Good Bye (For now?)

   I am writing this blog post to let all of our lovely customers know that Tea Loves Cake will no longer be taking orders and trading as a business. (Don't worry though, we will honor any current orders).

  I had the most fantastic time designing and baking cupcakes for you but it is time for me to move on to, and focus on, some new projects.

The Good News

   I have accumulated quite a few vegan cake recipes that I would like to share with all you lovely people. I would like to continue Tea Loves Cake as blog focusing on Vegan - well - Cake. As well as the odd spot of tea. Possibly with a few Vlog style tutorials, assuming I can get over - or find a way around - my camera shyness. So how about it? Who's interested in a vegan cake blog? Any requests?



Lot's of Love,

              Leah~

National Cupcake Week 2011

On the first day of National Cupcake Week TLC gave to me:

♥ A coupon for 10% off anything in our Etsy shop. The coupon is only good through the end of the week but you are welcome to pre-order something to be delivered at a later date.  (No refunds on pre-orders)

Coupon Code: NATCCWEEK2011

Use it here: TeaLovesCake



On the second day of National Cupcake Week TLC gave to me:

♥ A Challenge: Visit our Facebook page, like it, share it, and if we reach 200 likes by the end of National Cupcake Week we will be giving away a box of cupcakes at random. You will be able to enter via our Facebook page after the target has been reached.

TeaLovesCake on Facebook



On the third day of National Cupcake Week TLC gave to me:

♥ A pack of 3 free postcards featuring our cupcakes will go to the next 3 people who like our Facebook page. Quick! Ask your mum to like us and maybe she will give you one ;)
Free Postage within the UK only. You can win the postcards if you are outside the UK but you may have to pay for postage...

     And more to come through the week...

‘Real’ Butter?

     There are some bakeries that would have you believe that their cupcakes are superior because they only use real butter. However, the world is not divided into ‘real’ butter and ‘fake’ butter. It can be divided, though, into animal butters and plant butters. Or animal fats and plant fats. One is not automatically superior to the other. It is more often the whole recipe acting as a symphony that will make or break the cupcake.

     Using animal fat in all your cakes will mean that all your cakes taste of animal fats. You can mix in other ingredients but that cow’s butter has a distinctive strong flavour that will always be there. That might be ok with you if you can’t live without the taste of Cow’s butter but there is a whole wide world of butters and oils out there that you are missing. I work with many of them to create my little cupcake symphonies.

     The proof is in the cupcake. Vegan cupcakes are winning competitions across the globe. In the U.S. in 2010, 22-year-old vegan chef, Chloe Coscarelli, won the TV competition ‘Cupcake Wars’ with rave reviews. Also, just this month Absolute Treats, cake makers in Wales, won at the National Cupcake Awards 2011 for best Free From Cupcake, Best Tasting Cupcake, and took the title as the UK Cupcake Champions 2011.

     I bake vegan for ethical reasons so I won’t pretend that it is some happy accident that my cupcakes are free of animal products. You don’t need to worry if the eggs in your cupcakes are truly free range, or if being free range actually means the chickens lead happy lives, when there are no eggs in your cupcakes at all. However, when I bake vegan cupcakes I am not replacing or substituting animal products. I am simply using a different recipe. My recipes are not missing anything, they are meant to be like that.  There is a whole wide world of plant based milks and butters out there that don’t need to come from animals to satisfy your taste buds. Branch out a little, you won’t regret it. 

    

Win Free Cupcakes (again)!

Never give up, never surrender! 

Cupcakes-by-post are a connundrum. I've done hours and hours of research and haven't found a lot of possibilities. How do I ensure intact delivery of buttercream art without adding more than a few pence to the price of each cupcake?

I may have found the answer. And that is why one lucky cupcake fan will be getting six free cupcakes of their choice delivered to their door on Tuesday. The only condition is that you agree to let me know how well they survive the trip.

A little birdie told me that you want free cupcakes...

In order to be eligible for the free cupcakes you will need to visit our Twitter page, @TeaLovesCake, and retweet the tweet that says 'RT If you want free cupcakes'. Simple. Then the winner will be chosen at random.

Any questions?

Then let's begin!

Leah~

Royal Mail + Cupcakes = fail

I am sad to report that my experiment with Royal Mail's Special Delivery service was an abject failure. [Audience cue card reads:  Awwwww :( ]

Deppa, aka LazyGiraffe, was kind enough to be my first guinea pig. I sent her 6 of my vegan chocolate cupcakes with white fondant roses. I really wish I had gotten a photo because they looked amazing lined up in their little box: Innocent, sweet, pure white roses, unaware of what was to come.

When Deepa sent me the image, I had to look away. After catching my breath I looked again and decided that they really didn't look all that bad. They had been upended at one point and subsiquently allowed to roll about their box. All in all, they still looked like cupcakes. Cupcakes decorated by a five-year-old, but hey... It didn't look as if they had played rugby with my cupcakes. No, they waited for me to send the one dozen Rose and Vanilla cupcakes before they did that.

After Deepa's cupcakes I concluded that I need only secure the cupcakes more firmly in place since the damage looked to be mostly from a gentle rolling around. So I designed a 'safety bonnet' for the tall Vanilla cupcakes and used full rose buds instead of just petals on the rose cupcakes. I tested this method and was successfully able to flip the cupcakes over, and even shake them a bit. Actions I believed to be reasonable for a package clearly marked 'FRAGILE - THIS SIDE UP.' Well the images I got back for the dozen honestly made me cry. That's why I'm not sharing them here, I don't want you to cry too. The cakes were in crumbs and the box was partially crushed.

In summary, I am still looking for a courier for my cupcakes. Preferably a company that is affordable and employed by people that, not only can READ care labels, but are also inclined to follow said care labels.

Back to the drawing board.

Free Vegan Cupcakes

I Love Cupcakes

I put a lot of love into my cupcakes. I'm an artist. I want everything I do to be beautiful and perfect, and I want them to reach you in nothing less than perfect condition. As a new business, whose first few orders could make or break it, what do I do?

Do I trust Royal Mail? Surely not. 

Do I hire a courier and nearly double the price of the cupcakes? Not Likely.

So what choice does that leave me with? Trial and error. I'll have to give Royal Mail a chance to prove themselves. This is where YOU and the FREE cupcakes come in.

Free Cupcakes

Very shortly I will be placing a special listing on TeaLovesCake's Etsy shop for 6 cupcakes any flavour (choice of those already listed on Etsy). I will then place the link here. 

It's first come first serve. You will need to purchase the cupcakes at the normal price, but as soon as I recieve your review of Royal Mail's service, and digital image of the condition of the cupcakes, I will refund the full price, postage and all.

This offer is open to anyone in the UK.

Don't forget; At this time Tea Loves Cake can only deliver to the UK mainland.

Any questions before we begin?

Love,

     Leah~


****Update******

Here is the link to the FREE cupcake listing. Yay for free cupcakes!