...and a silver sixpence in your shoe

There's something a little bit magical about today's blog. I just love coming across crafts-people who are so skilled, but also so creative and imaginative, that it makes you marvel that such a thing can even exist (and also wonder, now that they so clearly do exist, why everyone in the world hasn't rushed out to buy one).

Look - this is what I mean....

These are old coins - out of circulation and non-collectable - that would otherwise be melted down for their (tiny) 'base' value, or worse, simply thrown away. At Lucky Sixpence, however, amazing craftsmen carve, saw and drill incredibly detailed designs into the coin to create these stunning jewellery and pendants. I literally can't stop staring at how intricate they are, and how far removed they are from the original - rather tired looking - coins.  

As they say: 'we take the old and discarded and transform them into wearable, sparkling, original pieces of jewellery, guaranteed to get you noticed'. You can't argue with that, can you?

And, for the ultimate wedding gift - check this out - a proper, genuine lucky silver sixpence, carved with all the luck of the Irish for the big day.

Or how about a '2p tree', to symbolise the lifelong nature of your commitment?

Irish silver sixpence

2p tree

Or - and I love this one - how about these two lovebirds, cleverly carved from an old English penny

Original, incredibly beautiful, ethically sound and - above all - genuinely interesting. If you want to see more, Lucky Sixpence is linked with the (fabulously named) Hairy Growler - sometimes I think all you need to do to get on Pocketful is to have a brilliant name. They make all kinds of handmade, upcycled / recycled jewellery (including some surprisingly beautiful things made out of Victorian cutlery). They're based in Cambridge, but have a couple of stockists in England and Scotland, and are currently thrilling the revellers at Glastonbury with their little pieces of magic. Very good stuff indeed.

Cake with a conscience

It’s nice, isn’t it, to look at all the beautiful things around us and be happy that they’re doing good things for the world. Flowers are far more beautiful if their production’s helped our lovely British bumblebees, food all the more delicious if it’s brilliantly cooked by young people who would otherwise have struggled to find a job, and fashion all the more fun when we know that the people who’ve created it are paid a decent wage and work in fair conditions.

Social enterprises are businesses specifically established to do good. They’re often set up by charities, and work to ethical principles such as caring for the environment, employing staff who’ve had difficult starts in life, or investing in fair-trade, organic and ethically-rooted projects. Good things.

That’s all well and good, mind, but let’s face it – we still want beautiful, tasty and special. Just ‘good’ isn’t always ‘good enough’, on its own. 

Today I was sent details of Birmingham-based ‘Miss Macaroon’ (I’m a sucker for cute names), whose social enterprise looks gorgeous, is easily high-end enough for even the fanciest wedding, and – icing on the passionfruit-flavoured cake – provides employment and training opportunities for young care leavers, ex-offenders and individuals not in education, employment or training. What’s not to love?!

Macaroons make yummy favours or fun canapes, and also look really fancy piled up into a wedding cake-type sculpture.  Best of all, though, is the warm and cosy feeling from supporting such a fabulously ethical enterprise – the perfect reason for a second helping!

I’m definitely keen to feature more of these fantastic social enterprises over the next few weeks and months. I’m now on the hunt to learn about other socially conscious enterprises (as always, if you know of anyone fabulous – send them over) – I'm anticipating a lovely warm, ethical wedding glow coming my way.

When I grow up, I want to be a cake designer

Heaven, for me, comes in an wedge-shaped slice of something sweet, especially perfect when served up around tea-time on a sunny summer afternoon. Despite - or perhaps because of - my love of all things cake-like (as a self-appointed cupcake queen, there'll always be a very special place in my heart of a piece of Victoria sponge), I think mould-breaking cake-design is one of the most fun parts of wedding planning. There’s so much scope for creativity, and personalisation, and genuinely interesting ideas. It also seems to be an area where even the most traditional couples feel able to let go a little, and do something a bit different.

There are millions of cake designers out there, many of whom are extremely talented, and a few who've managed to transform the previously humble art of baking into an internationally renowned art form (with a price tag to match). However, there's also loads of artisan, quirky and experimental organisations operating at a much smaller scale, doing things a bit differently and – so it seems to me – just having FUN with the whole idea. If cake's not your thing, or if you want to minimise cake-cutting time to maximise dancefloor time, or if you just fancy an ogle at what else is out there - here are a few slices of inspiration....

Fudge Kitchen's Sculptures

I ran into Fudge Kitchen a while ago at an (otherwise completely hideous) wedding fair, and their yummy samples literally saved me from wedding-tat-induced insanity. They make all their fudge themselves - the old fashioned way, on big marble tables - in stores in Bath, Cambridge, Edinburgh, York, and a handful of other places (good for taking visitors - the fudge making's fun to watch and you often get free tasters!).

I love the fudge slices stacked up like this into a 'wedding sculpture' (check out their Facebook page, by the way, for a cer-azy giraffe-shaped fudge sculpture). They've got trillions of flavours, so you can pick your favourites (or colour-coordinate them to match the rest of your wedding goodies, if you're the organised type). Personally, I'm thinking Lemon Meringue mixed with Double Trouble Chocolate, and maybe just a hint of Mocha yChoca Swirl. Mmmm. Also - they're handily individually-portioned already, so guests can just dive in. Pretty, no?

The following needs no introduction. In fact, there are no words...

Jellymongers. Crikey.


Yes, that's right, it's a wedding cake buffet made of jelly, courtesy of  Jellymongers. Genius. Now be warned, these babies are pricey, especially when you consider what goes into them, and how much said ingredients cost in a supermarket. However, they are undeniably, incredibly amazing, and not something you'd forget in a hurry. I bet somewhere sells cake moulds that would do the trick nicely - then your DIY-wedding genius would definitely go down in history. If anyone's tried that - please send me pictures! 

Champagne White Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake
Mmmmm...

I was actually delighted to discover the English Cheesecake Company, established with the aim of 'bringing tears of joy to the face of anyone with even half a sweet tooth' - now that's the kind of ambition I'm after! They make seriously yummy-looking cheesecakes - the champagne white chocolate truffle flavour over there on the left 'comprises of our indulgent rich and creamy white chocolate truffle cheesecake delicately infused with Marc Du Champagne, all sitting on a crunchy digestive biscuit base and elegantly topped with loads of white chocolate shavings'. Anyone else suddenly starving? They also do all kinds of chocolatey / fruity / strawberry shortcake / profiterole / cookies n cream - type options... be warned - you WILL want one of these!


Coco&Me - So cute!

More pudding yummery comes from Coco&Me, a small (Saturday-only) chocolates and cakes stall at Broadway Market in Hackney, East London. She bakes the cutest biscuits, tarts, and all kinds of goodies. It'd be so lovely to involve an amazing crafts-person like this in your wedding, especially when her products are just so pretty! How sweet are these fruit tarts? You could stack 'em up on a cake stand, or use them as the centrepiece of a pudding buffet table.

Guests: Serious Brownie Points

Speaking of which - this stunning 'cake' of mini fruit tarts (from Budget Wedding Planner's blog) was apparently made by asking each guest to bring along a tart with them, which were all piled up and decorated on the day. A bit of a gamble maybe (depends on your guest-list, I suppose!) but this one worked out seriously well... kudos and brownie points to these guests, I think!

Wilson's Butcher's Pork Pie Cake

In terms of imagination and creativity, I think Wilson’s butchers, based in Leeds (and apparently 'England's best independent butcher') definitely come top of the wedding cake tree. These fabulous pork pie wedding cakes are admittedly not for everyone, but not something you’d forget in a hurry either! They can even bake your names - made of little pastry letters - into the top pie. I love the cherry tomato and parsley 'decorations'! These look seriously substantial, and would make a brilliant midnight snack to keep guests partying on into the night!

This is absolutely inspired, more than a little bit crazy – and makes me very happy to be British!



Martha Stewart

Ford Farm Cheese Wedding Cake

 
I haven't been able to find a British supplier who offers the goats-cheese stack pictured on Martha Stewart's site, but I bet your local cheesemonger (someone like I J Mellis) would easily be able to do it if you asked really nicely. In fact, you could do it yourself really simply too - purchase cheese, stack on cake stand, tuck in flowers, et voila! Cheesy heaven.

And finally; two completely crazy options - that still look completely delicious and really - surprisingly - beautiful! The Rice Krispy cake (yes, a whole, giant cake made out of Snaps, Crackles and Pops) is actually really stunning, and how sweet are the doughnuts?! Both pretty DIY-able too, if you're that way inclined.

Left: Giant Rice Krispy Cake from The Knot. Right: Doughnut Stack from Martha Stewart



Right, that's it - time to head off for some Nigella-style midnight snacking! Hope that's sparked a few ideas - I'd love to hear of any other quirky cake-alternatives you've come across.