The Hidden Lane Tearoom

Hidden Tea Room delights delivered to your office door!

2011-10-12T04:42:00.000-07:00

What a difference a driving license makes!

Passing my driving test was a bit of an uphill struggle - mainly due to the number of hill starts I spectacularly stalled in the full frontal presence of numerous steely eyed instructors. Friends suggested I should go somewhere flat to sit my test - like Denmark - but I reckoned that if I was ever going to drive ALONE in Glasgow, then I needed to bite the bullet and just get on with it. And Hallelujah! I finally passed a few months ago.

You might therefore be surprised to learn that I am only now delivering fabulous high teas and nibble platters to offices and in the spirit of transparency I have to grudgingly confess that driving still scares me and if your office is at the top of a very big hill with lots of traffic lights and pedestrian crossings I might say no to your pleas of cake delivered direct to your door.

For everyone else I am delighted to announce that The Hidden Lane Tearoom now delivers. So if you fancy a working lunch that will make you happy, or a celebratory feast, or a high tea with a difference then I can bring it all to you. Along with our slate serving platters and vintage crockery.

Honestly. I can elevate your working lunch to a culinary thing of beauty. And as long as you're on flat land, I can deliver! Providing you order before 11am. Full details to follow but I'm so excited that I wanted to tell you soonest!

Just received a CERTIFICATE OF EXCELLENCE...

2011-08-24T01:45:00.000-07:00

...from TripAdvisor. Yip!I get stickers for my window and an actual certificate for framing. Thankyou to everyone who writes nice things about me and votes for me. I appreciate it very much.

Cakes for happy days

2011-08-22T07:48:00.000-07:00

Last week I made a lot of cake. Mum had a wedding at Lunga and three 'pudding cakes' were required - cakes that can be cut ceremoniously but eaten as a pudding. Don't know about anyone else, but I hate fruit cake. And I hate marzipan and I hate rock hard royal icing, and how everyone always politely moves the constituent parts around their plates to make it look like they really are eating Christmas cake by another name.

Anyway, the groom was Irish, the bride Scottish and they lived in America, so we came up with the idea of a chocolate guinness cake, a Cranachan sponge and a lemon and apricot cake with Philadelphia cream to drizzle. And even though I say so myself, these were gods of cakes. Mum did the finishing touches at Lunga and they were served with huge bowls of strawberries, chocolate ganache sauce and lightly whipped double cream. And not a single bit of Royal Icing in sight!

More fiesta than festival. Colour colour everywhere

2011-06-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

The Hidden Lane Festival has been and gone for another year and it brought the Hidden Lane to life with its colour and music and stalls and catwalk shows. Thanks to everyone who helped to bring it all to life - a small group of people put in a huge amount of effort. Their reward? Some very happy times!

the lovely Jessie on sandwich making duty at The Hidden Lane Tearoom

Jenny of Fantoosherie organising her stall

The Bonnie Bling girls

More Bonnie Bling

Fantoosherie loveliness

Sparrow and Rose floristry bits

lovely lilacs from Sparrow and Rose

Can you imagine these gracing a wedding table. Sparrow and Rose

vintage dressed lady browser

or this...

aye more bonnie bling

The Hidden Lane Tearoom cooks up a storm!

The Hidden Lane Festival is THIS Saturday

2011-06-22T02:06:00.000-07:00

Rain or shine, we'll be watertight, SO....

...On the last Saturday of the West End Festival, Glasgow's colourful, creative, collective open up their Lane for what promises to be another exciting Hidden Lane Festival. From 12pm - 9pm, join in the fun withlive music, fashion shows, grub, grub and more grub, market stalls, balloon dudes, treasure hunts and of course, the chance to have a good old nosey around some of the artist studios within the lane!'

Check oot the line up so far:

Bars brought to you by Ivy
The Hidden Lane Tearoom BBQ
Lauckner & Moore Sandwich Shack
Turkish Lounge by Glasgow Badges with free Wifi
Live music from 1-7pm brought to you by La Chunky Studios
Sub Club DJ's 7-9pm
Baxendale built Catwalk featuring shows by Bonnie Bling, Fantoosherie, Chou Chou and Ten30.
Live Photoshoot by Chou Chou featuring re:silicone installation

Blast will be had.

This Charming Wedding features our vintage hen party

2011-06-21T00:58:00.000-07:00

A huge thankyou to This Charming Wedding for featuring Fiona's fab vintage hen party. We had huge fun and laughter on the night and Nick Kirk's fabulous 'in the spirit' photography has really captured the occassion.

So thanks to Fiona for being such a worthy winner; to Nick Kirk for being seriously cool; and to This Charming Wedding for telling Fiona's engagement story so well!

To find out more information about Nick's photography you can contact Nick by email on weddings@dkphotography.co.uk, by phone on 0141 286 1188 (UK) or you can take a look at his website NDK Wedding Photography / blog.

Vintaj hen party frollickery with the lovely lovely Fiona

2011-06-13T00:36:00.000-07:00

Fiona Stevenson won our vintaj hen party evening and we had fun, fizz, finger food and frollickery. Photography by the fabulous Nick Kirk of NDK Photography, up-styling by the lovely Sarah, and Fiona and her brood of chicks who arrived seriously dressed for the occasion and ready to party.

From Tearoom to Stylish establishment!

Time for Tea

Preening and Primping for Fiona

pretty!

bunting

Ta Daaaaaaah!

Foot love

chatter

the chicks

What's occurin'?

2011-05-29T04:00:00.001-07:00

OK. So we're not at the well known end of Argyle Street. But we are at the really interesting end of Argyle Street, not long before it merges onto Dumbarton road, enroute to Kelvingrove (Gallery and Park) and with an increasingly interesting mix of one off shops, cafes and restaurants.

You won't find many chain stores at this end of Argyle Street - instead we've got a pop up designer clothing shop - Think Boutique (this is it's last weekend, so you might want to head on over because once it's gone it's gone!) and The Shop of Interest at 1058 Argyle Street (almost opposite The Hidden Lane entrance). The latter has an ever increasing and ever changing collection of bespoke works by local arts and crafts people.

Then of course there's the Hidden Lane Gallery itself - set up by Joe Mulholland in the old hearse and limousine gallery of the nearby funeral undertakers. There are some really interesting exhibitions going on here and it is also a very lovely wee space.

And of course, once you have exhausted yourselves with all of your wandering and browsing, you will almost definitely, very certainly, and most deservedly require a nice cup of tea and a slice of cake. In my lovely little tearoom.

Dad's been gardening...

2011-05-29T03:50:00.000-07:00

...lemon thyme and lavender.

DRUMROLL PLEASE and the winner....

2011-05-21T06:24:00.000-07:00

...of our vintage hen party for 10 on 10th June is....

Fiona Stevenson. Can't wait for the photoshoot fun with the lovely Nick Kirk of NDK Photography, some upstyling action and delicious tea and cake and champagne in china cups and giggles and gossip.

So well done Fiona and friends of Fiona. We're awaiting!

Lavender button shortbread

2011-05-20T03:44:00.001-07:00

Mum's been baking. Lavender button shortbread. Which will be coming here soon! Mum uses a lot of herbs in her baking, and I do too. This time of year is perfect, I think, for experimenting. Basil or sage sugars; lemon balm in lemon posset; orange thyme in chocolate.

This time of year it really is fun to take some favourite recipes and play a little. Love it.

Would you like to win a Vintage Hen Party?

2011-05-16T05:47:00.000-07:00

Imagine a hen party with a bit of difference. Vintage styling using all my lovely old crockery and 'stuff'; the chance to get your make up done, and maybe a little up do, a la forties and fifties - real hollywood stuff - and delicious tea and cakes. And champagne in teacups. And then a photoshoot to remember, by the wonderful Nick Kirk of NDK Wedding Photography

The Hidden Lane is putting the style and the styling back into hen parties. So if you are getting married this year and think that you might enjoy a hen party with a difference here at The Hidden Lane Tearoom (or we can come to you!), then get in touch.

We're offering one vintage hen party for 10 people for free. So facebook us. Tell us why this would be special and perfect for your hen party. The lucky winner will win one evening of style and styling and tea and cakes and photos for forever. The only proviso is that you have to come suitably dressed for the occasion!And the date would be Friday 10th June 2011 from 6.30pm - 10pm

Interested? Jump over to our facebook page!

Fabulous review from The List. Thankyou so much!

2011-04-30T01:30:00.000-07:00

'Despite its less than obvious location, The Hidden Lane Tearoom is often full to bursting, so clearly the secret is out - and what a secret it is. The tearoom is set over two tiny floors decorated in a fashion that is clearly a labour of love. The eclectic furniture and beautiful mismatched vintage crockery adds splashes of pattern and colour to an already vibrant space. The menu is as delightful, with a deli platter on a slate consisting of chorizo and peppered beef, cheeses, red onion marmalade and two teacups brimming with hummus and olives. Every dish shows an eye for presentation and a desire to do things properly - never more so than the high tea. When the vintage cake stand arrives with finger sandwiches, scones and cakes, there are cries of 'ooh' and 'aah' and cameras flashing. It's an experience that can't but make you smile. Hot drinks include various teas, a Turkish apple drink and a North Indian spiced drink served with steamed milk. The venue hosts one off gigs and exhibitions and is a hub of the Hidden Lane Festival in June. High tea is a thing of beauty.'

I've only been open for just over a year and am so completely and utterly flattered at this lovely lovely review. Having my own little cafe is everything I hoped it would be and a whole lot more. My customers are lovely. They come once and come again. They bring friends and eat cake. They're patient when it's busy and often everyone ends up chatting to each other. I'm surrounded by fabulous people in the Hidden Lane who bring their own mugs for take away teas and coffees. They're creative and inspiring and we support each other through highs and lows.

So, to all my customers - thankyou for supporting me and making what I do such a pleasure. And to the man from the List - wot you wrote is lovely and I am so glad that you enjoyed your visit and I am genuinely most grateful.

Love is in the air..

2011-03-30T02:03:00.001-07:00

Our romantic revival is taking shape..

2011-03-29T06:01:00.001-07:00

A wee bit of spring decorating..

2011-03-28T12:45:00.000-07:00

You might remember that I mentioned a wee bit of decorating. I got dad here with a little bit of cake bribery and to date he has hung a zillion shelves, touched up all the paint work and done a little bit of re-wiring.

Big plans for him tomorrow though. I managed to get one roll of vintage wallpaper - you have to sniff it because it smells like lovely oldness - and the plan is for lovely papa to create panels for me as one roll obviously won't stretch! I can sense that he doesn't quite get this designer touch as he was heard to mutter that the walls are going to look like a patchwork quilt. I suspect he meant it as an insult, but I took it as a compliment!

Mum and I went to Homebase for the various tool bits and stuff. The plank aisle for shelving. The silver screw aisle for special wingnut things. Paint. Wallpaper glue. Hairy brushes. And herbs for the front door - I use loads in my baking and I'm starting to feel excited about growing my own again. It's amazing what a few pots outside can actually produce. I also fancied some petals to add to salads, however mum says that polyanthus are just a little bit poisonous.

So, a busy day and pictures tomorrow.

We have lovely lovely crockery..

2011-03-24T13:48:00.000-07:00

...which we hire out to curious seekers of vintagey fun. My mum, my dad and my grandad collect it for me from wherever they go and some of my customers drop by and gift me crockery that played a bit part in their lives. I love this.

I mix and match a lot, because that's the beauty of old loveliness. Nothing ever seems to jar or to clash and I love when everything is piled up together and all the colours and the patterns play with each other and vie to be the prettiest in the pack.

The tearoom is also for hire - if you might perhaps enjoy a girly night in for an exclusive little party, you'd be very very welcome.

A lot of baking is being done...

2011-03-24T13:30:00.000-07:00

...because the weekend is nearly here. Cup cakes for eating, and displaying in our lovely china tea cups;

upside down pear cake; gluten free chocolate orange cake; apple and date flapjacks. My goodness my kitchen smells delicious. DELICIOUS.

Sooo excited that spring has sprung...

2011-03-23T00:56:00.001-07:00

.......you can feel it in the air. A little warmth when the sun comes out. Snowdrops. Crocuses peaking through as I walk through the park to work.

So hardly surprising that a wee bit of a spring clean and a revival is taking place down here at The Hidden Lane Tearoom. We've come over all romantic; the menu is getting revamped; our china cup cake wedding cake display seems to get eaten every day. And we're sprucing up the paint work. (Well, actually, my dad is sprucing up the paint work but I have a long list of other jobs that need doing and I'll sweet talk him into those once he gets here!)

What's on the dummy this week? A beautiful vintage wedding dress from the lovely DragonFly Dress design here in the Hidden Lane. What's on the menu? Chocolate and Guinness cake (some of us are still celebrating St Patrick's Day). What's on the walls? Soon - some fabulous photography in stupendous frames from McCracken Framing, also here in the Lane. And some lovely lacey vintage necklaces from Fantoosherie.

Baking books galore. A warm hello. I think that my little tearoom is a really really lovely place to be. I hope that you do too:-))

The Hidden Lane loves weddings. Truly

2011-03-17T01:09:00.000-07:00

The Hidden Lane is a community of fabulous artistic creative people. Chatting recently over tea and cake (a blueberry ring cake with vanilla syrup, to be specific), we realised that, individually, quite a few of us are part of the wedding world. We've got photographers, ring makers, a vintage wedding dress and bespoke wedding dress designer, a china cup cake wedding cake maker and hirer of vintage crockery (that would be me), a stationer, an awesome picture framer, a wedding caterer and a florist. And that's just for starters.

Moving onto the wine - it had been a long afternoon - we realised that we could (wedding:-) band together to create a fabulous little weddingy community where brides + grooms + friends + mums + those of a curious disposition could physically come and meet us and see what we do and seek inspiration not just online but in the real world of people working together to make beautiful weddingy things.

And so The Hidden Lane Loves Weddings is born. Here in the Tearoom, you will be able to browse samples of peoples works - we'll work to a monthly theme of either colour or concept - you can even have part/all of your hen party here, if you fancy. We already have some lovely little Mr and Mrs things from the fabulous Charlotte Macey (www.charlottemacey.co.uk)and will be adding all sorts of cute things from wheresoever we find them.

As a taster of lovely and happy and exciting things to come, some of us worked together this week on a bit of a photoshoot that was a whole lot of fun. Pammy, who works here in the tearoom, volunteered to be our model for the day. Lisa, from Dragonfly design, re-worked the most beautiful vintage dress for her, along with a lovely lovely fun headpiece and silver grey silk bow with butterflies. Vintage lace gloves finished off the look. Another Lisa, this time from Sparrow andRose, supplied the bouquet of white roses, white phlox, rosemary and dill (the perfume, the perfume!) with vintage lace to bind.

I supplied the china cupcake wedding cake - which was devoured not long after the shoot (Well, a girl's got to eat), and photography was by Carole Fitzgerald of Fishnets and Stalkings, and Alan Scobie and James Morrison of The Hidden Lane Photography. The photos here are Carole's (that would be my wonderful mother!) and Alan and James' will be following shortly.

The venue was the fabulous Hidden Lane Gallery, a stunningly arty and beautifully crafted studio which is very much a part of The Hidden Lane Community although entry to it is off Argyle Street. Thanks Jo, for lending us the space.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this introduction to our new collective venture here at The Hidden Lane. We've nearly got our own website up and running but remember - The Hidden Lane Loves Weddings is primarily a community of

real people showcasing their fabulous skills in the real world. I LOVE IT!

Upside down cakes

2011-01-11T00:45:00.000-08:00

There is something about the smell of simmering brown sugar and butter. I used to opt for the quick method, using the microwave for about 20 seconds to zap the mixure. But you don't get that fudgy aroma. Now that I've invested in some heavy duty baking tins, I simmer the sugar and butter together on top of the hob, stirring with my oldest wooden spoon until treacly and smooth. Therapeutic. Truly.

Then all you have to do is add your seasonal fruit, sliced, into the sugary buttery syrup and top with your sponge mixture and bake. Adding a winter spice - like cinnamon, or nutmeg - intensifies the flavour of the cake. This time of year, pears and bananas feature regularly on our upside down cakes and the trick is to bake them just long enough for a wooden skewer to come out clean and not so long that the syrup bakes hard.

When you turn the cake out of the tin, and the sticky fruit now snuggles at the top, the syrup should still be slightly soft and sticky so that when you add a dollop of creme fraiche the two kind of ooze together.

One of my favourite favourite winter cakes. It's a pear one today.

Enjoy one of our loose leaf teas to go with - maybe the spiced apple one.

Enjoy! And remember that you can find out some more of our insider baking tips on Wednesday night at our baking class. We throw in a free glass of fizz. Well, the festivities don't end just because Christmas is over!

Baby, it's cold outside...

2011-01-09T04:13:00.000-08:00

...but we're really cosy here at The Hidden Lane Tearoom. So happy new one's to you all!

I enjoyed a short festive break and if you think there was a lot of snow here, you should have seen Berlin. Toe-nipping cold, but the most amazing vintage warehouses and markets which took your mind off the icy air. Beautiful city, great food, but I missed Glasgow!

Now that we're back and open, please do pop by. Our new year kicks off with some brilliant cakes and nibbles including sweet cranberry and almond frangipane tart, walnut and coconut slices, deeply dark chocolate brownies, upside down pear cake and sticky toffee pudding with to-die-for butterscotch sauce.

So if you're feeling the chill and want to come inside for a blether, a browse or a baked delight, we're open. And warm. And full of cheer and good music!

Learn the taste of Christmas

2010-12-11T02:11:00.000-08:00

There is something about the SMELL of Christmas - cinnamon and nutmeg; warm chocolate; sage and cranberry. Maybe it's because you know that all of these translate into the most delicious tastes across all kinds of foods.

So, I'd like to share some of my favourite things with The Hidden Lane Tearoom CHRISTMAS BAKING CLASSES. Running over the next 2 Wednesday evenings we'll be making festive brownies and Christmas cupcakes and other edible seasonal delights. We're offering fizz and nibbles (Some stilton and pear pate with home-made cranberry jelly - one of my favourite savoury treats) to keep your energy levels high and you get to take what you bake!

Email to book a space. Bring some friends. Step into Christmas!!

thehiddenlanetearoom@hotmail.com

China cup cakes and other loveliness

2010-12-02T07:43:00.000-08:00

We've taken cup cakes up A LEVEL. You can now buy them individually in lovely little china teacups and gift them to someone with taste.

Even better. Buy one for yourself and eat while watching a soppy Christmas film. YULE love it. Promise.

How to: German spiced Christmas biscuits.

2010-12-01T07:29:00.000-08:00

300g plain flour

pinch salt

1 tsp baking powder

11/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1tsp black pepper

100g soft brown sugar

100g soft butter

2 large eggs mixed with 4 tbsp of runny honey.

Mix all the dry goods together in a food processor. Blitz, with the butter and then pour in the honey/egg mixture - only use enough for the mixture to come together in a ball in the processor. Once it has, you don't need any more egg/honey. (This bit always affected by the size of the eggs, and chickens being chickens - free range of course - you never know what's inside the shell until you crack it!)

Roll out the dough quite thinly and stamp out biscuits with Christmas cutters. Put them on a baking tray lined with baking parchment, make a hole in each biscuit so that you can hang it (use the thick end of a wooden skewer ideally, and wiggle it about.)

Put the biscuits in the fridge for half an hour.

Bake at 150 degrees (fan oven) for 20 mins.

Decorate however you fancy - either with rolled out royal icing or with sprinkles or icing sugar and lemon juice mix.

Dry. Hang. Eat. Enjoy.

snow, snow, snow, snow, SNOOOOOOW! And fat shortbread.

2010-12-01T05:05:00.001-08:00

I've been busy making some food gifts that will be for sale shortly in the Tearoom. I really enjoy being able to play like this and love the whole Christmas, food, flavours and smells thing.

Frustratingly this morning, my shortbread tree decorations just kept swelling in the oven until they looked like very fat versions of what they were supposed to be. After shouting at the oven for a bit (I find this usually works) I popped the shortbread shapes into my very cold fridge and left them for an hour before baking them and this time, oh yes, they stayed the shape they should be and I am congratulating myself at having invented this little piece of baking wisdom.

Haven't iced them yet, so no photos. But on this first day of Christmas forget the partridge and the pear tree. I've got hand sculpted starry shaped shortbreads just begging to be hung. Or eaten.

Christmas is coming.........

2010-11-30T04:27:00.000-08:00

...and we're getting into the festive spirit here at The Hidden Lane Tearoom!

I love the snow. It comes from having a mum called Carol(e) who once even put our Christmas tree up in the middle of November, so keen was she to start the celebrations. (I should add that all the needles feel off and we were the only family IN THE WORLD to have a discarded Xmas tree waiting for the bin men the first week of December. Oh, the remembered embarrassment!)

Anyway, childish nightmares aside, Christmas and snowtime is my favourite time of year and we've started decorating and hotting up the menu as the temperature hits zero and below. So, delicious wintery soups and a special winter high tea designed to share with friends as an alternative Christmas day/night out.

Yule love our Yule logs and our orange and nutmeg spiced mincepies. Our edible Christmas gifts. Our festive cheer. And you're very welcome to bring your own miniature of Baileys to spice up our delicious hot chocolate, or bring a bottle of wine to get you in the mood. (My own current favourite is Crabbies Green Ginger wine with lots of ice.)

Hope you all had a great halloween!

2010-10-31T14:44:00.000-07:00

Welcome to everyone from Groupon

2010-10-29T08:04:00.001-07:00

I'm so excited at the response to my Groupon campaign, and just wanted to welcome everyone who is planning to visit us over the next few months to enjoy their luxury high tea.

Groupon have advised that they inadvertently sent out the wrong telephone number to everyone who bought a voucher - I hope this hasn't caused too much hassle and as you can see, my contact details are on the side panel here.

I really am looking forward to welcoming you all personally to the tearoom. I have put my heart and soul into this little space and really hope that you enjoy your visit here. Please remember to phone/email me to reserve your table.

Again, huge welcomes to you all!

Launching The Loovre - a wee exhibition space...

2010-10-25T09:10:00.000-07:00

......opening soon for private viewings!

I'm hoping that artists across all media would like to showcase their work in the first of a series of exhibitions in what is possibly the wee'est gallery of its kind in Glasgow.

Housed here inside The Hidden Lane Tearoom's little lavatory, the theme for the inaugural exhibition is 'vintage' and submitted works should be 8 inches by 8 inches unframed, or 12 x 12 inches framed. You can hand in work until 20th November. The Exhibition starts 1st December, and if you would like to sell your art, please provide an indication of the price you would like.

If you are a regular here, you'll know that The Hidden Lane Tearoom, has fast become a haven for art and craft aficionado's, given its location in one of Glasgow's creative 'lane' communities just off Argyle Street. My own collection of vintage crockery shares display space with homebaking and works of art from up and coming artists, photographers and craftspeople.

Exhibitor works should be handed in to me, Kirsty Fitzgerald at The Hidden Lane Tearoom, 1103 Argyle Street, Glasgow. Alternatively, email me: thehiddenlanetearoom@hotmail.com

Halloween capers and pumpkins.

2010-10-21T08:26:00.001-07:00

This year, Halloween is on a Sunday. As I've just started opening 7 days a week I'm feeling a big bit excited at the fun we can have here at The Hidden Lane Tearoom.

The starting point is a pumpkin competition for children, and I'm hoping to get enough parents/children entering on the 31st so that we can line the entire lane with pumpkins little and large. There's also going to be a prize for best fancy dress - adult and children. So get your claws out.

Food wise, I'm open to suggestions. Definitely some finger foods (sawn off finger biscuits with very realistic nails.) Some ghostly meringues - they're already for sale in the tearoom. Maybe some worms and some eyeballs: need to start digging for some.

The best Halloween I ever did have was when I was about 9 and we lived on a farm. My playroom was an enormous empty barn that I could decorate to my hearts content. Down below was a series of stone arches which mum bedecked with spiders and skeletons and various nasty body parts. Ghoul music welcomed my friends. We dooked for apples in black slime and tried to bite marshmallows that were hung from fish wire. Some were dipped in mustard and set your mouth on fire. (That was mean, dad!)

So I like Halloween and as I like baking also, am looking forward to getting creative! I'd be interested to hear any food suggestions you might have (no matter how gross!) and also any ideas you have for some little people fun on the day. And NO! I don't think chilli spiked toffee apples are a good idea. Or maybe I do. MWWAHHHHAAHA.

Lovely lovely crockery

2010-10-20T13:49:00.000-07:00

When I opened The Hidden Lane Tearoom, my grandad raided every single charity shop for vintage teasets and teapots to compliment my own collection of crockery that I had been building up just because I loved it. The delicate patterns; the prettiness; the etiquette.

So now I have lots and lots. I'm always grateful to people who drop by with the odd bits and pieces for me and I swap my shelves around every day, so that no teacup ever has to endure that left on the shelf, wallflower feeling.

I've recently started hiring out my crockery for weddings and for tea parties. But mostly, I let people drink tea and eat cake from china bits and pieces that make me happy. My teacups do, however, make lovely lovely vases.

Fairy cakes and wedding cakes

2010-10-20T08:10:00.001-07:00

I've been perfecting my fairy cakes recently as they sell so well in the tearoom. I recently had a huge order for 400 for a company in Glasgow which tested me to the limit - both in terms of making them and storing them. The end result though is that I am now something of a fairy cake expert.

My favourite toppings are probably quite girly - obviously for the wedding market it's not surprising, and I love particularly the pastel colours and the bright pinks. But I also play around quite a lot with the cakes themselves and in order to make the 400 f

airy cakes a bit special I experimented with apple and cinnamon, red velvet, carrot and honey and chocolate brownie cakes.

Am now practicing some fairly ghoulish ones for next week. Along with some interesting 'finger' foods that should send a shiver down the spine!

Welcome to The Hidden Lane Tearoom

2010-05-27T13:50:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to The Hidden Lane Tearoom. First of all you'll have to find me, tucked away down a lane just off Argyle Street West, it's not always that easy, its part of the appeal! Once you have found me you will find yourself surrounded my multi coloured buildings and a feeling of tranquility not often found in Glasgow! In the far corner of the cobbled lane rests a beautiful vintage tearoom, celebrating a bygone era where high tea and china teacups were a way of life.

I specialise in home baking, from traditional victoria sponge with cream and jam to triple chocolate cake with the most chocolatey icing you ever did taste! There is always a wonderful selection to choose from, I have two whole tables dedicated to my cake display so the only difficulty will be deciding what you fancy! Just to make sure I'm not leaving anyone out I also have gluten and dairy free delights, which are often more tasty than the real deal!

High Tea is fast becoming a favourite. To do it propoerly start with the delicate finger sandwiches, move onto the scones and jam and finish with a generous selection of cakes and goodies. Served on traditional cake stands and accompanied by beautiful loose leaf teas or fair trade coffee this is a perfect way to spend an afternoon with friends.

The Tearoom is available for private functions...why not have a vintage tea party for your next special occasion? It is also a great space for live acoustic music. Last weekend 3 members of the French Wives did a small set and with no PA or mics the atmosphere was perfect!

I think I have covered everything for now. Watch this space for up and coming events and Tearoom happenings!