Happy Valentine's Day

To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day,
All in the morning betime,
And I a maid at your window,
To be your Valentine.
Then up he rose, and donn'd his clothes,
And dupp'd the chamber-door;
Let in the maid, that out a maid
Never departed more.

~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 5

Yes, as Ophelia said in Hamlet, tomorrow's the time for romance...

Being English, I couldn't let St Valentine's Day pass without acknowledging it with some special new (occasionally pink or heart-themed) miniatures, as seen in the image above. You can find these Valentine's items at my online shop.
You see we Brits love to celebrate this day; just under half the population of the UK will be receiving cards or flowers tomorrow (apparently) and it all goes back to Geoffrey Chaucer who first associated the saint's day with romance in the Middle Ages.

Hope you all have wonderful days. Stay tuned (as I mentioned in my last post) as I am going to do a fun new free-to-enter competition very soon with a fabulous mini to be won. ;)











one inch scale dollhouse valentine's day food, miniature Valentine's Day food for your dollhouse or dolls house.

Charlotte Cakes

Charlotte Cakes are so cool looking, aren't they?! If you actually haven't heard of a Charlotte cake (also known as a Charlotte Russe) then I'll fill you in. Popular across Europe, Charlotte cakes are made with custard and fruit (and sometimes a mousse filling) and surrounded by a circle of ladyfinger sponge biscuits or sweetened stale bread.

I always assumed it was an English dish because it has been suggsted that these cakes were named after Queen Charlotte (1744–1818), the wife of George III. That or the name comes from the mediaeval English word given to dishes made of custard which is 'charlyt'.
However, it seems that popular opinion sways towards the theory that this desert cake was created by an 18th century French chef. Who knows?! I have decided not to include it as part of either my 'Best of British' or my 'Fabulously French' ranges because of this ambiguity!

Anyway, I hope you like them. One is a classic strawberry design which I stole from a Waitrose cooking magazine and the 'Blush Pink' design is something I created with Valentine's Day in mind. Hence the chocolate heart. :) Available at my online shop now.









dollhouse miniature cake, dolls house miniature cake, miniature food, dolls house food, dollhouse food, dollhouse valentine's day, valentine's day cake, charlotte cake, charlotte russe, miniature charlotte cake by Hummingbird Miniatures

Strawberry Profiteroles for your Valentine!

This is a tower of sugared profiteroles with pink icing and strawberries. Made especially for Valentine's Day 2012. A great center piece for your patisserie window or grand dining room table!

Each profiterole was rolled in 'sugar' before being decorated. Took me ages... that's why I only made one ;) Find it here at my online shop

The cake stand was handmade by a very talented artisan, and if you haven't discovered his shop yet then you must do now (click here to go directly to his shop).







one inch scale miniature Valentine's Day cakes, miniature patisserie, Valentine's cake, dollhouse Valentine's, Dolls house Valentine's Day food, miniature food, mini food, dollhouse food by Hummingbird Miniatures from Paris

Duchess Rose Cake for Valentine's Day

Just started listing some of my new Valentine's Day Range at my online shop... more to come tomorrow. :) If you're keen to get something rushed out to you then get your orders in by midnight tomorrow (Friday) as I'm taking lots of orders to the post office Sat morning. :)

My new Duchess Rose Cake was created especially for Valentine's 2012 and is a Limited Edition. It has 5 layers of different shades of pink sponge sandwiched with white icing and then coated in white icing and buttery pink frosting. Finished with piped white icing, sugar rose, candy hearts and pink pearls. Buy it here

Made in the British 'Regency' style and fit for any Queen or Duchess! Part of my Best of British Collection.









Pretty cupcakes here too...

one inch scale dollhouse valentine's day cake, miniature cake, miniature valentine's day cake, dollhouse miniature valentine's day cake, romantic or wedding cakes from Paris in miniature form

My Workspace... Playing in the Patisserie

Preparing for Valentine's Day.... still! Argh! How can I be so behind? Well I am finally getting around to photographing my new range first thing tomorrow... so today I was simply finishing off my patisserie for it. I made several Ladurée boxes for the shelves, painted some little ceramic plates (which are part of my new POP ART Collection) and I re-painted the walls a better shade of pink. :) Job done.

Take a look at some of my snaps of my patisserie-in-progress, Ladurée packaging and my new tall layered Valentine's Cakes which will soon be available in store.







miniatures from Paris, miniature religieuse, Ladurée religieuse, inside Ladurée, Ladurée pastries, Ladurée patisserie Paris, miniature valentine's Day, dollhouse Ladurée pastries and cakes

My Workspace... Playing with Colour

Preparing for Valentine's Day, and well it just had to be French didn't it?! With Paris being the city of love (not sure if it is since the only time I was there I was 9 years old, despite being in and out of France dozens of time since then) but I love the romance of the architecture, fashion and food. So... most of my Valentine's Range for 2012 fits nicely into my 'Fabulously French' Range too.

Here's a glimpse into my workspace... been making tonnes of 'religieuse' (famous French pastry) in the Ladurée style. Invented some of my own colours for them but they're mostly the same as you'd find in Ladurée. Each one takes me ages to make as I am extremely attentive to detail and have spent years practicing to get them as close to the originals as possible.

Take a look at the colourful happenings over at my other blog too and check back here (and my online store) very soon as I launch my new Valentine's Range for 2012. :)tu
res fr

os, dollhouse Paris, dolls house French food, dollhouse patisserie, religieuse, Laduree reliieuse, miniature religieuse

Coming soon... with love!

St Valentine's Day is not far off.... just less than a month away! And besides a whole new and special range to celebrate the romantic season, there's something else coming soon...

... the first ever Hummingbird Miniatures 'mini food tutorial' for you to watch and see how. :)

Stay tuned and don't miss it. Either start subscribing to my YouTube Channel now or keep an eye on this blog for when the video tutorial is posted.

I'm off to London now to meet my agent in the Laduree section of Harrods. Yay! Have a great day everyone.
C xxx