Custom Cakes from Andrew Nuttall

Here's another blog about cake. Yes indeed, it really is another blog about cake. I realise I might talk about cake a lot and often blog about it too, however it's a) nearly Mother's Day (good reason for cake) and b) I've found someone who makes really ace cakes. Not cupcakes, not cake pops, not homemade lumpy things or twee sugar craft flowers; but the most imaginative cakes you could think of and even some you can't!

I thought I'd have a chat with the talented Andy Nuttall and see where he gathers his inspiration from and what it's like to be a budding baking genius (and where we can get our hands on his designs).

Andy Nuttall - minus a cake

How did you get into baking?
I started baking at a very early age, my Auntie Lynne always baked for the family (and she is amazing!) - I was lucky and always had a great birthday cake, it seemed to me that this could make or break my party when I was a kid. Baking as a kid meant I could make a mess with ingredients and got to lick the spoon at the end - I mean, which kid doesn't like liking spoons? It wasn't just baking - fresh ingredients were a big thing in my house when we were growing up and I was always encouraged to use them, trouble is I started using the lot! (Andy is a chef at Southern Eleven when he's not creating cakes - ed).


What's cake making about for you?
Making/eating cakes and sweet stuff is what my childhood was about and I’ve been lucky to carry that passion and enjoyment into my adult life. Baking has allowed me to channel my creativity - the sponge is my canvas and the fondant is my paint. The other great thing is that my two beautiful daughters are able to get involved - they show loads of interest (and yes, just like me, they love to make a big mess!). One of the best things is that if you make a mistake you can eat it and nobody will ever know. I’ll spend till 4am on a cake, even after a 13 hour shift in the restaurant kitchen because I love it, the creativity and the feeling you get when you reveal it. I made a replica of an 18 year old’s bedroom and when I delivered it his Mum cried with joy; I had no idea my work could touch people like that, it’s a great feeling.

Fancy a cake? Or three!

Is there someone who influenced/inspired you?
From an early age I was influenced by my family and also through school, I had an amazing Home Ec/Cooking teacher called Mrs Thornton, who was passionate about food and just loved to teach – this really rubbed off on me. From there I went to Blackpool College and they lined up the opportunity of working in some pretty cool kitchens such as Buckingham Palace, where they had this really flamboyant pastry chef. He knocked out things I’d never seen and as a 17 year old and this really fired me up. From there I worked at Paul Heathcoat’s in Longridge, a two Michelin star kitchen where I was actively encouraged to play with food and experiment with the puddings.


Was it cakes first and then sugar craft, or did you know you wanted to make really pimped up cakes?
Cakes are the easiest way for me to bring my ideas to life, however the sweet stuff has always attracted me; from simple bread and butter puddings to homemade ice creams. I’ve always made cake but have only recently come to cake creation as the knowledge I’ve learnt as a chef has allowed my ideas to become reality. Having kids started me with the sugar craft as it’s just like an adult version of Plasticine – it really gets the creative juices flowing!

Grrr!

Is there a reason for such inspired cakes or is it just what your customers ask for?
I get so bored of seeing the same kind of cakes everywhere, the same cakes being reproduced year after year. I want to make cakes that are personal and have some kind of meaning. You won’t see me making a flat white cake with happy birthday scribbled across it, which can be knocked up in an hour. If you want that, then get down to the supermarket because I’m not what you’re looking for.


Where do you get the ideas from for your designs?
I often visit art galleries and find inspiration for ideas; I look also around and take note of what’s around me on a day to day basis, simple things like buildings can just spark me. I seem to look at objects now and break them down into separate parts, almost deconstructing then reconstructing them in my mind. I also take inspiration from my clients, so you could say I was inspired by them, I just channel them in a very creative an unusual way.

What’s the artistic process like?
When I’m asked for a cake I want to know everything about the person it’s for to get an idea of what makes them tick so I have an initial consultation where I find out as much as I can about the person and ask lots of questions, some of which are not even related to cakes. Then I research as much as possible, draw out some sketches and make mock models of the final cake. It all helps to iron out any problems with the design. Sometimes people will come with a very bog standard idea and the end result will be totally different once I’ve seen what they’re like and explained just what it is I can achieve for them.


Have you ever been asked to do something really weird as a design?
Yes, there have been some very strange requests, such as a unicorn with a badger’s head and I’ve also been asked to design a few ‘adult’ cakes (but only for the over 18s!). I prefer designing and making the stranger cakes, it’s what I want to do. I do have some crazy ideas locked up inside my head for a rainy day – like a flying wedding cake! I’ve got some really out there ideas for that one!


What's been the most difficult design for you to do? Why?
Definitely the Apache helicopter; I made it 3 times before I was happy with it. As the client worked on one I to research it inside out, it had to be spot on. Making it was hard going as it was almost if it didn’t want to be made – parts not fitting together, rota blades flopping and the tail snapping were just a few of the problems. Luckily I got there in the end (I’m not one to give up) and the client still has the Apache part of the cake on his desk, which makes me very proud.

The complex Apache cake

I also struggled with the Bolton Wanderers’ Reebok stadium because of the sheer amount of engineering in the building; but I learnt a lot of skills and cake decorating tricks, so it was a really enjoyable process. The original brief had been for a basic BWFC logo on a flat cake, however you know that I don’t do those! But by far the most difficult cakes have been for my two girls. They’ve not been amazingly difficult, a fairytale castle cake and a make up bag, but they are the most important and hardest critics I’m ever going to come across. I’ve made a rod for my back though as each year I have to make a better cake than the year before!

Where can we get your cakes from?
Just from me, I don’t sell through any shops and don’t have a studio yet (thought that’s a plan for the future). I’m local to Bolton and will deliver locally (and further afield for an extra charge).

You can contact me through: Facebook or Twitter. Or drop me an email on anuttall79@gmail.com.
Plus check out the blog for up to date pictures of my latest creations.

Look forward to creating something as crazy as you!

Please note - all photos are courtesy of Andy Nuttall so please ask him if you would like to reuse them.

Competition time!

What's your favourite spring time risotto?

Spring is springing, birds are singing and we've got a corker of a competition for you.

In collaboration with Essential Cuisine Home Chef Stocks (for more on their wonderful products check here), Noshy wants to know what your favourite spring time risotto is. Keep your ideas seasonal and take some inspiration from the wonderful produce shooting up all over the place at the moment.

Wonderful, top of the range crock pot - what a lovely prize!

First prize is a top of the range crock pot, th whole selection of Essential Cuisine stocks, chef's drizzle bottles, apron, cookbook, goodies AND entry into the Risotto Championships in May in conjunction with In Out Magazine.

There's also four runner up prizes consisting of cook books, aprons, bottles, stocks and other wonderful goodies from those lovely people at Essential Cuisine.
Entering is really simple - just head over to the Essential Cuisine Facebook site and write the title of your favourite spring time risotto on their wall eg. 'Smoked pancetta, pea and scallop risotto.'

The five entrants with the tastiest sounding recipes will be asked to supply more information, whereupon each recipe will be cooked in the famous Noshy kitchen and taste tested by a select panel of judges.

Winners will be notified, sent the prizes AND gain worldwide fame from being featured on this site and the Essential Cuisine Facebook page.

What are you waiting for? Get entering!

NB - Term and conditions apply. For more info leave me a message on this blog, my facebook or on the Essential Cuisine Facebook Page.

The Old Forge at the Bob Smithy - Horwich, Bolton

Located up on Chorley Old Road; the Old Forge is a new, intimate dining room that has opened alongside The Bob Smithy pub - they’ve knocked through into the next door cottage to create 34 covers and a kitchen to boot.

The Old Forge is a buzzy little place with the added bonus of not being far from home, plus the view from Chorley Old Road is spectacular on your drive up. The attached pub, the Bob Smithy has some fantastic local ales on tap, that you can also sup in the dining room if you fancy.

The Old Forge at The Bob Smithy - with thanks to findthepostcode.com

Once a favourite pub of ours, we’d stopped going as we felt it had lost a bit of charm, but we’d heard there was a fancy new look and food being served, so we bobbed along after a bad day at school. T’boy and I were lucky to bag the last table by the door in the new dining room, or in fact anywhere, as the whole place was heaving (the busiest we’ve seen it in a very long time) and more people were piling in as we settled down.

The dining room is small and has been decked out in greens and browns, creating a warm and cosy atmosphere without being overbearing or claustrophobic. The rest of the pub has had a little makeover too - very considerate in muted creams, which seems to have put the heart back in the pub whilst bringing it up to date.

Service was very friendly from the young team, if somewhat a little chaotic and forgetful; but they were all too pleased to help and ferried back and forth to the kitchen to find out the answers to all our questions.

Menu - with thanks to The Bob Smithy

T’boy had a special of duck leg on chickpeas with beetroot reduction; the duck perfectly cooked, sweetly salty and gloriously sticky with an earthy undertone from the syrupy beetroot. The dish could have done with some extras other than just the chickpeas as there was an enormous and rather over facing amount of these.

My dish of pan fried sea bass and cous cous was a big disappointment and was very confused. The fish was not pan fried at all, but seemed to be steamed and was sat atop some very bland and extremely soggy cous cous – an ode to wetness that wasn’t offset by anything else on the plate. There was a sort of save from a zesty pineapple salsa and drizzle of curry oil – however there was only a woeful amount of these and neither sat well with the fish.

It’s obvious a lot of care has been taken with the redecoration and rebranding of The Bob Smithy, it's a family business and there's a lot of personality and love in the re-vamp. Scanning over the menu it seems that The Old Forge is being pushed along the gastropub route (with prices to match), unfortunately it’s not quite there yet – hopefully over time the food will refine to match the prices they’re charging.

Price for two mains and two pints (both t’boy’s!) - £40.40

Food – 6/10
Service – 7/10
Atmosphere – 8/10
Value for money – 6/10

Total – 27/40

Go again – Yes to give them another chance to see if they get over their teething problems, but for the quality you get at the moment it’s too expensive and I can pay the same price for better food at The Chetham Arms or Suzanna's, both of which are also just down the road.

Ps Sorry for the lack of photos, had no battery on my phone!

The Old Forge at The Bob Smithy, 144 Chorley Old Road, Horwich, Bolton BL1 7PX – 01204 842622 – Twitter

http://www.bobs-smithy.com/

Pin Ups In Pinnies Launch - Matt and Phreds

Cakes, booze and pretty ladies all in one room sounds too good to be true; however this Tuesday, such temptations were in abundance at the Pin-Ups and Pinnies' launch at Matt and Phreds in Manchester's trendy and, quite aptly, vintage obsessed Northern Quarter.

Amaretto and Limencello mini cupcakes (I ate at least six, then I stopped counting...)

Welcomed by a very vintage lady (not old, just glamorous) and handed a glass of fizz, we were whisked by Alex, the brains behind Pin-Ups in Pinnies, in to the moody darkness where we were plied with more bubbles and oodles of mini cupcakes brought round by some delectable pin-ups, al a cinema interval ice-cream ladies from the good old days.

Alex Barnett - owner of Pin-Ups and Pinnies

Pin-Ups in Pinnies is a bespoke cupcake company, which has created a unique approach to help them stand out from the raft of other cupcakeries that have sprung up in the last year; offering boozy cupcake flavours injected with that 50's glamour that is so sought after at the moment.

That's not so different, you say, but do other cake companies come to your event and serve the sweet treats dressed as 50s glamour pusses? Or provide you with your own glamorous pinnies so you can come over all Mad Men in your own kitchen? Or teach you burlesque in the privacy of your own home, whilst feeding you cakes and cocktails in the process (indeed, Alex is a professional burlesque performer with the stage name Fanny Divine)?

The versatility of the company, combined with Alex's creative approach and her development of a unique  experience means that Pin-Ups In Pinnies looks like it'll out last the simple fad for cupcakes and bring 50's glamour to all.

Some of the cakey delights we got to sample at the event

(Oh and the event was a super success, we gorged on cakes and bubbles - my favourites were the light and tangy limencello, the smooth amaretto; plus the wonderfully punchy anis and almost savoury notes of the absinthe mini-cakes).

I grabbed a few short minutes with Alex to quiz her about the ins and outs of Pin-Ups In Pinnies before we were sucked in and spellbound by the night's entertainment - a powerful serenading from the wonderful Em Brulee and some tantalising, naughty, nipple-covered fun from the aptly named Sherry Trifle.

Sherry Trifle teasing the launch party guests - with thanks to Nick Beedles

Alex, How did you get in to baking?

I used to bake a lot with my mum when I was younger and have always loved to make pretty, tasty cakes. I took a slight break from baking (and anything that didn't involve a microwave or kettle!) during my student years, but got back in to it again with a renewed sense of passion once I moved in to my own place.

Not sure Alex looked like this when baking with her mum!

Why did you decide to set up your own cake making business?

Due to the recession I found it very difficult to find a job that I actually wanted to do. Despite the fact that I have qualifications in both philosophy and law, I found myself working in mind numbingly boring jobs where I would spend the days daydreaming about what I wished I could be doing instead. So I decided that instead of sitting around waiting for the perfect job to come to me, I would go out and create it for myself! It was then just a matter of deciding what it was I was going to do. I had been baking cupcakes for my work colleagues and people would often say “oooh..you should do this for a living” and every time I would answer with the usual “oh, don't be silly!” Then one day it occurred to me, why couldn't I do it for a living? So, I combined my loves of vintage, Pin-Up, events and cakes to create the unique business that is Pin-Ups in Pinnies.

What has been the hardest thing in setting up a business?

It has been quite difficult setting up a business in the current economic climate; I would say that the hardest thing really comes down to the cost of it all. I'm lucky in that the type of business I have chosen to set up has relatively small set up costs (which is part of the reason I decided to give it a go!) However, as they say - nothing comes for free. So it has been a matter of doing as much promotion and advertising for as small a cost as possible, which just takes a little creative thinking.

How did you settle on the 50’s theme?

I absolutely love the 1950's so it was natural for me to go for this type of styling as I've always been drawn towards the era. I generally dress in a 1950's style myself and am rarely seen without red lipstick and 50's hair! I think that cupcakes and the 1950's go hand in hand. The 1950's was all about big hair and even bigger dresses and it was also a time that thrived on home baking and boozy treats!

50's inspired Alex

How do people react to this theme?

So far we've had a great reaction. It helps that there has been a recent resurgence in all things vintage so people are more in tune with the 1950's and home baking. The 1950's was such a feminine era that sits perfectly alongside pretty, girly cupcakes.

Have you had any strange requests?

Not yet, but I look forward to having some!

How is the business going?

Cath Kidston, so I think this is a great sign of things to come! I feel quite optimistic about the future of Pin-Ups in Pinnies and think that business will hopefully keep getting better. We have also been getting a fair amount of press lately and were interviewed on BBC Radio Manchester last week.

Cakes!

What next?

I hope that this will be the year that I finally succeed at world domination (we've all got to have dreams, right?)! But in all seriousness, I am hoping to be able to expand the business to its own venue (whether that is just an industrial kitchen or a bakery) and also to have my own custom made vintage ice-cream van that I can take to festivals and vintage weekends along with my delicious boozy treats and my gorgeous pin-ups to hand them out. Soon I’ll be getting some merchandise made so hopefully people will be able to wear their own Pin-Ups in Pinnies t-shirts and pinnies soon (ooh yes please – ed).

Ps Pin-Ups in Pinnies run special girly nights and also run a monthly competition to find the perfect pin-up, get yourself entered!

El Rincon de Rafa - Manchester

Manchester's dining scene is often characterised by one of three things:
1. Big and flashy
2. Chi chi, overpriced, faux vintage tea room
3. Cheap and nasty;
and there's not much room for anything else. Unless, that is, you know where to look...

There's a critic's favourite if you can find it, a moody tapas place located down a maze of backstreets off Manchester's Deansgate - at the weekend a booking is essential and you need a map or a local guide to find it. Having not been here for a very long time (and being a little worse for wear the last time), I thought it best to pay them a visit.

Located underground, El Rincon looks authentically rustic - dark woods, white walls and there's legs of ham hanging up at the long bar. Seated at our table we were overlooking an authentic old style refrigeration counter reminiscent of an 80s sandwich shop; but at least it gave us a good view of tapas being taken out and freshly cooked.

Moody and rustic - El Rincon's interior (refrigeration unit out of shot)

The menu's long, with an added list of 'specials' and then hand-written daily specials at the bottom of that. Scanning down it's obvious that El Rincon is rooted firmly in traditional style British tapas - there's the typical Serrano ham, battered prawns and tortilla with the odd unusual (for the UK) dishes thrown in. Unlike Evuna, which is only a stone's throw away up the road; there's no premium hams, no twists on traditional dishes and no regional specials.

Thinly sliced Serrano ham

Prawns with a garlicky sauce were large, soft and juicy, the batter was feather light if ever so greasy and the accompanying sauce had a good old punch of garlic. Battered hake was also exceptionally well cooked, again the batter was a little greasy and you could taste the oil this time, but there was no garlic sauce to save it - just bought in mayonnaise.

Greasy prawns and hake

Fillet steak in red wine had a tinny, livery taste and a fabada of haricots with morcilla and pancetta was thin and watery, plus it lacked the advertised porcine delights (indeed only one piece of each was evident). The patatas bravas were slightly soft and again there was that light slick of oil to them, but the sauce  was deep and screamed sun drenched plum tomatoes, plus had a good old kick to it. Pinchos stole the show - soft and sweet with a fresh, lively salsa on top that sang out from the more mediocre offerings on the table.

Patatas bravas - bringing some sunshine to Manchester

El Rincon's pared back interior and pared back cooking means you're not going to be wowed with culinary creativity or Michelin type magic, but the food's reasonably priced and you get a big portion for what you pay. The service was excellent; friendly staff were happy to get us what we wanted even if the boy was constantly ordering new dishes left, right and centre. The food arrived quickly, even though El Rincon was full to bursting, coming out in traditional 'when the dish is ready' style rather than all at once.

Pinchos with a  lovely fresh salsa on the top

I'm not sure, as a 'critic,' I'd call it a favourite or that I was that happy with the food; however for a night out with friends who don't want something extra special or usual Manchester high prices, then it's just the ticket. At least there's no pretence here and you don't get stung for the average quality food as you would in most of Manchester's other eateries.

Price for seven tapas, basket of bread, two beers and a large glass of house red - £54.60

Food - 5/10
Atmosphere - 7/10
Service - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10

Total - 26/40

Go again? Maybe with a group of friends who just wanted a lot of reasonably priced food, but I'll go elsewhere to get my culinary kicks.

El Rincon de Rafa, off St John's Street, 244 Deansgate, Manchester M3 4BQ - 0161 839 8819