Confessions of a Hampstead Baker

L'Eto Caffe

2011-10-25T08:44:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

I have a confession to make. I cannot claim that I made the discovery of this cafe that has ricocheted into the Number Two spot in Silver Whimsy's Top Ten list of cafes across London. No, that accolade goes to my SIBF, as does the joy of Hipstamatic as demonstrated by these divine photos that actually do do justice to the indie lo-fi delights of the most extraordinary Soho cafe that is L'Eto Caffe ....

I love the fact that there is Astro-Turf on the window! I love the glass shop front for maximum cake gawping! And I also love the cakes themselves!

Whilst I am currently obsessed with 'English Muffins' owing to Madeleine's love of the aforementioned buttery delights in Eugenides latest 'The Marriage Plot', when faced with the option of muffins or Epicurean patisseries, the patisseries win out. I am yet to try many of the extraordinary array of cakes on offer at L'Eto, but those I have tried (raspberry mille feuille, cherry mille feuille and raspberry tarts) are up there with those of Maison Bertaux. (To new readers out there, this is the HIGHEST ACCOLADE WHIMSY HAS TO OFFER!)

There is something intensely life-fulfilling about sitting at a quasi-formica surfaced table, staring into the million layers of a cherry mille-feuille whilst gazing into the eyes of a SIBF replete with new hair cut and winter coat. When you add an extremely well chosen eclectic indie soundtrack, ridiculously attractive serving staff and ultra-cool clientele, you have basically the best cafe in London town.

Quasi formaica tables + super-shiny floors = epitome of lo fi cool.

I have not yet tried a Hazelnut and Honey Latte, but I intend to do so before the winter's out. I am yet to find out the secret recipe of 'London Hot Chocolate', but I have Spooks working on it as I type...

As you can see, detail is all at L'Eto. Where else can you drink a divinely silky, dreamily delicious cappuccino from such a beautiful cup? Sometimes their coffee comes in the most amazing glasses and, seeing as one of my most favourite things in the world is drinking coffee from a glass, this makes me very happy.

This is the cherry mille feuille. It is basically like eating a whole pot of cream. The cream is pillowy, cloud-like, and not at all over-whipped (which is one of my pet hates).
Next time you're in Soho and feel in need of an oasis of non-try hard indie cool amidst the fast paced life of Wardour Street head straight for L'Eto Caffe. You will not be disappointed!

Kisses,

Silver Whimsy x

PS Hipstamatic - quelle revelation!!!!

Hurwundeki

2011-07-17T10:37:00.000-07:00

I first heard about Hurwundeki from a wonderful brown paper bag (that I still have) given to me by my friend Lara which contained the most amazing birthday presents ever! (A baking tray and a number of excellent head-bands for the curious amongst you.) Months later, my friend Rebecca suggested meeting there and I was amazed by it's fantasy cornucopia charm.Visiting Hurwundeki is a little like stepping out of the dull grey pages of Hackney Road and into the magic realism of a Carter-esque side-show funfair.A sandy beach gives a home to faded carousel horses and rusted pumpkin coaches;old wooden chairs threaten to tumble over, precariously balancing on the uneven ground; a ramshackle railway arch is transformed into the heart of trendy Shoreditch without being remotely annoying or pretentious. (A miracle in itself.)

You can sit in Hurwundeki for hours at a time and they don't mind. You can order one coffee and use the wi-fi to your heart's content and they won't be rattled.

You can hang out by yourself or with friends and their small children and they will be absolutely cool with it. It is possibly simultaneously the greatest meeting point and private out-of-the-house working place in the whole of London. That is a mighty accolade to bestow on a place but I believe Hurwundeki may well be worthy of it.

They serve delicious Square Mile coffee which is roasted in nearby Bethnal Green and a host of delicious home-made salads and sandwiches and - joy of joys - occasionally cherry pie.

It is most certainly off the beaten track, however, it is also well worth a journey right the way up the Hackney Road purely for the sake of visiting this most delightful cafe haven. You can walk through the beach and enter a world in which your writing/reading/designing dreams can all come true.

Back with baking soon, honest!

Silver Whimsy x

Maison Bertaux

2011-06-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

Oh, Readers of Whimsy!

Allow me to take you on the ultimate tea and cake pilgrimage in London... This cafe is the undisputed Number One cafe around London as voted by Silver Whimsy herself since she first arrived in London in 1997! Maison Bertaux.

Not only is this cafe located in the heart of Soho, it is also the BEST place in London for tea.

The shop window is a candy-coloured cornucopia of delights. The baking here is the essence of baking - baking at it's most artful, generous and magical.

Frequently, on a first visit to Maison Bertaux, people can be put off by the seemingly unfriendly service, however it is really just a case of familiarity and being prepared with your order before you enter the cafe!! (They like you to have already perused the cakes and made your mind up before you clutter up their hallway.) When I first started going to Maison Bertaux, I was obsessed with wearing butterflies in my hair, and as a result the extraordinarily beautiful waiters that grace the cafe would occasionally give me an extra cake for my butterfly to feed on! This is the sort of wonderfully romantic and generous gesture that a place like Maison Bertaux can make...

I prefer taking my tea upstairs because it has this amazing secret romantic tryst/writers paradise feeling to it, but there is a delightful space downstairs as well, currently featuring lots of bunting and some pretty tablecloths.

The thing about sitting upstairs though, is that Noel Fielding has had several art exhibitions in the cafe over the years and lots of his writing remains on the walls, so if you haven't got either a notebook or a SIBF with you for company, there is always something with which to occupy yourself! If you tie it right and you're in the cafe when one of his art exhibitions are actually happening, then there is no way you would want a notebook for company because there is way too much to look at!

Your tea (normally brought to you by a ridiculously good looking waiter) arrives in a wonderfully genuine no-nonsense well-pouring tea pot with a generous jug of hot water, milk and a much-used and loved tea strainer. (Modelled below by my SIBF. Look to the left of the tea pot and you will see examples of Noel Fielding's wall-writing.)

The house-blend tea is dark, golden, strong and seemingly never-ending. (If you order camomile tea, they bring you the actual beautiful little flower heads in a pot - how extremely divine.)

One of the truly joyous things about being in Maison Bertaux is that you feel as if you are genuinely attending Alice's tea party, except it is a million times better than expected.... And then there are the cakes...

Words cannot do justice to these epicurean creations. On this visit to Maison Bertaux with my SIBF, I went for my usual favourite cream fruit choux bun. I have no idea how every piece of fruit they carefully choose for their delicacies can be so sumptuous, nor how the cream can be so excrutiatingly delicious.

My SIBF spotted a new cake in the window - one we had never seen before - and so chose it. I was very glad that he did - I would LOVE to know how they make this chocolate icing. It is sticky and chocolatey, smooth and shiny and all encompassing in a way that chocolate icing rarely is - it tastes better than it looks. Other favourites are the Maison Bertaux chocolate eclairs and these almond ring cream buns. Seriously the best patisserie in London.

Whilst Maison Bertaux is on the expensive side, it feels like an occasion being there; you can sit for hours and hours, all the best dressed people frequent the glories of it's slightly ripped black plastic-leather old school 60s almost-beatnik-seats, and you actually feel like your life and creativity have seriously improved by virtue of being there. I cannot recommend it enough.

Baking will resume in a week or two, so keep your eyes peeled for the next Summer of Whimsy!

Patisserie and Papillons,

Silver Whimsy x

PS Whilst this is not the usual Whimsy thing to do, I must leave you with a photograph of the toilets at Maison Bertaux - where else is this the standard of grafitti?!

The Camden Arts Centre

2011-06-02T05:03:00.000-07:00

Dearest Readers,

I may well regret this post. For I am about to reveal to you The Secret of Whimsy. Well, maybe that’s a bit of a grand statement, but this truly is my ultimate writing place, my top two café of all time, my place-to-come-to-in-time-of-need, my failsafe, trusted artspace / café / garden / purveyor of a damn fine cup of coffee…

Readers of Whimsy, I present to you...

The Camden Arts Centre!

Hidden away on Arkwright Road, just off Finchley Road is the beautiful late Victorian ex-library that is home to the Camden Arts Centre. There is a changing exhibition every few months, and that is one of the best things about this café – you can always combine a visit with a quick skip and jump around the exquisitely configured galleries with sky-high ceilings, wooden floors, masses of natural light and perennially interesting exhibitions.

The re-design of the building is an architectural tour de force – there is a pretty little garden hidden behind a glass wall

that does a remarkable job of blocking the traffic noise and makes you feel as if you are hidden in a caffeine-fuelled utopian vision of arts for the people!

A major pull of the Camden Arts Centre is its huge tables, daily newspapers laid out, free wi-fi and lap-top friendly atmosphere. I have written dissertations, novels, poetry and endless rants from these tables, and today, for the first time, I am actually BLOGGING LIVE from here!

Is this the birth of site-reflexive blogging? The coffee here was voted as Time Out’s best cup of coffee, and I have to say it is always delicious, never burnt or bitter and one of the few cups of coffee on offer in London that actually gives you a caffeine hit.

I wouldn’t recommend the cakes here, but fresh, home-made, healthy and unusual salads (‘Salad?’ I hear you say, ‘Salad in the World of Whimsy?’ – well, there’s a first time for everything…) are made on the premises right before your eyes every morning, and provide good value for money as well as plenty of your five a day. (It is useful to recompense for the endless slices of cake by coming here for lunch once in a while.)

This café is a complete contrast to Burgh House – whilst you may well fall in love over a cream tea at Burgh House, it would be far more appropriate to come in city-chic post-modern polos and talk Ginsberg over an Americano at the Camden Arts Centre – but equally one of the best in our city of love and poison.

Until next time,

Silver Whimsy x

Orange and Lavender Cake at Burgh House

2011-05-01T06:06:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

I hope you feel special, for I am about to share with you one of North London's Best Kept Secrets.... Burgh House.

Burgh House is rather like a secret garden but with excellent coffee, tucked away ancient benches and delicious cakes thrown in for good measure. It is rather like time travelling into the golden heyday of afternoon teas; be sure to wear a floral dress that you could imagine gracing the body of Julia Flyte to compliment the wisteria and wild spring flowers surrounding you as you take your tea.

There is a somewhat shambolic air about the Buttery -

- but I mean that in the most complimentary of fashions. For this is a genuinely independent business with a small downstairs kitchen and beautiful waitresses with boho-chic accessories who may or may not appear to take your order. But it doesn't really matter because you can recline in the wooden furniture, watch the blue-tits dancing in the blossom trees and inhale the sweet scents of the orange blossoms surrounding you on all sides. You quite forget that you are in London; it is as if you are transported to the Hampstead of yore - the beautiful, small village on the edge of the heath...

...and then there's the cake.

The cakes are all made on the premises (a la Whimsy) and use locally sourced ingredients. the teas and coffees are all fairtrade and you are automatically brought hot milk for your coffee, cold milk for your tea and tea in a pot. (It shouldn't be necessary to point this out, but so many places have foresaken these basic rules of conduct in recent months.) The cakes are the kind of uncomplicated, delicious and traditional cakes that I like eating and making. I had the orange and lavender cake this time around and it was fragrant and delicate with the most perfect texture - simultaneously crumbly and moist. The prettiest lavender buds were scattered on the icing leading to a thoroughly Whimsical joy!

...and then there's the coffee! It is the most perfect coffee; a deep ebony coffee with a thick crema and a generous serving of the aforementioned hot frothy milk on the side leading to the perfect golden foaming frothy coffee (but nicer than that sounds - like a delicacy rather than an unpleasant canine disease).

This is a cafe for romantic trysts and leisurely lonely Sunday afternoons. Burgh House is a good reason to go for a long walk on the heath - with the knowledge that there is a delicious afternoon tea awaiting you and a historical museum filled with (occasionally bizarre) curiosities for you to while away a half hour over. Do try to go now before the spring flowers are over and see if you can work out where my favourite seat is!

Sweet lavender kisses,

Silver Whimsy x

The Nordic Bakery

2011-04-21T02:06:00.000-07:00

Hello Readers!

Being British, I must commence with a comment on the weather; isn't it wonderful! All my tea dresses are out of the wardrobe and I am basking in the sunshine.

What perfect timing, then, to bring you the first Silver Whimsy Review from the Top Ten List of Cafes across London!

I arranged to meet my Floral-Shirted-Actor-Friend (FSAF) at The Nordic Bakery on the hottest day of the year so far. This was simultaneously a good and bad idea; whilst we had delightfully silky smooth coffees and carbohydrate-drenched cinnamon buns, The Nordic Bakery is more suited to a frost-bitten winter day rather than a sun-drenched April eve.

The Nordic Bakery might not immediately seem to fall into the Aesthetic of Whimsy. But, you see dear Reader, I LOVE the clean lines, the quasi-clinical atmosphere of the wood pannelled walls and as my FSAF commented, the sweating sauna like effect of the glass fronted window onto Golden Square. Oh dear, I'm not painting a good picture am I..?

Let us now move on to an explanation of why the cappuccino's from The Nordic Bakery are the best in central London (excluding Soho). It isnlt just the contents of the coffee cup that make this frothy-drink so pleasing, it is the cup itself and the sanitorium-esque tray on which it is presented.

It all ties in with the 'safe-space' aesthetic of The Nordic Bakery. There is something intensely soothing about the muted colours and the super-shiny and smooth Moomin sized coffee-cups. The contents therein do not disappoint; the ratio of coffee to froth is perfect (although this is a more Australasian and less Italian version of the cappuccino so do not expect an adrenalin-filled caffeine hit); this, then is a coffee to linger over rather than a pick-me-up-let-me-out-of-this-crazy-city-help-I'm-wearing-stilettoes-it's-rush-hour-and-I'm-going-to-be-late kind of coffee.

And then we move onto the piece de resistance du Nordic Bakery. Oh yes, their famed and much-devoured by Whimsy cinnamon buns. The bakery is housed in the basement of the cafe, so freshly baked cakes, buns and breads are constantly brought up into the cafe. The cinnamon bun is a multi-layered delicacy of thick buttery pastry drenched in cinnamon-loaded goodness. My FSAF could detect a hint of something else behind the cinnamon - an almost liqueur like flavour that he couldn't pin down - if you go please send in your thoughts about what this could have been. The best cinnamon buns are soft and squishy inside and sticky and chewy on the outer corners.

I have never ventured into tasting any of their other cakes, but the Tosca Cake sounds most tempting.

So, if you're stuck on Oxford Street and need some respite from the crazed shoppers and endless roadworks, head down Carnaby Street and wend your way t Golden Square; there a sanitorium clam awaits you.

Cinnamon and Springtime,

Silver Whimsy x

Your New Favourite Shop; Comma

2011-04-13T08:20:00.000-07:00

Dearest Readers,

I have managed to stop it from being a year since I last posted. This acts as a mini-triumph in my life at the moment.

However, today's long-awaited content will not feature any baking! Yes, dear reader, you heard right! Confessions of a Hampstead baker is reaching out from tales of baking and will begin to feature write-ups of Silver Whimsy's Top Ten List of Cafes across London and SilverTop Ten List of Shops across Britain!

And so to launch this new feature (if this was an app there would be bluebirds and butterflies streaming banners across the screen - please imagine them now-) I give you my Number One shop in Britain; Comma.

Comma is situated on Iffley Road in Oxford. You can reach it by taking the 4, 4a, 4b or 4c bus from just outside Oxford station and then the bus stops directly outside the shop so there's no excuse for either i) getting lost or ii) not visiting.

Inside and outside, comma is a veritable treasure trove.

It is a compendium of all the most delightful treats; the most secret of notebooks; the most delectable of curios and the most magical miscellanies. (Can miscellany be in the plural? Well, if it can't it can for Comma!)

Comma is my dream shop. I could happily live there. Being there makes me happy. It's one of those places where you just want to pick up and scrutinise everything because by virtue of touching the objets around you, you can feel some kind of profound assimilation of self going on.

What makes it EVEN BETTER is that it's run by Sally and Dave,

everyone's favourite purveyors of tea towels - todryfor.

The SIBF and I spent a wonderful day in Comma picking everything up, buying post cards, cards, tea towels and ephemera and generally absorbing the atmosphere and the company.

Make haste fine readers! Get thee on a train/bus to Oxford and you too can have your photo taken in front of the moose antlers as I did here;

Love and Rockets,

Silver Whimsy x

PS are you pleased to have me back?

The Silver Whimsy Cake Stall (2:0)

2010-07-06T03:19:00.000-07:00

And so it was, Dear Readers, that a Whole Year passed and it was time for The Silver Whimsy Cake Stall (2:0) to be held once more at West Hampstead's finest Jester Festival!

The aim this year was for everything to be slightly less frantic, slightly more calm and slightly less damaging to general physical, emotional and mental health and...guess what?? With the help of my ever suffering, completely amazing SIBF (who has cleaned the kitchen so many times over the past three days that he deserves a medal, or alternatively beer for life), super-star cousin Lee (who both baked delicious peanut butter cookies and gave us a lift to the festival site with our ten stone trestle table), and bestest friends Sally and Dave Emery (who left thir tea-towel empire to come and visit the festival and took all these WONDERFUL photos), it was!

Obviously, that doesn't mean that there weren't any nervous bake-downs over how to make enough cakes, or crisis' over the fact that, whatever the trendy magazines say, Whoopie Pies actually do just taste horrible, but generally speaking things went a lot more smoothly and there was a lot less to cry about! The major difference this year was that we actually have our own super-cute and phenomenally indie kitten called Tilly,

which meant that I didn't have to go all Hepburn over a stray cat that turned out not to be a stray cat after all... (New readers check out entry number one for more info...) This had both positive and negative implications. Positive because I knew there would be a kitten waiting for me at the end of the day but negative because I had to keep the kitten out of the kitchen for a few days which meant that she was a little bit cross with me.

Anyway, a lot of baking products were purchased to make all the sweet treats for the festival. I started off by making the Pistachio Meringues because they keep for quite a long time so could be made in advance.

I even phoned up Ottolenghi for advice on how best to store them! Then I moved on to the Lemon Drizzle Cake which is a phenomenally popular cake stall cake.

A lovely gentleman bought four slices and then returned the next day to buy some different cake because he'd enjoyed it so much! That was one of the best things about the festival. I had repeat customers from the previous year! People were so charmed by the spirit of Whimsy that they remembered the stall and sought it out, and if they were new customers then they returned for Day Two because they loved it so. The only problem with this was that I actually sold out of cakes on Day One which meant that I was up all night re-baking for Day Two! I found myself making meringues at midnight...

and fairy cakes at four am!

I was particularly proud of my Victoria Sponge

made with organic raspberries and freshly whipped Vanilla Cream.

Last year, a number of people asked me if I had a Carrot Cake so this year I decided to make one and it was The Surprise Hit of TSWCS!!!

Who knew that out of all the super-enticing sweet-treats the Carrot Cake would sell out first?! Possibly, it was because of the addition of the trademark Silver Whimsy mini-flags, but who knows? All I do know is that I had to make another one at 10pm on Saturday night because it had been so popular! The My Little Ponies (Lickety Split and Baby Bonnet) helped to sell the Scrummy Chocolate Brownies and enjoyed frolicking on the pink lace table cloth of Whimsy.

All in all, 'twas a fabulous weekend (made all the more special by visits to TSWCS by the wondrous Lara and Dan) and a marvellous festival of general community madness. I was very excited and also quite nervous that The Kitchen Table (West Hampstead's best cafe) and Walnut (West Hampstead's finest restaurant) tasted my meringues, and was very happy that they both enjoyed them! Hooray!

I might have a little bit of a baking break for now so, until next time, kisses and cakes from

Silver Whimsy x

PS Once again enormous gratitude to Dave Emery for allowing me to use his fabulous photographs x x x

Something for the Weekend...

2010-05-14T10:01:00.001-07:00

Hello Cake Lovers,

I hope you're all coping with the on-going battle between summer and winter? It looks like there's about to be a storm here so instead of going swimming, I decided to make a deliciously decadent dark chocolate marble cake. It's a cake that reminds me of birthday parties when I was little and has the most intense chocolate icing; a perfect remedy for post-election blues. (Or rather a momentary remedy - as much as I like to think baking could make political waves I'm not sure it can.)

Making this cake really couldn't be easier - make a Victoria Sponge, split the mixture into two bowls and add a tablespoon of coacoa powder mixed up with warm milk to one half of the mixture to make the chocolate sponge. Dot alternate tablespoons of the two mixtures in a circular cake tin and then swirl in a figure of eight with a skewer to make it marble!

I have to confess that this time for some weird reason I got it into my head that my brand new palette knife (major excitement in the Silver Whimsy kitchen at the purchase of said knife) would work just as well as a skewer. This is not a good idea! Do use a skewer to make your swirls. I kind of realised as soon as I used the knife that it wasn't a good idea but I carried on regardless because I'm having one of those days - I dropped a bag of sugar, spilt a whole cup of tea on both my feet and the sofa and put a white sheet in with an extremely dark wash. Domestic Goddess I am not. Mais je digress... I find you have to bake this cake for about 45-50 mins because you'd normally split a Vicky Sponge so it only takes 25 mins, but do check after 30 mins because it would be awful if it burnt!

Anyway, once your cake has cooled melt 100g of 70% coacoa solids dark chocolate with about 25g unsalted butter and two tablespoons of water in a bowl over a pan of gently bubbling water. It's best just to leave the chocolate mixture to do it's own thing and then stir it to combine and thicken once it's all melted because this helps to avoid the chocolate from splitting.

Then, using a spatula, ice your cake! Yay! That's the fun bit.

Then eat it with a cup of good and strong Yorkshire Tea and find temporary chocolate oblivion. One of the bst things about this cake is that it keeps really well for a few days so if you make it on a Friday you can still have cake joy on a Monday!

Until next time, happy weekend,

Love Silver Whimsy x

Heart Shaped Pancakes

2010-05-04T03:13:00.000-07:00

May the Fourth be with you, Dear Readers!

In celebration of this glorious day, here's a quick and easy guide to making delicious heart-shaped American pancakes! This is the recipe I use:

225 g Plain Flour

2 Free Range Eggs

300 ml Organic milk

1 tablespoon Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Sugar

A pinch of Salt

30 g Melted Butter

Put the dry ingredients in a bowl and make a well in the middle. Add the melted butter, milk and beaten eggs and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until you have a lump free batter. (Alternatively put it all in a blender and blitz!) Leave the mixture in the fridge for twenty minutes before use!

The trick to making brilliantly fluffy, mouth wateringly moreish pancakes is only ever frying in butter and making sure the pan is really good and hot before you add the batter. My SIBF swears by this!

This is a photograph of a hot pan. I went on a wonderful cookery course recently and the funniest thing about it was that whenever you took a pan off the stove you had to shout 'HOT PAN!' This caused me much hilarity. Anyway, to make the pancakes heart shaped, simply place a heart shaped cookie cutter in the pan. (This one was a Valentine's Day Present from my SIBF.) Then pour the batter into the mould.

In no more than a minute you will have perfect looking heart-shaped pancakes. Cover them with maple syrup and enjoy your super-special breakfast treat. Hooray! I have to admit at this point that my SIBF makes far better pancakes than I do. We sort of have an un-written rule whereby I will make the batter and he will do all the frying. His pancakes are completely perfect.

Until next time,

Silver Whimsy x

Sail away aboard the HMS EXTRAORDINARIUM

2010-04-18T09:17:00.000-07:00

And so it came to pass, Dear Reader, that my sister got married and there was a lot of snow and all of a sudden it's quite sunny and here I am again, albeit several months later, ready to thrill you with baking adventures courtesy of The Peryls!

Twas on a warm Saturday morn that the baking started. Window open, oven on, the commision was 100 cupcakes for the black tie event aboard the HMS EXTRAORDINARIUM in Crystal Palace. My SIBF and I came up with the idea of making mini flags with naval slogans for the cakes and so stayed up 'til very very late on Friday night doing crafts around the pink doily table-cloth-ed craft table (courtesy of @aesthetic reverie) in preparation for the big day! We thought that at that moment in time we were probably the twee-est people in North London (although Wes Peryl did point out that had we been wearing candy necklaces we would have been more twee).

The baking went well but as is always the case all of a sudden time starts running out on you and, goodness, it is already time for departure!

The main issue for this particular baking extravaganza was that, such was their quantity, the cupcakes had to be iced on site so I had to be at the venue a good two hours before the ship set sail! The wonderful Sonja came over and helped transport the baked goods which was amazing as my SIBF was unable to continue helping until later (and help he did in all his White Tie-d glory) and I really don't think I could have done it without her! Once at the Gipsy Hill Tavern I set to the icing. I was going for a 1940's naval theme with many shades of the 'blue-bow' as I think Liam Peryl called it.

I used a special colour paste to get the intense shades of blue - if you ever want to use colouring in icing it is essential to use colour paste to get the really deep shades.

The event was amazing, true to it's name, extraordinary in fact. There was no detail left unturned - the tickets were boarding passes to the ship replete with a little tear off token for '1 FREE CAKE FROM THE SILVER WHIMSY CAKE STALL'. I particularly loved the fact that that portion of the ticket was "to be retained by Silver Whimsy Staff". SILVER WHIMSY HAS STAFF!!!!!! This is amazing! Even if the Silver Whimsy staff are me and SIBF we have staff nonetheless!

The Peryls were fabulous, the guests were all wearing black tie and the other bands and acts were similarly superb! Cakes were eaten and enjoyed and one man even said that he was really looking forward to his cake because he remembered them from the last Extraordinarium and really loved them! The most exciting part of it all for me, however, was how many amazing people were there! My sister, her husband, my wonderful cousin and her lovely friends, the beautiful Lara and Dan and an exciting special extra surprise appearance from the fabulous Lupe with whom I went to the Bowlie Weekender waaaaaay back in the late 90's and haven't seen since!!!

All in all 'twas a marvellous event without too many baking traumas for once. A triumph for Silver Whimsy and a triumph for The Peryls! Hooray!

Until the next baking hour,

Silver Whimsy x

The Silver Whimsy Winter Wonderland at The Peryls Victorian Extraordinarium

2009-12-13T04:36:00.000-08:00

Dearest Darling Readers,

And so it was one crystal clear wintry December morn that Silver Whimsy and her ever suffering SIBF set off on a trek to the Wuthering Wilds of the Mythic Country of Crystal Palace.

Armed with many bags featuring products made mostly out of butter, sugar and eggs, Grandma's croched (how on earth do you spell crotcheed?) table-cloth, Christmas paraphernalia and that all important skull tinsel, our intrepid explorers made their way on trains, tubes and autombiles (more of which later) to Antenna Studios where they had been invited by The Peryls to be a part of The Victorian Christmas Extraordinarium.

Gosh - this third person malarkey is hard work. Enough of that already! How are you all? Ready for some photos of TSWCS 2:0? I do hope so... But before I give you the pics which (let's face it) are the most exciting part, I must tell you all that we were rescued once more in our hour of need by the kindness of strangers! Regular readers will remember how Ryzard and the Whizzcar people saved me during TSWCS in the Summer by essentially paying for taxis, minding the stall and then giving me a lift home (!), well imagine our DELIGHT and unparalleled GRATITUDE when, on arrival at Gipsy Hill, the gentleman who had been sitting opposite us on the train offered to give us a lift up the massive hill to the Studio! Quelle modern day knight in shining armour! Thanks to him I only dropped the cakes once and we arrived in plenty of time to enjoy the Victorian magic...

The beautiful Lara lent us PJ the ravenous Raven who, as a customer said, lent us good luck because his presence meant that the roof wouldn't fall down... Phew! (He did try and steal the brownies though...)

My Uncle Robin gave me these fabulous cupcake holders which added a hint of Snow Queen style magic to the festive themed fairy-cakes...

In a nod to the Victorian theme, we decided to go for a Miss Havisham and Pip double act (my SIBF was the perfect Pip replete in a Robin red-breast waist-coat and flat cap) - but, in honesty, it was really just another chance for me to wear my ripped and bloodied wedding dress, and to wildly backcomb my hair. (Apologies for the split infinitive.)

What would The Silver Whimsy Cake Stall be without My Boyfriend's Favourite Cookies? As a customer said, what a great selling point - who wouldn't buy my boyfriend's favourite cookies?! (The customer bought some.)

Finally, I shall leave you with a photo of myself and PJ (we bonded, dear reader, we really bonded) and wish you all the merryness associated with this peculiar season.

A tout a l'heure,

Silver Whimsy x

Dear Diary...

2009-11-01T03:53:00.000-08:00

My Teen angst bullshit has a bodycount...

Oh YES, Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, collective readers of Confessions, I present for your reading/viewing delectation;

The Cigarette Burns First Annual Heathers Themed Halloween Bake-Off!

Wowzers!

I adore Christian Slater.

I adored him when I was a teenager and I still adore him today as a thirty year old baker.

Heathers is one of my favourite films ever. It was the first DVD I watched with the SIBF. It is one of the most trusted DVDs I own. It goes hand in hand with Reality Bites as the films you can always rely upon when you've got a bad dose of the mean reds.

The best thing about Heathers is that it just gets better and better the more times you watch it. The second best thing about Heathers is that Christian Slater and Winona Ryder are at their absolute coolest, and the third best thing about Heathers is that you can make damned good thematic cupcakes from its many iconic moments...

I put quite a lot of thought into these cakes. I resisted the temptation to watch the movie and make notes, knowing that the main part of the Cigarette Burns evening (run at The Mucky Pup by the super-cool Josh and Ed) would be watching the film on a big screen, so instead I thought about my favourite Heathers quotes. It goes without saying that in an ideal world I would have re-created the sight of JD and Veronica making out in a moonlit garden on a cupcake, but even I am more realistic than that, so I swiftly turned to my favourite lines from the film. For instance;

"I love my dead gay son."

I made basic vanilla cupcakes, iced them generously and prettily with vanilla and raspberry flavoured buttercream and then made the funnest ever tiny quote flags to stick in the cakes. There is something very pleasing about writing "Bulimia is so '87" and sticking it on a cupcake;

The next unavoidable topic when it comes to Heathers is death. So what better way to celebrate the film than with tombstone cupcakes dedicated to the dead members of Heathers! I couldn't fit Kurt's name on a tombstone hence he is omitted.

My SIBF had a go but...ummm...it wasn't up to the Silver Whimsy standards so we just left it with JD, Heather Chandler (H.C.) and Ram. These cakes were made by using chocolate buttercream icing on a vanilla cupcake and then adding a few sugar strands to look like grass (?!). The tombstones were made by icing cats-tongue style biscuits and then sticking them into the cake at a rakish angle. Super-fun! (Wow - the word 'rakish' is such a great word to use in relation to a tombstone don't ya think?)

The final Heathers themed cupcakes were based on the croquet colours and dress colour-codes that the Heathers and Veronica use.

(I put some flags on with their names for the sake of non-Heathers afficionadoes, and also because they added to the prettiness/fun factors. And because I am now clearly obsessed with making mini-flags.)

So those were the cakes! And here are real life members of the public tucking into a Veronica and HM cupcake respectively.

The man in the red had a beautiful dog called Tarka with whom SIBF, the amazing Sonja and I made friends. She was so lovely. In fact, there were no less than four dogs visiting The Mucky Pup during the course of Cigarette Burns. That's a fact, fact finders!

All in all, Cigarette Burns provided the most amazing, exciting, fun, free and un-expected evening's entertainment - especially when a mystery guest turned up and gave a kind of amazing music/spoken-word/hypnotically Lynchean performance with a band composed of Brechtian un-dead musicians including an accordionist - WOW!

I think I might take a bit of a break from baking for a while, as I kind of exhausted myself with the spookily friendly pumpkins and the many flags of Heathers (two whole days at the crafts table boys and girls!), but I will be back with more adventures from the frontline of coffee'n'cake very soon...

Until then,

Cupcakes and Kisses,

Silver Whimsy. x

Ginger and Pumpkin Cupcakes

2009-10-28T12:53:00.000-07:00

Dearest Readers,

It has been an age! I have been so busy I can't really describe, but now I am back...

And I'm baking!

Tomorrow eve there is a very exciting bake off happening. It's a Cigarette Burns Halloween special featuring an exclusive showing of every self-respecting indie girl's favourite Christian Slater film, and a lot of baking themed to afore-almost-mentioned film... I will report back with photographic evidence of the competition (!), but as a first post back, I just had to share my latest cupcake heaven discovery with you...

The Fabulous Dan Lepard's Ginger and Pumpkin Cupcakes.

Above you can see the fabulously autumnal looking ingredients; Below you can see the cakes as they come straight out of the oven...

YUM!

I thought I would give them a distinctly Halloween feel so went a bit...ummm...festive with the icing!

They are friendly skeleton pumpkins, don't worry!

Words can't describe the deliciously moist and subtly flavoured cakes this recipe produce; only eating them can do that!

The most super-ace part about it all is that you are left with a fabulous pumpkin to carve out in your favourite Jack O Lantern way. I was a bit inspired by Jack Skellington for mine. I can't wait for my SIBF to get in from work and sample my handiwork!

That's it for now but I will be back in a few days with tales of Slater...

Til then I will leave you with this;

"Are we were going to prom or hell..."

Silver Whimsy x

How to Make a Raspberry Milkshake Cake!

2009-09-14T14:00:00.000-07:00

It all started on Sunday morning rather early.

Or rather, it all started on Sunday morning rather early after an epic trip to the Central Hornsey District Allotments and Horticultural Society annual show in an autumn wardrobe in blistering heat with the SIBF, but that's another story...

This story is about the World Famous Raspberry Milkshake Cake!

Whenever you need to bring a celebration cake out of the bag or the hat (or really actually a food blender would be a more appropriate object from which to extract the aforementioned cake but whatever), this has to be the ultimate cake to bake because apart from anything else you can have fun asking the question "Is it a milkshake or is it a cake?" and then answer it with "It's both! It's a Raspberry Milkshake Cake!" and quite frankly if that doesn't give you a kick nothing will!

The recipe comes from Dan Lepard in the Guardian but he hasn't provided fun step by step pictures so you might like reading about it here instead, although please accept my apologies in advance for the New Kids on the Block lyric references...

Step One ("We can have lot of fun"):

Put your milkshake ingredients in a 1950's looking blender!

Step Two ("There's so much we can do"):

Blitz up the milkshake!

Step Three ("It's just you and me" - ok, I know, that doesn't really work but if I'm going with the Step by Step lyrics I can't miss out Step Three, I mean that line was sung by Jordan!):

Add the milkshake to the whisked egg yolks and sugar and beat it in along with the flour and baking powder. It turns the mixture pink!

Step Four ("I can give you more" - fashion tips for instance);

Always wear accessories that are the same colour as your cake! This will help with your baking.

Step Five ("Don't you know that the time has arrived" - to take the Raspberry Milkshake Cake out of the oven???):

Take the cake out of the oven revealing the pink splendour of not just the cake, but your carefully colour-matched outfit!

And after a bit of tricky cutting, cream whisking and icing making there you have it! Your very own party favourite Raspberry Milkshake Cake. It can be seen below with a hello kitty sugar bowl. This is optional. (But preferable.)

The major difficulty with making a RMSC is one of transportation; it's a bit too tall to fit into tupperware. I was desperately trying to cover the cake in a little tin foil house without getting the foil stuck on the icing when my SIBF suggested I simply took the cake apart and put it in tupperware in two different layers. This was a very good idea but not one I would have come up with myself, so having de-constructed the complicated three-tiered construction of the triple layered cake, we finally made our way to the bus stop.

There is no Step Six in the New Kids' wonderful song, but if there was a Step Six it would be something along the lines of "Step Six: Don't try and take a structurally complicated cake on public transport when invariably there will be scary shouting and swearing old men and you'll only have to get off the bus and walk to your final destination anyway". So as you can probably imagine, it was in true to form Silver Whimsy Nervous Bakedown style that we made our way to the party on foot. Once we had arrived and re-constructed the RMSC, we happily set it on the table amongst the other beautiful cakes made by my amazing cousin and relished watching people eating and enjoying it. Hooray! It was quite a spread at the party as you can see below!

Until next time,

Cupcakes and Kisses,

Silver Whimsy x

PS Still no news of Mike deCuisine....

Oh Manchester, So Much To Answer For!

2009-09-05T01:58:00.000-07:00

It all started with a trip to Manchester.

Or rather, it all started with a trip to Manchester in the rain in high heels with several bags and a great need for a cup of tea.

It was a bit like time travel. I felt as if I had fallen into Life on Mars except it was Life on Mars; The Britpop Years and starred me instead of John Simms. I was trawling through rails of vintage clothes at the Afflecks Palace in Manchester remembering the days of A Level English Seminar Day Trips with Sally, where we always got an hour or so off at lunch time and headed straight to Oldham Street. I thought I'd go to Cafe Pop and have a milkshake but when I got there it didn't feel the same as it used to and no-one even said 'Hello!' when I walked in so I thought I'd try and find somewhere else.

I wondered down Thomas Street Looking for the Light through the Pouring Rain and came across a glass fronted cavernous tea shop with it's door wide open and lots of tea sets in the window as if to say "Welcome Traveller! Have a cup of tea! Come inside and shelter from the rain." It would have been rude to refuse the invitation so in I went to CUP.

It's a super-cool cafe belonging to Mr. Scruff and was filled with pretty young things being modern on their apple mac lap tops but not in a remotely irritating way. I ordered some tea and malteser cake. I've generally stopped eating cake that hasn't been made by me but I couldn't resist on this occasion. A nice man brought my pot of tea over and informed me that this tea was Mr. Scruff's very own brew! He had become so sick of having a bad cup of tea that he went off on a quest to find his own. Very sensible indeed. You can tell that Mr. Scruff is a man who knows a thing or too about tea because look at the fabulous colour of this cuppa;

What's more, they even give you a little cartoon entitled 'how to make a proper brew' just in case you weren't sure. Sorry that this photo is so out of focus but ever since I dropped my camera my photography has been a bit hit and miss. You can find out all about Mr. Scruff's tea here; www.makeusabrew.com .

I didn't intend to write about other people's baking creations on this blog, and I have to say the cake was unexceptional (although it was PERFECT for what I needed at that moment - it reminded me of a homely tasting malty flavoured cake that you might purchase outside in the wet weather at a local historical monument that was having a charity fayre) but the tea was so stunning it commanded a new post.

I will be baking next week for my cousin's daughter's party (and you never know what might happen between now and then) so more adventures to follow!

Actually, my SIBF's still asleep...maybe I'll do some baking right now...

Until next time,

Cupcakes and Kisses,

Silver Whimsy x

Zombies eat Cakes!

2009-08-31T05:23:00.000-07:00

It all started when Uncle Robin gave me some heart shaped cupcake tins. Or rather, it all started when Marc Price made a zombie movie. But that's another story...

This Bank Holiday Monday morning in the heart of London's Leicester Square, there was a strange stirring. The Zombies were out in force to celebrate Frightfest and have a special Zombie Sports Day. I can't remember exactly whose idea it was, but it seemed like I just had to bake some heart shaped cupcakes, go to Leicester Square, hand the cakes out to hungry Zombies and then, obviously, take photos of Zombies Eating Heart Shaped Cakes.

Clearly, if I was going to do this it was time to try out a recipe for Red Velvet Cake (I'm sick of hearing people go on about it) so that the hearts would look bloody all the way through...

Red Velvet Cake is a genuine mystery to me. It was a mystery before I made it and now, having made it, it remains utterly alien to my sense of what constitutes a good cake. Firstly, it has WEIRD ingredients in it. Secondly, it smells of chocolate but does not look chocolatey and thirdly it is RED which is just wrong. I must have read at least fifty recipes last night before I started making the mixture. I have to admit it was fun stirring in all the food colouring, but it wasn't fun enough to constitute ever making it again. SIBF was waiting for the football to come on the TV when I walked into the sitting room to make him sniff the bowl. In retrospect, this was a slightly odd thing to make someone do ("Hi honey, I know you're watching TV but will you just sniff this bowl?"), but I couldn't get over the CHOCOLATE scent and RED cake mixture. Super-weird.

The cakes went into the oven and the baking aroma started filling the flat, just I couldn't get over the chocolate/redness disparity. Half way through baking I opened the oven to turn the tray and... Eek... They had turned into Heart Shaped Cupcake Mountains. When they had finished cooking, they looked OK but a little less red. However, after a touch of icing, a sprinkle of red hearts and some silver balls they didn't look too bad;

The fun bit came when we headed down to Frightfest. How were the Zombies going to react? How many would be there? What would they look like? So many questions, so few answers.

The first Zombie I met was Organiser of the Undead Extraordinaire, Ed.

He runs Terror4fun - the UK's home for Zombie information! Wow! I had stumbled on the Zombie Leader without even knowing it! Ed hadn't had any breakfast, so what a perfect way for him to start his day.

Next up I met two very nice Zombies who were almost fighting over a heart shaped cupcake but in a very slow, Zombie-like manner.

Here is Team Zombie! I love the fact that two are going in for a bite, but the Everton supporting Zombie is just kind of standing there looking a bit glum. Cheer up Toffee Boy, Everton won yesterday!

Pirate Zombie! Aragggh me Heart-ies;

Finally, here is my favourite Zombie moment. True Love Zombies celebrating their Bloody Surgeon Union with a Red Velvet Heart Shaped Cupcake. Awww. You've got to love a Zombie with a Heart.

Until next time...

Cupcakes and Kisses,

Silver Whimsy x

PS If any of you are wondering what happened to my cake tins, I still have them all! Mike deCuisine is completely un-contactable and I haven't been able to send the tins back. Never shop at deCuisine.co.uk!!

Attack of the Killer Cake Tins. (Or,' I've got 99 Problems and the Cake Tins are one.')

2009-08-13T09:33:00.000-07:00

It all started with hysterical laughter at 8.30 this morning.

Or rather, it all started with hysterical laughter at 8.30 this morning when the postman arrived with this box:

Which turned out to contain this...

...the dreaded '6' and '0' Cake Tins.

My SIBF awoke to the dulcet tones of my high pitched shrieking as I unwrapped the over-sized and un-wanted parcel that had come from Mike deCuisine's headquarters in Dorset. SIBF stumbled into the living room in his murky green t-shirt, ruffling his scruffy hair and rubbing his eyes, to discover me perilously arranging 6's and 0's on the bookshelves for an impromptu Cake Tin photo shoot...

It's possible to create a whole army of long numbers with my excessive cake tins and they really are rather good models - they're shiny, they're quiet and they don't complain about the awkward places in which you want to shoot them. Here are some examples of the numbers you can make if you too invest in over-priced hard to find cake tins;

Number Nine Thousand and Nine Hundred! (Modelled here with the help of Apple Jack, Gingerbread, Princess Sparkle, Baby Bow Tie et al...);

Number Six Hundred! (Styled here in an original Fritz Hanson Swan Chair and accessorised with one of my Grandma's avant-garde embroidered cushions...);

Number Six Thousand and Sixty! (Best seen with a simple background of striped tiles...);

By this point, SIBF decided he wanted to get involved in the modelling of the cake tins (the My Little Ponies were getting way too much attention), so he suggested he held the tins and I photographed him from the neck down. Here he is with Number Sixty Nine;

I think it could be a record cover or a better way of advertising American freeways. If there is an American Freeway 69. If there isn't, there really ought to be.

Anyway, an amusing morning was spent with the 6's 9's and 0's. An amusing morning, that is, up to the point it occurred to me that I now have to try and send the tins back. Every time I call Mike deCuisine he's engaged and he never replies to my emails. I can't believe that two weeks after the 6oth Birthday Party Phenomenon I now have another set of '60' cake tins...

If anyone needs a 'Cake for the Elderly' making please let me know!

Kisses and Cupcakes,

Silver Whimsy x

Silver Whimsy; Cakes for the Elderly

2009-08-11T07:56:00.000-07:00

It all started with a cake tin. Or rather with two cake tins. ‘6’ and ‘0’ to be precise.

I thought I had it all sorted. I’d found a relatively reasonable cake tin supplier – decuisine.co.uk – and placed my order well in advance of the Friday baking deadline. There wasn’t very much more I could do. I had bought the shocking amount of butter required to make enough of Nigella’s Vanilla Shortbread to feed 90 people and been to the farmer’s market for the freshest, largest free range eggs. I just had to wait for the cake tins to arrive. My mobile rang. It was an ‘unknown’ number so I let them leave an answer phone message. To my surprise it was;

Mike from deCuisine. Just wondering when you need the tins by because I always check if it’s a number tin because it might be for a specific date.

I rang him back;

Hello!

Hello I recognise your voice. I’ve got to say you’ve got a very pretty name. You mustn’t get married because you’ll lose it.

This was when I made my mistake;

Actually if I married my current boyfriend…

I could feel my scruffy indie boyfriend (SIBF) freezing agog next to me as he heard me describe him as ‘my current boyfriend’. It had just sort of slipped out in the most innocent way possible, but I knew I wouldn’t be allowed to forget about it for some time. Mike was busy telling me that he wouldn’t be able to get the tins by Friday but I only had ears for my SIBF’s outraged silence.

In the end, the tins came from Jane Asher’s over-priced Sugarcraft shop. My long-suffering sister went to buy them from the deepest darkest heart of Chelsea and came back laden down with flower shaped sprinkles, pink cake pens and edible paper hearts. My ‘current’ SIBF was still somewhat un-impressed with me and my sister was headed to a wedding the following day when the baking began.

The Jane Asher shop assistant had given my sister strict instructions on how to use the cake tins. Current SIBF and I followed them to the T. It was Friday and all the shortbread had been baked, all 60 fairy cakes were cooling in the living room and the ‘0’ of the ‘60’ was in the oven. There was nothing to do but wait.

The allotted baking time up, I opened the oven to discover the ‘0’ tin was oozing expensive free range organic cake mix out of the many joins in the metal contraption. I tried the ‘6’ and this worked so spectacularly that I had to re-make the ‘0’ to reach the same level of beautifully risen joy.

All cakes made and iced (thanks largely to a panicked icing SOS call to SIBF’s mother), we set off at 8.15 on Saturday morning to the North.

During the perilous transporting of cakes, fanzines, photographs, an 18^th century Hogarth print and other items universally acknowledged to be of great importance for a 60^th birthday party, I ridiculously insisted on purchasing coffee, a fact I would live to regret when, in a freak accident, I managed to pour the entire cup of strong boiling bubblingly dark coffee into the bag containing all of the aforementioned items. There is no scientific scale strong enough with which to catalogue my grief/shock/hysteria/disbelief/lack of functioning at this happening. No Kelvin, rankine, ampere, ohm could be referred to as a sufficient measurement to sum up the grief and pain thrown upon me by the coffee cup deluge. If it wasn’t for my SIBF I would still be sobbing in an Alice-like puddle of tears at Kings Cross Station. Happily, however, SIBF took the situation in hand and managed to get me, sodden items, my amazing cousin and her mother all on the train headed north AND somehow succeeded in rescuing everything from coffee stains, tear stains and wreckage at my hands.

In the end, all the cake was eaten and universally praised and we all lived happily ever after.

Unfortunately, however, I have just received an email from Mike at deCuisine letting me know that my ‘order has been despatched from our warehouse’ and contains another ‘6’ and another ‘0’ cake tin… I have seen enough of these cake tins to last a life time and there are two more in the post! Quelle expensive nightmare!

If you or anyone you know needs a 60^th, 90^th, 66^th, 99^th, 69^th or 96^th birthday cake made please let me know. I have started a special new range - Silver Whimsy; ‘Cakes for the Elderly’.

Cupcakes and kisses,

Silver Whimsy x

From Club Kid to Domestic Cookie Baker in Three Decades

2009-08-11T02:05:00.000-07:00

It all started on a whim.

Or rather, it all started on a Whimsy.

I had already been baking far more than it was conceivable for anyone to eat, s0 that when the tempting flyer advertising 'stall-holders needed' at the Jester Festival drifted through my letterbox like a feather-lite sign from on high I simply had to make the call and say;

I run 'The Silver Whimsy Cake Stall' and would adore to be part of the West Hampstead Jester Festival...

The answer I received was slightly less gushing;

Be warned! We are rather over-subscribed on the cake stall front!

But they let me go ahead anyway.

This was to be the cake stall of my dreams. This was to be "The Silver Whimsy Cake Stall".

I began writing endless lists;

Things I need to do

Make some Bunting

Make Labels

Work out how many Ingredients I need

Find a table

Source Roses for the Teapots

Get some more Tupperware

Find a Cupcake Carrier

Remember the My Little Ponies...

Cakes I ought to make

Vanilla Cupcakes with Raspberry Swirl Icing

Zingy Lemon Drizzle Loaf

My Boyfriend's Favourite Cookies

Good Old Fashioned Victoria Sponge

Is it a milkshake? Is it a cake? It's both! It's a Raspberry Milkshake Cake

Deeply Delicious Dark Chocolate Brownies...

Things I need to buy

Ribbon

Bags

Greaseproof Paper

Umbrellas

Ice Bags

Cooking Tray

Float

Doilies

Glasses...

It went on and on and on and on...

I ate, slept and drank Silver Whimsy. So did my scruffy indie boyfriend, my sister and her boyfriend. It all started getting a bit too much. The day before The Silver Whimsy Cake Stall (TSWCS) was a baking frenzy! No cake tin was left un-turned, no-one could move for the butter-icing mountains and Green&Blacks chocolate fountains. Everything came to a sudden and unforeseen halt, however, with the advent of an unexpected visitor...

She was mewing on the back stairs as I was obliviously lining up fairy cakes in the living room. My sister and my scruffy indie boyfriend found her. She was timid and starving and thoroughly exceptionally beautiful. All baking stopped. All everything stopped. We only had eyes for the kitten. We played and played and she was so happy and sweet. We knew action was the only way forward and organised a trip to the vets first thing the next morning (the day of TSWCS) to see if she was microchipped. I awoke at 5am to ice cakes/play with the kitten. TSWCS seemed unimportant compared to the fate of the now-named Bobbie. My scruffy indie boyfriend was going to a wedding so my sister and I took her to the vets and discovered she wasn't microchipped but the vet said we had to put her back outside where we'd found her because she clearly belonged to someone else and would find her way home! The heart-break/hysteria was instant and horrifying. It was with a leaden heart, little sleep and many tears that I went back to my 'pitch' to find all the abandoned cakes I had left there.

BUT

Oh for the kindness of strangers! Ryzard and the gang from Whizzgo who were on the stall next to me had not only paid for the cab that I took to the site and then promptly abandoned owing to the plight of Bobbie, but had also put up my table and put all the cakes under it to make sure they didn't get too hot! They were genuine modern day knights in shining armour, rescuing a Hampstead Cake Baker in the middle of a Nervous Bakedown. So in spite of my lack of sleep and the ever brewing tears over Bobbie, I set up TSWCS.

I met the local police, St John's Ambulance Brigade, Firemen and many local folk. It was quite thrilling. I sold my Victoria Sponge before the stall was even properly set up. I did have some bankrupting problems relating to the fact that everything was organic and fair trade and I hadn't costed things properly but still... People were drawn to my portable record player that happily filled the Summer air with Blondie and Arcade Fire and many parents forced their children to look at this relic from the past! People were drawn to the essence of Silver Whimsy. They loved it! The 84 year old magician set up behind my stall, the Ham & High photographed me with my cakes and I had repeat customers in the same day!!

There were archery demonstrations, boxers, ballet students and weird cover bands and the festival was a true tour de force. I sold out of my under-priced delicious cakes before the afternoon was out which meant I had to start baking all over again for the day two as soon as I got home... Drained and exhausted Ryzard gave me a lift home with all my many tupperware boxes and imagine my joy when - yes oh yes, my oh my - Bobbie was waiting for us on the doorstep! I baked as she sat and watched.

The second day of TSWCS dawned and I felt compelled to follow the vets instructions and put her outside again to let her find her way home. My amazing cousin helped me by making some chocolate muffins and giving me a lift to the site.

As soon as we arrived there was a torrential downpour and all I could think of was the Bob-cat being just a poor tiny kitten out in the horrid rain, so hysteria set in and there was a lot of Holly Golightly style running around in the rain shouting "Cat! Where's the cat?" The cat was found, put inside out of the cold and I returned to TSWCS to discover once more how blessed I was as the beautiful Liza and Glen had been looking after the stall in my absence. I sold out of cakes again and once more got by purely through the help of my friends and the kindness of strangers... It would be too much to go into the heartbreak that ensued when, after a week with us, Bobbie was claimed by her owners and we had to give her back to her parents, but suffice to say I am still recovering from it... All in all, the weekend of TSWCS was quite eventful!

So, a rather long post to start off with but then where would we be without an introduction?

Welcome to my world, I hope you'll join me for the ride and bear with me bumps and all...

Until next time,

Cupcakes and Kisses,

Silver Whimsy x