Bollocks to Baking: Bittersweet Bakers

At our very happy first birthday party the other night, we were showered with sweet things from some of London's finest purveyors of baked goods.

I was thrilled when Arianna Halshaw, the genius behind Bittersweet Bakers kindly offered to make us a surprise something for our big event: and what a wonderful treat it turned out to be!

Arianna came up with a special recipe to help us celebrate, and with a nod to the upcoming St. Patrick's Day for the Irish Slut (yes, that's me!) she made us Guinness and Ginger Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting. You probably saw the Twitter chatter the following day: Miss Cay called them a "darker, richer, angrier version of gingerbread", and they were absolutely the hit of the evening in amongst a strong field of very yummy goodies. When we opened the second dozen, one of our guests actually squealed as she'd thought we'd run out after the first box. You can see another of her creations, Chocolate and Coconut cupcakes pictured below- another flavour I'd love to try.

As well as baking and decorating gorgeous pies, cookies, celebration cakes and cupcakes, Arianna also makes wedding cakes in her central London bakery and she even delivers in the London area. If you're inclined to try to discover some of her secrets, she also offers monthly classes on sugar craft and decorating - see her blog for more details - and it's great fun. You also get to take away a dozen cupcakes, awash with sprinkles and piped high with buttercream, and then immediately become the most popular girl around while you decide who to share them with. Yes, you definitely should share...

Her Spring menu is available to browse now: cupcake fans will swoon over the choice of cake flavours and icing choices (Banana Toffee with Caramel Buttercream and Earl Grey with Citrus Vanilla are jumping out at me right now) and you can order them in Standard, Mini or Supersize! There are also lots of sweet options, all served in very generous portions. Perfect for a party or to cheer the office up on a Friday afternoon. So get your orders in now for next week!

Bittersweet Cupcakes are £2 each for standard cupcakes, £1.35 each for minis, both with a minimum order of 1 dozen. The Supersize cake version is £40.