Great Roath Bake Off 2013!

Well, it’s been a week since the Great Roath Bake Off and we’ve just about recovered from our cake hangovers! Just about ;-)

As ever the quality of entries was fantastic and with 62 cakes in just the general category, it was a tough call! However, Lisa Watts’ Chocolate Salted Caramel Crunch Cake was easily the winner, being in every judges top 4 cakes! It was a delicious blend of light chocolate, a sweet but salty creamy caramel and a superb caramel brittle topping it off! It really was lovely and as you know, here at The Cakehouse we are all about flavour and whilst this also looked lovely, it easily won the taste test for us :-)

The other entries worth mentioning for taste were a lovely fruit cake (which turned the heads of even those judges who are not fruit cake fans!), a chocolate and peanut butter cake and some rather tasty cake pops.

The Savoury category followed the cakes and the breads and pies entered here were of equal standard to that of the cakes. The winner was quite possibly one of the nicest pork pies the judges had ever tasted. Baked by Bill Ward, the pastry was well cooked, light and crispy and the filling beautifully seasoned. The other entry that rated highly in this category was a lovely olive, sundried tomato and harrissa bread.

The two other categories were the professional bake, which Nato & Co Portuguese won with their tasty Portuguese Tarts and the under 16’s which was won by lovely Molly Spivey with her White chocolate, pomegranate and raspberry cake. We hope Molly keeps baking, there may be a job for her in the future with The Cakehouse!

We had another wonderful day at the Bake Off and credit must go to Wayne for organising the whole thing. Here’s to even bigger and better things next year!

We loved working with our fellow judges too and it was great to catch up with the familiar faces of Nikki (Your Last Mouthful) and Matt of Roath.net. It was also great to meet Sue Charles & Owain Wyn Evans, Dave Brookes, Dave Owens and Sharon Mills. We hope to see you again soon.

Next up for us judging wise is ‘Loaf in Roath’ on 5th May....watch this space for details; we can’t wait :-)

The Great Roath Bake Off!

In February 2012 we were invited to judge The Great Roath Bake Off and had the most amazing time. It was wonderful to be part of such a fantastic event and meet such lovely people. It was also an honour to be sit on the judging panel and of course, great to taste some delicious baking!

Since then, we’ve judged at the Canton Bake Off (organised by The Park View Café and Innovate Trust), the Spring Bake off in Roath and the Cardiff Bake Off and have loved every second.

Next weekend we’ll be back where it started and once again, will be part of a great team of judges in Wayne Courtney’s Great Roath Bake Off! This year is promising to be bigger and better than ever and with a change of venue and additional judges (see below for details!), we can’t wait to see what everyone has to enter. There’ll also be live music and lots of local crafts and goods on offer so it’ll be a fabulous afternoon all round.

If we know anything about anything, we know we know about cake :-) So come along on Saturday 6^th April, bring your best baking and see what happens!

http://www.roathcardiff.net/2013/02/18/the-great-roath-bake-off-2013/

 

Other judges!

-          BBC Weather presenter, Sue Charles

-          BBC Weather presenter, Owain Wyn Evans

-          Real Radio Presenter Dave Brookes

-          Food blogger and writer Matt Appleby

-          Your Last Mouthful’s food reviewer and blogger Nikki Vivian

-          Food Industry expert Sharon Mills

-          The Echo’s Dave Owen

An egg-citing time of year

The smell of simnel cake baking in the oven, hot cross buns with lashings of melting butter and of course the familiar cracking sound as you break that first piece of chocolate off your egg.

 

Those are just a few of the reason we at The Cakehouse love Easter, and of course they’re all food related! But the best part for us is sitting down to Sunday lunch and enjoying a glass of wine and great conversation – we never need an excuse to do that, but it’s always nice to have one!

So this Sunday, after we’ve ripped the shiny coloured wrapping from our yummy Easter treats, we’ll be relaxing with family friends. We hope it’s going to be an egg-celent egg-stravagansa.

 

 

                  We're loving this handmade Easter Egg and chocolate chicks lolly-pops!

Mummy's Yummy Scrummy Carrot Cake

Here at The Cakehouse we believe Mother’s day is one of the most important dates in the diary. Without our mums we wouldn’t be the people we are today, so on Sunday we all celebrated.

While most of us were with our mums, Sarah couldn’t make the trip from Cardiff to Chester, so instead she became her for the day!

After tidying the house, she then finished painting the living room (her mum Pauline loves a room to be clean and fresh) before moving to the kitchen. Carrot cake always reminds Sarah of her mum, as it’s her absolute favourite, so on Sunday she baked one!

Mummy’s Yummy Scrummy Carrot Cake is a delicious moist sponge with a special cream cheese frosting. Sarah says "In amongst all her other lovely cakes and treats, I always remember my mum making super carrot cake.” It’s so good we wanted to share the recipe with you, so, with Pauline’s kind permission, here goes....

For Mummy’s Yummy Scrummy Carrot cake you will need:

·         175g light muscovado sugar

·         175ml sunflower oil

·         3 large eggs, lightly beaten

·         140g grated carrots (about 3 medium)

·         100g raisins

·         grated zest of 1 large orange

·         175g self-raising flour

·         1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

·         1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

·         ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

·         ½ standard tub of cream cheese

·         Equal weight of butter to cream cheese

·         ½ standard tub of mascarpone cheese

·         3 table spoons icing sugar

·         Chopped walnuts to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4/fan 160C. Oil and line the cake tin (approx 18cm tin). Tip the sugar into a large mixing bowl, pour in the oil and add the eggs. Lightly mix with a wooden spoon. Stir in the grated carrots, raisins and orange rind. Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices, then sift into the bowl. Lightly mix all the ingredients - when everything is evenly amalgamated stop mixing. The mixture will be fairly soft and almost runny. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 40- 45 minutes, until it feels firm and springy when you press it in the centre. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn it out, peel off the paper and cool on a wire rack. Mix the cream cheese, butter, mascarpone and icing sugar in a bowl. Cut the cake in half, use half of the mixture as a filling and the rest to ice the top. Decorate with chopped walnuts.

If you make this cake for your mum, then any day can be Mother’s Day!

 

Time for a Tea Party

If we had to choose a favourite literary character we would definitely pick the Mad Hatter. Granted, he’s more than a little crazy, but you can’t fault his passion for a party, and there’s no better party in our eyes, or his, than a tea party.

So this weekend we held our own, but thankfully our event was more classic than crazy!

 

 

The table was adorned with a lace cloth, pretty pink napkins, a china tea pot and matching cups and saucers. While vintage bunting hung from the walls, and the four cake stands were covered in flavoursome finger sandwiches, sumptuous scones, cute cupcakes, wonderful welsh cakes and marvellous mini bites, the main focal points of the room were the two carefully crafted cakes – a moist Victoria sponge topped with crystallized raspberries and a rich and decadent chocolate cake.

What was the reason for this spectacular spread I hear you ask! Well, it was twofold. Firstly we wanted to say a huge thank you to some special supporters, family and friends, who have backed us from the start. And secondly we wanted to create the perfect setting for a photo shoot to promote our latest offering!

 

 

As we still haven’t found the right property to base ourselves in, we’ve decided we can wait no longer, so we are going to be bringing our shop to you instead, by hosting afternoon tea parties in the comfort of your own homes!

If you want a beautiful bridal shower, a classy christening or brilliant birthday (even an un-birthday like the Mad Hatter!) we will create an amazing afternoon tea wherever you want it. We’ll provide the crockery, the decoration, the bubbly and of course the food, all you need to do is bring the fun!

So don’t be late for an important date, and book us for your afternoon tea now!

Feeding a cold

It’s February and we’ve finally got it... that cold that’s been going round Cardiff, and we are not good patients!

However, while we were sat feeling sorry for ourselves we remembered that old wives tale ‘feed a cold and starve a fever’, so we have spent the day eating!

After breakfast we had a mid morning snack of a walnut whip, followed by freshly made egg mayonnaise fingers sandwiches for lunch, with hand-baked salt and pepper crisps and a delicious slice of home baked Victoria sponge. Then this afternoon we’ve had thick seeded toast with lashings of hummus, and now thoughts are turning to supper! Perhaps we’ll have aubergine bake with basmati rice, or pesto pasta with a crisp green side salad or maybe a stir fry with satay sauce.

Well, whatever we choose tonight, the good news is that we are feeling better!

Our methods may not be scientifically proved, and sadly you’re not likely to get a slice of our yummy cakes on prescription, but we definitely don’t feel as rough as we did this morning!

The Food of Love

Shakespeare famously wrote "If music be the food of love, play on" and we know what he means, a song can stir up a thousand emotions - just ask anyone who has tried to listen to Adele after a break up.

But while notes and lyrics can whip up a frenzy in our mind which can literally make our stomachs flip, they can't give the same satisfaction as real physical nourishment, which is why we like to think that the real food of love is cake!

That butter icing, as sweet as a stolen kiss, and the scrumptious sponge, substantial like a long term love (without being too heavy), make the perfect partnership. That's why this Valentine's Day we hope our lovely little love tokens will literally be selling like hot cakes!

Hopefully for most of you, that love affair with cake, and the special people in your lives, won't end there as we all know that a wedding cake is an important part of every couple's big day!

But even if you're not in a relationship you can still celebrate on February 14th. All of us at The Cakehouse are happily single, but we love to catch up with our family and friends, so this Thursday we'll see them for a portion of love, laughter and a lot of cake!

Sweet Treats to Banish a Bitter Blow

It's that time of year again when people across Wales pull on their red shirts, fly their flags with pride and cheer on our boys at the rugby.

Unfortunately Saturday's match wasn't the start to the 6 Nations Tournament we had hoped for. Losing to Ireland at home in the opening game was a bitter blow, and this morning many of us are still feeling deflated - just open the newspaper or turn on the news and the Welsh sports pundits are talking about it.

But while they discuss Howley's tactics and choice of selection (should Tipuric have been on the field at the start of match? Are injuries to blame for the recent loses?) we have been busy coming up with a plan which could bring the Welsh team back to winning ways!

18 months ago The Cakehouse launched a special range of cupcakes for the Rugby World Cup, we had Gatland's Great Vanilla Cakes, Hook's Nutty Feast and Bennett's Banana Boom, and everyone knows how well Wales played in that tournament. That's why we're bring back our sporting snacks, in the hope they'll bring Wales back to winning ways.

So next Saturday when the starting whistle blows for the France v Wales match make sure you're tucking into Hungry Howley's Victoria Sponge, Halfpenny's Kicking Carrot Cake or The Captain's Chocolate Treats ans support our boys!   

Shopping Around

 
Last week we wrote a message on Twitter which certainly got you all talking.

We explained that we were feeling a little bit cross about a large multi-national fast food chain opening a branch in Whitchurch in Cardiff, because we would also like to open there but despite shopping around for properties, we have found the rent and rates in the area too high.

Our mini rant led lots of you to tell us that you also wish more could be done to help independent retailers like us, because you would like your villages and towns to keep their local feel.

While we totally understand that landlords also need to make money, and that prices are set by the basic economic principle of supply and demand, we do find it frustrating that we have put offers on several shops, only to be beaten on price by larger firms. But we are The cakehouse aren't bitter (in fact we like to think we're as sweet as the delicious cakes we serve!), we know all good things come to those who wait, and we've been waiting a while, so our customers will be in for a real treat when we finally open! 

 

 

Cinnamon & Snow

On Friday morning we all woke to a wintry wonderland outside our windows.

As children threw snowballs, made snowmen and went sledging, there was only one thing we wanted to do and that was bake.

 

The cold weather made us long for something comforting. Our first thought, Cinnamon hearts. The smell of the spice as it wafted through the kitchen reminded us of Christmas. Then the sound as we bit into them echoed the crunchy snow outside.


But cinnamon hearts alone weren't enough to sustain us! Next up, warm Nutella brownies, delicious served with thick clotted cream. The gooey mixture, baked to perfection, was just what we needed on a freezing cold day.

And of course our treats wouldn't have been complete without a hot pot of tea, to make them the ultimate winter warmer.

Diet Detox

After the excesses of Christmas, January is traditionally a time when people start a new diet after vowing that this is the year they will get slimmer, fitter and healthier.

We at The Cakehouse are no strangers to yo-yo dieting. We've tried slimming classes, the cabbage soup diet, detox plans where you can only have mushed up vegetables and water, as well as calorie counting and even the latest fad of feast and famine where you eat practically nothing for 2 days and whatever you fancy for the rest of the week. But in they end they all have the same result, after loosing weight initially we eventually fall into our old bad habits.

But maybe the reason we are so bad at dieting is the way we go about it.

Here in Britain we seem to think that the only way we can be slim is if we deny ourselves everything we fancy - "oh no I can't have a biscuit, I'm dieting". But in the end our cravings get so bad that we gorge on fresh cream cakes and chocolate cookies or buttered bara brith and cupcakes covered with icing.

So perhaps it's our approach to diets that needs a detox, rather than the diets themselves.

We think it's OK to eat a biscuit with a cup of tea, just don't eat a packet. And a slice of cake is fine, as long as it's a small one.

That's why this January we're ditching the diet - and vowing to eat sensibly instead.

New Beginnings!

There are few things better at signalling new beginnings than a celebration welcoming a baby into the world. It’s one of those rare occasions where family and friends come together to toast the future.

So you can imagine our delight at The Cakehouse when the last thing we were asked to cater in 2012 was a Christening! What better way to mark the New Year that lay ahead than providing 4 dozen cupcakes for a party in honour of a very little girl named Matilda Perry.

As her guests discussed what may lie ahead for the infant over chocolate, fudge, vanilla and lemon & poppy seed delights, our thoughts turned to what might be in store for The Cakehouse.

In some ways 2012 was a frustrating year for us. Despite putting in offers on 2 different properties we still don’t have a shop, which means our dream hasn’t yet been fully realised. But rather than end the year feeling deflated, Matilda’s christening reminded us to look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead.

That’s why this year we plan to be busier than ever before! As well as collaborating with Oh Sugar Cake Company on big events, we also hope to work with Crafty Cakes and Slightly Wobbly Designs, as well fulfilling individual orders online (and there should be plenty of those if your comments on Twitter are anything to go by! We can’t name everyone here, but Kelley Byrne says our coffee & walnut cupcakes are her favourite, Rose Fulgoni likes our chocolate sponge and John Lane wants us to branch out into cheese cake!).

Of course we are still looking for a shop, but we have a good feeling that 2013 will be the year we find it. We know 13 is thought unlucky by some, but we believe a baker’s dozen is a pretty good omen for us!

So here’s to the future – for Matilda, for us and for all our customers!

Our Latest Collection

With all the rain we’ve been having over the past few weeks, you’d be forgiven for not realising it’s Spring time!

But a new season has sprung, and that means the new spring/summer collection is now available at The Cakehouse.

Inspired by long lazy days in the park, and the heat of summer sunshine, we’ve baked 3 delicious new treats to tempt the taste buds.

Our chocolate and ginger is a spicy spring snack, perfect with a pot of tea. It’s rich and indulgent, a really affordable luxury.

For those of you feeling a little more fruity, our lemon and blueberry is a must. It zings on the tongue to make you smile.

And last but not least our coconut and lime cake, described by one of our customers as the taste of Summer Holidays, as the real flavours of coconut and lime literally melt in your mouth.

And of course we’ll still be baking our regular favourites as well.

So no matter what the weather, you can make the most of all the seasons, with a carefully crafted cake from The Cakehouse.

Business as Usual

If you see a shop surrounding by scaffolding it will usually have a sign on it that says "business as usual" to let customers know they're still open, even though construction work is happening all around them.

Unfortunately at The Cakehouse we still haven't managed to rent a shop yet. The main problem has been finding the right place, most of the shops we've looked at are either unsuitable because they don't have wheelchair access or have been too small to fit a disabled toilet. Those that have met that criteria haven't been in the right location, because we want our business to be at the heart of the community.

But even though we don't have the bricks and mortar yet, we are building our reputation and our client base. While we do that, it is business as usual here too, because our website is always up and running.

Over the last few months we've supplied sumptuous Valentine's Day delights, taken orders for brilliant Birthday cakes and made mouthwatering Mother's Day dishes.
So for those of you who've been getting in touch asking when we'll be open , the answer is we are! If you want to order cakes for a special occassion (although there doesn't have to be a reason to buy) then just go to our website www.thecakehousecardiff.co.uk and choose what you want.

If you're desperate for the whole Cakehouse experience, with the cake stands and the matching teapots, then that's not a problem either. Just let us know where in South Wales you live or where you're having your party and we will provide afternoon tea (with or without bubbly) for you and your guests.

We look forward to supplying you soon!

(afternoon tea photograph courtesy of @throwingbuns)

Winning Ways

On the day I was born my Nana came to visit me in hospital. As I lay there sleeping she turned to my mum and said "she has a determined mouth that one" and how right she was!

Determination is definitely a strong characteristic of mine, and that can manifest itself in a competitive streak - I want to be the best at everything I do.

And we firmly believe that at The Cakehouse too. We always use the best ingredients and our cakes are baked to perfection.

But that doesn't mean we don't want other people to do well too!!

So we were over the moon when we were asked to judge the Spring Bake Off in Roath yesterday.

The competition, organised by the wonderful Wayne, was held at Milkwood Gallery where people gathered from right across Cardiff to enjoy the warm weather, the marvellous music and of course the cake creations.

The standard was high, but after tasting, nibbling and munching our way through the entries with our fellow judges (Nicky from Your Last Mouthful, Christian from Loves the 'Diff, T.J. Crows and social media writer Allan Beaton) we eventually found our winners.

In 3rd place was Gareth's Victoria Sandwich, cleverly disguised as an albino hedgehog. Our next runner up was Daniel who baked a lemon and poppy seed cake, which was a favourite with several on the judging panel. But the overall winner was an Easter Celebration Cake, made by Ann who said she'd only been baking for about a year.

And it wasn't just the bakers who were in winning ways on this sunny Sunday - our Cakehouse competition also came to an end. We promised to give away a cake to one lucky winner as soon as we reached 1000 followers on Twitter, and that happened yesterday. So congratulations to @FannyIngabout (or Jane as she's really called!) who'll be receiving her prize too - a first class cake from The Cakehouse.

The Taste of Spring

Last weekend we took some time out of the kitchen to enjoy the warm spring sunshine.

As we lay in the park watching families play rounders and couples walk dogs, our thoughts turned to carefree Sundays when we were small.

Remember how exciting it was to pack a picnic with ham rolls, cucumber sandwiches, Victoria Sponge slices, beautiful biscuits and fizzy pop.

We may be a few decades older now, but those early memories have stayed with us and we still love nothing better than delicious home made treats.

So inspired by the wonderful weather, this week we've been planning our Easter menus.

So how do you fancy a zesty lemon cake sandwiched with our signature lemon curd, flapjacks with juicy sultanas, freshly baked blondies, or, my personal favourite, Easter nests with chocolate eggs?!

With those festive flavours of spring, even if the weather takes a turn for the worse, it will still be sunny at The Cakehouse.

Brilliant Bake Offs

As you know, at The Cakehouse we LOVE cake! So imagine our delight when we were asked to judge not one, but two bake offs!

Fired up with thoughts of moist cakes filled and topped with juicy jams and sweet icing, we headed to the Coffi House on Wellfield Road for the Roath Bake Off. The event was organised by local socialite Wayne Courtney, and what a feast he arranged!

The selection was varied and the standard high - how do you decide between spinach and goats cheese muffins, fruit tarts, pies, red velvet cakes and classic victoria sponge?!

Well, after tasting and deliberating (and tasting some more!) we gave each of the entries a mark for taste, presentation and originality, then finally we found a winner.
　
Kate Lloyd-Hughes's Earl Grey Chocolate Fudge Cake was creative and delicious, with an unusual combination of flavours that complimented each other beautifully in a light and moist sponge. There were also prizes for Lisa Watts with her Sticky Toffee Walnut Tart and Stefanie Lehman who baked a Pineapple Praline Creme Torte as well as a special award for 6 year old Silas - his chocolate covered Weird Cake which was green inside!

And thanks to all the bakers involved the bar has now been set for 1st April.

That's when we'll be judging the Spring Cake Off, and we hope you'll be involved too. All you need to do is pick up an entry form at The Milkwood Gallery or the Coffi House, and decide what to bake. Then at 2pm on 1st April bring your cake creation to The Milkwood Gallery.

We can't guarentee you'll win, but we can guarentee it will be a great afternoon - it may even be the tastiest event you'll visit this Spring!


Thank you to www.roathcardiff.net and @craftycakes on Twitter for providing us with pictures of the Roath Bake Off

That February Feeling...

It has been a funny few months for The Cakehouse.

Throughout November we had a weekly stall, online orders and then we put an offer on a shop at the end of the month.

Sadly, that was rejected in early December and the rest of the month went by in a blur (don't worry; we still had time to bake! Think rich fruit cakes with royal icing, moist chocolate gateaux with white chocolate snow flakes and golden brown waffles drizzled with syrup).

Then we had the January blues - too tired to write beautiful blogs, too sleepy to shop hunt. Thank goodness for apple and cinnamon loaves and slices of banana and chocolate cake to keep us going.

But now it's February and we've got that Friday feeling most days of the week! People have been contacting us to buy our cakes online, an invitation to a blog party resulted in complimentary comments from people in the know, and we've been asked to judge the Roath Bake Off.

So, it's a busy time, but an exciting one. And with March just around the corner, we'll certainly be springing into next month.

Baking, Believing and Bad Refereeing

At The Cakehouse we believe in everything we do – we believe in using natural ingredients, we believe in using local produce where possible and we believe that cakes are little luxuries which everyone should enjoy, which is why we are developing a range of gluten free and diabetic cakes.

And last week we believed Wales would make it through to the Rugby World Cup final. So to celebrate the team’s hard work and drive we baked a range of sporting sweet treats for our weekly cupcake stall at Deli-a-gogo. We had Gatland’s Great Vanilla Cake, Hook’s Nutty Feast and Bennett’s Banana Boom all topped with a little Welsh Flag.

As we watched the game before heading to the stall we were full of anticipation. Then, just 18 minutes in, Warburton was handed that red card and we joined in the Nation’s gasp of disbelief. But as we sat there feeling numb, the team fought on, and when the final whistle blew they had lost by just a point. Feelings of anger turned to pride - despite being a man down for more than an hour they had given the French a run for their money and nearly won.

So on Friday morning we’ll be up again to watch Wales in their 3^rd and 4^th place play offs. We’ll be eating Welsh Waffles and singing Bread of Heaven, hoping they can right the wrongs of last week’s game. But even if they lose they’ve already done the country proud, so there’ll always be a cake with their name on it at The Cakehouse.

The Big Apple Pie

A slice of pumpkin pie, a corner of carrot cake and bite of brownie, followed by cupcakes, more cupcakes and mini cupcakes too!

The list may sound like a cake lover’s dream, but that was the reality for Mariclare, our Marketing Director, last week when she arrived in New York on a fact finding mission for The Cakehouse.

The city is the spiritual home of the cupcake, with stores like Magnolia Bakery and City Bakery receiving world-wide recognition after featuring in episodes of Sex and the City, so it was the obvious place to go for some market research.

And even though Mariclare doesn’t walk in Carrie Bradshaw’s shoes (she wishes she owned a pair of Manolo Blahniks though!) she did follow her footsteps to the hottest cake places around.

At Lulu’s bakery in Chelsea she enjoyed a melt in the mouth dulce de leche cupcake sprinkled with lightly baked flaked almonds. She sampled the 100 calorie cupcakes at Melissa’s, before enjoying the delicious displays of cupcakes at Crumbs. Then, at Cafe M in Midtown, it was time for a steaming cup of earl grey and a chocolate macaroon, the latest craze to the hit Manhatten.    

As you’d expect with so many cupcakeries and bakeries in New York,  the flavours, decorations and quality of ingredients varied, but one thing remained constant wherever she went - people’s enthusiasm for beautifully presented baked goods.

And that’s why we’re so excited about opening The Cakehouse in Cardiff, so that all of us here can enjoy a slice of that Big Apple pie, without travelling half way across the world to get it.