I always get excited by our work's MacMillan Coffee morning, I remember the first one I went to back when I was still a temp- it was huge and filled the whole canteen, a lot of the cakes were homemade and I had an amazing scone with clotted cream and jam.
Unfortunately, the trend hasn't really continued and it's mostly half arsed attempts with an increasing majority of bought goods being sold on.
I first took part last year, when I first got into baking and make lemon drizzle and raspberry ripple cupcakes. I've never been the best at cake decoration, and as a result people went for the more professional looking shop bought cakes, although mine eventually did sell.
I decided this year, with a bit more experience behind me, to be more ambitious and make some chocolate orange cupcakes, using a recipe from Cookies and Cakes and All Things Baked. I had only made these cakes twice before, first time I made them I used self raising flour instead of plain flour and baking powder and the cake rose in the oven, only to sink when cooled. The second time, I followed the recipe exactly and they turned out perfect, only for The Boy to drop them on the floor.
Here is the finished product, they turned out OK, not as risen as I hoped but I think I was bit impatient with the mixing process. I won't write the recipe here, just go to the link above and whatever you do- follow the recipe EXACTLY!
Oh- and they all sold in a matter of minutes :-)
