Happy 2nd Birthday Heaven is a Cupcake

Today is Heaven is a Cupcake's 2nd Birthday. So to celebrate I thought I would write an entry to show where Heaven is a Cupcake came from and how we have grown into the thriving business we are now! I say 'we', it's still just me (Lucy) but I have such a good family behind Heaven is a Cupcake (those who literally are family/friends as well as my amazing customer base) that I consider it to be 'we' as much as it is 'I'. After all, if it weren't for my fabulous customers there would be no Heaven is a Cupcake. It would just be me, eating far too much cake (I do that anyway!)

So before I get into where we came from I'd like to say a big thank you to all my customers and friends. Particularly to my loyal customers who come to all my markets and have been really supportive of me over the last year or two; you have all given me so many opportunities and challenges so THANK YOU! Now a thank you to someone who I owe a lot to, my mum! And I like to think I inspired her to start making cakes too because one month before my first birthday she attended a sugarcraft course and then made her very first cake, my first birthday cake!

Mum's First Cake -My 1st Birthday, November 1986

And over the years she made practically every single one of our Birthday cakes up until the age of 18 when we all got too busy for things like making cakes! I used to love making cakes with her (and still do, although now I'm starting to teach her things!) and one of my favourite cakes that she made me was my 5th birthday cake and it probably is still my favourite cake... a buttercream castle cake. Ever since I was little, I've loved buttercream; I used to eat the buttercream and leave the cake! So this was a big hit as it was covered in buttercream and also yummy sweets.  

My 5th Birthday Cake - November 1990

These photos are both taken from a scrapbook my mum has kept for the past 26 years and I used to sit and flick through the photos never even imagining I could do it. I always used to think 'I wish I could do that.' When I was 15 I was given the task of having to make a cake for my GCSE food technology and I knew straight away I wanted to make the buttercream castle cake. Now, it didn't quite turn out how I wanted it to...but it tasted good!

 

My first cake, 2001

I almost gave up after that! I stuck to making things like fairy cakes and rock cakes and just baked occasionally as a hobby whilst planning my career as an actress! I then went to university and studied English Literature and in my final year, I attempted another castle cake (as you can see I like castle cakes!) for my friend Scott. Again, not my greatest cake but it is one of my favourites as it was a lot of fun to make and still tasted yummy! It also used a lot of the tricks my mum used which I loved as a kid - coconut grass, jelly water, lots of buttercream. But I think my favourite thing has to be the hippos - every good castle cake should have hippos ;)

Scott's Castle Cake, 2008

I then went on to do my Masters and once that was finished in December 2010 I desperately needed a break from studying. So I went off to America and there I made cupcakes! Lots of cupcakes! I kept finding more and more gadgets/toppings and exciting new things for cupcakes which I didn't even knew existed. These were my first 'cupcakes'. Yes, I'd made fairy cakes and small cupcakes but I didn't even know you could get these larger sized cases.

My first cupcakes, Feb 2010

As you can see, I didn't bother with any of that piping rubbish or hand made decorations! 2 months later, I started up Heaven is a Cupcake. I created a facebook page and then the orders began to come in. I thought it would be a good way to earn some money whilst I looked for a teaching assistant job but I never got that far... This was the first order I received that was from someone I didn't know, a box of baby themed cupcakes to go to Gorhambury Manor, St Albans (a good first order I think!)

First Bespoke Order from an unknown, August 2010

After being in business for 6 months I won the 2010 Local Gem Award in the St Albans Food and Drink Festival. And from there it has just snowballed! Now I work full time 6-7 days a week and I couldn't be happier. You can see how far I've come from the very first cupcakes I made to my most recent cupcakes...

Wedding Cupcake Samples, April 2012

And I even got to do another castle cake, an improvement on my first one I think you'll agree!

So thank you again to everyone who has helped make Heaven is a Cupcake what it is today and here's to another exciting year!

Happy cupcaking :)

Lucy x

Easter Time

Easter Cupcakes 2012

This year why not give something a little different for Easter? Here at Heaven is a Cupcake we are constantly coming up with new designs and flavours so why not drop us a line to discuss your bespoke Easter requirements.

Alternatively, check out these fab designs we have on offer...

Easter Gift Box of 4 Classic Cupcakes £10.00

Easter Spring Cupcakes - Chicks and Bunnies £18 for 6 or £34 for 12 (includes Easter cupcake wrappers. without wrappers - £15 for 6 or £29 for 12)

Divine Cupcakes - £2.00 each, 6 per flavour: Carrot, Double Chocolate Easter Nest, Marble Lindt Bunny and Chocolate Orange.

Mini Cupcake Egg Boxes - just £5 complete with Easter Sticker designs by Joanne Shaw Designs www.joanneshawdesigns.com

Happy Easter everyone!

Mother's Day

This year Mother's Day is on 18th March 2012 and here at Heaven is a Cupcake, we have a wide range of cupcake gifts and baked treats to make your mum feel special. She deserves to be spoilt; so check out our Mother's Day range and order now! If you don't see something you like here, remember - we can do something completely unique and delicious. You won't find a better gift for your mum than some Heaven is a Cupcake cakes.

 



 

Bespoke cupcakes from £2.00 each. We can do whatever you want on a cupcake, choose one of our Mother's Day designs or contact us now for a bespoke quote.



 

Classic Mum Collection

 



Sugar Flower Collection: (Choose from a mix of flowers or all of the same, in any combination of colours.) Roses, daffodils, hydrangeas, primroses, gerberas. The hydrangeas and gerberas can also be made into a beautiful cupcake bouquet.

 



Flower Pot Collection


Cupcake Bouquets

(Baskets may vary depending on stock)

 

Valentine's Competition

I have a spare Valentine's cupcake kit to giveaway as I'm feeling all warm and fluffy. In order to enter all you need to do is complete the rafflecopter form. You will gain an entry for each task you complete and some can be completed daily. These kits will also be available to buy at my market in St Albans Old Town Hall on Sat 11th Feb along with a wide range of other cupcake kits (which are available monthly).

You have until midnight on Saturday 11th Feb to complete the tasks. All tasks WILL be verified so no trying to be sneaky as they will not be counted.

No replacement prize or cash alternative.


a Rafflecopter giveaway


*Only entries received through rafflecopter will be counted.

Cupcake Size Chart

Here's a handy cupcake size chart of all the sizes of cupcakes I do, ranging from the Tiny to the Giant.

Valentine's Cupcakes

Well, it's not long been Christmas and already, it's time to think about Valentine's Day...

We have added our new Valentines Day cupcake designs which are available to order now. There will also be a range of Valentines Day cupcakes and gifts at our market in St Albans Town Hall on 11th February 2012 - our first market of the year! If you're looking for something a bit different from the cupcakes below then just drop me an email to discuss and I'll be happy to create something unique for you.

Love is....

Classic: £2.75 each, Divine: £3.00 each (minimum 6 per flavour)

Classic Gift Box of 4: £14.00, Divine Gift Box of 4: £15.00

Red Hot!

Classic: £2.25 each, Divine: £2.50 each

Classic Gift Box of 4: £12.00, Divine Gift Box of 4: £14.00

Love Hearts

 

Classic: £2.10 each, Divine: £2.30 each

Classic Gift Box of 4: £11.50, Divine Gift Box of 4: £12.50

Cupcake Bouquets

Cupcake bouquets start from £25.00

There are also a wide range of other products available to order for Valentines Day - cakes, cake pops, push cups, iced biscuits and giant cupcakes.

2011 in Cupcakes

Happy New Year cupcake fans! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year and were able to have a bit of a break. Back to normality now.


I thought I would start 2012 off with a round up of last year's cupcakes as it was a very busy year and I got to make some really fun creations (so a big thank you to my customers for that!)


January - James Bond

James Bond themed cupcakes for Mark's 30th Birthday.

February - Cupcake Bouquet

It was really difficult to pick just one photo this month as I had lots of great orders; circus babyshower cupcakes, a handbag cake and of course, lots of Valentines Cupcakes but this has to be my favourite - a cupcake basket bouquet. It has since, been a very popular gift for birthdays, anniversaries, new baby arrivals and more!

March - Graduation

In March 2011, I finally had my Masters Graduation Ceremony which I completed in December 2010. Who'd have thought it would lead to a career in cupcaking? ;)

April - My First Wedding Order

This was my first wedding order and has been a popular choice for many brides & grooms in 2011. This was also the month of the Royal Wedding - quite fitting I think!

May - New Baby Cupcakes

This month we welcomed a new baby into our family so I thought these babyshower cupcakes from May were a good choice.

June -  A Giant Month

I did a lot of giant cupcakes this month so I thought I had better post one for June!

July - Off on Holiday!

I went to Florida with my sister in July but not before I had time to make some Summery cupcakes for the Highfield Park Fete.

August - True Blood

August was a busy month at HIAC. The highlights being my sister's 30th Birthday and the pleasure of making cupcakes for some of the cast of HBO's True Blood.

September - Pony Cupcakes

Every month just got busier and busier at Heaven is a Cupcake. Here is my favourite of many:

October - Cupcakes for Holby City

It was a bit of a TV month in October as I was making cupcakes for Big Brother and then an episode of Holby City which hopefully will be airing in February - 2 guesses what it's going to be about ;)



November - Harry Potter in Halloween Wonderland

It was easy to choose a photo for this month as the themes are probably my favourite to do: Halloween, Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland.

December - Christmas of course!

I had lots of Christmas orders and really enjoyed coming up with new designs. Here's a close up of one of the Giant Christmas Tree Cupcakes.



And that concludes the round up of 2011 in Cupcakes. All the best for 2012!