Book Review: Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery

It seems the amateur baking world is split into two camps. Those who Hummingbird, and those who Primrose.

Thanks to my mother knowing me far too well (this book was on my Christmas list but she'd bought it for me before I'd even sent the list!) I am firmly in the Primrose camp. If you want to make shop-quality cupcakes, 'Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery' will help you do that without too much fuss, mess or hard-to-find ingredients.

That said, it's not without its faults. In the name of research, I tried out two very different recipes from the book, with varied results...

First up, vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream icing. This starts with a really classic vanilla cake mix, but there was one glaring omission in the recipe - no pinch of salt! I thought this was odd, but trusted the recipe and cooked up a batch anyway. On tasting, they were very yummy, quite dense and muffin-like, but I do think that salt was needed to bring out all the flavours.

The buttercream recipe I couldn't fault. It was rich, thick and delicious, and very easy to make, though I was a bit annoyed that the recipes don't match up. If you follow them to the letter, you get 12 - 15 cakes, but enough icing for 18...and that's after a very generous icing!

The cakes were loved by all who tried them, but we did agree they were tooth-achingly sweet, and perhaps a bit too dense. I'll be trying again with a pinch of salt and an electric whisk to see if I get better results second time round!

More successful were the ginger cupcakes with ginger fudge icing. These did have a pinch of salt in, and were made from a ginger and dark treacle infused mixture that produced amazingly rich but fluffy cakes the colour of amber. They were amazing on their own, still warm from the oven, but I did manage to save enough to ice! The ginger fudge icing is slightly thinner and more watery than the buttercream, and has a tiny bit of lemon juice in it, making it a bit fresher and perfect with the spicy cakes. In this instance, the amounts matched too, so I had just enough to ice my cakes with no waste.

As far as Primrose's mantra goes, the authors emphasise the importance of quality ingredients (free range eggs, good vanilla essence etc) which I do think really helps with the final product. They also labour the point that you should bring everything up to room temperature before you start mixing. This is most important, of course, with butter, or you end up killing your arms if you're unfortunate enough (as I was) to find your electric mixer doesn't actually work any more and you have to resort to a good old wooden spoon.

There are loads of interesting recipes in here for all occasions, with fantastic photos and clear instructions, and the cakes and icings can be mixed and matched to suit. I love the look of the more adventurous recipes, like malted cupcakes with marshmallow icing and chocolate orange cupcakes, and there's also a small section at the back for traditional cakes if you'd rather not fuss around with muffin tins.

Perhaps the most important page, however, is 'how to ice a cupcake'. I've always wondered how cupcake shops get their icing to looks so appealing, and now I know!

Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery is £7.47 on Amazon, or £14.99 RRP.

The sexiest milk jug in the world

Yes, boys did snigger when I mentioned that I was writing about 'sexy milk jugs'. But, innuendo aside (stop giggling at the back), this really is a sexy milk jug. Fliff have done themselves proud with this little number. Just look at that shape! It's unique, it's classy, and well... very sexy. You can buy it from Roost Living for £51.

Game of Graces Blouse

Game of Graces is such a beautiful name for is shop. It's romantic and sophisticated and a little bit playful all rolled into one. Their clothes are stunning too. Like this little white blouse, which is just about the prettiest thing I've seen all week. It's cute, it's fun, and it's got more than a touch of Mad Men about it. And considering it looks darn expensive, £45 is a bargain.

Lulu and Nat's Butterfly wall hanging

If the Polly George Butterflies range sent your heart aflutter earlier in the week, here's another beauty that could be winging its way to your house.

How lovely is this Butterfly wall hanging from Lulu and Nat? Though it's hard to tell from the image, it's actually made from cotton which has then been embroidered with the brightly coloured, exotic looking butterflies.

The wall hanging is pretty pricey at £249 but put this on your wall and it'll help transform a grotty south-east London bedsit into a Camberwell Beauty. Take a look at one of their pictures if you don't believe me:

The image reveals just a tantalising glimpse of some of the other delights in the Lulu and Nat collection, which all feature the same vibrant colours and bold patterns. Got the butterfly bug? Well, they also sell cushions, along with duvet and cot sets, all decorated with a kaleidoscope of butterflies. In fact, everything you need to create your own cosy cocoon.

Cocktail Hour: Metropolitan

My love affair with rum is most definitely over. After drinking slightly too much of it at the weekend, and having a two day hangover (really), I've decided that it might not be the tipple for me. At least not at four in the morning anyway. So it's time to find me a new cocktail, sans rum. Maybe this brandy-based metropolitan will do the trick.

You'll need:

• 50ml Brandy
• 1 part Martini Rosso
• Dash of bitters
• Maraschino cherry

Make it!

Coat the glass in bitters. Shake the brandy and sweet martini in a cocktail shaker with some cracked ice, strain into the glass and garnish with the cherry. Probably best not to drink this at four in the morning, though.

Flickr image from DrPete's photostream.

Coro Glassware

Sometimes, colourful glass can look like you're in a cheap tapas restaurant. But these glasses from Coro at Nest are perfect. They come in every colour that you can imagine, and as it's only the bases that are coloured, it's a subtle and interesting change rather than very in your face. You can choose the colour spectrum you get in your set, so each glass will be different, but they'll all look pretty together. They're £25 for four from Nest.

Sluttery faves: Recipe Journals

Did your Mum or your grandmother clip recipes from magazines or newspapers? I treasure index cards, held together with a rusty paperclip, which are filled with recipes written in my great-aunt's cramped handwriting. 'Fork biscuits', anyone? I can certainly recommend her oaty cookies, and I thought it was high time to compile recipe cards, internet recipes and my own collection into one single place.

Moleskine have a new range of Passions journals and the hardcover Recipe one above, £15.99, has themed sections - appetizers, first courses, main dishes, side dishes, desserts, cocktails - as well as some for you to customize yourself. They've also included helpful conversion charts.

This leather Aspinal one is more traditional - it strikes me as the kind of gorgeous thing the lady of the house might use when she's sitting down with Cook to plan a dinner party that she'll be hosting, but not catering. It's £79.


This is the one I went for, from Paperchase, £9.75. I liked its simplicity - it's an A5 ring binder with section divider and plain paper, so you can be as expansive as you like when you're filling it in and also get refills later.

And if you need something to start off your recipe collection - here are some suggestions!