Restoration Goes Rococo

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

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

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

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

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...

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

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