Elli writes… One of my treasured memories of the first days of motherhood was the outpouring of warm wishes brought to us by the postman every morning. If this just sounds like a fancy way of saying ‘we got loads of swag’ it’s absolutely not meant to; we were genuinely touched by the messages and gifts which marked the arrival of our little one.
A standout gift amongst the flowers and fluffy teddies was also one of the more selfish ones: a box of mail order brownies from Gower Cottage, just for me. Until they arrived I’d never even considered the possibility of cake in the post but it’s just so right! No baking, no washing up the mixer, no worrying about the consistency or the % of your choccy… just a perfect box of fabulous brownies.
Gower Cottage are actually some of the best brownies I’ve ever eaten, including shop-bought and my mum’s secret recipe. The high iron content is also ideal for new mums. I’ve since sent them to friends on several occasions and can report that they now come in more desirable packaging and taste as good as ever. A box of 12 is £14.99, which includes postage. You can choose between walnuts, hazlenuts or no nuts and there is a gluten-free option.
Speaking of which, my next mail order cake experience came courtesy of Blue Lotus. You would never ever guess that the Carrot and Cinnamon cake I received was dairy- and egg-free and it did wonders for my morale when coming to terms with the babe’s food allergies. These are cakes to devour whether you are catering for a special diet or not. The carrot and cinnamon is £12.99 for a 7-inch cake (8 servings), but there are loads of other cakes to drool over.
Both cakes above came courtesy of the same friend and it is another of her recommendations next: Meg Rivers. These cakes receive high praise from everyone from India Knight to Delia herself. They even offer a specially put together Baby Box of 32 portions for £30 and the delivery box looks swanky.
Also catering especially for babies, Cakefool offer Bows and Toes Baby Cakes shaped like alphabet blocks. I can’t vouch for the taste but they look very classy. They are £6 each but the minimum order is 12.
Over at Biscuiteers you can celebrate a new arrival with a box of, you guessed it, biscuits. The Baby Girl Tin of approximately 16 beautifully-iced duckling biccies comes in pink and the baby boy tin comes in – yep, you guessed it again – blue, both for £36 each. For biscuits on a budget, say it with the Flowers Card for £8.
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