Can it really be two whole years since I headed along to meet up with a bunch of cake loving strangers with only my cake pops for protection? How quickly time passes when you're stuffing your face and making new cakey friends. For Pinnies & Petticoats second birthday the theme was 'Party Food'. As it was also National Cupcake Week and I'd been send some related products to try out it would have been rude to not make some.
OXO sent me a cupcake corer (RRP £6), cupcake icing knife (RRP £4.50) and Baker's duster wand (RRP £10) And asked me to choose a naturally flavoured icing sugar from Sugar and Crumbs. I was very impressed with the wide range of flavours but couldn't decide between Salted Caramel and Lime & Coconut so asked them to choose for me. They must have had the same dilemma as they sent me both.
With cupcakes baked it was time to put the corer to the test so I could fill them with Mackays Lime Curd. Mixed results unfortunately. Not sure if I just didn't have the knack but whilst the device cut a lovely round hole it didn't remove the core and I had to resort to a teaspoon for that bit. Any tips most welcome on what I did wrong?
Icing next. You use the flavoured sugar to make butter icing jut as you would regular icing sugar. One made I spread it on with the icing knife. This was a big success and I can see this wee utensil becoming a much used piece of kit in my kitchen. Toasted coconut finished them off.
With my trusty cupcake carrier and a cupcake display stand borrowed from a friend I headed off to Pinnies and Petticoats. A disappointing low turnout for our birthday meet but there was definitely quality over quantity and it was lovely to get a proper chat with all of the bakers who did make it along.
Black Forest Fruit Brownies
Prosciutto, goats' cheese and asparagus rolls
Mary Berry's Chocolate Cake
Jam Tarts with homemade Bramble Jelly
Mini Summer Fruit Pavlovas
Pistachio Meringues and Orange Meringues
Lime & Coconut Cupcakes
Olive Tapenade Pinwheels
Peanut Butter Squares
Party Hedgehog & Top Hats
A fantastically tasty selection of cakes and bakes. I will admit to eating more of my fair share of the party hedgehog. I cannot resist a cheese and pickled onion combo on a cocktail stick. My cupcakes went down really well and there was lots of interest form fellow bakers in the concept and taste of the flavoured icing sugar.
Our next meet is scheduled for Wednesday 22nd October with a "Farewell to GBBO" theme. The venue is Rosie Thistles Tearoom and you can find all the info on our Facebook event page. I am absolutely loving this theme and it's the night before my birthday! I've already started pondering over my choice of bake and at the moment a filled centerpiece loaf, mini pear pies and savoury parcels are all in the running. Suffice to say that I will most definitely not be attempting a Swedish Princess Cake or Baked Alaska!
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