Cake pops - cake splops!

Be warned, the following blog contains images of cake pops that some readers may find disturbing...

Starting with crumbed chocolate cake, then added the "glue" (cream cheese, butter, icing sugar = frosting), mulched up into a gooey mix!

Rolled into truffle-sized cake balls...

Dipped in melted chocolate (VERY MESSY - I need to perfect this part!) and sprinkled with colourful er, "sprinkles".  Left to harden off in a cool place...

No they're not supposed to have the excess bit of chocolate around the top but as I said, it is work in progress!

Despite appearances I can confirm first hand that these are by far one of the tastiest, yummiest treats I have made and I can't really take the credit - it is all thanks to Bakerella!  I have a few supplies coming by parcel tomorrow so I shall continue the quest for the perfect cake pop before I unleash them on the paying public.  In fact, I don't normally eat the cupcakes I make (simply because too much of a good thing never did anyone's waistline any good) BUT I have just been into the kitchen and snaffled one - yum!

Aggie Mark II

I have a new love... (well it is nearly Valentine's)!

The new Aga went in today, she is gorgeous.  Lovely glossy, sleek and sophisticated.  Take a look for yourselves:

So, once it has stopped crying (it generates a lot of condensation when first warmed up apparently!), and smelling like a new cooker, I can activate "AIMS" (the energy-efficiency module) and get baking!  First cupcakes should be out tomorrow, yippee!

Watch this space...
LCF Girl

Share the Little Cake Factory Love

HEY, CUPCAKE EATER!!  Yes you!  

If you've enjoyed a Little Cake Factory cupcake and have often wondered, "how can I spread the word about these yummy treats?" here's the answer:

http://www.thebestof.co.uk/national/uk/sharethelove

Click on the link and enter a few simple details, then tell the UK what it is that you love about Little Cake Factory's cupcakes.  Not only could you win a fantastic prize each day (hence, "14 Days of Love"), you would be helping Little Cake Factory's future success by spreading the word(of love).

Small businesses really do depend on this type of viral marketing, we don't have huge budgets for advertising (actually I don't have one at all any more) and our businesses thrive on great customer feedback and word-of-mouth recommendations.

Thank you so much for your support!

LCF Girl

Goodbye Aggie!

This morning I had an Aga, now I have just an empty space where she used to be... sniff!  She's gone to be recycled which eases the guilt a teeny bit.

(yes, I am fickle, as soon as the new one arrives it'll be like "what 2-oven aga?")

So here goes, the sad demise of old Aga:

Going... Thermalite lining...

Going...

Going... (that gritty stuff is "vermiculite" by the way,

you learn something new every day)

Er, still going...

Almost there...

Goodgye Aga!

The dark side of the cupcake...

Hello Cupcakers!

I've had a busy week with new orders and loads of potential orders for weddings, birthdays and so on. Finding a Chinese "Double Happiness" cookie cutter for decorations was perhaps the most challenging thing I have had to do in a long time!

I wanted to share with you what happens when you forget that you've got something in an Aga. As fellow Aga-owners will know, you cannot SMELL when something is burning until you open the oven door... No I did not pass these off as crispy dark chocolate cupcakes!

I've spent much of the day making the sugarpaste decorations for the tops of the Macmillan Coffee Morning cupcakes, involving "fashioning" a mug-shape out of a circular cookie cutter - it worked! If you can't find what you want in the shops then you have to be a bit inventive. I'll be posting photos of the cupcakes later on this week.

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to visit www.littlecakefactory.co.uk for your cupcake fix.
LCF girl

Cupcakes are a Go in Guildford

After my mad dash around town earlier this week to spread the Little Cake Factory cupcake word, I've been here fulfilling orders! What a fantastic feeling that the hard work is now paying off. In between fending off various sales people all wanting a hefty amount of money for advertising (which I simply DON'T have so please stop calling me!), I've been donning the oven gloves and er, "cupcaking" as our friends across the Pond would call it.

So thanks to everyone, friends, family and all for the interest so far and may the cupcake orders continue to roll in.

Don't forget, if you suggest a yummy new cupcake flavour and it is so tasty that I add it to the regular cupcake menu, you could win a batch of your new flavour for free. Email me at orders@littlecakefactory.co.uk to be in with a chance.

New customers also receive 10% off their first cupcake order when quoting "LCF0909" - valid to end of September '09.

Now fake that bake and head to www.littlecakefactory.co.uk

Thanks for stopping by!
LCF girl

Little Cake Factory is open for business - homemade cupcakes for all!

Yes, back to school and back to business - the day has arrived, Little Cake Factory is open for cupcake production! The flyers have gone out, samples delivered to local offices and businesses and the word is being rapidly spread up and down the country. I have been given many cupcake-related good-luck gifts, lucky me!

I have to say, I wasn't going to include mini-cupcakes on my regular menu however now that I've been preparing them for the sample boxes, they do look really quite cute and provide a nice little mouthful (or at least I manage to fit them in in one go). I'll post a photograph soon.

Please take a look at my website for loads of information and to place a cupcake order.

This week I'll be focusing on promoting the business locally and ensuring that my cupcake presence is known at a local level - netmums.com is the ideal portal for my business so check out my ad which should be going live soon.

Come back soon,

LCF girl

TGCCF (thank goodness its cupcake Friday)

Hello LCF cupcake fans!

I have to say I am pretty glad it is Friday now, and a Bank Hol WE! I think I am in need of a well-earned bit of R&R before the big LCF launch on Monday 7th September. Everything seems to be in place, I guess I'm going to have to order one or two last minute things whilst I'm away but that is the genuis of the internet :-) I've been preparing a couple of last minute cupcake packages for my brothers-in-law but from 7th September NO MORE FREEBIES ha ha. Gotta start making a living somehow! I seem to have rallied support all over the UK and have to thank my very supportive family and friends for that - let's see how it goes. Finally got my business insurance sorted out, cannot believe a £300 difference between two quotes!

I was at the post office yesterday and have even managed to get one of the clerks on-side, he remembered my logo and asked how it was going. He's also my spy... he loves to tell me the goss on the competition which I think is just hilarious (I just hope he's not a double-agent and doesn't kick my cupcake packages around when I leave the PO).

I should also point out that LCF "tweets" and you can find me at 'cupofcakegirl'. I have no idea why certain people like to follow my tweets (I'm talking about the computer software engineers) but the more the merrier and whatever it takes to spread Little Cake Factory's cupcake awareness.

Anyhow, better go get DD up as need to take B-i-L's cupcakes to be mailed off soon.

Have a great bank holiday everyone and watch out there's a blogger about next week,

Little Cake Factory girl

Cupcakes withstand a trip to Chertsey!

Well today I took 18 cupcakes in the car with me and drove to my friend's office in Chertsey. I packaged them up for a birthday treat and my friend volunteered to be a guinea pig for the "order". I was relieved that they made it in-tact, despite huge piles of butterfrost icing and sprinkles :-)

The initial feedback was that most of them had disappeared and that my friend was having to er, with-hold a cupcake for her boyfriend to try ha ha. I guess that is a good sign?!

This afternoon I am having lots of fun working on my website. I'm pretty pleased with my photos, they've come out quite well albeit I had to take them rather hastily before the sun went down last night - I was trying to get them in a good light! I was a bit unsure of whether to add my own photo to the website but I want to show my customers that Little Cake Factory is actually run by a real human being and to show cakes being made in an actual kitchen (as opposed to being passed around a giant conveyor belt in a warehouse somewhere).

Anyway - still loads to do but I'm having fun with it all. Such hard work!

Till another day.

Not long to go until Little Cake Factory is unleashed!

Hello cupcake-seekers and welcome to Little Cake Factory's blog. We are very excited about the imminent launch of Little Cake Factory, September 2009. Please check back soon as I'll be posting details of our cupcakes, how to order and upcoming cupcake promotions.

We start in September by offering all new customers 10% off their first cupcake order when they quote our special offer code - to be released shortly.

Meanwhile, I have a whole load of cupcake-flavour sampling to do!

See you soon,

littlecakefactorygirl