National Cupcake Week 2011

Cupcake-a-holics rejoice, it's National Cupcake Week!

It's time to get out those cupcake tins, whip up a batch of sugary-sweet frosting and get creative to celebrate our miniature bakery favourite.

Now in it's third year, National Cupcake Week is organised by British Baker magazine and you can follow the cupcake adventures of fellow frosting addicts from your kitchen...(if you can tear yourself away from your mixing bowl and sprinkles that is...)

The Official National Cupcake Week Twitter  or Website

The website is full of FREE downloadable resources to help you celebrate, including bunting, logos and posters. It's crammed full of recipes, news, pictures and all the cupcake information you could ever need.

Celebrate all things cupcake on Cupcake Cavern and kit yourself out with the tools you need from the Cupcake Cavern Store  

Read Time Out's guide to the most scrumptious cupcake bakeries in London HERE and make time to treat yourself to one (or two) this week - it'd be rude not to really!  My personal favourites are the Hummingbird Bakery on Portobello Road or Soho's super-cool Cox's Cookies and Cakes 

Or treat yourself to a new recipe book - it won't be here in time to bake this week, but I am excited about Lola's Kitchen's first book that's released next month landing on my doormat, so why not order yours too? 

The bakery claims to 'hand-craft the best cupcakes that you have ever tasted' and after sampling a few of their cakes from the Selfridge's bakery over the years, it's a close call...so get baking your own versions!

Whatever you do to celebrate the sweetness this week, have fun cupcake fans!

Photograph by Lindsay Garvey Photography

Let’s do breakfast...

....at the S&M Cafe, London

My vote for the totally British brekkie at the S&M made the Top 10 Breakfast Destinations in Delicious Magazine's feature...and what a breakfast it is....

And I maintain that the ALL-DAY VEGGIE BREAKFAST (£7.50) crammed full of veggie sausage, egg, baked beans, mushroom, tomatoes, hash browns and toast  (no mushrooms please) is the best start to any weekend. It comes with a FREE cuppa or filter coffee too.

Feeling less hungry? The WORKERS BREAKFAST (£4.95) with any three items and some yummy toast is a great middle-man between  the big boy and my 'health concious' morning coffee and BOILED EGG AND TOASTED SOILDERS (£2.75)

Or suppose you're feeling a bit ropey? Get a Bloody Mary down you or go all out with an AM Bucks Fizz! If you can't quite face the hair of the dog, just get another banger ordered and the super staff will wing it straight over to your table. As the gals and guys at S&M promise, you do 'come sad and leave happy!'

Have a look at the full menu and get your day-break juices flowing LOOK AT THE MENU 

The Essex Road, Islington cafe will always have memories for me of lazy days in N1, but it's served its last banger, so Spitalfields it is...48 Brushfield Street, London, E1 | 020 7247 22 52  FIND IT HERE

After all, who doesn't love a little S&M in the morning?