Hi everyone!

Did you all have a nice bank holiday? Ours was pretty chilled out but busy at the same time. I only did a wee bit of baking and it was nice to switch off from everything for a few days.

Saturday we went into town to visit Dunelm Mill cos they had a sale on. They had some right bargains and I had to be restrained. I did get a new clock for the bedroom, some tea, coffee and sugar jars and some new cake tins.I hadn't been there before and I could easily have spent way more money if I had had it to spend.

Sunday was a trip to Scarborough cos the weather was so nice and it was lovely. I grew up near the coast and now living in Leeds that's so far inland I really miss seeing the sea. We had fish and chips as Himself insists we always have them when we go to the coast. Growing up in Ireland we were lucky if there was a loo near the beach never mind a chippy so I am used to bring a disposable BBQ and having that on the beach instead. The only downside was getting sunburnt. Even though I have dark hair I am really fair skinned (it's the Irish in me!) so I always burn really easily even though it wasn't that hot.

Yesterday was a trip to the park with His nephews and then pizza for tea so all in all a great weekend.

Ok enough of my rambles! Here are a few photos from the weekend.

Bargain clock - love it!

New cake tins, were £9.99 now £4.99

Some pretty storage jars to match the kitchen

Scarborough - glorious weather

Beach huts, I'll never tire of seeing these. So adorable!

I'm sat here at work, it's my lunch hour, it's been a manic morning and I'm wondering where the week went and how is it already Thursday? Actually never mind Thursday how is it almost June? They year is passing far too quickly for my liking! Its also been so cold, supposedly the coldest spring on record for so many years (can't remember the exact amount). I just want some sunshine and warmth. At this time of year my scarves and coat should be tucked away in the wardrobe, but instead I still need to be wearing them.

But anyway, enough of my moaning. Time to talk of happy things and chocolate!!!

As you may have read in my previous post it was my friend's birthday last week so not only did I make her chocolate cupcakes but I made her rocky road too. It has to be the best treat ever and so easy to make. The recipe I used was a Nigella one but as always I tweaked it a bit.

It was my friend's birthday last Wednesday but I didn't get to see her until Saturday. When I asked her what she wanted she asked me would I bake her something, preferrably chocolate with some Rocky Road too. Initially I was going to make a chocolate mud recipe that I was sent on Twitter but then the lovely people at the Craft Company sent me a few different items to try out that were perfect for cupcakes so I decided to make cupcakes instead. I will make the chocolate mud cake at some point, it's been added to my to-do list.

The chocolate cupcake recipe I always use is one that I came across in a Hummingbird Bakery book years ago and it has never let me down. I forgot to take photos while I was making the cupcakes but they really are very easy to make.

Recipe - makes 12 cupcakes

200g plain flour
40g cocoa
3tsp baking powder
280g caster sugar
80g unsalted butter (softened)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
240ml milk
2 eggs

Buttercream
160g unsalted butter (softened)
500g icing sugar
2-3tbsp cocoa
a few drops of milk


Preheat oven to 160c (fan) or 180c (non-fan)
Line a muffin pan in cupcake cases
Whisk all the dry ingredients and the butter in a bowl until it resembles a sandy consistency.
Beat the milk, eggs and vanilla in a jug.
Pour half of the eggy milk mixture into the dry mixture and combine.
Pour in the rest and whisk until smooth
Using an ice-cream scoop fill each case 2/3 full of mixture
Pop in the oven for around 22 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Buttercream
Put all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk (cover bowl with a teatowl or you will have icing sugar everywhere!)
Add a bit more cocoa and/or milk if required
Fill a piping bag and pipe onto cupcakes (I tend to use a 1M nozzle)

Decorate however you choose but as I said earlier I got sent these items from the Craft Company to try out. The texture mat is fab and creates some lovely toppers and its so easy to use too. Just roll out some fondant/modelling paste to 5mm thick then place it over the pattern on the mat and roll over it again until it picks up the pattern and shape. The pressure of the rolling pin on the mat cuts out the shape but it would be better if a cutter came with it to give a smoother finish to the edges. I also got sent these cute little blossom plunger cutters, I just love them!






My friend also loved her cupcakes so it was a double bonus. I'll post the rocky road recipe up later this week.

Even though the Craft Company sent me these products to review, all opinions are my own.

As you may have seen in my previous post not only do I enjoy baking but I love the decorating side of it too. I debated writing and publishing this post incase it was a bit of me going "look what I can do" and people might think it was a bit arrogant but then I thought, I share my cakes on Facebook with friends and family who are probably bored of the endless cake photos at times but this is a cake blog and hopefully you who read this blog do so because you like all things cakey.

Often people will be amazed at some of these cakes to which I struggle to understand their amazement. To be honest I am my own worst critic but I want to tell you that if you are interested in cake decorating and sugarcraft keep at it and keep practising, you will get there.

Now I am no expert but I want you to know that it's amazing what you can achieve when you are self taught. The internet is an amazing resource especially Youtube for demonstration videos. I attended an evening class in sugarcraft for a while but the teacher wasn't great and I felt like I was wasting my money. One place I would reccommend is Fans of Cakebaker on Facebook. It's fab and I learnt so many of my early skills from there.

At one point I thought about turning this into a business but I got myself so stressed when making the cakes that now I stick to making them for friends and family as gifts. I hardly made any money from it and along with working full time it just wasn't worth the stress and worry.

Once again im blabbing on, I hope you like these cakes.

ps. most of these are watermarked with my initials cos I have taken them off my Facebook album.

Superhero cake for my nephew

My favourite design for a Christmas Cake

Dad's 60th birthday cake and it survived being taken on a plane!

Christmas Tree Giant Cupcake

"Moo Cow" cake and "Baa Sheep" cupcakes for my other nephew

70's theme for my niece

Spooky castle cake for my nephew - his demands are getting bigger each year!

Christmas Igloo ckae

Toy Story cake - this one really got me into cake decorating!

Giant cupcakes

Mario Kart themed cake for my nephew

New Year's Eve cake

Hedgehog cake (make this one with a sprained wrist so Himself had to help!)

White chocolate and caramel fin cake

Most stressful cake ever - Flying Scotsman cake

I was thinking about what to blog today and there are lots of things I want to blog about but I need to get back in the kitchen and try out my ideas before I can tell you all about them.

I realised I hadn't shown you the birthday cake I made for Himself's 30th weekend before last. The more I get into cake decorating the bigger the demands seem to be from all the family.

We recently set up a marine fish tank at home so He asked for a cake inspired by that. I could hardly say no but inside I was thinking "how on earth am I going to make corals and fish and turn them into a cake??"

Thankfully around the time of His request Ruth at The Pink Whisk put up a recipe for rice krispie treats which turned out to be the perfect thing for modelling corals. I completely forgot to photograph the cake in stages but you can see the finished article below. (One of these days I hope I will get a posh camera to learn how to photograph my cakes really well). My no fail chocolate sponge recipe was used and filled with chocolate buttercream and a mixture of rice krispie treats, modelling paste and royal icing were used to create all the decorations. Even though I wasn't 100% happy with it everyone else was and Himself loved it which was the main thing.


Next bake is something for my friend's birthday this weekend but question is what to bake hmmm....?

Do you ever feel like making a cake that isn't pumped full of fat, sugar and calories? Have you ever tried low fat versions but have been really disappointed by them cos lets be honest, replacing sugar with sweetener just doesn't hit the spot in the same way.

Well there has been a bit of a baby boom in the office this past year and the guy I sit next to has two little 'uns. (Bear with me this will all make sense in a minute!) He was telling me about the process of baby led weaning and how he had discovered a banana bread recipe that contained no sugar and didnt need it cos bananas are naturally sweet. Of course I didn't believe him but I decided to try the recipe and tweaked it a wee bit to suit my tastes. Now I have no idea of the calorie content but I bet its a lot better for you than most cakey teats and when I have one of these I don't feel as guilty.

The recipe was initally for banana bread but I doubled it and made 12 muffins instead. They also freeze really well so its a handy breakfast to pop out of the freezer the night before or in my case I defrost in the microwave that morning. Warm banana bread - yummm.....

The recipe I was given is in imperial but I'm lazy and instead of converting I just pressed the button on my digital scales to change it for me. Much less hassle!

Banana Muffins - makes 12

8 oz self raising flour
1 tsp mixed spice
4 oz butter/stork
5 oz raisins
16 oz banana (about 3 small or 2 large very ripe bananas)
2 eggs, beaten
1tbsp milk
Soft brown sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 180C/106C fan (no idea on the gas - never had a gas oven!)

Line a muffin tin with 12 muffin cases.

Mix flour and spice together then rub in butter and stir in the raisins.

In a separate bowl mash the banana with a fork. I like to leave it a bit chunky for some texture.
Stir into the flour mixture with the banana and pour over the beaten eggs and milk - tip, use a wooden spoon instead of a balloon whisk or you will spend ages trying to get the mixture out of the whisk.


Divide the mixture between the cases. I find an ice-cream scoop works best and it means you get an even amount of mixture in each case.

If like me you want that wee bit of sugar I sprinkle a small dusting of soft brown sugar over each muffin before it goes in the oven but it tastes just as good without.


Bake for around 25mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Pop on a wire rack to cool although they are pretty tasty straight out of the oven.

Enjoy!



ps. here is the orginial recipe if you are interested.

When I was down in Leicester for a girls weekend at the end of March my friend Alex made these fab wee chocolate mushrooms. I recreated them for Himself's 30th last weekend and have renamed them "Alex's Mushrooms."

They are such a quick and easy treat to make and are perfect to make if you have little kids.

Ingredients:

200g Milk Chocolate
1 x bag of marshmallows
Petit Four cases
Sprinkles

Start by melting your chocolate either in a bowl over a pan of hot water or in the microwave. If microwaving do it in 30sec bursts cos it can burn very quickly!

Lay out your petit four cases on a baking sheet and pour some sprinkles in the bottom of each case, enough to cover the base.


Once the chocolate has melted pour a teaspoon of it into each case a lightly press a marshmallow on top. Repeat this process until all the marshmallows/chocolate are used up.


Pop in the fridge for a few hours to set. Once set peel away the paper cases, turn the mushrooms upside down and voila - adorable chocolate mushrooms perfect for any celebration or if you just fancy something sweet!

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to be invited to a ladies only networking event through work. It was all about cake so of course I jumped at the chance when our Company Secretary asked me if I wanted to go with her. I couldn't believe my luck as you all know I am cake obsessed!

Anyway so when we got to the event we were greeted by canapes and drinks and oh my, the canapes were amazing!!! Heaven in a little bite :) There were also cake samples to try, I really enjoyed the lemon one. The lady giving the talk, Viv, from Exquisite Handmade Cakes was a former accountant who ended up taking over a bakery that she worked for. I won't go into the whole story (which is very interesting) but you can read more about it here.

I found the talk really inspiring especially when she spoke about grasping an opportunity. You don't know what's around the corner so it's important to enjoy life and if an opportunity presents itself then grasp it with both hands and give it your all. It doesn't matter how bad life might seem at times there is always a light at then end of the tunnel.

Thanks to Viv from Exquisite Handmade Cakes for such a motivational talk, it was fabulous.

Hi everyone!

I have had a bit of a blog absence over the past week or two but I've had lots going on and I'm looking forward to sharing it with you in my next few posts. I have been to a ladies only networking event with work but it was all about cake which was an added bonus, my parents and younger brother came to visit for a few days and Himself turned 30 last weekend. Lots of baking and partying has been done so I am quite excited to tell you all about all of these things.

On a final and very exciting note the lovely Sisley from Sew White has given me a favourite blog award!!! I am so pleased about this especially as this wee blog is still very much in its infancy and there are so many other amazing blogs out there. Sew White is a fantastic website for anyone interested in baking or crafting so I suggest you go have a look at it. If I could afford it I would be buying most of their stock!