Restoration Cake: Principles of Pleasure

Aeroplane Cake

2010-07-25T13:12:00.000-07:00

I was approached to design a cake for a 60th Birthday celebration. The Birthday boy has worked for British Airways at Heathrow Airport for over 30 years and his Daughter asked me if it would be possible to include a Boeing 747 on the cake.

Here at Restoration Cake, we are not afraid of a challenge!

We decided to make a simple Chocolate Mud Cake - which is probably my favourite cake in my recipe book - cover it in sky blue icing and fluffy clouds, and crown the whole thing off with a plane made of fondant icing.

This is me, attaching a red ribbon around the sky blue basic cake.

We had shaped the body of the plane, as well as the wings and tail fins, the night before in white fondant icing, which was now firm enough to handle and paint.

Windows and doors painted on and tail fin and body branded in BA red and blue.

Then comes the scary bit... putting the plane together on the cake. If the model breaks at this stage, you end up with a real plane-crash of a Birthday cake!

Thankfully, there is a certain amount of artistic license that can be taken in cake design - while the plane's wing is rigid and attached to the body of the plane, it is also supported from beneath by the engines and a strategically positioned cloud!

When we shaped the body, small ridges were made to hold the wings and tail fins secure. Before the pieces are inserted, a small amount of royal icing is applied as a glue. Ever made a model aeroplane? Thankfully, my partner in crime has made many and all his boyhood hobbycrafting came in most useful for this job!

Checking everything is in-line!

Sealing the tail fin into the body with royal icing, which is smoothed into a seamless join with a paintbrush.

So at this point, we stood back and admired our work.

I am off now to order the entire DVD set of Ace of Cakes for Chris, who has discovered a real talent for edible model-making! Watch this space for more awesome creations from Restoration Cake!

Cx

Sunday Lovin'

2010-07-18T01:35:00.000-07:00

What a week it has been! I have met with some truly fabulous ladies, all of whom are playing a part in helping me to get Restoration Cake off the ground.

I started the week in the offices of Fiona Humberstone at Flourish, discussing all things branding and web design. I came away with a lot to think about and loads of ideas. Plus, I cannot wait to buy a Pritt Stick and start making a mood board!

Then I had a lunch meeting with the lovely Sarah Murray of Perfect Wedding Magazine. We gossiped about weddings and cakes and wedding cakes in particular! I even received a thank you message from Sarah to thank me for the golden mini-red-velvet-cake that I gave her - which made it all the way back to the office in Bristol without being devoured on the train!

Yesterday, I had lunch with Tiffany Grant-Riley and Annabel Beeforth of Grant-Riley Weddings and Love My Dress (respectively) to meet and deliver a box of Baby Shower themed cupcakes for a photoshoot. Tiffany and Annabel are both gorgeous and both pregnant (positively blooming!) The shoot will be made up of a group of lovely ladies, all of whom are working in the wedding industry, and all of whom are pregnant or raising a child. When Tiffany approached me to supply some cupcakes for this shoot, I jumped at the chance to get involved. Though my current parenting experience is limited to spoiling my two kitten-babies, Sid and Nancy, I feel very strongly that women in business should stick together and support each other.

This week, I am proud to say that I have been featured on Rock 'n' Roll Bride. I noticed a tweet that Kat Williams had posted saying how excited she was about her forthcoming re-brand and I offered to make a celebration cake for the occasion. Thankfully, Kat was happy to accept a cake! The new look Rock 'n' Roll Bride went live this week and Restoration Cake was lucky enough to share a little of the Rock 'n' Roll spotlight!

http://www.rocknrollbride.com/2010/07/things-are-looking-a-bit-sparkly-new-around-here/

As if this was not enough for one week, I am thrilled to tell you that I have been featured on Rock 'n' Roll Bride once more today!

A few weeks ago, I was photographed by the gorgeous Miss Lex of Rockabetty Studios. Lex came to my place - along with Miss Ellen, her fabulous make-up artist - and they papped me as a 1950's pin-up girl! The experience was amazing! I really felt like a star. You can see other examples of Rockabetty Studios work at their Flickr page and I will blog a link to their website as soon as it goes live. What I will say in the meantime is that Rockabetty Studios are available for hire and their standard package includes a home visit, champagne, make-up and hair-styling, costumes, and a set of photoshop-finished pics.

Both Miss Lex and I have been leaking my finished photos on Twitter and these caught Kat's eye. Today, my Rockabetty photos have been featured as Kat's Sunday Kind of Love post.

So for those of you who have not yet visited Rock 'n' Roll Bride and fallen into Kat's wonderful world of weddings with a difference, I attach the following link, where you will be able to see the full set of photos that I did with Rockabetty as Miss Charlotte! I know that one visit will leave you as hooked on Kat's world as I am.

http://www.rocknrollbride.com/2010/07/a-sunday-kind-of-love-restoration-cake/

Cx

A little something to whet your appetite!

Restoration by Rockabetty - Behind the Scenes

2010-07-11T11:47:00.000-07:00

As promised, here is a little treat to offer a little half-time entertainment.

This short film is behind the scenes footage from the shoot that I did with Rockabetty Studios.

Sneak peaks of the finished pics have already been up on Twitter (follow me, if you are not already) and the full photo set will be posted very soon.

Enjoy and giggle at my posing techniques!

Oh, and I should give a special mention to Chris White, who filmed this footage and puts up with all my posing on a daily basis! MWAH!

Cx

Restoration Goes Rococo

2010-07-10T06:45:00.000-07:00

So I preface this post with yet another apology for neglecting my blogging duties - hear me out though, because I have an awesome excuse... I have been stupidly busy. OK, so this is nothing new but I have been putting some serious hours into getting myself in a position to start running Restoration Cake full-time. Yes, this would mean leaving the dayjob and putting all my faith into this enterprise.

Thankfully, I have faith. I have faith by the bucketload. What I am trying to get sorted is the financial side, which is like doing a really hard maths class with a head full of air and vanilla essence. My attention span has suffered and the 140 character limit on Twitter has been about all I can handle!

This post was meant to come to you a few weeks ago after I spent a Saturday morning at Rococo Chocolates’ School of Chocolate in Motcomb Street.

A small be perfectly formed group of 5 ladies gathered together to learn the art of tempering Chocolate with Rococo’s ‘Prof du Choc’, Laurent Couchaux.

Who knew that melting chocolate was such a science? Without wishing to bore you – because this all fascinates me – chocolate is made up of 6 individual crystals, each with a different melting point, which means that the process of melting chocolate correctly (tempering) has to be done in stages. When this process is followed correctly, chocolate can be melted and re-set many times without losing its texture.

To explain the pictures below, I should give you a potted guide to the process of tempering (which is super precise and has to be done with a thermometer and everything – making me feel like a proper scientist!): the chocolate is heated to a high temperature, then stirred until the temperature reduces. The whole bowl of melted chocolate is then poured out onto a marble slab and almost paddled to reduce the temperature still further.

The chocolate then goes back into the bowl and a small quantity of hot melted chocolate is added to the mix, which is then stirred to reach the magical working temperature. It is a lengthy process but you have to work fast to avoid missing the important temperatures!

Then the fun bit… we were given a piping bag, the famous Rococo fish moulds, and a sheet of acetate.

I made 8 yummy fish, some dark chocolate and rose wafers (like really thin chocolate buttons), some chocolate buttons (because I am an overgrown 6 year old at heart), some random shapes, and I even managed to write my name in chocolate! Oh and I had a bash at the Restoration crown too!

My goodness, chocolate is a lot messier than icing! I think I will save my tempering for special occasions only.

I am now desperate to go hunting for some cherub moulds and a good thermometer! How stunning would white chocolate cherubs look on a chocolate Wedding cake? Oh, the possibilities are endless when you learn a new craft.

You can find the Rococo School of Chocolate course guide here: http://rococochocolates.com/chocolate-school.html My 3 hour class cost £100 and included all materials, a chocolate tasting, and all my lovely chocolates to take home! I cannot recommend this enough.

Cx

Harry's 1st Birthday Party

2010-06-07T11:50:00.000-07:00

My favourite part of this job is when I hear back from a customer after the event telling me that they enjoyed their cake.

What I love even more is to receive a photograph of the cake 'in action'. Every now and then, I have a customer who is happy for me to share their picture with you all.

It is my absolute pleasure and privilege to present to you, Harry the dog.

"Doesn't Harry look proud!" Harry's Daddy

Look at him licking his lips! Awwwww!

The Birthday party was a huge success and much fun was had by the dogs and humans too.

Yes, my work here is done.

Cx

Bow-Wow-Wow

2010-06-06T11:37:00.000-07:00

The crowds of people gathered around my dayjob office on Friday. I love it when a cake gets people so excited!

The brief was as follows: a chocolate cake was required to feed the human guests at Harry the dog's 1st Birthday Party. Harry's Daddy had already ordered a special dog cake online - a cake made from various dog treats, designed to look like a cake - so I thought how fun it would be to give the humans a cake designed to look like dog food! How very topsy-turvey!

Harry's real-life dog bowl is red with little white bones on it, so I designed the cake to match this. How confused he must have been.

My absolute favourite detail on this cake is the dog crunchies in the bowl. Sadly, I cannot take credit for this as it was my Mr who suggested using breakfast cereal to top the cake. Not only was this the perfect aesthetic, but I have enjoyed two bowls of chocolate cereal this weekend as a result!

Tasty...

Cx

An Epic In The Making

2010-05-27T15:04:00.000-07:00

It would seem that my attempt to explain to you all what the Restoration really means to me, as we approach its 350th anniversary, is taking a great deal more out of me than I had anticipated.

This coupled with the Wedding Cake that I am working on for this weekend and the dayjob too has resulted in a slight delay. It is an epic. I apologise in advance.

Cx

Remove the diadem and take off the crown; this shall not be the same; exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more until he come whose right it is...

Love Is In The Air

2010-05-24T11:47:00.000-07:00

The new Wedding Cake gallery will be coming very soon. The most stylish girl I know came over on the first gloriously sunny Saturday of this year and set up some beautiful shots, snapping away with her camera and turning my garden into a pretty little tea party.

Of course, we all made time for a little taster of the new flavours.

New to the menu are Coffee & Baileys (a moist coffee cupcake, topped with Baileys ButterCream) and Lemon (a light lemon cupcake, topped with zesty Lemon Curd Buttercream). The fabulous news is that both of these flavours are available Dairy Free… after many hours of pretending to be Heston Blumenthal in my kitchen, I have perfected Dairy Free Irish Cream ButterCream frosting. I was thrilled with the result and slightly pissed by the end of the tasting *hic*. Oh and both flavours are available in cake form too, which is what we are chowing down on in the pics.

I have yet to decide upon suitably Restoration specific names for these newbies but there are a few ideas in the pipeline and the victors will be announced via Tweet.

If you are not yet following me on Twitter, I would urge you to come and find me in time for the big announcement, which will be made from the beach in Brighton on Oak Apple Day, Saturday 29th May 2010.

Cx

P.S. I am @restorationcake though you could have probably figured that one out!

It's Been A Long Time...

2010-05-17T12:58:00.000-07:00

Oddsfish, you must have all forgotten about me!

I cannot even begin to tell you how busy I have been of late... somewhere between working 9 to 5 and then from 5 to 9* again, I have neglected my blogging duties.

So while I think of something clever and inspiring to say, I shall leave you with a little piece of nonsense that inspired a Christmas cake for a much beloved friend.

This is the MacArthur Park Christmas cake.

MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down...
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, no!

*um... more like 11 or 12!

{you inspire me} The Fabric of My Life

2010-03-15T06:50:00.000-07:00

I spent Mothering Sunday on a historical adventure around the city of Ely with my Mother. Along with visiting the more recognisable sites of Ely Cathedral and Oliver Cromwell (boo hiss)’s House, we also wandered the back-streets where my Mother grew up and ambled down Memory Lane.

Well, we ambled and we trespassed a little bit too… seeing that my Great-Grandmother’s house was sold and empty, Mum and I peered into the front window and she described the dark little front room that was only used on Sundays and smart occasions. Our curiosity awakened, we tried the gate leading to the back of the house and found that (with a little shove) it was open. We crept (for by now, we were in full ‘meddling kids’ mode) along the back passage and found that the garden was un-gated too… except for a small trellised fence which opened easily (again, with a little bit of a shove) just enough for us to squeeze in. We peered in through the back window at what was once my Great-Grandmother’s kitchen and pantry. A tiny house that was once a home to my Family. A tiny house that, despite being empty, still holds vivid memories for my Mother.

All this naughtiness and mischief had left us quite in need of refreshment so we went to visit Peacocks Tearoom on the banks of the River Great Ouse. Given that I am partial to a nice Darjeeling and am always in the market for a piece of cake, this was certain to be a hit with me. However, please allow me to recommend it most highly to you, should you ever find yourself in East Anglia!

www.peacockstearoom.co.uk

The delightful management at Peacocks Tearoom assure guests that crockery is often mismatched and that, should a guest find themselves with a matching cup and saucer, they will happily ensure that one or the other is replaced. All this kookiness was fascinating to me. I loved all the crazy clutter on show though I accept that I would not be able to exist for long in such disorder without some blood pressure issues.

I was overcome by the urge to take pictures of everything… it was all so pretty. It was as if I had been possessed by the spirit of the most stylish girl I know. How many afternoon teas she photographed during our week away in Cornwall last year is anybody’s guess. These pictures are inspired by her.

If you are now in the mood to marvel at pictures of lovely things, I would recommend that you wander over to www.fabricofmylife.co.uk if you have not done so already. Kate’s blog is a daily source of inspiration and delight and the little ray of sunshine that we all need on a Monday afternoon! She writes beautifully and is entirely fabulous.

And here I rest my case.

C

Post script – Memories are so very precious. Please remember this charity www.alzheimers.org.uk

Whistlin' While I Work

2010-03-09T11:01:00.000-08:00

So here they are, the pictures from Restoration Cake's very first 100% dairy-free wedding.

White sugar roses hung out to dry.

Pink sugar gerberas drying (yes, that is a bath sponge... very useful in sugarcraft!).

Dusts for enriching the colours of the flowers.

Roses resting after dusting.

This is me, arranging and re-arranging cupcakes at the venue.

My heart stops for a moment every time I do this! One slip and... my heart skipped just thinking about it!

The finished product was a 6" Red Velvet cutting cake atop 100 Vanilla and Red Velvet cupcakes decorated in our Pretty Pleas style.

All that remains now is for me to wish EJ and Anne-Marie every happiness in their life together.

Hope you enjoyed the cake!

C

Everybody's Starry Eyed

2010-03-01T11:23:00.000-08:00

I have been a busy little bee over the last couple of weeks, both in my dayjob (which seems to have been stupidly hectic of late) and with all things Restoration Cake.

Honestly, I just want to make cake and be fabulous. C'est tout. Not much to ask.

My most recent creation looks to be quite humble at first glance. A royal blue iced chocolate cake (non-dairy, I must add) covered with a sprinkling of silver stars.

However, if you know your constellations (I must confess that I do not) you will see that this seemingly random sprinkling is in fact an acurate map of the Monoceros constellation and its surroundings.

Yes, it was painstaking but I was so chuffed with my efforts that I sent the map, complete with the tiny holes I had made with my scribe, to my customer with the cake!

C

While The Cats Are Away…

2010-02-15T12:42:00.000-08:00

… the mice will go to The Designer Wedding Show.

Conspicuous by our lack of diamond rings and big days to plan, the most stylish girl I know and I attended this year’s Designer Wedding Show in Battersea Park. The mission was strictly fact-finding and networking, though we would have had to be made of stone to have not made time in our itinerary for dreaming and (frankly) plotting a little in the absence of our respective beaus.

The whole event was an inspiration. There was beauty at every turn. Fabulous vintage inspired gowns of antique lace and appliqué. Jewellery and accessories either sourced from vintage stores or recreated to appear antique. Intricate wedding stationary, so beautiful that I went out the next day and bought myself a calligraphy set to improve my penmanship. We actually saw a scribe… and a Silhouette Artist; these wonderful crafts, that do not really exist any longer in our day to day lives, are thriving in the Wedding industry.

Even more inspiring to me was the overwhelming power of the female in the room. Fiancés had in the most part been left at home and women flocked to the show with their girlfriends and Mothers. Again, I would have to be pretty cold not to be moved at the sight of a Mother helping her Daughter try on a veil.

Even the stories that we heard that day told of the power of women to create things of beauty. We met one woman, who told us that she was one of a collective, who began her craft in her 50s after her husband “did the runner”. She explained to us how she and her group of friends had focused their energies on creating beautiful and frivolous trinkets.

I was thrilled to have my silhouette cut by Alison Russell who learnt her craft from her Grandmother. Alison now offers a service by which wedding guests can pose for 2-3 minutes as her scissors glide deftly around a small sheet of black paper and the resulting silhouette is mounted in a card and given as a Wedding favour.

www.alison-russell.co.uk

And here is mine.

I have big plans for this little beauty…

So as I work on the final designs for our next Restoration Cake photoshoot, which will be dedicated to Wedding Cakes and all things romantic, I send this belated Valentine to my Mother and my Grandmother who taught me to bake and be fabulous. Great big love to all my Sisters (you know who you are) and all you amazing ladies out there.

C

Probably the Best Way to Spend a Friday Night In...

2010-02-07T12:11:00.000-08:00

...Fashioning beautiful fondant roses, with a glass of red wine.

As promised, here are the pictures of the Birthday Cake I was working on for last night. It was a 6" Chocolate Mud Cake (i.e. there is a little bit of coffee in the mix which makes the chocolate feel richer) with a Vanilla Buttercream filling, decorated with black and white fondant roses. Tres chic, non?

It went down well... yum.

Wishing you all a fabulous week.

C

The Measure of a Man (and Other Tasty Treats)

2010-02-06T08:55:00.000-08:00

As January melts into February, my thoughts often turn to the final moments of our two King Charles’s.

30th January (1649) marks the anniversary of the Regicide. I remember being about 8 or 9 years old at school, learning the first lessons about our Tudor and Stuart history, and one aspect of the killing of the King has always remained with me. I can vividly recall my teacher (Mrs Howitt… she smelt of Poison by Dior) telling us that when King Charles I was led onto the scaffold, he wore two vests to guard against the bitter cold lest his shivers be mistaken for a sign of fear.

The image of a King loathe to shiver before his rebellious subjects really touched me. I am reluctant to put this down to sympathy as it feels disrespectful to pity a King but I am left with an impression of pride and dignity in the moment that the Divine Right of Kings was shattered so violently.

6th February (1685) marks the anniversary of the death of King Charles II. That image of the King dying slowly surrounded by the ticking clocks that so fascinated him.

The constitutional crisises prompted by the deaths of both Kings have had a lasting impact upon the Great Britain that we know today. What I deduce from the periods of Republic and Revolution that followed both of these events is this country’s dependence upon a sound Monarchy. I am proud of this lesson learnt. A true Royalist through and through.

The only problem that I face year after year at this sombre time is the glorious distraction that is my best friend’s Birthday. I would love to join the Cavaliers of The Sealed Knot in their annual drinks on the Mall but this event is always scheduled on the last Saturday in January and I am forever being called upon to drink with the Birthday girl.

I would love to pay a solemn pilgrimage to Banquetting House to look out to where the scaffold would have stood and lay flowers at the foot of the statue in Trafalgar Square (erected by the Son to commemorate the Father) but I am invariably tied up in my kitchen fashioning a suitably chic Birthday cake.

Today, I light a candle in memory of the most fabulous King of England… and I am sure that he will approve most heartily when it is blown out by the most stylish girl I know. Tomorrow, I will post you a picture of this cake, because I wouldn’t want to spoil tonight’s surprise!

The King is dead. Long live the Queen.

C

A Tidy Number 350

2010-01-23T09:19:00.000-08:00

Perhaps my first item of business should be to wish you all a very happy New Year! May your 2010 be everything that you could ever wish that it would be and much more.

This year has started on something of a manic note, but the dust is beginning to settle just enough for me to take stock of that which is truly important.

I should probably begin this little musing with a bit of background… I should explain that I am not top of the class when it comes to Maths. Sure, I have a Maths GCSE on my CV (in which I scraped a C grade by some miracle or on the merit of good penmanship) and I can figure out essential percentages enough to see me through the sales, but my brain is not tuned into numbers.

Having said that, figures, facts and statistics thrill me. Much in the same way as knowing that my CDs are in alphabetical order, I take comfort and some small pleasure in a neat number.

So this afternoon, with the shameless use of a calculator to check my workings, I came across the revelation that 2010 marks 350 years since the Restoration. I cannot even begin to express my excitement at this tidy number. I immediately reached for Pepys' Diary and started reading along with his January entries!

It will take me more than one post to explain what this date means to me. I started rambling and ranting and raving but thought better than to go straight into this in my first post of the year.

You have plenty of Restoration 1660 themed musings along with many Restoration Cake updates to look forward to this year. 2010 promises to be an exciting year for Restoration Cake. We have a new Wedding Cake gallery coming soon but, in the meantime, enjoy these little lovlies... 100% dairy-free mini-cakes.

C

The Crazy Month Of December

2009-12-22T07:14:00.000-08:00

My goodness, what a month I have had. I should start at the beginning…

On Monday 1st December, I woke up under the same roof that Charles II would have woken up under many times, many years before me. My wonderful Mr. C found a little piece of heaven called New Park Manor in the New Forest where we could enjoy a little much needed R&R. The Manor was a favourite hunting retreat of our patron King and his mistresses – Barbara Villiers even stayed there. It is now a hotel and spa.

The building is steeped in references to the Restoration. The guest rooms are even named after great women of the era and each door is hung with a portrait to match. We were in a suite named after the Queen, Catherine of Braganza. Our floor to ceiling windows overlooked the front of the property and into the forest. I disregarded the driving rain, opened up the heavy sash window to look outside and started to cry. I acknowledge that I was a bit tired and emotional (it has been a long, heavy year and this was our first break together in a long time) but there was history in this place, in the walls, in the ground, in the trees; there was a connection.

As I lay on the beautician’s table, I drifted in and out of various levels of sleep and awake whilst having a facial and tried to imagine how long the journey from London would have been for the Royal party. I tried to imagine the Royal table set up in the dining room that we ate in the night before. I imagined the King taking his walks about the grounds and leading the hunt out into the forest. Most of all I cursed myself for being a heavy sleeper and missing the opportunity to be haunted by some remnant of that time gone by. Before I knew it, I was being told to take my time getting up and dressed.

That afternoon, Mr. C and I bubbled away in the hot tub outside on a crisp December afternoon, watching the horses and deer frolicking in evergreen surroundings, and we wondered when our world would next be so blissfully quiet.

The moment we returned, the work resumed. I was painting sugar cameos, gilding sugar cherubs, stamping out sugar snowflakes and making load after load of ButterCream in preparation for Animal Aid’s Christmas Fayre.

I took Thursday 3rd out of my office to make 4 Dairy-Free Celebration Cakes to give out free samples. On Friday 4th, I was back at my desk looking after not only my own 2 bosses (a COO and SVP) but also the CEO of our company. This made me number 1 PA in the office for a day… and it was a busy one!

Once I was back home on Friday night, I was back in the kitchen whipping up 120 Vanilla Cupcakes.

Saturday morning, I made an early start on the Pretty Pleas, Cinnamon Swirl, Chocolate, Nell and Minette Cupcakes to complete the menu. By 12:30am on Sunday 6th December, 500 Cupcakes and 4 Celebration Cakes were stacked up ready to go to the Fayre. A bottle of Cava later, I was sound asleep.

The Fayre was amazing. Restoration’s stall was constantly busy and we met so many fabulous people. The free samples were a hit (who says no to free cake?) and the Cupcakes were flying off the shelves of our 7-tier cake stand. The feedback we got was amazing! Though a few potential customers may have been disappointed with our disregard for any aspect of healthy living at our table, the majority were enthusiastically enjoying a sugar-high on us! I have never seen so many happy faces!

So it has taken me this long to recover from the excitement and the long-hours but now I finally have the opportunity to say a massive thank you to everyone who came along on Sunday. Thank you for your custom, your comments and your lovely emails! Please do all keep in touch and I will be sure to keep you abreast of all things Restoration Cake.

And finally, I extend my heartfelt thanks to the amazing Restoration team, without whom, none of this would have been possible.

Kate – Thank you for your impeccable sense of style, thank you for staying up late with me on Saturday night icing Cupcakes, and thank you for staying on your feet all day on Sunday. You are the most stylish girl I know and you are fabulous. www.thefabricofmylife.wordpress.com

Josh – Where did you come from? I think you must have fallen in from the heavens! Who knew that you were such an amazing salesman? Thank you for your time, unfailing energy, and sheer class.

Chris – I couldn’t do any of this without you. Fullstop. Thank you for being my Mr.

Cx

The King and I

2009-11-27T09:04:00.000-08:00

It is hard not to be starstruck when walking the halls of The National Portrait Gallery. Aside from the pleasure I get from looking at pictures of famous people, I cannot help but feel overcome by the thought that the canvas was once in the same room as the subject, at the same point in time. My heart delights in seeing the artist’s hand through the brushstrokes of a familiar portrait. It is as if this intimacy with the physical painting breeds a whole new appreciation of the work itself.

I am not an art critic. I like what I like and I love people. Though I may never have known them, there is a connection and a familiarity born of the books that I read and the portraits that I see.

The NPG has kindly put a bench in front of their only portrait of King Charles II as an adult. The painting shows Charles in later life and (bless him) he did not age well. Still, I love to be in the room with this portrait and its significant others – Charles is flanked on the gallery wall by arguably the most important women in his life; Barbara Villiers, Nell Gwyn, Catherine of Braganza, and Minette, Duchess d’Orléans. If only the wall were bigger!

Turning to my left, I can giggle at the iconic portrait of John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, as he crowns a monkey with the Laureate’s laurels. Turning myself further around in my seat, I can smile and scowl at various members of the Restoration Parliaments as if they were little more than characters in a story.

Turning back to the King, I consider the character before me. Charles would only have been around 50 years old when this portrait was painted, yet he looks so much older. He died at the age of 54, the most likely cause being a kind of stroke. By this time he had lived more than enough for one lifetime: exiled, fugitive, ridiculed, restored, revered. London had been plagued, burned to the ground, and rebuilt under his rule.

By this time, the playboy King was impotent and in constant pain from a sore foot which refused to heal properly, yet he would never cease his walks or cast off his mistresses. By this time, Charles had dissolved his fractious Parliament and ruled absolutely until the end of his life. He passed this time conducting scientific experiments and winding his many clocks, which he also loved to deconstruct to understand their workings.

The story goes that Charles took several days to die and that he apologised for the inconvenience caused saying, “I am sorry, gentlemen, for being such a time a-dying”. Then when the time came, he departed to the sound of a room filled with ticking clocks.

The real beauty of the NPG is that it allows the wanderer to wander backwards just as easily as forwards. So, lest I become overburdened with melancholy in thoughts of death, I am free to go back to the beginning…

I would urge anyone with an interest in people-watching to visit the NPG… but try not to get caught taking pictures! This is frowned upon.

I resolve never to apologise on camera again as this does not photograph well!

C

New Limited Edition – Minette Choc Chip

2009-11-24T01:59:00.000-08:00

Roll up! Roll up! Restoration Cake presents a new limited edition flavour to celebrate Christmas 2009.

Minette Choc Chip is a soft Chocolate Cupcake with a Peppermint Crème centre, topped with Mint-Choc-Chip ButterCream.

Named in honour of Charles II’s favourite little sister, Henriette-Anne – known as Minette by those who loved her – this Cupcake is the latest addition to our Cameo range of tasty nods to great ladies of the Restoration.

Minette Choc Chip is 100% Dairy-Free and will be on the menu at Animal Aid’s Christmas Fayre. Be sure to get in early for these ones!

C

With special thanks to Mr. C for his unending love, patience and support

A Declaration of Indulgence

2009-11-19T13:33:00.000-08:00

I am doing my utmost to get myself named in the acrimonious divorce of Veganism and Health Food.

Here at Restoration Cake, we specialise in non-dairy Celebration Cakes and Cupcakes. I can imagine that many of you will be losing the will to live right about now so please indulge me and read on…

As a Vegetarian with a terrible intolerance to onions, I know a thing or two about special dietary requirements. I was brought up to eat what I was given, sometimes even with the threat of no dessert on non-compliance. Luckily for me, this was never really a problem! I would have eaten glass for the promise of dessert. I probably still would.

Seeing what is generally on offer in the British ‘Free From’ sector depresses me. I want to give everyone the chance to have that Sex and the City ‘Miranda outside Magnolia Bakery’ moment. A Cupcake is not a Cupcake unless you get buttercream icing on your nose.

After a visit to a Vegan bakery in New York my eyes were opened to the amazing delights than can be created without the need for animal products. The chocolate and peanut butter brownie I bought there lasted me three days… three days! It was so rich and moist and just… oh my god.

I have a wonderful set of Vegan friends. Each and every one of them is artistic, vivacious, talented and exciting. When I make cakes for my friends, I want them to look fabulous and taste delicious. I would never ask a compromise on this. Many Vegan cakes are made with all natural ingredients and they taste great but they are missing the point. Cake is about indulgence and celebration and frivolity – it should never be passed off as ‘a healthy alternative’. If I want to be healthy, I will have a piece of fruit. Cake is my treat, my comfort, my naughty moment.

Perhaps those non-Vegans or (dare I say it) dedicated carnivores of you may be bemused as to the taste, texture or appearance of a non-dairy cake. I would ask you to look at the pictures below and imagine a soft, light sponge and a sweet, creamy vanilla topping. If we bake with Chocolate, it is a rich, dark Chocolate. If you have ever tried Red Velvet cake, I recommend you try my Red Velvet cake. What you may not appreciate is the overwhelming flavour of egg – remove this and all you get is the flavour of the cake itself.

Still not convinced? Come along to Animal Aid’s Christmas Fayre at Kensington Town Hall on Sunday 6th December and try for yourself. After all, the proof is in the pudding… and I have turned many before you.

C

A Heavenly Host

2009-11-17T13:35:00.000-08:00

There are few things more lovely to behold than row upon row of cheeky sugar Cherubs, awaiting their golden gilding.

This week, I began preparations for the Restoration Cake stand at Animal Aid’s Christmas Fayre (the flyer is attached to the end of this post).

I must confess to beaming profusely when my table is littered with handmade sugar mini-bows. Fret ye not, because these babies will keep until you come see me at Kensington Town Hall on Sunday 6th December to purchase a little piece of something truly beautiful and utterly delicious!

C

A Little Of What You Fancy…

2009-11-14T02:59:00.000-08:00

My philosophy has always been to find pleasure in the little things: those small everyday miracles that raise a smile and make life worth living. My favourites include running my hand along railed fences, cuddling, and Diet Coke.

Over the last year, we have all spent time considering the price that we are prepared to put on our happiness. As budgets and belts have tightened, louder and louder becomes the whispered notion…

‘perhaps I don’t need all this stuff to make me happy’

I have no intention of going into a lengthy diatribe on a subject that I am sure we are all very tired of by now but I will ask you to ponder on an anecdote from the life of our patron, King Charles II.

As a young boy, Charles was offered every luxury. He had an independent household at St James’ Palace with a large entourage, as befitted the heir to a Stuart Crown. Not unlike other children, Charles had a favourite toy and he took this with him everywhere he went. Whenever the toy was taken away, Charles would cry; he even took it to bed with him. The toy was a small plank of wood.

So it is with this profound love for all the small things that I was busy in my kitchen last night. Cupcakes with a wintery festive theme. Ice blue for the Vanilla, snow-peaked mountains for the Chocolate Cheesecake and sparkling snowflakes all round!

Pictures for you…

C

Wedding Belle

2009-11-12T01:34:00.000-08:00

I am just so thrilled to have received these pictures that I simply have to share them.

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words and these speak volumes to me about what Restoration Cake is about. This is why I do what I do.

All the hard work is worth it when a beautiful Bride smiles like this!

C

What's In A Name?

2009-11-10T04:27:00.000-08:00

And so it is that I have given in to the encouragements of my very talented friend and jumped upon the blogging bandwagon. Here is the first of many plugs: www.thefabricofmylife.wordpress.com

I intend for this blog to be something of a 'safe space' for my mind to wander whilst keeping you, Dear Reader (the first of many old clichés), up to date with all things Restoration.

Restoration Cake was born of my love of cake and King Charles II. You may have had to re-read that last sentence. I read a lot about Charles II and he is something of a personal hero. No doubt I will elaborate upon this at a later date.

Charles' patronage of beauty and pleasure and science and architecture and the arts never cease to inspire me. Yet he was a swan, regarded by history as the consummate playboy King, whilst all the time the feet were frantic beneath the surface of the water. Maybe somewhere in my future musings I will be able to adequately illustrate this point - though for now, you must forgive me because I am trying desperately hard to keep this short and punchy, though my natural style is perhaps more flowery!

You may wonder where this fusion of cake and 17th Century history met... I can tell you that it was in that moment where I finally thought of a name for my cakes to be traded under. I needed a name that meant something to me; something different from the fashionable Hummingbirds and Magnolias. Restoration worked on so many levels.

You probably get the 'personal' element of the choice by now. The name comes loaded with connotations of aesthetics and a general ethos: beauty and pleasure. Forever beauty and pleasure. This is what I strive daily to impart through Restoration Cake.

I leave you with an apt exchange of words and some pictures of my cakes. With both I hope to have whet your appetite.

Cx

Words pinned to the King's bedroom door by John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester:

Here lies our Sovereign Lord, the King whose word no man relies on.
He never said a foolish thing
Nor ever did a wise one.

And the King's reply:

My words are my own
But my acts are my ministers'.