You want how much for that cake?...

Last week my brother emailed me to find out if I could make some cakes for one of his colleagues, whose daughter was turning 11.  He showed her my website and she loved the Paul's Boutique bag that I did last year.

When he asked how much it would be to make one and I told him, he was SHOCKED.  When I tried to explain that it wasn't off the shelf or mass produced he just didn't get it.  So when I saw this blog post from Amy Lane, I thought, "I couldn't have put it better myself.

I hope it goes some way to explaining why bespoke designed cakes cost more.

Banoffee cupcakes

I've been promising my friend Rod some cupcakes for the longest while so I decided to use him as a guinea pig for my latest creation; banoffee cupcakes!  I'm not a huge fan of banana flavoured anything, (although I can eat bananas all day long) so I did feel I could judge the finished produce fairly.

I found a great recipe from a fellow blogger and adapted it slightly by adding some dulce de leche to the whipped cream.

 OK, so having said all that about not liking banana flavoured anything, these cupcakes smelt so yummy when I took them out of the oven that I couldn't wait to try one.  I finished the decoration and made a cup of tea and sat down to savour it.  And I wasn't in the least bit disappointed.  They tasted as yummy as they smelt.  I loved the sweet bits of toffee inside the cupcake and the lovely banana-ey flavour.  Rod is going to love these!!!!

I'll let you know how they go down....

Brewster by name...

My lovely friend Kristin has always been one of my biggest supporters and when her son turned four last month she said "I wish I could afford to buy one of your cakes!"  Such a nice thing to say...so I said that if she paid for the ingredients I would make the cake.  Then she drops the bombshell that he wants a Chuggington cake. But when I found out that one of the trains is called Brewster, how could I not make it?!!!

Anyway, here is the outcome of my efforts.  The cake was vanilla sponge with jam and buttercream fillings.

Dylan was over the moon about his cake and his class mates loved it too. 

I really appreciate all your comments and feedback so let me know what you think. x