It's all about PINK!

Yes, it is all about PINK for October for Breast Cancer Awareness - so please wear your ribbons and badges, but most of all make a donation or sponsor someone for this important cause.

We have been all about pink for a different reason this week! We had an order for a Christening.  Our customer asked us for a "Harrison" Cake (we like giving them names now, lol) but in pink, for her daughter Lacee.  Not only that, but the customer wanted 24 of our special baby cupcakes to go with it! This was a large order so we were fortunate not to have any other bookings this week!

We made the Christening cake on Thursday and made the cupcakes on Friday. The order was collected on Sunday morning and the customer was very happy we are pleased to say :0)

Just to say thanks...

One of our old school friends who we found on Facebook has kindly always supported Sugar and Ice of Shaw, even whilst living 10 miles away in Stalybridge.

Recently, he was "out of action" for some considerable time after having foot/leg surgery.  This meant that his wonderful wife had to help him out with many everyday tasks!

After his long recovery, he sent us an email asking if we could make his wife a "thank you" cake.  No problem! The customer only needed a small 8 inch cake with the words "Thank you for everything, love Michael" - he also requested some arms hugging.

We baked the cake fresh as always, and covered it in a bright turquoise blue colour as we wanted the cake to be a little different.  We thought bright pink would look really striking against the base colour and instead of arms hugging, thought 2 cute teddies hugging may look better. Cheeky, aren't we!! Finally, we added some pink blossoms around the base of the cake.

The cake was delivered to Stalybridge today and we got to watch the customer hand over the special gift.  His wife was really touched by the gesture and just a few hours later we received a message to say that it was very tasty too! LOL!

BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT

A number of months ago, we received an email from a lady on behalf of Crompton House School, Shaw. 

She was looking for a local business to kindly make a "Britain's Got Talent" themed cake to be raffled off to raise money towards Christies Young Cancer Ward.

We make it our mission to make at least ONE cake for charity each year so eagerly accepted the request.  We even told the lady that we would try to replicate the judges table! She was thrilled with our response, so we wrote the order in our diary and did nothing more.

Last week, the time had come to make the cake! We were just about to contact the customer to confirm when she rang us for assurance that we were still able to rise to the challenge!  Of course, we put her mind at ease immediately and informed her that the cake would be ready for collection well in time for the school's charity event.

We spent many hours creating the cake and worked until 11pm.  We even continued with the decorating at 7am the next day...

When we made the table and the judges, we decide to turn Simon's buzzer red - let's face it, it usually is.  However, we had a great idea. What if, Simon hadn't pressed his buzzer...what if, someone else had?

So, we added Simon's best friend... Britain's Got Talent winner 2012, Pudsey! awww

The cake was collected on the Wednesday morning ready for that night's Talent Show and Charity Fundraiser.  We were kindly given free tickets to attend but were that busy baking, we could not break off to take part in all the fun planned! We have heard since that the night was a resounding success.

Well, we were glad to help!

Simply delicious...

At Sugar and Ice of Shaw, we only ever receive orders from customers wanting our exclusive and innovative designs.  Of course, that is fine with us! We love being creative!

Sometimes, however, we like to try out new flavours, ingredients and toppings...  This week was the ideal opportunity as we wanted to donate some cupcakes to 3 local businesses in Shaw who have kindly agreed to advertise our business free of charge within their premises:

THE WEAVERS ANSWER public house
LUCIA'S COFFEE SHOP AND ICE-CREAM PARLOUR
FISH-NET AQUARIUM AND PETS

We thought that Raspberry Ripple and White Chocolate sounded heavenly.  The huge cupcakes were baked fresh this afternoon.  The light moist sponge was infused with raspberry essence and coloured with red throughout, not mixed; and of course we added some delicious creamy white chocolate chips.  The buttercream was made using fresh ingredients, flavoured again with raspberry and finally we stirred in some red colouring very gently, to give a rippled effect.  The buttercream was piped onto the cupcakes and a sprinkling of white chocolate chips added on top.

The only problem was that there weren't any leftovers for US to try!!

Donation of Cupcakes

***TO MEMBERS OF SHAW GAS EXPLOSION SUPPORT GROUP***

As you may have heard on local and national news, a terrible tragedy occurred in our town on Tuesday 26th June 2012.

I was working on a wedding order in the kitchen when at approximately 11.15am heard the most almighty BANG, which was so loud it frightened me.  At first, I thought that something had crashed upstairs, so I dashed into all the rooms looking for something amiss.  Nothing was.  Minutes later I heard many sirens just streets away.


I manage a Facebook page called "I Love SHAW" and immediately checked the internet for any news.  A local lady had posted that her house had shook from an explosion.  Moments later, other members joined the discussion and confirmed that a gas explosion had occured on nearby Buckley Street, destroying at least 2 houses.


Throughout the day I kept online, updating news as it happened and also networking with other Oldham Facebook groups.  It soon transpired that a 2 year old boy, Jamie Heaton had lost his life in the blast, whilst a 27 year old man called Andrew Partington had been air-lifted to Wythenshawe Hospital with 25-30% burns.  As I type this, the exact cause of the explosion is still not known, although it is believed to involve a recent repair to Mr Partington's property.


Within no time at all, a local action group had been established on Facebook and those who had been evacuated from their homes were kindly offered sanctuary within the Sports Hall of Crompton House School.  Local residents immediately began offering donations of food, water, clothing, toilettries, home furnishings, electrical items... Some residents commenced work on charity events and fundraising; the community spirit was awe-inspiring.

The following morning, I commented on my Facebook page that I would bake some fresh cupcakes and donate these to the families and support workers at Crompton House School.  Ten minutes later my phone rang.  It was BBC Radio Manchester.  They had seen my update on Facebook and asked if I would mind being interviewed on the radio! Of course, I jumped at the chance. Just ten minutes later, I was speaking LIVE to Heather Stott who asked me about the explosion and the kind donation of cupcakes.  I told her about my experience, my business and involvement with the Facebook page "I Love SHAW".  By 1pm I had completed the cupcakes and a kind customer of Sugar and Ice of Shaw offered to take them over to the school for me (this was only because I don't have daytime transportation).


My father-in-law rang me around this time to say he had been to the school to donate clothing/soft furnishings.  Whilst there he was interviewed by BBC NorthWest! The interview was broadcast that evening...trust him to steal my thunder! lol...


On a more serious note, however, we cannot lose sight of the loss affecting the Heaton family and would like to take this opportunity to offer our sincere and heartfelt condolences.  We would also like to wish Andrew Partington a full and speedy recovery.

Our FIRST Birthday!

On Tuesday 29th May it was officially our first birthday.  However, we are closed Mondays and Tuesdays, so had to wait until yesterday to celebrate!


Two weeks ago, we sent Facebook Event Invitations to our customers and also sent notifications regarding our forthcoming 1st Birthday.  We decided to hold an informal event at Sugar and Ice of Shaw offering free delicious cupcakes, fresh filter coffee, tea and even Bucks Fizz and Champagne! The event was 11am-3pm.


First of all, we needed to prepare! We printed posters, bought balloons in our brand colours and on Tuesday evening at 8pm baked some vanilla, strawberry and chocolate cupcakes.

Our front door complete with decorations

The next morning, we decorated our home with balloons, posters and made a feature table to hold the cupcake display, business cards and postcards...not to mention the Bucks Fizz and Champagne!  We also put our marketing video on the television and scrolled a slideshow of our cake photographs on the ipad.

 Our living room ready for our customers

 We also had a slideshow of our cakes on display

Our vanilla, strawberry and chocolate cupcakes all decorated
in our branded colours

Our final customers of the day leave with the remaining cupcakes
 in gift bags

 Customer cards :0)

We are delighted to say that from 11am until 4pm, we happily greeted a number of regular customers.  The event was a total success and we would like to take this opportunity to thank ALL our customers, supporters and fans who have not only visited us in person, but virtually through Facebook, placed orders or just made enquiries... without YOU we are nothing.  

Thank you for everything!!

Jessica's Cupcake Party

On Saturday 19th May at 4pm at a house in Lees, Oldham - was a very special young lady celebrating her 9th birthday.  That special young lady was "Jessica"...


Jessica's mum had booked a Cupcake Party with Sugar and Ice of Shaw some weeks earlier.

Jessica invited her 3 close friends; Ellie, Aliya and Ellie-May to partake in a new, exciting experience.  Each girl receives and decorates 6 cupcakes within a presentation box AND also is awarded with a certificate signed by a qualified cake decorator - aka ME!

Here I am, after covering the table with a unique cupcake tablecloth, cupcake mats and cupcake paintbrush cups! The girls remove their "naked" cupcakes ready to start...

The cupcakes are evenly spread with buttercream ready to be flat-iced

After being shown how to flat-ice AND create amazing buttercream swirls, the girls are left to use our fabulous cutters.  They create stars, hearts, teddy bears, flowers and leaves in all different colours.  The choice is limitless!

After creating all the different designs, I bring out the sprinkles! The girls love all the different toppings from silver and pearl balls to chocolate stars and glitter.

 Finally, the children place their completed cupcakes inside their presentation boxes.  They are feeling quite proud of their accomplishments and even prouder when we issue each one with a very special Award Certificate.


Before leaving, we give the birthday girl a special card and gift THEN ensure that everything is tidied away, leaving the dining area spotless.


We are happy to say that every Cupcake Party is always a total success with excellent feedback both from the girls and their mums :0)