Cakes, Torts and Pond Hopping.......................

Hello!
I haven't had chance to blog for a bit, but I'm dying to write about all of the crazy stuff that's going on at the mo!
Firstly (and I think most importantly), I have decided to make a massive change in my life. I feel like I have been stuck for ages, wading upstream and doing things that really don't inspire me. Well no more!! I, dear reader, am about to embark on a brand new, exciting phase. I am going back to university to retrain as a barrister!!!!!

It is something I have been thinking about for ages, ever since I decided to end my first degree early. I really wasn't enjoying it and it was turning me into a person I didn't want to be. I finally feel like my life is back under my control and I'm absolutely elated that I got into my first choice uni! I start in October and I am 100% ready to go!

The only downside is I will have to give up my day job, which means parting ways with the L.W.P. No more will they get to sample the freshly baked delights that pour out of the Sugar rush kitchen on a regular basis (not strictly true, as Mr Sugar works for the same company and will undoubtedly furnish them with regular boxes of goodies!). I feel bad about it as this was not something I thought I would be doing this year. I had no idea I would get in, let alone into my first choice. It is an opportunity I could not pass on and I just hope they understand.

Second majorly exciting thing; myself and Mr Sugar are heading out for a little holiday.....................TO LAS VEGAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have never pond hopped before (Mr Sugar is a frequent traveller to the US) so I am really looking forward to experiencing everything LV has to offer. I must admit, when we were planning the trip, a little voice in my head said "Yay! the US is the home of the cupcake!!! We are bound to find some cool baking stuff there!". I quickly silenced the voice for fear Mr S would think I was sad but even he got a bit excited about the cupcakey possibilities we would discover there! All of my favorite cupcake blogs are by talented american cupcakers so I can't wait to have access to the same amazing ingredients as they do!

I am taking my beautiful Holga camera (a birthday gift from my Dad and possibly my favorite posession) and I can't wait to see LV throught the blurry eye of a Holga! (If you want to see some Holga shots, check out these amazing ones by one of the L.W.P Emma. She is a true Holga talent!). I am going to document my quest for the best LV cupcake and post it up here for everyone to share.

In other cupcakey news, I have joined the Iron Baker Challenge Earth (you can see my Iron Baker badge proudly displayed at the top of this blog). I have missed the deadline for this month's challenge but I can't wait for next month's.

Finally (as I am getting tired and I really fancy a bath!), I was chucking some ideas about with Mr S about new cupcake recipes when he stumbled upon a brilliant idea. Those who know me, know I am a bit obsessed with all things nautical. I am often dressed as some kind of weird halfway point between a sailor and a dolly (I think it's cool!). As we we're chatting, Mr S suggested I come up with a nautical themed cupcake. Why have I never thought of this before??
My cupcake synapse (the cakiest part of the brain. FACT) began firing instantly. I had to come up with something that tastes amazing (as I try to ensure all Sugar Rush treats do) but looks like something a scurvy seadog would be happy to cram in his rum-stained face.

After much deliberation, I decided on a vanilla sponge laced with dark rum and topped with a cloud of coconut frosting. As far as decoration goes, I was thinking of making some gold coloured "rope" using some fondant icing, rolled into thin pieces and painted with some gold lustre. I am then going to make some anchors and other assorted nautical ephemera to dot around liberally. Another idea was to use food colouring pens to "tattoo" pieces of fondant with some sailor tattoos. What do you think? Ideas are always welcome.

I'm gonna bake some of these, plus some other cakes for the L.W.P before I go away (2 weeks!). I will post the pics along with the recipe in my next post.

I haven't forgotten about the pics of Mini Sugar's birthday cake and I will post them up as soon as I get copies from the photographer!

Phew, that was a long post! Thanks for sticking with it and I will write again soon, promise!!

Lots of Love,

Sugar
x x x x

brand new blog!

Hello! wecome to my little blog! This is my first ever attempt at blogging, so please bear with me and i'll try to learn as I go along! The main theme of my blog will probably be baking and cupcakes, mainly because I am absolutely OBSESSED with them! I have a little online bakery (www.sugarrushbakery.co.uk) that I am in the process of launching so I will fill you in on the ups and downs of that too!

Let me introduce the people who will probably feature heavily mainly due to their love of cake:

Sugar: Thats me! I am absolutely head over heels in love with cupcakes, cookies and anything of that nature! I love travelling, sunday markets, vintage fairs, baking, family, friends, laughing, my little car, finding cool new things to go on my cakes, Mr Sugar, anything with a bow on it, nautical things, the list goes on......................This is my first ever blog so your feedback is much appreciated!

Mr Sugar: That's my lovely boyfriend and official Sugar Rush taste tester. Nothing leaves the bakery without a little sample passing Mr Sugar's lips! He is very supportive of my business venture, even though he is often puzzled with my cupcake obsession. Footy mad, Mr Sugar finds the best way to watch a match in peace is to encourage me to bake!

Mum, Dad, Little Sugar and Mini Sugar: My lovely family. Mum is a chocoholic (like me!) and Dad will eat anything that stays still long enough (not a very good person to go to if you want constructive criticism as he loves everything I cook!). Little Sugar is my little sister. Three years younger than me, she shares a love of all things a bit old lady, a bit vintage. She made me a gorgeous Sugar Rush apron for my birthday that is sooooo cute! Mini Sugar is my very little brother (four years old) who loves cakes and baking. Whenever I visit, he demands we roll up our sleeves and bake some cupcakes. Always chocolate. Always covered in as many sprinkles as we can find!

Lovely Work People (L.W.P): Even though baking is my first passion, a girl's got to pay the bills (and buy shoes!). Thats where L.W.P come in. They are the lovely people of my day job, my other official taste testers. They never say no to free cake and that's why I like them!

There are many others who i'm sure will pop up from time to time. I'll introduce them as we go along.

So, what to talk about first............................

Lets talk about my latest baking escapades.

I went to the Leeds Farmers' Market two weeks ago, and went a little mad! Mr Sugar was forced to struggle home with bag after bag of amazing, locally produced jams and preserves. Amongst the haul was a beautiful jar of Yorkshire Farmers' Lemon Curd. I couldn't wait to come up with a recipe worthy of this lovely ingredient.

So it was into the kitchen, experimenting with a few different flavour combinations. I wanted something light, moist and summery. White chocolate was one of the first ingredients that came to mind, along with vanilla and fresh lemon. I trialled a white chocolate bun with a lemon curd cream filling but found the white chocolate to be too sweet for the thick and bittersweet taste of the lemon curd cream. Ditto the vanilla. Finally, I settled upon a recipe that used fresh lemon zest and juice combined with ground almonds to make a fresh and zesty sponge with a slightly crumbly texture reminicent of shortcrust pastry. I left the lemon curd as it was (why tamper with perfection?) and spooned it generously into the middle of each cake. I topped this with a big swirl of meringue, make with less sugar and a little butter to make it into a kind of Swiss Meringue Buttercream. The hardest part for me was to get the meringues to brown just right. I really need to invest in a mini blow torch rather than chance it with the grill.

The resulting cake was everything I hoped it would be. The sponge let the lemon curd sing out, whilst the meringue felt amazing on the tongue. The L.W.P voted this cake as one of their favorites (along with the Wimblebun, a picture of which sits proudly on the Gallery page of my website). I christened it Mellow Yellow and Mr Sugar ate about 4 of them (just to check the meringue was cooked properly, of course!). Here is one that didn't end up in Mr Sugar's mouth:







Thanks to Emma (one of my L.W.P) for the pic (my digital camera is kaputsky at the mo!)

I am going to write the recipe up with exact measurements and post it up soon.

Well, thats all I have time for, for now. I have some amazing pics of a cupcake tower I made for Mini Sugar's birthday (he was 5!), lots of recipes and possibly lots of rambling thoughts to post up soon.

Thanks for reading and lots of love

Sugar
x x x x x