Happy Christmas

I've been terrible at updating my blog recently, things have got very busy over the last month and a half for me - not that I'm complaining. Just wanted to stop by and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and in case I don't get to update before hand... a very Happy and healthy 2011. Long may the cupcake craze continue!

Here are a selection of my Christmas cupcakes:

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Light Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Mini Apple Strudel Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Christmas Rainbow Cupcakes

Vanilla Cupcakes

Giant Christmas Madeira Cupcake

Happy Christmas!

Review: Cake Stand from CSN Stores

A few weeks a go I received an email from the people of CSN Stores asking if I would review one of their products.Well,I couldn't choose just one because they have so many fab things to buy. But my favourite was this beautiful Victoria & Albert Museum cake stand. It's very classy and perfect for afternoon tea. They have a range of different cake stands from the V&A and let's just say this isn't the last one I will be ordering :)

Here's a picture of it on its own.

And with some yummy cocktail cupcakes on! Check out their website for more great products: http://www.csnstores.co.uk/

Cake International: Birmingham NEC

I went to Cake International held at the Birmingham NEC yesterday. I was really excited about all the free cake, all the discounts and all the cool new stuff I was going to get to try out. Unfortunately I didn't get any of these things. I didn't even get to BUY any cake! There were lots of great stalls but you literally could not get to them because of all the people pushing and barging. One thing that really annoys me as a short arse is the fact that I repeatedly get knocked into at busy events. I get used to this, I put up with it now. But one thing I do not like is getting leaned over or moved out of the way purposefully. It's just rude. The stalls I did just about get to were selling lots of goodies but for the same prices (and sometimes even higher) as they are sold on their websites. There was only one company who were selling special wrappers who I had not heard of and bought something from.

However, it wasn't a complete disappointment; I did get to see some mind blowing cake creations. I loved looking at all the competition entries. The only thing I feel could've been added to the competition would be a little description stating what the cake was made of/how they got the idea. I think that would've been really beneficial and interesting for the attendees.

Here are a few of my favourite cakes:

From the International Category

 From the Novelty Cakes category

 From the 'I can't remember the name' Category. But how amazing is this?! Can't believe it's cake!

And finally, from the Halloween cake category

Book Launch Cupcakes

As promised, here are a selection of photos from last Friday's book launch. The cupcakes went down brilliantly and it was a very successful evening. I can't wait for my next challenge!

Until next time, Happy Cupcaking :D

Heaven is busy right now!

Hello Cupcakers :)

Thank you for all the lovely comments on the previous post. Couldn't have done it without you!

I thought I would do a quick update whilst today's cupcakes are baking...although I bet I get interrupted by the beeping of my oven (haha, yep there it goes!) .....

Ok let's try that again!! The next lot are in the oven so now I have 20 mins. The cupcakes I'm baking today are for a book launch for Tim Stafford's  'Teaching Visual Literacy in the Primary Classroom' . I was very excited about doing these cupcakes because there is so much I could've done. The book is about teaching children using film, tv and comics and features chapters on Tim Burton, Doctor Who, Harry Potter and lots more. So I will be doing a selection of the tv shows/films/books in cupcake form including cupcakes with Tardises and Nightmare Before Christmas themed cakes.

I will post photos when they are complete and after the launch. For now, I shall leave you with a few of my latest creations:

Food Festival

It's been a really manic week so I've only just got round to announcing that...I WON! I am now the proud owner of the 2010 Local Gem Award in the St Albans Food and Drink Festival. Thank you to everyone who voted for me. I really appreciate. We had a really good night at the Gala Awards and then the next couple of days I was making decorations, then over 300 cupcakes for the Food Festival finale. Here are a few photos from the Gala and the Finale...

From the festival finale...

I was decorating cupcakes all day

Autumnal Cupcakes

Floral cupcakes

Halloween Cupcakes



Happy Cupcaking :D

CSN Review

I will soon be reviewing a product from one of 6 CSN websites where you can find everything from baking equipment, cake stands and wardrobes . I am very excited about doing a review for CSN as the giveaway was so successful and the winner, Daisy was very pleased with her purchase.

I'm a big fan of the distressed look and love these wardobes:

Watch this space!

Cupcake Camp London

On October 31st not only is it one of the most exciting cupcake holidays there is, Halloween, but it is also the first ever Cupcake Camp London! Too much excitement all in one day!

Here is what the organisers have to say about it.

It is the phenomenon that has taken Paris, New York and Sydney by storm: Cupcake Camp London, London's first cupcake extravaganza, hits town on Sunday, 31st October, 2010!



Hosted at Camden's stylish Proud Galleries, Cupcake Camp London will be a mass-gathering of people who love to indulge in the darling of the baking world - the cupcake. Supported by live bands, competitions, prizes, a Create-Your-Own Cupcake Art room and a frosting bar; the focus of the day will be the delicious cupcakes donated by England's wonderful baking community. Whether you're a professional cake baker, an enthusiastic amateur, or just someone with a sweet tooth, this event is for you.




Organiser Daisy Coole said: "Bakers are encouraged to bring along their best creations to be judged by a fabulous panel, including the lovely ladies of Primrose Bakery, Martha Swift and Lisa Thomas and vegan goddess Ms. Cupcake. "We also need lots of non-bakers to drop into the event and raise money by eating the best cupcakes our capital city has to offer."


Cupcake Camps have ballooned in popularity since their creation two years ago as a tasty way to raise cash for charity. They have taken place in over 50 cities, attracting anywhere from 250 to 1,000 participants and raise thousands of pounds for good causes.




London's first ever Cupcake Camp will raise money for the North London Hospice, spurred by Daisy's own experience with the 'fantastic community-centered charity'. Daisy, full-time musician and sometime baker, lost her father, Fleet Street journalist, Bob Coole to kidney failure earlier this year. She said: "A serious addiction to baking cupcakes and my connection with the North London Hospice came into my life at the same time. Dad was a patient at the hospice and the nurses were simply amazing.They were caring and supportive to my Dad and my family, offering cups of tea and a shoulder to cry on as we sat with him for up to 24 hours a day. After Dad died, baking was a huge comfort and the physicality of it was very theraputic so I went on a baking frenzy.


"When Dad died I never got to say thank you to our nurses. This is my way."

About the North London Hospice:


The North London Hospice needs at least 16,000 a day to run and has to raise as much as 80 per cent of its budget through donations. It provides in-patient and home-based palliative care, counselling services, respite care and a day activity centre, all of which is completely free of charge.

Cupcake Camp London is sponsored by Ms. Cupcake, Mychelle’s Baketique, Candy Pulse, Caked, Bake Me Happy, Made With Pink and An American Cupcake In London.

For more information:
Visit http://www.cupcakecamplondon.co.uk/
or email Daisy Coole: cupcakecamplondon@gmail.com

Well, that's my plans for the day sorted. An amazing way to raise money for a very good cause.

Vote vote vote!!

Hi all,

So the recipe a day thing didn't work out so well as I ended up suddenly getting lots of orders and it all went a bit pear shaped... Then I had lots to do last week to prepare for the Macmillan coffee morning and haven't been able to post since. I will do a few updates this week. But until then pleeeease vote everyday!

If you get the chance please can you vote for Heaven is a Cupcake on www.allaboutstalbans.net/food_festival/vote.aspx under the local gem category. It's the last week of voting! You can vote everyday this week!! Thank you xx

Touching from a Distance Guest Post & National Cupcake Week!

Happy National Cupcake week!

To celebrate I have written a guest post for Touching from a Distance which includes my top ten tips to a hassle free baking life!

Check it out and please comment :)

I will hopefully be posting a recipe everyday for National Cupcake Week. So stay tuned :)

Update and Vote for Me!

I have been wanting to do loads of updates for this blog for weeks but I've just suddenly become really busy! Anyway, I will do a few entries soon when I get some time (hopefully!) but until then, please vote for me in th St Albans Food and Drink Festival Awards on http://www.allaboutstalbans.net/food_festival/vote.aspx under the local gem category. All you have to do is fill out your name and email address and then click on Heaven is a Cupcake.

You can vote everyday. I really appreciate the support!!

This weekend I am making 30th birthday cupcakes and then 48 cupcakes for a doctor's surgery!

Giveaway Winner

Well, I wrote down all the names of the people who entered (and did a name for each entry you qualified for) and then put them in my trusty cupcake box.

Then I got my special assistant (my sister!) to pick a winner.

And the winner is (drumroll please...)

Daisy Dinosaur! Well done Daisy, you have won the £40 gift voucher to spend on any of CSN's 6 websites.

Don't forget to make me jealous by letting us know what you spend it on ;)

Less than 3 hours...

...to enter the CSN Giveaway thanks to everyone who has entered already. I will be picking a winner tomorrow from the tried and tested #picking a name out of a cupcake' method. Good luck!

Until then...here's a photo of a recent order I had this week.

Giveaway!

So I said I would do a giveaway when I reached 1000 fans on facebook but the kind people of CSN Stores have generously volunteered to sponsor a giveaway so I'm doing it now!

CSN stores have 6 websites which supply a whole range of quality items from funky Ceiling Lights to ultra modern furniture to my personal favourite...cake stands!

To be in the chance to win a £40 voucher for their 6 sites, all you have to do is leave a comment on my blog saying which item (or items) is your favourite from their website(s) and become a follower of my blog.

In order to gain more entries you can do the following become a fan on facebook, tweet about this giveaway on twitter (you can just retweet my link on Heaven is a Cupcake and post a link to this giveaway on your blog (don't forget to leave links in your comment when you have done this so I can see!)

Here are a few of my favourites...

Beautiful Victoria & Albert Museum Cake Plate

Chinoiserie Two Tier Cake Plate

And how cool does this sofa look?!

Check out their stores here:

http://www.csnstores.co.uk/

http://www.allmodern.co.uk/

http://www.cookwarebycsn.co.uk/

http://www.furniturebycsn.co.uk/

http://www.lightingbycsn.co.uk/

http://www.tvstands.co.uk/

And leave me a comment letting me know what you've done (with links to blog/tweet) so I can give you the correct amount of entries :) Good luck!

Competition closes on Sunday 22nd August at midnight.

Angel Food Cupcakes Recipe

I bought a packet of fresh egg whites from tesco so decided to have a go at making some Angel Food cupcakes. I used this recipe from allrecipes.co.uk: http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/3847/angel-food-cake.aspx#Nutrition

Except I adapted it for cupcakes so didnt use a tin and turn it upside down etc. Also added an extra tsp of vanilla. And don't know if I used exactly 10 egg whites because the packet had 15 in so I just used 2/3 of the packet!!

Ingredients

10 egg whites
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
250 g (9 oz) caster sugar
125 g (4½ oz) plain white flour, sifted

1. Heat the oven to 180°C (350°F, gas mark 4). Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until foamy. Sprinkle the cream of tartar and the vanilla and almond extracts over them and continue whisking until the mixture is stiff but not dry.

2. Add the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking continuously: the mixture should be shiny and form soft peaks.

3. Fold the flour in with a metal spoon, blending it thoroughly without breaking down the egg whites.

4. Spoon the mixture into 24 cupcake cases, filling the cases about 3/4 full and smooth it out with the back of  a spoon. Bake on the lowest level of the oven for about 20 minutes until the top of the cupcake is golden and it springs back when you touch it.

5. Leave to cool for half an hour or so.

6. And ta-da! Decorate however you wish.

I did a couple with vanilla frosting...

One with ice cream...

And the rest I topped with whipped double cream and fresh fruit.

I made it into my Oma's 81st birthday cake. (Oma is Austrian for Grandma by the way!!)

Hope u enjoyed looking at the photos :)

True Blood Cupcakes

Well, I have had an extremely geeky day today (more so than usual). I made gluten free True Blood themed cupcakes (entirely for my own geeky pleasure) and then served them up dressed as Sookie just to reinforce the fact that I AM A GEEK!

But, I totally loved my cupcakes and the result.

Happy Cupcaking :)