The art of a great food photograph

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by Suzanne Goldenberg, a freelance photographer and journalist who offered to take some photographs to try and pitch a Brighton Bakery showcase article to local foodie magazine, Edible.  Naturally, I jumped at the chance for a bit of free publicity and we discussed a few different angles for the piece.  One of the key things that sets us apart from other cake makers is that we offer a range of vegetable based cakes, so that seemed like a good option and I set my mind to work thinking of the best veggie cakes to bake for the photoshoot.
 
Suzanne pitched the idea to her editor and while the article was given the go ahead, it couldn't be seen as promoting just one company due to advertising regulations.  So instead Suzanne planned to write a general article, with a reference to Brighton Bakery and some local cafes that also offer vegetable cakes.  What a shame.  Still, all publicity is good publicity, as they say, and I had a nice chat on the phone to Suzanne about the benefits of using different vegetables in cakes.  I also offered to make a cake for her to photograph for the article as I was really keen to pick up some tips about taking a good food photo as I really have no idea what I'm doing.  I was sure that a certain father in law of mine would be very happy to help out with any cake leftovers...
 
So last Friday I baked a firm favourite from our market stalls, Courgette and Cinnamon cake.  I thought it was a good option as it has a lovely texture where you can see flecks of courgette and lemon zest and it's set off by a pretty zigzag lemon icing on top which I hoped would add interest to the photo. 
 
Suzanne arrived a couple of hours later with a few props in tow - a white board to reflect the light, a small tablecloth, two chopping boards, some pretty plates and a cake knife and fork to dress the scene.  I was surprised that she was happy to take the pictures in our basement kitchen as I didn't think there was enough light, but by angling the white board it lifted the shadows and the photos came out well.
 
We did a few different set ups, one with the cake in its tin, un-iced on a rustic wooden board, then I quickly iced it and Suzanne took a few more shots of the whole cake on the board.  We both new that the best photos would probably be once the cake was cut, so I cut two generous slices which gave us lots of options for the set up.  Different angles, a slice of cake on a plate with a fork, slices stacked up in front of the rest of the loaf, Suzanne busily snapped away dozens of pictures, all very slightly different.  I asked loads of questions along the way and picked up some good tips.  A key thing is that she used a 50mm prime lens, which we might have to invest in - our zoom lens just can't get close enough to pick up the detail that hers can.  The 50mm lens also allows you to open the aperture very wide and take lovely pictures in lower lighting conditions, which would be a real benefit in our house! 
 
Like most photographers, Suzanne is very particular when scrutinising her pictures, and is happy if she gets just 3 or 4 good ones from a shoot (and I'm sure she took well over a hundred photos).  Here's her final selection:

photos © suzannegoldenberg.net

And here's the link to Suzanne's article on the Edible Magazine website: Courgette Muffin Anyone? 

I love how our battered old wooden chopping board has come out in the pictures, and the rustic water icing really sets off the cake with a lovely contrast.

We only got a brief mention in the article, but it was great to see how Suzanne worked, and we already have a cake photography project planned for next year, so it was well worth the price of a couple of courgettes and a little bit of time.  Thanks Suzanne x

All sold out at Picnic in the Park

I think the gods must have been smiling down on us yesterday because it was a glorious day in Queens Park for our second Brighton Bakery cake stall.  The sun shone all day as the harmonies of the Brighton Beach Boys sang out from the central stage and the families flocked in with their picnic blankets to fill the park in their hundreds.

While this story has a happy ending, it didn't start out so well.  Our last minute treasure hunt for a gazebo on Friday was utterly essential on the day but that morning it seemed to take forever to build.  Maybe investing the the more expensive concertina one would have been a better bet on reflection...

And while the park was packed to the brim with people, nobody seemed to be buying anything.   What was also a bit frustrating was that out of the 50 stalls there, 10 of them were selling cakes.  By 2pm I was getting really worried as we'd hardly sold anything and from chatting to the other stallholders around us we weren't the only ones.  Looking around the park people had brought tuppawares of food from home and didn't need to buy from us.  Melissa and I prepared ourselves that we were going to have to bring a lot of cake home.

But we just needed to have a little faith.  Cake o'clock hit at around 3pm and trade really picked up - over the next 3 hours we sold out of practially everything we had brought with us.  Result!

We gave away quite a few sample tasters and discounted the prices at the end of the day, which when I was totting up the totals today made quite a difference in the amount of money we could have made - it would have been so good if we had made it past the £100 mark.  But I think samples are important and we managed to double the amount of profit we made at the Kemptown Carnival with a third less stock - a real achievement.  We also gave out plenty of business cards and got some great feedback from the people that tried our cakes so there's not really much more we could have asked for.

The one thing I would have changed is going for a few pints to celebrate without eating dinner - I've really been paying for it with my hangover today... ;o)

So all that's left for me to say is a massive thank you to everyone that came and supported us and tried our cakes yesterday - hope you enjoyed them!

xx

Bakeathon for Picnic In The Park tomorrow

Yes the time is nigh and I've got my apron on and sleeves rolled up for a full marathon day of baking in preparation for tomorrow's market stall.  Already ticked off the list are the Sticky Jamaican Ginger Cake, Cinnamon and Courgette Cake and Nigella's delicious Italian Almond and Carrot Cake, and as I write there is a Luscious Lemon Trickle Cake rising nicely in the oven.
As you may have come to expect from me, this is no ordinary Lemon Cake I'm baking.  The surprise ingredient in this one is.... mashed potato.  I admit, this may sound like a cake catastrophe in the making, but I trialled the recipe as a thank you gift for our lovely friends Sheena and Nathan at the weekend and it was a real success.  The potato keeps the cake beautifully moist and it also happens to be naturally gluten free which is a bonus for the stall tomorrow. 

Even though this cake's a winner on the plate, getting it there is another matter.  This recipe is like a naughty toddler that doesn't want to do what it's told.  Perhaps it was the fact I was trying to make the cake with a hangover the morning before we were off on a 4 night camping trip and still hadn't packed that was the problem.  The mixture kept splitting when I added the eggs and I had to employ my secret trick of using the hairdryer to warm the outside of the bowl of the mixer to help it emulsify (this was advocated by my tutor at pastry school so I'm not completely barking!).  Then the mixture took about half an hour longer to cook than the recipe said it would and so it helped make us nearly an hour late to meet our friends for lunch.  I gave it some stern words that it had better behave as I strapped it in to the back seat of the car and prayed that it would be good on the 4 hour drive to Wales. 

Luckily it was and Sheena and Nathan seemed to love it.  Potato is such a mild flavour that you really can't detect it at all and it gives it a wonderful texture.  But if you're still a sceptic why not come by tomorrow afternoon to Queen's Park and try a slice?!

It's nearly ready to come out the oven so I must sign off and get back to the kitchen - 48 muffins, 32 brownies, 16 flapjacks and a Wholemeal Honey Cake still to go :o)

Brighton Bakery at Kemp Town Carnival this Saturday!

I am very excited to announce that Brighton Bakery will have it's first stall at the Kemptown Carnival this Saturday 4 June.  As I write this post the delicious aromas of a Sticky Jamaican Ginger Cake that's in the oven right now are filling the kitchen and I will have to do my best not to eat all the produce before it gets to market ;o)

All our cakes will have a bit of a twist (as you may have picked up from reading this blog) - expect appearances from my Beetroot Brownies, Peanut Butter & White Chocolate Blondies and Apple Crumble Muffins as well as some new recipes including a Latin American Chilli Chocolate Fudge Cake I can't wait to make.

If you're in the area it's free to get in so please come along and show your support - if you're not able to make it then wish us luck and do a dance for the weather gods to pray for sunshine :o)

See you there!  x

Chocolate Cigarello Fudge Cake - Happy Birthday Dad x

At the start of this year I made a resolution that instead of buying birthday presents for my friends and family I would make them cakes instead - it would give me a chance to practice different cakes for my portfolio and also I would be able to give people something handmade with a personal touch, something I always appreciate in a present.

It was my dad's birthday yesterdat and Melissa and I were hosting his birthday party for 10 of our family at our new house.  It went without saying that I was going to bake Dad a cake for the party and I wanted to bake something that looked and tasted really impressive so that everyone could see that I had the skills to make our new bakery business a success. 

I had already asked my dad his favourite cake flavour but didn't realise his request would be so specific - he wanted a plain victoria sponge cake, with buttercream filling and fudge icing.  I've done a plain sponge with buttercream loads of times before so wasn't worried about that, but my big worry was how I was going to make this cake look elegant and special - fudge icing isn't known for being forgiving when it comes to looking good. 

I had my thinking cap on about this one for about 2 weeks until I walked past the window of Patisserie Valerie in Soho and was inspired by one of their amazing gateaux which was decorated using chocolate cigarellos round the outside of the cake.  This was just the thing I needed to elevate the design of Dad's birthday cake.  To fit with the fudge icing I decided to add some chocolate ganache piped writing and chocolate covered strawberries to the top to complete the cake.

After some searching I found a fudge icing recipe on the Waitrose website (I doubled the quantity in this recipe) and Melissa discovered a great cake supplies wholesaler Cavalier of Brighton just up the road in Rottingdean for the chocolate cigarellos.

As sponge cake doesn't keep very well I had to make everything on the morning of the party and as usual we were up against it getting everything done before everyone arrived.  It's never a good idea to try and rush icing a cake and I was cursing my dad trying to get the fudge icing smooth with 5 minutes before everyone was due to arrive.  Then the chocolate cigarellos didn't want to stick to the icing so thinking on my feet I added some ribbon to hold them together and it actually finishes the cake off really nicely.  Luckily everyone was running late so I had a few minutes to quickly grab a picture of the the cake before anyone arrived:

I know my piping technique needs a bit more practice but overall I was really pleased with how it looked.  If I'm completely honest it was a bit sweet for my taste, but it was exactly what my dad had asked for and he loved it.

And there's no rest for the wicked as it's Melissa's dad's birthday tomorrow so I'd better get the apron back on to bake him a cake too!

A whole new world - Brighton's Sugarcraft Exhibition

Last Saturday it just so happened that round the corner from our house, Brighton Racecourse was hosting a sugarcraft exhibition.  I had seen the event advertised in Peacehaven's lovely cake supplies shop Chatawak a couple of weeks ago and decided that it was an opportunity I shouldn't pass up. 
We had some friends coming round for lunch (Melissa reassured me that she wasn't missing out on coming along with me) so I made sure I was there when it opened up at 10am.  I had forgotten how unforgiving Brighton hills are on the walk up, and hoped that this was going to be worth the £5 ticket fee and my now perspiring brow.   Well if the queue at the gate was anything to go by then this was a bigger deal than I had originally thought:

I listened to other people in the queue lining up the demontrations they were going to - "Oh I've done Ruby Buffong's sweet peas before" was my favourite one - they were all so clued up on all the techniques and who the speakers were I felt like a real novice, and ever so slightly scared.  It was like I was about to enter the bizarre underground world of the cult of cake decoraters...

I'm not sure what I expected from the exhibition - maybe a few cakes on display, local shops and cake decorators with stalls showing their creations, maybe some samples to try, some things to buy.  Well cute little old ladies serving lemon drizzle with a cup of tea this was not.  There were industrial amounts of sugarpaste icing on for sale in flavours ranging from vanilla to marshmallow to chocolate and in every colour of the rainbow.  There were pots of coloured powders that stretched across tables several metres long and a metre deep in every kind of sparkle and lustre and hue that you could ever want or need.  There were cutters and tools, wires and flower stamens, icing pattenmakers, ribbons, cakeboards, decorating books, modelling designs - it was really overwhelming. 

And that's not even mentioning the displays.  Well I don't even think they were cakes, let alone was any of it designed to be eaten.  There were 20 or so displays measuring about 2 metres wide by 1 metre deep and 1 metre tall all with the theme of childrens books.  Here are a couple of them:

My favourite one was of two scenes from Brambley Hedge but unfortunately my photo of that one didn't come out.  I spoke to one of the ladies that made it - they made 120 mice figures of which they used 92 - a team of 22 had been working since January to make the display.  Madness.

Earlier this week I had felt pretty chuffed with myself for a wedding cake I had decorated that had some frangipani flowers that I had made from sugarpaste (photos to follow soon).  I felt like I may as well have made them out of playdough when I saw things like this:

I did pick up a couple of tips while I was there - using cocktail sticks and pipe cleaners to stabilise sugarpaste figures; how to shape a lily and colour it so that it looks natural using powder colours and a paintbrush; and realising that loads of people cheat and use moulds to create decorations for their cakes.  I might well invest in some - people will think my skills are so impressive :o) 

I'm really pleased I went, and maybe next time I will pay the extra to go to one of the demonstrations because sometimes it's not that easy trying to learn from a book.  I also picked up one of the powders which I will try for the first time this week to colour icing (I've only ever used coulouring pastes before), some pretty polkadot ribbon and a fine paintbrush which will be good for detailed work, plus I've got heaps of postcards with good websites to try for decorating supplies.

On my way back home I called Melissa to tell her how it went.  She asked if maybe I would like to enter the competition or have a stall when it comes back next time.  I had to laugh :o)



Spotted collar cappucino cake - a birthday suprise

While everybody else was enjoying the Mayday bank holiday, on Monday 2nd May in the Grogan family we were celebrating twice as much as it was the birthday of my Sweet Mother-In-Law (as I have been asked to call her).  I made a pledge when we moved down to Brighton that instead of birthday presents I would make everyone a special cake - as a token of how much they mean to me and also to help fill up my cake portfolio for the business.

So for my Sweet Mother-In-Law it couldn't just be any regular cake as her birthday gift.  I needed something a bit special.  If I was in a reality TV competition I would be saying this cake needed the "wow factor".  I consulted my Home Guide to Cake Decorating book and the Spotted Collar Cake immediately jumped off the page.  It's a regular cake iced with white chocolate buttercream dusted with cocoa, but the twist is that it has a collar of dark chocolate with white chocolate polka dots.  It looked really impressive and (so I thought) not that difficult to make.  All I need to get is some acetate (clear plastic) for the chocolate collar and I'd already planned my own twist on it to make a cappucino cake instead of the boring vanilla one in the book.  My SMIL's favourite cake flavour is coffee so I thought I was on to a winner.

Oh my goodness.  Cue Melissa and me traipsing around Brighton on a wild goose chase to try and find some acetate for the chocolate collar.  We went from cake shops to homeware shops to decorating shops to stationers until several shops later we found Clarkes Stationers in the Lanes and the only piece of acetate big enough to wrap round the cake cost nearly £10.  I was gobsmacked.  That's probably twice the cost of the ingredients!  Still, knowing that I could use it again and rather than rethink the whole cake I bit the bullet and bought it.

Baking the coffee cake was straightforward (thanks Delia - the all in one method never fails) and the buttercream was fine too, the addition of coffee was a good one and will go really well with the cake.

As for the chocolate collar, you cut a strip of acetate long enough to fit round the cake, pipe on dots of melted white chocolate, leave to set and then cover with melted dark chocolate before wrapping round the cake.  Seemed easy enough to me.  Well, piping the dots was fine, but when I smoothed over the dark chocolate it melted the dots and a lot of them smeared.  I was gutted.  With no chocolate left to make another one I put the collar round the cake and it prayed that it would set.  Luckily this part went pretty well and it didn't crack when I pulled the plastic off so I was quite pleased about that. 

And so here it is (with the worst smears facing away from the camera!):

Although the chocolate collar caused me a bit of trouble, overall the cake still turned out well and my Sweet Mother-In-Law was thrilled with it.  Next time I think it would be a good idea to freeze the dots before covering with the dark chocolate so they don't melt so easily.  Smeary spots or not, it still tasted really good and that's what really counts.

Brighton Bakery B&B

Since Melissa and I moved down to Brighton our friends and family have been taking advantage of a visit to the seaside most weekends and we've been very happy to oblige.  Although the Brighton marathon was last Sunday, we paid it tribute this weekend with a hatrick of couples that came down to visit. 

When we came back from our travels, Melissa and I made a pact that we're not going to buy any bread from the shops and we're going to make it all ourselves.  Unfortunately we managed to allow another sourdough starter to die through neglect (yes it really does need to be fed every day, and until we manage to do this Melissa's not allowed to get a cat).  For some reason we didn't take a picture of the wholemeal loaf that could double as a doorstop as Melissa got impatient and forgot to let it rise once the loaf had been shaped.  But we've learned from experience now and the last loaf was a big improvement.  What's slightly annoying about our new pact is that it takes a quite a long time to make fresh bread the regular way.  So when we've had guests down they've mostly been treated to soda bread for breakfast as you can make a delicious loaf in 45 minutes from start to finish.

Having made quite a few regular soda breads we fancied a change, and for Melissa's parents we tried out the River Cottage Everyday 6 seeded soda bread (although we didn't have any linseeds so it was actually only 5 seeded soda bread):

The unusual addition of fennel seeds gives the bread a lovely flavour that goes really well with a slice of strong cheddar for a picnic lunch.

Today Melissa's sister and her boyfriend were treated to some zesty citrus shortbread alongside some homemade lemon ice cream.  I was especially happy as the recipe made plenty of biscuits for me to enjoy with a cup of tea when I was hungover after Karrie and Jon's visit on Friday night:

It's really lovely having people down to visit and the bonus for me is that there's always plenty of leftover treats for us to enjoy after our guests have gone!

Secret mushroom muffins

A few people have suggested that being in Brighton I should try offering some *special* cakes which might go down well with a certain local clientele.  I hope that I'm not disappointing readers of this blog by revealing that the secret mushrooms in these savoury muffins are good old chestnut mushrooms from the local greengrocer.

A little while ago my friend Big Nick sent me a picture for some broccoli muffins as a cool idea for the bakery.  I was so intrigued that I scoured the internet for the recipe and discovered one of my now favourite blogs kitchenist.com.  Ever since then, my mind has been running at tangents trying to conjure up my own variations on a theme.  This is my first attempt, adapted from Ele's broccoli recipe, and they weren't half bad...

Secret Mushroom Muffins Recipe
12 mushrooms (each one should fit comfortably within a muffin mould, but remember they do shrink a bit)
275g softened butter
50g golden caster sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
300g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp fresh thyme, leaves picked
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
60g mature cheddar, grated

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.  While the oven is preheating, clean the mushrooms and brush with a small amount of butter.  Place the mushrooms face down in each hole of your muffin tray and pop in the oven for a few minutes until just tender, then set aside.
2. Using electric beaters, whip up the butter until very soft, then add in the sugar and beat again until light and fluffy.  Crack the eggs into a jug and break them up slightly with a fork, then add a little at a time to the butter, beating well after each addition.  If it starts to split then you can add a large pinch of the flour which will help bring it back into shape. 
3. In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, thyme, turmeric and salt, then fold this into the butter and egg mix with a spatula, followed by the grated cheese.
4.  Make sure you've taken the mushrooms out of the tin (but you don't need to bother cleaning it), then place a heaped tablespoon of the batter in each muffin case.  Next stick a mushroom stalk first into each yellow pile and top with another spoonful of batter, spreading the batter out to fill each case and making sure the tops of the mushrooms are well covered.
5. Bake the muffins for about 30 minutes until golden brown and firm on top.  Don't worry if some of the butter bubbles out during cooking, I think this helps make a crispier crust.  Cool the muffins on a wire rack before serving as a decadent teatime treat or a mid-morning lunchbox snack at your desk.  Mmmm.

One thing I would remember for next time is not to use mushrooms that are too small as they do shrink when you cook them and I think it gives a better effect if they fill more of the muffin.  I also think the recipe would work well with dried thyme (but use just 1 teaspoon) if you don't have fresh thyme to hand.  It's also very easy to halve the recipe if you only want to make 6 muffins as they are at their best eaten within a day or so.

Watch this space as I have plenty more surprise muffins to follow - they all sound good in my head but I hope I can translate these ideas into good recipes...

Happy baking x

A couple of minor setbacks

Inspired by our trips to Brighton Street Market and Brighton Farm Market at the weekend I decided to email them both along with nearby Lewes Farmers' Market to see about joining as a stallholder.  I've already started planning how the stall would look, which material to use in the homemade bunting to hang around the table and was getting really excited as this would be the first step in making our bakery dream a reality. 

I had a very nice email back from John, the organiser of Brighton Farm Market, but unfortunately they are completely full although he has put my details on the waiting list and will be in touch when they have some availability.  He had gone to the trouble of reading my blog and also gave some advice about ensuring we have a good mix of traditional favourites and also some more unusual seasonal cakes.  So while it's disappointing not to be able to get into the market just yet, it's good to know that our plan was going in the right direction and we're now firmly on the waiting list.

Then two days later I had a reply from Brighton Street Market to say that there are no vacancies there either and they already have 5 stalls selling brownies and muffins.  Oh dear.

There's still hope though - the lady at Lewes Farmers' Market is going to send me an applicaiton form (I need to chase her up on it though as it's been a couple of days!) and I know there are plenty more markets in Sussex that we can try.  In the meantime we'll just have to spend lots more time recipe testing!

Welcome! And so the story begins....

After taking night classes to help my baking skills catch up with my wide eyes, sweet tooth and hungry belly I decided to put my money where my mouth is (literally) and am going to try my darnedest to start a successful small bakery business.  So in November 2010 my lovely new wife and I both quit our jobs, sold our flat in London and moved to our favourite town on the sea to do just that.  We've spent the last couple of months renovating our new home in Brighton and going on our last holiday for what may be quite a long time.  Now that we're back, with the new kitchen really nearly finished we can finally get (egg) cracking!