Friday Friends - Local Handmade - Baking Mumma

Hello lovely Maddabling readers, hasn't this week flown by ? I sometimes wonder where the time goes to be honest. It is nearly October which means Blogtoberfest ! Watch this space so to speak. For those of you new to blogging, Blogtoberfest is "a festival of blogging held annually in October.  Quite simply Blogtoberfest is an invitation to commit to celebrating every day by posting daily on your blog. It's an opportunity to discover new blogs and make new friends." borrowed from the tinniegirl blog http://tinniegirl.blogspot.com.au/p/blogtoberfest.html 

This week is it my absolute pleasure to introduce the delicously talented Mel of local handmade business Baking Mumma! 

Sinfully good for the taste buds, I have sampled three types of Baking Mumma Cupcakes over the past few months, for the complete chocoholic I can gleefully recommend these

Chocolate Cupcakes with a Malteaser Baked Inside, Chocolate Butter cream and Crushed Malteasers on Top.

Or you can keep an eye out on the Baking Mumma Facebook page for the weekly special Tummy Tickler Tuesday - this weeks flavour was Lemon Cupcakes with Two Tone Lemon and Orange Butter cream.- they had a Terry's Orange Choc segment baked inside, and then a fondant daisy on top. They were seriously almost too pretty to eat - although my lovely hubby didn't hesitate! I also got two Choc Ferrero with Cookies and Cream Butter cream Cupcakes added to my order - oh my ! Here are some photos I took before they all disappeared!

six cupcakes in a sweet presentation box 

Dear readers, I now invite you to put your feet up and relax for a while, and read through 
the Delectable Cupcake Diary of Baking Mumma. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, keep your eyes peeled for a special edition blog post about high teas, craft swaps and bush walks xo

The Delectable Cupcake Diary of Baking Mumma
Hi, I'm Mel.  I started Baking Mumma in July this year. I loved - still love - baking, mainly cupcakes, and my friends and family said I should start selling them, so I thought 'what the hey?' I'm a 22 year old mum with 2 boys, Xavier who is just over 2, and Oliver who is almost 1. My  fiancé  is a FIFO chef, so it's mainly me at home, and Baking Mumma gives me something else to do while he's away. The name just sort of suited because I love being in the kitchen and I'm a mum.

I love looking for new ideas on pinterest, and chatting to other 'cakey' people on Facebook. I have a reasonably large collection of cookbooks which I like to read over and over again, and I get ideas for different flavour combos from them. I buy most of my supplies off eBay, such as fondant moulds and cutters, and then I get different decoration ideas from those. I have taken over the kitchen with all of my 'cakey stuff'.

I love making cupcakes, more so than full cakes. They never fail to bring a smile to my face. They are smaller and can be decorated all different ways and they are less messy and easier to serve at events because they don't need to be cut and they are A LOT quicker to make. They can be so personal, one little cupcake, made especially for you.

I have created my own chocolate, and vanilla recipe and I use these for the bulk of my creations. I aim for my cakes to taste as good as they look, and have trialled so many recipes to get what I think is perfect.  I love covering my cakes in flavoured butter cream, and then adding different crushed chocolates or themed fondant decorations I make at home and finishing with colour coordinating Sanding Sugars and Non Pareils. 

I have a large collection of cookie/fondant cutters and moulds, which makes making decorations quick, easy and fun. You can buy them for almost any theme or occasion, and there are some really cute ones. I use gel colourings, so I can colour my fondant or butter cream what ever colour I like, and using gel means I only have to use a tiny amount.

Some of my favourite cupcakes I've made so far would have to be the chocolate sunny rainbow themed cupcakes I made for a 9th birthday. They were so bright, and happy. I used a lot of fondant and different cutters, and hand made the rainbows. They took a long time, and it was something I hadn't done before, and they turned out better than I had hoped. The little girl who had them for her birthday loved them, and I heard feedback from the party for weeks, which was a great feeling. 

I also loved using a Lego mould I bought recently, and made some cute two toned vanilla cupcakes with little Lego men and blocks on top. I guess anything that is bright and fun is a something I enjoy most. I am hand painting some leopard print butterflies at the moment, and these are also a favourite because they are so cute and funky.

I would love to one day have my own cupcake shop. It is a very far off goal at the moment, but one can only dream! A cute, cosy, bright sweet smelling cakey wonderland! For now I am happy to be baking at home and still having enough time to play with my babies everyday, I can enjoy the best of both worlds here.

Dear readers - would you like to sample these delicious treats for yourself ? You can connect with Baking Mumma on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/BakingMumma