I can’t believe it’s almost Easter weekend, there’s still snow on the ground! We didn’t have a white Christmas but could we end up with a white Easter instead?

About a year ago I decided to join the Clandestine Cake Club. Now I am pretty cake obsessed and I seem to bring the subject of cake into most conversations. I was so excited to find a group that seemed to be full of people that shared the same passion for cakes and baking as I did.

I have been to numerous events over the past year and it really is the best club ever and it is all down to the wonderful Lynn Hill. The CCC started off in Leeds and since then it has grown to have clubs right across the globe!

At each event a group of us get together at a venue which we only find out the location of a few days before the event. There is always a theme and we bake a cake to suit the theme. No cupcakes/brownies/muffins, it is all about the cake! We try a bit of each others bakes and then at the end of the event we all bring the remaining cake home - honestly it is a genius idea!

I belong to the Leeds City Centre, Headingley and Wharfedale groups and they are all fab. Next event is only a few weeks away - I really need to think of what to bake...

I have also recently been helping Kathryn at the Wharfedale CCC with organising some future events which I'm really excited about!

I have met some wonderful people at these events and I would strongly reccomend that you join your local one if you are interested in all things cake.

Here are a few photos from previous events.

I was going to post something cakey but then I thought I should really tell you about my weekend. It has snowed a fair bit although not as much as back in Belfast where some friends posted photos on Facebook of cars quite literally buried in snow - mental!

Anyway - as it snowed we decided to go for a wee walk round Fewston Reservoir that's a few miles outside Otley. It was so picturesque driving up there and there were some massive snow drifts. All I can say is thank goodness Himself is car obsessed so we have winter tyres. By now he has usually swapped back to summer tyres but its been so cold this March that he has kept them on. I was so glad of it this weekend especially as it is so hilly were we are.

I will let my photos do the talking for what it was like up at Fewston.






 The walk was really lovely but by the end of it I was tired, grumpy and very cold (tired, cold and hungry don't make for a happy Clare). We stopped off at a local pub on the way back for a late lunch and I had the most amazing lasagne - it was made with pulled pork, yum!!!

I also squeezed in a wee bit of baking this weekend too. I had a go at making Paul Hollywood's teacakes from his How to Bake book and they were very nice although next time I think I need to roll them flatter before baking. They look more like scones than teacakes!


I also made us Pavlova for pudding this evening and I keep telling myself that the mountain of fruit on it makes it healthy (I'm ignoring the mountain of cream underneath the fruit!). I used Mary Berry's recipe from her Baking Bible and it's the best meringue ever - crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside.


Hope you all had a lovely weekend. I'm off to clean the rabbit's cage, have a shower and get myself sorted for work tomorrow. At least its a 4 day week :)

I love baking, its the best way for me to de-stress after a long day at work. When I first got into it my tools were so basic and minimal. I had my trusty electric whisk from Asda that cost me the grand total of £5 but it did well and I managed to get a good 3 years out of it before it died.

I was desperate for a mixer and I kept saying to Himself that if we ever got married I only wanted a wedding list so I could put a mixer on it. I remember being in Lakeland with mum one day and pointing them out to her and saying how much I wanted one but they were way beyond my price range.

Anyway so I'm looking on eBay wondering if I could pick up a cheap one second hand and I managed to get one for about a tenner. I can't remember the make of it, it was just a bit old and battered but Himself said he could bring it into the workshops at work and clean it up for me. He did and a few days later I decided to try it out but the whisks snapped straight off and into the mixture. I was not happy!

So the next day I get in from work (He was working late) to find this massive pink box on the kitchen table with a lovely gift card. Honestly I was shaking as I opened it then phoned Him and he said "the money I spent on that is worth more to you and I know you will get more enjoyment out of it." I couldn't wait to try it out and I have been in love with my Kenwood every since. Touch wood it has never failed me even when I pushed to its limits when my MD asked me to baked 150 cupcakes for our client party last summer.

I love my Kenwood and I love Himself even more for buying it for me - see dreams can come true!