JUST how amazing do these cakes look? I made them all myself - NOT! If I had, they would probably have ended up as heavy as a brick and would look very home-made - not lovely and polished like these delicious creations!
Very clever Hillingdon mum, Nicola Garraway, whose Christmas cup cakes I featured in this column a few months ago, has produced these amazing themed cakes.
Pictured are her High School Musical creations, which she has designed for Easter, and a selection of stylish cakes far too good to give to children, but perfect for a special birthday cake for a loved one.
Cup cakes are all the rage now and much more fun than regular birthday cakes - you don't need to fiddle around with cutting it into slices, wrapping it in a napkin and putting it in a party bag only for it to go all soggy and make a mess. After piling these babies up together and blowing out the candles, you can simply give them to each child when they leave the party.
By the time they reach the car they'll be gobbled up!
Nicola's cakes are priced from 60p to £1 each. She will deliver free in Hillingdon and can make cakes for any theme for adults or children, whatever your party. I think the Easter cakes would make a brilliant and fun alternative to Easter eggs this year.
Look out in Sunshine magazine (out next month) for a special offer of buy 20 cup cakes and get 10 free!
To find out more, call Nicola on 01895 812 775 or 07817 228 205.
Talking of cakes and birthday parties, I helped out at a birthday party last week and wished I'd taken ear plugs. Alex's friend, Connor, was celebrating his eighth birthday with a visit to the great children's play centre, Zoom, in Beaconsfield (01494 673 005; www.zoomfun.co.uk). I had four of the seven kids in my car and Connor's mum, Carrie, had the other three in hers.
The 20-minute journey on the M40 from Uxbridge was one of the longest and noisiest of my life - the kids were so excited they were screaming, shouting and singing the whole way there. The only thing to do was turn the music up as high as it would go and join in with the singing!
Zoom Children's Funhouse costs about £400 to hire for exclusive use. That's not within the budget for most families but, amazingly enough, when we arrived, we had the whole place to ourselves and the seven kids had the most brilliant time.
Monday evenings are apparently very quiet so would be a good time to pick for a birthday party. It's a lovely venue, clean and spacious, and is housed in the old Beaconsfield cinema.
Best of all, they think of the grown-ups too. There are magazines to read and great coffee for the mums and dads!
