Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea

Treat your mum to a special tea at bake-a-boo on Mother’s Day & show her how much she means to you with yummy cakes & tea served in vintage tea cups, she will simply adore it!

The Mother’s Day tea menu is £18 per person & includes:

A selection of finger sandwiches

Scones with jam and fresh cream

Lemon cupcakes topped with sugar flowers

Vanilla glitter biscuits

Fruit tea bread slices

Chocolate dipped strawberries

Mini chocolate brownies

Served with unlimited tea of your choice

All served on tiered cake stands with fresh flowers within the tiers with vintage china

scattered rose petals & hearts on the table and a refreshing pot of tea!

Tea is served in set time slots between 12pm & 4pm on Mother’s Day the 18th March

We also offer the tea on Saturday 17th March.

Due to the popularity of this tea Tables are limited to 1.5 hours on Mothering Sunday.

Mother’s Day Special Breakfast

Start Mother’s Day off showing your mum how much you love her with a special breakfast at bake-a-boo. This year we will also be opening early on Mother’s day at 11am and we are offering a special Mother’s Day breakfast, which must also be pre-booked.

The Mother’s Day breakfast menu is £16 per person & includes:

Smoked salmon & cream cheese bagels

mini croissants and pastries

bitesize blueberry muffins

granola served with yogurt and honey

fresh fruit salad

Served with orange juice, tea or coffee

All served on vintage china. Your table will be decorated with hearts confetti, rose petals and fresh flowers

bake-a-boo’s Mother’s Day breakfast is served between 10am & 11.30am on Mother’s Day 18th March only.

Both the tea and the breakfast must be booked a minimum 48 hours in advance and a 50% deposit must be paid upon booking – please call – we can take your card payments over the phone.

Happy Pancake Day everybody!!! One of my favourite days of the year – one of those days where you can treat yourself because you are supposed to!! Pancake Day also symbolises to me, that spring is on the way, and we all need that to hurry up and come!

I hope you are all enjoying pancakes today, and that you are not giving up bake-a-boo cakes for lent?!! There are other things you can give up surely?!

Happy Pancake Day xx

This Friday Laura and I in the kitchen heard the very sad news that Jay had died.

Literally everything in the kitchen stopped on Friday as we came to terms with the shock that Jay had very sadly taken his own life on Valentine’s Day. We talked about him and reflected all day….

Here we are with Jay on a night out in Crouch End where Laura, Jay and I all live, last summer. I think this picture captures his character well.

We didn’t know him all that well, and Laura knew him better than me, I guess it was evident that he was perhaps troubled in some way – maybe due to his strive for perfection and success – this made him a great and ambitious person, but clearly was also his downfall, in that perhaps he felt he was never going to find or achieve what he was looking for? I guess now we will never know, and Jay will never know how much of an impact his death has had on us. The response on Twitter to his death was incredible, if only he had realised how many people were both there for him and also respected and admired him from a far.

The news of Jay, took me back to raw memories of the sad story of Annie – I think of Annie every day and probably always will, suicide is an extremely tragic and also selfish act and the destruction left behind is overwhelmingly huge. I guess its something most of us will forever struggle to understand.

I hope Jay has found the peace he has been searching for, and that, if at all possible he can somehow see how much we care now its too late to show him?

Laura and I will attend his funeral next week, but for now he has given us strength in realising life is too short and that we must go and get everything we wish for, follow all our dreams and never leave things unsaid. This is the positive I am taking out of Jay’s tragic death, and I will honour him, and Annie, by living life and enjoying every moment and never letting things get too much.

I send everyone who is reading this smiles and love and urge you to go out and do something you want to today, or even better, tell someone you appreciate how great they are and how much you love them – if Jay had heard this more, maybe he would have found life more bearable?

Goodbye Jay C Andrews. May you rest in Peace and you will be forever in our thoughts….x

So with Valentine’s just the other day, I cant help but feel that love is all around.

Something I love……is Leon x

Many of you will often hear me going on about our Leon – Leon is known as our scone master at bake-a-boo, he is the life and soul of bake-a-boo (When he is here) – Leon is also an actor, and sometimes he has to leave us for short periods of time to pursue his projects and successes. He is an actor, but he certainly is a character, loved by most and irritating as hell to some others! But none the less extremely loveable! and he’s pretty handsome too, which helps!

Leon is also my best friend in the whole world, he always makes me laugh, sometimes makes me cry – but he is always there for me and he knows me better than no other. He is like my brother from another mother. His wife even calls me his other wife! We are very close and I am lucky to have him in my world, and also to have him work with me in making my dreams come true at bake-a-boo.

Leon has not been with us at the boo in 2012 – as he is currently in a brilliant play at the Orange Tree theatre in Richmond – ‘Muswell Hill’ – the play runs until the 10th March, I’m looking forward to going on the 27th February – you should all go too!! you can find more information here.

In 2010 Leon married the gorgeous Vanessa. Having Leon as ‘my brother’ meant I also got Vanessa thrown in for free!! two best friends for the price of one, The Ockendens are my favourite couple, and Leon and I work together, but the Ockendens also live round the corner, so we are never far apart. They both help so much with bake-a-boo and are always supporting me in everything I do with the business and in life, for this I can never thank them enough.

So this Christmas I recieved a Christmas card from the Ockendens which made me leap with joy – on the front of the card from a picture of a scan…….yes baby Ockenden will soon be with us!!

Basically the scone master went and baked himself an apprentice!!!!

and I (boo) will be the proud god mother of the little bean, I cannot wait to meet him/her and shower him/her with love, cuddles and cakes. I’m so excited for my best friends and even more excited to have the first bake-a-boo baby!!!!

Here is baby Ockedino at 21 weeks…………June 15th is the day bubba is expected to join us in the world.

Now I must get on with planning the baby shower!! yeyyyyyy!!! which will be at bake-a-boo – OF COURSE! xx

It’s Valentine’s Eve….

I love this time of year, to some people Valentine’s is a tacky silly holiday invented for people to just make money – and yes I won’t deny it is a good day for businesses, like us, who make cakes, and sell flowers, chocolates, champagne, and is also great for restuarants! Some people who have a Valentine to treat can really feel the pressure and some who don’t can feel left out – its a tricky holiday that really doesn’t include everyone!! I don’t have a Valentine to shower me with gifts, but in the past when I have, I’ve actually been too tired to care about Valentines as it’s so busy for me at work! So that’s not why I love it….

I just almost get to re-discover my love of making cakes at Valentine’s – Christmas is manic, January is all too healthy and Valentine’s is almost like the first time to be able to celebrate something fun again? I have adored every moment today of making heart topped cupcakes in more ‘romantic’ flavours and adding a ‘loving’ twist to all the classics, like making mini heart shaped Victoria sponges and cutting brownies out in hearts and dusting them with red glitter.  I also very much enjoy the countless phone calls with the stuck guys, who dont know what to book, or what to order or just what to say! It really just makes me smile!

Although as I said, Valentine’s doesn’t actually include everybody – I, for example will be at home with my flatmate Lauren and our ‘married’ friend Vanessa who’s Valentine will be working tomorrow night – and we will be drinking bubbles and probably eating bake-a-boo cakes! (I’m actually quite excited! and I’m not just saying that!) But despite that fact, seeing people coming into the shop and filling up boxes of carefully selected glittered and heart sprinkle treats and knowing that they are going to take them home to make someone smile, genuinely warms my heart – I am always interested in the stories of the people who pass through bake-a-boo….

We had a couple in for Valentine’s tea on Sunday and they had suitcases, I, of course HAD to ask them where they were going or coming from? and he was whisking her off to Milan that night, it had been a suprise but he had to tell her that day as she had seen the weather report for Milan on his phone! It’s the stories and the being a part of peoples lives in the littlest way – but with cake and tea it’s usually a happy or celebratory way – that makes my job so wonderful!

Anyway once again I’m babbling, so I’m going to get back to preparing for the big day tomorrow – I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine’s – however you are spending it and whoever you are spending it with.

I hope we can provide you with some cakes or treats – and that for those who have already picked up their orders today,  I hope their edible gifts are well received?

We are open tomorrow 2pm-6pm – lots of lovers tea’s booked in – and lots of treats to pick up for the one you love.

For those of you who want to create your own edible gift – I have shared below, my recipe from the for the Valentine’s chocolate raspberry heart – if you dont have a heart tin, you can us this recipe in an 8″ round tin.

Happy baking! and Happy Valentine’s!

Love boo xx

boo’s chocolate raspberry heart………..(page 56)

ingredients

250g butter at room temp

250g caster sugar

4 large free-range eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

225g self raising flour, sifted

75g cocoa, sifted

175g fresh raspberries

50g milk chocolate chips

Edible coloured glitter to decorate

chocolate buttercream

500g icing sugar, sifted

25g cocoa powder, sifted

100g butter at room temp

60ml water

serves 8-10 – baking time 25 minutes

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F, gas mark 4 and grease and line the bottom of 2 heart shaped cake tins, approximately 20cm/8″ across and 5cm/2″ deep.

2. Cut 75g/3oz of the raspberries in half. Lightly cream the butter until light and fluffy, then beat in the caster sugar until just combined. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Add the sifted flour and cocoa and fold in gently until well combined. Finally fold in the chocolate chips and the halved raspberries.

3. Divide the mixture between the two tins and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Leave the cakes to cool before releasing them from the tins.

4. To make the buttercream, place the icing cugar and cocoa in a large bowl and beat in the butter. Add the water, a little at a time, to form a smooth icing. Sandwich the hearts together using half the buttercream, then leave to set for atleast 30 minutes.

5. Smooth the remaining buttercream over the top of the cake, then cover with the remaining raspberries and sprinkle with glitter!

xx

With Valentine’s Day next week, love is in the air and there are hearts and lovliness everywhere – too many lovely things, I want them all!!

Here’s Boo’s Valentine wish list……

Flowers may be predictable, but flowers from are anything but – my favourite florist, full of wondefurlness all around, and only a few doors down from bake-a-boo.

I’m also wishing for a beautiful pink rose exclusive to near my home in Crouch End, these two florists are bloomin marvellous and their blooms will blow your valentine away!

I’m hearting these delicious ! x

Because it’s true – Paris is always a good idea, loving this with quote from Audrey Hepburn x

…..And whilst on the subject of Paris, my wall would love this Oulala sign from one of my Favourite Shops Little Paris! x

How cute are these – dot them around your fruit bowl for your Valentine..

Because you cant go wrong with Smythson, the gorgeous red ‘Amour Sans Fin’ notebook is perfect for Valentine’s x

In keeping with the RED, every girl should have an essential Chanel ‘rouge allure’ red lipstick in their make up bag!

Say it with words (and Jewels) Laura Lee does it perfectly with these stackable engraved rings x

Because I love bows, always have, always will – bows will always make the perfect gift! these Melissa bow pumps in blush are dreamy! Plus they are flats and perfect for my spinning around bake-a-boo all day! x

and because I can’t get enough bows – I’m wishing for this from the truly fabulous x

and you can wrap it all up perfectly with a bow tied in this ‘I love you’ ribbon x

Every girly girl loves Marilyn and dressing up! This Valentine’s I want to get dressed up in this Marilyn satin swing dress from Dolly Dagger

An alternative to Roses….the Diptyque Rosa Mundi candle will fill the house with the sweet smell of roses x

And sticking with the rose theme.. I Love this cute from Bethal Bohemian x

If all else fails – you can usually be safe with her favourite perfume?

Mine is Marc Jacobs Woman x

And Finally – no wish list of boo’s would be complete without something from Stella & Dot – just for Valentine’s it has to be the – and if it’s not too greedy – layered with the

I heart Stella & Dot x

So that’s what boo’s wishing for this Valentine’s -  maybe it will help you choose the perfect gift for your Valentine, if not there’s always bake-a-boo….

treat her to cakes or afternoon tea! or both?

wishing you love and lovliness this Valentine’s Day xxxx

Love is in the air….and we are open all weekend this Valentine’s weekend AND on:

Monday 13th February & Valentine’s Day Tuesday 14th February – 2pm-6pm

so you can pick up treats or come in for tea?

You can order treats for your loved one here

or you can romance over a delightful afternoon tea for two – or bring the single ladies for tea and sympathy? details of our Valentine’s tea here

or why not do something creative or make sweets for your sweet – and join our Valentine’s truffle making workshop this Sunday – see here

We hope to see you for 5 days at bake-a-boo FULL OF LOVE.

Mwah xxxx

bake-a-boo makes some big changes….

Summarised on this post it and then below written in detail, because I always get carried away!!

Following our decision to close during the week in January, fearing it would be quiet and everyone would be deep into their new year diets and saving the pennies – in fact bake-a-boo has been busier than EVER! To be honest I have actually struggled to keep up, even when I have had many days where the shop has been closed. I’ve been so busy with enquiries and parties and bookings that I haven’t actually got to achieve all the things I wanted to get done in this time. It has actually been an extremely challenging month work wise. I have also had a lot to think about. Choosing my word for 2012 as ‘grow’ – I have used this month to really think about the best way to ‘grow’ and be fearless in doing so, as I know some people wont understand my decisions, or see them as attempts to grow. But they are decisions based on the want and need to grow, but also the need to survive, because its tough being a small independent business! Its tough when people tell you what they think you should be doing and when you desperately want to please everybody!

When I opened bake-a-boo – I actually had planned to take it in a very different direction, but the demand took me down different pathways and as we are now into our 6^th year of the shop, I feel we have now established our direction and where our strengths are. I never thought ur main source of business would be parties and especially hen parties. I didn’t think afternoon tea would be more popular than cupcakes, there were many things I didn’t think – but you go in the direction that helps you survive and encourages you to grow. In thinking about what direction to go in next with bake-a-boo and the shop and myself I have to chose to ‘grow’ in the direction of the strengths we have worked hard to establish over the last five years.

So……. in March bake-a-boo (kind of) re-launches itself as

bake-a-boo – ‘bake shop, tea room and party parlour’

After our trial run we will now remain only open on Friday’s Saturdays and Sunday – however we will be extending our hours on these days.

Why?………..

We are a completely different shop during these days. We already close Mondays and Tuesdays as these weekdays, relying on passing trade on Mill Lane is just not lucrative enough for us. Remaining open on Wednesdays and Thursdays has now begun to almost ‘take away’ from the success of the weekends.

We only produce cakes – stock that does not keep – if we don’t sell it, we bin it! This is not good for anyone?

It’s not all doom and gloom, we do have other work outside of the shop and we are working on building these projects and also concentrating on maximising the pretty space we have at bake-a-boo by concentrating more on parties, private events and organised events including workshops and activities. This helps us in have pre-planned things booked in and also gives us more time to focus on the things we do best – and enhancing the bake-a-boo experience overall.

What will be doing during the week?…….

We will still be in the shop to take calls and answer emails and enquiries. We will still be able to bake orders throughout the week if they are pre-ordered and collection times have been arranged and we will still accept afternoon tea bookings for larger groups on 10 or over during the week days.

We will also strengthen our programme of workshops and events and launch both baking classes and a craft club in the evenings. These are decisions based on feedback from our customers who have asked for these things – particularly the baking classes.  We will launch the craft club and the baking classes in the spring and these will be weekly fixtures at bake-a-boo – please sign up to our mailing list to be kept informed.

And the rest of the time we will be preparing for a busy weekend of parties galore in our party parlour and beyond!!

So how will bake-a-boo change?…………

Our new opening hours for the tea room will be;

Friday, Saturday and Sunday – 10am-6pm

We will offer more breakfast goods to cater for people during the ‘morning hours’ and be able to fit in more of our ‘activity’ parties with the earlier starts.

We will tighten up our party packages both in and outside the shop and be able to offer you more choice. With some exciting new party ideas in store.

We will also be changing our system for ordering cakes which makes the information clearer and the process much easier.

We hope to improve, grow and focus on the bake-a-boo experience, and we hope to continue to make your cakes and your party dreams come true. We hope to have your continued support.

The new bake-a-boo come in with full force from Friday 2nd March 2012. We will continue to open on the weekend only with our current hours, please bear with us while we put everything in place and hire new staff to cover our new extended weekend hours.

We also want to get Valentine’s weekend out the way before making changes as we will be opening specially on Monday 13^th and Tuesday 14^th for you to come and buy Valentine’s treats and to save on confusion we will be changing the hours after that week, but we need to remain shut on the weekdays in order to implement these things.

We look forward to seeing you this year – bake-a-boo remains the same, same cakes, same experience, same boo! We just hope to make it even better and even more creatively active with the new changes.

Thank you for your continued support.

Love boo xx

Valentines Truffle making workshop

Using a recipe you can easily re-create at home, you will create a rich and delicious truffle mix base and then flavour your truffles using natural
ingredients such as orange, mint and ginger. Whilst your truffle mix sets, you will make a beautiful box to present your truffles in and decorate this using Alice’s collection of rubber stamps and inks. Then, you will expertly roll each of you truffles and coat each in a range of coatings such as cocoa, nuts, ginger biscuit crumbs and melted chocolate. You will leave the workshop with at least 8 gorgeous truffles in a beautiful box, perfect for a valentines gift for a loved one, if you can resist eating them yourself, that is! Advance booking is essential.

Price £36pp

Sunday 12th February 10:30-12:30pm at bake-a-boo

please ask staff  instore for details, or call – or email –

Booking on this workshop is essential and we require a 50% deposit

Please let us know if you have a nut allergy and wish to attend this workshop.

Workshop held at Bake-a-boo, Bake shop and Tea room,

www.Handmade-by-you.co.uk

bake-a-boo VALENTINES TEA

Book now for a special tea at bake-a-boo on Valentine’s Day, or over the valentines weekend.

Yes we will will be open specially on Monday 13th and Tuesday 14th for Valentine loving!! x

Have an intimate candlelit afternoon tea with your loved one, or make it a date with a group of your single girlfriends. Regardless of whom you share it with let bake-a-boo love you with our special afternoon teas served on Valentine’s Day.

Three tea options…..

Boo’s Valentine’s tea – £18 per person

Selection of heart shaped sandwiches

Scones with jam and fresh cream

Hearts & glitter topped red velvet cupcakes

passion fruit cake slices

Mini heart shaped brownies

Chocolate dipped strawberries

Hearts and lips sweeties

All served by candlelight on tiered cake stands with scattered rose petals on your table,

and a refreshing pot of tea!

Sensitive Valentine’s tea! – £19 per person

(A tea design for gluten allergy and intolerance sufferers, all free from gluten

We can also make this tea ‘dairy free’, but we cannot make it egg free)

Gluten free finger sandwiches

Scones with jam and cream

Dark chocolate dipped strawberries

Raspberry cupcakes

Strawberry cupcakes

Mini macaroons

All served by candlelight on tiered cake stands with scattered rose petals on your table,

A packet of love hearts on your plates and a refreshing pot of tea!

Children’s Valentine’s tea – £7.50 per child – Children up to age 12

Peanut butter & jam heart shaped sandwiches

Chocolate dipped strawberries

Mini heart topped cupcakes

Vanilla glitter biscuits

Served with refreshing pink lemonade and love hearts!

As well as a cup of tea for the accompanying adult

The valentine’s tea is available on Saturday 10^th February, Sunday 11^th, Monday 13^th February

and Tuesday 14^th February 2011 – set sitting times apply

Booking is essential, a minimum of 24 houors in advance – and a 50% deposit must be paid in advance.

To book please call , or enquire within.

Valentines Treats to order

Most popular…..

Gift wrapped strawberry & raspberry chocolate heart – £28

Heart shaped chocolate cake, topped with succulent strawberries & raspberries, gift wrapped with cellophane and ribbons

Gift wrapped personalised heart cake - £26

Available in chocolate or vanilla, a heart shaped cake with your message to your loved one written – for example ‘I love you Boo’, gift wrapped with cellophane and ribbons

Gift wrapped red velvet cake - £30

Delicious red velvet cake, covered in cream cheese frosting and topped with red roses and glitter, gift wrapped with cellophane and ribbons

Special Heart cupcake gift box filled with 12 valentine cupcakes = £24

Delicious Valentine cupcakes, presented in a 12 cupcake box covered in a hearts design, and tied with red and pink ribbons. Choose the following script to be written across some of the cupcakes in your box. ‘Be Mine’ or ‘I love you’

I LOVE YOU Fairy cake box – £14

Box of 9 fairy cakes with ‘I LOVE YOU’ written across the centre row & the remaining 6 with heart designs, gift wrapped with cellophane and ribbons

Love Cupcakes?

Boxes of 4 or 9 of the following CUPCAKES……..

Valentines fairy cakes

(mixed valentines designs) –4 box = £7, 9 box = £14.50

Message cupcakes

(cupcakes iced with personality messages) -

‘floozie’, ‘Lover’, ‘Sexy’, ‘Cutie’, ‘Kiss me’, ‘Honey’, ‘Darling’, ‘Sweetie’, ‘Angel’

4 box = £7.50, 9 box = £15

Chocolate cupcakes

(decorated in valentines theme) – – 4 box = £7.80, 9 box = £16

Strawberry cupcakes

topped with fresh succulent strawberries and edible glitter – 4 box = £7.80, 9 box = £16

Red Velvet cupcakes

(decorated with red hearts and red glitter) – 4 box = £8, 9 box = £16

Champagne cupcakes

Topped with gold and red hearts and gold glitter – 4 box = £7.80, 9 box = £16

All the above cake boxes are gift wrapped with cellophane and ribbons

Valentines gifts for special diets

Gluten and Dairy free treats…..

Wheat, gluten & dairy free passion fruit cake

Moist and tangy passion fruit cake and topped with red and pink hearts – £22

Wheat, gluten & dairy free blueberry & passion fruit valentines hearts cupcakes

(topped with coloured hearts and sparkle sprinkles) – 4 box = £8, 9 box = £16

Wheat, gluten & dairy free ‘Roxy’ Raspberry cupcakes

A bake-a-boo favourite – Raspberry flavoured cupcakes with icing made with raspberry juice and topped with fresh raspberries and hearts  - 4 box = £8, 9 box = £16

Wheat, gluten & dairy free ‘Scarlet’ Strawberry cupcakes

Strawberry flavoured cupcakes with icing made with Strawberry icing and topped with a succulent strawberry – 4 box = £8, 9 box = £16

Dairy & Egg free Vegan Chocolate heart cupcakes

bake-a-boo’s popular vegan chocolate cupcakes get a re-vamp for valentines, topped with chocolate icing and a heart – 4 box – £8, 9 box = £16

All the above cake boxes are gift wrapped with cellophane and ribbons

All edible gifts must be ordered in advance, no later than Thursday 11^th February. Call .

Coming into the New Year we are all encouranged to make resolutions, make changes, make plans, make decisions. For me the start of 2012 was about making important decisions for myself and my business and thinking about the direction that bake-a-boo should take next. My sister encouraged me to think of a word for 2012, as she had, with inspiration taken from the .

I didnt want to just pick a word, which is why I have let a few weeks of 2012 pass and see how things have already panned out for me and 2012 before chosing my word. I made a hard decision to close the shop during the week in January and anticipated it to be a very quiet month for us, however I was probably completely wrong as the weekends have been beyond busy and even having the shop only open three days a week I am actually desperately struggling to keep up. We have possibly had record enquiries, phonecalls and bookings this month, it seems to have gone crazy, which is very encouraging and very positive.

I have taken the time we have been closed to sort things out at bake-a-boo, to make plans, re-organise things, create new systems and just generally clean up any straggly mess! and to think…. a lot.

My thoughts, my decisions and the huge influx we have had with the business allowed my ‘word’ to just come natuarlly to me.

My word for 2012 is “Grow”

I am growing confidence in making decisions and finally taking my business in a direction which I have been too afraid to risk doing before. These decisions have been made with the simple intention of ‘growing’ this business.  This in turn allows both my strength and my belief in myself and in bake-a-boo to ‘grow’. bake-a-boo is now in it’s sixth year, I remember when it was just a thought like it was yesterday, yet it feels like we have been there forever at the same time. I have put my heart and soul into it, and want to continue doing so, now I have made a lot of my mistakes and learnt a lot of my lessons I can focus on not just survival and keeping it alive, but nurturing it and allowing it to grow.

I want to grow into new areas,

to grow out of bad habits

and grow up and know that I gave it the best shot I could!

I hope you continue to support me in my decisions.

2012 is my year to grow…..

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years, filled with lots of love, laughter and festive treats!! We have enjoyed some time off at bake-a-boo to celebrate with our own families and to reflect and make plans for the new year.

Its also a time for cleaning, sorting, organising and catching up. We are looking forward to getting back into the kitchen tomorrow and baking up a storm!! The ovens have rested and they are now ready to bake again.

January is a difficult month for everybody,  we have all over indulged over the holidays, and spent way more than we probably have on presents and bringing festive joy and cheer to all. So january hits and we are suddenly all broke and on a diet. You can imagine the effect this has on a cake business and especially one that is also a cafe. You can spend an entire month not seeing the same old faces as they are all ‘trying to be good’ or ‘save the pennies’. For any business its a difficult month.

At bake-a-boo we thrive on the weekends, this is when we have all our parties, the majority of our orders and catering jobs. Our shop is packed out and we have to make considerably more cakes. However the week days can be very quiet – at the best of times, hence why we only open in the afternoons during the week and we are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. This then allows us to do outside work, which helps us survive and thrive as a business. So you can imagine its even more quiet during the weekdays in a month like January!

We also lost two members of our team at Christmas – Katie and Jenny who worked in our shop both left and it has been difficult trying to replace them over Christmas…..so we are back to poor little boo trying to do everything!! yikes!!

It may not seem like it to many of you – and I hate to get the reputation of being ‘the shop that’s always closed’ but I have no real choice but to close the shop during the week in January. This may be hard to comprehend, but we can actually lose money being open during the quiet weekdays on lonely Mill Lane!!

We will open as normal on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. I will also be there everyday as I have a mountain of paperwork to catch up on and also we have got lots of changes to make to bake-a-boo. Updating things on our website and embracing new projects, so there is lots to do – things I wont get done when I have to bake cakes and work in the shop without my girls!!

So as we do in August – for all of January we will be closed Monday-Thursday. I will be there to answer the phone, take your bookings and orders and answer emails. I will be in work mode every day, so please do feel absolutely free to bombard me as you wish – if you need to order cakes to be collected during the week – I will also do my best to fulfil your orders, so please do not hesitate to ask or make orders.

February and March are our busiest months and with this time to catch up and improve we will be back in full *air punching* effect and all back to normal in February.

We hope to see some of those familiar faces tomorrow and over the weekend and I’m looking forward to getting my apron back on!! yippeee!

JANUARY OPENING HOURS

Friday – 12pm-6pm

Saturday – 10am-6pm

Sunday – 12pm-6pm

IF YOU HAVE WEEKDAY BOOKINGS, ORDERS OR EVENTS ALREADY BOOKED WITH US, YOU WILL NOT BE EFFECTED, THESE WILL STILL BE FORFILLED.

Happy 2012. Love boo xxxxxxx

I’m a few days late with this post, I wanted to post this on the last day of 2011, but going through photos just took longer than I anticipated! Just wanted to remember some of the more personal boo moments of the year through the more personal pictures. We are now well into 2012 and this time of year we always look back on the year just gone and make resolutions and plans for the new year ahead, having some time off over Christmas has given me time to reflect on the last year at bake-a-boo and reflect on the good and the bad times and make some decisions and plans for the new year. In order to make plans and relfect its important to look back on all the memories.

Leon and I named 2011 – ‘twenty one one’ – we started off the year with an amazing 1940s themed new years eve and we had the most wonderful time and were full of positivity, we had the twenty one one bug big time!! this got us through January!! x

January is always a dull month for everyone – so when we finally get to February, we are always excited to celebrate Valentine’s!! A happy occassion at bake-a-boo where we can fill the air with love and heart shaped cakes. This is Leon, Kate and boo on Valentine’s day in the shop! x

The end of February we had a bake-a-boo trip to the cinema to see Leon’s lovely wife Vanessa in West is West, well done V x

In March I made my first rainbow cake for my sisters birthday cake – it was a huge hit! x

In April Kate and boo donned our bunny ears for Easter!! My favourite time of the year!!! x

The end of April gave us all a lovely holiday as we celebrated the Royal Wedding of Kate and Wills – we made lots of Royal wedding cupcakes for lots of your Royal wedding parties – we were contacted by the Rachel Ray show in New York to talk about Royal wedding cakes, and our Royal wedding cupcakes went onto the BBC London breakfast show. Boo also hosted an epic Royal wedding party at home – these were our cupcakes for the boo wedding party!

In May – A photoshoot with resident bake-a-boo potographer Xanthe Berkeley for miss boo’s birthday! x

The day after boo’s birthday Leon and boo go on BBC London radio and serve afternoon tea for Jo Good, along with US band Young the Giant

The end of May and the lovely Laura comes to work at bake-a-boo!! We love Laura and her jam and toffee making and love of all things vintage!

In June we celebrated little Brin’s Christening at Sirous in West Hampstead – son of lovely Jasmine, one of our most loyal and regular customers at bake-a-boo – one of our favourite West Hampstead families! x

In July we celebrate Laura’s birthday with steak and lobster and, of course, bake-a-boo cake! x

And Actor Samuel Roukin comes to work in the bake-a-boo kitchen in preparation for his role in ‘The Kitchen’ at the national theatre.

In August – boo gets her first neices!!! when her sister’s cat has beeeeeeeeautiful kittens xxxxx

In Spetember we celebrate lovely kitchen belle – Ania’s birthday with a girly dinner and bake-a-boo cake x

In October we re-lauched create and do at bake-a-boo with a special event at bake-a-boo……

and boo got a vintage makeover from Sophia, our gorgeous vintage hair and make up workshop teacher x

Laura carved the bake-a-boo pumpkins as we made lots of spooky cakes for Halloween

Leon organised an amazing dinner at the Dorchester as we celebrated his wife Vanessa’s 30th Birthday. What luxury!! x

In November we did a BIG job for the staff at the groupon offices, we were glad when these boxes went off to their hungry mouths!!

In November we celebrated bake-a-boo’s 5th Birthday and discovered how much we love wearing party hats at bake-a-boo!!

and we made ourselves a cake!! Happy Birthday bake-a-boo xxx

At the end of November Leon and I went to New York to do a job – it has been my dream to go to New York and I fell in love with the city!!!

I also got to go to babycakes – the gluten free and vegan bakery in New York I had been dreaming of going to fo years – and it was worth the trip!!

Xanthe Berkeley featured boo in her ‘i love series’ of videos – we had fun fliming with shoes!!!!

you can see the video here

December brought some sadness – boo, being a local girl went to nursery in West Hampstead and was so touched to be visited by the amazing Linda Madden at bake-a-boo many times over the years – Linda  recognised me after over 20 years as a pupil at Rainbow – after coming into the shop one day – she was still the headteacher of boo’s nursery!!! Linda frequented bake-a-boo and sent lots of business our way. I was so touched when Linda turned up at bake-a-boo one day with a beautiful golden cupcake necklace for me with a card telling me how proud she was of me. Linda was one of the most hard working people I have ever known – she was a go getter and an inspiration, I adored her and she had the most amazing attitude and zest for life – even when she was sadly battling cancer. Sadly Linda lost her battle at the end of October. and when I was invited to a special memorial evening for Linda in December I of course wanted to attend – but also wanted to do the cakes!! Pink was Linda’s favourite colour – maybe thats where I got it from!! (She even had pink hair when I was little) so all the cupcakes where pink – with lots of rainbows and rainbow colours. We released these balloons for Linda at the rainbow school in West Hampstead as part of this lovely evening to remember her life. Miss you Linda xxx

Sadly also in December a week later poor boo lost her beloved cat coco!! Miss you too coco xxx

And all of a sudden it was the end of December – and the end of another year!! The end of twenty one one – maybe the fastest year of my bake-a-boo life!!! it flew by. We rounded off the year with lots of Christmas festivities – Christmas cakes all round, judging at the Beckford school (boo’s primary school) Christmas fair, the West Hampstead Christmas market and lots of lovely cards from our lovely customers – we also had the girls from the reception class at Sarum Hall school come to bake-a-boo on a school trip to make Christmas tree decoration biscuits. We love the Sarum Hall school girls!! They are the sweetest girls!!!!!!!

And so another year ends and we enter our 6th year at bake-a-boo. We are making plans and hope to make bake-a-boo better and better this year. Let us know what you would like to see at bake-a-boo this year!! We are one big (Well little actually) happy family at bake-a-boo and we thank you all for giving us the opportunity to make cakes for you, we love you all xxx

HAPPY NEW YEAR – HERE’S TO YEAR 6 AND 2012 AT BAKE-A-BOO XX