# Ms Cupcake arrives on Coldharbour Lane, Brixton



## editor (Feb 21, 2011)

I don't want to prejudge this and I'm happy so see a vegan store opening up in Brixton, but what do you lot think of this sign on the soon-to-be-opened premises (right next to Market Row)?



> Ms Cupcake is a SEXY 1950s housewife who makes DECADENT CUPCAKES and baked goods for those who LOVE a little indulgence in life.



http://www.mscupcake.co.uk


----------



## RaverDrew (Feb 21, 2011)

She looks like a loon  So should fit right in with the neighbourhood tbf


----------



## strung out (Feb 21, 2011)

she doesn't look old enough to be a 1950s housewife


----------



## editor (Feb 21, 2011)

She looks a lot like one of the Actionettes actually!


----------



## ajdown (Feb 21, 2011)

I think she's kinda cute, for a vegan.


----------



## clandestino (Feb 21, 2011)

I like it. The sign reminds me of the old Actionettes website.


----------



## Rosalinda (Feb 21, 2011)

Not overwhelmed by the sign or the need for a cupcake store but with the best will, I hope I am proved wrong.


----------



## Badgers (Feb 21, 2011)

I hope it goes well. 
Something a bit different. 

If I am cynical I find the making of cupcakes as much (or more) fun than the eating of cupcakes.


----------



## dessiato (Feb 21, 2011)

For me the worst part of the sign is 'vegan'. You can't get good butter-cream without using real butter. Other wise I have no problem with it.


----------



## Mrs Magpie (Feb 21, 2011)

I'm not really into cake and these look like they might be a bit sickly, too much topping, a bit lurid. She seems to be panicking slightly that there's no running water in the shop. That would certainly be a barrier to baking.


----------



## tarannau (Feb 21, 2011)

They look fucking horrible to be honest - big sickly globbets of bilious icing. Good luck to her I guess, but it does seem a limited offering.


----------



## trashpony (Feb 21, 2011)

I hate the word cupcake.


----------



## toblerone3 (Feb 21, 2011)

trashpony said:


> I hate the word cupcake.



What other word is there?


----------



## tarannau (Feb 21, 2011)

They're just over-iced fairycakes, aren't they?


----------



## Maurice Picarda (Feb 21, 2011)

I agree with Trash. They are fairy cakes.


----------



## miss minnie (Feb 21, 2011)

toblerone3 said:


> What other word is there?


We called them fairy cakes when we were kids.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 21, 2011)

Why are cupcakes so popular all of a sudden?


----------



## tarannau (Feb 21, 2011)

Cupcakes is a cheesy Americanism to be fair, although it does arguably go better with the 1950s housewife schtick.


----------



## toblerone3 (Feb 21, 2011)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Why are cupcakes so popular all of a sudden?



Is it some type of 50s nostalgia in the generation aged 30-50 who were too young to have experienced the 1950s when they happened?


----------



## miss minnie (Feb 21, 2011)

There was a stall for a while at the Farmer's Market that did all manner of old-fashioned cakes and I found it difficult to pass by!  Mmmm, fruit-marzipan, orange-soaked yoghurt and semolina, apple-ginger, date or banana bread.  I miss it but then again it's absence is helping my waistline a great deal!


----------



## Maurice Picarda (Feb 21, 2011)

I've googled and now changed my mind. The difference between cupcakes and fairycakes is argued by learned authorities to hinge on the supraspongal layer. A fairy cake is topped with a thin layer of glace icing while a cupcake is piled high with sickly buttercream.


----------



## Oswaldtwistle (Feb 21, 2011)

There is probably a certain irony in someone using the title 'Ms' whilst celebrating being a '50s housewife', but it's too deep for me at 9am on a monday morning......


----------



## Mrs Magpie (Feb 21, 2011)

Sophie Heawood: Poison lurks in the heart of a cupcake
Bun fetish deals a blow to feminism

www.independent.co.uk/opinion/comme...-lurks-in-the-heart-of-a-cupcake-1905735.html


----------



## clandestino (Feb 21, 2011)

She seems like quite an eccentric person running a tiny business that's not really like anything else around here - good luck to her, I say. I like the idea that Brixton's entrepreneurial eccentrics can run from The Baron to Ms Cupcake. 

Although as Mrs M says, if she can't sort out any running water, she's scuppered.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

dessiato said:


> For me the worst part of the sign is 'vegan'.


 
Alright, now that that's established, tell us of the lesser evils of the sign.



You poor folks should realize that this is just the thin edge of the wedge. This cupcake business is bound to take off [cupcake stores are proliferating here in NA already]. In five years, there will be one on every corner of the high street of Brixton: just like Starbucks and KFC. 

Woe betide the poor honest chippie, and the tobacconist's shoppe.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

tarannau said:


> Cupcakes is a cheesy Americanism to be fair,.


 
There's the spirit!

Drive the harridan out of town on a rail.


----------



## trashpony (Feb 21, 2011)

Maurice Picarda said:


> I've googled and now changed my mind. The difference between cupcakes and fairycakes is argued by learned authorities to hinge on the supraspongal layer. A fairy cake is topped with a thin layer of glace icing while a cupcake is piled high with sickly buttercream.


 
I've always made my fairy cakes with buttercream icing. I don't need to call them cupcakes in a faux American style. And any woman who celebrates 50s housewifery deserves a history lesson


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

Mrs Magpie said:


> I'm not really into cake and these look like they might be a bit sickly, too much topping, a bit lurid. She seems to be panicking slightly that there's no running water in the shop. That would certainly be a barrier to baking.


 
If you come to Vancouver, I'll be sure not to take you to Denman Street, or you would behold this:

Yes: lurid cupcakes.






http://www.cupcakesonline.com/cupcakes.php


----------



## Orangesanlemons (Feb 21, 2011)

AS - Sex & The City/Magnolia bakery in NYC started the current craze I think.

There's loads of 'cupcake women' (see also 'Cookie Girl' with her rather odd 'Eat Me' cookbook) doing the rounds these days.
It reminds me of burlesque for some reason, in that I can theoretically see the appeal, but really find it a bit odd and pointless at the same time.

Anyway, I doubt the vegan only thing is going to work in a shop environment for too long. The whole cupcake schtick is based on small amounts of luxurious indulgence, and whatever your dietary requirements, I don't think the word 'vegan' makes potential customers think of luxury or indulgence. She'd do better imo having a really great vegan selection rather than making the whole thing specifically and pointedly vegan. But her shop, so good luck to her...


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

Here's a person from Vancouver, enthusing over the cupcakes. Perhaps your 50s housewife should set up shop over here.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

tarannau said:


> They look fucking horrible to be honest - big sickly globbets of bilious icing. .


 
Imagine washing one of those down with a Starbucks cappuccino: yikes!


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

trashpony said:


> I hate the word cupcake.


 
In some places, the word is used as a synonym for 'vagina'.

As in, I'd like to munch on your cupcake. It's pretty lewd, lurid.

[Lurid, is to be my word of the day.]


----------



## miss minnie (Feb 21, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> If you come to Vancouver, I'll be sure not to take you to Denman Street, or you would behold this:
> 
> Yes: lurid cupcakes.


Its ok JC, London has had cupcake shops for years already.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

ianw said:


> She seems like quite an eccentric person running a tiny business that's not really like anything else around here - good luck to her, I say. I like the idea that Brixton's entrepreneurial eccentrics can run from The Baron to Ms Cupcake.
> 
> .


 

Oh come on: you must be able to come up with at least one negative thing to say.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

miss minnie said:


> Its ok JC, London has had cupcake shops for years already.


 

But not_ lurid _cupcakes, surely?


----------



## Mrs Magpie (Feb 21, 2011)

Well, when she gets running water sorted I will try her wares, mainly because I'm wondering how a cake can be made without eggs or butter. She seems to be doing well elsewhere so they can't be inedible.


----------



## Maurice Picarda (Feb 21, 2011)

There's a disturbing little shop in Brent Cross which sells objects which are artfully designed to look exactly like fairy (or cup) cakes, down to the hundreds and thousands and glace cherries, but are actually intended for dropping into a bath to scent the water and make it unpleasantly oily. They cost a couple of pounds each, the same as a proper, edible, cup (or fairy) cake. The shop seemed to be doing a fairly good trade.


----------



## miss minnie (Feb 21, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> But not_ lurid _cupcakes, surely?


london cupcake shops


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

Maurice Picarda said:


> There's a disturbing little shop in Brent Cross which sells objects which are artfully designed to look exactly like fairy (or cup) cakes, down to the hundreds and thousands and glace cherries, but are actually intended for dropping into a bath to scent the water and make it unpleasantly oily. They cost a couple of pounds each, the same as a proper, edible, cup (or fairy) cake. The shop seemed to be doing a fairly good trade.


 
Maybe there's something about the cupcake shape that is inherently pleasing to the human being.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

miss minnie said:


> london cupcake shops


 
Well then why all the disapproving clucking of the mother hens on this thread, about this shop?


----------



## trashpony (Feb 21, 2011)

Maurice Picarda said:


> There's a disturbing little shop in Brent Cross which sells objects which are artfully designed to look exactly like fairy (or cup) cakes, down to the hundreds and thousands and glace cherries, but are actually intended for dropping into a bath to scent the water and make it unpleasantly oily. They cost a couple of pounds each, the same as a proper, edible, cup (or fairy) cake. The shop seemed to be doing a fairly good trade.


 
With the sort of people who enjoy shopping Brent Cross probably. I do not include either you or I in that category


----------



## miss minnie (Feb 21, 2011)

We've even got "the home of quality American baking in London" where you can order online 24/7 thus allaying any panic over lack of lurid cupcakes.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

miss minnie said:


> london cupcake shops


 
ps: I think ours are more lurid than yours.

http://www.google.co.uk/images?um=1...&q=vancouver+cupcake+shops&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=


----------



## Oswaldtwistle (Feb 21, 2011)

Mrs Magpie said:


> Well, when she gets running water sorted I will try her wares, mainly because I'm wondering how a cake can be made without eggs or butter.


 
Yaffle Cafe above Soundbites in Derby sells cupcakes which are vegan(the whole premises is). They taste fine to me. I've got no idea how they make them but they taste fine to me.


----------



## miss minnie (Feb 21, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Well then why all the disapproving clucking of the mother hens on this thread, about this shop?


Its called 'opinions' Johnny.  People have them.  Even about cupcakes. And shops.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

miss minnie said:


> We've even got "the home of quality American baking in London" where you can order online 24/7 thus allaying any panic over lack of lurid cupcakes.


 
Well, you got us beat there. About the only thing you can order for delivery 24/7 in Vancouver, is illegal drugs.


----------



## Mrs Magpie (Feb 21, 2011)

miss minnie said:


> We've even got "the home of quality American baking in London" where you can order online 24/7 thus allaying any panic over lack of lurid cupcakes.


They sell Whoopie pies. Is it a typo in a Frank Spencer recipe?


----------



## miss minnie (Feb 21, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Well, you got us beat there. About the only thing you can order for delivery 24/7 in Vancouver, is illegal drugs.


Well perhaps Ms Cupcake could win a coup if she provided lurid 50's hash cupcakes to order 24/7.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

miss minnie said:


> Its called 'opinions' Johnny.  People have them.  Even about cupcakes. And shops.


 
Yes but such _predictable_ opinions. Something new = bad. 

You can be sure that most of the people with opinions haven't tried this shop. From the sounds of it, it isn't even open yet: no running water or something.

Oh well, it wouldn't be U75 if it were otherwise.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

miss minnie said:


> Well perhaps Ms Cupcake could win a coup if she provided lurid 50's hash cupcakes to order 24/7.


 
Hash is one thing you can't really get here, so maybe.


----------



## miss minnie (Feb 21, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Yes but such _predictable_ opinions. Something new = bad.
> 
> You can be sure that most of the people with opinions haven't tried this shop. From the sounds of it, it isn't even open yet: no running water or something.
> 
> Oh well, it wouldn't be U75 if it were otherwise.


I'm reading that people aren't keen on "cupcakes".  They are allowed to not like cupcakes.  People who don't like cupcakes might also hold an opinion as to a shop that sells cupcakes exclusively without having to try the cupcakes because, as stated, "they don't like cupcakes" and probably won't try them even if the shop was open.  I think that is ok.  It doesn't bother me as much as it bothers you.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

miss minnie said:


> I'm reading that people aren't keen on "cupcakes".  They are allowed to not like cupcakes.  People who don't like cupcakes might also hold an opinion as to a shop that sells cupcakes exclusively without having to try the cupcakes because, as stated, "they don't like cupcakes" and probably won't try them even if the shop was open.  I think that is ok.  It doesn't bother me as much as it bothers you.


 
I know. It's fine.

I just knew when I saw the op, what would follow. The disapproving comments. The snide offhand remarks. 






'A_ cupcake_ store you say? Here in Brixton?'


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

Anyway, I'm spoiling the mood. You folks carry on ..... where were we?

Oh yes: lurid...... thick layers of sickly topping.......


----------



## Mrs Magpie (Feb 21, 2011)

It's a Monday morning Johnny. A good moan is obligatory.


----------



## miss minnie (Feb 21, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> I know. It's fine.
> 
> I just knew when I saw the op, what would follow. The disapproving comments. The snide offhand remarks....


... the arrival of someone who doesn't live in the area to distort the discussion and be condescending to everyone... yep, wouldn't be urban otherwise.


----------



## Maurice Picarda (Feb 21, 2011)

trashpony said:


> With the sort of people who enjoy shopping Brent Cross probably. I do not include either you or I in that category


 
I go to Brent Cross at least every couple of months so I must be getting some sort of pleasure from it. And I genuinely like the John Lewis. It aims to have a mid-priced example of everything that anyone could possibly want, ever, set out in a sober and logical fashion, and it more or less succeeds.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 21, 2011)

Twee bollocks


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 21, 2011)

Ornamental food can fuck right off


----------



## trashpony (Feb 21, 2011)

Maurice Picarda said:


> I go to Brent Cross at least every couple of months so I must be getting some sort of pleasure from it. And I genuinely like the John Lewis. It aims to have a mid-priced example of everything that anyone could possibly want, ever, set out in a sober and logical fashion, and it more or less succeeds.


 
See I've always pictured you as one of the harassed looking men I see in there, rather than one of the ones with a slightly glazed rictus grin. I'm disappointed I've got you so wrong.


----------



## Maurice Picarda (Feb 21, 2011)

My rictus grin isn't just slightly glazed, it's piled stupa-like with buttercream and dotted with vermicelli.


----------



## trashpony (Feb 21, 2011)

Maurice Picarda said:


> My rictus grin isn't just slightly glazed, it's piled stupa-like with buttercream and dotted with vermicelli.


 
 Not bad for the first day of half term


----------



## Biddlybee (Feb 21, 2011)

I've had some vegan cakes that do taste lovely, but never been a fan of too much icing on cakes. Said it on another thread, not really sure if the shop will work only selling cupcakes... need a bit more range surely?


----------



## Ms T (Feb 21, 2011)

Biddly said:


> I've had some vegan cakes that do taste lovely, but never been a fan of too much icing on cakes. Said it on another thread, not really sure if the shop will work only selling cupcakes... need a bit more range surely?


 
I imagine she's using it as a base for her existing business, which was mail order, I think.


----------



## rover07 (Feb 21, 2011)

I ate a whole McVities Jamaica Ginger cake yesterday.

Now have the shits, just splattered all over the seat and bowl.


----------



## Oswaldtwistle (Feb 21, 2011)

rover07 said:


> I ate a whole McVities Jamaica Ginger cake yesterday.
> 
> Now have the shits, just splattered all over the seat and bowl.


 
Thanks for sharing that....


----------



## Biddlybee (Feb 21, 2011)

wtf does that have to do with this thread rover07?


----------



## toblerone3 (Feb 21, 2011)

rover07 said:


> I ate a whole McVities Jamaica Ginger cake yesterday.
> 
> Now have the shits, just splattered all over the seat and bowl.



Now get the brush and clean it up. Think of the next person to use the toilet.


----------



## rover07 (Feb 21, 2011)

Biddly said:


> wtf does that have to do with this thread rover07?


 
Its a cake thread.

In your face Ms Cupcake, I bet Vegan cakes are good laxatives!


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Feb 21, 2011)

trashpony said:


> I hate the word cupcake.


 


tarannau said:


> They're just over-iced fairycakes, aren't they?


 


miss minnie said:


> We called them fairy cakes when we were kids.


 


trashpony said:


> I've always made my fairy cakes with buttercream icing. I don't need to call them cupcakes in a faux American style. And any woman who celebrates 50s housewifery deserves a history lesson



I agree with all od these and so dpoes may Dad wpo gets irrationally angry at the mention of the word cupcakes 

I did, however, once make some cupcakes - lots of palavar with sugar syrupI seem to remember - for Mr. QofG's who did enjoy them but not as much as he liked butterfly buns, with buttercream of course, so now I stick to those as they are much easier to make!

However as for Ms. Cupcake's cupcakes good luck to her and I may buy one if in Brixton but not if they cost £2.50 each. I want real cream and lard for that!


----------



## bosie (Feb 21, 2011)

I know a few people who will be very pleased that they are vegan. For me, vegan or not, it will be about taste and price. I hope she does well though, anyone starting a business in this day and age is brave.


----------



## editor (Feb 21, 2011)

So what do folks reckon is a reasonable price for a cupcake? The look wee little things, so I'd say anything more than £1.50-£2 is going to put me off.
To be honest, I only ever buy cakes when I'm in a cafe drinking tea/coffee...


----------



## Mrs Magpie (Feb 21, 2011)

They cost about 20 to 50 pence each to make (although I'm estimating what I would spend including free-range eggs and butter) depending on how elaborate the decoration is and whether you use cheapo cake cases or the more expensive foiled ones.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Feb 21, 2011)

editor said:


> So what do folks reckon is a reasonable price for a cupcake? The look wee little things, so I'd say anything more than £1.50-£2 is going to put me off.
> To be honest, I only ever buy cakes when I'm in a cafe drinking tea/coffee...


 
£2.00 would be the upper limit for me, for a cupcake at least, maybe £2.50 to £3.50 for a cream slice or chocolate gateau (this is solely based on my liking for cream slices etc..above cupcakes rather than based on any idea of costs, skill in making etc..). However that would be sit-down prices, takeaway and I would want to pay a bit less.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 21, 2011)

how is it even possible to make vegan cake? Cake needs butter and eggs.


----------



## editor (Feb 21, 2011)

Are these things a big hit with schoolkids? I'm wondering if there'll be enough demand for cupcakes when there's quite a few great cafes nearby, all selling decent cakes.


----------



## Mrs Magpie (Feb 21, 2011)

Only really at parties, editor. The kids at my school go mainly for chips, crisps and fizzy drink when they go out to buy food. I've only ever seen female staff buy cake.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Feb 21, 2011)

Mrs Magpie said:


> Only really at parties, editor. The kids at my school go mainly for *chips, crisps and fizzy drink when they go out to buy food*. I've only ever seen female staff buy cake.



I am glad to see not much has changed in the last 30 years *remembers lunchtime trips into town*


----------



## Clair De Lune (Feb 21, 2011)

I think they look great 
I don't know the area but if they had one in the centre of town here I could see it doing very well.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Feb 21, 2011)

A review on the internet says they are quite big (fist-sized!) which I whole heartedly applaud.


----------



## spanglechick (Feb 21, 2011)

fuxxake - a fairy cake is not the same as a cupcake - before the icing gets anywhere near it .

This is a fairy cake:





Note, the actual cake part is not very tall in relation to the diameter. Also see the pronounced angle between the bottom and the top of the case.  A fairy cake is two bites for most people. Three if you're trying to impress future in-laws or something.

These are cupcakes (un-iced, for clarity):




see how they are much taller and more substantial? how the angle of the sides is less pronounced? I probably *could* eat one of these in two bites, but it wouldn't be pretty.

Will this shop succeed? maybe - i think the vegan thing might be an issue. never had a truly yummy vegan cake, and buttercream icing is very dependant on the taste of butter, surely..? 
a non-vegan cupcake shop might do well. They're very pretty - buying a box to take to a friend who's just had a baby, or if you were visiting someone for coffee... it's mostly about the 'ahh' factor when you open the box. Even if you do scrape off some of the icing.  At about £2 each they're an affordable indulgence for a lot of people (significantly less than a pint), and small kids will go nuts for them.

I don't like her poster.  The lovely fifties font needs to be carried through as a visual concept: the hot pink and those particular lipstick kisses are both a bit eighties-does-fifties.


----------



## tarannau (Feb 21, 2011)

editor said:


> Are these things a big hit with schoolkids? I'm wondering if there'll be enough demand for cupcakes when there's quite a few great cafes nearby, all selling decent cakes.


 
Schoolkids? I think I'd have been lynched for carrying a pink buttercream fairy cake to Dick Sheppard, let alone want to spend the same as one fried chicken meal on one of the bastards.

I really doubt schoolkids will be much of a market around here, public schools excepted.


----------



## Oswaldtwistle (Feb 21, 2011)

editor said:


> So what do folks reckon is a reasonable price for a cupcake? The look wee little things, so I'd say anything more than £1.50-£2 is going to put me off.



Yaffle in Derby charges £1.50 for a Vegan cupcake, which is about at the top end of my price tolerance range. I tend to buy the odd one as a treat, as they are worth the money. But I'm not sure I'd pay much more, however nice the cake.




editor said:


> Are these things a big hit with schoolkids?


 
If they are, she'd best be pretty confident at dealing with a shop full of 13/14/15 yr olds.


----------



## tarannau (Feb 21, 2011)

Spangles - you realise that people in Britain made deep fairy cakes before 'cupcake' became favoured by marketing bods. Any distinction between the two is arbitrary and somewhat forced ime -


----------



## Kanda (Feb 21, 2011)

Wasn't it Sex and the City that started the current cupcake fad??

Even Moonpig is sick of them, her friends have fucking cupcake parties!! It's all they bloody talk about down in the Kent countryside where all her mates are...


----------



## tufty79 (Feb 21, 2011)

re: fairy cakes, i always thought they had to have 'wings'


----------



## spanglechick (Feb 21, 2011)

tarannau said:


> Spangles - you realise that people in Britain made deep fairy cakes before 'cupcake' became favoured by marketing bods. Any distinction between the two is arbitrary and somewhat forced ime -


 
not in my neck of the woods they didn't. paper cases only came in one size in supermarkets and corner shops and they are what determine the shape and size of the case. I'd be amazed if many brits were making big cupcakes in the seventies/early eighties and calling them fairy cakes. 

Cupcakes aren't a marketing invention. In the states, they made individual iced sponge cakes too, but they were bigger and they called them cupcakes.  when someone thought it would be a good idea to bring the bigger iced cake to the uk, they didn't call them fairy cakes - because fairy cakes are much smaller - they called them cupcakes, because that's what they were called where they came from.


----------



## spanglechick (Feb 21, 2011)

tufty79 said:


> re: fairy cakes, i always thought they had to have 'wings'


 
butterfly cakes.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

tufty79 said:


> re: fairy cakes, i always thought they had to have 'wings'


 

That is a BUTTERFLY CAKE


----------



## tufty79 (Feb 21, 2011)

thank you - yet another lie my mum told me, then


----------



## tarannau (Feb 21, 2011)

Fairy cake just means an individual cake ime, no more than that ime. I seem to remember all kinds of toppings, from straight up icing to buttercream, hundreds and thousands through to those weird jellied orange and lemon segments.

FWIW, after living too close to NA really, hefty chunks of my family switch between the two words dependent on location. And larger 'cupcake'/fairy cake cases were widely available in the past - it's something we were always able to source in London


----------



## gabi (Feb 21, 2011)

classic urban thread


----------



## quimcunx (Feb 21, 2011)

In the UK in 2011 

a fairy cake is an individual cake often served with a topping of some sort.  sponge predominates

a butterfly cake is a type of fairy cake with 'wings'.  sponge predominates.

a cup cake is an extravagantly iced fairy cake.  Icing predominates.


----------



## trashpony (Feb 21, 2011)

I'm eating a fairy cake now. It has chocolate chips in it. Is it still a fairy cake?


----------



## Biddlybee (Feb 21, 2011)

They're all _little _cakes


----------



## spanglechick (Feb 21, 2011)

tarannau said:


> And larger 'cupcake'/fairy cake cases were widely available in the past - it's something we were always able to source in London


 
Not in my experience at all.  I was passionate about making cakes as a small child (and in fact, well into my teens). frenzied.  Had the local co-op, grocers, sainsburys or even the big ASDAs when we got that in the late eighties, sold anything other than the bog-standard shallow paper case, generally printed with ugly orange flowers, or as a very special treat - foiled - i would have been transported into delights.  maybe brixton had a special line to deeper cases. maybe there was some kind of border control ensuring that only the brownies-approved shallow case made it into the suburbs, but certainly the deeper cupcake case was new to me when i first got hold of some about 12 years ago.


----------



## Clair De Lune (Feb 21, 2011)

Where do muffins come into the cupcake/fairy cake debate?

Mrs. Muffins cruelty free, decorative splurge cakes


----------



## toblerone3 (Feb 21, 2011)

Two Fairy cakes, one cup.


----------



## trashpony (Feb 21, 2011)

Can it still be a cupcake if it's made without two of the four primary ingredients?


----------



## spanglechick (Feb 21, 2011)

well, you can make a resonable sponge with margerine (is margerine vegan?)... but eggless?


----------



## Biddlybee (Feb 21, 2011)

You can get vegan spread.


----------



## Clair De Lune (Feb 21, 2011)

And this for the egg http://www.naturallygoodfood.co.uk/Baking/No_Egg_egg_replacer_Orgran_GF_200g


----------



## tarannau (Feb 21, 2011)

spanglechick said:


> Not in my experience at all.  I was passionate about making cakes as a small child (and in fact, well into my teens). frenzied.  Had the local co-op, grocers, sainsburys or even the big ASDAs when we got that in the late eighties, sold anything other than the bog-standard shallow paper case, generally printed with ugly orange flowers, or as a very special treat - foiled - i would have been transported into delights.  maybe brixton had a special line to deeper cases. maybe there was some kind of border control ensuring that only the brownies-approved shallow case made it into the suburbs, but certainly the deeper cupcake case was new to me when i first got hold of some about 12 years ago.


 
I can be fairly definite about this largely because I played for a rugby team in the 80s that, for some unknown reason, had a habit of eating fairy cakes at halftime. So much so that we were informally known as 'Jaqui's Fairies' around the London leagues - fortunately we were actually a fairly good team

But these were big fairy cakes, quite possibly cooked in US moulds, that nobody would have dreamed calling cupcakes. They were simply large fairy cakes. And the same scene was played out in many a bake off and cake stall for years

To me the difference between 'cupcakes' and 'fairycakes' was always arbitrary - we spent time between both the Americas and the UK and we simply switched terms dependent on where you were. It's one of those slight distinctions like 'pants' meaning underwear in the UK, but all trousers in the US.


----------



## quimcunx (Feb 21, 2011)

Clair De Lune said:


> Where do muffins come into the cupcake/fairy cake debate?
> 
> Mrs. Muffins cruelty free, decorative splurge cakes


 
Muffins are what we call fairy cakes when we don't want to admit to eating cake for breakfast.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

According to Wiki



> The first mention of the cupcake can be traced as far back as 1796, when a recipe notation of “a cake to be baked in small cups” was written in “American Cookery” by Amelia Simms. The earliest documentation of the term “cupcake” was in “Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats” in 1828 in Eliza Leslie's Receipts cookbook.[1]
> 
> In the early 19th century, there were two different uses for the name "cup cake" or "cupcake". In previous centuries, before muffin tins were widely available, the cakes were often baked in individual pottery cups, ramekins, or molds and took their name from the cups they were baked in. This is the use of the name that has persisted, and the name of "cupcake" is now given to any small cake that is about the size of a teacup. The name "fairy cake" is a fanciful description of its size, which would be appropriate for a party of diminutive fairies to share.



Totally irrelevant however.  It's just another stupid American fad that's made its way to these shores in a bid to make the British even more overweight.  This problem didn't exist when everyone ate fairy cakes.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

quimcunx said:


> Muffins are what we call fairy cakes when we don't want to admit to eating cake for breakfast.


 
Muffins


----------



## Clair De Lune (Feb 21, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Muffins


 
google image search wholeheartedly disagrees with you


----------



## tarannau (Feb 21, 2011)

The Americans have rebranded those things McMuffins


----------



## dessiato (Feb 21, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Alright, now that that's established, tell us of the lesser evils of the sign.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
I have no other problems with the sign. If she wants to portray herself as a 0's housewife that's up to her. 

We have a cupcake place in Parque Nascente, in Rio Tinto. They are expensive but a real pleasure to eat. AND they use real butter-cream. Of course this means they don't last as long as non-animal product ones  might, but who wants to keep them? They are to be eaten and enjoyed ASAP.


----------



## spanglechick (Feb 21, 2011)

tarannau said:


> I can be fairly definite about this largely because I played for a rugby team in the 80s that, for some unknown reason, had a habit of eating fairy cakes at halftime. So much so that we were informally known as 'Jaqui's Fairies' around the London leagues - fortunately we were actually a fairly good team
> 
> But these were big fairy cakes, quite possibly cooked in US moulds, that nobody would have dreamed calling cupcakes. They were simply large fairy cakes. And the same scene was played out in many a bake off and cake stall for years
> 
> To me the difference between 'cupcakes' and 'fairycakes' was always arbitrary - we spent time between both the Americas and the UK and we simply switched terms dependent on where you were. It's one of those slight distinctions like 'pants' meaning underwear in the UK, but all trousers in the US.


 
it think it's the american moulds thing. if you didn't know anyone who'd spent time in america - and i, like most brits in that period, just didn't - you wouldn't have been exposed to the bigger version until they were brought over by food importers in the nineties. and then it goes back to my earlier point: if they'd called them 'fairy cakes' they wouldn't have sold many - most people (without the benefit of transatlantic cake moulds in their social circle) would have expected them to be small, and not worth buying... they could have called them 'american style fairy cakes', but it was surely simpler to call them cupcakes because that's what they were called at home and it indicated that they were different.


----------



## spanglechick (Feb 21, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> According to Wiki
> 
> 
> 
> Totally irrelevant however.  It's just another stupid American fad that's made its way to these shores in a bid to make the British even more overweight.  This problem didn't exist when everyone ate fairy cakes.


 
yay - 






			
				wiki said:
			
		

> the name of "cupcake" is now given to any small cake that is about the size of a teacup



your average british fairy cake (or butterfly cake) is nowhere near the size of a teacup. hurrah!


----------



## Yu_Gi_Oh (Feb 21, 2011)

tufty79 said:


> thank you - yet another lie my mum told me, then



Yeah, mine too, wtf is that all about?

I'm greedy and think that the ones with all the lurid icing on look the best.  Vegan cake can be really nice too, in the war cakes were sometimes baked without eggs or dairy.  I find it less sickly.  You can eat more!


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Clair De Lune said:


> google image search wholeheartedly disagrees with you


 
That's because it's American so therefore biased


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

tarannau said:


> The Americans have rebranded those things McMuffins


 
Probably in retaliation for the British rebranding cupcakes as fairy cakes


----------



## Biddlybee (Feb 21, 2011)

spanglechick said:


> it think it's the american moulds thing. if you didn't know anyone who'd spent time in america - and i, like most brits in that period, just didn't - you wouldn't have been exposed to the bigger version until they were brought over by food importers in the nineties.


aren't yorkshire puddings made in the bigger/deeper moulds?

fuck it, small cakes are small cakes, who gives a toss what they're called as long as they taste nice?


----------



## tarannau (Feb 21, 2011)

It doesn't change the fact that they're basically the same thing. The whole idea of trying to give them sort of differentiation based on the cup size is more than a little arbitrary given the similarity of ingredients and the ability to substitute one word for another without concern or confusion. 

It's more akin to changing the size of a can of coke and giving it an attractively bright new rebrand - the product itself is largely unchanged, but it's a great tool of potential differentiation for marketeers everywhere. Fairy cakes were a bit faimilar, a bit too Wi, but cupcakes can be imbued with _new and exciting_ premium associations.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

tarannau said:


> It doesn't change the fact that they're basically the same thing. The whole idea of trying to give them sort of differentiation based on the cup size is more than a little arbitrary given the similarity of ingredients and the ability to substitute one word for another without concern or confusion.
> 
> It's more akin to changing the size of a can of coke and giving it an attractively bright new rebrand - the product itself is largely unchanged, but it's a great tool of potential differentiation for marketeers everywhere. Fairy cakes were a bit faimilar, a bit too Wi, *but cupcakes can be imbued with new and exciting premium associations*.



if you're that gullible


----------



## tarannau (Feb 21, 2011)

It works though, doesn't it? In the same way that Pret helped itself to a premium image by little touches like 'crayfish and rocket' sandwiches rather than plain old 'prawn salad'. The same old product offerings are refreshed and relaunched to help maintain interest


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

tarannau said:


> It works though, doesn't it? In the same way that Pret helped itself to a premium image by little touches like 'crayfish and rocket' sandwiches rather than plain old 'prawn salad'. The same old product offerings are refreshed and relaunched to help maintain interest


 

I buy Pret because I like the stuff, not because it has crayfish and rocket sandwiches which I wouldn't eat anyway


----------



## rover07 (Feb 21, 2011)

I fancy some cake for lunch. 

(I probably shouldnt though)


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 21, 2011)

Biddly said:


> aren't yorkshire puddings made in the bigger/deeper moulds?
> 
> fuck it, small cakes are small cakes, who gives a toss what they're called as long as they taste nice?


 It's the ludicrously baroque and overabundant icing that I have a problem. All that fuss for something that's over in a matter of seconds


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> It's the ludicrously baroque and overabundant icing that I have a problem. All that fuss for something that's over in a matter of seconds



and paying a couple of quid for the privilege.  I'd get more satisfaction out of a chocolate eclair for half the price


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 21, 2011)

Or an iced bun or plain jam doughnut.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 21, 2011)

It's the nouvelle cuisine of baking


----------



## twistedAM (Feb 21, 2011)

tarannau said:


> The Americans have rebranded those things McMuffins



No, it's English Muffins. I had a friend coming over from Omaha once and he couldn't wait to get stuck into some English muffins. I thought we were going clubbing, he meant breakfast.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> Or an iced bun or plain jam doughnut.


 
Yeah, what's wrong with a nice plain jam doughnut eh? 

Nah, people feel the need to eat Krispy Kreme shite nowadays.  I ate one once and could almost feel my arteries clogging up


----------



## IC3D (Feb 21, 2011)

She is some post-feminist fetishistic 50's housewife, I prefer the laboratory fire-bombing vegans of yesteryear but I'm a bit of a traditionalist.


----------



## Dan U (Feb 21, 2011)

I want a cake, cheers thread


----------



## Melinda (Feb 21, 2011)

If she diversifies into fancy pants macaroons, I'll consider making a pilgrimage to SW9


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Melinda said:


> If she diversifies into fancy pants macaroons, I'll consider making a pilgrimage to SW9


 
There's a new(ish) cake shop by Streatham Hill station.  Went past there the other day and they have meringues the size of saucers.  

Would anyone actually eat a whole meringue the size of a saucer?


----------



## Melinda (Feb 21, 2011)

Streatham?! I dont go them ends.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Melinda said:


> Streatham?! I dont go them ends.



But if you're going to go to Brixton if she starts making fancy pants macaroons, you may as well get a 10-minute bus up the Hill


----------



## Melinda (Feb 21, 2011)

Bus??! 


Honestly Min!


----------



## spanglechick (Feb 21, 2011)

a meringue isn't as much of a draw as a fancy maccaroon.

you couldn't make a vegan version of either of them, mind.


----------



## nick h. (Feb 21, 2011)

Rosie's bakes cupcakes.  Anyone up for a back-to-back vegan/animal-cruelty cupcake test? It could be a blind tasting on the benches outside.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Melinda said:


> Bus??!
> 
> 
> Honestly Min!



Sorry, erm... Brixton Hill limo 



nick h. said:


> Rosie's bakes cupcakes.  Anyone up for a back-to-back vegan/animal-cruelty cupcake test? It could be a blind tasting on the benches outside.


 
Rosie and her are already friends according to her website.  Maybe Rosie's donating water to her


----------



## Biddlybee (Feb 21, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> It's the ludicrously baroque and overabundant icing that I have a problem. All that fuss for something that's over in a matter of seconds


It looks quite pretty, but very sickly. 

I had the BIGGEST jam doughnut the other week... it was HUGE


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 21, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> There's a new(ish) cake shop by Streatham Hill station.  Went past there the other day and they have meringues the size of saucers.
> 
> Would anyone actually eat a whole meringue the size of a saucer?


 I definitely would. They're mostly air


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> I definitely would. They're mostly air


 
and sugar, and sickly sweet


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 21, 2011)

With loads of cream. Mmmmmmmm


----------



## salem (Feb 21, 2011)

Bloody cupcakes. In the past couple of years every bored housewife in suburbia has got into the business. However I think saturation point has been passed - a community fair I was at last year had 3 separate cup cake stalls and I've already seen them in the down arrow section in some hot/not part of some Sunday mag. The whole 50's housewife iconography things a bit old hat too.

Good luck to her though.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> With loads of cream. Mmmmmmmm


 

Are you having lots of nice sweet stuff over there?


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

salem said:


> Bloody cupcakes. In the past couple of years every bored housewife in suburbia has got into the business. However I think saturation point has been passed - a community fair I was at last year had 3 separate cup cake stalls and I've already seen them in the down arrow section in some hot/not part of some Sunday mag. The whole 50's housewife iconography things a bit old hat too.
> 
> Good luck to her though.


 
Load of bandwagon jumping sheep


----------



## strung out (Feb 21, 2011)

as someone else said, cupcakes are much more fun to make than to actually eat


----------



## editor (Feb 21, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> All that fuss for something that's over in a matter of seconds


A bit like sex, no?


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 21, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Are you having lots of nice sweet stuff over there?


 Not really. The odd smoothie.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 21, 2011)

editor said:


> A bit like sex, no?


 
Maybe for you


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> Maybe for you


 
I was going to say that but thought better of it


----------



## editor (Feb 21, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> Maybe for you


I'm a busy man.


----------



## Melinda (Feb 21, 2011)

spanglechick said:


> a meringue isn't as much of a draw as a fancy maccaroon.
> 
> you couldn't make a vegan version of either of them, mind.


Fancy macaroons look so very beautiful. The classic Laduree type.  







Google tells me that you can substitute egg white by dissolving a tbsp of plain agar powder in 1 tbsp water. Whip, chill and whip again.


----------



## miss minnie (Feb 21, 2011)

Melinda said:


> Fancy macaroons look so very beautiful. The classic Laduree type.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You want Macaron in Clapham.


----------



## dessiato (Feb 21, 2011)

Melinda said:


> Fancy macaroons look so very beautiful. The classic Laduree type.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
WANT!


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Melinda said:


> Fancy macaroons look so very beautiful. The classic Laduree type.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
They look disgusting.  (I'm obviously not a fan of macaroons )

Would make good Christmas tree decorations though


----------



## Hocus Eye. (Feb 21, 2011)

I had never heard of cupcakes until they turned up on _The Apprentice_ when a bunch of spotty teenage would-be yuppies was making and trying to sell them in the street at the kind of price for each cake that would buy a whole meal in any decent greasy spoon cafe.

How do these daft fads and fashions get started and promoted? Why are some people so vulnerable to this kind of crap?


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Hocus Eye. said:


> I had never heard of cupcakes until they turned up on _The Apprentice_ when a bunch of spotty teenage would-be yuppies was making and trying to sell them in the street at the kind of price for each cake that would buy a whole meal in any decent greasy spoon cafe.
> 
> *How do these daft fads and fashions get started and promoted? Why are some people so vulnerable to this kind of crap?*




Watching too much American tv like Friends, Sex and the City apparently (and thinking Americans are cool)


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

Mrs Magpie said:


> It's a Monday morning Johnny. A good moan is obligatory.


 
Maybe. Now that it's Monday morning for me, I'm a touch more sympathetic.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

editor said:


> Are these things a big hit with schoolkids? .


 
They're a big hit with women. They're the sort of thing that get taken to an office on Secretary's Day; or Friday, for that matter.


----------



## Hocus Eye. (Feb 21, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> [/B]
> 
> Watching too much American tv like Friends, Sex and the City apparently (and thinking Americans are cool)


 
I watch too much American tv as well. That is because there is too much American tv on our screens. Sometimes when the actors are speaking too fast I wish we could have British English subtitles on the screen.


----------



## Melinda (Feb 21, 2011)

Oh dear Minnie-  despising Laduree macaroons while advocating bus travel. 

*sniff*


----------



## salem (Feb 21, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> They're a big hit with women. They're the sort of thing that get taken to an office on Secretary's Day; or Friday, for that matter.


 
_Secretary's Day_?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Muffins


 
Blueberry muffin:


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Hocus Eye. said:


> I watch too much American tv as well. That is because there is too much American tv on our screens. Sometimes when the actors are speaking too fast I wish we could have British English subtitles on the screen.


 
So do I, but luckily, I don't aspire to be one, talk like one or eat like one  

I quite often put subtitles on whilst watching American programmes


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Muffins


 
We call these 'English Muffins' as opposed to regular muffins.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Melinda said:


> Oh dear Minnie-  despising Laduree macaroons while advocating bus travel.
> 
> *sniff*


 
Too sweet for me I'm afraid.  Give me a chocolate eclair or jam and cream doughnut instead please


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

salem said:


> _Secretary's Day_?


 
Exactly.  Never heard of it, although if it means a day of pampering once a week for secretaries, it's one American fad I wouldn't object to, unless of course it involved buying Krispy Kremes and cupcakes, in which case, bosses could shove them up their arses and give me a pay rise instead


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> It's the ludicrously baroque and overabundant icing that I have a problem. All that fuss for something that's over in a matter of seconds


 
Like your lovemaking, you mean?


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Like your lovemaking, you mean?


 

That's already old and crusty.  Was done way back in the thread


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

editor said:


> A bit like sex, no?


 
Ah: beat me to it - no pun intended.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> [/B]
> 
> Watching too much American tv like Friends, Sex and the City apparently (and thinking Americans are cool)


 
Who is it who says 'all america, all the time'?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

salem said:


> _Secretary's Day_?


 
http://www.thesweetbasket.com/html-cat/secretary.html


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Exactly.  Never heard of it, although if it means a day of pampering once a week for secretaries, it's one American fad I wouldn't object to, unless of course it involved buying Krispy Kremes and cupcakes, in which case, bosses could shove them up their arses and give me a pay rise instead


 
It's only once a year; and you get your secretary [or professional administrative assistant, as they're now called] whatever she/he wants, within reason.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Who is it who says 'all america, all the time'?


 
I don't know?  Who says it?


----------



## weepiper (Feb 21, 2011)

bullshit Hallmark Holiday spiel said:
			
		

> express your appreciation and gratitude to your most valued employees



you could always, you know, pay them more and make sure their working conditions are ok. I bet they'd like that better than a box of poxy hot chocolate dippers.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> It's only once a year; and you get your secretary [or professional administrative assistant, as they're now called] whatever she/he wants, within reason.


 
Pay rise seems within reason


----------



## Ms T (Feb 21, 2011)

Melinda said:


> Fancy macaroons look so very beautiful. The classic Laduree type.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



No those aren't macaroons to me.  This is a macaroon:






Those are macarons and they look much nicer than they taste.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Ms T said:


> No those aren't macaroons to me.  This is a macaroon:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
Yep, that's a *proper* macaroon.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Pay rise seems within reason


 
Not if you're overpaid to start with.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Not if you're overpaid to start with.


 
Well there aren't many secretaries who are overpaid to start with


----------



## spanglechick (Feb 21, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> [/B]
> 
> Watching too much American tv like Friends, Sex and the City apparently (and thinking Americans are cool)


 
or perhaps ;liking pretty things and having a sweet tooth.

there is so much automatic anti-american snobbery on these boards.  it really just makes people look close-minded and ignorant, to me. 

Some things from america (eg - the power of the religious right) are very bad. Some things from america (tv dramas) are good - can't we judge each thing on it's merits without adding its provenance as a stick to beat it with? If you don't like individual sponge cakes with lots of icing and imaginative flavours and pretty decoration, then that's completely fine. I can see why people might dislike their price, or the ultra-sweetness.  That's enough, though. Do you really have to add to that some kind of perjorative attitude about a whole nation?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

weepiper said:


> you could always, you know, pay them more and make sure their working conditions are ok. I bet they'd like that better than a box of poxy hot chocolate dippers.


 
That assumes that all assistants are underpaid with shit working conditions.


----------



## spanglechick (Feb 21, 2011)

Ms T said:


> No those aren't macaroons to me.  This is a macaroon:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
That's a coconut macaroon, surely.

Macaroon is just the anglicised spelling of the french 'macaron', isn't it?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Well there aren't many secretaries who are overpaid to start with


 
The ones I know make around 18,000 - 22,000 pounds approx. I wouldn't call it overpaid, but I'm not sure it's underpaid, either.


----------



## spanglechick (Feb 21, 2011)

I don't know why i'm bothering so much - i'm not fond of buttercream, and since there'll be no marscapone toppings here, i'll probably not visit this shop...  it's just the attitude that rubs me up the wrong way.


----------



## strung out (Feb 21, 2011)

i always thought macaroons were scottish. shows what i know.


----------



## RaverDrew (Feb 21, 2011)

spanglechick said:


> or perhaps ;liking pretty things and having a sweet tooth.
> 
> there is so much automatic anti-american snobbery on these boards.  it really just makes people look close-minded and ignorant, to me.
> 
> Some things from america (eg - the power of the religious right) are very bad. Some things from america (tv dramas) are good - can't we judge each thing on it's merits without adding its provenance as a stick to beat it with? If you don't like individual sponge cakes with lots of icing and imaginative flavours and pretty decoration, then that's completely fine. I can see why people might dislike their price, or the ultra-sweetness.  That's enough, though. Do you really have to add to that some kind of perjorative attitude about a whole nation?


 
Well said.

Any country that serves pancakes and maple syrup as an accompaniment to a fried breakfast can't be wrong 'uns imo.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

spanglechick said:


> or perhaps ;liking pretty things and having a sweet tooth.
> 
> there is so much automatic anti-american snobbery on these boards.  it really just makes people look close-minded and ignorant, to me.
> 
> Some things from america (eg - the power of the religious right) are very bad. Some things from america (tv dramas) are good - can't we judge each thing on it's merits without adding its provenance as a stick to beat it with? If you don't like individual sponge cakes with lots of icing and imaginative flavours and pretty decoration, then that's completely fine. I can see why people might dislike their price, or the ultra-sweetness.  That's enough, though. Do you really have to add to that some kind of perjorative attitude about a whole nation?


 
I watch loads of American programmes.  I like Americans.  Some of my best friends are Americans you know (that's a lie of course).  I have plenty of cousins in America.  I have been to America.  There's lots of good about America.  There's lots of bad.  Same goes for this country.  Stop taking my digs at America so seriously.  Mostly though, I am anti-Americanisms.  Enough already OK?


----------



## strung out (Feb 21, 2011)

this reminds me...







 or 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 ?


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

spanglechick said:


> can't we judge each thing on it's merits without adding its provenance as a stick to beat it with?



Oh ffs: what sort of radical nonsense is this?


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

RaverDrew said:


> Well said.
> 
> Any country that serves pancakes and maple syrup as an accompaniment to a fried breakfast can't be wrong 'uns imo.


 
Pancakes with sugar, butter and lemon are much better though


----------



## Ms T (Feb 21, 2011)

spanglechick said:


> That's a coconut macaroon, surely.
> 
> Macaroon is just the anglicised spelling of the french 'macaron', isn't it?


 
The French-style macarons never existed here until recently.  I prefer to keep their French name - as do others, because the English-style macaroon is different.  We don't anglicise croissant, after all.  

I also think they look pretty, but taste a bit "meh".


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> The ones I know make around 18,000 - 22,000 pounds approx. I wouldn't call it overpaid, but I'm not sure it's underpaid, either.


 
Yep, £18,000 was what I was offered when applying for my job (which was a PS) which had been downgraded to an AO.

£18,000 isn't exactly middle-class is it.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

RaverDrew said:


> Well said.
> 
> Any country that serves pancakes and maple syrup as an accompaniment to a fried breakfast can't be wrong 'uns imo.


 
Yeah, but are you talking about those small fat pancakes or the flat crepey type pancakes that we call pancakes?


----------



## Biddlybee (Feb 21, 2011)

Maybe not quite as big , but I've always known macaroons to be coconut macaroons too - only heard of the fancy coloured french ones a few years ago - and they're a bit rubbish


----------



## trashpony (Feb 21, 2011)

strung out said:


> this reminds me...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
Obviously the one with butter on it. Tunnocks only make one decent thing and it isn't that. 

I like macaroons and macarons. But not the macarena (ey-ey-EY)

I am worried for the humble fairy cake and fear it will pass out of fashion.


----------



## Biddlybee (Feb 21, 2011)

trashpony said:


> I am worried for the humble fairy cake and fear it will pass out of fashion.


Open a fairy cake shop 

I made fairy cakes at the weekend with my niece


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

trashpony said:


> I am worried for the humble fairy cake and fear it will pass out of fashion.



It won't if people stop becoming fashion victims and jumping on whatever bandwagon's currently rolling and believing what people in the media tell them as to what's in and what's out


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> It won't if people stop becoming fashion victims and jumping on whatever bandwagon's currently rolling and believing what people in the media tell them as to what's in and what's out


 
A petition might be a good place to start.


----------



## spanglechick (Feb 21, 2011)

Ms T said:


> The French-style macarons never existed here until recently.  I prefer to keep their French name - as do others, because the English-style macaroon is different.  We don't anglicise croissant, after all.
> 
> I also think they look pretty, but taste a bit "meh".


 
mebbee.  it's eggwhitey, though - the coconut macaroon, iirc. they must've come from a similar start.  

Me, I love laduree macarons/macaroons.  My favourite flavours: rose, pistachio, salted caramel.  I bought a big box of them last month and only saved three for my husband.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

One thing britain was never known for, was its cuisine. So now you've got people from all over the world bringing in food from their areas, and british people are jumping at the chance to eat something tasty.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> A petition might be a good place to start.



I don't give a shit.  I don't let people dictate to me what's in and what's out.  If I want to eat a prawn cocktail (which I wouldn't because I hate them), I'll eat it and not give a shit who says it's "soooooooooooooo 80s"


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> One thing britain was never known for, was its cuisine. So now you've got people from all over the world bringing in food from their areas, and british people are jumping at the chance to eat something tasty.


 

They've had the chance to eat sponge cakes with icing for donkey's years.  They were just a different shape and size and called fairy cakes, butterfly cakes etc.


----------



## Clair De Lune (Feb 21, 2011)

I don't believe in fairy cakes anymore 
Every time someone bites into a cupcake, a fairy cake dies.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

spanglechick said:


> mebbee.  it's eggwhitey, though - the coconut macaroon, iirc. they must've come from a similar start.
> 
> Me, I love laduree macarons/macaroons.  My favourite flavours: rose, pistachio, salted caramel.  I bought a big box of them last month and only saved three for my husband.



I quite like the sound of pistachio macaroons


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Clair De Lune said:


> I don't believe in fairy cakes anymore
> Every time someone bites into a cupcake, a fairy cake dies.


 
I think you should make that into a massive advertising poster and stick it on that billboard that's just gone up in Coldharbour Lane


----------



## clandestino (Feb 21, 2011)

I'd rather eat a cupcake than a meringue.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> They've had the chance to eat sponge cakes with icing for donkey's years.  They were just a different shape and size and called fairy cakes, butterfly cakes etc.


 
But nothing so lurid as the modern cupcake, surely?


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> But nothing so lurid as the modern cupcake, surely?


 
I know that's your new favourite word.  I saw that post


----------



## Melinda (Feb 21, 2011)

Ms T said:


> The French-style macarons never existed here until recently.  I prefer to keep their French name - as do others, because the English-style macaroon is different.  We don't anglicise croissant, after all.
> 
> I also think they look pretty, but taste a bit "meh".


I think the French type macaroons have always been available in more exclusive haunts, certainly Fortnums (and Selfridges Food Hall I think) have stocked them for aaages. But yeah, they have definitely benefited from the luxury cupcake boom. Careful choice of  filling is crucial. Pistachio-vanilla cream is just mwah.

And the old lady coconut type are bleugh.


----------



## trashpony (Feb 21, 2011)

I do love Laduree macarons but I've only eaten them when spangles has brought them because I am too stingy


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Melinda said:


> And the old lady coconut type are bleugh.



What's old lady about them?  

I don't like them either btw


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> I know that's your new favourite word.  I saw that post


 
Lurid.

Lur - id.

If you google lurid, you get this.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

Who created Wonder Woman:  was it Stan Lee?

I wonder if he had sexual....... issues?


----------



## Melinda (Feb 21, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> What's old lady about them?
> 
> I don't like them either btw


I just associate them with nans! Battenburg too.


----------



## Hocus Eye. (Feb 21, 2011)




----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Melinda said:


> I just associate them with nans! Battenburg too.


 

Battenburg cakes are making a comeback apparently.


----------



## wtfftw (Feb 21, 2011)

I want a jam doughnut now.


----------



## trashpony (Feb 21, 2011)

Melinda said:


> I just associate them with nans! Battenburg too.



You're right

My nan exists entirely on a diet of Battenburg and Heinz chicken soup (she's almost 101)


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

trashpony said:


> You're right
> 
> My nan exists entirely on a diet of Battenburg and Heinz chicken soup (she's almost 101)


 
Really?

*Orders massive supply of Battenburg*


----------



## RaverDrew (Feb 21, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Yeah, but are you talking about those small fat pancakes or the flat crepey type pancakes that we call pancakes?


 
Proper pancakes


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

RaverDrew said:


> Proper pancakes


 
What do you call proper pancakes though, thick, small American ones or what we in the UK call pancakes?

or Scotch pancakes?


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

American pancake






What we call pancakes


----------



## Red Cat (Feb 21, 2011)

trashpony said:


> You're right
> 
> My nan exists entirely on a diet of Battenburg and Heinz chicken soup (she's almost 101)



My nan lived until 90+ and was also a Battenburg eater. We may be onto something.


----------



## editor (Feb 21, 2011)

And then there's the whole issue of pikelets versus crumpets.



> A crumpet is a sweet and savoury bread snack made from flour and yeast. It is eaten mainly in the United Kingdom and other nations of the Commonwealth.
> In the West Midlands it is called a pikelet. A crumpet in this area is similar in appearance (but not taste) to a North American pancake.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crumpet


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

editor said:


> And then there's the whole issue of pikelets versus crumpets.


 
We haven't finished with Scotch, American and French/English pancakes/crepes yet

and I bet the Welsh have a completely different name for everything just to confuse things further


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 21, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> American pancake
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
Even better: Canadian pancakes.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Canadian-Pancakes


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Even better: Canadian pancakes.
> 
> http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Canadian-Pancakes




Look like oversized Scotch pancakes to me


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 21, 2011)

editor said:


> And then there's the whole issue of pikelets versus crumpets.


 
aha, Welsh pancakes



> crempog, ffroes


----------



## gaijingirl (Feb 21, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Battenburg cakes are making a comeback apparently.


 
Battenberg cakes are what my family has had for every birthday cake ever.... even recently there was a move by my brother to get my daughter a battenberg for her first birthday.... gaijinboy, whose parents get cakes at Konditor and Cook - was horrified....


----------



## wtfftw (Feb 21, 2011)

Pikelets are thinner crumpets aren't they?


----------



## Clair De Lune (Feb 21, 2011)

ime pikelets are salty flat patty type things and nothing like crumpets.


----------



## ivebeenhigh (Feb 22, 2011)

Man walks into a bakers and asks "is that a lemon cake or a meringue?" Bakers says "No you're right, it's a lemon cake."


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 22, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Like your lovemaking, you mean?


 Yes, my 'icing' is ludicrously baroque and overabundant


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 22, 2011)

Ms T said:


> The French-style macarons never existed here until recently.  I prefer to keep their French name - as do others, because the English-style macaroon is different.  We don't anglicise croissant, after all.


croissandwich? Thank you America


----------



## miss minnie (Feb 22, 2011)

wtfftw said:


> Pikelets are thinner crumpets aren't they?


Pikelets are made with baking powder.  Crumpets with yeast.  Quite different textures.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 22, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> Yes, my 'icing' is ludicrously baroque and overabundant


 
And ready faster than a three-minute egg...


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Feb 22, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> croissandwich? Thank you America


 
They're better than a mcmuffin.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 22, 2011)

where is danny la rouge? i'm sure he'd have a lot to contribute here as he is Urban 75's Arbiter Of Comestibles

anyway, i just bought Time Out Bangalore and there's a feature on a cupcake shop that has opened called Cupcakeree. They're taking over the world!
Incidentally, their prices range from 25-50 rupees - that's 35-70 pence.


----------



## Janh (Feb 22, 2011)

*Cupcake Wars*

There's a TV station in the US showing a programme called Cupcake Wars.



 weeps


----------



## Biddlybee (Feb 22, 2011)

wtfftw said:


> I want a jam doughnut now.


I can tell you where to get one the size of a babies head 



trashpony said:


> You're right
> 
> My nan exists entirely on a diet of Battenburg and Heinz chicken soup (she's almost 101)


I like both those things, I might be on to a winner


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Feb 22, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> where is danny la rouge? i'm sure he'd have a lot to contribute here as he is Urban 75's Arbiter Of Comestibles
> 
> anyway, i just bought Time Out Bangalore and there's a feature on a cupcake shop that has opened called Cupcakeree. They're taking over the world!
> Incidentally, their prices range from 25-50 rupees - that's 35-70 pence.


 
You need to buy one, for research purposes, and tell us what it is like.


----------



## wtfftw (Feb 22, 2011)

Biddly said:


> I can tell you where to get one the size of a babies head


 Where?


----------



## Biddlybee (Feb 22, 2011)

A cake shop in Brighton... that'd make it a pretty expensive doughnut though 

But it was sooooooo good.


----------



## Oswaldtwistle (Feb 22, 2011)

As this is a 50s retro themed shop, will she ban the darkies?

Lots of darkies round there, you know! 



trashpony said:


> My nan exists entirely on a diet of Battenburg and Heinz chicken soup (she's almost 101)


 
And I'll bet she hasn't done a stroke of work these past 40 years? Bloody welfare state. I blame that Attlee. Knew he was bad news the moment he got in I did.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 22, 2011)

QueenOfGoths said:


> You need to buy one, for research purposes, and tell us what it is like.


 nah, i'm getting out of this place soon. it's full of boutique shopping centres and I do want to be beside the seaside.


----------



## wtfftw (Feb 22, 2011)

Biddly said:


> A cake shop in Brighton... that'd make it a pretty expensive doughnut though
> 
> But it was sooooooo good.


 
Damn!


----------



## nick h. (Feb 22, 2011)

Biddly said:


> I can tell you where to get one the size of a babies head


 
The next u75 T shirt?  Anarchists eating babies' head-shaped doughnuts


----------



## Ms T (Feb 22, 2011)

editor said:


> And then there's the whole issue of pikelets versus crumpets.


 
My mother always called crumpets pikelets.

Has anyone seen actual pikelets anywhere recently?  M&S used to sell them but I haven't seen them in ages.  I actually prefer them to crumpets.


----------



## Mrs Redboots (Feb 22, 2011)

nick h. said:


> Rosie's bakes cupcakes.  Anyone up for a back-to-back vegan/animal-cruelty cupcake test? It could be a blind tasting on the benches outside.



My daughter suggested this earlier today!

When I was a kid - and this is going back a lo-o-ong time now - cupcakes were just that: bought cakes that came in paper cases which you had to peel off; their defining characteristic was a thickish layer of icing, but it was absolutely flat, not piled up in a way that can be reminiscent of a funny-coloured dog mess!


----------



## Mrs Redboots (Feb 22, 2011)

Janh said:


> There's a TV station in the US showing a programme called Cupcake Wars.
> 
> View attachment 13904
> 
> weeps



It's here, too - not that I have ever watched it, but it's on the Food Network in the evenings (one of the Sky channels, forget the number right now).


----------



## Janh (Feb 22, 2011)

Yanks like their cupcakes, they've been trying to catch on here in the UK for a while. I can't see us resisting tbh. I had one over there made from a red sponge called 'velvet', my teeth felt like doing a runner.


----------



## ajdown (Feb 22, 2011)

Ah yes, red velvet cake? http://www.joyofbaking.com/RedVelvetCake.html


----------



## Janh (Feb 22, 2011)

*Red Velvet cupcake*


That's them.


----------



## shakespearegirl (Feb 22, 2011)

I'll be giving them a try. Mr Shakes is a lactose intolerant veggie so it makes buying cakes really difficult. Be nice to go somewhere where he can have anything in the shop  And for best friend of Shakes, who is gluten intolerant, I noticed there is a gluten free stall open in 'Brixton Village' as well. Maybe we can become the food intolerant capital of London..


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 22, 2011)

If cupcake place is catering to vegans, why can't she make some diabetic friendly cakes?


----------



## shakespearegirl (Feb 22, 2011)

Worth an ask?


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 22, 2011)

shakespearegirl said:


> Worth an ask?


 
and people with high cholesterol


----------



## spanglechick (Feb 22, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> If cupcake place is catering to vegans, why can't she make some diabetic friendly cakes?


 
cos that's then three out of four ingrediants she can't use.

we should demand a vegan, diabetic, gluten-free cupcake!


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 22, 2011)

spanglechick said:


> cos that's then three out of four ingrediants she can't use.
> 
> we should demand a vegan, diabetic, gluten-free cupcake!


 
I know, it would be a challenge wouldn't it  

I've found a lower-fat alternative to cream doughnuts in Sainsbury's.  They're custard filled instead of jam and cream.  Not as nice, but I don't feel quite as bad about eating them


----------



## shakespearegirl (Feb 22, 2011)

When I went out for my 40th dinner at posho restaurant with 5 friends, we had the following guests:

Lactose intolerant veggie
Lactose & gluten intolerant  and shellfish allergy
Shellfish allergy
Nut allergy and gluten intolerant

Made for interesting conversations with the waiters..


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 22, 2011)

shakespearegirl said:


> When I went out for my 40th dinner at posho restaurant with 5 friends, we had the following guests:
> 
> Lactose intolerant veggie
> Lactose & gluten intolerant  and shellfish allergy
> ...


 
He probably took order, went out the back and bashed his head on the wall in frustration


----------



## spanglechick (Feb 22, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> I know, it would be a challenge wouldn't it
> 
> I've found a lower-fat alternative to cream doughnuts in Sainsbury's.  They're custard filled instead of jam and cream.  Not as nice, but I don't feel quite as bad about eating them


 
i prefer the custard ones. don't like custard tarts, or custard poured on desserts, but confectioner's custard is lovely.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 22, 2011)

spanglechick said:


> i prefer the custard ones. don't like custard tarts, or custard poured on desserts, but confectioner's custard is lovely.


 
I've only had the Sainsbury's ones.  I try to avoid buying cakes.  I only buy them about 3 times a week now   and then it's normally a cream doughnut or chocolate eclair from the supermarket


----------



## fortyplus (Feb 22, 2011)

Janh said:


> View attachment 13911
> That's them.


 
You need a whole bottle of red food colouring just to make a dozen. That is just wrong.


----------



## Ms. Cupcake (Feb 22, 2011)

Hi! This is Ms. Cupcake - How fab that our lil' ol' shop has got you all talking!
We should be opening our doors around the beginning of April but hope to do some free tastings for locals prior to that.
Looking forward to meeting y'all!
X Ms. C


----------



## Ms. Cupcake (Feb 22, 2011)

We'll be debuting our diabetic-friendly cake line when we open in Brixton 
X Ms. C


----------



## Ms. Cupcake (Feb 22, 2011)

spanglechick said:


> cos that's then three out of four ingrediants she can't use.
> 
> we should demand a vegan, diabetic, gluten-free cupcake!


 
We will be offering that - if you can believe it!
X Ms. C


----------



## Clair De Lune (Feb 22, 2011)

Was waiting for that.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 22, 2011)

What about low fat cakes?

What about butterfly cakes and fairy cakes?

Will there be discounts for students/disabled/unemployed/locals?


----------



## Kanda (Feb 22, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Will there be discounts for students/disabled/unemployed/locals?


 
Surely it should be priced for the local area? 

So no need for that?


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 22, 2011)

Kanda said:


> Surely it should be priced for the local area?
> 
> So no need for that?


 
I was joking.  What shops give discounts?  She could set a precedent


----------



## strung out (Feb 22, 2011)

Ms. Cupcake said:


> Hi! This is Ms. Cupcake - How fab that our lil' ol' shop has got you all talking!
> We should be opening our doors around the beginning of April but hope to do some free tastings for locals prior to that.
> Looking forward to meeting y'all!
> X Ms. C


 
What's you opinion on the difference between cupcakes, fairycakes and butterfly cakes?


----------



## quimcunx (Feb 22, 2011)

If you put choc chips in a cupcake does it become a muffin?


----------



## Kanda (Feb 22, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> I was joking.  What shops give discounts?  She could set a precedent


 
Pedant: Quite a few shops that signed up to the Brixton Pound..


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 22, 2011)

Kanda said:


> Pedant: Quite a few shops that signed up to the Brixton Pound..


 
ah right, forgot about that


----------



## fortyplus (Feb 23, 2011)

how will you make a gluten-free cupcake avoiding contamination in a bakery that uses wheat flour?


----------



## boohoo (Feb 23, 2011)

Ms Cupcake should do a trial cake testing at the next offline!


----------



## Mrs Magpie (Feb 23, 2011)

...and she'd do well with a sideline in pikelets...


----------



## kyser_soze (Feb 23, 2011)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Who created Wonder Woman:  was it Stan Lee?
> 
> I wonder if he had sexual....... issues?


 
Wonder Woman is DC you plonker.

Re: cupcakes - is this the same lady who bakes the cupcakes on the table outside the little sweetshop behind Federation in Brixton Village? They were tasty 

That cupcakes are only just coming to Brixton demonstrates the place is about 12 months behind the culinary zeitgesit; frozen yoghurt _is_ the new cupcake, apparently:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifes...ozen-yoghurts-are-like-little-pots-of-gold.do


----------



## editor (Feb 23, 2011)

kyser_soze said:


> That cupcakes are only just coming to Brixton demonstrates the place is about 12 months behind the culinary zeitgesit; frozen yoghurt _is_ the new cupcake, apparently:
> 
> http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifes...ozen-yoghurts-are-like-little-pots-of-gold.do


Good grief. They sound fucking horrendous.


----------



## kyser_soze (Feb 23, 2011)

Frozen yoghurt's lush. Have you never had one before?

I'd go so far as to say I'd take a frozen yoghurt over a cupcake.


----------



## editor (Feb 23, 2011)

kyser_soze said:


> Frozen yoghurt's lush. Have you never had one before?
> 
> I'd go so far as to say I'd take a frozen yoghurt over a cupcake.


It may taste alright but I wouldn't fancy being served a "Posh Snog" in a pink tub emblazoned with the words "I love little snogs" by these Kate Middleton-endorsed guys:


----------



## tarannau (Feb 23, 2011)

I too have eaten frozen yo-gert, as it's commonly known.  I'd too would favour yoghurt over vegan cupcakes, but that is a low bar to set.

I would assume that the cupcake boom would be fairly short lived too, but they have their place in the world of ever sweeter muffins and donuts.


----------



## miss minnie (Feb 23, 2011)

The frozen yoghurt van at the Lambeth Country Fair usually has massive queues but they serve generous scoops of no-frills blended frozen fruit and yoghurt on plain wafer cones at a pretty good price.  

I adore frozen yoghurt but you can keep the twee name, the cute pink spoon and all the sprinkles afaic!  What a load of marketing bollox!


----------



## tarannau (Feb 23, 2011)

editor said:


>


 
Blimey, it's like a airbrushed Will Carling and the Sherminator together.

I'm an unsure whether I would be less impressed to carry a branded little snog yoghurt pot or bilously coloured overpriced fairycake around the streets of Brixton tbh.


----------



## QueenOfGoths (Feb 23, 2011)

I would rather have a cupcake that frozen yoghurt but then I would rather have cake over most things tbh


----------



## editor (Feb 23, 2011)

tarannau said:


> I'm an unsure whether I would be less impressed to carry a branded little snog yoghurt pot or bilously coloured overpriced fairycake around the streets of Brixton tbh.


It's a tough call, tbh. But when there's the Phoenix opposite and Federation around the corner I don't think I'll ever be caught in that dilemma.


----------



## kyser_soze (Feb 23, 2011)

editor said:


> It may taste alright but I wouldn't fancy being served a "Posh Snog" in a pink tub emblazoned with the words "I love little snogs" by these Kate Middleton-endorsed guys:


 
Ah I thought you were referring to the product rather than the proprietors, who do look like a pair of tossers, for sure.

But then so do the two guys who work in Frae at Ntting Hill, but they do make really tasty frozen yogs.


----------



## tarannau (Feb 23, 2011)

Very true. in the theoretical dilemma wars however, I am now weighing up the merits of vegan cupcakes against ponced up frozen yoghurts. At least they're not vegan yoghurts I suppose - after the crushing disappointment of buttercream with no butter or milk there's only so much a man can take in.


----------



## kyser_soze (Feb 23, 2011)

> after the crushing disappointment of buttercream with no butter or cream there's only so much a man can take in.



How can you have? Eh? This is why the world is _wrong_.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 23, 2011)

editor said:


> Good grief. They sound fucking horrendous.


 
frozen yoghurts are delicious and refreshing - there's loads of places that sell them in India - there's a chain called Kiwi Kiss.
fizzy yoghurt jelly is lush too - my mum used to make it all the time, but i've never seen it for sale or made by anyone else.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 23, 2011)

What was it that girl on Dragon's Den had created?  Wasn't that frozen yoghurt?  Or was it some kind of ice-cream suitable for her child who was maybe lactose intolerant or something?  Can't remember what it was, but apparently she was very successful


----------



## gabi (Feb 23, 2011)

i used to eat frozen yoghurt in NZ as a kid... yum..  wouldnt mind some of that in brix..


----------



## shakespearegirl (Feb 23, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> What was it that girl on Dragon's Den had created?  Wasn't that frozen yoghurt?  Or was it some kind of ice-cream suitable for her child who was maybe lactose intolerant or something?  Can't remember what it was, but apparently she was very successful


 
Freedom Lactose Free Icecream. Mr Shakes thought it was very nice..


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 23, 2011)

shakespearegirl said:


> Freedom Lactose Free Icecream. Mr Shakes thought it was very nice..


 
Wasn't it Tesco or Sainsbury's that decided to stock it?  Wonder how much fat and sugar is in it?  Might give it a try one day


----------



## ajdown (Feb 23, 2011)

You can get "Swedish Glace" ice cream which is non dairy, Tesco stock the vanilla one but I've also seen a raspberry one in Waitrose.


----------



## shakespearegirl (Feb 23, 2011)

I got it from Sainsburys in Clapham


----------



## Melinda (Feb 23, 2011)

miss minnie said:


> You want Macaron in Clapham.


Its the only thing that gets me to stop in Clapham! I'd occasionally stop on my home way to Woking. 



kyser_soze said:


> That cupcakes are only just coming to Brixton demonstrates the place is about 12 months behind the culinary zeitgesit; frozen yoghurt _is_ the new cupcake, apparently:
> 
> http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifes...ozen-yoghurts-are-like-little-pots-of-gold.do


Ive extolled the virtues of the quite delicious  Pinkberry on here before. Surely their first London store cant be too far away now.


----------



## kyser_soze (Feb 23, 2011)

Hmm. UK franchising opportunity there...


----------



## blossie33 (Feb 23, 2011)

Mrs Magpie said:


> ...and she'd do well with a sideline in pikelets...


 
Are you a Midlander?
Nice to hear someone use the proper word - none of this crumpet stuff


----------



## Mrs Magpie (Feb 23, 2011)

Pikelets and crumpets are not the same thing.


----------



## kyser_soze (Feb 23, 2011)

No they aren't:






Pikelet






Crumpet.

Quite blatantly different.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 23, 2011)

i wish danny was here


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 23, 2011)

blossie33 said:


> Are you a Midlander?
> Nice to hear someone use the proper word - none of this crumpet stuff


 

Blossie

Please pick Option 4 of this poll

http://www.urban75.net/vbulletin/threads/180563-Crumpets-vs.-Pikelets?highlight=PIKELET


----------



## Mrs Redboots (Feb 23, 2011)

Don't ever eat the frozen yoghurt in Nando's,though - I adore "proper" frozen yoghurt, blended with fruit and so on, but what Nando's sell is just ucky chemical stuff - and you can eat as much as you want, which in my case was about 1 teaspoonful!  Offered what was left to my husband who will eat anything, but even he refused more than one mouthful.  Which is a ptiy, because most of Nando's stuff is fine.


----------



## Ms T (Feb 23, 2011)

There's a frozen yoghurt place in Clapham, isn't there?

Has anyone seen pikelets anywhere recently?


----------



## nick h. (Feb 23, 2011)

STOP PRESS: Rihanna had cupcakes at her birthday party, says the Mail:  "Rihanna was treated to a stand of Sprinkles red velvet cupcakes with the Barbados flag and the letter R on them"







I've been so oblivious to the cupcake hysteria I must be deeply uncool.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 23, 2011)

nick h. said:


> STOP PRESS: Rihanna had cupcakes at her birthday party, says the Mail:  "Rihanna was treated to a stand of Sprinkles red velvet cupcakes with the Barbados flag and the letter R on them"
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
A new doctor in Holby (or is it Casualty) brought cupcakes in to the staff yesterday.


----------



## kyser_soze (Feb 25, 2011)

I wouldn't mind a munch on Riri's cupcake.


----------



## Ms. Cupcake (Feb 26, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> What about low fat cakes?
> 
> What about butterfly cakes and fairy cakes?
> 
> Will there be discounts for students/disabled/unemployed/locals?



Good questions!  We do mini cakes (fairy cakes) we do feature the odd Butterfly wing or two.
We have signed up to the Brixton Pound and will be offering discounts to people who use them!


----------



## Ms. Cupcake (Feb 26, 2011)

strung out said:


> What's you opinion on the difference between cupcakes, fairycakes and butterfly cakes?



Size matters!  In North America we call them 'Cupcakes' because they use about a 'cup' of batter to make each one.  Fairy cakes are smaller cakes and traditionally British.  Butterfly cakes are when the top of the cake is sliced off and re inserted to the top to give it a wing effect.

xMs. C


----------



## Ms. Cupcake (Feb 26, 2011)

fortyplus said:


> how will you make a gluten-free cupcake avoiding contamination in a bakery that uses wheat flour?


 
Very good question!  We have strict rules in regards to our equipment.  But when we open, pop over to the shop and we'll walk you through the process.  We'll be baking in full view of the customers.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Feb 26, 2011)

Ms. Cupcake said:


> Size matters!  In North America we call them 'Cupcakes' because they use about a 'cup' of batter to make each one.  Fairy cakes are smaller cakes and traditionally British.  Butterfly cakes are when the top of the cake is sliced off and re inserted to the top to give it a wing effect.
> 
> xMs. C


 

So will your mini cakes be called mini cakes or fairy cakes?


----------



## Ms. Cupcake (Feb 26, 2011)

boohoo said:


> Ms Cupcake should do a trial cake testing at the next offline!



Sounds good to me!  We'll actually be sampling (for free) and selling at our Pop-Up Brixton shop from next week!


----------



## itsbruce (Feb 27, 2011)

miss minnie said:


> You want Macaron in Clapham.


 
Oooh, yes.  Some of the best macaroons I've ever tasted.  Definitely worth a visit.


----------



## fjydj (Mar 2, 2011)

Mother smashes up shop that ran out of her favourite cupcake



 whats going to happen in brixton?


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Mar 2, 2011)

fjydj said:


> Mother smashes up shop that ran out of her favourite cupcake
> 
> 
> 
> whats going to happen in brixton?


 
Maybe she needed a sugar hit?  A Mars Bar would have been cheaper 

WTF did she eat before cupcakes (considering the shop's only been open two months)?


----------



## ajdown (Mar 2, 2011)

Cupcaeks.  Srs bsns.


----------



## ddraig (Mar 2, 2011)

very srs! 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12620980



			
				bbc said:
			
		

> The drama unfolded when the shopper was told the £2.20 "sweet tooth fairy cakes" had all gone.
> 
> She is said to have thrown cakes around the shop, aiming them at shoppers and staff before allegedly grabbing shocked owner Sally Dodd.
> 
> Ms Dodd said the woman was told they did not have the cupcake flavour she wanted.






			
				bbc said:
			
		

> "She threw herself on the floor ranting and raving while her children screamed and shouted.
> 
> "Then she came round to my side of the counter and grabbed me by the hair before I could get out of her way.
> 
> ...


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Mar 2, 2011)

ddraig said:


> very srs!
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12620980


 
Imagine what might happen if there's a sale?  Women fighting over the last cheap cupcake


----------



## Melinda (Mar 2, 2011)

Cake psychosis, Ive seen it happen.


----------



## wtfftw (Mar 2, 2011)

They're kind of snowball sized aren't they?


----------



## twentythreedom (Mar 2, 2011)

wtfftw said:


> Pikelets are thinner crumpets aren't they?



no, they're ickle baby gypos!


----------



## bosie (Mar 2, 2011)

maybe the cupcake shop was really selling


----------



## twistedAM (Mar 3, 2011)

So, now we're onto page 13, has anyone sampled the vegan cupcakes?


----------



## strung out (Mar 3, 2011)

it's not opened yet has it?


----------



## nick h. (Mar 3, 2011)

They're not opening for a while but they're giving some cupcakes away at the weekend.


----------



## alfajobrob (Mar 3, 2011)

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/...ur-soul-used-to-be,-say-experts-201103033593/


Says it all really


----------



## twistedAM (Mar 3, 2011)

alfajobrob said:


> http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/...ur-soul-used-to-be,-say-experts-201103033593/
> 
> 
> Says it all really



Ha ha... Bridget Jones' Cupcakes


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Mar 3, 2011)

alfajobrob said:


> http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/...ur-soul-used-to-be,-say-experts-201103033593/
> 
> 
> Says it all really







> We also found that the adult cupcake eaters were predominantly females with too much disposable income who are either trapped in damaging relationships, have recently had their heart shattered into a million tiny pieces or who simply hate themselves because of who they really are.





> "Oh, and before I forget, men who like cupcakes are obviously paedophiles and you should tell the police to confiscate their laptops


----------



## ajdown (Mar 5, 2011)

Just finished our first Ms Cupcake... although she seems to have grown a beard at the Brixton stall, we very much enjoyed them.


----------



## tufty79 (Mar 5, 2011)

ajdown said:


> Just finished our first Ms Cupcake... although she seems to have grown a beard at the Brixton stall, we very much enjoyed them.


 
 well done for trying, and glad it was good 

i'm going to try get down tomorrow i think.


----------



## ajdown (Mar 5, 2011)

£2 each but worth it - get there early as they will run out; they only had about 9 left when we got there at 3pm.  They're on the opposite side of the alleyway to Blacker Dread, if that helps you find it.


----------



## itsbruce (Mar 6, 2011)

Tried a couple.  The actual cake isn't bad (although there's just a hint of odd texture to it to tell you it isn't a regular cake mixture) but they cover them in a huge mound of sickly icing.  Blech.


----------



## Belushi (Mar 6, 2011)

ajdown said:


> Just finished our first Ms Cupcake... although she seems to have grown a beard at the Brixton stall, we very much enjoyed them.


 
Yes we met him, nice fella. Didn't try the cupcakes - looked way too sweet for my tastes.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Mar 30, 2011)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> There's a new(ish) cake shop by Streatham Hill station.  Went past there the other day and they have meringues the size of saucers.
> 
> Would anyone actually eat a whole meringue the size of a saucer?


 

The Brixton thread reminded me that I took a picture today whilst passing.  Not very good I'm afraid as was in a rush and memory card was full.

See the size of those meringues on the top shelf


----------



## ShiftyBagLady (Mar 30, 2011)

Ah yeah, I'd eat them.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Mar 30, 2011)

ShiftyBagLady said:


> Ah yeah, I'd eat them.


 
I'd eat them if I didn't think my teeth would fall out from the shock


----------



## ajdown (Apr 2, 2011)

Went to see Ms Cupcake this morning for our weekend supply and I'm glad to report she's as nutty in real life as she looks in the pictures.

Got a nice box of 4 which may or may not last until tomorrow.

Seemed to be quite busy in there too which hopefully is a good sign.


----------



## tufty79 (Apr 2, 2011)

I had a coconut and chocolate one a couple of weeks back and it was BEAUTIFUL. i shall be buying more once i get back to work, if she's still in business by then  when i met ms cupcake,  she was absolutely lovely. And wearing a cupcake hat  i'm saving up for a pillow meringue out of my poorlydole...


----------



## gaijingirl (Apr 2, 2011)

As I walked past on Friday I spotted her wearing quite a delicious outfit with a great cupcake hat.  I'm not a big one for cupcakes (fairy cakes yes!) so didn't have any but I daresay we'll try one at some point - the meringues look nice.  She's certainly put a lot of effort into fitting out the shop and I hope she does well even if I'm not likely to be her best customer.


----------



## nick h. (Apr 8, 2011)

She's certainly brightened the place up. I hope she attracts people from far afield - more passing trade is badly needed by some of her neighbours.


----------



## editor (Apr 8, 2011)

I'm not really a cupcake kinda fella, but I feel duty bound to try at least one.


----------



## RubyToogood (Apr 9, 2011)

editor said:


> I'm not really a cupcake kinda fella, but I feel duty bound to try at least one.



It has not previously been my impression that you were averse to cake of any kind


----------



## Mrs Magpie (Apr 9, 2011)

Went past a couple of times today and it looked busy. Good luck to her even though I won't be buying any (I just don't like cupcakes, too sickly-sweet).


----------



## quimcunx (Apr 9, 2011)

I've spent my whole life wishing there was a little more buttercream icing on cakes or trying to choose the bit with the most on* or scraping the buttercream from the cake case but I've found every cupcake I've tried too sickly sweet too. They seem to have increased sugar content as well as proportion of icing to sponge.   They also sell buttercream sandwiched between two large cookies.  Maybe I'll try them. 


*on those rectangular party cakes the sponge is lower in the corner and side portions and the buttercream often makes up the shortfall.


----------

