I've introduced my friend Lora before but not only is she a talented designer maker but also a very talented baker! I don't tend to follow recipes for savoury dishes and I'm up for putting my own twist on a dessert but Lora is always inventing new cakes. I see baking cakes as a bit of a science and not something for little old me to tamper with but Lora just wings it and ends up producing the yummiest cake creations. We decided to have an afternoon of baking to try out one of her ideas and so of course I obliged as baking sidekick and taste tester.
The result was soooo delicious. The mixture of sweet and salty worked so well (one of my favourite flavour combinations) and the dark brown sugar gave the sweetness depth. The real star of the show was the honey Lora brought back from Greece. I realised then, that I'd never truly tasted honey before that moment. It was so floral and fresh and you could taste it all the way through the cake where we'd pierced the top. So my advice is invest in some good honey. Next time she goes I will certainly be requesting a jar or two.
Her tip was to really whip the cake mixture for quite a while, almost as if you were making meringue. This gives it lots of air and helps it rise well. You can't over whip it so go crazy! To try this tempting recipe follow this link to Lora's baking blog, All Day I Dream About Cake.
Today the spotlight falls on my good friend Lora, who has recently launched her own accessory business called Lora Dora. It’s early days but her Etsy shop is up and running and full of gorgeous bags in all sorts of colours and patterns. She has been working as a fashion designer since graduating but has chosen to specialise in accessories for her own venture.
Lora and I go way back to the teeny age of 7 and most of our friendship has revolved around art and design. Back in year 3 we would spend ‘wet play’ drawing side by side and funnily enough producing spookily similar pictures. Our secondary school French lessons were less about French and more about doodling cartoons to pass back and forth to each other. Come our BTEC National diploma we were desk buddies, covered in paint and buried under a pile of material and masking tape. Lora moved to London just a few months after we did and is set to give Lora Dora a shot. She has always been a very skilled maker and has tons of drive when it comes to design. Check out her Etsy shop here. She commissioned me to do some branding for Lora and Dora and I happily obliged. It’s very different designing for a fellow creative. She knew exactly what she was after and even gave me a mood board and colour palette which made it a whole lot easier. What a pro!
