les puces! the paris flea markets!

 

'visit paris flea markets' has been on my to do list since i first read about it on oh happy day! i LOVED exploring the little lanes and i loved all of the styling! ... although i dont really think it was styled on purpose...! if you are visiting paris i highly reccommend a little trip there, i could have spent ages looking for treasure and i could have bought lots of things if i had space in my suitcase! there are some great directions on the oh happy day blog here!

le cupcakes di melissa

 

i have had the most amazing holiday and i have met some amazingly beautiful people who have been so sweet, generous and hospitable... which is a really heartwarming thing. i was lucky enough to spend some time with my lovely friend, melissa from le cupcakes di melissa in sarzana, italy. she is one of the sweetest people i have ever met and she has the cutest little cake shop! we both share a passion for fresh, quality ingredients and the fun of baking, which is a really lovely thing to find and it really shows in her cakes- her cupcakes were so so so delicious! my favourite was the lavender- yum!! 

melissa is one of the first people to bring cupcakes and fondant covered cakes to italy and i think it is just so amazing how dedicated, organised and resourceful she has to be in a country that doesnt have easy access to ingredients and supplies... next time i duck down the shops at last minute to pick up some courveture chocolate, fondant and cutters i will know how lucky i am!

if you are in the la spezia area of italy.. or getting married around there- it is a super popular area for international weddings... i highly reccommend saying hi and having some super delicous cake!! 

thanks so much again melissa!! xx

oh and her facebook is here!

italia!

 

 

 

my holiday is wrapping up *sigh*, i am currently in paris and i start heading home today via a little stop over in bangkok.. the good news is that i will be really busy when i get back and will be back to cake blog posts!

here are some of my favourite photos from my time in italy!
florence- i loved michalengelo's david, it is truly beautiful and truly a masterpiece. although i love colour, florence looked amazing in black and white. 
pisa- to be honest i have ALWAYS wanted one of those photos holding up the tower, but when i got there, there was a sea of people scrambling to get a spot and posing that i changed my mind and had fun taking photos of them. 
tuscany- cute antique markets in lucca and marina di pisa.
sarzana-we visited cute sea side towns, these pics are from portovenere and cinque terre (5 lands), i love the colours of the buildings against the sea *sigh* so beautiful!

chamonix mont blanc

as a little bit of a contrast to my samos island photos here are some chilly photos from chamonix, mont blanc!
 

these pics are from a lovely day where we went up to the summit of aiguille du midi (3800m- so so so high!) to look at mont blanc, then we went down to plan de l'aiguille (2300m) to walk around the mountain range to see a glacier and ice cave.  it was all so so pretty, the snow at the top was so peaceful and i love the texture of the walls of the ice cave...

SUPER EXCITING NEWS!! hello naomi classes at Fair Cake, LONDON!!!

i am SO SO SO excited to announce that i will be heading to LONDON in october to teach a series of classes at Fair Cake's new Vanilla Workshop!!!!

Below is a little summary of each class and a link to the full class description. Please, please, please help me spread the word and let anyone in london know that might be interested- i need to make sure i sell enough classes to cover my travel costs :) !!!

novelty cupcake class- i will be teaching the techiques that i use to  cover cupcakes and create complex shapes using cutters and templates. the class is suitable for beginners to advanced.

christmas cookie class- i will be teaching the techniques that i use to bake and decorate my signature cookies including covering a cookie with fondant, piping decorations and creating fondant shapes for decoration. the class is suitable for beginners to advanced.

cherry cake class- i will be teaching the super important technique of preparing a cake with ganache to create a perfect base for covering. i will also be teaching how to cover a cake with fondant, modelling techniques and applying fondant decoration. suitable for beginners to advanced.

wedding cake class- again, i will be teaching the super important technique for preparing a cake with ganache to create a perfect base. i will also be teaching how to structure a 2 tier cake, covering an extended tier cake, creating delicate sugar flowers and piping patterns on the side of a cake. a knowledge of working with fondant is required.

I really can't wait!! book your class on the Fair Cake website here!!