Rich Chocolate Orange Cake

Way, way back in the distant past I was a student with a part-time waitressing job in an Italian called Beppe Vittorios - some of you may remember it? I have often said that if only we could all have paid oursleves proper professional salaries, none of us would ever have left. It was one of the best jobs of my life. 

Part of the fun was the people I worked with and twenty years later they all remain my friends. One of these talented, gorgeous individuals is the wonderful Kirsty Kit Pyle of Vivacious Cakes (I know, I have the best friends!) and so when Gill and I realised that #SmallCityRecipes was celebrating its first birthday this week we were straight on the phone inviting her down to play!

Any excuse for cake right!?

Kirsty has been baking and decorating cakes for friends and family for years. As people saw her cakes, word of mouth spread and in no time at all Vivacious Cakes was born.

Coming up with a name for the business was one of the biggest dilemmas for Kirsty. She loves using colour and bold designs in her creations so Vivacious Cakes - in all its bubbly, full of life, effervescent and animated glory - seemed perfect!

Kirsty offers a very personal service – nothing is ‘off the shelf’. So whether you want a personalised cake with a name and age, your kid's favourite characters, your granny's favourite flowers, your husband's favourite team, your wife's favourite shoes, a special memory or simple message, Kirsty can help. There's also the added bonus of being able to choose a cake in your favourite flavour! Which is why Gill and I ended up with Chocolate Orange!

All of Kirsty's cakes are made from fresh ingredients, free range eggs and come with no additives or preservatives.

Vivacious Cakes have lots of repeat customers. A baby shower cake is often followed by a christening cake and then a 1st birthday cake! With cakes tasting as good as this, these children will still be ordering Vivacious Cakes when they reach 100! 

Please do try this out at home and leave your comments here to let us know how you decorated yours! You can also share your photographs and ideas with us. We'd love to see them. As always, tag them #PerthLoveFest and we'll scatter them around our own social media.  

One year on, I would like to take this chance to say a HUGE HUGE THANK-YOU to Gill for getting on board with my crazy idea and turning #SmallCityRecipes into a beautiful, foodie reality. Her stunning food images have turned 'weekly recipes' into a food lovers' idea of heaven...  and to make things even better, she has become another gorgeous person on my wonderful list of friends.  

Happy Birthday to Us! 

Nicki X