Ballet Bags

This was a quick and easy project that I had going on whilst the children were at ballet for 3 hours every Monday. After picking up some cheap materials in the wonderful shops on Goldhawk road (magical place!) I made these as reward for the children's good behaviour.

Simple enough drawstring bags (one piece of material folded and sewn with the hem kept open at the sides - in order to put 2 pieces of cord or ribbon through to make the drawstring bit!) with the letters cut out of contrasting material and cross-stitched on by hand.

Simple as that!

The Nannymobile

The latest thing needed for my work. The kiddie-winks have so much stuff for ballet and tennis that I now have to use this contraption to get it all there. Elegant it may not be but practical it certainly is. My back is cetainly thanking me! Sometimes my life as a London nanny does seem peculiar!

Teddy Sleepover Cake

The latest birthday cake request from my darling charge Mr F, who was having a build-a-bear party (absolute nightmare - avoid at all costs) followed by a sleepover. A red velvet cake in the shape of a bed with teddies on it. Should be straightforward....

Buttercream

Here are the recipes that I use for various buttercreams. I find the easiest way to make them is to stick them in a food processor (or your kitchenaid if you have one.) All these recipes cover 24 cupcakes or a standard 9" cake.

Vanilla Buttercream: 

• 10oz/ 300g unsalted butter
• 1lb/ 500g icing sugar
• 2tsp vanilla extract
• 2-3tbsp whole milk.

Chocolate Buttercream:

• 8oz/ 250g unsalted butter
• 20oz/ 600g icing sugar
• 3oz/ 80g cocoa powder
• 80ml milk

Chocolate Fudge Buttercream:

• 7oz/ 200g plain or milk chocolate melted
• 4oz/ 100g unsalted butter melted (with the chocolate)
• 4tbsp milk
• 6oz/ 150g icing sugar

White Chocolate Fudge Buttercream:

• 7oz/ 400g white chocolate melted
• 10tbsp milk
• 12oz/ 300g icing sugar

Lemon Curd Buttercream:

See the fabulous caked crusader's blog: http://thecakedcrusader.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/buttercream

In fact just see all her buttercream recipes they're brill (although I still haven't braved the swiss meringue buttercreams since, well, the accident: oops.)

Golden Cupcakes

Just a quick post to show off some lovely simple cupcakes that I made for some friends' golden wedding anniversary....

                                                     

Rainbow Layer Unicorn Cake

Yes this is as awesome as it sounds.....

Pirate Ship Cake

So my darling youngest charge, little C, had her 4th birthday last week. As you can probably guess from the picture, she is more than a little obsessed with pirates. After much teasing about her having a princess party, I finally caved and made her much requested pirate ship cake! I must admit, it turned out a lot better than I had hoped. I'm rather proud of this one!