Have any of you ever dreamt of entering a cake competition but are scared to press submit on that entry form? I feel like that about GBBO as I know I’m not good enough (yet) but there are other competitions I have entered in the past.

On one occasion I actually came 1^st in the Vintage Category of the Leeds Bake-Off in 2013 and the buzz and confidence boost it gave me was amazing. That same year I also entered one of the many competitions at the Cake and Bake Show – The Clandestine Cake Club competition. Now I didn’t win that one but I did get some great feedback from the celebrity judge – Britain’s Best Bakery’s Peter Sidwell. Honestly, getting such positivity from him gave me such a boost and self-belief in my baking. I have also taken part in Iron Cupcake in the past too and the amazing responses from the tasters there made me feel so happy about my baking. Who care's that I didn't win? I moved my baking from the comfort of my kitchen to letting the public taste it. For all of us bakers that takes courage and I'm a wimp at the best of times haha!

When the folks at the Cake and Bake Show told me about the competitions coming up at this year’s show I knew I had to tell you about them. I’m also very excited to see all the amazing entries. In previous years there has been a Jungle theme and a cake catwalk and I have been so wowed by what’s being exhibited.

This year, The Cake & Bake show is calling on professional, semi-professional and amateur bakers to enter a cake based on their own interpretation of children’s stories. Entrants can choose anything from a character in a children’s book to nostalgic movie scene or a combination of all your favourites from over the years! Whether big or small, cupcakes to 3 tiered extravaganzas, the design will be totally up to the decorator as long as it adheres to the theme! Awards will be given for - display and taste and display only. Entries will be judged by an esteemed panel of experts inclusive of Gurgle magazine for our junior category. The Edinburgh competition will be judged and awarded by the Scottish Baking Awards as well as the Cake & Bake team.  

Can you imagine the cakes you could create based on this theme? I'm thinking Harry Potter, any of the Roald Dahl books and Enid Blyton stories spring to mind do. Maybe I should set that as a theme for of the the next Wharfedale CCC events, hmmm.....

You might be thinking “I’m not good enough” but let me tell you, you are! We all have to start somewhere and you don’t know how good you really are until you let other people judge your creations. Seeing your cake on display and other people admiring it is an amazing feeling.

Check out the Cake and Bake Show’s website for further details. If you think you could do it then enter it! Good luck!

PS. remember you can still save £3 off the price of you ticket using the code CAKE-BAKE3

One of the shows I have been to twice now is the Cake and Bake Show in Manchester. I went 2 years ago for the first time with Mr T and last year I was helping out on the Clandestine Cake Club stall where I was very fortunate in getting to meet some of my foodie idols. 

This year I’m very excited to hear that the show is coming to Harrogate which is only 20mins away from me and I’m already planning what I want to do when I’m there.  Top of the list is inspiration for the wedding cake! 

I could ramble on about how much I like the show but you can read my previous posts here where you will see all manner of cakes and baking. 

As a treat for you all the lovely folks at the Cake and Bake Show have sent me a discount code for tickets to any of their shows. Just quote CAKE-BAKE3 when purchasing to receive £3 off tickets!”

“The Cake & Bake Show, in association with NEFF is an experiential live event for baking and cake fanatics. The event is set to turn up the heat with 4 new exciting shows in Harrogate, London, Manchester and Edinburgh. These events have capitalised on the popularity of all things baking and host the perfect mix of live demonstrations, expert classes, market stands, live competitions and so much more to develop your home baking hobby! 

See and meet renowned baking stars, patisserie experts and the industry's best cake decorators. From demonstrations on the Super Cake & Bake Theatre in association with NEFF, to do-along classroom sessions and book signings - there will be lots of opportunities for you to learn from the best! Tickets are now on sale!”

Remember this ticket code is only valid until the 15^th April; get yours before the offer expires.

*** I was gifted 2 tickets in exchange for this post but all thoughts are my own***

Hope you all had a great Easter! I’m enjoying no work today; I could seriously get used to 4 day weekends haha!

Slimming World wasn’t great last week, I put 1lb on but it’s no surprise when I think back over the week. It started with chocolate and crisps on Friday, a Mc Donald’s on Saturday, breakfast out and a crème egg on Sunday, a brownie on Monday, galaxy salted caramel on Tuesday (it was lush and worth the 1lb gain!) and sausages and oven chips on Wednesday. All in all not a great week. My evening meals were generally good though, it was the naughty treats every day that caught me out.

It’s made me realise how easy it is to slip into bad habits – there is no need for a big treat every day. A little bit of chocolate is fine but when it’s something substantial the pounds can easily creep back on. This weekend hasn't been the best but I knew to expect that and I have made sure that when I'm at home and in control of the cooking it is all a lot healthier (apart from some pizza we bought for lunch on Friday). The worst we did at the weekend was the pizza, a meal out on Saturday night but I did make healthy choices and fish and chips by the sea on Sunday. Life is for living but not for over-indulging every day haha!

I’ve also decided this week to share my weekly shop with you along with the meal plan. The lovely Charlotte from Write Like No One’sWatching vlogs her weekly shop and it’s inspired me to do something similar. I’ll stick with photos though; I’m not brave enough to do a video just yet!

I did the shopping on Friday so these photos also cover what we ate over the weekend.


As it's the start of the month some of this shopping includes store cupboard top ups and a few extra treats for Mr T as he's off this week on half term.


Fruit and veg - we go through a crazy amount of peppers but I love them to bulk out a meal and get extra veg into us. The closed cup mushrooms are for general cooking (we also go through a lot of them and there is another punnet in the fridge) while the chestnut ones are for a carabonara I'm making later in the week. The asaparagus tips were a right bargain - 99p in Aldi! We also have spinach, peas and green beans in the freezer that work out much cheaper and more economical to buy frozen.


We eat a lot of meat! I do want to cut back though... Since starting SW we have got into the habit of having steak as a treat on a weekend. It's only £3.79 a steak and works out a lot cheaper and healthier than a takeaway. Our plans changed for Saturday night and we didn't end up eating the steak but it's dated until the weekend so that will do us on Friday night instead. I love buying pork shoulder to make pulled pork. It's so cheap and I tend to be able to eek out quite a few meals from this (usually lunches with the leftovers so one or two less meals to worry about!). The bratwurst and smoked salmon are treats for Mr T; I don't like either so he can eat them next week for lunch while I'm at work. Streaky bacon is for the carabonara while the back bacon is for breakfast - yum! Drycure bacon is another Aldi bargain - only £1.59! I spotted the lamb all on it's lonesome by the gammon joints and when I saw the price (£9.05 for 2.3kg!) I knew I had to get it. I couldn't find any smaller joints but this will last us for quite a few meals. We will probably end up eating lamb all week haha!


Mr T's lactofree milk is missing off here as Aldi don't sell it so I need to nip to Sainsburys to get some of that. He is lactose intolerant but oddly it's only milk and yoghurts that make him ill; cheese, butter and cream are all fine in moderation. We shared the pizza above as my weekend treat and oh my, it was divine! My OCD is also kicking in here as I've realised the double cream is the wrong way round. Ah well - too late to change it now...


Cleaning products and toiletries - they are what they are haha! I've also realised looking at the receipt that the Swarfega cost £2.89 - Mr T costs me a fortune when he goes shopping with me sneaking stuff in the trolley...


Cupboard stuff - Yorkshire Tea (why buy anything else?), we go through this many eggs a week, it's crazy! Chocolate for emergency brownie making, olives for Mr T (ick!) tinned fish and veg, low syn snack bars for me and the best and cheapest sundried tomatoes - only £1 a jar! We go through these like they are going out of fashion; I tend to have one jar in the fridge and one in the cupboard at all times.

So that's our food haul for the week plus a few household things that we needed. I love shopping at Aldi and this came to the grand total of £76.12! I think that's pretty good considering we got a massive joint of lamb, got nice steaks instead of blowing £20 on a takeaway and stocked up on some cupboard and household stuff. Looking over it again it turns out I bought enough to last us right through til next Sunday (I did the shop last Friday) so I'm even more pleased with the price now! I find our weekly shop varies between £50 and £70+ a week depending on what we need. This was definitely an indulgent one but the lamb was worth it!

So, meal plan!

Monday – Using up the leftover roast lamb somehow...

Tuesday – Seafood stirfry (we really need to use up the squid and prawns in the freezer)

Wednesday – Spaghetti Carabonara from my new Mary Berry book

Thursday – We are out for curry after weigh-in woop!

Friday – Steak

Saturday – no idea; we are at a party in the evening and I'm not sure if food will be laid on. I think I'll deal with Saturday when it comes around.

Sunday – Pulled pork - yum!

Thanks for bearing with me through a long old post but I'm downright nosey and love to have a peek at what other people buy so I thought I would share our weekly shop with you.

As always I'm linking up over at the lovely Mrs M's.

Have a great week!

I’ve got another Easter recipe for you – Easter cupcakes!

I’m so surprised I’ve managed to blog on 4 consecutive days this week but I’m pleased too. This new blog design has really spurred me on and I’m feeling a lot more creative. 

I’m already plotting and planning for the weekend. I don’t want to bake a lot as I want some time out and to spend some much needed time with Mr T but I’d quite like to make us a nice treat (or 2!).

The sponge in this recipe comes from a Hummingbird recipe from years ago. I can’t find the original to link it to as it’s so easy I’ve memorised it without even trying.

Easter Cupcakes (makes 6)

120g SR flour

40g Stork margarine (or similar)

140g sugar

1 egg

120ml milk

¼ tsp vanilla bean paste

Buttercream

100g unsoftened butter

250g icing sugar

½ tsp vanilla bean paste

Raspberry jam

Freeze dried raspberries

Mini eggs

Enjoy!

Have a very happy Easter, I’ll catch up with you all next week.

I adore making brownies, they are my ultimate go to bake when I am feeling stressed or need a massive chocolate hit. Ever since I found this recipe by Billingtons I have used it as the base for so many other types of brownies.

Seeing as it is Easter week I felt it was the ideal opportunity to whip up some crème egg brownies. My colleagues have also been dropping some not very subtle hints lately about me making some brownies again so to celebrate a four day week and the long weekend I decided to make Monday a lot more cheerful and bring these bad boys in to the office. 

Here’s a tip though – don’t put the crème eggs into the brownies until 5 mins before the end otherwise they disintegrate and the bake becomes crumbly rather than gooey.

I've fiddled with the recipe slightly by adding some milk chocolate and reducing the amount of dark chocolate. It makes them a little less rich and a lot more moreish haha!

Crème Egg Brownies

300g dark chocolate

50g milk chocolate

200g unsalted butter

250g dark brown sugar

3 eggs

50g SR flour

6 crème eggs cut in half lengthways

Enjoy!