18-25 May is Children’s Hospice Week. It’s a fantastic opportunity to raise funds for your local children’s hospice.
Delights by Cynthia’s chosen charity is Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice based in north London.
I created this cake to celebrate the super work that they do.
Next time you’re baking and you reach for some golden syrup, take a closer look at the image on the tin.
Lyle’s Golden Syrup has a picture of a rotting carcass of a lion, surrounded by a swarm of bees with the slogan “out of the strong came forth sweetness”. This is from the book of Judges in the bible (Judges 14 v 14). On his way to find a wife in the land of the Philistines, Samson (he of the long-haired, Delilah-loving fame) killed a lion. On his return journey, he noticed a swarm of bees had formed a honeycomb in the carcass. Samson used this to create a riddle at a wedding: “Out of the eater came forth meat and out of the strong came forth sweetness”. It is said that the reasons this image and slogan was placed on the tins by Abram Lyle in 1904, was to reflect his religious belief and also to refer to the strength of the Lyle company and the tins in which the syrup is sold…It must have worked because according to the Guinness Book of Records, Tate & Lyle’s Golden Syrup is the world’s oldest brand.
My daughters usually go to bed at around 7.30pm. When I’ve got cakes to bake or decorate for the next day, ‘Daddy Delights’ does the bedtime shift. Once I’ve kissed the girls goodnight, on goes the oven and the Kenwood and I get to work.
I often wonder whether the sweet aromas of chocolate ganache, vanilla sponge, strawberry buttercream or rich chocolate cake, filling our home, have any influence on their dreams.
When I kiss the girls goodnight, I usually say: “Goodnight girly-girls…Sweet dreams…” and they always say “see you in the morning…When the day is dawning”.
Blush Cookies - Photography by Giovanni Loi
With the Chelsea Flower Show looming, I took some inspiration from the vintage rose theme to create these cupcakes and cookies.
I love this delightful theme. Vintage rose is all about softness, femininity, grace and being oh-so dainty. I can see these blush coloured cupcakes and cookies working perfectly for a bridal shower or girly get-together…Don’t forget the doilies.
I’ve been meaning to write a post about this for ages. But as I heard about the death of the Diva of Disco, Donna Summer, it felt appropriate to write about this today.
The first record I ever bought was MacArthur Park by Donna Summer.
Picture this. The summer of 1978. My mum was into the Bee Gees and Rod Stewart. My sister was buying 45’s and albums on a regular basis; The Sex Pistols, The Boomtown Rats, Elvis Costello, Steely Dan and Stevie Wonder.
I’m nine years old and all my friends are singing Tell me more, tell me more from Summer Nights and I was spellbound by this disco track, all about someone leaving a cake out in the rain…
I was given a one pound record token for my birthday, which I’d kept since March, holding onto it, waiting to make the right purchase.
My sister took me to Our Price. I marched up to the counter and asked for MacArthur Park. I was given my 45 and 1p change. I came home and played that record to infinity. The song reminded me of the Wizard of Oz. Just as you get into the sweetness of the song, it all changes and this disco vibe kicks in. I know some people prefer the original, but for me, it doesn’t get better than this.
How ironic that the first record I ever bought, just happens to mention cake…
Someone left the cake out in the rain,
I don’t think that I can take it,
’cause it took so long to bake it,
and I’ll never have that recipe again…
Donna, we’ll miss you. The dance floor will never be the same…
I’m the creative one. My husband is the financially savvy one. He knows which bank is giving the best deals on interest and his eyes don’t glaze over when the bank statements arrive. He saves for a rainy day and as for me… I ‘buy umbrellas’.
When it came to creating a birthday cake for ‘Mr Delights’, I knew there was only one thing for it. Thankfully he has a sense of humour…
I created this Million Dollar Cake, for my million dollar man.
Banana cake with vanilla cream, covered with fondant. I added a few chocolate coins for good measure.
Needless to say, he loved his cake and couldn’t wait to tuck into it.
Going…Going…Gone!
Another new feature on this blog is going to be called Cake Crush. These are the people who
First up, we have Kaysie Lackey. I got the opportunity to train with Kaysie a few weeks ago. Kaysie is a breath of fresh air.
For starters, she’s not one of the ‘frilly apron brigade’ – she’s not all icing sugar and cuteness. She’s got tattos, she’s edgy, she drinks coffee so strong, they don’t have a name for it yet at Starbucks.
In 2010 Kaysie was the Food Network Challenge winner for Paranormal Cakes and Extreme Villain Cakes.
During the day I learnt so much, especially about the business side of creating cakes. “Having a bakery is like having a child,” says Kaysie, “it will take up all of your time.”
The first thing I learnt from Kaysie was to take more control when working with a cake. I need to show the cake who’s boss. Or a Kaysie so eloquently put it: “make the cake your bitch”.
I could relate to how Kaysie has found creating cakes as an outlet to channel her creativity. Kaysie was an art student, who went on to become a make-up artist. She is self-taught, so her work doesn’t have any boundaries. The tools and techniques she applies to her work aren’t the conventional tools you’d associate with sugarcraft tools – you’re more likely to find them in a DIY store or a tool box.
So here’s what Kaysie had to say about her time in London: “People in England appreciate that cakes can be a work of art – not just sugar, flour and butter. You don’t hear people in England say it’s just a cake. People respect cake crafters in England.”
Where does she get her inspiration: “I can take my inspiration from anywhere. While in London, I’ve been inspired by some of the window displays in Harrods…I’m inspired by films, architecture, art…fashion, vintage prints and patterns…”
I talked to Kaysie about how I like to Bake and Shake in the Delights Kitchen. I was keen to know what she liked to listen to when she was working: “When I’m in a mellow mood I like listening to Mumford and Sons and Florence and the Machine” (eclectic British tip: methinks) “But when I’m feeling upbeat and need music to energise me, it’ll be Green Day…Offspring…Depending on what I’m listening to, my employees know what kind of mood I’m in…”
Kaysie Lackey owns The People’s Cake in Seattle and is a regular on Food Network Challenge. She combines art and fashion to create original and over-the-top cake creations.
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