I have a sweet tooth. (I’m sure you guilty ones reading this have one too) And I’ve never once felt like my penchant for sweet things was ever a curse. Until now.

The past week has been a great one. I was a little snowed under with my special preparation for Food Blogger Connect 09, our first ever UK food conference, with my new part-time job at American Apparel (whilst I struggle with a full-time MA at Birkbeck College), with keeping in touch with my mates all over the place, with feeding myself, with my readings (not to mention I now have a whole new employee guide to read as well). So not only do I find myself getting all freaked out with the work, nervous about meeting all the other talented food bloggers I’ve been communicating with, my naughty hand has been creeping into sweet bags, fudge packets, mint tubes, etc. It’s getting bad beyond bad!

And what topped it all? I made something sweet, sugary and cute for my fellow cyber mummy cum member of the morning Twitter Breakfast Club – Deeba of Passionate About Baking, a little belated birthday gift. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely enjoyed myself making these gorgeous (can I say so myself?) little truffles and seeing Deeba’s face brighten up when I presented it to her. I couldn’t be any happier when they were successful since it’s been years, about 15 years probably, since I last made chocolate truffles or anything sweet related really. After carefully transferring the extra truffles into a little pop-n-lock box and then wrapping it up in a recently purchased furoshiki, I couldn’t be any more proud of myself. The recipe’s certainly easy to follow, nothing complicated at all. And I know I bitch, complain, whine and procrastinate quite a lot and so sometimes my blog goes into desert-mode with no sweet concoction blogged about for ages. Now, I don’t have an oven so I’ve decided to venture more into candy-making. And yay, the first candy post is a good one.

So if it’s all good, then why have I slapped on the curse factor? Do you how much of the work/candy/truffle-in-progress I consume? Do you know how bad that little OREO crumb tantalizes me, how much I can’t bear to not lick off that bit of candy coating on the back of a spoon? Also, do you know how much toothpaste I’m going through at the moment?! It’s mental! Sensodyne is totally enjoying this. And there’s also my sugar high problems. I’m going crazy twitchy giggly and talking at super fast speeds (I bet half the people I grab, hug, smooch and then chat AT, rather than TO don’t even understand the words that are just rolling out of my mouth). 2 minutes into the sugar phase, I’m wondering why the lights are so bright; the world so bulbous and huge to the point that it’s pressing into my own eyeballs; I’m amazed at how delicious tap water tastes and I think I’m blushing. These are just a few of the more common side effects. The end result is less exciting and is usually me feeling tired, headache-y and a little sick.

What happens after a bit of rest or a few days of rest, depending on how good I am? The process repeats itself. Goodness! I’m blaming it on this week of food celebration! I’ve never eaten better and oh, look at me just lazying on the bed feeling fat and glorious. What a Nigella of a Diva. My coursemates have even started nicknaming me ‘Fatty’. Don’t worry, they’re just taking the piss. I call one of em ‘Pervert’ and the other ‘Fanny Pack’. It’s all good. We love each other all around, really.

I missed Deeba’s birthday and felt awful about it. What made me feel even more guilty was that I’d only found out on Twitter. Heck. I find out everything on Twitter these days – and if I feel like sharing with it others, I simply Retweet it to the high heavens like a loudmouth. It’s like who needs the newspaper when I’ve got Twitter on my laptop and on my blackberry? Seriously, even The Evening Standard’s now going free on the streets and the people giving them out pretty much beg you to take the paper off their hands so they can chuck aside that disgusting neon orange jacket they wear so they can finally escape our horrid English weather and head home for tea. Twitter’s great. Trust me. Now we just gotta get the rest of the foodie world onto Twitter and we’re sorted. (Cook Sister, hope you’re reading this. I’m wondering if my -does the magical hand movement- hypnosis that night worked! Haha)

Whilst I was doing the daily Food Blogger Connect (FBC) countdown on Twitter, our Twitter Breakfast Club were furiously direct-messaging each other about things we wanted from our respective places of residence. Deeba kept bullying me into telling her what I wanted from India. And I’m not exaggerating. That woman, bless her gorgeous heart, is tiny but she’s a real bully. But I love her anyway. She was so sweet to go shopping for a lamp (I love anything to do with candles and lamps, especially fans and masks if you wanted to know!) and a lovely Indian turqoise scarf for me. I am deeply touched and feel so loved and looked after. How could I not send the love back?

Pam from The Cooking Ninja, as well as Sunita from my favourite Sunita’s World, were simultaneously asking after me for any gifts I wanted. How nice of them!

But like Sunita, I believe homemade gifts are the best. You put the most thought and effort into them (sometimes I bloody slice a finger off for it, or scar my arm on the oven for life, ya know). A lot of ‘you’ goes into it and it means more, I’m sure, to the person receiving it to see that extra special-ness in a gift homemade by you rather than something storebought that gets bought up by a million other people. I do believe gifts handpicked from the store are great too but anything homemade is always just a step further in being more lovely, now don’t you think? And so, dearest Deeba, Happy Belated Birthday! Here are my OREO truffles for you!

Deeba’s, all wrapped up – pretty in pink

I did bring some extra truffles to FBC and those lucky few who tasted it, if you liked it, yay for me. If you didn’t, oh no! But don’t be afraid to send some constructive feedback my way as I’ve much to learn.

Ever since I stumbled upon Bakerella’s website, I have constantly played with the idea of making the gorgeous cake pops and candy I’ve ogled at so much. Bakerella’s a bit of sweetie goddess. Her truffles (you’ll find the recipe if you click here) were super easy to make and beautiful to look at. I loved it. Will definitely be making these again and again whenever there’s an occasion that calls for it and I’m hoping to experiment with other sorts of fillings. Careful though, as they’re quite addictive, what with being so bite-size and all. This is me, venturing into the chocolate/candy-making arena. Woot woot. How exciting. Makes me happy just talking about it now.

Naked truffles – pre-coated with candy coating

Just a bit about the truffles before I move on to FBC, remember to use candy coating or white chocolate flavoured coating instead of white chocolate itself. Using melting/baking chocolate will not set the truffles unless you put them in the fridge. But once you remove them, they’ll start to melt a little or between your fingers when you touch and hold them. Try to get candy coating or chocolate bark which is the best thing to use when making chocolates and candies. Can’t seem to find them? Try the cookie craft shop – can’t for the life of me remember the exact name of the shop off my head right now – but if you venture onto my Bake Shop page, you’ll find the link to their online shop there. For the pink ones, I’ve used Wilton’s Candy Melts in Rosa. Wilton’s is a little stiffer when melted so you get lovely little peaks and troughs when coating. I made the white ones with Squires Kitchen Easy Melt White Coating which produces a smoother, more drippy and liquid-y coating mixture. Hence, you’ll notice the white truffles are a lot rounder with less peaks and troughs. If you swirl the tops, they do tend to set with the swirls on but less noticeable than Wilton’s. Both products I found were lovely and tasted good, producing two types of looks which I think will come in very handy for future chocolate making.

Also, Bakerella says to use 8oz. softened cream cheese and 1 package of OREO cookies. I’m not sure if the US packs them cookies differently from the UK manufacturers but I found that I used 2 tubes of cookies (14 cookies in total), about 3/4 of the cream centers in total and just less than 1 pack of cream cheese. I chucked the rest of the cream centers as I didn’t want my truffle filling too sweet or as sweet as the candy coating itself. Not everyone’s as brave as I am with sugar. My Mum for one isn’t as she always complains about the things I make, so just be a little careful there with the cream centers.

It wouldn’t have felt right going to FBC, which was held at Levant Restaurant on Wigmore Street here in London, empty-handed. What else did I contribute? If you know my current predicament – no oven – you’d understand that I couldn’t bake anything and that’s not for lack of trying. The girls on Twitter went wild when I posted about LOLA’s November Flavour of the Month – Toblerone. I initially offered to get a few for the girls to take home but our breakfast club was rapidly expanding and not one to step on anyone’s toes for lack of sugary treats, I decided to order a box of mini cupcakes so everyone at FBC could have a taste of the latest flavour, their classic vanilla and my top favourite and love of my life – Red Velvet. And then, the RSVP list for FBC was expanding loads too so I emailed the lovely lady who’d I’d kept in contact with from LOLA’s and asked about a bigger order.

Courtesy of LOLA’s, we had 3 boxes of beautifully decorated and fairytale-like, glittered mini cupcakes sent to Levant for our enjoyment. Thank you LOLA’s! The cupcakes were gorgeous and I think everyone who had one were very impressed. Certainly, with the Toblerone cupcakes. I found myself standing by the table of cupcakes for a little bit explaining how LOLA’s had designed the Toblerone cupcakes, using Toblerone chocolate to make the cake and then white chocolate to make the ganache. You should have seen the faces, lips smeared a little with buttercream or white chocolate ganache frosting, break into grins after hearing that. I even know a few foodies who headed to Selfridges after the conference to stock up on some cupcakes! Wish I’d done so but the rain made me a little grumpy about trudging down the cobbled street in heels and a gia-normous bag full of yummy goodies.

I’ve never eaten edible glitter. Oh shoot me now, don’t I sound like an idiot? But goodness me, the thought of eating glitter itself sent me a notch higher up the sugar scale! I was well chuffed. Period.

FBC was amazing. Hosted by Jamie from Life’s a Feast, Hilda from Saffron & Blueberry, Beth from Dirty Kitchen Secrets and Mowie from Mowielicious, the event was a real success and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. A big thank you to all of them. Also, learned so much from the awesome bloggers and photographers who presented at the conference: such as Jamie, Jeanne from Cook Sister! (who has a wicked sense of humour!), Kang from LondonEater, and Meeta of What’s For Lunch, Honey?

Kang gave some fab tips on food photography. I think I understand my camera a little more now. But whether or not that’ll induce better pictures from me, I’m still pretty unsure about that so don’t get your hopes up, kiddo. It was great to finally meet the man behind the very successful LondonEater as well. Meeta was so bubbly and her presentation was a joy to listen to. I took notes! Yes I did. Check me out.

Finally got to meet the Twitter Breakfast Club too and we totally hit it off as though we were old friends. No shit about me being the baby of the group either. They were just my cyber mammees and daddees (if that applies to you Alessio ) Met Nic of Cherrapeno, Sarah of Maison Cupcake (your red hair rocks!), Alessio of Recipe Taster, Pam of The Cooking Ninja (I teased her for being unfriendly on Twitter when really, she just didn’t understand how it worked), Claire of Colloquial Cooking, Kerrin of MyKugelhopf (who has a sweet tooth the size of China, hello this woman’s amazing) and some other new foodies I discovered.

Completing our Lebanese lunch with a LOLA’s cupcake

We were all really excited about meeting each other. Upon entering Levant, which is beautifully decorated and scented by the way (you gotta go down the stairs which is illuminated by scented candles and rose petals in plates of water), you see everyone hugging, cheek-kissing, waving, blowing air kisses, etc. So much squealing, talking and hugging. It was fantastic! And of course, lots of food goodies being passed around. I was pretty delirious with happiness by the time I’d just set my bag down on the floor after spotting Sunita and Deeba.

The lunch was very delicious. I really liked the halloumi cheese on tomatoes, the falafel was especially good. Some said the size of it was too huge, but not a problem there for me. Not at all! There was a particular dish, don’t know what it was, but it was one with loads of nuts in it. That was out of this world. Only thing is, it gave me a garlic breath that was equally out of this world. Not great for saying hello to new foodie friends. Surely, they didn’t want my well-practised firm handshake and a ‘Hello, pleasure to meet you’ to end all hellos?

We all got on fine nevertheless. So, free love all around and garlic breath all around. Spread the joy of food and care not about silly things like the latter. Time passed quite quickly and before we knew it, FBC was over. We had goodie bags with Maldon salts, olives, West Country cheese, unearthed pannetone (had one this morning with a cup of tea and wow, very yummy), and some other exciting stuff. Yes, we were sent home with food. If I didn’t already feel like the young one of the group, if I weren’t already called the ‘Dancing Diva’, I’d have done a little happy dance right there with my ‘Dirty Kitchen Secrets’ goodie bag. But nah, I pass.

the wonderful bunch who inspire me

The night ended with dinner with a small group of us at Vivat Bacchus near London Bridge. Food was very nice. The wine even nicer. Pam had a hilarious little flirt with the waiter who took our coats. Goodness! Much banter, giggles, and laughter. Some stories and words of wisdom were shared. And the whole experience was something I’m very glad I didn’t miss. I have loads to learn and these lovely people have inspired me much. Despite being on the food blogosphere since 2005, I’ve nearly abandoned it for long periods of time a couple of times. And being a young high-schooler to college kid, I didn’t have the money, time, or kitchen space to explore much. But The Sugar Bar has grown quite a lot and I’ll continue to expand its horizons and test the waters out there! Watch me.

What about the foodie friends I’ve made? Bless them all! They are awesome and just talking about them, waking up to tweet with them puts a smile on my face and chases away any Monday/morning blues.

P/S. We somehow have also set up, not just friendships, but an international shopping community. Networking and globalisation sure has brilliant benefits

Big hugs to all I’ve finally gotten to meet and the new ones I met. It was a joy and I’m excited to keep in touch with everyone. Bisous!

And a final thank you to LOLA’s Cupcakes for sending us their lovely cupcakes to taste. They were little bits of heaven for us, for me definitely, and for FBC 09 I’m sure!

A delicious chocolate cupcake sponge made using creamy Toblerone chocolate and bursting with chewy honey-almond nougat pieces, this latest creation from LOLA’s is finished with a heavenly white chocolate ganache and topped with a generous chunk of Toblerone chocolate.

It is getting colder by the day and when the sun sets at half 4 in the afternoon, I can’t help but think: alright, time to put on my lounging socks, pull on a woolly hat and watch Friends whilst enjoying a mug of hot chocolate. Give a few weeks, and I’ll start feeling Christmas which makes me think of the Christmas of 3 years ago when I sat in my bestie’s sitting room as we ate our weight in Toblerone chocolates in front of the telly. It was true style. True indulgence. And ultimate satisfaction – honey-flavoured chocolate with chewy crispy nougat bits. Dip it in a steaming cuppa tea and let it melt into an even milkier deliciousness? It simply borders on perfection.

It might be too early to be chatting Christmas but I’ve been thinking Toblerone a lot lately. Don’t you tell me my chocolate cravings stem from a lack of protein or some other scientific nutritionist crap. Christmas has just always made me wish for chocolate. Cold wintry nights make me want to indulge myself more. And I couldn’t be happier when I realized that LOLA’s Flavour of the Month for November was just that – TOBLERONE! The cupcakes were speaking to me again. After all that red velvet indulgence, you’d think I’d be on a cupcake sabbatical. Nah-ah. It wasn’t happening. Not bloody likely.

If you’ve been following, you’d know I recently posted about cupcakes in LOLA’s Cupcakes: Return of the Red Velvet. LOLA’s produces one of the loveliest and most chic cupcakes and it’s great how I can get them so easily now being in London. But if you don’t, panicky not as you can order them online too, customized or not, which is great for any sort of party or special occasion you are planning. They’re baked fresh daily at LOLA’s Primrose Hill bakery and I hear they’re baked throughout the day so you can be sure that the cupcake you’re holding onto is at its peak and ready to be consumed (asap). It’s recommended that you consume it within the day but you’d be happy to know that they wither none too quickly. I kept mine in a fridge for 2 days and on the 3rd day, the icing was as good as it was on day 1 and the cake soft and fluffy, if not a little drier.

LOLA’s take pride in using the best ingredients possible like Madagascar vanilla, Guittard chocolate, Philadelphia cream cheese, South African “Marie Biscuits”, and real butter, eggs and milk from local dairies. Getting the good stuff from all over the world and combining that with local produce makes these cupcakes very cosmopolitan, very London and very appealing to a globe-trotter like me.

When these Toblerone babies were first launched, they were sold out by mid-day. Thus, I went home empty-handed, well almost. I did pick meself up a red velvet. But you can imagine how disappointed I was! No Toblerone cupcakes to taste? Gutted! And then deadlines got in the way and readings got a little crazy. Soon after, LOLA’s went poof! in my head and I admit, I did just forget about cupcakes for a while. And then the dastard cravings set in and Emma from LOLA’s sent me a little message asking after me and if I liked the new flavour.

Bang. Toblerone cupcake note scribbled into my diary. I even went the extra way to plan my whole day around the visit to the Selfridges cupcake bar. Dedicated huh? Yes, I am a proud Cupcake Trooper so of course I make the effort.

So anyway, enough beating around the bush. How were these cupcakes then?! Bloody good. I bought a box of them (£2.25/cupcake or £2 online) for the flatmate and neighbours and really had to safeguard these babies on the tube home. Seriously, manic crowd on the Central line. Sya, a No.1 fan of LOLA’s, commented it was the best she’d tasted from their whole selection. The flatmate thought it was just delicious. I couldn’t agree more. The cupcake is supposedly made with Toblerone chocolate and I did get a very strong milk chocolate flavour and bits of nougat I, for some strange reason, thought were chocolate chips at first. They crisped up when baked and gave a little crunch which was lovely. Kind of like chocolate chip cupcake but better. I was expecting the cake to taste just chocolate. Plain boring chocolate. But I do believe LOLA’s held up to the Toblerone flavour as there was just a slight edge to this. A little honey-ish, a little hot chocolate-ish.

The icing, a white chocolate ganache, was superb. I was more impressed with that actually and coming from me, I think that means something (not that I’m a great food critic) – it’s just I DON’T LIKE WHITE CHOCOLATE. But I do love ganache so I was totally willing to eat it anyway. A ganache, used as a filling or topping, is simply cream and chocolate mixed together in a 2:1 ratio or not, depending on how it’s used – light or heavy. This ganache was whipped beautifully such that it was quite voluminous and impressive on the cupcake but very airy light to eat. Try to get a little bit on your fingertip and it just glides off the cupcake – smooth, creamy, soft and sublime. I might have gotten it wrong but I thought the white chocolate had a nice tinge of vanilla? Or probably just that the cream was really good and it sent me reeling a little. Very very very good ganache! The cake was impressive but not as impressive as the topping. And happy chappy me saved the triangle chunk of Toblerone for last. Yum.

Want a better look at the ganache? Here. I’d eat that ganache out of a pot if someone put that in front of me. I thought I’d never say it, that I’d eat a cupcake without icing, but I’d be happy to leave the cake behind and just lick the icing off a spoon. Oh no. What has LOLA’s done to me?

And it’s not just the taste of these cupcakes that’s so good, the recently opened cupcake bar in Selfridges is tops – service and interior. Beautifully designed, you sorta feel like you’re in a fairytale café/perfect back garden of a Stepford wife. I was met with smiles from the sales lady behind the counter and she was a joy to chat with. Totally made my day after a stressful session at uni. We chatted about the new flavour, about summer and about looking pasty in the winter. There! Instant connection and me, a satisfied customer and I hadn’t even eaten anything yet! I love it when the sales staff actually bother to connect with you and make you feel special. I know it can be hard, since I’ve had a few years of retail experience, especially in the cake business. But stressful or not, a smile or asking after the customer can really make one’s day and LOLA’s got that x-factor in customer service.

I was starving having had no lunch. I was pretty knackered as well and badly needed a sitdown so I got myself a regular Apple Cinnamon Muffin (£2.30). This was one out of 3 flavours, the other two being Quattro (4 cheeses) and the other something I can’t recall. I’m in love with the muffin. It’s a good size so enough for a hungry ghost like me. It was very moist and bouncy, fluffy but pretty solid to eat. I define a good muffin one that has the perfect balance between moistness and baked bounce, so it’s not gooey and dense but has air-ed enough during the baking process to give you that light bounce without being too dry. A very generous helping of raisins and apple pieces in the muffin. The apple bits are like that in apple pie with its sweet gooey melting flesh. Loads of cinnamon and so flavourful! I loved its rustic look and that awesome crispy sugar crust top. One of the BEST muffins I’ve eaten in a while and I have had quite a bit in these couple of weeks and they were all either too soft, or too crumbly, or too wet and gooey, or just a little bland. LOLA’s again impressed me and didn’t let me down one bit.

So I’m a very happy person today. Might be the sugar that’s gone to my head but my 2nd affair with LOLA’s has proved a lot better than the 1st, not that the 1st encounter with the Red Velvet wasn’t good. There’s love at first sight, and then there’s love at first sight. And if every visit just keeps getting better and better, I am just at a lost for words. Too thrilled for words I suppose. Next flavour I want – Lemon!

But I’m floating now. Feeling a little chubby but great nonetheless. I might have to go on a detox after all the feasting I’ve been doing of late. Pah! Not till after the BBC Good Food Show this Saturday though where I shall be meeting the lovely Sunita from Sunita’s World for the first time, among other awesome foodbloggers. I’m excited and a little nervous. I’m sure the show’s gonna be great and there’s much to see and much to eat and buy! Choi Time teas will also be at the show so I’ll definitely be stopping over to stock up on my usual. Whey.

Enough. I’m happy. I’m really full. And I believe you’ve just about had enough of my chatter. So goodnight y’all. Go getchaself some cupcake and nom-nom away. LOLA’s comes in the regular sized cupcakes and the mini ones. Both are cute. And both are très delightful.

LOLA’s Cupcake Bar
Selfridges
Foodhall, 400 Oxford Street, W1C 2BU
mon-sat 9.30am-9pm | sun 11.30am – 6pm

Tel.: 0207 483 3394 (LOLA’s order line)
Web: http://www.lolas-kitchen.co.uk

So I’m simply blobbing in my bedroom, with the telly on mute, sat in a black hoodie (with the hood up? Yea..what a chav)and my pyjamas working on this not-so-mammoth-but-very-tedious essay of mine, wondering why the heck I’m having latenight cravings yet again. I’m worrying about tomorrow’s Lady Gaga/Mad Hatter outfit and fitting into my dress without having everyone wonder why the hell I even bothered if I was going to show off that amazing bloated belly of mine. Wow, what a circus freak, they’ll say. And then I’ve got this mug next to me steaming hot. But it’s not even hot chocolate or something mildly comforting like a cuppa tea. It’s Lemsip Max in lemon. It smells like washing up liquid and tastes rancid. So generally my evening’s been going great. I’m distracted by Twitter, constantly checking for emails on my Blackberry, attempting to tame my cravings and generally being a real unsatisfied poo.

What happens next?

An angel of a friend comes knocking at my door offering me 2 red velvets from Lola’s Cupcakes. I mean, hello, someone up there was definitely listening to my hunger pangs and I’m so lucky! The latenight calories can totally shove it because I definitely wasn’t having any of the post-cupcake guilt and just ate one of the glorious red chocolatey deliciousness anyway. The cupcakes were a little banged up and some of the cream cheese icing had smeared down the sides of the box but I wasn’t complaining. I was close to tears when darling Sya brought it to my door. That girl’s a legend. If she didn’t already have a boyfriend, I’d lock her up in my (oh crap, I don’t have a basement or a cellar in this apartment) in my toilet? Or somewhere and keep her all to myself. She could be my cupcake slave for the rest of my life. And also partner in crime since we both lust for red velvets every other day.

Cupcake consumed – I literally breathed it down me in like 30 seconds flat…yea, was that ravenous – I am feeling a lot chipper now. How is that a tiny thing can make one so happy and send one through the roof? I am literally not even the tiniest bit frustrated or irritated. Fab isn’t it? If laughter can’t cure, cupcakes sure do! At least for me (and really, not medically yea?).

Many of you might remember that Cupcake von Tease red velvet teaser I posted couple of weeks ago and apologies for not having done the main Hummingbird Bakery feature yet. This week’s been manic with work and falling ill hasn’t been a good thing. This weekend, we’re having a night of mayhem in Reading since it’s the bestie’s birthday/halloween party so I couldn’t seem to fit the Hummingbird feature into my schedule either but have no fear. It’ll be up soon by hook or by crook! But I’m very pleased this nice surprise courtesy of Sya has led me to yet another post about red velvs. And if you don’t mind it at all, I shall now proceed to review these lovely cupcakes that melted my heart and washed away all my previous bitchiness and general annoyance with myself and with the rest of the world. And boy, I thought I’d left all that teenage angst behind.

These cupcakes come with a little warning on the box. FRAGILE it says and yes you better take Lola’s word for it. Lola’s is notorious for their fluffy, just-out-of-the-oven type cupcake texture. And boy, they do have it down to a tee. But be careful as they’ve made it so fluffy that these cupcakes are terribly fragile, and will crumble and fall apart in your hands. If you break it apart with your fingers or try to pinch a little bit away, it’s like pulling away a bouncy bit of cotton candy. A weird analogy but you’ll know what I mean when you try it. There’s a bounce to its fluffiness which makes it such a delight to eat. But it’s also quite a mess to eat so there’s no pretty way about it. The cream cheese frosting is divine. There’s not a lot of it but it’s not too sweet so I found it a great balance between a generous cupcake portion and icing. Somehow, I thought Lola’s icing was a lot better than Hummingbird’s which was loads sweeter even though they were more generous with the icing. Lola’s cupcakes come with little coloured rings to distinguish between the flavours. And yes, the red velvet’s ring is a red one. Who would’ve guessed?! The cupcake itself was rather huge but it’s so airy and light you don’t feel like you just ate a cow after. And part of the reason for that, I guess would be the smaller portion of icing as well which is a clever bit on Lola’s part. However, I did find the cupcake to be less ‘wow’-ing than Hummingbird’s as it didn’t have that much of a strong flavour or chocolateyness. It’s a lot milder and delicate. I’m not saying it’s not as good. I think both cupcakes are equally good and have their strong points but if you prefer cupcakes that are light on the palate and leave you just perfectly satisfied, Lola’s red velv is it! On another day when I prefer a power-packed Power Ranger type of red velv, I’ll most likely be hitting Hummingbird for it as they’re tiny babies sure pack a punch. Just note that the Hummingbird is also a lot more voluptuous in that it’s quite moist and  holds together well. Lola’s red velv is so light, crumbly it may seem a little dry.

Lola’s definitely got the balance of things just spot on. And being a Libra and all, I find that balance positively brilliant. It’s half past 11 here which means 30 mins to midnight and to Halloween. Oooooh. I’m all excited to get spooked tomorrow evening. So whilst you guys ogle and drool over these surprise cupcakes I was so blessed with, I’m going to bed fat and happy in anticipation of an amazing day tomorrow.

Sending you lot my love…happy halloween!

(*Cupcake teaser only. Real feature next week!)

I’ve been thinking, dreaming, sleepwalking cupcakes all week.

Every day I’m saying to myself “All I want is a cupcake!”. When the sun has set and dinner is polished off the plate, all I’m thinking is “I need a cupcake!”

No doubt my favourite motto in general is “When you’re feeling blue, have cake (or a cupcake if you prefer smaller portions)!” I mean there are quite a few signs showing here, aren’t there?

And when I went for my first job trial at LUSH, this is the new season product that I purchased – Let Them Eat Cake lipbalm which smells of cinnamon, orange peel, vanilla and black treacle. Simply gorgeous and smells a little bit like Christmas. It’s hard not to bite my lips or eat the balm off it. Unfortunately (and also thankfully), the balm is taste-free. Other than its wonderful scent, its main function is to condition and moisturize your lips!

I was in Harrods a couple of days ago. I was literally in the area and wasn’t intending to go shopping at all in Harrods. Honest, I promise! I was there in this house of ridiculously ostentatious goods simply to use their bathroom as the bladder was giving me the ‘Red Alert’ sign. I couldn’t have possibly survived the tube journey home across London in such a state. Strangely enough I got lost very quickly attempting to maneuver myself out of the building only to find myself in the Food Hall. Surprise surprise. And which counter was I standing directly in front of? Lola’s Cupcakes! Another sign!

In such a situation, who would ignore all the signs and deny themselves one of the simple pleasures of life – the enjoyment of a little harmless, albeit naughty, indulgence in the semblance of a sugary cupcake? I’ve never known myself to utterly resist my fate to the end so I gave in. After I left the university library today, I hopped – hang on, no, I descended into the Inferno-like underground at Russell Square – and zipped my way to Hummingbird Bakery in South Kensington. I may have spoilt my appetite a little (Mummy always said no sweets before dinner!) and feel a tad bit sick from all the sugar and creamy goodness of the icing, but I do not regret it one bit.

The last time I visited Hummingbird was a little over 2 years. And at that time, I really wasn’t impressed at all. We’d visited the shop on Portobello Road and my sister and I each had bought a mini cupcake, mine obviously being the Red Velvet which is my prized and most treasured flavour. A mini cupcake was about 95p for one with the red velvet costing 20p more. They were definitely small but we were blown away, not in a positive way, by the sugary-ness of it all. It was small and had simply no other taste than vanilla and sugar. There wasn’t any fancy packaging at the time either and we were served our cupcakes over the counter in a little square bit of tissue paper. We weren’t impressed. In fact, we had to chuck about 3/4 of the generous icing dolloped and shaped onto the cupcake just so as not to choke and spasm out on the sugar overload. Nevertheless, it was a busy Saturday and we managed to find something else to amuse ourselves with and other yummy stuff to munch on amongst the many stalls in Portobello Market.

I suppose that memory has stuck very much with me and I always write off Hummingbird as a sorry and melancholic wish to be like NYC’s Magnolia Bakery. I think I might have to change my tune now, however. 

My mate and I are planning to make a little tea trip down to the cupcakery café some time next week but curious me simply couldn’t just wait til next week. Besides, I wanted so badly to post up a cupcake teaser on the blog so I decided to pop in and take-away 2 cupcakes. The one with the green vanilla icing is a chocolate cupcake with vanilla icing (£1.55/cupcake for takeaway). Just like the Magnolia cupcakes, they have a pretty selection of coloured icing ranging from pink, blue, green to yellow topped with different types of sugar sprinkles. The cupcakes in the window are iced with shocking pink frosting and sprinkled with gold dust. They were a looker! And definitely made the cupcakery easy to spot.

But what about my all-time favourite and truly adored Red Velvet (£1.85/cupcake for takeaway), which is also the star of the show – Cupcake von Tease? Did it still taste disappointingly sweet and unexciting or had Hummingbird totally upped its game in the last 2 years?

Verdict? They certainly did! And I loved this cupcake so much I gobbled it down real quick. The cream cheese icing was just perfect and I found myself licking up every bit of it, even the bits that got away along the cupcake liners. It wasn’t too sweet and you could certainly taste the smooth cream cheese. The cupcake itself was a gorgeous red colour with a wonderful cupcake texture. Flavour-wise, it was rich, lush and accented with chocolate and vanilla. Red velvets aren’t heavily chocolatey and this one wasn’t either but it had a deeper savoury-ness I found absolutely delightful and contrasted the cream cheese sweetness of the icing perfectly. Nothing was chucked and definitely not disappointing to me at all. In fact, I was so pleased with my cupcake I’m determined to take-away another box of them to share on my next trip down to Hummingbird. So damn, I should’ve warned you about these cupcake spoilers huh? Time to getchaself some cupcakes people.

Nevertheless, here’s a bit of a teaser for the next feature on the Hummingbird Bakery! Or a cupcake strip-tease if you like. Apologies for totally disregarding the chocolate cupcake but I truly love the red velvet and thought something red, such a vibrant bold colour, would be more of a tease when stripped. Funny? I hope!

Like my hot red nails too? Yea. All for the true and very dedicated cause of the Red Velvet. Whey.

Okie dokie. End of teaser. Hope you enjoyed it. I know I sure did enjoy stripping the red velvet and then eating the damn thing in less than 4mins. I mean eating it from frosting to sexy cupcake bottom! I stopped all I was doing, didn’t speak to anyone, didn’t breathe, didn’t look at anything else but focussed all eyes and mouth on the cupcake. All good!! Mmmm. If you want more cupcake tease, please stay tuned to The Sugar Bar for Diva’s proper visit to the Hummingbird Bakery!

I wonder if it’s the advent of the Spring/Summer 09 Collection, MAC’s release of its Creme Team collection, Valentine’s Day or just a general sense of girlishness overcoming me that’s starting to get me to fancy the colour pink. I’m talking about the pink of pinks – the sweetest, sugariest pink you’ve ever come across. I’ve always been pretty adamant about pink being an empty colour, simply a non-colour – a mere shade. Talk about the hierarchy of colouration and pigments! Frankly speaking though, it’s somehow been drilled into my head from young that pink is a shade lacking in sophistication, associated with whimsical froufrou-ness, found wanting in the depth and strength of hues like fuschia, violet and turqoise. Hence, when it comes to lipstick shades I find myself steering towards (if I have to) going for pink shades with either tints of blue/orange in it or going for a pink shade that’s rather dark and not at all baby-ish.

Somehow, my head’s gone a little weird and I find that baby-ish pinks are so it for Spring/Summer. I’ve gone and bought myself a Vivienne Westwood brooch in shades of light pink and purple. I leave a Firefox tab on for Deeba’s  Strawberry Refrigerator Cheesecake and gush at the gorgeousness of that pink cheesecake for hours on end. I’m making a date with my ex-Beauty/Fashion editor on Monday to go makeup shopping, and the end result of that is definitely a couple of lipsticks and glosses in that kitsch shade of pink. I have a feeling I’m to become completely maniacal and funkedelic in my choice of colours. Somehow, that’s going to affect my cooking and I’m gradually getting fearful of the bottle of red food dye in the right corner of my kitchen cupboard.

YIKES!

It hasn’t not happened before. Half a year ago, I went insane over green and still am – just check out my window sill and overall bedroom decor (some examples below). You can imagine how my love for matcha and the colour green came together in some sort of passionate explosion of green gooey edible whatsits everywhere, every day… Still is today actually. It hits me in waves.

After visiting the lovely Milk and Honey Cafe, I fell in love with Sarah’s Strawberry Cupcakes (click the link for the recipe) and absolutely knew I had to have some as well. These were simply the perfect St. Valentine’s treats. The drool was literally rolling off my tongue and spilling onto the laptop. In my cupcake-stunned state, I made a very grumpy and embittered Goodchild drive me to Sainsbury’s for ingredients. Talk about the bitter singles on Valentine’s Day, geeez!

My cupcakes aren’t half as beautiful as Sarah’s. I really should have made an effort but at 4 in the afternoon, it was getting dark. I was getting a little sleepy. I kinda slowed down a little. Nonetheless, I love Sarah’s recipe. I followed the cupcake bit exactly and my oh my did they taste fantast-alicious! Frosting wise I messed up a little as it just got a bit too wet and drippy. Ended up making a buttercream of sorts, adding a couple of tablespoons of the strawberry sauce and adding some red food dye (I can’t resist this stuff). One thing about being away from my home kitchen is that we don’t have a sieve, an electric mixer or proper mixing bowls. Hence, I’m always hesitant when it comes to the icing and never confident that I can make good, stiff enough frosting without my proper equipment. It’s a gamble each and every time. Today, I might’ve messed up a little but thankfully it still sorta worked out and the end result is fairly pretty.Most of my housemates have gone home for the weekend. This year is a little depressing for all of us as we’re all – except one – single! Left alone in the house, Anna and I were definitely not going to let ourselves get moo-moo ish about it at all. Kitchen’s cleaned, music’s pumping, cupcakes-a-cooking. Blimey, we were in a well good mood. Not a sight of a grey cloud hanging over our heads. Nothing wrong with being single. In fact, there is nothing wrong at all with being single or attached. So come on, let’s really enjoy Valentine’s for what it really is. Let’s go non-commercial and have just good ol’ fun with friends, families, loved ones.

Happy St. Valentine’s everyone! Have a joyful, laughter-filled and wicked time.

If you’re looking for the recipe, check back up this post for the recipe link to Sarah’s blog Milk and Honey Cafe. Now I shall change out of my floury scruffies, sit back relax, and wait for Anna to whip up some posh dinner for 2 tonight. Fantastic!

I am a wally brain. The white buttercream you see was originally meant to be cinnamon flavoured, but idiot that I was – I’d forgotten about it completely only at the moment I’d piped it onto the cupcakes! But it turned out good because it kept things simple. The next disappointment was the almost-unnecessary addition of (watch this) cold milk. Cause and effect: my buttercream curdled. 2 preschool mistakes today. Boy, was I utterly annoyed with myself. I’ve made buttercream before. I’ve experience working at a cake shop. So why was I making these silly mistakes?! Honestly? I think everyone has a bad day, or a day where you just space-out and go somewhere else. Which is therefore fine and I’m alright giving myself allowance for mistakes. But, blimey. It has put me in such a mood. I thought I’d publish this on my blog as a reminder to myself of the silly things I do. Besides, this blog is all about kitchen trials and drama. So mistakes are only a natural aspect of it.

When the buttercream started to curdle, I flipped out completely and started screaming my head off. My drama queen days are yet to be over. To top it off, the hand holding the wooden spoon thought it’d be a mighty fine moment to twitch, sending a spray of sifted icing sugar across my Abercrombie top. Seeing as this classifies as a tiny kitchen drama, I honour my blog code with this.

Amateur that I am, I can’t help these setbacks. But good thing is: I learn. At least I hope I do. All is not lost either as this recipe is then kept very simple and classic. As Kate Nash once said, ‘keep it simple, guys. keep it classic’ which is the motto a lot of the blokes I know go by. There have been times when I’ve been accused of meddling too much and overdoing things. Alright, I do admit that once in a while I do go over the top – it’s just cause I like to over-achieve. But somewhere I honestly believe that only when we meddle and play with the classics can we find new classics! And so the original Godfather will remain as it is and even more ‘classic’ than it already is – it’ll be timeless. Let’s just say space of generic transformations of these Godfathers keep moving us forward in time to find new things to try so that cooking is never boring! My favourite Godfather would be the chocolate and vanilla combination. Each on its own works just fine, but together, they’re a phenomenon to behold. So there. Not much to be sad about considering I attempted what I have defined as ‘timeless’ and so I give myself a pat on the back and say ‘ay, not too shabby’.

Good thing that happened out of this was – I’ve found the best chocolate cupcake recipe ever! I have tried different recipes here and there, and they’re all good, just never quite perfect the way I like it. It’s either too dark, or not dark enough; too wet, or too dry. This recipe is moist,but not too moist to the point that it’s gooey; holds its structure well; great taste! and doesn’t taste flat at all; smells amazing and works perfectly well with the simplest of buttercreams. Also, I tend to assume recipes that use blocks of ready chocolate are way better than those which require unsweetened cocoa. Don’t know how that came about but that’s absolute bollocks. This recipe uses cocoa, and doesn’t ask for any complicated, fancy pants ingredients which is great. I have to thank Chockylit for this recipe, it’s her Old Fashioned Chocolate Cupcakes and the only thing I’ve altered is the sugar. Instead of using 2 cups of white sugar, I’ve switched it to 1 cup soft dark brown sugar and 1/2 cup caster sugar. Because it’s so simple and as classic as the OREO cookie, it’ll be perfect for kids and adults alike. I know my mum, who is not a big fan of dark chocolateyness, will love this too. Not an overpowering cupcake, it’s a great recipe to keep as a base for any sort of funky recipes you might like to try. Indeed, when there is a wicked thing such as generic transformations, there’s always a time for you to give it a go

.

Recipe yields 24 regular cupcakes.

Best Moist Chocolate Cupcakes & Naked Buttercream
Ingredients

3/4 cup butter
1 cup soft dark brown sugar
1/2 cup caster sugar
3 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tbs coffee granules
1 1/2 cup milk (I used semi-skimmed)
2 tsp vanilla extract

For the buttercream:
1 cup unsalted butter
3-6 cups of icing sugar (depending on how you like it)
1/4 milk, if needed to thin it

Preheat to 190d Celsius.
Beat butter till soft, smooth, creamy and pale. Add sugar and beat till creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time.
Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa and coffee granules together. Mix the vanilla and milk together in a small bowl or pouring jug. Add a third of the dry ingredients into batter, mix well. Add half of the liquid, beat well. Alternate till you end with the dry ingredients.
Line muffin tray with liners. Fill cups 2/3 full.
Reduce oven heat to 175d Celsius (this trick is once again thanks to Chockylit). Bake 25-30min.
Let cool completely before icing.

To make the buttercream, beat the buttercream till nice and pale. Add a cup of icing sugar. Give it a good mix then slowly add the rest cup by cup. If it needs thining, add the tiniest bit of milk that is at room temperature! Be careful not to make my mistake. The more sugar you add, the better it is for piping. Or if you’re going to just slap it on the cupcakes with a spoon or palette knife, less sugar is needed.
I have piped this with a plastic bag snipped at the corner. I recommend using a proper piping bag or a baking parchment folded. Also, use a piping tip. Don’t take the lazy, poorman’s route like I have.

If you’ve liked this post, and love old-fashioned classic dishes, watch out for my next post tomorow. I’ll be making Eton Mess! Nothing like strawberries and cream to send you up on a cloud of ecstasy of gastronomic proportions.

It’s ten to midnight, I’m getting a headache and going slightly insane – swinging back and forth between boredom and the occasional 2 minutes of intelligent writing. I think 2 days of not leaving the house, a lack of fresh air and activity away from the computer, the television and my bass speakers, generally has led me to a near combustible state. I’ve been forced to bake to keep myself rational. The consequence? A line of plates piled with food, an odd mix of all sorts of smells coming from the kitchen, a slightly still-grumpy me, lousy television and my laptop. But to let myself out of this domestic cage (not that I have any problems with it really, just that I believe these headaches are kinda telling me something about it), I’ve decided that a Starbucks therapy session is in order.

However, that will only happen when the weather picks up. It’s still dreadfully grey out which makes it such a depressing background for anything I have in mind. I think it’s times like this, when most of my clothes are grey, the sky is grey, the goats cheese in the fridge has gone grey with mould and even the back of my eyes are starting to look grey that I have to accede to the colour pink!!

I really am not a fan of pink. I remember the sea of pink in primary school. All the girls proudly proclaiming their favourite colour pink. Pink shoe laces, pink school bags, pink water bottles, pink hair ties and gymnastic ribbons. Indeed, my ballet leotard, shoes and hair ribbons were all pink. But of course that little rebel in me insisted blue, orange and purple were one of my favourite colours. And then secondary school got me started on green. And then junior college made it black and red for me. Right now, I’d say blue, green, black and red are still my top favourites but pink, sadly enough, never really scored a goal with me. I hope it never will in fact. I have honestly nothing against it. More so the connotations of pink and the immediate associations of pink with girlishness. Why not something like health? Rather than feminine prettiness, apples, lips, virginity and so on.

Right, back to what this post was initially supposed to be about rather than my grumpy, late night ranting – I thought whipping up something with colour would help alter my mood a little. Got out some summer berries (blackberries, raspberrie, currants), a lemon and baking ingredients and was like oh yea. You know what I’m thinking. An easy recipe. Muffins! Which meant finally I could use the Le Creuset silicone baking pan I’d ordered through the post. I think I’ve always been slightly skeptical of silicone bakeware but now that I’ve tried it, I’m never going back! I’ve stepped over to the Dark Side and I’m not ashamed of it. Silicone bakeware can be used in the oven or in the freezer. Can be squished and folded up to any sort of contorted shape you fancy which means a quick stuff in the bag if you’re intending on running out to someone’s for a baking session. It’s so light and in a nice orange shade, how could I resist! Grease proof, no need for buttering your tray. To remove your muffins, just press the bottom of the cups and push – it pops out quick and easy. What’s even better is if you’re an absolute lazy fart, pop it into the dishwasher. Awesome isn’t it?

So there I was – with a bright yellow lemon, my orange silicone tray and some red and black berries. Heaven. I love anything lemon poppy seed so that cheered me up a bit. Crushing the berries relieved a little stress and made me slightly less angry and bloodthirsty (don’t ask me why I was to start with..I have no idea myself) and preparing the buttercream was just calming, watching the berries bleed into the whitened butter. Someone is probably going to recommend me a shrink right this second for my morbid behaviour. Have no fear, it’s all alright now. Probably is just the stress of my paper getting to me. Anyway, I present to you my latenight therapy which makes 6 large muffins:

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins with Summerfruit Buttercream
Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 teaspoon lemon zest

For the summerfruit buttercream:

1 cup butter
1 cup icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup berries of your choice

Preheat oven to 170d Celsius.
Combine sifted flour, baking powder, soda, salt and sugar and give it a quick whisk to mix it together. Then form a well in the middle. Beat the egg with the milk, fresh lemon juice lightly then pour into the well. Add the melted butter over that and using a wooden spoon, mix till just combined. Fold in poppy seeds and lemon zest. Spoon into tray about 3/4 full and bake for 25min or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Remove from tray immediately and let cool completely.

The buttercream is very simple to make. Whip the butter till nice, smooth and soft. Add the icing sugar little by little, remember to sift so you don’t get any clumps. Beat. Add vanilla essence and crushed berries. Leave some uncrushed if you’d like some added texture, mix it together till smooth then put a good generous dollop on a cooled muffin.
Don’t bother with prettiness. Just reward yourself with a great big bite!

A couple of weeks back, I made a Chocolate Blueberry Loaf Cake for my Marshall group of fellow scholars but was unable to attend the dinner gathering & bring along my sweet goody. The cake turned out really great. I was afraid it might taste a little strange cos of the wet blueberries which I’ve always associated with trifles, muffins and really..not tea loaf cakes. (for the recipe & pictures, you can scroll down to the end of this entry) Ever since, I’ve been feeling terribly guilty and thus, today’s special which will be served to you guys tmr! I was feeling very kiddyish and played around with blue, green and pink! Finally…a time to stop being so stressed abt everything going on around me so I can just be quirky and whimsical. I had the best time of my life in the kitchen today, whipping and beating and fiddling around with hundreds & thousands. After all that effort, I do hope my marshall pals love em……..yikes.

The recipe for these cupcakes were the very basic vanilla cupcakes I’ve always used. The next time round I’m gonna try another recipe I found in this month’s Donna Hay magazine under cupcake coutoure section, which uses rose water and some other interesting stuff. I’ve always wondered how exciting cupcakes can be because it pretty much uses the same kind of ingredients but every time I check out Cupcake Bakeshop’s webbie, I can only say she proves me wrong ALL THE TIME. She uses ingredients like pistachio cream, tea, etc. It’s really amazing how she gets so creative with something so beautifully simple & satisfying like cupcakes. I’m inspired to experiment as well..but of course, my laziness is such a deeply-set flaw in me that it hinders any progress I wish to make. HEH. In time to come, I suppose. For now, let me just enjoy rainbow coloured, silly looking cupcakes for all its worth..:)

I was a little surprised with my buttercream today. I’ve been using the usual Magnolia’s buttercream recipe for all cupcakes that I make and this time round I believe I probably threw in too much butter. It got a little difficult to beat, and it kept making disgusting slapping sounds. I remedied this problem with a lot more milk than usual, so my buttercream this time round was very glossy, sometimes bordering on an oily look. The colouring solved that too as it made it slightly less obvious. If it was van, think she wouldn’t mind the butter at all….Butter Republic! It’s sooo her.

* Baking Tip of the Day : Should you run out of self-rising flour (like I did today), there are 2 ways to substitute it.

1) 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 1/2tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp fine salt –> this gives you 1 cup self-rising

2) 2 cup cake flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp fine salt –> this gives you 2 cup self-rising

I went with the first method cos that’s the substitute I’ve been using all this while. Am pretty unsure how my cupcakes would turn out if I used cake flour in addition to the plain flour in the rest of the recipe. Suppose it’ll be of a fluffier texture? If any one knows how cake flour can change the texture, do drop me a comment.

Chocolate Blueberry Loaf Cake (adapted from Lisa Yockelson’s Choc Chip-Banana Tea Cake)

Ingredients

2 cups flour

2 tsp cocoa ( I used Cadbury’s this time round)

1/2 tso baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup semi sweet choc chips, miniature sized

8 tbs unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 punnet washed, dried fat fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 180dCelsius.

Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder and soda and salt.

Cream the butter for 3 min. Add granulated sugar in two additions, beating for 2 min after each portion. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in the vanilla extract. Scrape down bowl, then add the sifted mixture in two additions, beating on low. Stir in the chocolate chips and fold in the blueberries. Spoon into prepared loaf pan, mounding slightly in the centre.

Bake for 1hr. Cool loaf in pan for 10min then remove it from pan. Cool completely. Be patient after this, let cake mellow for 2-3hrs before cutting into slices for serving. You can wrap in clingwrap if keeping overnight, this locks in the flavours very well. **bake & serve within 2 days**

Anyway these cupcakes can be done in the ordinary swirly creamed kind or the cloud cream kind. I had lots of fun doing this, despite the heat of the afternoon. And thank God, the buttercream didn’t melt. It stayed in place!These cupcakes are perfect for those who utterly enjoy the scent and taste of vanilla and the fact that it goes so well with the rich aroma of butter. It’s a no-holds-barred kind of thing, so if you’re dieting then too bad for you but my recommendation is to not miss it for the world, right Sam?

So…interested? Do drop us an email then for your order!

DIVANA.living for divine moments.

Directions
Cake:
Preheat oven to 180dcelsius. Butter the sides of 2 springform 9″ rounds and place a circularly cut baking parchment on the bottom of the pan.
Chop the chocolate and place into a bowl, pouring the boiling water over it. Set aside for a short while then add the cocoa and stir till smooth, rubbing the unmelted pieces at the sides till it melts into the mixture. Set aside to let cool to rtp.
In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
Next, cream the butter and brown sugar until fluffy for around 4min on medium speed. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and beat well in between each addition.
Beat in the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and half of the chocolate mixture. Beat to combine.
Add the remaining chocolate mixture and beat on low speed until smooth.
Divide the batter evenly between the 2 pans and bake for 30-35min.
Remove to cool on wire racks for 10min or so then remove the springform to let cool completely. After about another 10min, remove the baking parchment and the bottom pan.

Now to the frosting!
Put all the softened butter in a bowl and beat it with your electric mixer until fluffy. You’ll know it’s fluffy when the butter starts making a slicky little sound and looks pretty glossy.
Whisk together the sifted sugar and cocoa in another bowl and beat about a third of the mixture into the butter. Add the vanilla and beat.
Just keep beating~
Add the remaining of the mixture and beat until the frosting is ABSOLUTELY smooth.
Once your cake is completely cool and that is when you touch your cake, it’s no longer warm, you can begin to frost it. I waited around an hour for mine to cool. Used that time to munch on some food, rest my aching feet and watch some tv (jungle book II was showing on cable).
So basically, get a cake stand or a cake plate and put the bottom cake layer on it. If it is slightly volcanoed like mine was, slice off the top to get a nicely flat surface. Do the same for the other layer if it is so.
Using a metal spatula, lop on a generous amount of frosting and in neat gentle circles, (or by simply moving the plate) ice the top. Then place the next layer on top, arranging it such that it is directly above the bottom layer, frost the top and the sides to give a very smooth looking cake.

Debbi Field’s used a pastry bag to pipe decorative rosettes but i did mine simply by using cranberries and fresh strawberries. Try using peaches, kiwis or whatever fruits. They go well with such a cake and add a burst of colour to the deep brown richness of the cake as well. Just make sure you keep the cake cool because my cranberries started to bleed after all in the warm tropical air of Singapore. :S