Cocktails & Cupcakes.

Last Saturday saw the arrival of my best friend's hen do, and as chief bridesmaid it was up to me to organise the proceedings. After a bit of brainstorming a few months ago the idea of cupcake decorating was thrown out there, and Katy and I instantly thought of Fancie - a Sheffield bakery (you may have spotted them at Meadowhall but they are also based on Sharrowvale Road and the Winter Gardens).

As it turned out Fancie do offer various kinds of cupcake decorating parties but the one that caught our eye, and the one Katy thought would be fun for her hen do, was "Cocktails & Cupcakes" because, let's face it, if there's anything better than cupcakes it's throwing in a few cocktails as well!

"Cocktails & Cupcakes" made up the afternoon section of the hen party with 11 of us in attendance. Our party was held at Vodka Revolution in the centre of Sheffield in the 'hidden bar' which was a great location. We were completely seperate from the main bar area so it felt very special and private, and we had plenty of room to spread out and chat.

Upon arrival we were greeted by our barman, Mike, and a friendly Fancie cupcake extroadinaire (whose name escapes my mind, sorry!) We had a welcome drink and a chat before splitting into two groups to get started.


The cupcake decorating part was lots of fun with us having 4 blank cupcake canvasses and a big table full of glitter, sprinkles, fondant, frosting and fillings! I didn't quite get the hang of the piping bag but it was great fun trying (apart from when I dropped a large dollop on my sandals. Oh and then I got nutella basically all over my face, hands and the tablecloth).

The lady from Fancie who was running the cupcake side of things was so friendly and helpful, and really got us into the spirit of things. She was very patient even after I had ruined her tablecloth and used half a pack of her wet wipes. Oops!

When our group had finished our masterpieces we played a couple of cupcake-based games before packing up our creations into Fancie boxes to take home with us.

I can't take credit for these beauties - I think our friend Amy has found a new talent!


After some canapes the groups swapped over and our cocktail masterclass with Mike commenced (after a shot - at 4 in the afternoon *jeez I'm getting too old for this!*). In pairs we were shown how to make 3 different cocktails before having a go at making our own; a Strawberry woo-woo, a Mojito and a Long Island Iced Tea. We also got some interesting snippets of history on cocktails including why a Long Island Iced Tea got its name when it has no tea in it!


It was great fun having a go at making cocktails especially when we got to pick something from the menu to make at the end. Katy and I opted for the Jammy B*stard, being the immature pair that we are and intrigued by the tagline that it tastes just like jam.

As it turns out Jammy B*stards are incredible and probably one of the best cocktails I've ever had. Needless to say we went back later to have another, although the barman didn't make it as well as we did!


A good few hours after "Cocktails & Cupcakes" started we regrouped, a little more light headed than when we had arrived, to find out who had won the best decorated cupcake (alas, it was not me) and to grab our boxes ready to take home. We also got some certificates and the chance to have a chat and finish our yummy cocktails before leaving.

Mike had reserved a couple of tables for us all in the main bar which is where we moved on to, before heading home to change into our party frocks and to sober up *hic!*

After speaking to everybody afterwards I would definitely recommend an event like this for a hen party or a special occasion as everybody said how much fun they had. It is sometimes difficult for a large group when most people don't know many other people, but this kind of event gets everybody chatting and mingling which was a great start to Katy's day.

Thank you Fancie and thank you Vodka Revolution for a brilliant afternoon! I'll leave you with my fondant creation which didn't win a prize, but it's clearly a Pug... no...?

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