Sweet / Sweeter

synergy: I went into topshop to buy make-up, & walked out with two cupcakes, how did that happen?!


lola's cupcakes are based in primrose hill, & they have an outlet in topshop (oxford circus). i'm not quite as greedy as it might seem, since i bought two minis rather than one full-sized. As you might have guessed from their appearance: red velvet, & banana. The bonus with the mini ones is that the icing is pretty much the same size as the cake beneath ;)


topshop have also got an excellent new makeup range in stores. i purchased a lipstick in infrared, it's a bold but pretty orange (seriously, i have been searching for a good orange for sooo long, particularly since revlon's orange flip isn't sold here in the UK). it's a really creamy texture & doesn't dry out easily, i would certainly recommend it..


lastly, speed brow by benefit. seriously devastated last week when i knocked over my bottle of shelaq (damn, that's 10 pounds down the drain!), only to discover it's been discontinued! silver lining: speed brow is specifically for brows, comes with an application brow brush, & is a good 40% or so cheaper than the other. good stuff.

bloglovin'/pinterest/twitter

{all photos by me}

♥

Happy Hallowe'en!

Like all good holidays, Hallowe'en can be celebrated with cake! I chose a cream cheese icing for the first, tinted it with red food dye, & then shaped some devils horns from black sugar icing. The ghost involved cutting white squares from ready rolled white icing, draping over the cake, & then adding the eyes & mouth with a black icing pen. Ghoulish!




{all photos by me}

♥

Tea & Chat & The First Blackberries Of Autumn

Sunday afternoon was tea & cakes & chat at our little flat. Hannah made some fab scones, bringing strawberries, jam, & limoncello laced thick cream. happy stomaches, happy times :)

I made some cupcakes using a basic recipe for vanilla cupcakes by The Hummingbird Bakery - replacing vanilla essence with mint, adding some chocolate chips, some mint cream butter-icing, & topping with a chunk of Green & Black's chocolate..

these were sour cream & apricot, baked from Ming Makes Cupcakes (link below).

i picked some olive focaccia to make basil, tomato & mozarella sandwiches.

walnut bread seemed a good one to go for with the avocado, mango, rocket & lime sandwiches.

a little sugar pot, using a tea-light candle holder, plus a tiny espresso spoon for serving. glittery stars also decorated the table.

walking in the late afternoon sunshine to burn off that excess sugar. the blackberries are starting to ripen!

dad has a thing (like most men?!), where he doesn't smile into the camera, he grimaces into the sun instead. mum looks lovely in her ray-bans & whites. I'm wearing ray-bans too, plus a skirt from Zara & a T by Topshop.

ming makes cupcakes.


{all photos by me}

♥

Cake Days: Lavender & Orange-Blossom

This weekend I was excited to test out my first recipe from Cake Days, the recipe book from The Hummingbird Bakery, which you can purchase here. I'm quite the cupcake fetishist, & I imagine The Hummingbird Cafe is comparable to the infamous Magnolia Bakery of New York City.With the 1950s housewife coming out in me, anthropologie pinnie on, I tried my hand at the rose cupcakes. You might have noticed the absence of rose in the title of this post: mais oui! edible rose petals don't seem to be particularly easy to source! Instead, I fell for the sugared lavender in Waitrose, swapped it for 3 or 4 tablespoons of the sugar called for in the recipe, & dusted it over the icing. Orange-blossom essence replaced the rosewater, & cute blue gingham cupcake cases plus a little blue food colouring in the icing put the cherry on the cake. {So to speak}. 

Happy baking!

{all photos by me}

Afternoon Tea @ The Soho Hotel

This Saturday past, I went for afternoon tea at The Soho Hotel, & I couldn't recommend it highly enough. For ten of us, we were served in our own room: mirrors covered the back wall, funky faux-anthro art on the walls, & retro-glam chandeliers. You can mix & match the teas, from champagne through to traditional & fruit, in order to cover all tastes & price points. Served on Wedgwood china & luminous trimmed cake-stands. Service was lovely, accommodating, & didn't bat an eyelid when I requested a take-home box of leftovers..

Teas, cakes, & non-alcoholic drinks were unlimited.

Gastronomic highlights: crayfish & rocket sandwiches, & the fruit scone with jam & clotted cream.

{photos by me}

Sugar, Candies, and Cath Kidston

Late Night Shopping! Cupcake display at John Lewis on a Thursday evening, after 8, Oxford St.

{photo by me}

NYE

Cute TeaCupcake cases! Gifted from my sister this Christmas!

{i used a basic vanilla cupcake recipe, & was inspired by this post in creating the buttercream topping}

paper napkins, linen-feel english country-garden tablecloth, & glass tealight holders, all from John Lewis (aka Mecca)

Afternoon Tea & Cakes

Before:

After:

A Tea & Cakes afternoon that I hosted for Valentine's Day last year.

Heart-shaped butterfly cakes, & lemon meringue cupcakes made with this recipe

Yes, we really did resort to eating the leftover pink icing straight from the china bowl.