Sheffield Clandestine cake club members baked to a theme of Carnival Cakes for Stannington Carnival this weekend. High on the hills above Sheffield with blue skies & beautiful views, we sat under a shady gazebo & enjoyed our cakes . Lemon was popular theme for summer cakes in fact we had 3 lemon, 1 salted caramel & one delicious Pimms cheesecake.
Join us for our future events … join us & book via free via the Clandestine Cake Club website …we meet each month , no pressure to attend every month, and bake to a theme , then share our cakes. The venue is announced the week before the event ..thats the #clandestine bit.
Aug 13 th Bakewell BakeFest
Sept 23rd TBC
Oct 21st Time for Tea
Nov 18th Coffee Cakes … Espresso or Latte ?
Dec 9th Cool Yule Logs Try your hand at baking a yule log !!
Contact me Karen Perkins , for more info , to suggest venues or ideas for the club Follow me on Twitter @fabcoach
Just spent a brilliant Sunday at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park with a wonderful combination of walking, views, sculpture, arts & coffee. The main exhibition was by Tony Cragg plus Zak Ove . I bought some real #YSP Honey from local bees, with a label designed by Alice Patullo. Here are some photos from today … highly recommended to get out in the fresh air, we managed a good 5 mile walk amongst the sculptures, and round the lake where we saw herons, cormorants, ducklings & swans. All rounded off with a latte on the cafe balcony looking over the green fields.
If you would like to relax more, plan a new career or just get more done please contact me for a free taster & some tips on where to go to enjoy walks, see art & generally retire disgracefully at any age . Best wishes Karen
Sheffield Clandestine cake club met today hosted by Walkley library. Our theme was cakes from famous cookbooks & we had 8 cakes & bakers plus guests. It was part of Sheffield Food festival #fringe . The library is now community run, but you can still order books through Sheffield libraries service. Here are our cakes !
Karens Lime & Coconut from Delia Smiths Summer Cookbook … slight damage to icing due to rainstorm on way into venue.
Annes Tuscan Grape cake from Sally B’s recipe book. Low fat cake, with olive oil instead of butter, sweet wine, orange & lemon zest & grapes.
Clare made a trad Victoria sponge from her mums BeRo cookbook. It had 6 eggs & a massive rise !
Joy made an Apple & cinnamon cake from Mary Berrys book, a delicious layer of appleness, plus nutty walnut topping.
Laura also made a BeRo Victoria sponge , with buttercream & strawberries.
Louise made a Chocolate truffle cake from Mary Berrys desserts book. Chocolate sponge, truffle filling & icing plus ganache piping.
Dani made Peanut Butter & Jellycake from the Hummingbird bakery life is sweet cookbook.
Sarah made Raspberry Cappuccino cake from the Clandestine cake club celebrations cookbook .
Inside danis peanut butter
inside joys apple cinnamon
Inside karens lime and coconut
inside debbies tuscan grape
inside lauras victoria sponge
Louises Chocolate truffle inside
Next events are Sat 24th June , Sat 8th July Carnival cakes 12 -2 , Sun 13th Aug 3 til 5 Bakewell Baking Festival ( bring your receipt ) Sat 23 Sept 3-5 , Sat 21st Oct …watch out for the themes. All ideas for new venues & themes very welcome .
At Bread & Roses WI in #Sheffield we love trying new skills. Over 37 Bread and Roses WI members gathered to learn the art of the chocolateer, and how to resist temptation til allowed to taste . Karen, our trainer, is a member of Steel Belles WI in Sheffield & Ravenfield WI in Rotherham. She does it as a hobby following a free WEA course & getting the bug. She then did a full 10 week course with WEA. She likes to help people see how easy it can be. You just need chocolate plus grease proof paper !
Cacao grows in Equatorial climes, changing green to red as ripen. Trees translate as food from the Gods. Beans are roasted to kill bacteria, and made into cocoa paste. White is just pure cocoa butter and sugar.
Karen ( Not Trainer Karen ) with lolly
So what’s the best way to heat chocolate? Microwave is best as the bowl does not retain heat like a Bain Marie. Melt 3/4 of your Choc, then add rest to cool it down and give it a shine. A silicon spatula is best as no water escapes into Chocolate.
Dark Chocolate is stable at 32 degrees. Others at 30 degrees. If you overheat Chocolate it gives a fat bloom , & is not recoverable .
We tried the Belgian chocolate in 3 varieties and also single estate chocolate, which has less sugar .
Aprons on and time to try making a choccy creation.
Templates were provided for flower, pig lollies etc , you trace the design on greaseproof paper , and draw it in chocolate ( not too thick ) #boos from audience . Twirl your stick around in the Choc till it sticks and leave to set.
Pipe the chocolate outline first, leave to set add buttons for eyes . And best side down. Here are some lollies we created .
Julia , & Bread & Roses WI members
Explaining how to make a lolly
Tracing the design
Mmm chocolate
Making the sheep lolly
Butterfly lolly chocolate
Sheep & Pig lolly Trish & Jane
Karen with lolly
chocolate buttons transfer
transfer button
chocolate transfer
Next we did Transfers, so easy . Pour or pipe melted chocolate onto the Edible transfer sheets, when set peel it off & the transfer comes off on the chocolate. You use this to make decorations, buttons, name toppers or chocolate collars for cakes or for small desserts .
Get creative with Karen Perkins Career Business Life Coach . Book a free taster session now 07971 881251 . Social media & 1:1 Blogging lessons, with cake available now .
We had a post Valentines cake club today, hosted by the Riverside Cafe & Bar right next to Hillsborough football stadium, home of Sheffield Wednesday. Luckily it was not a match day so we had lots of space for our cakes. It was raining otherwise we would have been out on their terrace overlooking the river.
Who ate all the cakes ?
We had 7 cakes & 9 tasters plus junior taster Violet .
Karens cake was chocolate & nocella liqueur with chocolate ganache. Using a lower cocoa content seems to make a more flexible topping ! It ws her own recipe with a CCC ganache recipe topping.
Clare made White Chocolate & Raspberry Marble cake with a crispy exterior. It was via Google from a Tesco recipe.
Sarahs Chilli Chocolate cake was from the CCC recipe book #yummy & just the right heat of chilli.
Anne made White Chocolate & Passion Fruit cake. Passion fruit drizzle topping.
Dani made Chocolate, Guinness & Kaluha cake. Topping was icing sugar,cream cheese & Kalhua .
Tims cake was Chilli & Chocolate Orange cake with fresh orange, zest & juice in the cake.
Pauls cake was a magnificently smoothly glazed Chocolate cake with meringue filling.
Here they are as we tried them all ! We had little tasters & then took large chunks home #result !!
Our next event is on Sat 25th March 2 till 4 pm. “Oh Sew Sweet ” cakes theme.
Dates for your diary
May 22nd , June 24th , July 8th ( Special ) , August at Bakewell Baking Show ( Free entry ..bring your ticket to our CCC event in the Show & get a refund if you are a baker or guest of bake & have registered) ;
Once again thanks to the lovely Riverside Cafe & Bar in Hillsborough Sheffield for hosting us today.
Only 20 minutes from Sheffield, the #PeakDistrict is a fantastic place to unwind at the weekend. This Sunday we had a walk of 2 parts. First we visited Cressbrookdale to look at the cliffs, crags & birdlife. Beautiful views & wild landscapes. The weather was a little overcast to start with, however as we usually find, if you just get out there & start walking it often improves! We started at Cressbrookdale.
Walking on the edge Cressbrookdale cliffs DerbyshireThorn bush on Cressbrookdale cliffsCliff edge Cressbrookdale DerbyshireBoots #bootieselfie Cressbrookdale Cliff Derbyshire
Little and large stiles at Wardlow, Derbyshire
Mossy walls at Wardlow, where the green showing through heralds spring.
Snowdrops near Wardlow this Spring 2017Snowdrops in WardlowWalls and trees, typical uplifting Derbyshire landscape with the blue sky peeking through.Crags at Ravensdale, Cressbrookdale Derbyshire.
After our first walk we drove to look at the birdlife in Ravensdale, spotting jackdaws & maybe a couple of cronking ravens.
Boots on Baslow Edge Derbyshire 1Froggatt Edge from Curbar Edge in Derbyshire todayJollys 2017Sunset from Longshaw on the way home .
So we had a fantastic day in 2 contrasting place with overcast then bright sunny weather. Another amazing Sunday in Derbyshire, only 20 minutes from Sheffield, no wonder its called The Outdoor City . If you want to improve your work life balance book a free coaching taster or walk with me Karen Perkins! Follow me on Twitter @fabcoach or Instagram @fabcoach.If you are a business in the Peak District , Chesterfield, N Derbyshire or Sheffield join our #Networking events @DalesandPeak .
Have a great week ! Best wishes & happy walking Karen
Much of my energy in January has been spent trying to find a venue in the Loch Ewe area for the Arctic Convoys Exhibition. Sadly it looks like it will not be possible to stage the show near this important assembly point for the convoys, so I will probably fall back on my usual exhibiton space, Gage Gallery in Sheffield. Other activity has included helping to set up the Midlands & South Yorkshire Art Show at Rotherhams Old Market Gallery, the first public airing of Aftermath and The Difficult Path Back To You’, and adding work to my Artfinder store.
I have found time to create one new painting, and start another. The Colours of Winter is inspired by the Apple Trees in our front garden. Staring at the last Apples on the tree in our front garden, I was struck by the way…
The Colours of Winter 