family wedding

My niece H is to be married shortly and she asked me if I had a photo of my parents (her grandparents) on their wedding day.

Mum and Dad were married in 1950 in St Barnabas Church, Eltham, London. Their marriage came 5 years after the end of the Second World War and 6 years after St Barnabas was badly damaged by enemy bombing over London in 1944.

This was still a time of rationing and friends and relatives donated ration stamps so my parents could get enough eggs, dried fruits and sugar for their wedding cake to be baked. Their cake was finished, as was the tradition, in royal icing incorporating elements of the Lambeth method.

In keeping with the limited availability of materials for wedding cake decorations, their wedding cake topper was fashioned from wax, ribbon and wire, featuring tiny bluebirds on springs under an arch of creamy wax flowers and leaves.

My mother chose a wedding dress design that reflected the Tudor history of nearby Eltham Palace, and the 16th century building where their reception was held. My mother's headdress, which we still have, was also made of cream wax flowers.

I was lucky enough to accompany my parents to St Barnabas and Well Hall one summer to retrace their wedding day, about a decade before they passed away.

My niece will marry 61 years later, on a beautiful beach in Byron Bay, Australia.

remembrance of things past

I'm having a Proust moment and baking petites madeleines.

Marcel Proust made these delicate, plump sponge cakes immortal, 'which look as though they had been moulded in the fluted scallop of a pilgrim's shell', in his classic book A la Recherche du Temps Perdu or Remembrance of Things Past.

And soon, mechanically, weary after a dull day with the prospect of a depressing morrow, I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake. No sooner had the warm liquid, and crumbs with it, touched my palate, a shudder ran through my whole body, and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary changes that were taking place. An exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses, but individual, detached, with no suggestion of its origin. And at once the vicissitudes of life have become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory.

I know how he feels.

As you already know, I am a devotee of the sponge, madeleines included. But for me it is the cup of tea which deserves the notoriety arising from Proust's famous reflections that has, instead, been anointed to this little cake. Not that I'm complaining! Tea and cake are a cornerstone of my life. I don't believe there is a finer culinary combination - save a chip butty and tea, or tea and a large shard of milk chocolate. But there you are, tea features again and again.

So on this warm afternoon, with weather you wish you could bottle, the smell of lemon blossom and sweet peas in the garden, I'm taking my madeleines outside to have with tea.

True to Proust's account, I will dip my madeleines in a cup of lime flower tea, but I will also serve them (in a second sitting) with some heady Persian rose petal jam, freshly whipped cream and a stronger infusion of Ceylon tea and milk. As Proust says, 'whence could it have come to me, this all-powerful joy?'

sponge cake with elderflower cream and strawberries

Oh, how I love a freshly baked sponge cake!

Today is so glorious that I'm going to put on a pretty dress and bake a sponge cake filled with elderflower cream and fresh strawberries to take to my friends for afternoon tea. 

I do think the sponge cake (or genoise) is under-rated. Just as its name suggests, it is a delightful foil to whatever (moist) filling your heart desires. And then you get to mop up your plate with the last sweet, feather-light bite on your fork.

Finished with a light dusting of icing sugar and fresh flowers, it makes my heart sing with joy!

rose madder & avocado

I love the name and history of rose madder. Madder has been cultivated for dye since antiquity in central Asia and Egypt, where it was grown about 1500 BC.

This four layered white chocolate and raspberry cake is finished in avocado-coloured fondant embellished with a damask pattern in royal icing. I have used rose madder as the accent colour in the handmade sugar rose bud and leaves, and matching trim.

peacocks and wedding cake

The morning of the wedding launched itself gently but optimistically - full of promise and blue skies, and the smell of jasmine on the breeze. 

Miss Z and Mr S asked me to design a classic cake in keeping with family traditions and a family name. A real peacock feather brooch was specially commissioned to clasp the peacock blue ribbon adorning the cake. Baguette-cut diamantes added sparkle to each tier. It was a beautiful day for a lovely couple. 


Best wishes to you both for a long and happy marriage!

raising funds for cancer research

My Daffodil Day morning tea was a great success with over $2,700 raised for cancer research. Thank you to all involved for your kind donations and support! x

Daffodil Day

Hoping that the day we know how to stop cancer comes soon.