National Cupcake Championships 2012

Hi All, it's been a long and busy day!

I attended the National Cupcake Championships this moring. I didn't win an award :-( this year, but I did have some fun! After I safely got of the train at Charing Cross, I came out of the station and in true British weather style, it started to rain, just my luck! I made it to the ICA in one piece!

CC Treats Entry - Bourbon Orange & Choc Chip Cupcakes

Our cupcakes were a zesty orange and choc chip cake, filled with an orange & bourbon whipped cream filling, topped with an Orange zest & Bourbon infused Chocolate Ganache. A quick registration, and boy oh boy had I forgotten about the stairs at the ICA, I made it back downstairs, waiting for the day's proceedings to start. I met Vy from The Bake Shop UK, so we buddied each for the rest of the day and also spoke to a few other bakers, Chatter Cakes, Bollymix(sorry I forgot the other names)!! Presentations and demos commenced shortly after 10am, with presentations from one of the David's from Outsider Tart (very funny), Cerys Glen from Clic Sargent, Cacao Barry Chocolate, Shuga Budz Bakery, and Ms Cupcake(another fun presentation).
A yummy lunch followed with some quick networking with Gill from Secret Ingredients and few more bakers and then onto the judges presentation. The overall winner was Upsy Daisy Bakery's Mojito Cupcake (it looked so good!!), who were also in my category, Best Cupcake Made with Alcohol, well done to them and all the other winners!! The judges to name a few were Edd Kimber, Fiona Cairns, Will Torrent and Ms Cupcake.

I forgot my camera, so here are a few pics I took with my phone. A big thanks to the organisers, British Baker for putting this event together for us!

 Demo from Shuga Budz Bakery - Vintage Cupcake Tower

Some of the 2012 Finalists

 

The Judging

The Winners

National Cupcake Champion 2012 - Upsy Daisy Bakery

It's been a long weekend and a long day and I ended the day baking Classic Lemon Cupcakes...I'm shattered!!

Cakes for the month of June to be posted soon! I can't believe it's July already...where is this time running to?

Sweet Wishes & 2 Kisses!!

xxCC Treats

April Days

April is my month! I am an April baby! So HAPPY BIRTHDAY APRIL babies!!

I've been gone for a while, but I am back! I have been very under the weather to the point where I thought I was going blind (drama queen)! I've had some serious allergies (and it's not even sunny here in London!), but I am fully recovered and back to being busy, busy!

So, my birthday came & went too fast. I was sick and my precious girls made me a lovely cake surrounded by plenty of strawberries and dark chocolate...yum!!

My Precious Birthday Cake

Here are some pics of some recent cakes...

  Red Velvet Cake with White Chocolate and Cream Cheese Frosting

Classic Vanilla Bean First Birthday Cake & Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

Red Velvet Cakes with White Chocolate and Cream Cheese Frosting 

Lemon Touch Cake with Lemon Buttercream Frosting

Hope you are all keeping warm & dry...the minute we were told there was drought in the SE of England, the April showers came in abundance... love the rain (we need it!), but I LOVE the sunshine even more...where are you SUNSHINE!

More cakes following soon!

Sweet Wishes & 2 Kisses!!
xxCC Treats

Oxford Bake-Off

Unfortunately I was unable to blog about this fun event before attending as it has been so hectic, but this past Saturday saw us head up the M25, to Oxford for a day filled with an abundance of sweet treats at the Oxford Bake Off!! This was a fun event centred around the Great British Bake Off concept, for budding amateur bakers in Oxfordshire. The event was put together by Kate Kellaway-Moore, a passionate baker herself, to raise funds for charities: Oxfam, Coppa Feel, Oxford Rape Crisis and Cecily’s fund. Alongside the Bake Off competition, the event also ran workshops, hosted a variety of stalls (where we displayed some of our treats), a silent auction, raffles with some FAB prizes and the Oxfordshire Bake Off Book, to which we contributed our Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake recipe. PLEASE buy one...the money is going to a good cause!!!

After it took an hour just to get out of London, some A40 traffic we finally made it to Oxford! Navigating the one-way systems in Oxford was "interesting", but thanks to a lovely passerby who swiped a bollard down for us we reached the town hall quicker than we would have with our Nav!! With some off loading, parking hunting, a short trek back to the town hall, we setup (slightly late...urrgh!!) but we got there in the end.

Even with the amazingly warm weather outside, the bake off had quite a good turnout with a buzz of cake talk. We were situated right in front of the Tea-shop, so we heard it all! The teas were served in some lovely vintage china, with tea provided by Jeeves and Jericho. I am not a tea drinker, but my sister is and she enjoyed her tea! There was a mix of stalls, ranging from baked goodies, beautifully handcrafted porcelain cakes stands, knitted cosies, greeting cards, gifts and accessories. We received positive feedback and thank you to everyone who stopped by our stall to chat or purchase treats! We really appreciated the warm welcome! After a long day it was time to pack up and head back to London via the Chocolate Festival, Oxford was abuzz with events on Saturday! With some cakes left over, we decided to sell them after church on Sunday and through generous donations, we raised £30, all going to the Bake Off Charities!! You can read more on the event here: Oxford Mail.

Well done to all those who entered the Bake Off competition and to those who won. It must have been really tough for the judges, as the standard was high! Keep checking the Oxford Bake Off site, as there will be another one next year!

The Venue...Oxford Town Hall

The Bake Off goodies

Judging time...

 CC Treats Table Setup

Our bunting had teacups and teapots tying in with the Afternoon-Tea theme

Red Velvet Cupcakes and Divine Chocolate Cake 

  Mini Marshmallow Pops Bouquets

 Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes & Granadilla Glory Cupcakes

Belgian Swizzle Cupcakes

A peek at Sunny Oxford Town

 Me...Still standing, towards the end of a long day...

  

Spring is here, Happy Baking!!!

Sweet Wishes & 2 Kisses!!

xxCC Treats



Cupcake Cravings

The other day I had a cupcake craving, so instead of popping out to buy ONE, I baked some and then they were too cute to eat...

Happy Birthday to my little Bro, mwah, mwah!!

Sweet Wishes & 2 Kisses!!
xx CC Treats