Have your cupcake, and eat it too

I’ve got to own up to this. After all, if we’re going to have an ongoing relationship there’s a fundamental truth about me that I have to admit to you. It will inevitably wheedle its way into my blogs, as it’s a personal flaw that I have to contend with on a daily basis.

So here it is: I can’t cook. At all. Not in a ‘oh, this soufflé really hasn’t risen as high as it should have my dahlings - I was a leetle distracted by the pavlova I’ve whisked up for dessert!’ I mean: it’s a good start if the dinner doesn’t completely bypass the dog and go straight to the bin. It really is that bad.

Of course, I fully understand that my problem is psychological. Friends deliver a general chorus of: ‘How hard can it be to read a recipe, Scarlett?’ But when the panic sets in as early as the food aisles of Waitrose, it’s pretty much a disaster waiting to happen. The kitchen equivalent of stage fright sets in.

For example. I whisked up dinner for myself recently and boldly invented the recipe: salmon baked in the oven, with a drizzle of maple syrup to give it a caramelised sticky glaze. Dear reader, it was a sweet and succulent marvel. Total success! I savoured every mouthful and convinced myself I was cured of bad cooking forevermore. I celebrated by repeating the dish for J the following night (having boasted all about it). Cue mild panic, overcooked fish, burnt syrup and valiant attempt not to cry.

J is a better cook than me. I can’t deny it. It’s one of the reasons I married him. So when we entertain I get creative in other departments: punchy cocktails, table presentation flourishes and quirky desserts (big bowls of ice cream + small bowls of crushed chocolate bars = easy peasy and so delicious!) But for a special occasion, there’s a confection concoction that always gets a rapturous applause at the end of the meal. Let’s hear it for the cupcake!

For the ultimate teatime treat, the cupcake has shot past the La Duree macaroon into pole position. The rainbow bright colours and sprinkles create optical allure and their mini size makes them calorifically manageable. Cupcakes are the food of fairy princesses, and what girl’s not charmed by that? In New York last spring, the queue of ladies I saw snaking the street led not to a half price Marc Jacobs sale, but to the door of Magnolia Bakery, home of the reinvented cupcake (aka where SATC’s Carrie Bradshaw went for a quick fix.)

In London, we have Crumbs & Doilies (crumbsanddoilies.co.uk) and they deliver! I’ve now got them on speed dial for dinner party desserts and girly teatime get-togethers (they always go down well as presents too…) They make a special appearance in my Christmas catalogue, but you can catch them in all their glory on Thursdays at Covent Garden market and Saturdays outside Partridges on the Kings Road.

When there are people out there blessed with culinary skill, why not use their services?  From henceforth, I refuse to whisk myself, or anything else, into a frenzy.


Scarlett Willow