The cupcake craze shows no sign of abating and much as we love finding any excuse to rush out to buy a box of buttercream-topped treats - birthdays, leaving parties, cheering-up treats, we have even been known to buy them to celebrate sticking to our healthy eating plan for the week (yes very illogical we know). Though, even with our slightly warped grip on finances, we know that that £3 cupcake is being sold with the most massive mark-up. Just imagining how many cupcakes we could make for the equivalent of a few bought ones has got us raring to roll up our sleeves and learn the art cupcake making and decorating.
Fair Cake are the original cupcake gurus and have been running successful cake making workshops in London for over three years, riding the crest of the home baking trend that has transformed British kitchens into cake-making havens. From Cupcake Basics classes for complete beginners, right through to the more artistic end of the spectrum where you can master ‘Vintage Chic’ and even wedding cupcakes (hmm not sure if our artistic talents will ever stretch that far…). The beauty of cupcakes is that they can be as simple or as extravagant as you like. For most of us a swirl of buttercream and a few adornments is about as far as it goes, but for those of you with a bit more artistic flair there is literally no limit to what you could create.
Fair Cake founder and cupcake maestro Shikhita Singh attributes the current boom in creative baking to a growing desire for individuality and personal expression – "I’m sure it's also got something to do with the fact that individual style and creativity has never flourished as much in the home, in the kitchen and on the catwalk…just look at Lady Gaga!". While we draw the line at the Lady Gaga style of self-expression we can see how some homemade and beautifully decorated cupcakes could impress at the next girly get-together.
The latest craze in baking, following on from cupcakes and whoopee pies, is cake pops. These fun little ‘cakes-on-a-stick’ have proved such a hit that a cake pop-making workshop has been added to the menu at Fair Cake's brand new Vanilla Workshop in Greenwich, London.
For more info on Fair Cake and the classes they offer visit the website.