Quiet Week in Cake Towers

I don't bake all of the time. I would dearly love to (actually, even I would need a break!) but right now it's confined to evenings and weekends. I've just been granted my first ever stall at The Spitalfields Show and Green Fair on 13th September, so I'm currently spending all of my spare time thinking about this.

It's amazing the planning that is involved. I want to make some bunting for my stall (I have managed to purchase some fantastic material from the lovely Zoe from http://zoeanddrew.blogspot.com/ but the sewing machine has still to be switched on. Or even moved onto the table); I want to buy a banner; I've been planning on having some aprons made for a while, the list is endless and that's before I think of things like a cash-box, table cloth (do I go for cotton or one I can wipe?), cake stands...

I'm making endless lists at the moment and the one list which I've just about finished is the 'what am I going to bake?' list. As this fair is a one-off, I have to guess what I think will sell and how much to make. I've decided to opt for some big cakes (lemon drizzle, orange drizzle, carrot, victoria sponge, tea bread (like the one pictured above), coffee & walnut), some cupcakes (vanilla, chocolate, lemon meringue, coconut & lime) and a selection of biscuits & cookies, brownies, jams and meringues.

The next step is working out how much of each ingredient I need. I'm fortunate to have a farmer's market just down the road from me, so on Saturday, I'll go along, see how the cake seller displays their wares and find a farmer who can sell me a lot of eggs!

In the meantime, I'm planning on perfecting a few recipes, including one for millionaire's shortbread, my favourite childhood treat. I'm keen to sell it on my stall, so my friends are going to be guineapigs this week when I make it and try a few cookie recipes out as well.

I love all types of cakes, not just decorated ones and that's why this stall is so important to me - it's an opportunity for me to bake an assortment of treats and then to mingle with people who hopefully like what they see.