Social Media Loving, An Ode to Fin

I’ve known Fin +Fin Wycherley  for a very long time, in fact all my life! You know how in families you just get on with life, growing up (well, kinda… ) and sharing some of the most important events with your sibs etc. etc. 

It was when Fin recently offered to help me with my social media strategy & content marketing with posts which I accepted gratefully to build my on-line ‘real estate’ and authority within the gluten free market that I got a real insight into what and how she does her biz. I thought I knew what she did as I listened to her stats on business uplift and on-line engagement, her chat of her world wide client portfolio, her travels to San Diego and France to build connections and walk the talk of this vast operating platform. 

It wasn’t until she got into action (bossing me into action, the privilege of yer eldest!), restructuring the company message image and positioning that I got to see her immense skill within this on-line domain.  I went from teetering at 1800 followers on Twitter and 800 likes on Facebook to 2,500+ twitter follows and 1,200+ likes on Facebook, all within ten days.  Now these new connections are not vanity nor vacuous figures, they are targeted by her within her magic of dedicated research to find the most relevant people and businesses to engage with which has led to some fascinating conversations, sending and receiving samples of new products to incorporate into the cakes and new orders, new business et al.. 

The platform that she, Finlay (pet name) operates in guiding clients, driving sales and building brand reputation is really simply put: 'The on-line world is your oyster' on-line if you get it and have the where with all to engage. Her ability to distill the message and identify on-line alliances has been a business shaper for Love Pure Cakes.  I am truly amazed by her ability to place the company firmly on the on-line map, now that I’ve experienced this and the innate value of on-line communication & profiling, I recommend that if you’re trading in business at any level, then having a social media expert on board is essential for business growth and protection.

I think there's a lot of fear that surrounds engaging within this sphere, many have been sued and most want their privacy, so how do you get real and authentic within it?

Milestones beyond the growth in community are:
·         Potential contract in England to supply Bakewells
·         New orders, the value of which far outweighs the cost of ads
·         Uplift in on-line sales
·         Having the right image of the company portrayed in these portals
·         Great engagement with current customers

Even and although I thought I knew Fin, I hadn’t experienced the essence of her skill and work in practice with her business of making other businesses perform. It has been a beautiful experience to observe her in her consummate professional mode with no apology and a didactic clarity on 'what needs to happen'

Taking licence to elaborate, I love seeing the pearl of wisdom that I have experienced with her in this heady, current and future business platform.

Super Sized & super everything  is in her new business offering and what a consummate professional she is in delivering real results for business.
https://twitter.com/finwycherley https://www.facebook.com/supersizemedia


I thus can’t recommend her highly enough, even and although I’m biased.

Happy tweeting, engaging, connecting

Lorna

P.S. the only down side is that she has banned me from putting posts up about Possum.. baby girl :(

Durian Fruit - The Most Noxious Fruit For Cake!

We've been wanting to try some Durian fruit since being inspired by http://durianrider.com/ and all things cycling. It seemed impossible to buy since it's banned from airplanes as the gas emitted from the fruit sets off the alarms and interferes with the electronics of the plane.
Durian Fruit


Alas, our local Chinese Supermarket had some frozen. All excitement waned as the whiff of the fruit was almost unbearable, however, given its nutritional value http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/durian-fruit.html and inspired by my friend Anna Breuer, I decided to persevere and offer a cake tasting competition for the brave foodies at heart.

I concocted a Raw Vegan Durian Tray to tempt the daring
Raw Vegan Durian Tray
Here's the recipe:
2 Bananas
2 Hand Fulls of Pineapple
1 Apple
200g Durian Fruit
2 Hand Fulls of Dates
Poppyseeds
Seaweed
200g Oats

Method:
Mix all ingredients except the oats into a mixer, I use a Vitamix https://www.vitamix.co.uk/, once blended, mix in a bowl with the oats, place into a flat dish and chill for 20 minutes.
Durian Fruit
Raw Vegan Mixture
 
Before being Vitamixed
  
 For those with a less raw and more cooked preference, here's the Durian Cookie Dough ready to bake.
Durian Cookie Dough
Happy mixing, raw or baking. Enjoy with some of the best and nutritious fruits around.

Love,

Lorna

“Food Artistry for the Soul” 

Gluten Free Seaweed Breadcrumb Mix
Love Pure Cakes has created a Gluten Free Seaweed Breadcrumb mix for George Campbell & Sons in Perth. It's an incredibly flexible 'crumb' with the choice of fine or coarse ground, depending on your dish.
  


Haddock coated with fine crumb
Mussels topped with coarse crumb
With health, flavours and originality in mind, we added a twist to the traditional ‘breadcrumb’ by adding Carrageen seaweed which is a rich source of iodine and calcium, contains the vitamin carotene and is an extract from red seaweed. And Lentils which are a high source of protein, a source of mineral B vitamin, iron and magnesium and virtually no fat.

Freshly hand mixed in Scotland with no additives or preservatives, the mix is Low fat food, low saturates food, naturally gluten free and suitable for vegetarians.

Introductory price: 250g - £2.50, 500g - £4.65. Once opened, store in an airtight container is recommended to prolong its freshness, this prevents possible cross contamination whilst being stored.

Ingredients:  Lentils, Corn, Carrageen seaweed, Chilli flakes, raw cane sugar, white pepper (please see label for more details).
Carrageen Seaweed

If you'd like to dress your fish with a new crumb then get in touch with Karen or Sheenagh on 01738 638454.

In the meantime, happy fish-dishing.

Lorna 

 

Driver Vacancy


Love Pure Cakes is looking for a driver to carefully deliver the most precious cakes to our fabulous customers.  Initially, it’ll take a few hours a day or two per week though the remit is bound to grow in time, hopefully organically..

To give you a wider picture, we have been baking and inventing for some 2 years now, exploring & inventing new ways and innovating with cake concoctions, taking as much out as well as putting so much in to the mix to create a memorable taste experience. It’s our passion, a bit like a healthy obsession or an addiction we just can't kick.

If you have a clean driving licence and are looking for self employed work in Edinburgh then contact us with your information to lorna.pellet@LovePureCakes.com.

We look forward to hearing from you!

www.LovePureCakes.com

Biodynamic Carrot Cake

One of the things that inventing and creating cakes has taught me is Patience!  My norm is to 'act' quickly and get things done.  However, as I develop my art of cake making, I have found a newly developed patience in the realisation that you can't just turn up the oven and make cakes bake to perfection, it takes time and attention at all stages of creating and baking.

Taking things further, I decided this year to turn my belief of biodynamic growing into my cakes to create a biodynamic carrot cake.  Now that takes time!  I bought the seeds from stormy-hall-seeds.co.uk and planted on the 8th of March aka Maria Thun's calendar in readiness for gardeningscotland.co.uk with thanks to the invitation Pete from earthy.co.uk to join him and his crew.

Growing from seed takes time, attention and nurture and I was a little concerned that they may not grow in time.  It turns out that by the time the event was nigh, I only had enough carrot for one muffin. A call to eastcoastorganics.co.uk & garvaldwestlinton.org.uk was made and a sack of biodynamic carrots were delivered to the kitchen to start preparations.

Talk about patience? The whole process to make a batch of BD carrot cake took me 4 months!!
Biodynamic Carrot Cake
The event was a great success, driven by creativity and great tasting cake topped with the superfood Goji Berry. Not to mention the loving support from my family & friends who turned out to help purvey the cake wares.


The Love Cake Sales Force
Above and beyond learning patience in the field of cake, I know that having the support of friends and family makes having a quality cake company possible.

With deep gratitude.

Love,

Lorna
Cake Enthusiast!


Cake Inventing


Here at Love Pure Cakes http://LovePureCakes.com, we love to share our passion for cakes. We offer an extremely healthy range of cakes which are made daily from base ingredients using an abundance of fresh produce and an outrageous attitude to baking.  We take our cakes personally, we love preparing them as well as indulging in them and chatting about it endlessly.  It’s a way of life somewhere between a healthy obsession and a bad habit we can’t kick!

This fixation pushes us to experiment, to invent, and to look at what we prepare from extraordinary angles. Our mission is to make the cakes even tastier, more sensual and vibrant.  Drawing on an abundance of culinary traditions we strive to surprise and stir your taste buds using bold flavours and daring presentations with no apologies.

We are ready for the next cake challenge from you!  We are holding a competition via facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gluten-Free-Scotland/191716087566074 for The Most Inventive Cake.  All we ask is for you to create a new cake for us to bake, we will experiment with any ingredient and concoction that you suggest. The creator of the best cake idea will win the baked product!!

Some previous ideas..  
Chocolate & Algae


Polenta & SeaweedPolenta & Seaweed

Let your creative juices flow and put us to the test of balancing flavours and textures in the cake.

As always, we’re only too happy to spread the love of cake!

We look forward to hearing your ideas.

Lorna Pellet
Cake Enthusiast!
www.LovePureCakes.com



Classic Victoria Sponge with a Healthy Twist

I was asked recently by +Tracy Griffen if I could supply a simple gluten free cake recipe for one of her clients, delighted as always to collaborate with great people who love healthy and nutritious food, I adapted this very traditional recipe to enhance the healthiness by reducing sugar and adding fresh fruit.

Testing and exploring new recipes to push the bounds of possibilities of taste and texture is what I love to do. To balance the fat content of this cake, I incorporate lots of lemon zest. Lemon not only enhanced the flavour, it offers essential nutrients in one mouthful; glycaemic and non glycaemic carbohydrates, potassium, folate, calcium, thiamin, niacin, Vitamin B6... to name a few.. It contains no fat of sodium, being a plant food, no cholesterol either. 
Those of you who follow my blog posts will know of my relative antipathy towards sugar, in this recipe, I incorporate coconut to maintain a natural sweetness whilst reducing the sugar by 50%!


Victoria Sponge Recipe - Dairy Free, Gluten Free
400g Unsalted Butter (DF)
200g Light Brown Sugar
100g Coconut dessicated
6       Eggs
400g Self Raising Flour (GF)
Filling
Dollop Raspberry Jam
50g   Unsalted Butter (DF)
100g Icing Sugar
1 Lemon zest

Method
Beat the butter, sugar and coconut until light and fluffy
Beat the eggs in a separate dish until they have fluffed up
Slowly incorporate the eggs into the mix, keeping the mixer on a medium speed
Sift the flour into a bowl (sift holding it as high as you can without losing flour onto the surface)
Putting the mixer on a slow speed, slowly add the flour until it is ‘just’ mixed in.

Divide mixture into two cake tins 9”, spread evenly and place in a preheated oven at 180 degrees.  Depending on your oven, for two tins, it will take approximately 30 minutes.
Try not to open the oven door until about 20-25 minutes into the baking. Lightly press the sponge with your fingers and if it bounces back to its form then it’s ready. If the dents stay in the sponge then give it more time. When the sponge is ready, let it stand for 5 minutes then use a palette knife round the sponge and leave it on a cooling rack.

Meanwhile, put the (DF) unsalted butter into a bowl and mix slightly, slowly add the sifted icing sugar and zest until it is light and fluffy.

When the sponge is cool, if you have made one sponge then use a long serrated knife to cut in half, spread the jam onto the base layer, put a layer of fresh raspberries then the buttercream (it may be easier to use a piping bag). Put the top layer on and dust with icing sugar and add more fresh fruit.


I hope you enjoy this super healthy, dairy and gluten free classic Victoria Sponge cake with a twist

Happy Baking!
Lorna