LucyLuPop Bakery is now open for business.

I am very excited to be able to announce the launch of my brand new bakery business. I’m officially taking orders for all the yummy and pretty cakes, cake pops, cupcakes and cookies you could ever want. As with all small businesses, I’m highly dependent on word of mouth and referrals.  I’m hoping I can count on you all to help spread the word, or just order a ton of cake! The LucyLuPop Bakery website can be found at www.theLbakery.com I also have a Facebook page which you can find at http://www.facebook.com/theLbakery. If you’re not already you can follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/LucyLuPop Finally I’ll be continuing this blog on my new website which you can access at http://www.thelbakery.com/blog/

 

A busy start to the 2012!

Happy New Year !

Oh wait I already said that right? We are only 8 days into 2012 and I already feel like 2011 was so long ago. The first week of January are always busy in our house, but the best kind of busy – the fun kind.

Being a January baby is clearly very cool – all my adult life I have always been surrounded by friends that have a birthday at the beginning of January, just like me! And this only means one thing – lots of parties, gifts and of course Cake!

This amazing cake was part of my baking buddy’s surprise Masquerade Ball! I had every intention of taking a picture of the amazing inside of the cake, but my slice was gone before I even thought about it, it was delicious!

Birthdays also mean one other great thing – Presents! And this year I was lucky enough to get some amazing gifts (my hubby and friends know me faaarrr to well)

Including The Cake Book & Mini – Pies – So look forward to a post about my first attempt at mini pies in the future.

And not baking related at all, but something I need to share, the most amazing shoes in the world:

So with everything starting to calm down, I cant wait to get back to baking and decorating again, and sharing it all here! So watch this space!

Here’s a sneak peak at my first 2012 project…

…can you tell what it is yet?

Happy New Year!

Welcome January 1st 2012!

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I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year! Christmas here was a quiet affair spent eating too much food and having afew too many drinks with good friends. As our families are all the way over in the UK, the day wouldnt be complete without crazy Skype conversations with them (with the 8 hour time difference, they were waaaaayyyy ahead on the merriment!)

Noms !

And no Christmas day would be complete without some baking. Taking some time off from cupcakes, and knowing the amount of dinner that would be consumed, dessert consisted of Christmas sugar cookies, Traditional English Mince Pies and the most amazing Ginger snaps (lovingly made by my awesome friend)

So now to 2012…….

After taking a break over the festive period, I have lots planned for the next year. There may be afew changes to this blog in the coming weeks and months (ones I have been planning for awhile, but will now finally get round too), and alot more baking!

I also decided this year to try and take the 365 Days Project over on Flickr, so you can follow me here (I forsee alot of cupcake and kitty pictures)

So what is instore for your 2012? Whatever it may be, I wish you all a Happy and Prosperous start to the year!

Vote for me!!! Christmas Cake Pops

So here is my shameless plug!

As many of you know, I am a massive fan of KC Bakes.  This last Halloween, Kim decided to run a Halloween Cake Pop Competition on Facebook for all Cake Poppers out their to Showcase their talents.  And what a talented bunch they are:

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Beckaboo’s Cakes
Pop.O.Licious Cake Pops
CANDYQIUK
Simply Sweet Cake Pops

So due to this success, Kim is running a Holiday Cake Pop Contest, and my Pops are an entry!

These Pops mean alot to me – as they went towards the Bake Sale at The Irvine Animal Care Center ‘Home for the Holidays’ Adoption Event.  As an update for those who read my previous post – the event itself raised over $10,000, the Bake Sale made up just under $2,500 of that figure!!  A big THANK YOU to anyone who attended the event or made a donation.

So back to the Cake Pops – and my shameless plug.  I am asking all you amazing blog readers, if you like my work, to follow this link to Facebook and vote for my Pops! You simply need to ‘Like’ photo in the album.  I’m really proud of how these pops came out – and would love the extra support!

Also while you are there – check out the other amazingly talent Pop makers, you never know, you may even find one from your local area!

My #ClearAmerican Cupcake Experiment

Walmart!

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It’s the one big American supermarket known the world over, yet despite living in the US for nearly 2 years, this weekend was only the second time I have ever set foot in a Walmart. On a Saturday? In December? Yes I think I may be slightly crazy. This was all for a good reason though. To find and try this:

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Clear American Water is a brand I had heard a lot about but had never tried, as they are only sold exclusively in Walmart, and sadly I don’t live as close to a Walmart as I would like. I have always been a fan of Flavoured Sparkling Waters, as I really struggle to get enough water during the day and find plain water really boring. After being introduced to Clear American via friends, I was amazed at the variety of flavours offered, and a bottle is ZERO calories!

So one busy Saturday afternoon in Walmart, I came up with a great idea. Could I use one of these flavours in a new Cupcake recipe?

Well the short answer was YES!

Black Cherry isn’t the most typical flavor for Christmas Baking, but for me it always reminds me of the winter season and Christmas time. Every year I would remember the amazing Black Forest Gateau’s as part of the Christmas day deserts, and this was always my favourite!

BlackCherry, Pomegranate Blueberry Acai Cupcakes!

Makes 24 Cupcakes

(adapted from My Baking Addiction)

• 1 pack Chocolate Cake mix (my favourite to use in Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge)

• 1 pack of instant chocolate pudding mix

• 1 cup sour cream

• 1 cup vegetable oil

• 4 eggs at room temp lightly beaten

• 1/2 cup Pomegranate Blueberry Acai Clear American Water

• 24 Maraschino Cherries

Frosting

• 1/2 C unsalted butter (for stiffer frosting, use Shortening instead)

• 1lb of Powdered Sugar

• 5 tbsp liquid from a jar of Maraschino Cherries

• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

• 2 tbsp Pomegranate Blueberry Acai Clear American Water

• 24 Maraschino Cherries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl, mix together cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and Clear American Water until well combined

3. Line 24 cupcake liners into a cupcake tin, and evenly distribute the mixture between them. Roughly each liner should be 2/3rds full.

4. Gently push a Maraschino Cherry into the center of the batter, making sure that the mixture completely covers the cherry.

5. Bake for approx 22-25 minutes. You should be able to insert a toothpick into the cake and it come out clean.

6. Leave Cupcakes to cool for about an hour on a wire rack.

For the Frosting

1. Whisk together butter/shortening and powdered sugar for about 5 minutes or until the mixture is well combined and looks like frosting.

2. Add in Cherry Liquid, Vanilla and American Clear Water, and mix for a further 2 mins, until combined

3. Pipe Frosting onto the Cupcakes and top with a Maraschino Cherry.

When I initially planned out this recipe, I had planned on using the Clear American Wild Cherry flavor, to get a fully cherry effect on these cupcakes, however I was unfortunate in the fact my local Walmart had run out of stock. So to improvise, I decided to opt for the Pomegranate Blueberry Acai flavor. However, in this swap, I think it added a unique flavour to the cakes. The cupcakes had a subtle hint of Pomegranate, which complemented the cherry frosting without ruining the two flavours.

The hubby liked them too! When asked for his opinion, he said the flavour reminded him of a Bakewell Tart.

I would definelty like to try the recipe again with the Wild Cherry flavour in the future, so I am keeping an eye on my local Walmart! Also I will definetly heading back to try some of the other flavours for general use, as the Pomegranate Blueberry Acai was a refreshing compliment to the cupcake!

You can find out more about Clear American Water, and a lot of great recipes using it at their website clearamerican.com or follow them on Facebook or Twitter.

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias, which is a vendor for Cott Beverages Inc., the manufacturer of Clear American® brand beverages. However all opinions expressed and recipes developed are my own, and you can Follow Collective Bias on Twitter (@CollectiveBias). #collectivebias#CBias

Calling all OC Animal Lovers! – Home for the Holidays – December 3rd

Tomorrow is the 5th Annual ‘Home for the Holidays’ Event at the Irvine Animal Care Center.

This event is something very dear to me, as last year was this was the first event I volunteered at for the Shelter, and it was just after we adopted our kitten from them. I know first hand the number of homeless Animals the Shelter helps each year, and the costs that are involved in being able to do this. This annual event is something alittle bit different. The shelter opens it doors over this holiday season to many local Orange County Rescue Organisations, and vendors to help raise awareness of homeless animals in the county.

Full details of the all the vendors can be found here, however some personal favourites I cant wait to see there are:

• Molly McB & Company – An amazing online store run by the amazing Emily and her mum showcasing cute t-shirts for you and your pets.

• CrateMates – another cute store run for gifts for all animal lovers and their four-legged friends.

• At Home Cat Care Inc – A professional cat care service when you are away from home.

• The Lime Truck – Winners of the Great Food Truck Race – Need I say more!

Once again this year, they will also be holding a Bake Sale – with all proceeds of the sale going towards the extended care of all the animals in the shelters care.

In previous years, I have always made Puppy and Kitten Cake Pops and Cookies, partly because I loved making them, and partly as they are always a cute addition for all animal lovers.

So this year I decided to go with something alittle more festive, and inspired by Bakerella, I decide to make Christmas Themed Cake Pops.

All made from Red Velvet Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting (Red Velvet always reminds me of the Holidays, I’m not sure why), these are Santa Hats, Snowmen, Christmas Trees and Mini Stockings. This is the first time I’ve actually made non-rounded Cakepops – its not as easy as it first looks!

So these are now all boxed up and ready to go to ‘Home for the Holiday’s’

So if you have some time on your Saturday afternoon, and you are in the Orange County Area, please stop by the Irvine Animal Care Center (map here)and show your support. Entry is only $1 and parking is free!

Happy Thanksgiving!

An English girl hosting a Thanksgiving dinner? Why Not! Thats how I will be spending my day today!

Its that time of year when we should all remember the things we should be thankful for. This year, I have afew special mentions, mainly people, that I am thankful to have in my life:

• My amazing hubby! AKA the taste tester of all my crazy kitchen adventures! He also ridiculouly tolerant of my kicking him out of the kitchen and baking into the small hours.

• My amazing Friends and Family. Moving around so much has meant some of them are round the corner, and some are thousands of miles away – but whenever I see them, it feels like the last time I saw them was minutes earlier. My Aunty also thinks my cupcakes look better than some of the ones on ‘The Great British Bake-Off’ !

• My Twitter Friends – A special Thanks to @KCbakes and @startupprincess for the amazing Start Up chats every Wednesday afternoon! Its provided alot of great and insightful information

• My two little monsters – They drive me crazy but I would have them any other way!

Its such a hard life, isnt it?

So back to Thanksgiving. Or in our case this year, Friends-giving! With our families being so far away, and Thanksgiving not being celebrated outside of the US this week, we are having a ‘Friends-giving’ dinner!

(NB:This post was written last night, as today will be spent cooking, alot of eating and maybe some drinking with Friends.

Dinner will be the full all-American deal, with Turkey and all the trimmings.

Hopefully this years Turkey will look just as good as this!

Then we get onto my favourite thing – Desserts! I may have gone alittle over board! But Thanksgiving is only once a year right?!

On Tuesday I completed my final Wilton Class, so I already had one desert down! So 1 Gluten Free Chocolate Cake – done!

Next was something I have never actually made before, but I have always wanted to try, Apple Pie. Later in the week I will post up the recipe for this particular pie, but I was happy with the outcome – if I do say so myself!

Finally, It wouldn’t be desert without the classic Cupcake! To give them abit of a Autumn/Fall theme to them, I turned to my copy of Hello Cupcake! for inspiration, and it did not let me down! Volia – Chocolate flavoured -Pumpkin themed Cupcakes!

I just hope everyone has room for these after dinner! I will let you know how they go, as so far they are just tempting me from the other side of my kitchen!

So to all my readers, I hope you have had a great day, and you have plenty to be Thankful for this Holiday season! Thank you for sticking with me!

Shelter Staff Appreciation Week

Last week was all about appreciating those who give time for others. Across the world we remembered our Veterans on Friday. Last week was also National Shelter Staff Apperication Week (Nov 6th – 12th). I have been volunteering for my local Animal Shelter for nearly 18 months now, and have been lucky enough to see first hand the amazing work that the staff at the Irvine Animal Care Center do for the community and all those pets looking for their new forever home.

Both of my kitties have been rescues, one in fact from the Irvine Animal Care Center, and both have been the most loving, cutest pets I could possibly have, and I know this has alot to do with the care and love these animals receive at Shelter organisations. So this week, a group of us volunteers decided to get together and provide some treats for all the staff to show our appreciation. Everyday, one or two volunteers would bring in treats of many varieties.

Aren't they just too cute!?!

So my contribution, of course, Cupcakes!

These started as simple Vanilla and Chocolate Cupcakes.

As I knew I would be making the puppy, kitten and rabbit faces for the tops, I didn’t want to go to over the top with Frosting, so I simply topped them with a Vanilla or Chocolate Fudge frosting.

The idea for the animal faces came from finding a very cute candy mould in Micheals. These were originally made for Candy lolly Pop’s – but perfect are they as CupCake toppers!

So early Saturday morning, I made my delivery down to the IACC, before alot of the staff were at the Shelter, or were out working with the animals. When they came back to the office this is what they would find:

From the feedback I got, the cupcakes, along with all off the treats brought in throughout the week went down really well. Sometimes the staff at animal shelters get over looked for all the hard work they do, especially here at the Irvine Animal Care Center, providing a loving temporary home for these homeless pets whilst they wait for their forever homes. If you are in Irvine over the Holiday Period, you should go and visit the Center for their annual ‘Home for the Holidays‘ Event on Dec 3rd!

So if you happen to be visiting a local Shelter (of any kind, not just animal!), but sure to say Thank you to the staff and volunteers there for all the time they give. If your thinking of a pet for you or your family, please think about Adoption first – there are so many loving pets in shelters and rescues all over the country, just looking to be your new furry best friend.

Remembering Veterans Day

When life gets crazy, its often easy to forget the small things.  While we should alway remember those that fight for our freedoms, today we should pay special attention.

In the UK, this is the time of year where you rarely see a person walking around without a poppy.  Sadly this year I do not have one, so I am posting mine here – to show my support!

I also wanted to post this, as such a beautiful moment for remembering those who did not make it back. It may be from a comedy, but I just think its a beautiful scene to remember our soldiers.

Thank you to all our Veterans around the world

#FF Follow Friday – [Desi]gn Cakes & Cupcakes

Happy Friday all! The weather here in Orange County is miserable today, a sign that Winter has offically set in.

So my #FF Follow Friday this week is a little piece of sunshine in Orange County, Miss Desi from [Desi]gn Cakes & Cupcakes.

Many of you may have seen [Desi]gn Cakes & Cupcakes on Cupcake Wars, or at this years Cupcake Camp OC, where I was lucky enough to spend some time with her and try some of her amazing Cupcakes. You can read my Cupcake Camp OC recap here

Desi and here Cupcake Nerd Fan! 🙂

Abit of bio from the [desi]gn Cake & cupcake website itself:

“We are an award-winning online cupcakery, featuring an array of unique and traditional cupcakes. All of our cupcakes feature flavors from our traditional Italian heritage, and we bring a little piece of Italian love to each treat we create. We use fresh fruits in our batters, sweet cream butter, and create all of our cupcakes from scratch. We create your treats to order, so you can savor in the most delicious cupcake.”

And after trying some of Desi’s cupcakes, I can confirm she is definetly worthy of all 7 times she has won awards!

This week is also a special week for them, as it is their First Birthday!! On Monday November 7th, [Desi]gn Cakes & Cupcakes will be celebrating this great occasion with cupcakes of course, and an birthday event! Details of the event can be found here – maybe I’ll see some of you there!

So if you live in OC, and are a cupcake fan like I am, I would recommend you try [Desi]gn Cakes & Cupcakes! You can also follow Desi on Facebook and Twitter for more information on her new flavours, creations and events!

For Pricing, flavours and General information on [Desi]gn Cakes & Cupcakes, you can also visit their website at designcakesandcupcakes.wordpress.com