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Sweetly Does It

5/1/2021

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You know i love to partner with other small local businesses... Well, Here's what I've been cooking up over the festive break!

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Sweetly Special Breakfasts is a small Bristol business, run by a lovely lady called Lilly. She delivers delicious breakfasts to people all over the city, focussing heavily on sweet treats to start special days off with a good feeding. That's where I come in! 

Lilly firmly believes (and I agree!) that special days like Mothering Sunday or birthdays should be memorable from start to finish. Hampers from Sweetly start the day off perfectly, and keep you going throughout the day, enough goodies for lunch, elevenses, afternoon tea, supper... The delivery includes fresh flowers, balloons, tea and coffee, a personal card and of course, cakes. And if you're vegan, your home baked cake comes from me at 280 Bakes! If you're ordering for a child, the package also includes a party bag.

The main product I am helping Lilly (see her sunny face below) with is the Perfect Gift Breakfast - see above to the left - and is now available!


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Check out Sweetly on Facebook and find them also on Instagram. Marballoons, a balloon artist in Bristol, also work with Sweetly, so it's a real team effort!

Support local business and why not shop with Sweetly next time it's a special day in your household - it'll be like sending a hug to your favourite person!

Louise
280 Bakes
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5 Downsides to store bought Christmas cake

13/12/2020

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My family have never bought a Christmas cake from a supermarket, and here's why. 

280 Bakes - Christmas CakeOne of my Christmas cakes this year
The downsides to store-bought cake are many; I avoid the standard cakes bought from a supermarket when they appear at work, preferring a home baked delight. They just don't taste like real food to me; sugary chemically mess. Yuck. Call me a cake snob, but there are reasons I feel this way... 

The problems with store-bought cakes are even more numerous when it's Christmas cake we're talking about.

Growing up, my mum always, without fail, made a Christmas cake for us from scratch. We were very lucky kids, and I've carried on the tradition with my little family. I know my sister does the same, and my brother will probably have one from his baking-crazy girlfriend. What lucky tummies and tummies of significant others!

Here are just a few reasons why I prefer home baked Christmas cake and would NEVER buy one from a store. Obviously I want to encourage you to buy home baked - from me! - but not just for Christmas, for all occasions in the year.
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WHY I NEVER BUY A STORE'S CHRISTMAS CAKE
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1. One of my closest friends is vegan and vegan Christmas cakes are nigh on impossible to find in a supermarket, even though general vegan food ranges are expanding. The star cake above is actually vegan, and you'd never know...

2. Supermarket cakes often contain white sugar. Christmas cake should always be made with soft, brown sugar! The flavour and texture is totally different, and shouldn't be compromised!

3. You never know what's gone into a cake which has been mass produced; E numbers (colours and flavours), preservatives, dates (ick!), whole nuts (choking hazard for my baby)… At least with mine I know exactly what ingredients were used - including a good splosh of booze! - and that it's been made hygienically!


280 Bakes - mini Christmas cakes
Six of my mini portion-sized Christmas cakes for 2020

4. When it's home made, a Christmas (or any other) cake can be tailored to your preferences or needs. You know now I hate dates, but you could say to me, for example, you'd like a holly design,  or a star featuring on your festive bake. Don't like marzipan? I can leave out the marzipan, no problem. Perhaps you'd like it gluten free? I'd be only too happy to help. 

5. A home baked cake is a much better gift than something you just grabbed off the shelves. It's made with love, with a specific person
​ in mind, and if you buy from 280 Bakes, you're supporting a small business. 

​What could be better???

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Order your Christmas cake today - orders close in a week (20th December)!
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Order a Christmas Cake

Louise
280 Bakes
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Cake - posted!

28/10/2020

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Missing having cake and coffee with your mates?
Can't visit family in a heavily locked down city?


My socially distanced cake by post is for you!
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New for October 2020, I can now post a slice of cake to you - and a friend - first class!  They arrive in cute little slice boxes, and make a lovely surprise for those you miss hanging out with.

​Slices are already heading out the door, including some delicious vegan slices. I'm afraid gluten free isn't an option at the moment, but it may be something I can offer in the future. 

Drop me a line and order your lockdown special delivery today! UK addresses only at this time. 

Louise
280 Bakes

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National Baking Week Starts Today!

14/10/2020

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It's NationaL Baking Week! From 14-20th October, the nation shall celebrate/Bake/Eat cake (even more)!

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This week is great. I am not going to pretend it's 'just another week of...' national campaign. Baking is fab, and we should celebrate it!

1. Home baked cake tastes AMAZING.
2. Baking makes your house smell DIVINE. 
3. It's a form of therapy (for me, at least!)

4. Baking is creative - sprinkle, shape, flavour away!
5. It can be experimental - why not try something new?

6. And above all, baking makes other people happy - when you share!

So what do I personally plan to do to celebrate this diary date?

1. I am going to give 2020's Bake Off the benefit of the doubt and try an episode or two. I don't like Matt Lucas in many things, but a friend assures me he's not in it that much really, so I may survive an episode! I watched last year, but I felt a bit 'over it' to be honest... life just feels weird without it!

2. I'm going to be baking for you guys, of course! This week I have already got some cupcakes, a birthday cake, and a carrot cake booked in, with more orders sure to follow. Most orders come in with around 3-5 days notice, but take note, I can often do next day, so don't despair if you've forgotten someone special!

3.  I'm going to be practising my Halloween cake themes - stay tuned for the first photos from tomorrow!

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​​4. Friday I'm off to a pumpkin patch with friends, so I may well be baking my first pumpkin pie. National Baking Week doesn't have to be just about cake! If you have any fail-safe recipes for this, do send them over...


Do you have any exciting baking plans for this week? Let me know in the comments below! 

Louise
280 Bakes

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September's Cake Gallery

27/9/2020

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This is a little selection of the cakes I baked for people like you this month!

Chocolate cake for Henry... Double raspberry tequila cake for my husband's birthday... Mickey Mouse (actually, 3!) for Leo... Chocolate Vanilla for a lady in Henbury... A watermelon cake and matching cupcakes for Matilda... Penguin cupcakes for a Penguin (bar!) lover... Vegan chocolate cake for the Pipal Tree restaurant... A vegan birthday cake for Anna... 
... and I've already got some booked in for October!

See you next month, 

Louise
​280 Bakes
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Making Memories With Cake

11/9/2020

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Food is very evocative - a simple taste or scent of a certain type of food can bring back very specific memories; Cake is no different. 

280 Bakes - Lemon Cake
For me, the first cake that springs to memory's mind is lemon drizzle. Those two words will forever be associated with my Grandma Pat, who passed away over ten years ago now.

My memories of her are laden with baking - cherry buns, runny water icing, fruit cake, apple pie - but mainly lemon drizzle. It was never fancy, just a sponge, but she had a name for making a brilliant bake of it. Sure, it's a relatively simple bake, but none can compare to my grandma's! I like to think she'd be very proud of me and my lil' cake business.

Order a Lemon Drizzle here!
Mum's Christmas Cake
The second memory blast I have when thinking about cake is a very festive one. Every year since I've been on this planet my mum has made a showstopping Christmas cake. Sometimes more than one, if a school raffle or church fete needed one. She's even been known to make it for someone's birthday, as it's their favourite. It's all about the cake here, even though the decoration is always perfect; the  dark sponge is always absolutely packed with dried fruit and booze. Mum is a complete foodie, and loves a decent fruit cake, and Christmas wouldn't be the same without a big slice of her boozy Christmas cake. 

Order a Christmas cake here!
Max D - birthday cake
Christmas is one thing, but birthdays are even more about cake in my memory. Christmas dominates with so many other foods, activities, traditions over a longer period of time, whereas a birthday is just one day (or two, if you;'re the Queen and you're reading this). So, in terms of percentage of importance, I would argue birthday cakes are even more important that Christmas cakes, being a central feature to one's big day.  After all, 'a party without a cake is just a meeting', or so the famous saying goes. I've been lucky enough to have many cakes baked for me on past birthdays - here was this years! Thank you Max, very much! 

Order a birthday cake here!
280 Bakes - Roxanna cake
And while we're talking birthdays, banana cake may always remind me of my little one's first birthday. Cake was an important part to the celebrations as a nationwide lockdown hugely restricted what we could do. I made Rox two vegan - she had an egg allergy at the time - banana cakes, one for a cake smash (see here) and one for a sandwich tea in the garden with a handful of family members. Even though I say so myself, it was a bit of a corker - fabulous memories. 

What kind of cakes bring memories to your mind?

​Louise
​280 Bakes

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Afternoon Tea week giveaway!

10/8/2020

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for national afternoon tea week I'm giving away a special cake themed wallpaper for your phone.

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What a glorious 'national week' to celebrate! From 10-16th August it's Afternoon Tea Week and I'm giving away a FREE phone wallpaper to cake lovers!

All you have to do is sign up to the 280 Bakes newsletter (see the bottom of our website homepage) and I'll email it over to you. 

Simple!

Louise
280 Bakes

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6 Top Tips For A Cake Smash

5/8/2020

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Cake smashes for babies are all the rage, so here are my SIX Top tips for a fun and messy afternoon! 


I did my first cake smash last month, for Baby V as she turned a year old. I took weeks planning it, so excited​... probably a little more excited than my befuddled baby!

280 Bakes - cake smash

I baked a soft vanilla cake in the shape of a heart - vegan, because she had an egg allergy until recently - and decorated it in a simple but bright design. It had to be iced with buttercream for maximum messiness, and I wanted it to have blue elements to match part of the bunting. 

Honestly, I can't exactly say Baby V had the time of her life - she was a little confused and needed some encouragement - but I certainly had fun! She was very elegant, picking at it with her fingers, and a little confused, but it's a great memory as parents. 
​

Would you brave a cake smash with your little one?

If so, here are my top six tips for a successful cake smash!

  1. Get someone else to bake the cake. You'll have enough to do with positioning and encouraging baby, decorating the room and cleaning up!
  2. Choose your colours carefully - perhaps match the icing with their outfit colours? 
  3. Hang a bedsheet, ideally a white one, to protect the wall and floor, and to show the mess in all it's glory. It also makes it super easy to scoop up all the mess in one go too. 
  4. Have your partner or a grandparent over to help - they can take the pics while you encourage baby to smile and smash!
  5. Have a few props available. I loved my huge letter R (Baby V's name begins with an R), but a wooden spoon was useful too. You could use a party hat, a crown, a cake stand, balloons, letters spelling out 'One'...
  6. Take photos from lots of angles and don't be afraid to take LOADS. You'll have some good ones in there if you keep snapping. 

Order a cake

Let me know how you get on!

Louise
280 Bakes
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Hello Seamills!

27/7/2020

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Every month until Christmas (yes, I said the C word!), I'm going to give a local area an exclusive offer for a week. 

Everyone loves a deal - first up, Seamills residents!
Please share the deal with any of your friends who live in the area. Thank you!
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Choose from all of the cakes available:

  - cupcakes
  - traditional homebakes (e.g. coffee, chocolate, carrot...)
  - buttercream birthday cakes 

​Vegan and gluten free available, as always, on request and at no extra cost. Keep an eye on my Facebook and Twitter to see which Bristol area will be next to save precious pennies on their cake orders!

Thank you for taking a look at my blog this week, it is much appreciated  xxx

Louise
​280 Bakes
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Christmas has come!

3/12/2018

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Christmas has come to 280 Bakes!

It's the first week of December: Mince Pies have become the choice for elevenses, festive ideas for decorating are blooming, and the Christmas music is on while we bake. Here's some of the delicious baked goods our team has been producing for events and customer deliveries in the Bristol and Stroud area.

Christmas cupcakes... Mini and full-size Christmas cakes... Mince pies... Reindeer cookies...

Which would you choose for your Christmas table?

Call us on 07835 882817 or email 280bakes@gmail.com before 10th December to book your order in!

280 Bakes - holly cupcakes
Mince Pie - 280 Bakes
280 Bakes - Christmas cake
280 Bakes - reindeer cupcakes
280 Bakes - Christmas Cake
280 Bakes - Mini Christmas Cakes

Merry Christmas from the team at 280 Bakes, and thanks so much for your support this year. Here's to another successful year of baking!

Louise
Owner, 280 Bakes

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