The Secret is Out.......

'The Clandestine Cake Club Cookbook' by Lynn Hill

Lynn Hill came into my life like a great cakey captain over a year ago. I was feeling quite low, watching TV at my mother's house (probably attempting to get some sympathy) when she popped up on The One Show. (Lynn did I mean - not my mother..) 

A link to my first CCC blog post with video clip is here... http://tinyurl.com/by98yfu

I was suddenly inspired to join her army of cake cadets and start a club in my own corner of London: Shoreditch. I bombarded her with e-mails, literally as soon as the piece on BBC1 was over and told her that I too wanted to earn my stripes of icing and lead the people into the promised land of fondant and cream and jam...

A year (and many CCC Shoreditch events later) I am one of the contributors to the CCC cook book!

My recipe was selected, my face was plastered on its pages (well half my face...I appear to be shoving cake into my gob, above) and my group of cake club members now exceeds 80!!! I've held events such as Blitz Bakes: Ration Cakes, Film Fatale: A Film Noir Night and Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree: A 1950's Kitsch-mas. And don't worry, I still have plenty of ideas. The next event is an Eat Hearts, Sweethearts party for Valentine's Day as well as a special event in Waterstone's, Islington to celebrate the book release. Coming up in the next few months we'll have That's a Damn Fine Piece of Pie: Twin Peaks evening, a 'CCC and The Death Cafe' mash-up and A Slice of Life: DEXTER cakes, so make sure you register on the club's website to join in the fun: www.clandestinecakeclub.co.uk

My copy of the book arrived today, but its general release isn't until February 14th which makes it a perfect Valentine's gift. In fact, there's a recipe (from Rachel McGrath, CCC Bolton) for an 'Achy Cakey Heart' cake which you would get points for if you baked it for your other half as a Valentine's treat.

I literally have no idea where to start as there are so many to choose from, but the 'Chocolate and Marmite Caramel Cake' (Becs Rivett, CCC Leeds) is too intriguing not to try ASAP and I have to make Lynn's own 'Elderflower Cordial Cake' as elderflower is a weird addiction of mine.
The book itself is crammed with recipes in chapters like Classic Cakes, Celebration Cakes and Creative Cakes with wonderful pictures and beautiful styling by Anita Mangan, well-known for her work on the LEON Cafe cook books. So get yourself a copy on pre-order (see link to your right) or head to your local bookshop on February 14th as this is a book worth owning and cherishing. After just one leaf through its pretty pages I'm sure Lynn Hill will inspire you as she inspired me xox