The Maple Bacon Cupcake

I've seen these feature on various food blogs so I was ecstatic to stumble across some mini versions at the Williamsburg Flea Market this weekend.  The perfect combination of sweet and salty, neither too overpowering.  The butter cream was a great contrast to the rasher and I was surprised to detect a hint of cinnamon in the sponge base.  At $2 they were the most expensive to sample from this particular stall but if you're a fan of a pancake, bacon and maple syrup breakfast then this should be right up your street!

Bake Boutique Candles

I'm quite partial to a scented candle so when my best friend Leanne Jones called me back in February and asked for my opinion on her latest business concept, I couldn't deny that I loved it.  My favourite products are fun, quirky and indulgent and Bake Boutique Candles combine all those necessary ingredients.  

After numerous trips to the States and hours upon hours holed away in each others rooms at University burning scented candles, if there's anything that Leanne and I have authority on it's baked goods, especially those ever popular cupcakes, and home fragrance.  So, Leanne took her expertise in those categories and combined them to create her first collection of baked good inspired luxury candles.  The collection comprises of five candles, each infused with a fun twist on a traditional bake.

So what makes Bake Boutique different from other home fragrance companies that have tackled cakey scents before them?    Firstly, did you know that if a candle burns evenly it means that the wax is of extremely good quality?  Nope, neither did I but I found this very useful information when burning some of my other luxury candles and discovering that despite the price tag, they probably didn't cost too much to make.  I'm actually sat here burning my favourite of the collection, Vanilla Cupcake with Sprinkles and I can happily report back that there is no ugly, lopsided wax action going on.  They are 100% soy wax and hand poured, surprisingly in London.  Although the initial concept may have been born American, the execution is very much British.

There's a sophisticated charm to the scent also.  I've had many cake, coffee and spice infused candles before and although I've liked most of them in their own special way, a lot of the time they can fall into the trap of being just a little too sickly sweet and overpowering after long burning times.  With Bake Boutique the scent is meandering through the room with an elegant softness.  My favourite part with this particular fragrance is that you can literally smell the sprinkles and can imagine just how the cake would look if it was sat in front of you.  Of course you needn't imagine, each candle has it's very own recipe that you can acquire from their website.  Fun!  The packaging is undeniably delicious too, just like it's candle counterpart, making it suitable for any room in the house without spoiling your decor.

At £32 they aren't cheap but teamed with everything mentioned above, a 50 hour burning time and the fact you'd be saving yourself thousands of calories in the process, they're well worth the indulgence.  As mentioned, my home is sporting the Vanilla Cupcake with Sprinkles but Cinnamon Gingerbread Man would be a nice addition in this festive period and Almond Coffee Cake has been a hit with the men!

The Stove on Sunday: Decorated Cupcakes

Firstly, let me please express my deep annoyance at approximately three blog posts sat in my "draft zone" that are now completely inapplicable.  I haven't been able to keep up with my regular posts such as Movie Monday, Something for the Weekend and The Stove on Sunday recently, but I'm hoping that starting today, business as usual should resume!  So with all that said let's talk about cake...

...I love a good themed event, especially if the baked goods that accompany it take advantage of said theme.  If you've been a follower of the blog since the beginning you may recall my How to throw a FABULOUS party, McNally style: Under £200, in which Sex and the City themed cupcakes made by moi were featured here and Charlton Football Club cupcakes (that didn't quite turn out the way I wanted them to) here.  You will also probably recall my annual Halloween festivities showcasing these gruesomely green treats here.  See, I'm all about the theme.  Basically my sheer "themed cake" excitement always gets a little out of hand when you follow certain famous bakeries on facebook and twitter, especially when one store is particularly conveniently located a stones throw from your office.   

A cupcake, despite how tasty it may be, is nothing without some kind of awesome decoration.  It adds the fun factor and let's be honest we choose based on visual appeal.  So nothing has been more appealing to me of late than Wimbledon themed cupcakes!  It's finals day today and then alas it shall all be over, as well as these dreamy delights.  

If like me you'll be watching from the comfort of your home why not grab some of these from one of the Hummingbird Bakery London stores for £2.95 per cake.  Lola's are also producing some particularly apt versions, in the form of Pimms cupcakes.

What better way to bring a Wimbledon-esque atmosphere to your living room!

Just when I thought we couldn't be tempted further, both bakeries have now added July 4th themed cupcakes to their repertoire, available until tomorrow.

Hummingbird's Version

If, like me, you'd love to be able to create some eyecatching decorations then Hello Cupcake! needs to be a staple in your kitchen.  Everything from bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon tops to a Van Gogh, they have some truly kooky designs with simple to follow instructions.  My copy came from Urban Outfitters but you can also order it from Amazon at £6.34.

To keep up to date with Hummingbird and Lola's tasty treats follow them on facebook and twitter, all links below.  And here's a nice little 4th of July inspired How To...from the people that brought us Hello, Cupcake!

Hummingbird's Twitter and Facebook

Lola's Twitter and Facebook

*Images taken from Hummingbird Bakery's Facebook (link above), Lol'a Cupcakes Facebook (link above) and http://www.hellocupcakebook.com/ 
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The Stove on Sunday: My Favourite Food Blogs

Diet deprivation has lead me on a downward spiral. I've fallen into some kind of baking obsession. I am consumed with the overwhelming need to make light fluffy cupcakes with extraordinary icings, melt in your mouth brownies and a whole hoard of other delectable delights. Instead I've signed up to like a million food blogs, most with a baked goods emphasis. There is a list the size of my arm of recipes I can't wait to try once I'm back from Marbella but I'm climbing the walls with desperation to start creating now!

In my baking rampage I have come across some superb blogs that I wanted to share with you in place of a recipe I've tried of late (because I haven't tried any...ugh).

So, in no particular order the baking beauties are as follows...

Bakerella

Just take a look at these super cute Easter cupcakes...

Need I say more?!

Baking Bites

Since clicking Google Friend Connect about a week ago I have been dying to try this Sour Cream Coffee Cake Recipe.

This kind of naughty treat reminds me of when I used to live in the States and for those that know me you'll also know that my coffee obsession runs just as high, so this is a must!

Beantown Baker

Fast becoming one of my favourite blogs full stop, no matter whether the recipe is savoury or sweet she seems to encompass all the things I love.

Molly Bakes

All things Cake Pops...

Confessions of a Chocoholic

I have been following Bianca's blog for some time, partly because she lives in Boston so it's like reading about my home away from home.  Not only does she blog about sumptuous meals she recreates from her dining experiences but also she relates back a lot to personal experiences and her family, in relation to food.  For that reason there is something so comforting about travelling with her on her food journey, that literally makes it feel as if you can hear her speak.



Bianca's French style scrambled eggs with truffles.  Divine.



The Cupcake Project

For the inventive baker.

The Busty Baker

I discovered this blog on Friday via the Beantown Baker and these pumpkin muffins have me in a tizz!

The Cupcake Blog

Posting pictures from other baking blogs means that not only do you grab some cute ideas but you also discover even more cupcake blogs.

Violet cupcake from the cupcake blog via la despensa del gnomo

Tiptoes in the Kitchen

Hayley was an American exchange student at my University.  She's a bit of a sporadic blogger like myself but when she does post it's the romance of her food writing that makes reading addictive.  I particularly loved her post entitled The Heart and Soul of a Little Bakery

The Boston Foodie

For his Doughnut of the Week posts alone, it's a must read.

Drooling...but must remember "No carbs before Marbs!"

*Images taken from the respective blogs unless stated otherwise

Some Hocus Pocus!

There are certain seasonal events which make me wish I lived in the States.  They really seem to go to town with their decorations and festive attitude.  Halloween is a prime example. I love it.  Ever since my mum bought home some Halloween decorations from a trip to the US, back when I was about 12/13, Halloween has been a major deal in my house.  Every year I buy a few extra decorations, replenish the black and orange candles and cook an autumnal themed meal.  This year was no different...

I hollowed out three pumpkins and looked for inspiration from Martha Stewart.  My favourite is the one in the middle, which is Martha's "haunted graveyard" jack o'lantern.  Instead of cutting into the skin like the other two, I drew the outline of the picture and then scraped at the skin, so that when a candle is placed inside it looks like this...

I also further decorated the inside of our house, although I focus mainly on our dining room, which you'll understand why just shortly...

For the autumnal feast, I made spiced pumpkin soup with toasted garlic pumpkin seeds, using the insides of two of my pumpkins, a sausage casserole and then these ghoulish treats...

These were Devils Food Cupcakes from the Magnolia Bakery cookbook iced with vanilla buttercream, which I dyed with green food colouring.  The haunting cupcake toppers were purchased from Waitrose.  We finished the night with a showing of none other than our favourite Halloween themed film Hocus Pocus, which is made all the more apt by the fact that we have our very own black cat.

I was absolutely devastated that I discovered these gorgeous looking scrubs and creams, from Haus of Gloi too late to order in time for Halloween but still intend to give them a whirl soon.  For a full review check out The Gloss Goss which is where I initially found out about them!

How to throw a FABULOUS Party, McNally style, for under £200: Part Two

As expressed in an earlier post, my mum and I love throwing a soiree or two and this year we've managed three already and we were super impressed with both the results and the compliments we received!  Each event has been incredibly different and priced around £200, basically cost effective sophistication and so I wanted to document all of them via pictures and with a little "How to...." vibe to them.  By no means are either of us the next Martha Stewart but we sure as hell gave it a try!  There were too many pictures to document in just one blog post, so I have seperated them into their three respective categories.  Part one was "How to throw a Sex and the City themed Cocktail Party", so if you haven't checked it out yet, you can do so here!  Part two is a little more season specific and would be fairly impossible to re-create in England any time soon due to our British Summer time ending back in early August.  So without further ado here's Part two....

We donned our summer dresses for a tres chic Garden Party........

My Godfather's 60th Birthday was fast approaching and being that they had attended my Grandfathers Garden Party organised by us five years back, my Godmother decided she wanted us to throw a surprise one for him. This was subject to many lies due to the fact they were staying with us at the time. Therefore the sheer concept that we managed to pull this off as a success along with keeping it a secret was pure genius, even if I do say so myself!

Tables were dotted around the garden with miss matching shabby chic tablecloths and a jar of sweet peas from the local country shop decorating them. Canapes were served upon arrival teamed with a glass of Champagne.

This was my favourite table

My mother and I have been collecting shells from random canapes we've been purchasing over the months from Marks and Spencers. We used these then to fill them half with smoked salmon and half with prawn cocktail, to be eaten with a mini fork. We also served tartines which are chunks of dried baked ciabatta topped with something of your choice. We chose parma ham, cherry tomatoes and basil.

The Ice Bowl

My mothers Ice Bowl! Fill a largish bowl with water and place in sliced lemons, juniper berries, basil, flowers or any other decoration of your choice and then place a smaller bowl in the middle. Place in the freezer to set and then fill with prawns or another ice cold delicasy.

My Magnolia Bakery cupcakes graced this partys presence also, although this time they were Charlton Football Club themed for my Godfather, unforutnately the red dye ended up being hot pink, which was slightly dissapointing.

We finished the day off with afternoon tea, which included homemade millionaire shortbread, birthday cake and the themed cupcakes.

Truly Scrumptious Cardboard Cake Stand £11 John Lewis

How to throw a FABULOUS Party, McNally Style, for under £200: Part One

My mother and I have always prided ourselves on our party planning skills and 2010 has seen us pull off a hat trick.  Secretly we dream of taking on this role professionally but we are both caught up with our other projects to actually seriously consider any such idea.  All three of the soiree's we have organised this year have had a trendy spin on them in some way or another and all have been hits for both ourselves and our guests so I thought I'd document in pictures our successes along with how we made them so....

Firstly we got Carrie-d away....

That's right, with SATC2 about to hit the cinemas (which by the way I still have not seen!) I couldn't think of a better theme for my 25th Birthday back in April.  A girls only event, we decked out our dining room New York style.

We went with the colour theme from the first movie, black and hot pink.  The floor was laden with balloons.  The table was laid to perfection by myself with black table cloths and hot pink and silver lip confetti (very Lulu Guinness) and hot pink table ware.  The room was adorning New York street signs also to give it that extra Carrie and co flair.  All decorations were purchased from http://www.partypacks.co.uk/ .  On first view their offerings do look somewhat tacky but they are like a really good thrift store, or TK Maxx, if you look hard enough you can find some buried treasures!

My mum's Strawberry Centre Piece

Fill a garden pot with cement and place a wooden stick in the centre. Place a whole small melon on top once dry and cover base with foil or spray paint, whilst fixing strawberries via cocktail sticks. The perfect accompaniment to a chocolate fountain!

My Magnolia Bakery-esque Cupcakes

Recipe taken from the Magnolia Bakery cookbook and decorated as per the darling SATC themed cupcakes Lola's in Selfridges were sporting back in 2008.

And finally the piece de la resistance.....

                                                

We projected the original film onto one of the walls, whilst playing some of my favourite tracks from both the soundtrack and in general as background music.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

 

Drinks were purchased from Sainsburys and there was a choice of either the classic Cosmopolitan or my personal fave the Margherita.  Both concoctions were premixed but surprisingly good and most importantly strong for a very reasonable price!  We also offered prosecco with a hibiscus flower on arrival, which went down a treat!

As you can see from the pictures above I chose to wear a simple black onesie with some sequin embellishment at the top.  I then blinged up the outfit Carrie style with my Ghetto Fabulous initial earrings (which were switched from two of the same letter to one of each....shhh don't tell Topshop!) and these outrageous wedges!