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slice of vanilla cake with vanilla pods in the background

Cake, What does Your Favourite Flavour Say about You?

by Abi
Who can resist a wonderful slice of cake? Whether you eat it daintily with a fork or pick at it with your fingers, the flavour you choose says more about you than you think. Carry on reading to find out more about your favourite cake and how personalities really are reflected in our choices. Then you will know the perfect slice to send to surprise a friend

CHOCOLATE CAKE

The love of chocolate knows no bounds. You are sure to be an empathetic person, a shoulder to cry on, the support in any situation and the person everyone turns to. However, you also quite indulgent and love a spa day with a glass of Prosecco on arrival. What an amazing person you are, no wonder everyone wants to be with you, although you are always a little suspicious of anyone who says they don’t like chocolate. You would adore a personalised letterbox cake so that you could share it with a little tea and sympathy.

VICTORIA SPONGE CAKE

This traditional cake does not mean you are “vanilla” in your behaviour. This simple cake layered with strawberry jam and cream, is adored by those who are anything but. The dark horses of the world, often misunderstood. You are an impulsive, loving person, generous by nature but don’t get on the wrong side of you otherwise there could be fireworks. Perfect in an individual cup cake for your own moment of bliss.

slice of strawberry cake with a large strawberry splashing in cream in the background

CARROT CAKE

Oh for the deliciously moist carrot cake with a wonderful cream cheese filling! We aren’t quite sure it counts as one of your five a day but who are we to comment? This is the sensible cake for those in control. The one for the over thinkers, those that ponder as they devour as they decide the pros and cons of all decisions. However, that does not mean you are boring, in fact you can appear more relaxed than most as you have already worked out the situation and are prepared for every eventuality.

COFFEE CAKE

Rich coffee cake with buttercream and topped with nuts for extra texture, is this your favourite? If so you are strong minded and control of your own destiny. You put your all into everything you do. Your day probably doesn’t start fully until you have a cup of coffee in your hand and then you are ready to face the world. Perhaps the end of the week finishes with a hint of something extra sneaked in to indulge yourself like a shot of Baileys. Your strength comes from within but is definitely caffeine fuelled.

CHEESECAKE

Cheesecake is in a class of its own, for those with a lot going on in their lives. You don’t mean to be a drama queen but hey what’s a girl to do? With the life you lead there is never a dull moment. People hang on your every word and consider their own world’s boring by comparison, you are sexy, exciting and always at the centre of the party.

GINGER CAKE

Dark and spicy ginger cake, gorgeous and a little unpredictable. Does that sound like you? An alluring warmth that’s hard to resist? Your personality is a little more volatile than most. Passionate and driven, your sultry overtones are an indulgence not to be missed. A slice of ginger cake in a birthday cake card would really make your day.

So now you know all this what why not send the perfect fitting slice to someone else in a cake card. Perhaps you aren’t convinced, maybe you love everything. If so our cake subscription is the perfect gift for you.
slice of ginger cake with ginger cat yawning in the background

World Mental Health Day

by Abi

Many of you are aware that today is World Mental Health Day. Who you may be unaware of is Shout – they are bit like the Samaritans but offer a purely text service. What you may also not know is that Abi volunteers for them.

It’s not easy but it does give people a way to reach out without fearing repercussions. Text messages may not seem like the best way to communicate sometimes but as a first step they can be massive. Sometimes the thoughts in our heads are so all-consuming that the idea of speaking to someone, actually articulating them is too much. Our brains tell us that people will think we are overreacting, being irrational, they won’t believe us or will just think we are plain stupid. Saying them out-loud will make them real. None of which is true. It’s time we started to understand that mental health is a major part of self care.

We deserve to be listened to and helped. If you had cancer you would seek and expect help, why is this any different? It’s a silent killer that steals the healthy bodied. It’s personally touched us deeply. Many of us have experience issues at some point in our lives and yet we often don’t accept that we should ask for help. Medication comes in all shapes and sizes and sometimes it’s as simple as talking. It’s not all about popping a pill.

World Mental Health day is 10th October but should be talked about every day. Suicide is on the rise, did you know it went up 12% in the UK alone last year? So here’s my promise, I’ll listen to you if you reach out. You are worth it. In the words of Emma Thompson “a stiff upper lip will just give you an achy chin”.

freshly cooked cheese scones straight out of the oven

Cheese Scones Recipe

by Abi

Cheese Scones Recipe

It doesn’t matter how you pronounce scones, it’s all about the eating. These cheese scones are so simple to make, there’s nothing to stop you making them for lunch today! Honestly it’s just a throw it all in and bake kind of thing. I even use a floured glass to make the rounds. Enjoy!

Ingredients

900g Plain Flour
1/2tsp Salt
2tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
300g Cheddar Cheese (grated)
3tbsp Coarse Grain Mustard
500g Plain Yogurt
6tbsp Milk

Method

Preheat oven to Gas Mark 6

1 Mix everything together until just combined (do not over mix)
2 Flatten to around 2cm thick and cut into rounds
3 Place on lightly floured baking tray
4 Cook for 20 mins or until golden brown on top
freshly cooked cheese scones straight out of the oven

A day in the life of work experience

by Abi

Aidan’s blog

Hello, and welcome to my rendition of my first five days in the workplace. Considering I’ve never actually worked, other than with my dad in the garden, being in an actual workplace, doing an actual job has been useful in understanding how places of work function. Although being sufficiently exhausting, turning baking from a hobby into a temporary job, has been a nice learning experience.

Aidan typing up his blog on the computer
Now where shall I start?

I’ve spent most of my time in the kitchen with Natalie the baker. The kitchen is probably my favourite  place to work in but it is definitely the most physically draining. The transition from a school day to a day of baking have some very large differences but the most noticeable for me is that at school I am sitting down almost all day apart from break and lunch. Whereas in the bakery, I am standing and walking all day apart from at lunch where I can have a sit down and enjoy my food. Don’t get me wrong, I much prefer going to work in the morning rather than school, I’m just saying that I sleep better as well.

Another part of my experience has been packaging and learning to arrange products to be delivered to customers. You could definitely say that origami is not a strong point of mine and unfortunately creating boxes shares many of the same properties. To make a box you basically have to fold a sheet of cardboard until it fits together. This sounds like a simple task but I can assure you that no everyone is capable of doing this.

Aidan doing the lettering on message cakes
So many birthdays!

Today’s been nice as well, I participated in my first meeting this morning, they’re not as bad as people make them out to be, although I’m sure they come worse than this one. I also wrote my first blog this morning, it has actually been quite fun, admittedly I had to google how to start it but post introduction wasn’t too difficult. I look forward to tomorrow but dread that that will be my last day. Many thanks to Abi and Steve for making this possible for me and to Natalie for coping with me in the kitchen.

Aidan and Natalie in the kitchen baking with the ovens in the background

Abi and Steve’s Response

Do you know it’s been our absolute pleasure to have you join us this week. Thanks for writing a great blog. Aidan, you have shown yourself to be both willing and able. And if you are ever looking for an apprenticeship, please give us a call x