All posts filed under: wedding

Elderflower and Strawberry Summer Celebration

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This cake is a combination of tweaked recipes from elsewhere and my own imagination. It came about because of my recent obsession with elderflower. I have always loved the flavour of elderflower and knew that people gathered the flowers and made their own cordial and wine, but for some reason I assumed it didn’t grow in Scotland. But since getting our puppy, then moving to our new house and village, I have become much more aware of the passing seasons and the flowers, trees and plants around me. I had a rough idea of what elderflower looked like but wasn’t sure. Then I saw some flowers that I thought might be it whilst out on a walk with the dog. I photographed it and had it confirmed by my friends on a Facebook group, who are keen cooks and bakers. I researched more about collecting and making cordial and decided to give it a try. I decided to use The River Cottage recipe which was very straight forward and easy. During the process I did doubt how …

Biscoff Macarons Heaven

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Put your hands up if you like Lotus Biscoff spread? That Speculoos flavoured spread that only found its way in to our supermarkets a couple of years ago. Maybe you have only tried the Lotus biscuits: a sweet and caramelised crunch that dunks very easily in to a cup of tea or coffee. My daughter likes the biscuits, but *loves* the spread. It’s probably her all time favourite thing. She laughs in the face of Nutella but would give away her last colouring pencil for a spoon of “my favourite spread”. Last week I made 250 macarons. You would think I would have had enough of the things. In fact, I thought I had had enough of them. But, as the task of producing this massive order was coming to an end, I had this idea of making Biscoff flavoured macarons after seeing an online tutorial to make Oreo macarons. It didn’t take long to work out how I was going to fill them. Last winter, BBC Good Food printed a recipe for a Gingerbread Cake that …

Macathon

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A few months ago I was asked by a friend of a friend to make some macarons for the evening reception of their wedding. I took on the task, not realising I’d be making 250 of the little blighters, in five different flavours. It also turned out to be the most humid and hot week of the year so far. It was quite the challenge and a macarons marathon. She chose four flavours that I was familiar with: White chocolate; Pistachio; Chocolate; and Lemon. However, she asked for one I hadn’t made before: Mojito. So, I did my research and tried out a couple of filling ideas. I had wanted to make a sugar syrup with real rum, mint and lime, but it just didn’t work. I reduced it to a sticky mess and the rum flavour just wasn’t coming through. In hindsight, I think I should have used a dark rum for a more rounded flavour. In the end, I used a rum flavouring. This is not the route I wanted to go down, …

Roses for Mother’s Day

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This Sunday, in the UK, it is Mothering Sunday or Mother’s Day: a day to treat our mums, grannies and maternal folk to show them how much we appreciate them. Whilst listening to the radio this morning, I discovered that the origins of this day are to be found in the 16th century, when Christians were expected to return to their “mother churches” where they were baptised or to their local church or cathedral on the fourth Sunday in Lent. By Victorian times, when children as young as ten often left home to go into service, it became common practice to take the opportunity on this day to visit your mother, take her wild flowers and to spend time with your family. Modern day celebrations are often criticised for being too commercial (as are most modern Red Letter days in the West) but I can vouch that there is nothing more lovely than being presented with a hand drawn card and a tray of a comically assembled breakfast at 6am on Mother’s Day, eager faces …

A Vintage Wedding

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The details of the bakes that Carly wanted may have changed a little since she first contacted me about making her wedding cake, but the overall feel of the day didn’t: she was going for a soft, vintage theme with creams, blush pink, roses, lace and natural decorative touches. And it was a *beautiful* wedding that Carly and Allan created together, held at The Brig 0′ Doon hotel in Ayrshire. Carly had a very clear vision of what she wanted for her main “cutting cake” and that was of a tall cake covered in dusky pink buttercream roses. She diligently sourced a beautiful, white cake stand and some very cute bride and groom bird cake toppers. Like more and more couples getting married, Carly and Allan wanted a Dessert Table in addition to a main wedding cake for that cake cutting moment. They love cake and wanted to share a selection of treats with their friends and family to fuel the evening’s celebrations and energetic dancing. In fact, some friends and family members contributed some …

Frances Auty: Self-Confessed Baking Addict

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Originally posted on It's all about the cake:
Meet Frances Auty: no ordinary home baker… Picture the scene: you’re seven years old, you’re tucked up in bed with chicken pox and you’re listening to the soothing tones of Felicity Kendall on tape as she reads ‘The Bonfire Pudding,’ one of Dorothy Edwards’ ‘My Naughty Little Sister’ stories. It’s about a little girl so scared of fireworks that she stays home to make Christmas pudding with her Gran. As you listen you imagine the warmth in the kitchen and the smell of the lemon and orange and spices being patiently mixed together. Such is your enjoyment of this well loved, comforting story that you listen to time and again that it sparks in you the beginnings of a love affair with all things cake. For Frances, who has been making her own Christmas puddings for twenty years now, bonfire night will forever be synonymous with that time in the year when preparations for the festive season begin and her home is filled with the delicious scents…

Hello world!

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Well, I have finally done it! Welcome to my sparkly new blog and my first blog post. I confess to being a little nervous. I am used to firing up posts on my Facebook page about my latest bakes and feel this should be far more considered. But I don’t want to change who I am and hope to be the same old Frances here as I am on FB, Twitter and Instagram. I hope you enjoy my bakes and words. Frances 🙂