Review: Teacup on Thomas Street, Manchester

Hidden away in the up and coming Norther Quarter of Manchester city centre, Teacup on Thomas Street is one of my favourite places in the entire world!
Owned by local DJ Mr Scruff (Andy Carthy) this understated New York-esque Tearoom is the perfect place for whiling away an afternoon or two, and offers a variety of wholesome home made treats and lunches, all at very reasonable prices!

Flourless Chocolate Cake and a Latte

I was first introduced to Teacup several months ago by a friend and it has quickly become one of my regular haunts, when I need to escape from uni work, or simply want a slice of their delicious flourless Chocolate Cake (and Oh how delicious it is!)

On my various visits to the tearoom, I've had the pleasure of trying out several of their sweet treats as well as a couple of their delectable toasted sandwiches, and I have to say that there isn't a better tea shop in the Manchester Area, for its food, service or atmosphere which are all second to none.

Panini's at noon

It's interior is an eclectic mixture of New York Cafe Chic and Cath Kidston Kitsch, and is unlike any other eatery in the area, offering a little taste of America in back streets Manchester. The Wedgewood-esque tea service also works to off set this quirky cafe perfectly, offering up the quintessence of Englishness into the mix!

The presentation of their food has the feeling of something really special, and that's exactly what you get. The sandwiches in particular are lovingly crafted and displayed on rustic wooden blocks accompanied by cute little espresso cups of coleslaw and radishes, creating the prefect expreience.

Cupcakes and Coffee

If you're in Manchester and want to have the best tea experience the City has to offer, then go along to Teacup on Thomas Street, and get a taste of brilliance!

Happy Eating!

X

PS- Also have a look at their website for further information at: http://teacupandcakes.com/

Chocolate Cupcakes

This week's offerings are Chocolate Cupcakes, technically not on the list, but hey here they are - I couldn't resist!
The recipe is the same as the Chocolate Bites from a few weeks ago, minus the chocolate centres and the topping is made by mixing margarine, cocoa powder and icing sucar together until the mixture reaches a firm consistency.

Topped off with pretty multi coloured sprinkles, these would make the perfect accompaniment to any afternoon tea!

Happy Baking!

X

Things I Love: Glee Cake

After my last post I decided to see if I could find myself on google images, you know, as you do... and while I was looking, I came across this master piece:


I mean, seriously wow... this is possibly one of the coolest cakes I've ever seen.

You want to know who made it?
Well so did I... and after having a little look around the internet I discovered that it was made by Piece of Cake Desserts in Arizona. As it turns out all of their cakes are pretty amazing, and if anyone has a spare $650 and fancies treating me for my 21st then I'd love one of these... it's just a shame I don't live in America!

If you want to read about this cake, check out their blog Here

Happy Baking!

X

Glee Cupcakes

Ahh the Beautiful Cupcakes

This week was the Glee Season 2 Finale in the UK, and being the MASSIVE Gleek that I am, I decided that I couldn't let this occasion pass by without some form of celebration... so drum roll please... I present to you my Glee Cupcakes!
I must say that I was pretty impressed with my efforts and very much enjoyed nibbling my way through one or two of these whilst watching the New Directions competing in the nationals and Klaine saying 'I love you.' (aww)

Gleek

So you're gonna want to know how to make these, coz who doesn't love Glee, right? (and even if you don't love Glee, you must love cake, so you're winning either way!)
This is the easiest recipe in the world, but it's also probably the best sponge I've ever made.
The main body of the recipe comes from one which I was taught at school in home economics, but as usual I've adjusted it a little to make it even better!

Stars

Soo the recipe for four cakes is...

Ingredients

55g (2oz) Margarine
28g (1oz) Caster Sugar
55g (2oz) Self Raising Flour
1 egg
1stp Baking Powder
2tsp Vanilla Essence

Recipe

1. Mix the flour, sugar, egg and margarine together in a large mixing bowl for two to three minutes until fully combined.

2. To this mixture add the Vanilla essence and Baking powder and stir again until completely mixed.

3. Fill the muffin cases to just over half way.

4. Put in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 190C (180C Fan) Gas 5 until springy and a light golden colour.

Mr Shue Cake

For the topping it's the same school of thought as the Carrot Cake I made a few weeks ago, it's a case of trial and error and using a LOT of icing sugar!
The stars were bought from a lovely little online company called Top My Party Cake, who sell the best cake accessories ever and sold them to me for the bargain price of £3.79 - A bargain? I think so...Have a look at their site if you get a minute!
And for the final finishing touches I've used multi coloured sugar sprinkles and pink edible glitter, to give it that extra Rachel Berry sparkle :)

Rachel Berry Sparkle

Like I said before, I loved these and had great fun making them, so watch this space for more Glee Cakes next season!

Until Next time,

Happy Baking!

X

Update

Many apologies for the lack of a blog, I've been super busy and so haven't had a chance to make the cheese and herb muffins yet, but I promise with sugar on top that I will get them done within the next month. In the meantime look out for my Glee Cupcake blog coming very soon :)

Happy Baking!

X

Changes to Advertised Listings

This week was going be Black Olive Focaccia, however there's been a slight change of plan and I'll now be making week ten's Cheese and Herb Muffins (which is good news I know - coz I'm sure they're the ones you've been waiting for)
I'll admit that this is more down to the fact that I'm being a little lazy, but it's also that I'm quite busy this week, and until today I hadn't realised that bread needed to be left for sveral hours before baking - school girl error, I know, but I guess we live and learn!
So Cheese and Herb muffins it is, and we'll save the Black Olive Foccacia for a few weeks time! :)

So until later this week,

Happy Baking

X

PS - Here's a photo of a Cupcake from Patisserie Valerie, just to keep you going!

Soft Centred Chocolate Bites

So what do you think?

This week was the turn of the Soft Centred Chocolate Bites, which were taken from a lovely little recipe book called Everyday Baking, given to me by my friend Laura for my last Birthday.

It's a fantastic book and contains pretty much everything you could ever wish to bake, so you won't be surprised to hear that I'll be using it several more times, as I make my way through the Challenge list!

(Incidentally here's a photo of the book's cover, if you want to look for it - It's very good and very easy to understand!)

Go on, go look for it!

The recipe itself was very straight forward and oh so delicious (I've adapted it everso slightly, but not so much as you'd tell!)

So what you'll need...

* TO MAKE 7/8 CHOCOLATE BITES*

• 4 Tablespoons of Soft Margarine
  
• 55g/2oz Caster Sugar
  
• 1 Large Egg
• 85g/ 3oz Self raising Flour
  
• 1.5 Tablespoons of Cocoa Powder
• 1 Teaspoon of Baking Powder
  
• 1 Bar of Plain Chocolate (Segmented is best)
• Icing Sugar for Dusting
• Strawberry Garnish
  

Recipe

1. Put 8 paper cases in a muffin tin.

2. Put the margarine, sugar, egg, flour, baking powder and cocoa into a mixing bowl and beat together until smooth.

3. Spoon half the mixture into the paper cases. Using a teaspoon make an indentation in the centre of each cake. Break the chocolate into eight segments and place a piece in each indentation (although I would recommend you use two, because one isn't quite enough!)

4. Spoon the remaining cake mix on the top of each cake until the cases are almost full.


5. Bake the cakes in a pre heated over at 190C/ 375F/Gas Mark 5 for 20 minutes.

6. Remove from oven and leave to stand for two minutes, before lightly dusting with icing sugar for presentation.

Fresh out of the Oven

The Verdict?

These mini chocolate bites were incredibly delicious - even if I do say so myself - and I would certainly recommend them to anyone who wants make them - really, go on make them, you won't regret it!
The only thing I would say is that the chocolate quantities in the centre should be doubled (I've noted this in the recipe) but this can be easily adjusted to make them the perfect cakes.

Next week I'm jumping over to the savoury side of the wall to make Black Olive Focaccia so check back soon to see how that goes!

Until then,

Happy Baking!

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