The making of cupcakes.gr View RSS

Cheat's cinnamon roll ice-cream 1 Jul 2013 6:28 AM (11 years ago)

A little while ago (oh alright, so it was last summer) a twitter friend mentioned his longing for some cinnamon bun ice cream that isn't available here in Greece. I, of course, immediately googled said ice cream, it sounded divine, so I wondered if I could make my own version. The main ingredients seem to be caramel ice cream and chunks of cinnamon roll.

I decided to give it a go.  You could do the whole thing form scratch, churn your own ice-cream and then make your own cinnamon roll dough and so on, but I wasn't in the mood to make  a whole batch of cinnamon roll dough. So the first thing to do would be to cheat on the cinnamon roll and then buy some nice quality vanilla ice cream.

I got a pack of ready-made croissant dough and before baking them added cinnamon and brown sugar.

Then I took my vanilla ice cream, softened it, then added some shop-bought caramel sauce. Then firmed it up again.

When the croissants were ready and still warm, I chopped them roughly and added them to the ice cream.

Finally to add a little crunch, I crushed some caramel sweets and sprinkled over the top!

So, summing up:
1. Make little cinnamon rolls by adding cinnamon and brown sugar to croissant dough or pizza base dough (Pillsbury for example);
2. Swirl some caramel sauce through your softened ice cream, then firm up again;
3. When the cinnamon rolls are still warm, chop into chunks and mix into ice- cream;
4. Sprinkle over crushed caramels;
5. Scoff the whole lot in one sitting.

The good thing about doing it this way is that it's ready pretty quickly in a few easy steps. You could even make this with plain frozen yoghurt for slightly fewer calories... or not. If you went the whole way and made everything from scratch, it would be a really gourmet dessert, but, to be honest, it's totally unnecessary.

Secret heart cake ― World Baking Day, May 19, 2013 19 May 2013 12:06 PM (11 years ago)

(see more about us at cupcakes.gr)

May 19^th is World Baking Day.  The theme is 'Bake brave' or, in other words, try something you haven't tried before.

A week or so ago Vitam, one of the official sponsors, sent me this package with the encouragement to ‘bake brave‘.

To be honest, by the time I've baked the day's cupcakes for the café I don't exactly  have a lot of time or energy left to make something that stretches me to my limits. Having said that, for some time now I've seen pictures circulating on the internet of cakes with  a ‘surprise‘ inside.

I thought it would be kind of cool to give it a go since I haven't done it before. I'm always looking for recipes which are nice for encouraging the kids to get into baking, and something like this, which isn't really difficult but is exciting, is perfect.

The basic trick here is that you first bake a flat cake which has been tinted with colouring or fruit  (I used blueberry jam to tint my cake since I'm not that into artificial colour, although I'm pretty sure you'd get a far brighter contrast if you did use food colouring, such as red, and a nice sharp cutter. My heart cutter was a rather cheap one and the edges weren't as clear-cut as I'd have liked. My metal ones were all too big for the job) in a swiss roll tin/jellyroll pan. When the tray cake is cool, you take your cutter and cut out the heart shapes. Try not to over-bake the tray cake because it is, after all, going to get baked again.

Once your hearts are ready, prepare your cake tin. I used a ring-shaped tin, greased,  but I think a loaf shape would also be really good. There are many such pictures on the net. Make your favourite white cake recipe and put about one third of the batter into the tin. Then place your hearts curvy side down into the pan and top up with the rest of the batter tapping the tin gently to make sure that the cake batter goes all around. Bake as directed.

When you turn it out onto your plate or cake stand and it's cool, cover with some lovely ganache!

I used this basic white cake recipe but you can use any of your favourite recipes. Below is the recipe for the white part only. If you want to use the same recipe for your coloured part of the cake, make an extra half batch for that. 

Recipe:

Wet ingredients
1 cup of milk (room temperature)
6 egg whites (room temperature)
3 tsp vanilla extract

Dry ingredients
2¼ cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1¾ sugar

250g Vitam or butter (soft but not melted)

Method:

Mix together the egg whites, milk and extracts until just combined. Set aside.
Mix together the dry ingredients in your mixer. Add the vitam or butter and again mix until just combined.
Slowly add the wet ingredients and mix on medium until nicely combined but don't over beat.
Bake at 160°C for 25 to 30 minutes or until springy to  the touch.

Alternative ideas: You could just go the black-and-white route for contrast. Chocolate cake with white hearts or vice-versa. You could also use other cutters easily; I think that a ginger bread man shape would be quite cute, maybe stars, polka dots? If you fancied being more adventurous you could even make multi coloured polka dots...

Salted chocolate popcorn 24 Apr 2013 1:53 AM (11 years ago)

I saw this post on The Kitchn and had to try it.

The only thing I did differently was make it with an air popper so my version had less fat but it was still incredibly addictive. If you use butter or oil it will be even more delicious.

Try it.  But make sure you have someone to share it with if you don't want to face the fact that you ate it all yourself.

Simple.

Semolina halva 4 Apr 2013 2:12 PM (12 years ago)

In store these days we've got individual portions of halva.  They're really popular, partly (I think) due to the fact that they're just enough to satisfy your desire without buying a large portion and then eating more than you wished you had!

We also have slightly larger portioned bowls. Enough for two :)

22nd wedding anniversary cake! 14 Mar 2013 9:00 AM (12 years ago)

It was our 22nd anniversary the other week. I wasn't feeling terrific that week. Some seriously pulled muscles. I wasn't sure I could even be bothered making a cake for us this year.

In the end I decided to go for a really simple cake. A flourless chocolate cake. I've never done one before but it was really simple. Again, you can google it and find loads of recipes.

The only thing difficult about this cake is waiting for it to refrigerate. There may be over 400 calories per slice in it, but you didn't hear it from me!

Recipe

Ingredients
For the cake:
350g dark chocolate
170g butter (plus a little extra for greasing)
5 large eggs
200g sugar
60g cocoa powder, sifted
1.5tsp vanilla extract
1/4tsp salt
2tbsp cooled espresso

For the ganache:
100g dark chocolate
100ml cream

Instructions
The cake:
Lightly butter bottom and sides of a 24cm-round  5cm-deep cake tin and line with baking paper. Dust with cocoa powder.
Put the chocolate and butter in a bowl over simmering water until melted and smooth. Set aside and cool slightly.
In a stand mixer, whisk the eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt and the espresso until pale, frothy and doubled in volume.
When the butter/chocolate mixture is cool enough, reduce the speed on the mixer to the lowest setting and gradually add to it the egg mixture until fully incorporated.
Remove the bowl from the mixer, sift the cocoa into the mixture and fold in with a large spoon or spatula.
Transfer to the cake tin you prepared earlier and bake in a preheated oven on 150 degrees for 40 -45 minutes until a skewer inserted into the center comes out sticky with small sticky clumps. DO NOT OVERCOOK.
Let it cool in the tin for 30 minutes and then invert onto a cooling rack (running a knife around the edges if necessary) and remove the baking paper.
Cool completely, transfer to a cake plate,  cover and chill for 6 hours or overnight.

The ganache:
Heat the cream and chocolate in a bowl over simmering water until smooth and shiny. Pour over the cake. Leave to set.

To cut the cake, heat the knife by putting it in a cup of boiling water for a few seconds and wipe dry before cutting.

Sticky toffee pudding hearts 18 Feb 2013 11:30 PM (12 years ago)

Hands up those who don't like sticky toffee pudding? That's right, I didn't think so.

Last time I mentioned that I'm on a diet. These are definitely not diet food. But I've been meaning to make sticky toffee pudding for a while now and everyone needs a break from their diet now and again, right? At least that's what I told myself when I tucked into one of these.

When I don't have a specific recipe for some traditional dessert, I usually google a few different versions and then I mix and match the elements which I think look the tastiest or simplest out of the recipes I've found. For this, I checked BBC Food, Jamie Oliver (try not to notice the calorie info on that one) and Nigella's recipes and then once I'd grasped the main elements I gave it a go.

I didn't add any extra spices to the mix but that's the amazing thing about sticky toffee pudding, the dates create such an amazing flavour.  If you've never done it before, you might be put off by the appearance of the dates as you prepare them.  They don't look very appetizing but seriously, don't doubt.

I was thinking of a possible dessert for our upcoming anniversary when I made them in heart molds, so I baked them for a few minutes longer than you need to if you're just going to serve it in a baking dish. I wanted to be sure that they'd come out of the mold ok.

I contemplated trying to make these into a cupcake but in the end I decided against it because this is a traditional pudding that should be served warm with whipped cream or even better,  ice-cream.

Fortunately for my diet, I only made a half batch. Not that Alex would have minded if he was forced to eat the rest.  As for our anniversary, I'm not sure how much effort I've got the strength to put in.  I've still got a few days to think about it.

Something sweet 3 Feb 2013 10:59 PM (12 years ago)

It's February. Yikes! Let's just gloss over the fact that we haven't blogged in almost a year! We've been busy and tired. It's hard to explain how exhausting it is running a cupcake café and running a family as well as other obligations. Quite often the last thing we feel like doing is preparing a blog post.  Over the last months I started to write posts but never seemed to get them finished!

It's 2013! We've been open for two whole years and our wedding anniversary is coming up again! Whoops―our last post was for last year's anniversary. We'll try to do better :)

Anyway,  as is common at this time of year, I'm trying to diet. So far it's going well. I'm not the only one of course so in the shop we've had some lower-calorie options for those who want something sweet without too many calories.

One of the things we have is fat-free fruit cake. It's delicious and comes in at about 150 calories a slice. It's filling and perfect with afternoon tea.

Another virtually fat-free thing we have in store are our meringue bites. We have plain ones and a few other flavours at any given time. Cinnamon, ginger, chocolate-chip and espresso to name a few.

They're perfect to eat on their own or like this... It is so light and filling, perfect for a light supper at home.

Or for a light lunch at work.

It looks like I over did it with the honey in these shots but it's just that the honey pooled on one side of the yoghurt.  A few chocolate chips might have accidentally fallen in the pot too.

In these photos we've got 2% strained natural yoghurt, chopped pear, a drizzle of honey and ginger bite-sized meringues. 

Ginger and pear love each other, you know. The meringues add just the right amount of crispiness. If you take them to work, you'll definitely want to add them at the last minute.

21st wedding anniversary cake! 23 Feb 2012 8:00 AM (13 years ago)

It's that time of year again and this time I decided to make a super-duper cake. Not that we never get to eat cake or anything. I've been reading Gesine's blog for a long time now. I love the cakes and other goodies she makes. You can tell that so much love goes into them.

It took me a while to decide which cake I was going to be inspired by, well, if you've seen her blog you'll know why; so much deliciousness. I say inspired because I decided to follow the concept more than the actual recipe. Also, if I just say inspired then I can only blame myself if my brilliant ideas for change were not that brilliant. Which turned out to be the case.

Have a look at Gesine's.

I used my own recipes for the different elements. A simple fat-free sponge for the base and top and the chocolate spiral. I used ganache, cream and buttercream, like Gesine does in her recipe. My cake turned out a lot smaller, 6 inches, but that's fine. Just about right for the four of us to have a slice each.


I also cheated a little with the hearts on the side. I used my chocolate mold for those and finally I got Alex to write “Love” on top. I can't write neatly with a pencil never mind frosting!


When we cut the cake it was immediately obvious that 1) I should have put a thicker layer of cream on the rolled up cake, to get a more defined look; after all, the sensational thing about the cake was the upright ‘layers’ and 2) the sponge recipe I used was so spongy, it was difficult to get a clean cut. So, really, if you want it to turn out like Gesine's... follow her recipe!


We had some funny moments where the words ‘cake’ and ‘wrecks’ were mentioned, especially when HE was writing “Love” on the top and then, after I cut it, it didn't have the sharp effect I'd hoped for. Anyway, it was delicious and there's still half a bowl of ganache to eat later on!

Happy anniversary to us!


Liz Cupcakes

Thermometer give―away winners 16 Feb 2012 11:30 AM (13 years ago)

The six thermometers go to:

1. Panayóta Kotsiopoúlou,
2. Rita Zikídou,
3. “Korina”,
4. “Timos Tetoros”,
5. “Didepux”, and
6. “Natasha” (blog comment entered Feb 15, 2012 01:26 PM)

Olivia helped us pick the winners. It was totally scientific.


Attention all winners: please contact us. Thanks for participating.

Watch out for more give―aways soon!

Liz's Cupcakes & iCandy ― Giveaway 3 Feb 2012 8:00 PM (13 years ago)

Liz's Cupcakes and iCandy for all your sweet cravings!


For the next ten days we're showcasing an iCandy pram at Liz's Cupcakes! In our window we have an iCandy Peach and lots of baby cupcakes :D Perfect for boys or girls!


Mobo have offered some gifts for our customers which we never say no to! In-store we have a selection of the cutest soft pram toys which we'll be giving out to customers with babies.




We have also got 6 of these digital thermometers (worth €40) to give away.


Leave your details in store, or leave one comment per person, here or on our facebook page for a chance to receive one. Make sure we have a way of contacting you. We'll choose 6 recipients on Feb 16th. (we can only post the thermometers within Greece.



For more information on iCandy in Greece you can pass by or visit them online. iCandy is a British firm making extremely versatile prams. I love the one we have in the shop so much, I keep wanting to play dollies :D

Liz Cupcakes

One year! 31 Jan 2012 6:00 AM (13 years ago)

On the 31st of December we celebrated one whole year since we opened doors! Of course those of you who have been following the blog all along know that we actually started planning the whole thing at the end of 2008 and blogging about it at the beginning of 2009.


It took a whole one more month to actually blog about it, but here it is: We'd like to say a HUGE thanks to all of our customers and those who may not have been able to visit in person but have been supporting us all along! You know who you are :) Goes without saying we couldn't keep it up without the continued support from our families. They support us in every way.

This first year has been a true roller-coaster and, even though there were clouds of recession on the horizon when we opened, we didn't know how bad things were going to get for the economy. When we opened, there were so many things we didn't know. We've learned a lot over the last year. We couldn't have opened at a more difficult time but we're so happy to say that we must be doing something right because we're still here.


I could describe this year as exhausting, depressing, worrying, stressful, challenging and nerve-wracking. All of that would be true, but I can also describe it as exciting, exhilarating, fun, and satisfying. I suppose I should just sum it up by saying it has been extremely hard work, but also worthwhile.


I won't deny that it has been a hard year on the kids. It was extremely hard for them to get used to our new routine but now,
even though they get bored from time to time, they really love that we have our cupcake shop and can't wait until they get old enough to help out (apart from shouting 'CU•STO•MERS' as someone walks through the door and also assigning themselves as watchmen who wave at the passengers on the local tourist train that drives by in order to attract their attention, both of which they are doing already...).


In 2012 we want to keep on growing our customer base. We're listening to your cries for us to open in Athens and we're trying to find a way for you to be able to get your cupcakes if you can't get to us. One of the biggest lessons this year was patience. Lots of it!

Thanks again!

Liz Cupcakes

Kourabiédes ― almond cookies 13 Dec 2011 6:00 AM (13 years ago)

These days we've added kourabiédes (pronounced: koor•amb•yéth•es) to our menu. Have you ever made them? They're not too difficult at all and they are really delicious. If you can read Greek, Kiki's is a perfect recipe to follow over at Mikri Kouzina.


As Kiki explains in her post, this recipe makes a lot of kourabiedes, so you may want to halve the recipe if you just want to make a few as an experiment or just for yourselves at home.

What makes them special? They're full of almonds. They are REALLY delicious. Just ask our customers!


PS Your hands might ache after making these!

Glamour reader offer 15 Nov 2011 8:00 AM (13 years ago)

Our friends over at Glamour magazine are celebrating their 10th anniversary! In the new issue of Glamour out today, you receive the Glamour Smart Shopping Card which entitles you to all sorts of discount and goodies.


We've created a special glamorous flavour for the occasion and cardholders will receive ONE FREE GLAMOUR cupcake when showing us their card. The offer starts today and lasts until the 1st of December.

What's the GLAMOUR cupcake? It's a delicious combination of Almond and Cherry. Almond cake, filled with cherry preserve and topped with our delicious cherry buttercream!


Looking forward to seeing all the glamourous girls (and boys).

Competition for November! 30 Oct 2011 7:00 AM (13 years ago)

Send us a photo or photos of you and your favourite Liz's Cupcakes at competitions@cupcakes.gr for a chance to win a box of 9 cupcakes to be picked up the next time you come in. The photo can be taken anywhere at any time!

The rules: We have to be able to recognize the cupcakes as ours! So it either has to be here in the store, or a close-up, or have our box or business card on show!


Use your imagination!


We'll pick a winner at the end of November.

Note: At no time put yourselves or our cupcakes in danger :P

Day-trippers! 8 Oct 2011 6:30 AM (13 years ago)

Last weekend we had a first. A coach-load of day-trippers decided to stop by for cupcakes! I've never seen such chaos in here before. But we survived!


Bring them on... We DO need some notice if you decide to come with a coach-load of your friends!

Greek inspiration ― Olive & Ouzo cupcake 6 Aug 2011 2:00 AM (13 years ago)

When Cat asked me to do a guest post for Sugar Daze I thought it was a great opportunity to play around with a couple of ideas I'd been having for new cupcake flavours. I thought about Greek products that might go well in a cupcake and might go well together.


Some of the ingredients I had in mind were figs, olives, brandy and ouzo.


I've had this jar of sweet olive preserve for a while now and I've been thinking of a good way to get them into a cupcake. Here in Greece it's very common to make a sweet preserve of various fruits and vegetables even.



It's not jam, marmalade or jelly but fruit or veg that is sometimes blanched and then stored in a sugar syrup. Depending on the fruit it can be boiled in the syrup or separately. You can get all the popular fruits such as cherry and grape and also more unusual things, such as baby egg-plant, all in sweet preserve form. They are often served on a small saucer, just a spoonful and are considered a healthy treat. They are fat free but are full of sugar!

In the photo below we have sour cherry on the left and my olive preserve on the right:


The thing that I admire about the women who make 'spooned sweets' as they're often referred to here, is that it totally encompasses thriftiness. Not a thing goes to waste. The abundance of fruit and vegetables from the trees and gardens can be preserved in sweet form for months.

Sweet Olive preserve is not widely available in Greece, well not at the supermarkets anyway, you probably have to go to a shop that specialises in sweets and other Greek produce. I get mine from a wonderful local shop: Melokipos (Honey garden).

So anyway... I was thinking that olives and figs together would be a very unusual concept but in the end I realised that the cinnamon and clove that are in the preserved olive just wouldn't work together so well.


I'd already soaked some dried figs in brandy overnight so in the end I made a simple batch of plain cake adding the finely chopped olives to half of it and the finely chopped brandy soaked figs in the other half.


I often use the simple recipe of 100g flour, 100g sugar, 100g butter & 2 eggs recipe when I'm doing experimenting. I can tell afterwards if I need to change the recipe to get it more or less moist, it's a good starting point.

There was a delicious smell in the kitchen as they were baking! For the frosting I made a simple buttercream; for the olive cakes I added some ouzo and for the fig cupcakes I added some brandy.


Findings: The Olive & Ouzo cupcake was really good and I'm not even an olive fan! Alex thought it was a little dry and maybe it could have done with a slightly more moist cake. The ouzo in the frosting is very interesting. You can barely tell it's there and then right at the end you get the slight taste of aniseed.



The Brandy Fig cupcake was divine too. I'm partial to figs so I knew this one was going to be my favourite.


I can't wait to try something similar when the fresh figs are in season, towards the end of summer. I also think that some cocoa in this cupcake wouldn't go amiss. It won't be too painful to have to do some more experimenting!

Life & Style 29 Jul 2011 10:00 AM (13 years ago)

This month Doya Karolini was kind enough to feature us in Life & Style magazine.


She also wrote a very nice post about us on her blog, “the 6 million dollar story”.


Thanks Doya!

Around Nafplio ― A day off 23 Jun 2011 9:30 AM (13 years ago)

We've been closed on Wednesdays for a few weeks to give ourselves a much needed break from working 7 days a week. When you open a café and are working it without any employees it gets very tiring. Not only for us but also for the kids whose lives have changed dramatically since we opened doors.


So, back at the end of March, when we had a sunny afternoon and the kids got home from school we got a picnic ready and went to a nearby spring at Kefalari to enjoy the sunshine and the sound of running water. The sun was glorious and we didn't need our jackets. There was one fat duck who the kids gave half their food to! No wonder he was fat.





Apart from the water source, there is a church which has been carved out of caves above and several seventies style tavernas which make you feel like you are in an old black and white film. You totally expect to see the old film stars of Greece like Aliki Vouyouklaki filming or something.


It's only about 15 minutes from Nafplio old town and great for a couple of hours entertainment.


The next day we had torrential rain so we were pleased we had taken the opportunity.

Colouring competition for May 3 May 2011 7:00 AM (13 years ago)

I don't know how, but April totally got away from us. Sorry about that! Anyway.

The May colouring competition is here. To enter, you must be 12 years old or under and able to visit our café to pick up your prize.

Enter the following ways:

1. Pass by the café and pick up a copy of this month's competition. Colour it and return.

2. Download and print the file. Colour it and then either bring it to the café, post it to us by regular mail or scan it and send it by email.

Don't forget to include your name, age and contact details.

The winner will be announced in the first day or two of June and they receive 12 cupcakes!

Colouring competition winner! 7 Apr 2011 7:30 AM (14 years ago)

We had a lot of entries to our colouring competition. We're so impressed with the capabilities of the children who entered.


Especially some of the younger ones. It was very difficult to choose a winner. It was difficult to choose between those who coloured neatly and those who used more creativity. Between those who were very young and those who were a bit older. Between boys and girls.


In the end we asked some customers who are totally unrelated to any of the children (and who also happen to be graphics artists!) to give us a hand in choosing the winner.


All the way from Australia and Japan! Thanks Athena and Shinichi!


And the winner is Yannis Smyrniotakis. Here's his entry:



We also especially liked these two:



Like I said, it was a very difficult choice. We're definitely going to ask for more help in choosing the winner the next time around. Stay tuned later this month for the next competition!

Liz Cupcakes

In the press 31 Mar 2011 11:00 AM (14 years ago)

I do apologise for abandoning the blog for so long. We have been extremely busy. Which is a good thing, only I really miss blogging so often and not getting a chance to read everyone else's blogs :(


The day before OPEN CUPCAKE we had a visit from Néna Dimitriou and Effie Paroútsa from “Kathimerini” (nationwide newspaper) and Stelios Parliaros' (pastry chef) “Glykes Istories” magazine (greek for ‘Sweet Stories’; nationwide publication).


We spent the morning photographing the café, the cupcakes and ourselves :o





The March issue came out two Mondays ago in Athens and we received our copy today last week.




Thanks again Nena for coming down and for writing about us. We had a lot of fun!



This month we were also featured in Glamour Magazine. In their 'agenda' section. Thanks Danai!


We were also mentioned in the Feb issue of Cosmopolitan, which we didn't know about until our customers kept mentioning that they'd seen us in Cosmo. Alex popped out to buy one and we found ourselves on their Cosmoscope page. Thanks to whoever it was who decided to include us there too :)


We've got so many things still to do to get the café the way we really want it. We realise it takes time; still sometimes we feel like there aren't enough hours in the day! One thing at a time is what I keep telling myself.

Liz Cupcakes

Anniversary ‘cake’ & Open Cupcake! 7 Mar 2011 1:00 AM (14 years ago)

Since we're around cake so much these days I didn't particularly feel like having cake for our anniversary. I can't deny that I'm very tired.

We had a busy weekend ahead of us so I decided to just make a little something tasty for us to tuck into while we were at the café.


I settled on cheesecake brownie. I cut it into heart shapes, and layered it with fresh strawberries and chocolate & strawberry sauce. It was just right. Chocolate and strawberries together are delicious.


On Saturday we were pleased (but somewhat dismayed) that the seating area furniture turned up 5 minutes before we were due to hand out the 200 mini cupcakes! We quickly unpacked the things as fast as we could and disposed of the packaging. The delivery firm only delivered the table tops and not their legs!!! (which finally arrived last Wednesday, a whole 4 days later...)


Open Cupcake went really well! Thanks for everyone who made it. Special thanks to those who came all the way from Athens for cupcakes :D I had to keep baking most of the afternoon because the counter was emptying quickly.

It was an exhausting day. The poor kids were worn out, even though they were very excited by the whole thing. Or maybe it was just the helium balloons we got that were so exciting! We went to bed after midnight and I had to be up again at 7 the next morning to be on my feet again for most of Sunday. My feet are still not very happy with this running a cupcakery thing.

We're at the end of another holiday weekend. The town was busy. The weather did improve ever so slightly yesterday and the day before, with skies that allowed the sun to poke through just this little bit.

Up until the end of March we have a colouring competition for children who are under 12 (those who go to Demotikó). At the end of the month we'll choose a winner who will receive 12 cupcakes. Any under 12s are welcome to take part.


You can download the PDF file, colour and return it in the post (or just scan and email it to us)! Of course, should you win, you have to be able to come to Nafplio to pick up your prize!

Liz Cupcakes

Our anniversary & café open house! 20 Feb 2011 3:00 AM (14 years ago)

It's that time of year again although we've hardly had time to notice since we've been so busy with the café!

Remember last year? Our 19th anniversary cookie?


And the cake?



Yes, last year was our 19th and I wrote this: ''Happy Anniversary to us! Next year it's the big 20! Should I start planning the celebrations from now?''

Hmm. Well. I wouldn't have thought that our anniversary would have come so soon after the opening of the café! To celebrate we're going to have an open-house on the 26th. We'll be giving away 200 mini cupcakes! We were waiting for our seating area to be ready to do a Grand Opening and there is a chance that the furniture will be delivered by the 26th, but whether it is or not, we're going to be celebrating our 20th Anniversary with our friends and customers!

Perhaps some of you might be planning a day trip to Nafplio and if you are, we'd love to see you!

Liz Cupcakes

The vanilla goes to... 17 Feb 2011 8:45 AM (14 years ago)

Thanks again everyone.


There were 20 comments, giving a total of 19 entries for the vanilla pods (greek & english combined). And the winner is (drum roll, please)... Eirini!

Please contact us to let us know where to post them. We'd also like to know what you are going to do with them!

A whole month! 30 Jan 2011 12:00 AM (14 years ago)

WOW! I can't believe it has been almost a whole month since we opened! Of course the saying goes: ‘Time flies when you are having fun.’

Truthfully, the days have gone by so quickly we've hardly had a chance to register what day it was! We're getting into the swing of things. I'm getting used to my kitchen and (for the most part) remember where I've put things! We've been bringing in new flavours every few days and I've been trying to use lovely local fruit for some of them. I'll keep doing that as the seasons change.


One of the most exciting things of the past month has been finally getting to meet in person so many of you, who have been following our story here as well as on facebook and twitter. I can't describe the thrill I get when I see a car pulling up outside the café and the people inside with excited expressions on their face that they found us and are actually here! In a small way it is as though they feel like our café is theirs, too, and it really makes me feel good! Thanks so much for coming and keeping me going even though I've been totally exhausted this month :)

I've been answering lots of baking related questions from my customers, too. Lots of people, it seems, love to bake.

Olivia's arm is almost better; just two days ago the plaster came off. Of course, now she is taking antibiotics for a nasty bug she picked up! It's been a busy month from that point of view, too!

We've got lots planned in the next few days and weeks. We'll try our best to keep you all posted. It's been a while since we had a little give-away, so I thought it's time. I'm going to give away 5 madagascan vanilla pods. These pods are about 20cm (4in) long and very supple and fresh. You can use your vanilla pods by scraping out the seeds and adding them directly to your cake batter or your frosting, then you can use the leftover pod to make vanilla sugar. Which you can then add to your hot drinks or baking!


To enter leave a comment answering who in your household likes cooking? Everyone? No one? And what's the thing they like to cook? You have until midnight Saturday local time (GMT +2) to leave your comment. Only the first comment will count for each participant. Please make sure that we have a way to contact you if you win.


Liz Cupcakes