My 23rd Birthday last weekend!

Last week I turned 23! And to celebrate I ate a lot of food! To me food makes any occasion! You get to treat yourself and eat the foods you wouldn’t normally eat at home!

Now with every birthday you have to have cake and what better cake to have than a vegan biscoff cupcake from Crumbs and Doilies (http://www.crumbsanddoilies.co.uk)
This cupcake had a biscuit base with caramel tasting sponge topped with vegan ‘buttercream’ icing and adorned with a biscoff biscuit! My, my, my it was was good!

I live in West London which is starting to get more and more interesting and different places to eat at. Bluebird cafe originated in Chelsea and they have now opened on in up W12! The television centre is sat opposite Westfields London and round the front of it are spaces for restaurants or shops to open, one of which has been filled by Bluebird cafe. What made this birthday lunch time treat even better was that there was bottomless prosecco for £15 per person! An offer thats hard to refuse on any normal day let alone your birthday! For starter I had the Crushed broad bean with summer ricotta on sourdough toast! Mixed through this was lemon and mint which made it nice and light. It was perfect for a starter or even on its own as a light lunch. For main I got the Pork Belly! Oh I do love pork belly! My first mouth full was rather disappointing though as it was just full of gristle! But once I’d got rid of that and checked that there wasn’t any more of it I really got to enjoy it! A sharper knife to cut through the crackling would have been a bit better as it was a lot of hard work but otherwise it was absolutely delicious! The decor is nice light and floral. Perfect as a summer spot to go to for drinks after work or as we did to sit outside in the sunshine having a nice lunch! (https://bluebirdcafe.co.uk)

For brunch the next day I knew I’d want something delicious! After a heavy day/night of drinking (bottomless prosecco hit me hard in the day) I needed something that would cure the hangover! Dirty Bones fit ticked all the boxes! With Mac and cheese, chicken and waffles you cant go wrong! I had the shirt rib crumpets with a side of mac and cheese. This rich dish was absolutely amazing! The beef just melted in your mouth and the egg was cooked to perfection! Unbelievable! Decked out with a dj booth, lights topped with different lamp shades and in a slight American vibe to it, this place did just the job! Ive been here before for dinner and I must say its definitely worth a go! Even for fussy eaters! (https://dirty-bones.com)

I ate quite a bit on my birthday weekend but you do don’t you! And I must say I feel like I picked some good places to go to! Go check them out!

Where do you like to go for your celebratory/birthday eats? Let me know!

1st cake to hit the blog!

I do love making a cake! Especially when its for someone else and you know that it is going to be appreciated! I also love being able to let creativity take over and experiment or take on inspiration from others!
I started making cakes by making cupcakes! I felt as though I perfected my sponge and icing technique so I thought ‘why not? Lets make a cake!’ I follow loads of bakers on Instagram but the one that got me really into cake making was Cupcake Jemma who is included on Jamie Oliver’s Food Tube, she owns her own shop called Crumbs and Doilies and every single time that I go to London I have to go! Her cakes are so light and fluffy! What I like about the cakes she sells is that they look incredible, they look different and arty. She doesn’t use rolled, royal icing, she creates smooth surfaces using just soft buttercream! Once the cakes are smooth she creates a chocolate drip! Its this that I then like to bring to my cakes!

This cake that I made is for my friends 23rd birthday today! He asked for a chocolate overload and thats what he got! He brought the chocolates to go on top as he wanted his childhood favourites! Inside was made up of simple vanilla buttercream icing and thick, fluffy chocolate sponges! To get smooth surfaces I cut around the edge to get rid of any crispy bits as well as using a cake leveller to create smooth tops! Then goes on the outside chocolate buttercream. I melted nearly a whole melted Terry’s Chocolate Orange and drizzled it over the whole of the cake and let it run down before adding all of the chocolates that my friend wanted on top! A full on Chocolate Explosion!

This was such a fun cake to make and soon I will hopefully show you how to make one but I thought this would be a good introduction to the style of cakes I like to make!