When the mixer decides to quit

Well what's worse in the world of baking than running out of ingredients....your mixer deciding to go on strike, it must have joined a union while I wasn't looking!!!
I had the stork and caster sugar measured out and plonked in the mixing bowl the oven was pre heating, I turn on the machine the bowl does a twirl but alas the whisks stand still. I turn it on, turn it off take the whisks out pop them back in and nada not a kick out of it they just hang there all smug....
The hubby had popped out so there was only one option, it's time to make my cupcakes old skool stylee. I took my wooden spoon and gave it welly and you know what a rush of nostalgia hit me and all of sudden all was well in the world again(",)
The cupcakes were in the oven 5 mins and there I was having a showdown with the diced real butter the thoughts of turning it into smooth silky butter cream by hand was making me weak, in walks himself twiddles(technical word)with the machine and shazam everything starts working like a dream.....AWESOME now back to work


Rebecca, Num Num cupcakes

The adventures of a delivery driver!!!

There's nothing like that moment when your finished the last swirl on your cupcakes or even better yet all the little models are made and are been as good as gold and staying where they should stay on the cake. you've managed the mission impossible of getting said cake in said box, our cool business cards are strategically placed on the box. Then it dawns on you I now have to get the yummy cake to the customers house in one piece aaaaaagggghhhh!!! When your making your master piece your thinking this looks awesome your not thinking hmmmmm I wonder how it will handle irelands glorious roads.... This one time we were delivering a princess cake to the far side of Dunlavin and by god I thought I was going to have a nervous break down every bump we went over it was like the cake was taunting us.we had Surrounded the perimeter of the castle with pink wafers and one by one they came down luckily for my nerves we had packed our "emergency kit" which includes buttercream a spatula and extra sprinkles so all was well in the worl of princess castles.
Other tricky deliveries included a giant cupcake with a fondant model of jessy from toy story sitting on top to Dublin, grand roads but killer round-a-bouts out emergency kit included tooth picks that day lol


Rebecca, Num Num cupcakes

On a mission state side

So I packed my bag bundled my husband and 8 month old baby girl up and headed to the airport. We said see ya later to my dad and boarded our mid day flight direct to Florida, little Lottie was asleep before we took off and we indulged in a glass of bubbly and pretzels ,HEAVEN....we would be staying with my long standing BFF and no.1 scouter and shipper of all things cupcakes.it was late when we landed but it didn't stop the giddy feeling from taking over or the slow motion run and hug between us all haha...
For the next two weeks we would be driven around in a big style American jeep tracking down the perfect cupcakes to sample and inspire my taste buds, we even got stuck in to making our own cupcakes american stylee but by god there is some difference in our ingredients and theirs...
As a lady I don't name names but we came across some shocking sugar fueled cupcakes and their sugar fueled bakers. but we did find this little treasure chest called classy cupcakes by Debbie it was small and simple looking from the outside and there was this old dude sitting right in the door hoovering down four cupcakes in a single breath(always a good sign)Debbie the owner told us he sits there every week...we picked up a lemon cupcake and two red velvets one with a gram cacker crust. We waited until we Got back to Lauras place to divulge these mini master pieces with non other than a cup of Lyons tea(which I lovingly brought with me for the paddy living in the states)and by god it was worth the wait they were Devine....
So when we were packing up getting ready to head on home it dawned on us that we'd need an extra suit case for all the extra cupcake paraphernalia that we had picked up in the giant baking wholesalers aka heaven we needed a trolley to cart the stuff around...legendary(",)


Rebecca, Num Num cupcakes

IN THE BEGINNING

I think my love of baking like so many others stemmed from watching my granny and mam bake when i was very young. whenever we went to stay with my "Nanos" without fail id have convinced her to let me help her make her famous apple tart. My grandad "Jackie" had the softess spot for anything sweet and homemade, when ever they came to stay with us down the country for weeks on end, my mam would have baked enough to feed a small army. she'd have made apple tarts with freshly picked apples and blackcurrants from our own gardens and the niceset orange and fruit cake ive ever come across. its funny how food can transport you back to a certain time and place in your life, and thats why i love to bake because of that very sentiment it makes people nostalgic and lets them step back from their hectic lives.....
Thats where cupcakes come in to my life, i think they bring out the inner tea party in every one just like rice crispy buns brings out the "kid" in us alL. they are a little piece of heaven without breaking the bank or better yet without making you feel like youve jumped off the diet band wagon.

My first blog!!!!

Wondering where to begin or better yet how to begin iv pondered for a few months excited at the thought of starting my blog. My Facebook is up and running almost a year and the website is growing day by day so it's only natural that I enter the world of blogging.

Today I'm writing about the best oven cleaner I have come across, no need to take a second glance at the heading of my page this is all about my journeys and love of baking cupcakes and everything a sweet tooth craves but cleanliness is big in my book so before I welcome any one to pop their apron on get to the shops and buy OVEN PRIDE, now iv tried a few of these oven cleaners before but to be honest they didn't float my boat. So I got home emptied my oven of the grill tray and three oven racks and popped them in the giant bag provided it told me to put in maximum two racks but naughty me popped the lot in....it then tells you to pour in 3/4 of the bottle into the bag seal it and swirl it round and round so I did, and almost immediately the clear solution became grimey naturally I was impressed. With there remaining liquid in the bottle it tells you to pour into your oven and spread it out covering all areas, and let to you there was plenty left to cover the grill and oven....so now you pop the kettle on and have a cup of tea and get on with your evening come back in a few hours a BAM your oven, trays and racks are spotless!!!!