My title’s Lloyd and I’ve a confession… I’ve acquired a serious candy tooth that simply gained’t stop! And I do know I say downside however actually, its not one thing that I really feel the necessity to change. Chocolate is my kryptonite however within the absence of chocolate, I’ll take anything that’s obtainable!
You may keep in mind after we went to discover the gorgeous little villages within the Cotswolds (and staying on the impressively stately Wooden Norton Lodge. Properly on one of many nights there, we stumbled (after an excellent dinner) for cocktails on the bar the place we ran into Lisa. Lisa’s a Londoner who owns and runs Madeline’s Cake Boutique, a sugary heaven situated in one in every of London’s loveliest neighbourhoods.
We acquired speaking about truffles, cookies and journey (however largely about truffles and cookies) and Lisa invited, nay challenged, us to return spherical to hers for a masterclass in cookie adorning! By no means one to shrink back from a problem (or an opportunity to work my approach by means of a number of cookies), I accepted and eagerly appeared ahead to seeing what she had in retailer!
Simply earlier than we visited, we’d been travelling for weeks on finish with little or no time in London and on this weekend, the solar was shining and we couldn’t have picked a greater day to do that! Granted we have been indoors doing this however all the pieces is healthier in London when the solar’s shining! Plus its not typically we get to spend time in London (and doing common ‘London issues’) so we have been grateful for the chance!
As quickly as we arrived, I immediately turned transfixed by the fluffy truffles and different scrumptious fragrances coming from the kitchen which I used to be solely too keen to assist discover even additional!
Oh and that is the place to seek out Madeleine’s by the way in which…
Tackle: 397 Higher Richmond Highway West
East Sheen
London SW14 7NX
Telephone: 020 8878 6194
Electronic mail: information@madeleinescakes.com
Web site: www.madeleinescakes.com
After a bit look across the boutique, with some compulsory style testing ;-), we headed straight into the working kitchens of the boutique itself to get began on creating what I anticipated could be proclaimed the best masterpiece in cooking ornament!
All collectively, we have been a category of 6 equally keen cookie monsters (Georgia got here with) as we began studying all about the way to develop into specialists at making the proper cookies.
Random apart – I’ve by no means actually achieved cooking or baking lessons. I take pleasure in meals a lot (as you’ll be able to most likely inform from my photographs) and so I figured earlier this yr that I’d attempt to make extra of an effort to only merely be higher and I couldn’t have requested for a greater alternative.
Yaya alternatively is a way more expert cook dinner and baker (don’t ever inform him I stated this or I’ll deny it) and wasn’t too impressed with my culinary abilities (granted I attempted to do a ‘disappearing act’ on among the cookies even earlier than we began adorning).
I might need bragged quite a bit about how I’d be a lot better at this than Yaya although I did take a bit word of Yaya’s approach… There was no approach I used to be gonna let him go away with higher cookies than me! 😉
The very first thing I realized was to create some fairly neat traces with a thicker sugar icing that acted as a barrier as soon as we ‘flood’ the cookie…
Flooding a cookie sounding fairly traumatic to me… I’d by no means really heard the time period earlier than but it surely made whole sense – as soon as I’d created the define of the form I used to be making an attempt to create, I stuffed it with an enormous dollop of freshly made sugar icing! It’s additionally value noting that you simply don’t want perfection at this stage as in case your icing sugar is finished proper, it ought to naturally unfold to fill in any gaps on the cookie.
After a bit over an hour of icing and a gentle hand, I’d managed to create a reasonably ‘epic’ set of cookies. I exploit that time period frivolously as you might need seen on snapchat how I managed to dent among the cookies… and in addition neglect so as to add just a few bits on – seems icing sugar additionally acts as fairly nice cookie glue!
I genuinely had no concept how a lot enjoyable these lessons could be! In a world dominated by thrill-seekers everybody desires to be the one who’s climbed the tallest mountain or hiked the furthest distance and even been to probably the most nations, its so good to only concentrate on the core on a regular basis issues that makes you actually blissful! The perfect half about doing this cookie adorning class was doing it with Yaya and Georgia as all of us have a lot enjoyable no matter we’re doing (plus, we’re all so aggressive with one another so this was an ideal alternative to get one over the opposite particular person). 😉 🙂
Ready for the icing to set, we took this chance to have a bit lunchtime tipple of prosecco, Madeleine’s specialty tea, freshly baked tacky scones and an enormous slab of moist Guinness cake! (By no means had Guinness cake earlier than this – completely hooked on it now).
After our scrumptious lunch break, I headed again into the workshop to complete my epic cookie adorning battle in opposition to Yaya! 😉
Okay high quality, this ‘battle’ was all in my head however Yaya’s have been a lot better than mine at this stage and Georgia was nailing it each step of the way in which – then once more, given the halloween outfits she comes up with, its straightforward to see why.
I dotted, sparkled, dusted and textured my cookies – all whereas preserving a watchful eye on what Yaya was creating.
Someplace alongside the way in which, and perhaps it was the prosecco… or laughing too laborious whereas making an attempt to design the cookies however I ended up creating with some quite wonky cookie traces, leaving Yaya with a transparent win!
These are his beneath and save from the atrocious Kanye-West-sunglasses blue costume one, he didn’t achieve this badly for a first-timer (once more, don’t inform him I stated any of this!)
Oh and that’s Lisa beneath, by the way in which!
My subsequent purpose goes to be adorning a cake like this unhealthy boy beneath… 😉
Given my just lately displayed (lack of) design talent, anybody wanna wager a guess on me creating one that appears identical to this? 😉 🙂
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