Chari-tea Party Deluxe!

Japan is a place that is close to my heart. I love its kookiness, its cleanliness, and how the traditional sits right alongside the technological. I went there for the first time as a 6-year old and fell in love with Disneyland. I went there as a 26-year old and fell in love with Kyoto. I'll never forget my trip there - the smells, the noises, the food. It was such a culture shock to my system - I buzzed from it.

Osaka at dusk

All the sushi you'll ever want

When I heard about the earthquake in March, I was shocked. When the tsunami ensued, I was devastated. I could not believe what I saw before my eyes. Towns and cities flattened and everything washed away. Everything-gone. All of a sudden the trauma that I was experiencing with my thesis seemed insignificant in comparison to this humanitarian crisis. I felt compelled to do something. And what am I good at doing? Baking I guess. So I began to plan… for the CAKE SALE OF MY LIFE. Well, a vintage tea party actually. My chosen charity- the British Red Cross.

It was never going to be easy, I expected that, but the tea party followed 2 x 12+ hour days at work. I had one full day put aside to bake a whopping 20 varieties of cake - I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. I have no idea why I chose 20. To be honest I would have gotten away with 10. But no, I am an over-achiever and what do over achievers do? Bake their asses off. Big time. The menu:

Cupcakes

‘The Triple C’ (Chocolate, Chocolate Chips and Cookie)

Red Velvet

Patriotic Vanilla

Apple Struesel

Cakes

Victoria Sponge Deluxe

Connie’s Procrastination Chocolate and Hazelnut Cake

Courgette Cake

Carrot Cake

Ginger Cake

Whoopie Pies

Chocolate

Lemon and Ginger

Meringue with chestnut filling

Others

Not-for-the-Faint-Hearted Rocky Road

Diddly Squats (like a rock cake, but better)

Scone with Jam and cream

Grasshopper Pie

Savouries

Sausage Rolls

Cheese Scones

Vegan

Cinnamon Rolls

Coconut and Lime Cake

I started baking at approx. 11am on the Saturday. 18 different cakes, a vat of cream cheese frosting and a broken Dualit handmixer later…I finally put down my palette knife at 1am. It was pretty epic, but the sight of all the cakes together did make me a little bit smug…

The cakes were displayed on my vintage plates (apart from my not-so-vintage cupcake tower) and 'customers' used my vintage side plates and cups and saucers. Tea was served from my vintage tea pot (okay, it was actually a coffee pot). I am a bit of a magpie and I do have an eclectic collection of random, mismatching china all found from charity shops or junk shops. I like to think that I'm rescuing them from a miserable life in the skip.

One thing that I have learnt from past experience is that you can never tell when, or how many people are going to actually turn up. So I was prepared for everyone to turn up at once. My, was I glad I did. Unfortunately at this point, I was so busy with serving, I didn't get a chance to take photos...but here are some action shots:

I did advise people to bring their own tupperware/tins for take out!

Don't worry, here's the real cake porn:

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake and Carrot Cake

Triple C Cupcakes

Chocolate Whoopie Pies

Red Velvet Cupcakes

The Cupcake Tower

Meringue Whoopies

The Victoria Sponge Deluxe

*smug*

The tea party was a roaring success, even if I may say so myself! I've made £200 so far and I am still counting! I offered to send whoopie pies in the post (they travel surprisingly well!) so still awaiting some donations! Thank you to everyone who came and made the day what it was - I'll give a final figure when I've done all of my orders!

A big thank you to kick-ass fashion blogger Winnie who has included this tea party in her latest blog! She's got more pics too so go go go!

xxx