FOOD NEWS: Rumpus!

.

Hey Kids!
On friday June 10th, Rumpus will be holding their first birthday party! To celebrate this occasion, there will be a big old party at Electrowerkz, Angel Tube.

The Rumpus Folk say;

"We’re going all out on this one. We’ve called in Alejandro Toledo and the Magic Tombolinos, which is about as high octane as any live band can get without setting themselves on fire. We’ve got the Cut A Shine guys for a proper Old Skool Ceilidh with dosie dos and stripping the willow and all that kinda jazz. We’ve got a Hoe Down, with a whole night of bluegrass that’ll keep you stomping. The London Digital Circus, them guys what did that thing with the Rabbits, are back.

On top of all that we’ve got the Supatronix guys coming down to give you a whole night’s worth of sublime breaks and beats. These guys have been winning awards for years for their breakbeat night, and they’re coming out to play with us this time.

And of course, we’ve got 6 rooms filled to the brim. DJs playing the best in Ska, BalaknBeats, Electroswing, DnB, Dubstep. Live acts and secret performances waiting for you to find them. Art exhibitions and the Rumpus Cinema.

And, most importantly of all, CAKE!!!

Put yer glad rags on and come join us for the Birthday Party to end all Birthday Parties. Expect Clowns, Fairy Princesses, Cowboys, Pirates, Monsters, Wild Creatures and Cuddly Creatures.

--------------------------------

There will indeed be cake! My sister project, Cake-Tease will be exhibiting and providing cake for the occasion (because what is a birthday party without cake..?) including chilli chocolate and popping candy cupcakes!

Please please, feel free to come by, have fun and show your support.

LouLovesFood/Cake-Tease

xxx

Tickets are available on the door, or at : http://rumpusbirthday.eventbrite.com/
Elektrowerkz, Torrenz Street, Angel Tube
10pm-6am

Recipe: White Chocolate and Rosewater Cake

.

Pistachio and Rosewater: This is my absolute favourite cake! I always forget till I'm shelling them and sneaking them into my mouth just how good pistachios are... Rosewater, pistachio and white chocolate are a perfect combination- unlike many cakes, it isn't too sweet- instead it is musky, with a Middle Eastern flavour, and with the green and purple of the pistachio against the white buttercream, it's absolutely stunning to serve up. Perfect for a summer afternoon tea party!

So here we go...

Ingredients

75g / 3 oz whole shelled pistachios, finely chopped
225g / 8 oz caster sugar
225g / 8 oz unsalted butter
4 large eggs
225g / 8 oz self raising flour, sieved
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 level tbsp rose water

For decorating the cake

125g / 4 oz unsalted butter
225g / 8 oz icing sugar
1 tsp rose water
200g / 7 oz Belgian white chocolate, broken into pieces
25g / 1 oz pistachios, slightly crushed

Start by beating the sugar and butter til light and fluffy and white in colour. Then beat some more. The more effort you put in here, the lighter the resulting cake will be. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs and then add spoonful at a time into the mix, beating well between each addition.

Next, with a metal spoon, fold in the flour, baking powder, rose water and pistachios until just combined. It's kind of as simple as that. Spoon the mixture into a prepared cake tin and bake for an hour at 140C. You can also do these as cupcakes- I do regularly and they're fantastic. For this, simply spoon the mix into cupcake cases using an ice cream scoop and bake at 180C for 18 minutes.

When the cake is cooked, leave to cool completely. Whilst you are doing this, prepare the buttercream simply by creaming together the butter and icing sugar. Add 1 tbsp boiling water and 1 tsp rose water. I would test it at this point and check it. You may want it a little stronger if you prefer, but be careful as it can be a little overpowering!

Spoon the buttercream onto the cake and roughly smooth over to completely cover. Blitz the pistachios and white chocolate until rough then sprinkle over the top of the cake. The cake is now ready to serve!


Enjoy :)

xxx

Chocolate Week: Chocolate Cupcakes

.

Here are a range of chocolate cupcakes I was comissioned to make in celebration of Chocolate Week... Om nom.

Banana and chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and a topping inspired by Cupcake Junkie.

Double chocolate chip, with chocolate buttercream and hot chocolate drizzle

Double chocolate chip with caramel shapes

Chocolate Irish Cream with white chocolate spiders web- design taken from BBC Good Food

x

Cupcakes of the Week...

I've been a busy girl- and I'll be a master baker in no time!
Check out http://www.blogger.com/www.chez-nu.blogspot.com for the whole of yesterday's baking collection. All of the sugar paste decorations are made by me. I love the bear! Not really my style, but I really enjoyed modelling with the fondant...
Go take a look- I hope you like them!
x

Lavender Cupcakes

~

Today's Daily cupcake offering- Lavender cupcakes.

Simple replace caster sugar in your average vanilla cupcake recipe with lavender sugar, and use lavender infused icing sugar instead of plain in your lavender frosting. Et voila! I used lavender sugar for the entire measure of sugar so they had a nice, distinct flavour.

To decorate, I frosted with the lavender buttercream icing and added a tiny hint of blue and red food colouring to the fondant to give it a slight purply colour, then topped with a lavender sprig.
If you don't like to use food colouring, you can also use a tiny drop of beetroot juice for a cute baby pink cupcake.

How to make Lavender Sugar:

Seperate the lavender flowers from their stem by running your fingers from tip to root, or picking off. Tip your sugar into a food processor and add the flowers, discarding the stem and blitz using the pulse button until well mixed. Tip through a sieve so the sugar is seperated from the flowers. Anything left in the sieve can be put into a muslin bag and left in with the sugar, which should be stored in a sealed container to infuse. You now have lavender sugar!
It's too easy.

x

Food Fact of the Day

It takes exactly the same amount of time to prepare three trays of lavender cupcakes as it does to listen to Arcade Fire's Funeral.

I discovered that by accident! Try it out...

x

Let Them Eat Cake!

.

'National Cupcake Week' may have drawn unwillingly to a sticky end- but fortunately it's always cupcake week in the house of LouLovesFood!
I spent the morning practising my butter-cream frosting (I think I can be bold enough to say I have that down...) and made a mismatched batch of cupcakes to experiment with all the new edible glitters and sparkly girly things I had ordered in that fell on my doorstep this morning (to my great excitement).
Expect plenty more cakes and bakes in the next few weeks..!

Chocolate-cherry brandy with chocolate cream. The best. The best thing ever.

The appropriately titled 'Little Louise' - Vanilla with a layer of strawberry jam!

Raspberry ripple with vanilla butter-cream frosting

Coconut cream muffin with sparkling coconut frosting
I love the topping on this- the mixture of desiccated coconut with shimmering white and baby pink...

... And last but not least, a simple vanilla cupcake!
~

My food crush: Outsider Tart

I know I'm always falling in love with food and food shops, I have truly fallen head over heels in love with my current big food crush, the Outsider Tart... Oh my.



Designed by David Lesniak, one half of 'the two David's' who own the little boutique bakery, it is a design nerds dream. Candy striped counter tops, £3,000 cake stands and wooden shelves. I particularly love the oversized jars filled with nuts.

The cakes, I can assure you, are irresisitable, and all American; a chocolate cherry cheesecake brownie that was both verbally, and literally, quite a mouthful. The two layered brownie with a cookie topping was novel and whatever the crumbly, nutty slice I ate was, it was, to use a tired old cliche- to die for. I hold no apologies!

As well as cakes, they also sell a range of savoury snacks and sandwiches- pulled pork rolls and pastries stuffed with sweet potato. There are also shelves of American deli produce, including Aunt Jemima syrup and Fluff marshmallow and cereals.

It's the kind of place that makes you want to quit your job, sell your house, relocate and make new friends, just so you can have the pleasure of a leisurely walk down for a Saturday morning coffee.
If my ineloquent gushing's (and frankly shoddy photography) haven't swayed you yet, check out their gorgeous website, where you can see a huge array of cupcakes and brownies, or 'keep up with the tarts' via their blog.
http://www.outsidertart.com/

Outsider Tart
83 Chiswick High Road, London, W4 2EF
020 7 096 0619

x

Food Fact of the Day

It's National Cupcake Week!

Several attempts have been made to create the World’s Largest Cupcake. The current holder of the record is GourmetGiftBaskets.com for their 1224-lb., 2 million calorie creation baked on August 15, 2009.

I celebrated National Cupcake week doing a mass cupcake baking stint at the Angel Food Bakery. It's seriously got me in the mood- expect plenty of cupcake blogs to come ..!

x

Cox, Cookies and Cake

.

Cupcakes are grimly clinging to the top of the food trend league. Despite whoopie pies briefly threatening to topple them, they have resolutely held tight to the title and are still popping up all over the shop.

The name on everyone's sticky, crumb-specked lips right now is that of Cox, Cookies and Cake- the latest addition to London's ample cupcake scene.

When I think of cake shops, I instinctively envisage silver cupcake trees and tiny fondant roses with lavender icing, served on gold trimmed plates.
Expect no such thing from Cox, Cookies and Cake.


In a sudden move away from fashion and into food, 'Cox..' is the venture of shoe designer Patrick Cox and baker Eric Lanlard. Nestled between sex shops and strip clubs, Cox is situated right in the heart of Soho's gay district- and it doesn't look at all out of place.
At first glance, it could easily be mistaken for a Prowler; all black sequined walls and neon lights.
The cakes in the window are black, sparkly and bedecked with oozing red-eyed skulls, winking shamelessly from glowing toxic green constructions. Music thumps from inside, which resembles a cocktail bar more than a cake shop. (One of those cocktail bars that are a bit too dark, a bit too loud and a bit too sleazy... But a lot more fun.)

The cupcakes themselves are monstrous- tit cakes, beef cakes and cupcakes decorated with Dali-esque lips. Flavours include vanilla with blueberry compote and double chocolate stuffed with raspberry compote.
There is no ambiguity over the creative intention of Cox- the whole enterprise oozes sex and glamour. It is a perfect homage to the vibrant and unique neighbourhood. (this seems like the moment for a simile to drive home how well it fits in, but in this instance, I couldn't think of a single analogy that wasn't R rated...)

I have a suspicion that these cakes may be more style than substance- But it's worth trotting along just for an oggle. The staff are generally friendly, and usually happy to pose for a photo!

x

Thanks Pete!

.

:)

x

There Will Be Baking.

~
-------------------------------------

~Em-Lou's Patisserie~


Menu:

• Fudge
• Sticky Toffee Pudding
• Toffee Apple
• White chocolate and Raspberry

• Pear and Ginger
  
  
  
• Apple Crumble





• Honey and Granola





~

Spiced Banana and Chocolate Loaf



--------------------------------

x

Cupcake Junkie!

~

Photo by: cupcake-queen

Possibly my new favourite site...?

http://cupcakejunkie.tumblr.com/

This site is filled with the most beautiful, decorative, playful and elegant cupcakes- and its worth checking out for the photography alone.

It is seriously 'Oh my god, oh my GOD' inducing!
Hats off to all you amazing ladies and gents who have been creating and blogging these works of art.

Thanks to David for sending this my way :)

~