3 cup Kahlua (or more if you want them extra boozy!)

• 3/4 cup white caster sugar

• 110g unsalted butter at room temperature

• 2 large egg whites

• 1/3 cup semi skimmed milk

• Small pinch of salt

For white chocolate vodka ganache filling

• 250g white chocolate (melted)

• 2/3 cup double cream

• 2 tbsp unsalted butter

• 6 tbsp vodka

For kahlua swiss meringue buttercream

• 250g unsalted butter

• 6 tbsp kahlua (can be varied if a less boozy cupcake preferred)

• 2 large egg whites

• 120g white caster sugar

Method:

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 170C (fanforced). Mix the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder in a bowl and set aside. In a second bowl, whisk together the kahlua and the coffee. Beat the butter and caster sugar in a third bowl with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Add the egg whites one at a time and mix until well combined. Alternate adding the milk, flour mixture (from 1st bowl) and kahlua mixture (from 2nd bowl) to the butter mixture and beat until combined.

Spoon batter into cupcake cases and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave cupcakes to completely cool on a wire rack before filling and decorating.

While the cupcakes are baking, make the white chocolate ganache by heating the cream and butter in a small saucepan until small bubbles appear then adding in the melted white chocolate. Stir until completely combined then stir in the vodka and chill the ganache in the fridge for about an hour.

To make the kahlua swiss meringue buttercream, add caster sugar to egg whites in a heatproof bowl placed over simmering water in a double boiler and whisk until the sugar dissolves in the egg whites. Mixture should reach around 60C. Take the heatproof bowl off the double boiler and transfer mixture into electric mixer bowl and whisk for 5 minutes on high speed, or until the mixture is bright white in colour and does not move in the bowl. Divide the butter into 8 soft blocks. Reduce the speed in the mixer to medium and start adding the butter, one little block at a time. Wait until the butter has been mixed thoroughly before adding another block. Once all the butter has been added, mix in the kahlua and put buttercream into a piping bag.

Once cupcakes have cooled – core out the centre and fill with white chocolate vodka ganache. Top each cupcake with a swirl of buttercream and decorate as desired. I used a Wilton 2D tip to make the swirl on my cupcakes.

Hope you all enjoy your White Russian Cupcakes x

Squires Cake Exhibition 2012

2012-03-10T08:15:00.001Z

This weekend (9-11th March) is the annual Squires Cake Exhibition in Farnham. The exhibition celebrates everything to do with cake decorating and sugarcraft and attracts thousands of enthusiasts from all over the world. There are also several cake competitions and this year I entered the cupcake catergory. The theme was 'baby shower cupcakes' and you can see some of the cupcakes I entered below:

I decided to make something simple and in my shabby chic style. I knew I'd be up against tough competition and I wasn't wrong. You can see some of the other entries here:

This entry below was my favourite and the one in my opinion that should win. We won't know the scores until Sunday though. The detail on each cupcake was extraordinary - the photo really doesn't do it any justice....

Here's a close up of one of the cupcakes - so amazing....

There were so many other lovely entries - I'll have to do another post soon with more pics.

Here are a few other photos of cakes that were on display at the show.....

This was a c ake in the miniature cake category - the flowers were tiny!!

Here are some photos from the sugar flower category... they look so real!

And here are some photos of the wedding cakes on display......

Everything was stunning - if you have time this weekend to go to the show I highly recommend it.

Happy baking x

Catch up

2012-01-29T18:09:00.001Z

Hi everyone,

It's been quite a while since my last post. I've been putting regular updates on my facebook page, but haven't been putting enough time aside for my blog. So to bring everyone up to speed, here's what's been coming out of my kitchen recently:

I'm teaching a shabby chic cake decorating class at cakeology now. This is a 4-layer cake covered in sugarpaste and handmade edible shabby chic decorations.

Here's a cookie stack decorated in ruffles and flowers - all edible - a lovely gift for someone special or for a wedding favour.

Rose buttercream cupcake - I love piping these roses - they are so easy to do and so pretty. If you want to learn to pipe these roses there are quite a few tutorials on youtube. Try http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2nWuuya6z0 as an example.

Here are some cakelets (mini cakes) decorated in black and white couture theme. You can learn how to make these at my Vintage couture course at Cakeology.

And lots of cupcake examples - I've been making heaps recently and trying out new techniques like brush embroidery and stencilling - I'll put up a tutorial soon on some new techniques to share the baking love.

Happy baking xx

Baking highlights - 2011

2011-12-29T15:42:00.000Z

Wishing everyone a very happy 2012 - looking forward to lots of exciting baking adventures with you xx

Guest Post

2011-11-26T10:02:00.001Z

I'm so thrilled to have been invited to do a guest post on Best Friends for Frosting. I absolutely love this blog - it's packed with gorgeous baking projects for all occasions.

In my guest post you'll find the recipe and some tips on how to make a Shabby Chic christmas cookie tree...

I had so much fun making this project. Click here for intructions on how to make one too.

Stay tuned for more Christmas treats soon!

Happy baking xx

Cake International

2011-11-07T08:48:00.001Z

Over the weekend I had the most amazing time at Cake International at the NEC in Birmingham. It was a full weekend of justing talking cake with my cakey friends. The entries in the competition categories this year were mind blowing, here are just a few of the amazing creations on display:

The photo of this tiger doesn't do it justice. Each strand of fur was individually created by hand.....amazing

Each strand of fur on the cat was hand piped - the attention to detail on the cakes was incredible. Some of them must have taken months to complete.

This is just a section of a gorgeous fairy-themed cake.

This mermaid cake was one of my favourites - the beautiful coral and shells under the cake was so detailed, you could spend hours looking at it. Here's a bit of a close up....

Here's a section of another sea-inspired cake - love the little sea creatures

In the doll section -this entry blew me away. Everything you see has been made in sugar - even the crocheted table cloth was piped in royal icing. The miniature cakes on the doll's table were so detailed - I just loved this.

My mate Laura from Cakeology made this amazing sushi cake - it made it all the way in the car with us from London. She was awarded silver - I'm so happy for her.

As well as cakes, there were amazing floral entries. Some of these flowers look so real ....

I was a finalist in the live cupcake challenge - I had to decorate 13 cupcakes in 2 hours along with 8 other competitors. It was a lot of fun and I managed to finish in time. I decorated in my signature shabby chic style.....

and came 2nd place! I was so thrilled. Here's the winner's entry - her monkey cupcakes were so adorable.

Can't wait until the next show.....

Hope you all have a lovely week xx

Playing around with flowers

2011-10-17T08:33:00.001+01:00

Last week, I spent quite a bit of time practicing different cupcake designs in preparation for the Live PME cupcake finals which will be held at the Cake International exhibition on 4th November. I'll be there along with 8 other contestants decorating 13 cupcakes in 2 hours in front of everyone. If you're at the exhibition that day be sure to pop over and say hi.

Here are some of the cupcakes to come out of the kitchen recently....

Hope you all have a lovely week.

Happy baking xx

Cakelets

2011-10-07T12:08:00.000+01:00

This week I've been making cakelets (mini cakes). Here's what has come out of the kitchen.....

Candy-striped bow cakelet

Gardenia cakelet

Calla lily cakelet

and last but not least - ribbon roses cakelet.

Although mini cakes take a lot longer to make than cupcakes, they are definitely worth the effort, and make beautiful gifts. I'll be making a series of christmas cakelets soon to share with you all. Stay tuned.

Happy baking xx

This week in the kitchen.....

2011-09-18T10:22:00.002+01:00

I've been busy baking this week for National Cupcake Week. Here are a few more creations from the kitchen.....

Gardenia cupcake. You can learn how to make these at my Garden Party Cupcake class at Cakeology.

Shabby chic kitchen tea cupcakes. So girly and pretty.....

White ribbon rose cupcake with glitter.....

Hope you have all enjoyed National Cupcake Week xx

Shabby Chic Couture

2011-09-15T10:00:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone,

Here are a few more cupcakes that have come out of my kitchen this week to celebrate National Cupcake Week. I've been playing around with fabric-inspired effects....

What have you all been baking this week?

xx

Lemon Meringue Cupcake Bliss

2011-09-14T09:26:00.000+01:00

For national cupcake week, I've been trying out different recipes and this lemon meringue cupcake is definitely up there as one of the loveliest flavours I've done so far. I just have to share the recipe with you so everyone can make these. Here's what you need:

Ingredients

Cupcakes

250g self raising flour
250g unsalted butter
250g caster sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp vanilla essence
5 eggs
Jar of lemon curd (or you can make your own if you have time!)

Meringue Topping

2 eggwhites
220g caster sugar
80ml cold water

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan forced). Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes on high speed until the mixture is pale and moussy in texture. Next, gradually add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing them in well after each addition. Add the vanilla essence and the lemon zest and mix well. Fold in the flour with a spoon or spatula until it is well combined then spoon the mixture into your cupcake cases (in your cupcake or muffin baking tray). Bake for 18-20 mins until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cupcake comes out clean. Once the cupcakes are ready, remove them from the oven and leave them to cool in their tin for about 5 mins before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Once they are cool, core them using a knife or a cupcake corer (don't cut all the way through the cupcake, just half way) and fill with lemon curd.

To make the meringue topping, combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and stir it over a medium heat, without boiling, until the sugar is dissolved (if you put some mixture between your fingers it should be silky smooth). Next, bring the sugar mixture to the boil, without stirring, for about 5 minutes (if you have a candy thermometer you are aiming for 116C). The syrup should be thick but not coloured. Remove from the heat and allow the bubbles to subside. Beat the eggwhites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. While they are still beating, add the hot syrup in a thin stream to the eggwhites. Continue to beat for a further 10 minutes on high speed until the mixture is thick. Pipe the meringue mixture using a star tip nozzle onto the cupcakes. If you want to be extra fancy, you can toast the meringue with a gas blow torch - but be careful not to set the cupcake cases on fire!

Hope you have fun making these cupcakes - they are so delicious x

National Cupcake Week and Cupcake Kit Giveaway

2011-09-12T13:09:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone,

Happy national cupcake week!! To celebrate this exciting week of baking, I'll be posting different pictures of some of my latest cupcake creations as inspiration for your own bakes. To start with, here's a selection of pink frilly cupcakes:

All of the decorations are made with modelling paste and are edible.

As another exciting part of National Cupcake Week, I am also giving away one of my "Fashionista cupcake kits" on Friday to a randomly selected follower of my facebook page. The competition is open to everyone (worldwide) so be sure to follow my facebook page by the end of the week (see facebook tab on the left of this page or go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Icing-Bliss/128307480559950#!/pages/Icing-Bliss/128307480559950) to be in the running to win all of this stuff:

The kit contains 24 baking cases and 24 plastic fashion-themed decorations which you can wash and reuse!

Stay tuned for more cupcake inspiration this week.

Happy baking xx

Ribbon Rose Tutorial

2011-09-11T19:30:00.001+01:00

I love ribbon roses. You can make them with any type of edible paste (sugarpaste, modelling paste, flowerpaste, marzipan etc), and they are really simple to put together. I often spend a lazy afternoon making a whole batch of them, then leave them to dry in a container so they are on hand as decorations for any last minute cupcakes I need to make.

If you want to make some ribbon roses as well, here's a simple tutorial to help you along the way.

1. Roll out some paste on a non-stick board with a non-stick rolling pin. If the paste is quite sticky, put a little bit of icing sugar on your board. Roll the paste out into a thin ribbon.

2. Fold the ribbon of paste in half.

3. Start at one end of the ribbon and begin rolling it (like a snail shell).

4. Next take the long end of the ribbon and start to wrap it around the centre of the rose.

5. Pinch the paste as you wrap it around to give it a ruffle effect.

6. Once the rose is the size you desire it will have quite a long tail.

7. Snip off the excess paste with scissors.

Your ribbon roses are then ready to use and enjoy.

Happy baking xx

Cupcake Month

2011-09-07T17:11:00.004+01:00

It's cupcake month on food network uk. Each day you can find a new cupcake recipe on the calendar and enter in a daily prize draw to win exciting cupcake-related prizes. You can also go in the running to win a Kenwood Chef Titanium! So what are you waiting for?

Cupcake Corer

2011-09-06T14:07:00.001+01:00

I wanted to do a quick post to share with you my new favourite kitchen toy - the Cuisipro cupcake corer.

I've always used a knife to scoop out the centre of my cupcakes before filling them and was a little skeptical about this corer, however it is so easy to use and ensures that the same amount of cake is taken out of each cupcake. All you do is twist it into the centre of a cooled cupcake, then pull it out - simple!

Eating my way around the Lake District

2011-08-22T20:11:00.000+01:00

I spent last week in the beautiful Lake District, going on walks, taking in the breath-taking scenary, and most importantly, sampling the local cakes and bakes. Here are a few of the delicious treats I got to try.....

These chocolate cakes were 12 inches in diameter and filled with layers of cream.....so delicious.

Next up are lovely little fruit scones slathered with jam and cream - yum!

Pretty flower chocolate pops decorated with smarties in 'Relish' in Hawkeshead.

Deliciously moist carrot cake with cream cheese frosting from the Wild Strawberry Cafe in Keswick.

More scones - these beauties were huge and filled with cream and raspberry jam

Here are some of the delicious slices for sale at the farmer's market in Keswick

I couldn't resist trying the local specialty - gingerbread cake

It was so moist - I can't wait to try and make it.

This was the most divine eton mess - I just had to share it with you - from Cuckoo Brow in Sawry.....loaded with light meringue and blackberries.

Last is the Kendal mint cake. This treat was carried to the top of Mount Everest in May 1953, on the first successful expedition to the summit.This is the chocolate covered version - yum. If you want to make a Kendal mint cake for yourself here's the recipe:

Ingredients

500g white granulated sugar
150ml milk
1/2 tsp of peppermint essence
100g milk or dark chocolate (melted)

Method

Put sugar and milk into a saucepan and bring it slowly to the boil. Stir until the mixture becomes thick. You can test if it is ready by dropping a small amount into a glass of cold water and see if it forms into a soft ball when rolled between finger and thumb.

Remove from the heat and add the peppermint essence, then beat the mixture with a wooden spoon until it is smooth and slightly setting but still pliable. Pour mixture into a buttered shallow tin and leave it to set in the fridge. Once set, pour melted chocolate over it and leave mint cake to set in the fridge again before turning it out of the tin and cutting into thin bars. Store mint cake in an air-tight container.

Happy baking x