Category Archives: Cakes & Food

This doesn’t need much explaining – food and cakes are one of the most important things about many weddings because lets face it guest love to tuck into a glass of wine and a few canapes. Read my thoughts and reviews on the best food and beverage suppliers out there in the UK market.

LOVE to Cake

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Isn;t this just fabulous? Its the wedding cake of sculptor/cake designer Louise Hill, from Love To Cake, that she created for her very own wedding. Louise’s background is in special make up and creature FX – making blood and guts for film and TV (including creating the body parts for BBC’s Holby city!). She now uses her skills to make cake sculptures and has won awards doing so!… check these out…. wouldn’t you just love one for your wedding?
“The sheep was for my own wedding last August! He is a Welsh spotting show sheep, I am Welsh so we thought it appropriate. I made him using vanilla sponge with vanilla buttercream and chocolate for the details. I do not use fondant on my cakes, only sponge buttercream and chocolate.”
“The sea turtle is my signature cake. He won me Gold at the Cake show 2009″“This hedge cake was made for a wedding last year. I love to make cakes that no one has seen before. Simple ideas become exciting when made in cake.”“Billy Bragg was made for a fan. Billy Bragg himself then featured it on his website which was fantastic!”

Louise lives in Stoke Newington and will deliver to Greater London (or further if persuaded). I think these cakes are just something else. Do check out her website for more info, Love To Cake.

Fun favours for the chocoholics

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I don’t often write about favours but I couldn’t resist this one as I am a chocoholic. Not only that but I got sent my very own LMW personalised M&M’s in turquoise and white (with ‘LMW’ and ‘Marry Me’ on them) and I have to say I was quite impressed. They’ve just come out so its probably not something that you’re guests are going to have seen before and if like me you love chocolate then this might be one for you…..

A pack of 50 mini bags starts at £2.50 a bag and they can be ordered online at MyMMs.co.uk – you’re able to pick the colours that you want and personalise them with your names or message. Alternatively you can order big bags if you are just going to use them on a sweetie table or for display. What do you think? Is this the sort of thing that you would give as favours?

Tempting Wedding Cakes (& cookies)

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Well the name ‘Tempting Cake’ says it all – I can’t wait to taste some of these goodies because they look absolutely delicious. Not only that, but they’re fun alternatives for those that don’t want a traditional wedding cake – the hearts and kisses cookies are my favourite (and would also make good favours!) and I am such a sucker for chocolate so this chocolate torte would definitely be in the pickings. Aren’t those little cookies from the wedding collection also fab!
As you know I always like to take a peek behind the scenes of any company -I wanted to ask Emily, who set up Tempting Cake, a couple of questions about the company, wedding cakes and top tips.

* What themes are you seeing popular with brides?
Vintage is an enduring theme, with brides asking for vintage-inspired delicate filigree and pearl details on their cakes and cupcakes to complement their weddings. We are getting more requests for classic glamour cakes (think 1950’s old school glamour) as well as simple, elegant cakes where less is most definitely more.

* What is different about Tempting Cake?
Tempting Cake is proud to offer a top of the range service for discerning brides. We always freshly bake to order and pay strict attention to detail, so our brides can rest assured that when they order a Tempting Cake wedding cake, cupcakes or cookies that they will taste as good as they look.

* What advice would you give to brides when choosing their cake?
As with most things to do with your wedding day, the options for your wedding cake are endless. It’s helpful to have some basic information in mind when deciding on a cake, such as the number of wedding guests, your budget and some design ideas (either of cakes you like or alternatively some key details of your day such as colour scheme, theme, venue and a picture of your dress). This will help your cake maker to advise you on some fabulous designs for your big day. Give yourself and your cake maker time to plan your cake and be decisive as changes close to the wedding day can be costly. Choosing your wedding cake should be a pleasure not a chore, so my final piece of advice would be to enjoy it!

* How long have you been creating these fabulous cakes and what made you want to set the company up?
I’ve always had a passion for baking and design so making beautiful cakes is the perfect way to combine them both! Tempting Cake started off many years ago as a hobby, which grew into a side line while I still had an office based job. I’m now delighted to be able to devote 100% of my time and energy to Tempting Cake.

Its amazing to feature small british companies that have a real passion for something and are doing so well. Make sure to check out the website, Tempting Cake, and show Emily some love in the form of comments below or even better getting in touch with her about an order! Love to hear what you all think about these cookies and cakes!

Creperie Nicolas – Crepe & Coffee Van for hire

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Another great idea for those looking for something a bit fun and different for their wedding… if like me, you fell in love with Betty the Vintage Ice cream Van or Lola the vintage caravan that I featured recently on LMW then Creperie Nicolas is going to be right up your street! Creperie Nicolas – a beautifully restored 1965 Citroen H van that serves delicious sweet and savoury crepes and fresh Illy coffee – is owned by husband and wife team Gill and Keith. They drive it to weddings, parties and venues all over London and the South East. I have to say that I am loving all these old school vans (in fact I’ve just asked my brother to find me one – not sure what I am going to use it for, but I know that I want one!)

* So how did you come up with this idea?
“We decided to set up a creperie after talking about doing it for years. We enrolled at a ‘crepier school’ in Brittany, and learnt how to make authentic crepes and galettes. On the same trip we bought the van, in Normandy. Whilst the van was being fitted out we honed our crepe making skills at home, testing out the results on friends and family. Everybody knew about sweet crepes, many were unaware of the savoury buckwheat galettes which are gluten free and delicious. We had a espresso machine fitted, and calibrated to meet Illy’s exacting standards so we could serve the Illy coffee we love. It took over a year to get the van looking the way we wanted, but we were delighted with the result.”

* So hows it been going so far?
“Since we started trading in April, we have attended events and farmers markets. We are enjoying meeting lots of people and getting positive feedback about what we are doing. We think the van is perfect for relaxed parties, it’s a great talking point and makes people smile (and the food is great). In London you can find us on the first Sunday of every month at Wanstead farmers market.”

Well good luck to you all @ Creperie Nicolas – I have to say I am slightly jealous of your business idea. I’ve tried the wholewheat savoury crepes and they’re delicious and healthy, so I can imagine this really taking off. Check out their website Creperie Nicolas for information on hiring. What does everyone else think? Surely a coffee and crepe is the ideal pick me up for guests after all the dancing and booze!

Wedding Cakes – Janet’s Top 5 tips

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I’ve known for a while that my wedding cakes section of the site needed a bit of TLC so I was over the moon when Janet contacted me and said that she would guest blog for LMW (Janet being a well reknowned cake designer as you will see from the beautiful cakes below). Thanks Janet for your top tips and for helping me spruce up this section of my site – I especially like the look of the marshmallow one

cake selection

1. GET A WEDDING CAKE WITH FLAVOUR
There is no point having an amazing looking wedding cake that tastes like cardboard. Your cake designer should be able to provide you with freshly made samples so be sure to taste the wedding cakes available and if you have a specific cake centre in mind, don’t be afraid to ask your cake designer if they are able to make it. These days you can have practically any flavour you like for your wedding cake, from chocolate to carrot, however I believe that it is a good idea to have at least one tier oftraditional fruit cake to offer your more traditional guests.

2. WORK OUT YOUR BUDGET
From a good designer, a 3 tiered wedding cake can cost anything upwards of £500. The more sugar modeling that is required and the more intricate the design the higher the cost will be; so set a realistic budget for the wedding cake design you would like and choose a designer that will be able to realise your dreams within it.

3. CHOOSE THE RIGHT DESIGNER
Look around for a designer who meets your needs. Different designers specialise in different types of cake. If you want a very ornate wedding cake covered with royal icing and intricate piping, don’t choose a designer who specialises in sugarpaste novelty cakes and vice versa. You should also choose a designer who listens to what you want rather than pushing their ideas on to you. It’s obviously a cake designers job to offer suggestions but the final decision should be yours and if after a few design tweaks the wedding cake still doesn’t match your dream it might be worth looking for a new designer.

4. TIME IS A CAKE DESIGNERS FRIEND
Give the designer as much notice as possible. Most cake designers need a minimum of 3 months notice to make a wedding cake but remember that this is a minimum! If you require a rich fruit cake or large amounts of sugar modeling, whether it be flowers or people, the more notice you can give the designer the better. This allows for fruit to be soaked, the design to be tweaked and models to be exquisitely made and not rushed.

5. REMEMBER THAT THERE ARE ALTERNATIVES TO A TRADITIONAL WEDDING CAKE
If you are not keen on having a traditional wedding cake there are plenty of other alternatives.
• Individual miniature cakes -these are covered in marzipan and icing and decorated as though it were a big cake.
• Cupcakes -these are very popular at the moment and can be topped with either sugarpaste or buttercream and decorated to match your theme. If you choose to have cupcakes, I recommend also having a small top tier cake for the traditional cutting of the cake photographs. Boxed cupcakes and cookies also make very good favours.
• Cheese. For those who are not very keen on sweet cakes, Cheese Celebration Cakes are the perfect alternative. Stacked rounds of cheddar, stilton and a host of other cheese varieties can be decorated with fruit and/or flowers to match your wedding theme. Cheese Celebration Cakes are also a fabulous idea as a centre-piece for your evening buffet. This way you could have the traditional sweet wedding cake during your daytime reception and a savoury cheese cake in the evening keeping everyone happy!

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Make sure that you check out Janet Mohapi-Banks site for more information on her and her wedding cake designs. Its great to have someone as talented as Janet guest blogging on here because I like to showcase the best wedding suppliers and unique wedding ideas on LMW. Thanks so much for those delicious looking cakes.

Little Miss Weddings

Wedding Ideas