Always a pleasure to bake for a lovely couple! Sophie and Tal…

Custom whoppee pies for the:

3 three exhibition: An exhibition with Kerry Simmons, Kiera James and Oliver David

East London from 7-31st Oct 2011.

http://portal.stourspace.co.uk/3-three/

http://www.kierajames.com/

Cranes by Kiera James

I work in Bakers Arms, which is in East London. I’m part of a baking collective called the ‘Hornbeam Bakers Collective’.

This Summer I have been baking countless amounts of bread for the Hornbeam cafe, The Hornbeam Saturday Stall, The Hornbeam Box Scheme as well as the Growing Communities Market in Stoke Newington (see post below)

…………….Thats a lot of baking bread!

Even though its not been the best summer this year, it has been HOT in the kitchen! one of the popular jokes shared in the kitchen this summer was ‘i’m baking in here’. Yes funnier now than at the time. Okay, i’ll stop loafing around (har har) and get on with the pictures:

As part of the Hornbeam Baker’s Collective, I, and fellow baker Pilar, have been baking artisan breads for this market once a month on the first saturday: Vegan and Gluten free products such as Loaves, Sticky Buns, Garlic and Coriander Naans, Spelt buns, Onion Baps, Mini Gluten Free Loaves, Bagels and more. This market has been voted one of the top ten in the UK from Ecologist Magazine. it is an organic locally produced market. Please keep posted for upcoming dates:

http://www.growingcommunities.org/market/

Pizza is one of my favourite foods so why should I have to give it up because i’m gluten free?

That’s correct, I dont!

The secret to my great pizza, is the base, or is it the sauce? the toppings surely matter?

ok so its layers of goodness beginning with:

the base – a blend of secret flours, olive oil, water and yeast that yeilds a crisp crunchy crust

the sauce – slow cooked tomatoes with garlic, rosemary, basil and olive oil that yields a rich tangy flavour

and what ever toppings you fancy, I like lactose free cheese or no cheese at all and plenty of rocket!

** WATCH THIS SPACE** pizza base mixes are soon for sale and available to order at Naughty and Nice cakes!

You don’t need a birthday to celebrate those you love. You can celebrate them anytime and especially with coconut lime cupcakes: sweet and tangy and moist, as one celebrator commented the ‘moist amazing cupcakes’

photographs by http://www.christaholka.com

What perfect excuse to make and enjoy delicious dinner, drinks and dessert than a dinner party?!

Add to that a reunion with good people with lots to catch up on….

…makes for a perfect party and so the pressure was on to make the perfect pastry, success by the sounds of those eating the Apple Tartin and Rose-Apple Cupcakes I made, drizzled of course with creme anglaise….DELIGHTFUL!

Its a warm sunny spring day, perfect for brother’s birthdays, barbeque’s and berries!

For this special day I attempted to put as many berries as I could possibly fit onto this very berry cake…..I’m not giving away anyones age here..ahem… but lets say theres more than 30!

This is my Diploma and some graduation baked goods after attending the NorthWest Culinary Academy of Vancouver. For 3 months I Studied intensively to learn classical training in the following subjects:

I made these cupcakes for the opening reception of the ‘Interruption’ exhibiton by Artist Eshan Rafi.

In interruption, the artist engages in a process of active remembering – of family stories, public histories, and personal transformation. A multidisciplinary art exhibition, interruption foregrounds spaces of resistance and uses translation and interpretation to disrupt official narratives. The artist constructs a critical space that interrogates current and past events in Pakistan, while locating the self as a gender-variant, diasporic body that is implicated in, and subject to, histories.

I decided that these cupcakes would fit into the narrative after enjoying cardamon tea in the artists residence where we talked about their inspiration for their exhibition, their relationship to Pakistan and mine to India and how it affected our identities today. The flavours of cardamon take me back to my childhood, something I have inherited from my family who originated in India and is something I use today in my baking. The stories we spoke of sitting around the table conversing naturally became the inspiration for these cupcakes.

These beautiful chocolates were the perfect gift for a special Scorpio somebody. I gave these treats to 3 of my Scorpio friends for their birthdays and needless to say those friendships have lasted to this day.

Choose this as a gift to give and you are certain to recieve a smile upon delivery, if not more, and thats guaranteed.

I filled white, milk and dark chocolate shells with alternating white passion ganache, caramel and mango and orange ganache. I then dipped them in alternating Dark, Milk and White chocolate and finally covered them in toppings such as coconut, chopped and whole pistachios and almonds. Some were even drizzled in complementary contrasting chocolate to give them an elegant design. For some I used transfers for an instant design. Some chocolates were molded for a perfect marbled finish. They were all so fun to make. All were completely unique.

Here are a collection of uprising treats…. Sourdough, Guinness beer rolls,Light German Rye, Fougasse, Wholewheat toast and Scandinavian rye breads…..no one will go hungry this week, lets break some bread together!

My good friend Miran was going for an important life changing surgery and what better way to celebrate then to eat cake and have a party so that’s just what we did. This raspberry surprise was lactose free so that he could eat cake and be well enough for his impending surgery……………

……..the cake was cut with surgeons precision.

Food photographer Kim Lightbody came to the Hornbeam cafe in East London where I was working regularly every friday making loaf cakes to sell on their Saturday market stall outside the cafe in Walthamstow, 458 Hoe St, by Baker’s Arms.

Kim took some stunning photos to capture the essence of the cakes: Carrot and Chocolate, Cardamom & Pistachio….two of my favourite sellers. These ones were wheat and dairy free and cost only 3 pounds and 50 pence for half a loaf

Check out her site for more amazing food photography! http://www.kimlightbody.net

I was asked to make a safari themed cake for a wedding that was going to take place in Kenya. I didn’t get to go to Kenya for the wedding, just the pre party, but having been born and partly raised there I decided to make a cake that represented what I best remembered about safari? The wild animals!

I used the patterns of leopard and zebra, using gold and white marzipan which encased two tier vanilla and chocolate ganache filled cakes which were then enclosed with a solid chocolate band and a snake wrapped tightly around to hold in place. The cake was then scattered with jasmine flowers. I also made matching cupcakes to accessorise the cake.

The ‘happy couple’ were very pleased and everyone was dressed according to the occasion, mostly in animal prints to match the cake! Though there was one giant crocodile lurking around for a gobble!

I recently visited Berlin to conspire with friends opening up a bakery collective in Berlin in the near future. Coincidentally, it was also my good friend Debra kate’s birthday and so we celebrated with some baked goods. Between us, the dietry requirements consisted of lactose, wheat and sugar intolerances, so the following menu was conjured:

Savoury Herb (Kräuter) Flamingo Crackers, A chocolate and Coconut Spelt (Dinkel) Fudge cake and a savoury Carrot and Courgette Loaf with Sunflower Seeds (Sonnenblumenkerne).

AHHHH good conversation, friendship and tasty food that we can all eat makes a good gathering indeed.

How the Naughty and Nice Apple Strudel Cake was invented!

A friend of mine was handing in her academic essays to school for which I said I would make her a cake to celebrate the occasion of achievement (yes the famous ‘handing in essays cake’).

I told her she could have ANY cake she wanted if she completed her essays, to which she requested a ‘Vegan Apple Strudel Cake’. I pondered for a good while… OK if i’m totally honest I initially thought to myself ‘what the!?*! is that?!’ I wondered if she was setting me up with a trick or being difficult but then thought, since she was from the US, that it must be a common recipe there. So I searched extensively for recipes finding only those for the more common apple strudel pastries! Then I had a brainwave and began thriving with the challenge of a new creation: why couldn’t I create my own recipe, based on those I had found for the pastries!

…. And so the Apple Strudel Cake and Cupcakes (see Our Gallery) were born.

Instead of pastry I decided to create a spicy apple sponge. Instead of the cream cheese being wrapped in the pastry I substituted a good vegan alternative to cream cheese and sandwiched it in between the sponge. For the top of the cake I followed the signature sprinkling of apples, nuts, spices and brown sugar.

When I presented her with the cake she almost ran away! A combination of surprise, shock and disbelief. She ate it quietly at first then blurted out that it was the best cake she had ever eaten. She later admitted that she was in fact being difficult but that it was the cake that she had always dreamed to eat.

A success story for Naughty and Nice Cakes and a great collaboration. Do you have any dream/fantasy cakes that you would like to eat? If so why not get in touch with us for the challenge that we would surely love to accept!

South London Press Article

… We hope you enjoy our cakes, like our customers below!