Serendipity Bakes

Hi there! This is a different kind of a post (as in it's not about baking and recipes) but one I wanted to capture for you as it's most definitely about food and the best quality of it. For many years, I've loved photography. There are 3 main photographers that have totally inspired me over the last 15 years or so -- my fabulous sister-in-law, Luci Harrison, our amazing wedding photographer, Johannes Van Kan, and an awesome children's photographer that captured our children in their early years, Maria Murray.

Since starting this blog, I've had the opportunity to take a LOT of photos of food. Many that I'm proud of, many that I know I could do better -- but I'm always looking for inspiration. Last week, one of my oldest and dearest school friends and I set off armed with cameras and headed for Borough Market to capture the bustling market, stall holders and amazing and unique food. And taste testing was an absolute must! I wanted to share some of the photos of our adventures - and give you a few recommendations for our favourite stalls along the way. And I hope through these photos you can enjoy this amazing place and perhaps plan in a visit of your very own :)

So I'm not even going to save the best to last -- this was hands down our best find of the day. Khanom Krok served us the most delicious Mini Sweet Coconut Pancakes. Crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside, we got ours fresh from the pan and they were amazing. Well worth a visit just for these!

We had elevenses perched on the bar stools of Rabot 1745, one of Hotel Chocolat's restaurants. Amazing Caramel Hot Chocolate and fresh from the oven Chocolate Orange Scones with Salted Butter and Chocolate Ganache. I think my friend's face says it all! Even on a Friday morning, it was bustling with people so if you fancy indulging in a fresh bake and array of unusually favoured drinks, I'd get there early to beat the rush.

The stalls there are beautifully merchandised. The stall holders definitely take a huge amount of pride in their food and displaying it to the world. Une Normande à Londres was definitely my favourite shop for the way they showed off their beautiful array of les fromages and les saucissons.

There's plenty to taste test as you're wandering around as each stall is keen to show off their delicious food and draw you into buying some to take home. Tartufaia Truffles had the most fabulous scented truffles to invest in -- I couldn't be persuaded into the Truffle Honey but the Black Truffle Oil was certainly delicious!

Thanks for reading and I hope you found some inspiration in these photos. I can't wait to try to recreate some of the recipes at home and plan in a return visit -- we certainly left there with full bellies and met some of the loveliest people there along the way. Definitely worth a trip - and if you visit it yourself, I'd love to hear which was your favourite food discovery 💕

Or When I Met Peggy Porschen. All of my friends cannot have failed to notice how excited I was last week after a cheeky visit to Peggy Porschen's Boutique Bakery in Belgravia, led to an encounter with the one and only cake queen herself (cue girly excitement and photo opportunity!) The bakery itself is small with only a few tables and the cakes were merchandised to perfection - each one was identical and it was a real inspiration. And I can definitely recommend the Chocolate Salted Caramel cupcake :) Peggy was so lovely and took time to chat to me about my baking and brand new blog and then invited me over to her Academy to see the Flower Diploma Class in progress.

The students' work was amazing and so detailed. Making sugar flowers is quite an investment as to create more than a simple rose, you need flower paste, cutters and a spectrum of tints. Plus a lot of patience as you're often waiting hours or overnight for small parts of the flowers to dry before you can progress. That's why going to a class like this is great as you get to use all the equipment and try your hand at a variety of creations!

Peggy Porschen Flower Academy: the students' work

Inspired by seeing the Flower Academy in action, I decided my next challenge should be a sugar flower. I've been wanting to experiment with them having only attempted simple roses and hibiscus flowers. I chose a really beautiful rose from Peggy's book Cakes In Bloom - English Garden Roses inspired by David Austen's Keira Rose. Now I'll admit right now that I only had leftover flower paste (a bit hard and crumbly), the wrong colour tints for the rose and leaves and I over-coloured the rose centre so it's a bit too pink with no spare paste to recreate it. But making the rose was pretty straightforward if you have patience and a gentle touch! It might not look quite the same as Peggy's gorgeous specimen but I was really pleased with my first attempt and I think it would look fabulous on top of a lovely celebration cake or maybe even add a touch of elegance to afternoon tea.

Attending the Flower Academy is on my bucket list. In the meantime, there are a lot more flowers I want to make including a very important upcoming commission with sunflowers. But that's another blog post!