26 July 2011

National Cupcake Championships 2011

CCTreats has been selected as a finalist for the National Cupcake Championship 2011!!!!!!

The finals will be held on 15th August! We are so looking forward to this, and gives us a great opportunity to meet with like-minded cupcake bakers and industry greats!! Visit National Cupcake Week News for the full list of finalists!

We appreciate all the love & support that we have had on our Cake journey so far!!
We'll keep you posted on how the 15th goes!

Sweetest Wishes & 2 Kisses!!
xxCCTreats!!

25 July 2011

Summer Soiree


I have been busy planning a surprise luncheon for my sister who graduated last Wednesday...what a challenge! This has been one of the hardest things that I have had to plan, as we spend A LOT of time together, so keeping all the details a secret was a little tougher than I thought! I had to get the party stationery and the decor ready within 48hours, however I have had months to visually plan it!

With true British weather...very unpredictable; it was windy, cold and cloudy, but thankfully we had no rain! My sister is a simple being who likes, chic, pretty and arty kind of things with not too much fuss, so I kept the details very simple, with bursts of colour here and there! I chose violet, sage green, and various shades of yellow for the colour palette.

We used a white table cloth with light silver details on the fabric with chic silver tassels in each corner of the cloth. She's also an asthmatic, so I couldn't use showers of flowers, so I bought a bunch of bright yellow Gerberas from the supermarket (a bargain at £3 for the racket!), and cut the heads of the stems, and placed them on the table for the yellow accents. We used yellow "faux" linen napkins & damask embossed napkins in a light green colour for added texture. (I was going to use sage green ones, but they were too harsh against the strong yellow). We wrapped these in the themed napkin wrappers, placed the cutlery inside, and set them in a white tray.


We grouped the cake treats, simple party snacks & drinks together, and the salads, sauces & dips on another table. The cake treats were a rich chocolate sponge cake, covered in a chocolate ganache, adorned with slices of fresh strawberries. The rich redness of the strawberries, added a pop of colour complementing the yellow/green/purple palette. We also bake some Lemon Touch Cupcakes, with a simple yellow buttercream swirl and place them on a white platter with the green embossed napkin. We used some stylish jars to serve her favorite food craving...popcorn, and adorned the lids with purple ribbons.I must say after spending an hour or so cutting the food tags, I misplaced them...urgh, and found them the day after! We also served peppermint creams & chocolate eclairs and placed them in mini coffee jars.

Setting up & almost there...

Rich Chocolate Fudge Cake & Lemon Touch Cupcakes

 We served a cold buffet of salads, and braaied (BBQ'd) bbq steaks, mango & lime chicken drumsticks, and smokey bourbon ribs. For the drinks we served a homemade Ginger Cooler & Citrus Mint Fizz, Orange & Mango drinks, and a mix of other drinks. I will post the recipe for Ginger Cooler & the Citrus Mint Fizz, they were perfect Summer coolers (you just had to imagine that it was hot & sunny)!


Always be prepared for change...it got too cold outside, so we had a quick switch, the guests moved inside, and the tables were moved outside!





It was a lovely afternoon with family & friends! The food was good, the treats were yummy, and most importantly she cried from the surprise, so I say job done!

We have some great & exciting news to share with you all about our CCTreats...it's still sinking in! Check out next post coming soon!

Stylish & Sweet Wishes & 2 Kisses!!
xxCCEvents

Dairy-free Birthday Treats


Last week, I was busy in the kitchen baking treats for many a birthday. One very special treat was some dairy-free cupcakes for my lactose intolerant bestie, Miss Merx! I wanted to really treat her to some luxury treats, from look to taste, ensuring they were still indulgent treats even without all the dairy/buttery components of regular cakes. So I baked our Vanilla Bean sponge, topped it with a dark chocolate butter-free swirl and a dark chocolate dipped strawberry with white royal icing dots. I packed the little treats in complimentary red cupcake boxes, and made my way up to Covent Garden...and then the heavens opened, and it rained, and rained hard! My shoes were soaked, jeans, jacket, name it got wet! And as for the cupcakes, they arrived safely and intact, to be enjoyed by all!! It was a fab, relaxing evening, with FAB chicken, and I met some wonderful people. So Happy Birthday lady and have a blessed and FANTABULOUS (i love this word!) year ahead!!



I really need to invest in a new camera...hmmm!

Sweet Wishes & 2 Kisses!!
xxCCTreats

Nautical Cake Details

We complete our nautical theme details with the cake details from the party. The cake was our signature vanilla bean sponge filled with our creamy vanilla bean buttercream, and fondant icing. We made a fondant life saving ring in the party themed colour, with a roped border, and adorned the cake with sailing boats, all echoing the party colours.







This truly was a fun cake to make!

Sweet Wishes & 2 Kisses!!
xxCCTreats

4 July 2011

Ahoy There!


A while back I mentioned that we were working on a Nautical Themed 1st Birthday Party, which has seen us at our busiest over the last couple of days, as well as being busy in the kitchen baking some yummy treats!

So the nautical themed first birthday party has come and gone, and the party was a great success! The weather delivered some sizzling sunshine, and sealed the theme. The party was held in the garden of the lovely God-parents of the birthday boy, and the decked patio with the exposed brick back wall, was the perfect canvas for our theme. The colour palette we chose was made up of navy, apple green, hot orange, white, with hints of pinstripe in shades of blues and white. The decorative accents included, sailing ropes, biodegradable wooden cutlery, navy & apple green napkins, navy grosgrain ribbons, pinstripe ribbons, personalised bunting, water bottles, napkin wrappers, cookies and favour bags, and a nautical inspired cake!

We designed the complete range of the event stationery, based around the nautical icons of a sail boat and an anchor, no 1, and the party slogan Ahoy There! in the chosen colour scheme, and stripes and bold outlines to keep it boyish and playful for a 1 year old, and this also added pops of the colours to the party table. We customised our welcome sign, using a plain white polystyrene ring, and added navy blue strips of ribbon, white cord, and glued on the welcome message, so that the guests were Welcomed Aboard the Nautical theme from the second they arrived!








  




We used mounted navy blue drinks dispensers for some yummy homemade coolers, and set them at varied heights. We used plain white serving platters for the kids nibbles and added more colour with pineapple, strawberry, and kiwi fruit kebabs dotted with Haribo jellies!




It was a fun party to plan, and fun was had by all. With plenty of good food, a BBQ for the adults, good music and wonderful group of people, our job was done!

Cake pictures and cookie details following in the next post!

Enjoy the sunshine!

Stylish Wishes & 2 Kisses!!
xx CC Events

26 July 2011

National Cupcake Championships 2011

CCTreats has been selected as a finalist for the National Cupcake Championship 2011!!!!!!

The finals will be held on 15th August! We are so looking forward to this, and gives us a great opportunity to meet with like-minded cupcake bakers and industry greats!! Visit National Cupcake Week News for the full list of finalists!

We appreciate all the love & support that we have had on our Cake journey so far!!
We'll keep you posted on how the 15th goes!

Sweetest Wishes & 2 Kisses!!
xxCCTreats!!

25 July 2011

Summer Soiree


I have been busy planning a surprise luncheon for my sister who graduated last Wednesday...what a challenge! This has been one of the hardest things that I have had to plan, as we spend A LOT of time together, so keeping all the details a secret was a little tougher than I thought! I had to get the party stationery and the decor ready within 48hours, however I have had months to visually plan it!

With true British weather...very unpredictable; it was windy, cold and cloudy, but thankfully we had no rain! My sister is a simple being who likes, chic, pretty and arty kind of things with not too much fuss, so I kept the details very simple, with bursts of colour here and there! I chose violet, sage green, and various shades of yellow for the colour palette.

We used a white table cloth with light silver details on the fabric with chic silver tassels in each corner of the cloth. She's also an asthmatic, so I couldn't use showers of flowers, so I bought a bunch of bright yellow Gerberas from the supermarket (a bargain at £3 for the racket!), and cut the heads of the stems, and placed them on the table for the yellow accents. We used yellow "faux" linen napkins & damask embossed napkins in a light green colour for added texture. (I was going to use sage green ones, but they were too harsh against the strong yellow). We wrapped these in the themed napkin wrappers, placed the cutlery inside, and set them in a white tray.


We grouped the cake treats, simple party snacks & drinks together, and the salads, sauces & dips on another table. The cake treats were a rich chocolate sponge cake, covered in a chocolate ganache, adorned with slices of fresh strawberries. The rich redness of the strawberries, added a pop of colour complementing the yellow/green/purple palette. We also bake some Lemon Touch Cupcakes, with a simple yellow buttercream swirl and place them on a white platter with the green embossed napkin. We used some stylish jars to serve her favorite food craving...popcorn, and adorned the lids with purple ribbons.I must say after spending an hour or so cutting the food tags, I misplaced them...urgh, and found them the day after! We also served peppermint creams & chocolate eclairs and placed them in mini coffee jars.

Setting up & almost there...

Rich Chocolate Fudge Cake & Lemon Touch Cupcakes

 We served a cold buffet of salads, and braaied (BBQ'd) bbq steaks, mango & lime chicken drumsticks, and smokey bourbon ribs. For the drinks we served a homemade Ginger Cooler & Citrus Mint Fizz, Orange & Mango drinks, and a mix of other drinks. I will post the recipe for Ginger Cooler & the Citrus Mint Fizz, they were perfect Summer coolers (you just had to imagine that it was hot & sunny)!


Always be prepared for change...it got too cold outside, so we had a quick switch, the guests moved inside, and the tables were moved outside!





It was a lovely afternoon with family & friends! The food was good, the treats were yummy, and most importantly she cried from the surprise, so I say job done!

We have some great & exciting news to share with you all about our CCTreats...it's still sinking in! Check out next post coming soon!

Stylish & Sweet Wishes & 2 Kisses!!
xxCCEvents

Dairy-free Birthday Treats


Last week, I was busy in the kitchen baking treats for many a birthday. One very special treat was some dairy-free cupcakes for my lactose intolerant bestie, Miss Merx! I wanted to really treat her to some luxury treats, from look to taste, ensuring they were still indulgent treats even without all the dairy/buttery components of regular cakes. So I baked our Vanilla Bean sponge, topped it with a dark chocolate butter-free swirl and a dark chocolate dipped strawberry with white royal icing dots. I packed the little treats in complimentary red cupcake boxes, and made my way up to Covent Garden...and then the heavens opened, and it rained, and rained hard! My shoes were soaked, jeans, jacket, name it got wet! And as for the cupcakes, they arrived safely and intact, to be enjoyed by all!! It was a fab, relaxing evening, with FAB chicken, and I met some wonderful people. So Happy Birthday lady and have a blessed and FANTABULOUS (i love this word!) year ahead!!



I really need to invest in a new camera...hmmm!

Sweet Wishes & 2 Kisses!!
xxCCTreats

Nautical Cake Details

We complete our nautical theme details with the cake details from the party. The cake was our signature vanilla bean sponge filled with our creamy vanilla bean buttercream, and fondant icing. We made a fondant life saving ring in the party themed colour, with a roped border, and adorned the cake with sailing boats, all echoing the party colours.







This truly was a fun cake to make!

Sweet Wishes & 2 Kisses!!
xxCCTreats

4 July 2011

Ahoy There!


A while back I mentioned that we were working on a Nautical Themed 1st Birthday Party, which has seen us at our busiest over the last couple of days, as well as being busy in the kitchen baking some yummy treats!

So the nautical themed first birthday party has come and gone, and the party was a great success! The weather delivered some sizzling sunshine, and sealed the theme. The party was held in the garden of the lovely God-parents of the birthday boy, and the decked patio with the exposed brick back wall, was the perfect canvas for our theme. The colour palette we chose was made up of navy, apple green, hot orange, white, with hints of pinstripe in shades of blues and white. The decorative accents included, sailing ropes, biodegradable wooden cutlery, navy & apple green napkins, navy grosgrain ribbons, pinstripe ribbons, personalised bunting, water bottles, napkin wrappers, cookies and favour bags, and a nautical inspired cake!

We designed the complete range of the event stationery, based around the nautical icons of a sail boat and an anchor, no 1, and the party slogan Ahoy There! in the chosen colour scheme, and stripes and bold outlines to keep it boyish and playful for a 1 year old, and this also added pops of the colours to the party table. We customised our welcome sign, using a plain white polystyrene ring, and added navy blue strips of ribbon, white cord, and glued on the welcome message, so that the guests were Welcomed Aboard the Nautical theme from the second they arrived!








  




We used mounted navy blue drinks dispensers for some yummy homemade coolers, and set them at varied heights. We used plain white serving platters for the kids nibbles and added more colour with pineapple, strawberry, and kiwi fruit kebabs dotted with Haribo jellies!




It was a fun party to plan, and fun was had by all. With plenty of good food, a BBQ for the adults, good music and wonderful group of people, our job was done!

Cake pictures and cookie details following in the next post!

Enjoy the sunshine!

Stylish Wishes & 2 Kisses!!
xx CC Events