The Nordic Bakery

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

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)

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...

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

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

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

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