Our gem of a cake club is actually two years old (plus one month!) and we couldn’t let this toddler of a milestone pass without having our own little celebration. The challenge was simply to bake a birthday cake fit for any discerning two year old. Our venue was a return visit to the delightful…
Afternoon tea Sunday 18 May 2014
A bevy of lovely ladies graced the Chez Shamwari table today for a private booking. To match the occasion, today’s menu presented a host of different flavours, colours, textures and even cuisines. Starting with the sandwiches: For the brie & grape sandwich filling, I chose the brie with care to ensure as full a flavour…
Variety is the sweet or savoury spice of life – Saltaire Clandestine Cake Club
You might well ask if there is such a thing as a savoury cake. And you would be forgiven to think carrot or courgette cake. To me, these are sweet cakes. We’re talking real, honest to goodness savouriness such as ham, olives, cheese; not a spoonful of sugar in sight … hopefully you get the…
Afternoon tea Saturday 12 April 2014
As with all my afternoon teas, I wake up on the day excited at the prospect of meeting new guests and this one was no different. While all guests were coming in two’s, each couple hadn’t met any of the others. Someone was redeeming their Xmas present voucher while the others had all be on…
Easter delicacies – Saltaire Clandestine Cake Club
With Easter on the horizon, it seemed apt to adopt a theme that was representative of the season. Easter Delicacies was not to be restricted to those very traditional of Easter cakes, such as the British Simnel, but to include traditional family favourites that might be baked at this time of year. In researching what…
Afternoon tea Saturday 29 March 2014
The overriding motivation for this afternoon tea was that, with Mothering Sunday falling on the 30th March, I thought an afternoon tea on Saturday 29th might be an opportunity for some Mums to be treated to a special occasion. However, amongst my guests, there were no ‘Mums’ but an equally genial and delightful group of…
Afternoon tea Saturday 22 February 2014
Today’s event was another private booking and much anticipated having had the booking in the diary for some months. How time flies when suddenly it’s time to lay the table and put the kettle on! I knew my guests love their food and with no dietary requirements to consider, I was at liberty to combine…
Whatever Takes Your Fancy – Saltaire Clandestine Cake Club
The theme for March 2014’s Saltaire Clandestine Cake Club event was effectively carte blanche (but strictly within the rules!). ‘Whatever you fancy’ literally left members to choose to bake whatever caught their imagination for that moment. As a result, I had no preconceptions as to what variety of cakes we may have and it was…
Afternoon tea Sunday 16 February 2014
Ever in the search of great flavours and new ideas, I was able to implement a few of my most recent findings on this menu. Firstly, the cucumber sandwiches were ‘buttered’ with light cream cheese mixed with a hint of basil pesto. Then, there was the smoked haddock and saffron tart; a sublime combination in…
Afternoon tea Saturday 1 February 2014
While all my afternoon teas are special events, this was a particular landmark as it was the redemption of the first gift voucher I had ever ‘sold’. It had been bought for someone’s 2013 Xmas present. I had some dietary preferences to consider in addition to a vegetarian in the mix. The savouries were ‘flattened’…