Cakes and cupcakes meet local wire artist ...

One of the other things that has kept me busy in the lead up to the Vintage Fair, is a range of cupcake and cake stands that I have developed with a local wire artist here in Cape Town.

I know it's slightly off topic from baking and all things yummy, but it is related!

I've been surfing the net for a while now - all things related to cake decorating, weddings, packaging, events, recipes, chefs, food bloggers and of course all the various suppliers, stockists and retailers all over the world - from the UK and US, to Denmark and Australia.

I could spend hours on these sites - it's so interesting to me how different the offerings are in different countries.

There are amazing images of cupcake stands, many by a retailer called Wilton, who we don't get in South Africa.

Here's an image to give you an idea:



My local baking shop has a number of imported products from Wilton, but this makes them sooooo expensive.

And then something dawned on me - we have incredible local crafters in SA, many of whom dedicate themselves to doing wire craft work. In this age of environmental consciousness - why import things from the US, when we have the materials and the skills right here on our doorstep. Never mind the carbon footprint, we have high unemployment here and to my mind we should be supporting our local crafters first and foremost and keep these kinds of opportunities home grown.

I got in touch with contacts at a local non-profit organisation called Wola Nani who do amazing work to improve the quality of life for people living with HIV & AIDS.

And they in turn put me in touch with Zola Hector Senteni, a wire artist they had worked with previously.

Doesn't he look happy?



We had a meeting about my ideas and I showed him a number of images - he was so excited to have a new project, and of course the prospect of an additional income stream to him, was too good to pass up. He got stuck in right away.

Zola is incredibly talented - he exhibited as one of 17 crafters at the Decorex exhibition in 2005.
He also travelled to Munich in 2006 to produce a wire art installation to showcase South Africa for the 2010 World Cup.

He's an amazing man, and I'm very happy to be working with him.

He has produced a fantastic cupcake stand for me - and the three tiers even come apart so that they can be flat packed, for easier storage.



Here it is with no stock.




And here it was on our stall at the Vintage Fair.



Don't you think it's beautiful?

This one I spray painted cream.



Here's a close up.



With the Vintage Fair in mind, I also asked him to produce a cake stand for me - with old style French trimmings, which I just adore.




Here it is in pink ...



I hope you like them as much as I do?

And if you do, let me know - we would be very happy to fill your order!

Have a great week - keep reading!
Nicky

Very Vintage Cupcakes

Could I be obsessed with cupcakes? I think so. I just love making them - they are my absolute favourite ... these little bite sized pieces of heaven. And I love that it's easier to pick up a second cupcake than go back for a second slice of cake - or is that just me? I think I get most enjoyment out of playing with colours of icing and all the different sprinkles you get. So much fun! Since I last wrote, I've made a few more cupcakes - check these out... and these ... So pretty! And then last week I tried something completely different ... I had seen a recipe for Earl Grey Tea Infused Cupcakes and while I love the idea, I'm somewhat resistant to change. You see, I love my fail safe cupcake recipe, with thanks to Nigella Lawson and my all time favourite cook book, How to be a Domestic Goddess, so while I didn't want to change my recipe, I did think I could find a way to marry the two. The recipe calls for a few tablespoons of milk, so instead of being my usual pedestrian self, this time I heated up a mug of milk, and steeped two tea bags in it. But one type of tea wasn't enough for me. So I got quite complicated - four mugs, all with different flavours of tea. I was sure to use lots of notes, to be sure I kept tabs on which batch was which flavour - I even colour coded all the writing. (I should have photographed the production line for you - you would have laughed!). And all those colours translated nicely into four different colour cupcakes.
What do you think? May I say I think they were quite beautiful? So, the question is, which flavour would be your favourite?

Earl Grey - these were my favourite, especially with the very pretty sugared Violet petals my dear friend Jacqui sent me from London. A little closer? Green Tea? A little closer? Maybe Ceylon Tea? And a close up? or Rooibos, that great South African specialty tea? Closer still? In case you're wondering why all the effort?
Ben's Mom Floral Design and I met with the organisers of the Vintage Fair last week, which launches at the Old Biscuit Mill in Cape Town in October.
This was the vintage idea I presented to them. And this is what Ben's Mom presented.
Good old Quality Street!
We are considering having a presence there and I thought tea infused cupcakes was a very vintage idea!
What do you think?
Would you buy from us?
It should be very exciting - I will keep you posted on progress. Keep reading! Nicky

Baking and bubbles

So, I thought it was important to share my new found freedom with some girlfriends, some bubbles and some pretty special yummy treats.

Yesterday I was blessed to share the afternoon with six fabulous self employed friends, and it was the perfect excuse for me to try out some new recipes!

Most importantly, we had bubbles ... lots of them.


Then my prerequisite cupcakes ... I just love them ... and because we had some little people with us, I enjoyed using a wide array of colourful sprinkles! There are so many great sprinkles available these days. In fact I think I'm starting a little collection of my own.


So much fun! I love the little flowers - I bought some fantastic flower cutters from Imaginitive Icing recently and I was too impatient to make a flower gum paste mixture, so I just rolled out some pre made fondant, which worked well enough to satisfy my curiosity! I'll have to make them properly one day soon...



Then I tried out something called cake pops. I will need some more practice before they are as good as Bakerella's - she was my source of inspiration for these - but they were a huge hit and a nice innovation - a small ball of chocolate covered cake as a lollipop! Fabulous!





Pretty little vanilla butter cookies - these I loved! And they were so easy...



And of course, meringues ... I just love these little guys ... all soft and gooey - and not a bad option if you need to watch your waistline.


And they were nice for breakfast this morning too!

So, thanks to my ladies for joining me yesterday, thank you for my gifts and for your support!

Robyn of Ben's Mom Floral Design gave me a beautiful floral arrangement, using my trade mark lime green, for Lime Scales. Beautiful!


I love this photo ... too tempting ...



I had a great time and will be sure to let you know when there are more recipes to try out!
Thanks, and keep reading
Nicky

Going it alone

When I started this blog, I promised myself I would publish at an absolute minimum once a week … and here we are – two weeks later, no publishing.
So it’s time for excuses.
Well, not really, but I think you will forgive me when I tell you that since I last published, I have left my job and gone it alone!

Yup - I’ve made the leap in a time where almost everyone else is holding onto their jobs with all they’ve got … and I couldn't be more thrilled!

At 35 years old, I’ve left my corporate career, for a desk in my spare room and a spot in my beautiful kitchen fitted with brand new thermostat oven. Here I will focus on the beloved SA Baker’s Dozen, as well as Lime Scales - my designer cake and cupcake enterprise. I’ll be taking over the world – one cupcake at a time!

My first week on my own was busy, exciting and exhilarating all in one. The week was so promising - full of meetings with like minded, creative, exciting people, partners and potential clients. It’s all looking good!

Then of course there was my first “all on my own” order of two large birthday cakes (using a double batch for each cake, of the recipe we used in “Let them eat cake”) – images below – Lemon & Poppy Seed and Dark Chocolate cakes for 40 people, which were a huge hit. Yay!




I’ve also spent a lot of time working on content and images for the Lime Scales website which I am pleased to say went live just yesterday.

And of course, with all new enterprises comes all the experimenting you get to do!

Take a look at some of the items I prepared this week for client presentations.


The bright sprinkles in the bottom left of this photo are chocolate covered sunflower seeds - great hey?

I just love these little hearts!


And couldn't resist this little Daisy at my nearby baking supplier - I must learn to make my own!

Simple, but so pretty.


I also bought some pre made icing, the kind you can roll out and use as required, so I experimented a little with that on this mini cake.
And I used a great little mould that I bought from Karen Davies Cake Decorating in the UK - actually meant as a cupcake topper, but I cut the roses out to use here instead - lazy girl!

Old faithful butter icing - so easy and so effective.


Here I boxed both mini cakes and some of my famous chocolate chip cookies as a thank you to my fabulous mother who designed and built the new website!


So, thanks for your understanding over my little lapse ... I promise, as of next week, we’ll be back to normal on the blog with lots more recipes, tips and beautiful, inspirational photos! Keep reading!!!
Nicky

Welcome to Baker's Dozen

Earlier this year I started a small home based baking business called Lime Scales, after I made 36 cupcakes for my boyfriend’s birthday party that were a hit – and as a complete bonus, I loved making them. I had also become famous in our circle of friends for my chocolate chip cookies, so I thought, “what the heck, let’s go for it”. Not to mention, we’d recently also bought a new house, and I was finding my monthly bond commitments somewhat challenging, so the extra cash would be a bonus.

My boyfriend has been incredibly supportive, particularly of the odd up til midnight and following morning 5am starts, but recently he’s been moaning that all these beautiful things get made in our home, and there’s no such thing as a Baker’s Dozen – in other words, he never gets to taste anything.

And how right he is. And how unfair is that? Particularly because I too LOVE food. I’m one of those people (and most of my friends are too, which suits me just perfectly) who will be sitting at a lunch or dinner, discussing the next meal, or the last one and what made it amazing! And that’s how this Blog, Baker’s Dozen, has come into being.

Look, I’m certainly no expert in the kitchen – I’m no Martha Stewart or Delia Smith (those are the real connoisseurs), but I am a real woman, with a career and a life, just like most of you! Apart from five years of Home Economics at school, I’ve never had any formal chef’s training. But, I grew up in a house with a very sweet toothed father, who every time I presented a flopped three tiered Chocolate Orange Gateau, would say “as long as all the ingredients are in, it’ll taste just perfect”. How fabulous is that? So of course, I’d try again, knowing that stuffing up was not the end of the world.

What I have realised on this journey, is just how much I love baking, cooking and mucking about in my kitchen! I love the down time, on my own, with my thoughts, being creative. Now, I never thought I was a creative being, mainly because I can’t draw or paint or play an instrument. However, I guess the reality is that creating something, anything, is what makes you creative.

And so I think (like Nigella, and that’s why I love her so much) that with the right ingredients, a little time and some confidence, we can all create our own masterpieces. In my opinion, there’s nothing quite like the appreciation of my dinner guests when I serve up homemade Decadent Chocolate Brownies for dessert. I guess because it’s so easy to go out and buy Brownies nowadays, people are genuinely surprised when you spend the time to make your own. Really, most things are not brain surgery, this can be easy, fun and it’s so worth it.

Over time, buy way of photographic tutorials, I’ll share some of my old favourite no flop recipes with you. I’ll also experiment on some new recipes, look at gizmo’s and gadgets, share tips and troubleshooting, and at the end of the day, hopefully prove that as long as you’re having fun, it’s all good. Oh yes, and of course make sure to keep the legend of the Baker’s Dozen alive.

I hope you keep reading!

Nix