Shoreditch Clandestine Cake Club - Meeting 4 "Blitz Bakes": Ration Cakes
In order to be safe from the inevitable bombs dropping, I opted to have this 1940's Wartime Cake Club in the underground bunker known as Crimson Heart on Leonard Street.
Despite the cakes being made from only ration ingredients and in some cases original ration recipes, they were incredibly tasty! Here's a selection:

Hedgerow Drizzle, Date & Walnut and Eggless Fruit Cake etc

New attendees Jasmine, David, Madeleine, Tori, Jordan and Yvonne got right into the spirit of things by shoving my little Union Flags into the cakes and waiting patiently while we took the obligatory CCC photos to get everyone salivating. Here they all are!

From L-R, Yvonne, Maddy, Jordan, Jasmine, David, Tori

I gave David a prize for being the first male to attend Cake Club. Despite the fact that I always tend to have at least one man book every time, they don't turn up! Are they not aware that Cake Club is an untapped reservoir of lovely and talended ladies?!
The unusual thing about this event was that it was combined with my other event, a retro Avon tea party called Cake It On! which happens once every 3 weeks. Inevitably there was going to come a time when both events clashed, but that just made for a really interesting themed evening where I was able to give out relevant prizes for competitions and quizzes. The real wartime one was attempting to draw stocking seams down the back of your own legs...!

I need to have less tall friends!!

The prize for this was a fab British themed Baking Book and it went to Jasmine for doing very straight lines down BOTH legs! Great effort :)

As usual the evening did descend into chaos, and that always ensures that certain people (such as Martha who shall remain nameless...) use my quiz as an opportunity not to win the fabulous prize and instead to entertain us all. Cue the 'fill in the blanks' debacle which has given us such beauties as Anthea TURNER rather than Lana TURNER and GENE Simmons rather than GENE Tierney before... This time it was wartime baddies such as Herman Goring who became Herman MUNSTER haha.

Thankfully some people did take it seriously so here is the fabulous Kim recieving her prize of patriotic Avon earrings:

For more info on the rest of the night (and further pics), make sure you go to www.make-upbake-up.blogspot.co.uk for my other blog!! If you'd like to join the Clandestine Cake Club there is a link to the International network at the top of this  and then you can join my Shoreditch group :) xox

'Big Chocolate Tea Party' in aid of The Sick Childrens Trust
Listen up, cake bitches! - now it's time to put your money (and your time) where your mouth is: Bake a big chocolate cake for this Saturday (April 7th) then head to Borough Market with your wares...

www.sickchildrenstrust.org

The Sick Childrens Trust are running the Big Chocolate Tea Party campaign throughout April in order to raise money to provide accomodation for the parents of sick children. This is because there are many children who need to be treated far from the family home for their conditions, and this can put a financial strain on parents and siblings. (See the direct link on your right.)
Last year the campaign enabled the SCT to provide over 600 nights of free accomodation to the families of sick children, so lets try and top that this year :)

Head down to the lovely Borough Market from Saturday early morning, either to donate a cake or to buy one. I'll be taking two cakes with me, one donated by the fantastic Crimson Heart Cafe in Shoreditch (see my other posts labelled 'Crimson Heart') and one made by my own fair hands! I'll also be volunteering on the stall so come and say 'Hi' and fill your face :) See you then xox

Shoreditch "Clandestine Cake Club" - Meeting 1

Thanks so much to everyone who came to the inaugural meeting of the Shoreditch CCC at Crimson Heart. It was so lovely sitting round and getting to know each other, and feeling (kind of) healthy due to the Vegan theme for the month. There was banana maple syrup, lemon drizzle, chocolate carrot, banana tahini, steamed berry... It was actually quite nutritious when you think about it :)

Cakes and Shakes at "Fat Sam's Grand Slam"
My most recent adventure with Crimson Heart nearly involved me getting absolutely covered in cream during the infamous 'Splurge' fight - part of the 'Bugsy Malone' immersion experience hosted by Future Cinema.

We weren't selling tea but there were plenty of cakes, supplied by my favourite location for sugary shenanigans in Shoreditch: Crimson Heart Tea Shop. And standing behind the counter while the amazing smells of rocky road, vanilla cupcakes and strawberry milkshakes wafted over me was almost maddening - dairy is still off the menu for me so Fat Sam had to eat my share :(

The film run this time around is much longer than Brief Encounter, partly as it coincides with the kids Easter Holidays, so there's still a chance to get tickets. We were definitely prepared  for the onslaught of sticky fingers demanding milkshakes, coke floats and giant cupcakes like zombies demanding BRAINS, and it was nice to see that our 'hard-shakes' were just as popular for grown-ups as they contained a cheeky shot of something a bit stronger...

Thank god for  the fact I never gave up booze for Lent - I needed a shot myself by the time Ali started to sneakily let me know the splurge was going to begin soon so we needed to wrap up the cakes. I went all clumsy with the cling film and started panicking, hissing to Ali in a frantic whisper "I can't find the end, I can't find the end!!" hahaha. And honestly, what compelled me to give the counter-top a good wipe down and polish?! It stayed shiny and clean for, ooh, all of 5 seconds once the pies started flying. I've never spent so much time under a table in my life!

Crimson Heart Film Club
There is a book called 'Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe' which I did a fairly scathing review of a long time ago - it was full of schmaltz and one dimensional characters that were bordering on being fairly racist stereotypes... Needless to say I got asked to take the review down. Good. I know where I'd rather be....in the real world:

Of all the places I've had afternoon tea in London, this has become a firm favourite and I definitely consider myself a Crimson Heart Groupie. Not only are the food and drinks fantastic, the staff friendly and the atmosphere as cosy as your nan's slippers, the place is just bang on trend and full of ideas. On any given day you may find yourself visiting a pop-up flower stall in their back garden, playing retro boardgames, watching a band or attending a book club. I was there for the recent monthly film club and had an absolute blast. For the entry fee of just £5, I was plied with food and drink, I got to enjoy Weird Science in surroundings just as comfortable as if I was at home and I met some more great people.

I was on the winning team for the quiz afterwards, so I got to choose the film for next month...I'm not telling you what it is, you'll have to come and see! Also, head there this Thursday at 6pm for the clothes swap party - the Crimson Heart Swap-o-Rama! Go to http://www.facebook.com/crimsonheartshoreditch for details xx

Tea and Cake in the 'Refreshment Room' at Milford Station, February 1945....

So Last night I had an amazing time with the fabulous Mia, Ali and Zara at Crimson Heart (@CrimsonHeart1) I was able to spend my Saturday night doing the one thing I like best....dressing up. 
And not just in any old costume: 1940's style with Victory Rolls, pussy bow dress and more....my favourite!

Thanks to Secret Cinema's new expansion known as The Other Cinema, I spent my evening with the characters from Brief Encounter. I was surrounded by the mouth-watering smell of freshly made popcorn, not the 3 week old crap you get at your local Odeon (that they serve you from bin-bags by the way) and transported to a world of ushers, security guards and refreshment room customers in full vintage clothing. The 1930's grandeur of the Troxy on Commercial Road was the venue of choice tonight, but there will be a different one every month.

My only experience of this venue so far has been for the cage-fighting, so it was fantastic to see the features brought to life by the burlesque acts, the chairoscuro of the projector and the live band. And it was even better after the movie when the floor opened up to swing dancing....I was terrified of being flicked in the eye by a fur stole! 

I genuinely can't think of a better way to see a film than being totally immersed in it in this way and I suggest you check out http://www.futurecinema.co.uk/news.html to see where the next one will be held xox

"Love Makes the World Go Round" Charity #14 -
The British Heart Foundation
This is it, the big one, Day 14...Valentine's Day! And what more appropriate charity than the British Heart Foundation? Go to http://www.bhf.org.uk/ to see what you can do to help. There are so many interesting ways to get involved, such as volunteering in their shops or hosting an event.

Today, I'm contributing by holding a heart-related seminar at my Pathology Museum, with all proceeds going to the BHF.

We also have some lovely cakes to raffle off, courtesy of Mia at Crimson Heart (See the review of this lovely tea shop at http://www.afternoon-tease.blogspot.com/2012_01_01_archive.html and pop in for a cuppa as soon as you can.)

xox

Crimson Heart, Leonard Street, Shoreditch

Nestled down a side street just off City Road, Crimson Heart is a little gem of a place that opened in December. I was only made aware of this new tea venue at a recent Shoreditch Sisters meeting and I was very excited to be given the opportunity to pop in for a cuppa. I chose the perfect morning for it too, as there was something very comforting about descending the little staircase into the warm bosom of the cafe downstairs, away from the elements and the madness of the city in the sudden freezing weather we're having. 
Decorated in kitsch cool by the owner Mia, Crimson Heart is more like a nan's living room than a cafe, complete with retro games behind the counter and a disco ball to complement the crochet tablecloths and chintz lampshades. Everything about it is fabulous!

The cakes are home-made by Mia's sister and the menu changes every few days depending on what batch has been made. I had a very welcome cup of steaming coffee with a complementary heart shaped biscuit, and if the taste of that is anything to go by I'll be back there this weekend for a full cream tea!
Totally inkeeping with the name of the cafe, there will be a special set Valentine's afternoon tea for £10 a head which is a great price for London, and there will also be a pop up florist before the big day, so that men all over Shoreditch can keep their other halves happy.
However, the special thing about this place is that it is not only a cafe, but also a vintage store selling jewellery, homeware and other kitsch trinkets - as soon as I walked in something caught my eye which I promptly purchased on my way out...so much for my 'thrifty January'

I highly recommend you eschew all those massive corporate conglomerates in favour of the smaller, individual little businesses like this which keep the city from becoming a homogenous nightmare. It's open Mon-Fri 10-6pm and til 8pm on Thursdays (as well as a special opening of 10-8pm Valentine's Day,Tuesday 14th Feb.) Saturday openings are beginning in February,  and keep checking the website too, as there are many other events coming up such as clothes swapping parties and a book club: 

www.crimsonheart.co.uk 

xox