National Cupcake Week

Hi everyone!

I have been flying solo this week with the baking as my lovely partner in crime Rosie has been extremely busy starting college and making beautiful displays. But Buns and Roses is still on the cards and we have our next project over the next couple of weeks with a Simon's Cat themed birthday cake with also some other unusual ideas incorporated thanks to the request from Lucy. I will keep you updated as we really need to get pen to paper this week.

So it has been National Cupcake Week this week so I thought it would be a crime not to bake. I chose a neon theme and used some fantastic things in Morrisons at the moment including metallic pink, blue and silver bun cases and neon sugar sprinkles.  I chose to make pink, blue and yellow cupcake batter using gel food colourings, top with vanilla buttercream and then finish with the neon sugar sprinkles. I took these into work and unfortunately they disappeared before I could take a picture. I got couple of pictures of the last one:

I have had the boyfriend to stay this weekend and had a fab weekend shopping and relaxing. But he did remind me that it is his Mum and Dad's silver wedding anniversary on Wednesday. I decided I couldn't not bake something for them so whipped up a quick cake last night. Quite a challenge because I wanted a chilled evening with Xfactor, Cider and of course Luke haha. But I managed to quickly cook up the following:

It is vanilla sponge and mixed fruit jam topped with white regal icing. I used several different floral cutters and my new giant number cutters  to cut of of regal icing and painted them with food colouring and a paint brush. Not the normal approach but I took the idea of painting cake decorations from my lovely friend (who has just moved to Cambodia) Anna's childhood xmas cake decorating sessions. Hopefully it will be a taste success.

Did anyone else bake anything for National Cupcake Week? My next bake may be a cake for a work friends birthday or the Buns and Roses Birthday cake. I will keep you updated with another post coming shortly :)

Samantha Who (Loves to bake)

Buns and Roses

Hi everyone!

Sorry for not posting in what seems like forever, a lot has changed since my last post which has been keeping me very busy! I finished university in June and now have a 1st in BSc Mathematics whoo! :D. I made the most of my summer and went on 3 great holidays - Crete, Menorca and Ibiza. Then moved to York in July and am working in a graduate role at Northern Rail as a Data and Information Manager. It has taken almost 2 months to settle in because I have been here there and everywhere over the last few weekends including the Paralympics and V festival, but beside the chaos I am absolutely loving life in York!

3 months without posting has meant I have done a lot of baking and not posted the pictures on here so I will start with a few pictures showing what I have been up to:

Chocolate Fudge formula 1 cake for Luke

Cakes for the Bake Sale at work. Chocolate and vanilla cream cupcakes

Rainbow Macaroons

Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes with Doves

JP's chocolate giant cupcake

Anna's beach themed leaving cake

Ash's Mr Bump birthday cake

Rainbow inside of Ash

Danielles Sweet Cake

Dad's Garden Cake

Summer Trifle

I hope you like them. Luke's Formula 1 cake has been my biggest accomplishment so far I think along with Ash's Mr Bump which my lovely sister helped me with. I am hoping I have passed the baking bug onto Charlotte too :).

More recently I have joined baking forces with the lovely Rosie Artley produced a cake for her Mum and Dad's wedding anniversary, the masterpiece in the picture below:

A 3 tier cake requiring an awful lot of mix! But the effort and the burn to my right arm was worth it :) from the reaction when we wheeled it out.

 After the success of this cake me and Rosie have decided to go into business together as "Buns and Roses" ( thought of by me :)) as Rosie is currently training to be a florist. So this is my next big baking adventure!!!!!  We already have our first order together and its a wedding cake eee! I've had a meeting with the lovely lady who has ordered it and we have drawn up a design and have been asked to do it for the 27th October so not long to get it sorted but we are both very excited and keeping hush hush so not to spoil the suprise.  (We will document the process though with pictures for you all)

Because we are going to business there may be a few changes to this blog when we do, it may become the blog for Buns and Roses but we will see. So keep reading as I promise to post regularly now, with the progression of the cake and the business. You will also see us (Buns and Roses) appearing on Facebook in the coming months so if anyone has any upcoming birthdays/weddings/parties, Rosie and I would both be happy to have a chat with you and draw up the perfect cake and/or cupcakes.

So watch this space!

Samantha Who (loves to bake)