All posts in category Out with the Girls

My kingdom for a good cupcake…

I hosted bookclub on Wednesday night – we are quite a large group and sometimes I get a bit anxious trying to cater for all the girls.

I get my knickers in a knot as I try and make a big dinner, and then I buy too much and I over cater, and really it becomes such a stressful endevour.

By the time the girls arrive, I actually want to lie in the foetal position on the kitchen floor, clutching my bottle of wine and sobbing.

I really wanted to find something easy this time around, and kept it simple.

I ordered books from Kalahari – so I did not have to run around to the bookstores and then end up buying books in a frantic rush.

I opted for Burgers and Fries. I was going to serve McDonalds, but then I realised that might be pushing the envelop even by my standards.

My favourite burger place is Cafe Royale in Long Street. So I contacted someone who used to work there, who could arrange burger patties – I think from the same butcher who supplied Cafe Royale. I am not sure of the details, but they were really great burger patties and were about the size of my head.

I grilled burgers, and we had burgers with avocado and coriander, or burgers with camembert and cranberry jelly, with a side order of thin fries. Diet-he-is-now-out-the-window-and-I-am-loosening-my-top-button yum.

Granted, I did make a salad - as I thought there needed to be a ying-and-yang to this whole thing.

Dessert was these super cupcakes that I got from Chef Sam. I saw her details on Facebook and thought I would give her a whirl. I ordered, and went along to collected them on Wednesday morning.

I ate too much on Wednesday night – and could not fit a cupcake in (bearing in mind I also ate pecan-and-fudge shortbread and about a kilogram of Chuckles). So adding to the liter or so of wine, there really was not much more space in my digestive tract for a cupcake.

I decided to eat a cupcake for breakfast – as you do – on Thursday morning.

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If it makes you ne’er-do-well feel any better, Isabelle shared the cupcake with me.

The cupcakes were so beautifully presented – too beautiful to eat actually. I was suspicious that they looked good and might taste a bit like brown cardboard. But I was wrong. Delusionally mistaken in fact.

It was heaven – I ate the cupcake, the worm and the book – and it was really all too delicious for words. Lick-the-palm-of-my-hand delicious. I was suddenly very disappointed I had only ordered a dozen.

I am not trying to punt Chef Sam, but damn she is good. It is always great to find someone who is doing a fabulous job of a work-from-home business, and kicking arse as they do it.

If you are Cape Town based looking for a really great cake/cupcake or what ever for your kid’s party/your party/a stork party/a party where you drink wine/a party where you sit at home and just want to gorge on really pretty cakes and cupcakes – then she is definitely the dame to get in touch with.

She is my new BFF … I can see her arranging a restraining order against me quite soon.

Note the detail so the book has pages ….