Mother’s Day…The Top 2 Gifts!

Mother’s Day…this year March 15th. It always brings the same struggles as my mum’s birthday…not just when can I go home but WHAT DO I GET?

Personally I love a good experience, as I’m sure many of you might already know, but this doesn’t always run in the family – I can’t imagine my mum bungee jumping or zorbing…actually the thought is a little funny, sorry mum. 

Mum does love a good keepsake, but surely there’s only so many you can buy before walls and side furniture are full with paintings, photos and ornaments – Without looking like a hoarders house or a jumble sale!?

I know my dad struggles sometimes too, and asks her what she wants before birthdays and christmas 🙂 I don’t class this as an easy way out…just saving stress! 🙂 

Last year I took mum for an afternoon tea for her birthday at Bill’s in Worcester (Read more here!) which was fab and she loved it! I obviously got it right.

An afternoon tea experience is actually one of two favourite presents named my mum’s in new research by Groupon! (So without knowing I even managed to get one of the best presents). The other most favourite gift rated by mums is flowers – a traditional one there. 47% of mums only get them once or less a year, so a rare treat which is highly appreciated. In fact sales of flowers (on Groupon) soar by 240% in run up to mother’s day, so this seems the time of year to be purchasing those blooms! (Although 35% of mums would like them more…keep this in mind for when you’re in the doghouse 😛 Which I’m obviously not wishing on anyone!)

Now look at this AMAZING idea…

In celebration of Mother’s Day, and taking on board mums’ two favourite gifts, Groupon teamed up with experimental food artists Blanch and Shock, to create the Yummy Mummy Bouquet – a floral masterpiece featuring afternoon tea classics transformed into traditional Mother’s Day blooms. Take a look, it’s incredible:

The Yummy Mummy Bouquet is entirely edible, from the Cucumber Sandwich Tulips and Battenberg Hydrangeas, to the Prosecco ‘water’ in the vase. The bouquet took a total of 70 hours to plan, design and construct, with a team of three using 10kg flour, 3kg butter, 5kg sugar and 40 eggs in the process.

Just hearing the word battenburg as being included in this bouquet has sold it to me! My most favourite ever cake since I was little – Nanny you should remember this well!

And what’s better… Groupon is actually giving one lucky customer the chance to win the tasty edible bouquet creation for their mum (well it does feed four, so I’m sure you’ll be allowed a flower too)!!!!  – Go enter at www.gr.pn/bouquet.

I was actually sent a little gift from Groupon to celebrate this new creation…

And the Cupcake Gerbera was just amazing! Now to go off for a quick cuppa and sort my own mother’s day present…

I have my fingers crossed for all who enter the bouquet competition – if you win you have to tell me all about the Battenberg Hydrangeas!

Chloe xx

*I was gifted (as shown in post) but views are my own.

Pop-Up Baking Boutique Masterclasses – Brick Lane

I wrote not too long ago about wanting to get better at baking and the pop-up boutique which was coming to Brick Lane (read post). Well it’s here!

Thursday night I was lucky enough to be invited to the launch – an evening of mingling and learning new techniques from Juliet Sear – cake and baking expert, author of The Cake Decorating Bible and Even Better Baking Ambassador.

The Pop-up is reasonably easy to find, it’s located at 12 Drays Walk, Brick Lane but it’s inside Ely’s Yard – the same place as the ZICO Smoothie pop-up.

I turned up at 6.30pm and was greeted by Lucy (one of the team behind the running of the Dr Oetker Baking Boutique). She invited me in, offered me a drink and I started talking to one of the brand ambassadors about the boutique, the layout and what they had on offer.

The Dr Oetker Beter Baking Boutique is set out over the two floors of the shop. On the lower level one wall had all the products which are available to buy, as well as a till area, and a wooden table in the centre with baking equipment on to help create the atmosphere. This is where most people were crowding to mingle and network.

I loved the wall on the left as you walk in – a huge wall which asks you questions and directs you to the chocolate you would most like. I know, all chocolate right? But this was really cool!

Upstairs is where they hold the masterclasses, with a big work bench where all participants can be seated around the outside with the person holding the masterclass on the other side for demonstrations.
Upstairs also had a board where everyone could post their favourite baking tips – I thought this was an awesome idea too! A great way to share knowledge and learn a few cool tricks or new twists.

These are my favourite ones…




After browsing all the amazing tips, I spoke to a few people attending the event as well as those helping to run the pop-up.

A short while later we were all invited to go up and take a seat for Juliet to start her masterclass.

She opened with telling us a bit about herself and that she made Fearne Cotton’s wedding cake!! Just WOW! 

She then went through a few different techniques – making icing roses, robin cupcakes, snowman cupcakes and pigs. She went through the different designs step by step, allowing us to answer any questions we had and giving us some really good tips on how to make the best!

Cutting the icing to make her sugar rose

Using the plastic wallet to squash her petals for the rose

Putting the rose together

Juliet icing on top of a fondant topped cupcake

We then all got chance to decorate and experiment ourselves, using the techniques Juliet had shown us or to freestyle…I’ll let you in on the rose technique too…

Juliet going around the room helping with any queries or questions people had as they worked on their pieces of art 🙂

So here’s the inside information on how to make a rose…

Roll a ball of fondant into a sausage and cut into sections. You’ll need about 6. Make sure your surfaces have a light layer of icing sugar to stop sticking!

Using a plastic wallet (yes from the stationary section), cut down the side and along the bottom, place the pieces inside with enough space between them.

 Cover the pieces of icing with the other side of the wallet and use the base of your thumb to squash the circles. Then use your finger tip to smooth one side of every petal – this will form the delicate curved edge which looks like the outside top edge of the petal. (Photo below doesn’t have the smoothed off edges)

 Open the wallet and peel the first petal off. Carefully stretch the first one out, roll the one side back a tiny bit. Roll the first one to make the centre piece of the rose. Start attaching petals to the outside, overlapping the last petal and each petal added being slightly higher, the thinner edge being on the top – the petals slightly curving outwards, like a rose would. You should keep going until the rose looks even all the way around.

I then iced a cupcake with Dr Oetker cupcake icing to attach the rose.

How cute does this look? They’d look awesome if you used the Dr Oetker shimmer spray over the top too! Slightly wishing I had done this too!

I also made a robin cupcake with the Dr Oetker chocolate cupcake icing, coloured fondant and the black gel colour for the pupils.

I really liked this one! I think I’ll definitely make these again!

I also did a bit of free styling on my last cake. It was so much fun getting to try out the different products, tools and have the help of Juliet’s tips too.

Everyone’s cupcakes looked amazing! Looking around the table it seemed everyone else was having so much fun too. There were some really cute cupcake designs.

At the end we got to take our cupcakes home…

I said goodbye to all the lovely people I’d met, and left with a goody bag with a few Dr Oetker bits and pieces in – Excited to use these!

I didn’t buy any of the Dr Oetker range whilst there the other night, but I will definitely be going back to purchase baking goods before they close. Their products are awesome, they make decorating interesting and so much fun and some of them even help make things easier & better!

I will be putting my new found tips and skills to work this christmas with presents and events, so keep an eye out. I have no excuse not to get back into baking!

What Dr Oetker products have you used? Which are your faves?

Chloe xx

Birthday Present Shopping – Why do you have to be SO Stressful?

July is my busiest birthday month, well from the end of June to the end of July.

Boyfriend’s mum’s, two of my closest friends, my brother’s and my boyfriend’s followed shortly after in August by my mum’s! And you know what this brings on…a month of present stress!

Everyone knows present shopping is a pain. Ok, so I love christmas shopping, and wrapping presents now that’s another thing entirely – I was in awe at Selfridge’s elves (Gift wrap service) last year! I love wrapping, obviously I should have been in that team! – I am a complete perfectionist over wrapping! I also feel like over christmas everywhere is selling gifts and in complete competition with one another, so they offer so much choice right there in front of you!

But birthday present shopping is different. After Christmas when you have got them what they really want, then what do you get someone. There’s only so many paintings you can do for one person, or candles someone can own surely?! And I find shops just aren’t the same with gift ideas throughout the rest of the year.

Even websites like ‘Not on the High Street’ and ‘I want one of those’ recognise present shopping is hard, trying to make it easier with their search options for ‘Gifts for Her’ or ‘Gifts for Him’. But I find they’re still not always easy to find something from, especially when you’re not entirely sure what someone might want!

Luckily this month I already have my boyfriend’s sorted – you will all find out at the end of the month, I’ll be sure to tell all! This year we did experiences rather than presents, all very exciting! But that’s a big weight off my mind.

But this week I have been trawling the internet for ideas for his mum’s – yes I’m running late on this one! And I have a couple ideas for the others coming up, but still coming up short. hmmm…I better get my skates on, I can’t give everyone their birthday presents a month late!

 

Do you find birthday present shopping stressful? I’d love to hear what you do to help 🙂