700 is a REALLY big number..

I've finally managed to bring myself round to the idea that I can't NOT look at another cakepop again, what with my business being well, erm, mostly cakepops and all that - after what soon became fondly referred to as "The Epic Order" (TEO for short?!)

Plenty o'folk have been asking who on Earth was it for? You haven't even shown us what they looked like after days of sharing the journey in creating TEO so I thought I would just give a little explanation!

I was contacted quite out of the blue by an Agency urgently looking for some promotional cakepops for a huge product launch for a well known, epicly, epic, one-of-the-biggest-companies-in-the-world brand.
The conversation went a little like this "Jade, can you make 700 logo'd cakepops for *brand* and the launch of their latest product for delivery next Thursday"
I respond "Oh sure, absolutely, no problem".

Turns out 700 is a really, really big number.

Delivery collection booked for Wednesday. The countdown began.

Saturday - It started off so well. Buttercream mixed - easy. Got a head start and rolled and chilled 90 cakepops thinking I would chip away at the order. I had plenty of time.

Sunday - I vowed to roll ALL of the little round buggers.. turns out, rolling cakepops in vast quantities takes a looooong time. Fast forward 6 hours, with the discovery that I can roll 100 per hour if I don't speak and have people bring me coffee.

Monday - came the arrival of the logo printed on to edible paper. Cutting 700 of those babies out will give you tremendous pinkie cramp I tell you. 

Then the dipping began. Hours or dipping, logo-ing, chilling, bagging and packing. By Monday night I had completed... 90.

Tuesday - TEO D Day. The day of endless dipping and packing. Hours and Hours. 20 to be precise. Douewe Egberts Coffee sales shot through the roof and my thumb has only just lost the lollipop stick shape blister. 1.30am they were almost all packed in to 5 whopping boxes with love, care and bubble wrap.

You know how it is really annoying when you are waiting for your latest 'Boohoo' delivery and your courier makes a balls up? Well, that's nothing on how it feels to send 700 precious cakepops and entrust their safe arrival in the hands of someone other than you. Paying the practically VIP rate to get them there by morning and insured to the hilt, on the Thursday, I received a call to say they had not arrived. Cue heart palpations, tears and several phone calls to said courier and all of the four letter words you can possibly think of. It was so devastating to know I had put so much in to something that could possibly then be ruined by a third parties poor performance. 

After being assured by the courier they would get their by 9am the following morning, with minutes to spare before the launch event, a sleepless night (and a gin or two) they finally made it.

It was crazy to think 700 people were in London munching my cakepops! 

The cakepops did have a logo on - which doesn't belong to me but instead to the brand - so as soon as I have approval to share the image then I'll show you those babies. 

Until then, if anyone ever says to you 700 isn't that big a number. Then they are a bloody liar. 

There might not be bread..but there's always cake!

Holy Moly - that was quite the snowy week wasn't it? I can hardly believe I was sitting doodling my Easter Cakepop designs when outside was the Beast from the East in its full Elsa from Frozen ragey glory!

It gave me plenty of time to prep and plan ideas for the next few months - it sometimes feels like I spend as much time at a computer as I do at an oven. I think the snow cabin fever had well and truly set in by Friday when I realised that some of the new flavours and designs were "out there" to say the least (you'll have to wait to see them for yourself won't you!) but isn't that the fun in it all? Coming up with new and fun things with every season?

After having to postpone an order or two due to the crappy conditions I was so thankful and delighted by local customers snapping them up to enjoy indoors with their families by the fire (well that's what I imagined them to do with the cakes, they might have just eaten them all to themselves en route back home - I fully support that move too) - and it's a nice thought that despite the bread and milk shortage there is always cake.

You may have seen at Valentine's day my first mini-cake, perfectly portioned for 2. This week will be another week of mini-cakes, albeit slightly bigger, but ideal for Birthday's for those who don't want to share (aka Me) so stay tuned for pics aplenty which should brighten up what promises to be an epicly soggy week ahead!

Jade 
xoxo

Go on Darling, give it a bash!

Darlings! I am back! An inexcusable bloggy hiatus (which I'll blame on being a one woman cakepop machine, Christmas and Valentine's orders and partly attempting to have a social life again!) but alas, I am here and I offer an apologetic promise to not leave you so long next time.

So where did we leave off? I  believe I had just ventured in to the world of Pops by Post and I had promised you I would start to share some of my hints, tips, tricks (and probably pitfalls) ad recipes - so that's where we should kick off then isn't it?

With regular Kid's classes and parties under my frilly pink belt (What do you mean you didn't know I did these? Check out the website or facebook won't you, they run practically every week!) demonstrating the cakepop knack is something that's keeping me super duper busy and frequently covered in buttercream no less - so I'll be using this blogalot today as a place to share so you can give it a bash too!

Anyone who has tried making a cakepop before will agree that it often results in a pile of cake shmush, tears, frustration, binning the cake pop sticks and a series of expletives. Your cake crumb and your buttercream and your sticks will leave you certain that they are the work of the devil and are conspiring against you. It's a possibility, but probably not. So why don't we start this week with how to make the perfect cakeball? .

Your cakepop dough.

I make my own sponges but for the sake of saving your sanity I hereby whisper to you in my best Nigella impression - you can use shop bought, I won't tell anyone, or some leftover cake you might have hanging around (Leftover, what does that even mean?!). We can come back to madeira recipes another day.
Now for your buttercream - EASY PEASY, you won't be needing a lot so to start off why don't you beat 100g of unsalted butter until pale and fluffy, sieve in 200g of Icing sugar and a drop of vanilla then mix until thick, stiff and pale in colour. And tastes like buttercream. See, so far so good.

Now obliterate your sponge. In a large mixing bowl break it down to crumbs. That's the fun part! Slowly, tiny bit by tiny bit add the buttercream to the crumbs until it sticks together to form a ball. You don't want it to be too moist you want it to just hold. If you add too much buttercream then you can guarantee the emotional breakdown will soon follow suit. Don't add enough then it will fall apart too. Its a case of trial and error and practice. Just take it a dollop at a time until you get the best consistency. It should be firm and not wet. The best way to check is to try making one. Take a scoop and squeeze in one hand until it holds and roll between your hands to create a perfectly formed ball. If it holds without cracking then you've nailed it. You're aiming for a golf ball size or smaller and repeat until all of your cakeballs are made.

Now pop them in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.

Whilst they are chilling melt yourself some chocolate (and have a cup of coffee). Depending on how many balls you made you'll probably need 100g per 5 or 6 balls as a guideline Dip the tip of your lollipop stick in to the chocolate and insert in to each ball, just by a about 0.5cm. Pop them back in the fridge to chill for 5 minutes. Then one by one dip them until they are fully immersed in the chocolate. Remove, then over the bowl, tap and rotate gently to let all of the excess chocolate drain away then leave to stand in a cake pop holder or even some polystyrene.

And that's a simple cakepop! Go, Master it, then we can start getting all fancy and start making all sorts of weird and wonderful shapes on sticks! If it didn't go quite right this time - don't panic, it just takes a little practice - or why not ping me a message and we'll try figure out where it went wrong together :) Or, if you are feeling a bit crazy you could always arrange a gals night in/party and have cakepop making as a feature (cakepops and prosecco are a perfect pair don't you know!)

I'm off to the kitchen now to get cracking on my Mother's day beauties - boy do I have some treats for you, Keep an eye on the facebook page and website and I'll upload them in no time.

Getting a bit stick-y

"How do you keep them on the stick?!" Is something I get asked ALL, THE, TIME.

The answer is utterly annoying and the sort of thing that would make me head straight to that little x in the top right hand corner - but it is true.. practice, practice, practice.

Having been making cake pops for yonks I assure you it does take time. They are fiddly, they are frustrating, they have a mind of their own and sometimes they will give you cake rage. But when you get it right then it is soooooo worth it. They are unlike anything else, cakey, truffley, sweet but not to sweet and more-ish.

So, go order yourselves some sticks - I'll be uploading a tutorial in the next few weeks and we'll go through it together. 

cake kisses, Jade oxoxo

Post-a-pop.

What I flipping love about opening 'Treats, Darling?' is that no matter how much I plan - each day can throw a thrilling (woops just lodged chocolate in to the keyboard) surprise my way.
This week we have entered the world of cake pops by post! 

Having spent the past 18 hours frantically pressing the refresh key on the Royal Mail tracking tool (maybe that explains the chocolate key board debacle) I have just been notified of their safe arrival. 

It's the small things that are so exciting - what a world of possibilities we now have. Watch this space - pops by post could be coming through a letter box near you before you know it!!!

Happy New Year my Darlings!

Happy New Year Darlings!

I hope you all had a cake filled Christmas. The 'Treats, Darling?' Kitchen was quite simply barmy!! With Christmas Fayres and orders come out of our ears, I finally put down the cake pop sticks lunchtime Christmas Eve and poured myself a festive tipple and had a homemade sausage roll. Feels like a million years ago already doesn't it?

And now on to 2017! Where will we go this year? It was amazing to end the year on such a high, thrilled at being so welcomed in to the Cake Eating and Baking world of South West Scotland and now tonnes to be getting on with to build on that.

Keep an eye on the bloggy this year I plan to share some of my cake pop hints and tips - at so many fayres people came up to me saying "I tried making Cake pops - I gave up", yes they are fiddly little buggers but so worth it!

For now, I wish you all my best wishes and here's to making 2017 fantastic :) xoxo

Cake pop panic.

So what's been keeping my fingers so busy that I have neglected my little bloggy?

Well, baking of course. Never Ending Baking.

After the most amazing weekend at the Kirkcudbright Food Festival I feel like I have been flying ever since. The organisers must have waved a magic wand over the event it was truly amazing and such a privilege to be a part of.

Waking up on the first day I head off to the market with best pal and sisterling in tow (they were paid in cake for their services, rest assured) who were to man the stall while I set off to run two children's cake pop making workshops. 

Trialing tonnes of new flavours - white chocolate and lemon, malteaser, the jammy dodger pop to name but a view I was petrified that no one would buy my cakes and left my helpers with "I want to be sold out and in an almighty panic by lunchtime!" knowing full well that would never happen.

The workshops were a blast. Give children icing and it will only be an adventure. With sponge in my hair, buttercream on my skirt and laughter tears on my cheeks - my sister ran in after the workshop hollering "Jade, get back in the kitchen, we've sold out!". Oh, ha-bloody-ha sister. This is not something to joke about, I am far too sensitive and figured this meant they had not sold a bean. 

"Don't joke Sister" I huffed. 

"No Jade, seriously, get back in the kitchen, the cake pops have nearly all gone".

Holy. Moly.

I spent the rest of the day in a frenzy sending batch after batch back out of the kitchen down to the food festival.

People like my pops. They liked my pops!!!! The rest of the weekend past in an exhausting and exhilarating blur. Culminating in the omelette challenge (the less said about that the better. Do you know how hard it is to break eggs under pressure?!) 

No rest for the wicked and I now head in to what looks like two crazy busy months with tonnes of Christmas cake pop ideas up my sleeve. Treats, Darling? will be coming to a Christmas Fayre near you  soon.