Jessica's Cupcakes

New class dates for March and Cupcake Pictures

2012-02-16T12:48:00.004Z

Upcoming class dates 7th, 8th 13th, 14th, 20th March. Please email mail@jessicascupcakes.com to book. Classes run from 11am until 2pm and cost £50.

You can also book 121 classes with me by contacting me to book a date of your choice. 121 classes cost £70.

You can also buy vouchers for my classes and the recipient can choose their own date within the next 6 months. Great for Mother's Day!

Some of the things I offer:

Half Dozen boxed £12

One Dozen boxed £22

Two Dozen boxed £44

Mini cupcakes at £12 per dozen and £22 per 24

Giant Cupcake £45

Cupcake Piñata Cake £50 (giant chocolate cupcake filled with goodies that you have to smash!)

Plain 6 inch Top cutting cake with ribbon £25

Decorated Cookies from £1.50 each min order of 10

Cake Pops £1.50 each with a min order of 12

I also do cupcake parties and a range of tea parties.

I have also updated my website so would love for you to have a look www.jessicascupcakes.com

Here are some pictures of some recent cupcakes.

Farmyard Cupcakes

Elmo Cupcakes

Birthday Rose Cupcakes

Valentine's order

Giant Cupcake Birthday Cake

Valentine's Day Cupcakes

2012-01-30T16:33:00.003Z

It's not long until Valentine's Day so have you decided what to get?

Cupcakes might be a very welcomed gift!

Cakes can be delivered local to Banbury or collected from me on 13th February up until 8pm.

4 cupcakes- £8

6 cupcakes- £12

12 Cupcakes- £22

Delivery charges are £3.95 within 10 miles of Banbury

Please contact me asap if you would like to book some in because as you can imagine it's a busy time of year.

Of course cupcakes are not just for Valentine's Day so let me know what ever your order.

Jess

Happy New Year- Special Offer

2012-01-02T09:29:00.002Z

Hi everyone, I hope you had a great New Year and you have lots of exciting plans for 2012 :)

Special offer: Any cupcake classes booked and paid in January are £40 saving £10. More details can be found on http://www.jessicascupcakes.com/page5.htm Contact me for dates available- held on selected Wednesdays and Saturdays. Please quote JCCC2012 when booking to get your £10 off. Classes must be paid for in January but you can choose your class date until 1st May 2012.

Dates Available- Please note more dates will be added shortly or you can contact me if there is a specific date you would like and I will check availability.

7th Jan

11th Jan

18th Jan

21st Jan

25th Jan

4th Feb

8th Feb

18th Feb

All classes are 11-2pm and are held in my home in Kings Sutton.

New class dates

2011-11-29T21:55:00.004Z

Hi everyone,

Hope everyone is keeping warm! It's definitely feeling like winter now! So excited that Christmas is nearly here. Lots of preparations going on :)

I wanted to updated everyone on new class dates for 2012.

7th Jan

11th Jan

18th Jan

21st Jan

25th Jan

4th Feb

8th Feb

18th Feb

All classes are 11-2pm and are held in my home in Kings Sutton. They are £50 per person.

As of the end of December I am leaving my day job to focus more time on the cake business with some new offerings and I have also set up my second business which I'd love for people to check out. Website is www.pinkchilliva.co.uk and facebook page is here

Lots of love

Jessica

New Cupcake Class dates

2011-11-16T09:02:00.002Z

Hi everyone

Thought I would post my updated list of cupcake class dates.

Current dates I have are:

10th Dec- Christmas class
7th Jan
11th Jan
18th Jan
21st Jan
25th Jan
4th Feb
8th Feb
18th Feb

All classes are 11-2pm and are held in my home in Kings Sutton. They are £50 per person and I do a max of 3 people in one class. If you would like it as a 121 it is £70.

More dates will be available.

Many thanks

Jess :)

Recent cupcakes from the Jessica's Cupcakes kitchen

2011-11-11T15:25:00.002Z

Been very busy the past month with cake orders which is great. And for some more good news from January 2012 I’ll be doing Jessica’s cupcakes full time. Which means lots more classes and new exciting products!!!

I have space left on my Nov 19^th Class- 11-2pm £50 each. Please contact mail@jessicascupcakes.com to book. From January as well as Saturday classes I will also being doing midweek classes so please contact me for dates.

Struggling for xmas gift ideas? I do gift vouchers for cupcake classes and all the products I sell- contact me for more info J

Here are some cakes from the past month J

Wedding Cupcakes

2011-08-27T10:13:00.006+01:00

Hi Everyone- Hope you all have some great plans for the Bank Holiday weekend? We are off to Centre MK today for some shopping :) Not been for ages! Then off to a Veggie restaurant tonight- I'm super excited about this as being Vegan there are normally very minimal options for me when eating out but there whole menu is veggie and most is vegan! Yay. If anyone is interested it's here.

I'm also hoping to get some baking done- more for fun as I didn't take any bookings for this weekend as we both needed a break! So hopefully there will be some cake pops and brownies floating about :)

So here are a couple of wedding cupcakes pictures. These are definitely in the style I would like my own.

I have quite a few dates available for cupcake classes. Dates are below. Cost is £50 per person and the class runs from 11am until 2pm. Email mail@jessicascupcakes.com for more info.

24th Sept

8th Oct

12th Nov

19th Nov

3rd Dec

10th Dec

The Nov and Dec classes are Christmas themed.

Also please remember to leave any comments- I love getting them :)

And if you could come and check out my other blog Pink Chilli Vintage I will love you forever!

Where is the sun?

2011-07-17T21:16:00.004+01:00

So it's summer? Where is the sun? I'm hoping this means we have a lovely August and September!!

I've been busy with cupcakes and classes which is great. Please contact me for class dates. They last 3 hours and cost £50.

Here are a few pics of recent cakes.

Sheep Cupcakes- The clients surname was "Wooley" so her husband thought it was a good idea :-)

Top cutting cake

Ladybug Cupcakes and cutting cake

Plans are coming along to expand the business a little. I've mentioned the vintage china hire- I've been doing smaller events but the plan is to build the collection so I can do much larger ones. And i'm excited about the Tea Party Packages!

I also have a personal blog over at Pink Chilli Vintage so please pop over and say hi :-)

Cupcake Overload!

2011-02-15T20:59:00.005Z

It's been a busy couple of months here. Lots of orders and weddings going on. Plus a lot of cupcake classes too!

I've also been on the hunt for more vintage pieces to add to the collection for the vintage china hire as well. Hopefully launching this year.

Wedding cupcakes in various flavours and a top cutting cake.

My main goal this month is to get up to date with all the business admin- you'd be surprised to know how much there is!

Another piece of good news is Jessica's Cupcakes got a 5 star rating from the council. Yay!

Two new books I've got this week are "Peggy Porschen Pretty Party cakes" and "May Clee-Cadman- Cakes for Romantic Occasions" lots of wonderful inspiration in both.

This weekend I have a Vegas themed wedding with a Dice top cutting cake and card suit cupcakes. Great fun!!

If you are not yet following me on facebook you can do so here

Alice in Wonderland

2010-11-22T10:45:00.006Z

This weekend I had lots of fun making Alice in Wonderland Cupcakes. Alice in Wonderand is one of my favourite Disney films and i've wanted to make these for so long.

I also make some breakfast themed cupcakes which were fun to make.

And some simple snowflake cupcakes.

Today i'm going to be trying out some new flavours and ordering supplies. I also need to get my paperwork done as i've left it for a while! Oops!

Remember I'm running a little competition on your Fantasy Cupcake on my Facebook page. I've also got a great offer on cupcake classes. Check it out.

Jess xx

Busy with cupcake classes

2010-11-20T21:34:00.002Z

Hi everyone, sorry I've not blogged for a while.

At Jessica's Cupcakes I've been really busy with cupcake classes. People have been saying how fab they are and how much they learnt. Which is fab new.

Here is a few pics of people's creations. Great work.

Lots of orders have gone out of the kitchen this month. Some of my favourites were these bumble bees. Cute!

Today I held a cupcake party in Leicester for a group of lovely ladies. We did a christmas theme and here are some of their creations. They were all thrilled with what they made.

I've added some more dates to www.jessicascupcakes.com for classes so check them out. I'm always adding more and you can purchase gift vouchers for them which would make a great present and they are valid for 6 months and the recipient can choose their own date.

Plans are moving along with the business expansion next year into vintage china hire and holding vintage tea parties. Watch this space!!

I'm running a competition from my facebook page so have a little look and become a fan.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

September already!

2010-09-29T13:13:00.008+01:00

I can't believe how quickly this year is going by. Not long until Christmas!!!

Here are a few cupcake highlights

White chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes- divine!

Giant Cupcakes

Cupcakes created in one of my cupcake classes

I also did a little tea party with my cousin and friends :-) I was in charge of cakes! Great fun!

The weekend just gone I was a bridesmaid for my best friend Catherine, it was a wonderful day and was great I could share it with her.

I did some experimenting the other day with seasonal flavours and created these fab Blackberry and apple Cupcakes. You must try them!!! Here is the recipe:

Blackberry and Apple Cupcakes

Ingredients

230g unsalted butter

220g golden caster sugar

225g self raising flour

4 large free range eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 – 2 tablespoons milk

2 large apples

3 tablespoons water

20g golden caster sugar

Jam filling

275g fresh blackberries

2 tablespoons water

20g caster sugar

Cream cheese Icing

250g soft cream cheese

150g butter

400g icing sugar

Method

You will need a 12 hole muffin tin and line with 12 cupcake cases and a large piping bag with nozzle.

Top tip: Make sure the baking ingredients are at room temperature and try not over mix the mixture once the eggs and flour are added.

1. preheat oven to 170-180, gas mark 4 (fan assist 150-170)

2. peel the apples and then chop into small cubes then gently cook with the sugar and water in a small covered pan, until slightly soften. Strain apple and put to one side to cool.

3. In the same pan put the fresh blackberries, sugar and water and cook until it looks like the consistency of a thin jam- about 15 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and leave to cool in the fridge.

4. in mixer cream butter with sugar and vanilla extract, beat until light and fluffy.

5. gently mix in the beaten egg and fold sifted flour with a wooden spoon.

6. fold the cooled apple pieces into the cake batter and add a tablespoon or two of milk if required to form a dropping consistency. Don’t make it too thin as the apples won’t hold in the batter.

7. Spoon mixture into the 12 cupcake cases & fill until three quarters full.

8. cook for 20 minutes or until golden. Test with skewer (it should come out clean). Remove tray from oven and leave for a few minutes. Place cupcakes onto wire tray to cool completely.

Top tip: Always bake cupcakes on the middle shelf of the oven where possible

9. cut out a teaspoon sized piece from the cupcake. Add a teaspoon of the blackberry jam to the centre.

10. To make the cream cheese frosting mix all the ingredients together and place into a piping bag. Pipe onto the cupcakes and top with a fresh blackberry. These are best enjoyed straight away but can be eaten up to 2 days after but remove the blackberry on top.

For bakes sake!

2010-08-29T18:19:00.006+01:00

It's been very busy in the Jessica's Cupcakes household. We are moving house in 12 days so lots of packing going on. As it's bank holiday Monday tomorrow we are also going to do a car boot to get rid of some things. Plus I can have a mooch around for some vintage china bits.

Cake wise I've done a giant cupcake

Congratulations Cupcakes

A cupcake party

I'm shortly going to be adding decorated cookies to the range. As with cupcakes these can be for any occasion: wedding, birthday, hen party, engagement, baby shower...the list goes on. I'm really excited about the cookies so watch this space!

A few other bakes I've done this week are banana bread (love this with a bit of butter spread over it), chocolate brownies (the best yet), millionaire shortbread, lemon macaroons and pistachio macaroons.

I want to share the banana bread recipe with you as it's so yummy:

Banana Bread- makes about 8 slices

Ingredients

270g soft light brown sugar

2 eggs

200g peeled bananas, mashed

280g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

140g unsalted butter, melted

1. Grease a 23x13cm loaf tin and dust with flour. Preheat the oven to 170C / 325F / GM3

2. Put the sugar and eggs in an electric mixer with a paddle attachment and beat until well incorporated. Beat in the mashed bananas.

3. Add the flour, baking powder, bicarb of soda, cinnamon and ginger to the sugar mix. Mix it until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated into the egg mixture. Pour in the melted butter and beat until all the ingredients ar well mixed.

4. Place mixture into the loaf tin and smooth over. Bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour or until firm to the touch and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool for about 15 minutes in the tin before turning out to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

5. Enjoy!

Cakes glorious cakes

2010-07-29T23:42:00.006+01:00

Firstly an apology.. I know I've not updated the blog for a long time. No excuses just one of those things that gets pushed to the bottom of the to-do list!

Anyway lots of cupcaking has been going on. Summer seems to make people want cake! Plus wedding season is among us.

Wedding Cupcakes- Handmade gold butterflies and burgundy roses.

Cupcake classes have also been busy the past few months and I love doing them. The feedback is always great and i'm so glad when people are really proud of what they achieved. I had a mother and daughter come yesterday and they were thrilled with what they made.

I'm doing a summer cupcake offer for July and August. One dozen cupcakes are £18 (normally £22) and half dozen are £10 (normally £12). To take up this offer please mention the promo code SUMMER1 when calling/emailing.

Here is a few of the cupcakes I have done this month- pink and girly has been the main theme!

Vanilla Cupcakes for an employees leaving present.

These are some cupcakes I did for the Big Lunch on Queens Road Banbury

Some pink and girly christening cupcakes

Flat top fondant cupcakes

The sun has got his hat on...

2010-04-25T00:15:00.006+01:00

I'm loving the weather we are having at the moment. It just makes everything so much better!!! We have had 4 bbq's already in the past 2 weeks!

This week i had a lovely lady called Sharon come to a cupcake lesson with me. We had a great time chatting away but she created some fab cupcakes that she is now going to go away and practice making more with her little girl!

It's been pretty quiet on the cake front the past couple of weeks. The last big lot I did was for a wedding in Corby. Lovely wedding and lovely couple. A couple of pics below but apologies for the quality as they were taken with my phone. One thing i'm saving for is a proper camera as the pictures I take of my cakes are really pretty bad!

For my birthday I got the big cupcake cake pan from my best friend so I must make one of these soon the 1st chance I get. The I think i'll add them to the site for people to purchase if they want. Big giant cupcake!! Can't be a bad thing!

I'm thinking about some new designs to do to celebrate the better weather. So i'll keep you posted. But lots of brights!

The recipe i want to share for this post is the cake I made Phil for his birthday. It's not fancy looking but it tastes like a birthday cake should. Let me know if any of you try it. I found this recipe on Nigella's Website

INGREDIENTS
200g plain flour
3 tablespoons Bird’s custard powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
4 eggs
225g soft butter
200g caster sugar
2–3 tablespoons milk

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM FILLING
125g icing sugar
4 teaspoons Bird’s custard powder
75g soft unsalted butter
11/2 teaspoons boiling water

FOR THE CHOCOLATE ICING
60ml water
2 tablespoons golden syrup
125g caster sugar (or use 50g if using milk chocolate)
175g dark chocolate
1 pot hundreds and thousands

Serving Size : Makes up to 12 slices

METHOD

1.Make sure everything you need is at room temperature before you start. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C, and butter and line two 20cm sandwich tins.

2.Put all of the above ingredients except the milk, into a food processor. Process to a smooth batter, and then add the milk a tablespoon at a time to make a soft dropping consistency. Divide between the two cake tins and bake for 20 minutes. The cakes will have risen and feel spookily puffy; this is because of the cornflour in the custard powder.

3.Let the tins sit on a cooling rack for 5 minutes and then turn them out on to the rack, peeling away the paper.

4.FOR THE BUTTERCREAM ICING - Process the icing sugar and custard powder to get rid of any lumps, and then add the butter, processing again to make the buttercream come together. Feed the boiling water down the funnel with the motor running to make the filling easier to spread. Then sandwich the cooled sponges together with the custardy buttercream.

5.FOR THE CHOCOLATE ICING - Combine the water, syrup and sugar in a saucepan, stirring to dissolve over a low heat.

6.Let it come to the boil and then take it off the heat.

7. Break up the chocolate into small pieces if you are not using chocolate buttons (as I do for cooking, but good quality not confectionary standard), and then add to the pan, swirling it around to cover in the hot liquid. Leave to melt for a few minutes, and then whisk the icing to make it smooth and shiny. Pour over the buttercream filled cake, letting it drip down the sides, and then sprinkle generously with the hundreds and thousands before the icing sets.

Have a fab weekend everyone.

Jess xoxo

What a busy week!

2010-03-17T11:39:00.005Z

Well Mother's day weekend was very busy in our house! Lot's of lucky mum's out there getting yummy cupcakes! Below is a few pics of some of the one's that went out.

I also had a cupcake class with a lovely couple from Wales who want to set up their own cupcake business. It was a fun few hours and they had a great time learning decorating techiniques and were really pleased with how their cakes turned out. Below is a picture of them!

My cupcake classes are getting more popular now with a lot of bookings coming in, and i love doing them.

Order wise not much this week. Had some to do for a 40th Birthday this weekend and it's my lovely man's birthday so some baking to be done there!

On Tuesday at 20:30 BBC2 "The Delicious Miss Dahl" starts and I cannot wait. I have her book "Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights" and it's one of my favourites. Yummy recipes and a beautiful book to read as well.

Hope everyone has a fab week :-)

I can't believe it's March!

2010-03-09T12:33:00.007Z

The past few months have wizzed by! I can't believe we are in March already. I'm happy that the snow seems to have steered clear for a while now and i'm looking forward to getting some more sunshine!!

Some sunshine theme cupcakes

Last time I mentioned I launched the cupcake classes. I have 2 people coming on Friday for a 121 class. So looking forward to that. She is looking to set up as a business so will be sharing my experience of setting Jessica's Cupcakes up.

This week I have some cupcakes I'm donating for a charity cake sale for a local nursery- they are going to be Chocolate orange brownie flavour. Yummy crumbliness (is that a word?!). Have posted my recipe below.

I also have some christening cupcakes to do in a pink and cream theme. So a fairly quiet week- means I can do some testing with new flavours and designs.

Something i've always wanted to do is to write a book so currently researching that- want to do a cupcake book- or maybe baking in general. Need to do some thinking. If anyone has any hints and tips on writing/publishing a book then please let me know!

Remember the upcoming dates for cupcake classes are:

Friday 23rd April 2010
Friday 21st May 2010
Friday 18th June 2010

They run from 10am-1pm and cost £50. See http://www.jessicascupcakes.com/ for more info.

Here is an order i did for a girly girl who loves Top Gear!

Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

Makes 12 and few cupcakes

Ingredients

60g milk chocolate

Rind and juice from 1 orange

90g softened butter

225g brown sugar

2 eggs

80g self raising flour

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 175 degrees celcius

1. Put chocolate, orange rind and orange juice in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and stir until melted. Then leave to one side to cool slightly.

2. Put butter, eggs and sugar in a mixer and mix until light and fluffy.

3. Sift flour and cocoa into butter mix. Then add the chocolate orange mixture and mix until combined.

4. Spoon into cupcake cases and bake in oven for about 25 minutes and then cool.

For topping you can use a vanilla buttercream, chocolate buttercream or a yummy cream cheese frosting with some orange zest added.

Cupcake Classes Launched

2010-02-04T20:57:00.004Z

Yesterday i launched my cupcakes classes. They will be held at my home in small groups and will allow people to learn some of the techniques of decorating cupcakes.

The dates I have so far are:

Friday 23rd April 2010
Friday 21st May 2010
Friday 18th June 2010

They will run from 10am until 1pm and cost £50. I'm very excited about these as I love teaching people how to decorate cakes and get great satisfaction seeing people suprised at what they can create.

On the order front been quite busy which is fab. I have a lot of birthday and Valentine's orders coming up including some stig cupcakes for a 6 year old girl which i think is fab!

Here are some Birthday cakes I did recently.

Happy New Year

2010-01-11T11:08:00.004Z

Wow xmas was a busy time, also was poorly for a lot of it so wasn't much of a relaxing time. Hope everyone had a great xmas and New Year.

Wedding orders starting to flow in now for 2010 which is great. I love doing wedding cupcakes :-)

My new favourite flavour is coconut and pineapple cupcakes, soooo yummy. Also Strawberry Cheesecake is a close second.

This year i'd like to start branching out into bigger celebration cakes, will look for a couple of courses as i'm getting lots of requests for bigger cakes.

Here are some pictures of cuppies done the past few weeks:

Xmas cupcakes for a Vet

Magician Cupcakes

Girly Birthday Cupcakes

Merry Christmas

2009-12-10T13:25:00.000Z

Hi Everyone, hope xmas plans are coming along.

I love Christmas! Busy time of year though. Got a few orders coming in which is good. 18th Birthday, Thank You cakes for local vet, Christmas Cupcakes etc.

Anyone been watching Kristie's Homemade Xmas? I love that show. So many fab ideas for Xmas and how much do I want to do Salt dough shapes! ?Takes me back!

Jobs I'm planning to do over the weekend: make candles, make cookies, send xmas cards, order xmas food shop online, make some more chutney and finish sewing bear.
Also I want to update the www.jessicascupcakes.com website. Need to freshen it up a bit, add some more pics and add some more flavour ranges so watch this space!

I'm loving the hummingbird bakery cookbook. I have done 2 recipes so far and both have been fab. Coconut and Pineapple and Strawberry Cheesecake. Yummy!

Couple of weeks ago I held a cupcake party, a girls night in one. They all had a fab time and made some fabulous cupcakes.
Next weekend is my Nephew's birthday so he will be having cupcake decorating and I'm also doing "magic" theme cupcakes for him.

I'm hoping that 2010 the party bookings get a bit busier as I love doing them.
Right must be getting on with things. Will post update and more pics soon, especially of anymore "crafty bits"!

Preparing for Christmas

2009-11-17T21:19:00.008Z

Well I've been getting organised for christmas! Done most of the present shopping and wrapping which i'm very pleased about. Plus made a few yummy edible gifts.

A few people wanted the recipes so thought i'd post them on my blog. Let me know if you try any!

Rachel Allen's Fudge

375g condensed Milk

450g golden caster sugar
100g butter

1tsp vanilla essence (if required or 75g of chocolate chips)

1. melt the butter then add milk and sugar, cook for 10 to 15 minutes on a low heat.

2. fill the sink with some water and place this pan on and mix this mixture with some minutes. this will make the mixture hard quickly. when grainy, its time to put into a baking tray.

3. then put this mixture on the tin and spread out about 1cm think.

4. let it cool for about 5 minutes and you have to cut the shape within 3 to 5 minutes otherwise this mixture will very hard.

I put mine in cellophane gift bags here is a link for some I have used http://www.cakescookiesandcraftsshop.co.uk/acatalog/Cello_Bags.html

Pear Chutney

1kg (about 6) ripe pears
150g ready-to-eat dried prunes, chopped
150g sultanas
150g raisins
200g shallots, finely sliced
2 eating apples, peeled, cored and sliced into wedges
300g light muscovado sugar
1 cinnamon stick
600ml cider vinegar

1. Peel and core the pears, then chop them into chunks. Place them in a pan with the prunes, sultanas, raisins, shallots, apples, sugar and cinnamon stick. Pour in half of the cider vinegar, season and slowly bring to a simmer, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Cook for 25 minutes more, until tender.

2. Pour in the rest of the cider vinegar and cook for a further 30 minutes, stirring often, until thickened. If it’s still runny, simmer for another 10-15 minutes.

3. Divide the hot chutney between sterilised jars, place a disc of waxed paper directly onto the chutney and seal with airtight lids or cellophane and elastic bands. Leave to cool.

Chocolate Winter Bark- Delicious Magazine

225g white chocolate, chopped
350g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids), broken into pieces
200g salted peanuts

1. Put the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring now and then, until melted. Remove from the heat. Meanwhile, in a separate heatproof bowl, melt the dark chocolate over another pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally in the same way.

2. Stir the peanuts into the dark chocolate.
Spread out on a baking paper-lined baking sheet, so that the peanuts form a single layer.
Drop spoonfuls of white chocolate on top, and swirl both chocolates together using a skewer or the end of a spoon (so that it looks like tree bark). Allow to cool.

3. Set in the fridge for about 1 hour. Break the bark into large pieces.

Again I will put these in cello bags and tie with ribbon.

Easy Strawberry Jam

1kg/2lb strawberries

1kg caster sugar

The zest and juice of 1 lemon

Place the strawberries, sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest into a saucepan. Place over a low heat and simmer very gently until the sugar dissolves. Turn the heat to high and boil vigorously for 10 minutes.

Do the wrinkle test (see introduction); if the jam has set, remove it from the heat and leave in the pan for 10 minutes to ensure even distribution of fruit and juice.

Spoon into sterilised jars, seal and allow to cool before storing in the fridge or cool place.

I cut out circles in fabric and placed over jam jars and tied with ribbon/string.

I'm planning to make some xmas decorations etc but need to get a sewing machine 1st. I'm planning to get on this weekend. So will post some updates once i've made some bits.

2009-10-25T17:17:00.005Z

Well firstly apologies for the long delay between posts, just not found the time to get on here.

Been busy baking, getting sorted for my new (day) job which starts tomorrow and sorting out admin.

I have a couple of cupcake parties booked now which is fab, they are great fun and seem to be popular.

Really starting to feel the cold weather now, the slow cooker is out and has been used a fair bit already. Also searched high and low today for a hot water bottle but could not find one anywhere! May have to order one online. Shops are full of these things you put in the microwave- i just want a normal bog standard hot water bottle!

Made my Christmas cake the other day which filled the house with all my favourite smells, also used some of the mixture to make christmas cupcakes which went down lovely with a cup of tea.

Made some sex and the city girlie style cupcakes for a 40th which worked out well, loved the colours- see below

Also have a done a few simple poured fondant cupcakes

This week not many orders to do apart from some wedding samples which is probably a bit of a blessing seeing as this week I am starting my new day job with Nationwide. Wish me luck!

Monkey Madness

2009-09-21T22:21:00.001+01:00

Monkey Island was my favourite ever game when i was growing up. And They have remade it! Very excited to get my hands on this!!!

Sugar and Spice and all things nice

2009-09-18T23:36:00.004+01:00

Well Derren Brown did not manage to stick me to my seat so am able to post an update!

Today I have made some garden cupcakes and some sweetie cupcakes and must admit i did eat one myself too!!!

I had a delivery of some new sprinkles today which is exciting!!! I know very sad that i get excited by sprinkles! Trying to build up my collection so if you have any good sprinkle sites let me know!

Tomorrow I have girlie cupcakes to make and also some baby boy christening cupcakes. Looking forward to doing them as the customer has come up with some nice designs.

I'm also sorting through all my cake decorating things and getting some kind of order together, sprinkles in one drawer, cutters in another etc! We are in the process of looking for a new house and I'm dreaming of a bigger kitchen with lots of space!

I really need to get a better camera so I can take some more professional looking photos of my cupcakes. I see others and they look fab. I also want to get my website done professionally in the next month or 2 so watch this space!

I am now as of today on my garden leave from my job that I was made redundant so using the time to try out some new designs, recipes, looking at new suppliers, sorting out admin, do some marketing etc. If anyone has some nice cupcake recipes for me to try let me know :-) I'm going to do some sticky gingerbread ones and some lemon meringue cupcakes too, will let you know how they turn out.

Happy Baking xx

It's National Cupcake Week

2009-09-15T08:33:00.006+01:00

Well i've been quite busy the past few weeks so sorry I have not posted for a little while.

I've done wedding cupcakes, tea party cupcakes, birthday cupcakes, thank you and just because cupcakes.

It's National Cupcake week so this Saturday i'm at Small Tot's nursury in Banbury with my cakes to try and spread the cupcake love, pop in if you are around. I also have some birthday cupcakes and Christening cupcakes to do this week.

I also want to try out some new flavours of cupcakes this week so if you have any suggestions get in touch!

Today I heard the news that Patrick Swayze had passed away. Very sad news, Dirty Dancing is one of my favourite films. My thoughts are with his family.

Wedding cupcakes- Lemon, Vanilla and Strawberry

Chocolate and Vanilla Mix

Cupcakes for Hen Party

Some new pictures

2009-08-12T17:03:00.003+01:00

Finally managed to get some more photo's up.

I've been busy today updating the website, ordering supplies, working out html scripting for my blog etc. And i'm looking forward to a nice cup of tea which i've been meaning to have the past 4 hours. How time flies....

Cupcakes for a 30th birthday

Fairy Cupcakes

Dinner Party Cupcakes

Where is the summer?

2009-08-11T10:00:00.002+01:00

Sorry i've not updated for a while, been a busy bee.

So where is the summer weather? I hope it perks up by the end of the week as we are going camping! Fingers crossed!

Orders have been slow coming in, need to get out there a bit more. I'm going to be at Smart Tots Nursury in Banbury on the 19th Sept selling cupcakes at their open day and also to celebrate Nationa Cupcake Week 14th-19th Sept.

This week i'm going to contact a couple of local cafes to see if they would like to stock my cakes, also want to try and push the parties a bit more.

Party time!

2009-07-13T20:04:00.003+01:00

Well last week was busy with the orders which was great and another lot of happy customers.

This week i'm focussing on getting the ball rolling with doing cupcake decorating classes. Insurance etc is all sorted now just need to purchase right equipment. Aprons, bowls, spoons, party bag things and then marketing. Will be providing for kids parties and also adults. Girls night in with wine and nibbles and i bring everything you need to make some yummy cupcakes.

So if you know of anyone wanting something a little different for a party tell them about Jessica's Cupcake parties!!

Busy week

2009-07-06T21:44:00.004+01:00

Well this week i have quite a few orders in which is fab, i'm hoping it continues!!

On the cards are golf cupcakes, some ukelele and glider cupcakes, horse and blur cupcakes and some 18th birthday ones! See people always ask me don't you get bored of making the same thing over and over but this goes to show each customer is different and i just love getting a new design through.

Found some new cupcakes boxes which are the same as i use now (sturdy ones) but pink!! Check out http://www.cupcakeboxesuk.com/

Starting to look at what cake decorating courses are available so i can branch out into some elaborate big cakes. If you know of any good courses let me know.

Pic of the day today is of our two gorgeous kitty's Daisy (white one) and Molly

Summer is here!

2009-06-16T15:51:00.003+01:00

Apologies for the 2 week absence, had nasty bug that was going around.

Got some vanilla cupcakes to make tonight for a lady at work, pretty girly design. Also going to a networking event tomorrow night so want to take some to that.

Weather has been so fab, everything seems so much better when the sun is out. BBQs are my favourite, with cupcakes for afters!!

Looking at drumming up extra business, credit crunch is hitting hard! Advertising is so expensive though so trying other means for now.

Got some Hollywood style cupcakes to make for a 30th Birthday party which should be fun. Will post pics once they are done.

Right i must get baking.

And remember: A cupcake a day keeps insanity away!

End of a great Bank Holiday Weekend

2009-05-25T20:43:00.002+01:00

The weekend has gone too quickly! But it has been a fab one. Had a lovely BBQ at our friends and the weather was fab. And a bit of shopping which is always good.

Baking wise have done peanut butter, oreo cookie and coffee cupcakes. Made a slight change to my peanut butter ones by spreading peanut butter on top of the cake before putting on the frosting, was extra yummy! Have not yet made the red velvet cupcakes, will be doing those this week.

Things have gone quiet so need to fire up the marketing. Am looking into doing a farmers market. Think that would be a good way of getting the local people aware of me.

Think i am also going to have to fork out some money to get advertised in places too. Everything costs money! Need to also try more local deli's to see if they want to stock any cupcakes.

The Weekend has landed

2009-05-15T17:57:00.002+01:00

Thank god it's Friday!!! Day job done and now for some serious work! Cupcakes!

Got a few to make as a sample for a local farm shop tomorrow. Hopefully they will put in a regular order. Just trying to work out pricing. As I obviously need to charge less than what I would a normal consumer as they need to sell them on. That's a thought for this evening.

Other things to do this weekend:

More work on press release
Costings of new recipes
Order more business cards
Sort out business bank account, had the form for a while now...
Buy some fabrics for taking pics

Going to make some Red Velvet Cupcakes this weekend as would like to add it to the range. Below is the recipe i have got hold of, it's the one from Magnolia Bakery in NYC. Enjoy :-)

Ingredients
-3 ⅓ cups cake flour (not self-rising)
-¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
-2 ¼ cups sugar
-3 large eggs, at room temperature
-6 tablespoons red food colouring
-3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
-1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
-1 ½ teaspoons salt
-1 ½ cups buttermilk
-1 ½ teaspoons cider vinegar
-1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

Frosting:

-1 pound (two 8-ounce packages) cream cheese, softened and cut into small pieces
-6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and cut into small pieces
-1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
-5 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

Directions
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Grease and lightly flour three muffin tins. Place cupcake papers in the tins.
-To make the cake: In a small bowl, sift the cake flour and set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
-In a small bowl, whisk together the red food colouring, cocoa, and vanilla. Add to the batter and beat well.
-In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in three parts, alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overheat.
-In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well. -Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.
-Divide the batter among the prepared pans. Bake each tray for 20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool in the pans for 1 hour. Remove from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack.

Frosting:

-In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth, about 3 minutes.
-Add the vanilla and beat well.
-Gradually add the sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating continuously until smooth and creamy.
-Cover and refrigerate icing for 2 to 3 hours, but no longer, to thicken before using.
-When the cake has cooled, spread the frosting liberally on the cupcakes.
-Makes 36 cupcakes.

Time for Tea

2009-05-14T20:55:00.002+01:00

Today i made some "tea party" style cupcakes. They turned out ok. Pic below.

One annoying thing is the white sugarpaste was very sticky and just wouldn't play ball when using my daisy cutter, it was getting stuck everywhere!

My new texture mat arrived today so was excited to use that. Still waiting for a few bits to be delivered to try out some new styles.

Have also been looking at getting car stickers done with my logo and a vinyl banner for when i do fayres etc.

There are so many things i want to do including planning a big launch party but with the day job as well it proves a bit more difficult. Looking forward to the day where i can focus on my passion fulltime-bring on the lotto win!!!!

Marketing Magic

2009-05-13T16:42:00.007+01:00

Trying to focus on marketing at the moment. In the words of Bridget Jones I've been "fannying about with press releases".

Looking to write a couple and distribute with the hope that someone somewhere will want to do a piece on me!

Want to try cream cheese frosting, have always used buttercream but quite a lot of people have said cream cheese is yummy so of course i must sample them! Might throw some strawberries in :-)

Have to say I'm really impressed with Twitter. As a business tool it's fab. I've met lots of contacts and people doing the same sort of business and can share hints and tips. Fab. Check out my Twitter http://twitter.com/JessicasCupcake

Here are a couple of pics of some cupcakes I've made over the past couple of weeks (Next thing is to get a better camera and light tent for taking better pics!):

These were for a Royal Mail Team Meeting

For a Man Utd Painter and Decorator

Selection of Lemon, Strawberry and Vanilla Cupcakes

The first post!

2009-05-12T22:56:00.004+01:00

Welcome to my blog. This is my 1st ever post after deciding to join the blogging world.

I run a cupcake bakery from home and it is something I'm very passionate about. There is something really special about the cupcake. It's such an indulgence and can come in many guises and is something I love to play around with and come up with creative ideas. Also the satisfaction i get from seeing people's eyes light up when they see and taste them is great. Especially when you have the opportunity to help a couple create a magical wedding by working with them to create the perfect cupcakes.

Today I've been ploughing through the internet looking for new suppliers and have ordered some bits from http://www.cakescookiesandcraftsshop.co.uk/ and http://www.cakecraftshop.co.uk/

Made a batch of lemon cupcakes with lemon curd filling today. Half for an order and half for the boyfriend to take to football for an after match treat. A much more excited welcome than an orange!

Tomorrow plan to try out some new decorating techniques if my new tools arrive.

Have seen some fantastic wedding cakes on http://www.maisiefantaisie.co.uk/

I'd love to branch out to bigger cakes in the future but think i'll stick to cupcakes for now!