Last Thursday we re-launched ‘create and do’ at bake-a-boo with a special event #makeaboo. We hosted a little evening in the shop where some of our new workshop hosts came to talk about what they do and share some of their tricks of the trade – ocer bubbly and cakes of course! Lots of people turned up to see what workshops were coming up and also to decorate their own cupcakes. The lovely Lisa (Lisa jane photogrpahy) took lots of snaps so I will share those and write more about create and do with her gogeous pics! In the mean time I will just share some details of the amazing vintage makeover I got from Sophia – our vintage hair and make up workshop host….you can book onto her workshop (more details here) and create this look yourself….

amazing victory rolls

and eyes and lashes to die for…thank you Sophia x

Big Thanks to Lisa, Jonathan, Vanessa, Sophia, Monica, Liz, Alice, Lally and Paul for helping with this event x

#makeaboo event – Thursday 13th October 2011 – 7pm-9pm

Our create and do schedule became a little bit neglected this year due to other boo projects, and we have now injected new life into it and collaborated with some fabulous people to host workshops and to teach you how to ‘create and do’ wonderful things, always over tea and cake, within the lovely atmosphere of bake-a-boo.

workshops include:

• Knitting
• Sewing
• Jewellery making
• Vintage hair and make up masterclasses
• Vintage cake stand making
• Cake decorating
• Nail art
• Flower crafts

And more………with new things being added all the time.

Join us for an exclusive eveing of tea and cake and something bubbly and meet some our new workshop hosts, pick up a programme of our new workshops and events and see what the new ‘create and do’ at bake-a-boo has to offer.

on – Thursday 13th October 2011 – 7pm-9pm

at – bake-a-boo – 86 Mill Lane, London, NW6 1NL

Please confirm your wish to attend this event at info@bake-a-boo.com

Thinking of Annie today…..one of our dearest and loyal customers who sadly died on this day last year.

You can read the post I wrote about Annie on the day of her funeral last year here

Annie became a friend to us all at bake-a-boo and if only we had know just how troubled she really was. Even though Annie was a customer and an aquaintance more than a real friend, I saw her every week for 4 years, atleast once a week, and thats perhaps more than some of my closest friends. Her death came at what was perhaps a difficult and stressful  time in my life and this impacted me greatly.

This picture is Annie, taken by my sister, the last time I saw her – she was all smiles and full of excitement at my book launch party on the 6th September last year. Just over a week later I heard the news Annie was gone. The experience of her death and the lessons I have learnt through the experience has taught me so much about myself, about compassion, about it being ok to have weaknesses and to ask for help. I wish Annie had asked for help? But most importantly it has taught me the valuable lesson to always ‘be kind to yourself’ and that life is just too short and too precious.

I hope Annie is happier now, and we continue to remember her every day at bake-a-boo.

For those of you who are frequently asking about our workshop and requesting to be added to our mailing list – things have been a bit hectic at bake-a-boo and we have had to put ‘create and do’ on hold for a bit – because it requires a lot of time consuming organisation – but we have been meeting with lots of new exciting people in the last few weeks in preparation to re-lauch ‘create and do’  at bake-a-boo with a bang in September. We will be hosting a special event (Details to come soon) to re-launch and introduce lots of new fun and exciting workshops, activities and events.

We have chosen to re-launch in September as many people are away for the summer and it tends to be a quieter time – however in warm up to our new schedule starting in September – we have a lovely little workshops for you this month – with the Monica. We have been selling Monica’s lovely creations in the shop and we thought we would share her talents with any of you who havent yet jetted off on your summer hols!

So please note the following two workshops – pre-booking is essential and a 50% deposit will be required.

THURSDAY 28th JULY - MAKE YOUR OWN VINTAGE CAKE STAND

7pm-9pm

Chose from Monicas treasured selection of vintage plates and let her help you create a beautiful tiered cake stand of your own – to take home and display your wares and homebaked creations at home in style. This 2 hour workshop includes all materials and guidance and also tea, nibbles and cake! Your cake stand is yours to keep.

2 tiered cake stand = £30 per person

3 tiered cake stand = £35 per person

Please call 020 7435 1666 to book your place on the cake stand workshop – places are limited

bake-a-boo are looking for staff……

Food Retail Assistants

We are looking for happy people who love cake to serve our lovely customers. We are looking for people to work part time on a shift basis – so do not think you need not apply if you cannot do all these days – just let us know what you can do and it may work with someone else who has applied?

Requirements:

• Some experience of working in a cafe environment essential
• Must speak fluent English
• Available immediately

Shifts:

Monday – 2pm-6pm

Wednesday – 2pm-6pm

Thursday – 2pm-6pm

Friday – 12pm-6pm

Saturday 10am-6pm

Sunday 1pm-6pm

Floater – Sundays

We need someone to work both in our shop and our kitchen on Sundays. Your job would be to go between the shop and the kitchen when required. The kitchen work would involve preparing afternoon teas and making sandwiches, and general cleaning. Whilst in the shop you would be serving customers, setting up for parties and clearing.

Shift :

Sunday 12pm-6pm

PLEASE APPLY WITHIN, OR EMAIL YOUR CV AND ALSO TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF AND  WHY WE SHOULD PICK YOU – TO – info@bake-a-boo.com

The Royal wedding is fast approaching and there’s lots of excitement – I’m excited for it as it’s just an excuse for me to do all the things I love – like get the bunting out and have a bloomin good tea party!

We will be closed on the Royal Wedding day 29th April – I wanted to have a big party, but I think most of you will be off work and be doing your own thing – preferably alcohol fuelled? or you will have booked a few days of work and be off on hols, so I can’t see it being too worth us being open, plus Kate is an ozzy and is desperate to go into town and see how patriotic us brits can be!

But……. we will be open Thursday before the wedding with lots of treats for you to gather for you’re own royal wedding celebrations. Then of course we are open on the Saturday and Sunday 30th and 1st and we have decided to offer a special Royal Wedding afternoon tea. A ‘Royaled up’ version of our afternoon tea.

The Royal Wedding afternoon tea will be available from Wednesday 27th – Sunday 1st May, except obviously on the 29th when we will be closed. This special tea must be booked in advance (minimum 24 hours notice) and we take a 50% deposit when booking. We also highly encourage you to dress up for the occassion!! There will be prizes for people who dress up for the tea!

The Royal wedding afternoon tea is £17.50 per person and here’s the menu….

Royal wedding afternoon tea

A selection of Finger sandwiches

Scones with jam and cream

White chocolate wedding cake cupcakes

Crown shaped biscuits

Mini trifles

Chocolate dipped strawberries

Served on cake stands with vintage china, wedding favours for each guest – and of course  patriotic decorations!

I’m so looking forward to Easter as I may have mentioned before it is my FAVOURITE time of year – I love everything about Easter, the colours, the spring flowers, the longer days, the food and of course the chocolate and the chicks!! not forgetting the hot cross buns, oh I could rave about Easter all day long!!

Anyway just wanted to let you know our opening times for Easter.

We will be open on Good Friday 22nd April and Saturday 23rd April.

But we will be CLOSED on Easter Sunday – 24th April and bank holiday Monday 25th April.

The shop is currently filled with Eastery treats and lovely nickety nackety bits and bobs so come see us soon and get into the Easter spririt!!

And if you don’t make it to us – we hope you do lots of Easter baking fromt the bake-a-boo cookbook!

xx

Bake-a-boo will be closing this week for a little, but much needed break.

we will be closed Monday 11th April-Thursday 14th April

I won’t sugar coat it (as we say in cake land!) the absolute truth is that boo just needs a break!!

2011 has so far been a great year for us, we have had a really busy start to the year and I’m really happy with how bake-a-boo is progressing, I hate to jeopardise that by randomly closing, but I really have to for my health.

It’s great 2011 has been so busy at bake-a-boo, but it has also been difficult for me keeping up, as so far in the three (and a bit) short months of this year I have had laryngitis, sinusitis and bronchitis (yes that’s a lot of itis’s!!) and the thing is I just don’t get any time to recover as I’m always needed to soldier on at work….

Last summer my lovely, loyal and faithful right hand man Jonas left bake-a-boo to go back to Sweden, his home town. As the summer months are much quieter for bake-a-boo I decided to not replace him for a few months and wait until September, well then in September my book came out and I was busy with that…….and then suddenly it was Christmas……and NOW suddenly it’s April and I’m still yet to replace him! So I have almost singlehandedly been making every single cake since July last year. I am lucky that I have the occasional help from one of favourite people in the world – Mr Leon Ockenden, and he is wonderful and our scone master, but he is first and foremost an actor, and often he’s off jet setting!! Luckily he is with me most Fridays and Sundays .

So I guess the point I’m trying to make it that bake-a-boo just cannot run without me!! Maybe I am a control freak, but we have yet to make the millions on mill lane to employ the army that I currently need! And unfortunately the only way I get to have a time out is to not be open!

Two years ago I got diagnosed with ME and ordered by my GP to be signed of work for at least one month. That was two years ago and I’m still yet to have that month off!! I laughed when she said she’d write me a letter straight away, ‘who am I going to give it to?…..myself?’ I said. Anyway becoming quite ill and not being able to stop made me revaluate lots of things in the business, this is one of the reasons we closed one day and week and we now only open in the afternoons. Not the only reason, as the mornings were just too quiet to justify paying someone’s wages to cover, it was also a survival tactic, but I know some people have found that concept hard to grasp. I didn’t want to be the shop that was ‘never open’ but we may not have survived, as a business, if I didn’t make that change. I made lots of changes in my life and my attitude that made me get better, and I slowly learnt to slow down!! And stop worrying!! However I do believe once you get chronic fatigue it’s kind of always with you. Underlying and waiting to come out. I’m much more in touch with myself now and when I’m too tired, I’m too tired and I have to stop.

And the truth is I have to close this week, simply because I have to stop.

Also next month there will be lots of changes at bake-a-boo – firstly our lovely Kate is leaving to go back to Oz and also Leon will be away filming in Russia for 6 weeks. And that leaves me!! So I need some time to revaluate again and make some plans for the best way forward for bake-a-boo with a few of the cogs soon to be missing from the machine! (suggestions on a postcard are more than welcome!!!)

Anyway I’ve said a lot and I don’t want this post to call for you all to get your violins out, but bake-a-boo is my pride and joy, my dream, my everything. I love my shop, I love my job and I love my world that I have created. Yes there’s bad days, lots of them, and also some great times.  But ultimately bake-a-boo is like my child, and I’m a single parent as I have no business partner and no financial help. Me and my time are the backbone of bake-a-boo. Without me and my health and my energy, there is no bake-a-boo. So I have to maintain that. Somehow.

So after months of ill health and a series of blazing migraines I have to let my body shut down for a few days and sadly that means I have to shut down my shop.

But on the upside its sunny and its Easter holidays and hopefully you’ll all be out and about and won’t miss us too much!

We will be back open in time for the weekend on Friday 15^th April, when normal hours will resume.

If you need to contact us, please leave a message on our phone or email us and we will get back to you.

Lots of love,

Boo/Zoe x

We are already hosting our special Mother’s Day tea at bake-a-boo, and spaces are quickly running out, but we have also teamed up with Tricycle Cinema once again, following the success  of our special Sex and the city event last year, to offer you an alternative perfect little package for Mother’s Day…

On Mother’s Day 3rd April bake-a-boo will be taking over the cafe at the Tricycle Theatre to serve a special cream tea at 3pm – prior to a special screening of the iconic – Breakfast at Tiffany’s starring Audrey Hepburn at 3:45pm.

From the magical opening shot of a deserted 5th Avenue at dawn, where Audrey Hepburn steps out of a cab to gaze through Tiffany’s window, to a closing scene that would make a hard-hearted dog-owner weep, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, 50 years on, remains the gemstone of Hollywood romances. Making it ther perfect film to treat your mum to this Mother’s Day.

Tickets for this event must be pre-booked. Tickets are £12.50 per person and include a cream tea of two scones served with jam and cream and a pot of tea, and the screening of the film.

For further information and to book tickets for this event please click here

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 £17.50 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 3^rd April

We also offer the tea on Saturday 2^nd April.

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 £15 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 3^rd April 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 020 7435 1666 – we can take your card payments over the phone.

We’ve had an extremely busy three days for Valentine’s weekend at bake-a-boo, but before we pack away the hearts for another year, I wanted to share some pictures from a shoot we did with the fabulous Xanthe Berkeley a few weeks ago.

On a cold January morning, the bake-a-boo girls added some colour to the grey skies and filled the pergola with shades of pink and red. The stairs were dusted with cupcakes and rose petals in celebration of st Valentines, a day of love.

bake-a-boo embraces the pinkest day of the year in full force, with celebration cakes and cupcakes and a special intimate afternoon tea for two which will melt any ladies heart. But bake-a-boo encourages the single ladies to embrace valentines as a celebration as well. Have a tea party with your girlfriends, dress up and celebrate a day filled with colour.

We took the cakes and the glamour to the pergola in Hampstead Heath to celebrate all that is valentines and all that is sweet, to get people excited about what bake-a-boo had to offer this valentine’s day.

At bake-a-boo, although it’s a lot about the tea and the cakes, it’s all about the experience at the same time. Creating images that reflect the core of bake-a-boo and the lifestyle that we live and create in our little shop shows the heart of bake-a-boo, and valentine day is all about the heart after all!

So get your finest red dresses out and brighten up this cold and dark time of year with pearls, curls and most importantly cupcakes…….it’s the only way, it’s the bake-a-boo way.

Photography by Xanthe Berkeley

Styling by Zoe Berkeley @ bake-a-boo

Models – Kate, Zoe & Vanessa x

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY xx

bake-a-boo VALENTINES TEA

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

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 cupcakes

Banana cake with passion fruit icing slices

Vanilla glittery biscuits

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,

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

Sensitive Valentine’s tea! – £18 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)

Mini filled gluten free rolls

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 Friday 11^th February, Saturday 12^th, Sunday 13^th February

and Monday 14^th February 2011

Booking is essential, and a 50% deposit must be paid in advance.

To book please call 020 7435 1666, or enquire within.

Valentines Treats to order

Most popular…..

Gift wrapped strawberry & raspberry chocolate heart – £24

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

Gift wrapped personalised heart cake - £24

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

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 Friday 11^th February. Call 020 7435 1666.

Happy New Year to you all from us…

We have been closed over Christmas, and have all had a much needed break and been able to catch up on lots of things at bake-a-boo. With some time on my hands, I finally did something I’ve wanted to do for years and I volunteered for Crisis at Christmas. They are lucky to get lots of amazing volunteers to work in their five centres in london, but they struggle more to find people with food hygiene certificates and experience in the kitchen, so natuarall,y as I spend my life in a kitchen, I thought that would be the best way I could contribute.

So I worked two days in the kitchen at one of the five centres, based in Finsbury Park (what can I say I’m a north London Gal!) One of my shifts was on boxing day, and there was a much smaller team of us, but the second day there were much more, and I met some really cool and lovely people, we actually made such a good team. We prepared breakfasts, lunch and served them all, then we prepped for dinner before a shift change and we could all go home! I had such a great time and met such lovely people, that I wanted to go back the next day, but unfortunately the centre then closed.

The Crisis kitchen!

What crisis are doing throughout the year for homeless people is amazing, but they really make Christmas special for so many people who have nothing, or very little. I felt good to be a part of it. It gave me some Christmas spirit for sure.

I also set up a sponsored volunteer page, and people very kindly made donations to crisis through this, so thank you so much. I offered a prize for a random donator, and I will  very fairly pick a winner for Friday when we re-open for the new year.

Right….I’m off to sign up for next years Crisis, hope to see some of you there?

xxx

Earlier this month we took part in the Christmas market on West End Green. This was the first Christmas market held in West Hampstead, so we were’nt sure what to expect, but we are always keen to take part in community events.

So off we went with our neighbour from Mill Lane – Achillea Flowers and The Kitchen Table, and we all set up shop on the green.

We took cupcakes, mince pies, sweeties and lots of Christmas decorations and other treats, and of course we had to take out bunting too!

Overall we had a good day, saw lots of familiar faces and lots of West Hampstead folk who hadn’t yet discovered bake-a-boo! The market was really busy and we look forward to hopefully taking part again next year.

Thanks to everyone who came to see us at the market x