Yesterday we were selling our yummy cakes at our first ever Stroud Farmers Market of the year, what a lovely market. It was very busy for a cold January morning there were lots and lots of delicious types of food on offer. To help keep warm I was munching on a fab five spice pork curry from Niang's Thai Snacks and samples of our very own Vanilla Pod Bakery chocolate brownies!

I am really enjoying the farmers markets at the moment (even though its bitterly cold!) as it is a chance for us to experienment with different recipes. We had lots of cakes on offer including our yummy cupcakes as well as sticky ginger and orange slices, wedges of classic victoria sandwich and our very chocolatey brownies which had sold out by 12pm! And my favourite,  toffee apple crumble slices - ummm I am salivating just thinking about them now, delish.

We are constantly looking through recipe books and are always open to new ideas, so please do not hesitate to let us know if you want a particular type of cake or bakery treat to be baked by us.

We will now be at a farmers market every Friday (Cheltenham on the 2nd and last Friday of the month and Gloucester on the 1st and 3rd Friday of every month) and will be a Stroud market once a month on a Saturday. Check facebook or our website for more details.

Happy New Year Everyone!  (I can't believe it is 2011 already - the last decade has just flown by!)

I had a lovely Christmas break and I have to say I am glad to be back baking.  I really miss the Vanilla Pod kitchen and whipping up something delicious, when I have been away for a few days.

The one thing I am not to happy about, and I am sure most of you feel the same, is the VAT increase.  I can understand the Government needs to claw back money, but is this really the right way of going about it?
 


Here is to a positive 2011!

Pia xx

*T&C apply, subject to change.

Pia was delighted to be invited to join Faye Hacther on her morning BBC Radio Gloucestershire programme on 23rd Dec 10. Pia chatted to Faye about Vanilla Pod joining forces with the fanastic Foodworks Cookery School in Colesbourne just outside Cheltenham and about the joys of using local and seasonal food to cook delicious Christmas desserts.

Click here to listen to the interview - play at 2:40.14 mintues:
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00cry9v/Chris_Baxter_Gardening_advice_with_Reg_Moule


**Chris Baxter Show - Faye Hatcher sits in.

For all you ladies who lunch, why not come and join us at the beautiful Daffodil Restaurant in Cheltenham on Tuesday 8^th December for their exclusive 'Ladies Only' lunch which takes place on the first Tuesday of every month. It’s the perfect opportunity for you to catch up with friends, dine in style and for this month only, indulge in some Vanilla Pod cakes! Visit www.thedaffodil.com for more information.

On Tuesday, 12th October Pia travelled down to london and attended a cake decorating seminar at Searcy's 30 Pavilion Road by award-winning couture cake-maker to the stars and owner of Little Venice Cake Company, Mich Turner.

Mich shared her cake-decoarting tips over a divine 3 course lunch, which was in partnership with Sainsbury's Magazine.

Searcys' Georgian Town House in the heart of Knightsbridge was the fabulous venue and a very enjoyable day was had by all.

Pia said "It was simply a lovely afternoon and can't wait to get back into the Vanilla Pod kitchen!"

As autumn blows in we've been super busy at the Vanilla Pod Bakery with loads of exciting events and seasonal festivities to think about. We won't mention the 'C' word just yet (but it is only 85 days, 11 hours and 34 minutes away!) but we have been lapping up the fruits of the harvest and experimenting with our new autumn flavours and looking ahead to Halloween and some terrifying treats!

We've also been doing our bit for the student community of Gloucestershire and had a great day at the Fresher's Fayre last week promoting our campaign "I'm a student and I NEED cake!" Well we wouldn't want the future of our country starving to death would we?! If you're a student and you NEED cake, get in touch with us at the Vanilla Pod and we can offer you 10% off your order if you show us your valid NUS student card (offer subject to change and terms & conditions apply).

Last Sunday was spent at the beautiful Pitville Pump Rooms for the Kids One Stop Shop launch which was loads of fun. Showers of sprinkles and swirls of buttercream as we encouraged the kids to get creative in decorating their own Vanilla Pod cupcake. On the same creative note our cupcake workshops continue to be a great success and with more planned over the next few weeks why not come to an evening filled with icing sugar clouds and rainbow's of buttercream? Please do book early to avoid disappointment. Our next workshop will be just days before Halloween on Tuesday 26th October so expect plenty of ghoulish decorations and may be we could share some ghostly stories over a coffee - all taking place at Red Pepper Café, Cheltenham.

As summer draws to a close peak wedding season is over and we now look to wedding fayre season. This Sunday we will be back at Pitville Pump Rooms where will be exhibiting some our prettiest cupcakes and will be on hand all day to talk to happy couples and discuss ideas, inspirations and prices. More importantly we'll have plenty of delicious samples to try.
In the meantime we are busy trialing and ever-improving new and seasonal flavours including Sticky, Toffee, Spiced Pear, Carrot & Nutmeg, Ginger Bread and Pumpkin & White Chocolate. There's always a reason for a cupcake so why not get in touch or pop in and see us in our small but perfectly formed kitchen, we love to chat CAKE!

This week we have been busy baking meringues! Yes that's right, after watching the BBC's "The Great British Bake Off", we were inspired to bake scones and meringues. Which turned out to be very yummy indeed. 

We would take our newly found meringue skills and bake a lemon meringue cupcake (which was also the request of a client). Pia took a picture and you can see the results to the right. The cake had a lovely light lemon sponge with a deliciously fuffy meringue top. A new favourite at the Vanilla Pod Bakery.

Why not ask for it when you next order from Vanilla Pod and give us your opinion!