Observation Is Not The Same As Practice, It Turns Out

Wheee! So it turns out that 10+ years of watching my mum make the most incredible cakes but never doing it myself is rather like driving a car having only ever studied theory (albeit for many years). What do you think?

I don't think I've done too badly, considering...I've never even baked a cake that size (10ins), let alone covered it (four attempts, you can't see the dodgy sides from this angle) or held a piping bag in...probably 20 years (which is why the shells round the edge are so rubbish - icing sugar was too wet). Those gerberas were absolute hell, I really should have used gum paste rather than ordinary sugar paste. You can't see from this pic but all those little stars are sparkly, which lifts it a little. It took hooooooooooours and I'm completely knackered.

The party's this afternoon - mum & dad have been on hols this week and mum's under the impression it's her brother's 30th wedding anniversary party tomorrow afternoon. I have "reluctantly" agreed to go along to show off D and catch up with my cousin after his trip to PAX2010 (for the geeks amongst you he met the awesome Wil Wheton and I am sick with jealousy). So far we think mum doesn't suspect a thing. We've been planning it for months - K found out accidentally two weeks ago and has been absolutely amazing at keeping her trap shut to mum, bless her.

Not to be outdone on the cake front, K pinched my cutters and together we made these fairy cakes:

Cute, huh?Happy birthday, mum. :)

Cookie Tree

We made a cookie tree! I bought the cutters last year, actually, but for some reason we never got round to it. K is an accomplished biscuit-cutter-outer now, though, so it was into the frigid kitchen and on with the dough. These are vanilla biscuits rather than gingerbread; I think I'd like to try it with lebkuechen next time just for the yum factor. And of course next year I plan to actually have some icing sugar in which isn't damp, and some proper sweeties to decorate it, rather than panicking at the last minute and only having chocolate chips in. Still, it kept us busy on a snow-bound afternoon, and it is rather tasty...!

Pudsey's costing me an arm and a leg...!

Nah, not really. But when you actually have a child it's surprising how much it racks up around Children In Need day! Today's little shenanigans have been a far cry from the time me and a mate dressed up in hotpants and bunches, and trundled round the uni engineering labs (and at a science uni, that's a LOT of labs) shaking a bucket and tolerating the leering in the name of charity, anyway. Which is a relief, given that I'm 33, not 19 and certainly don't have that figure any more!

Seems Children In Need requires bunches...

Here's K, showing off her bear, spotty top, ribbons and socks for "dress spotty day" at preschool. They've been baking all week, so we have plenty of fairy cakes (and it's been rather nice picking her up each day as the building has smelled lovely!).

Have you visited yet?

After holding out all week I finally cracked and bought us some lovely things from the Crafteroo Folksy shop, too...

Button hairclips by Big Blue Bed

Some pretty Dorset Button hairclips for K, donated by Big Blue Bed - she's asked for these in purple and is terribly excited!

Blue swirl bracelet by Snow Queen

And since I can never resist a) treating myself and b) a pretty bracelet, this is for me and was donated by Snow Queen.

Go on and see what there is to buy - there's a great range of lovely things from crafters all around the UK - including me!

Nuts About Origami

Gotta love these scheduled updates.

Hello from the other side of the country to where I usually am! It's my other half's birthday today and I'm writing this several days ago in the midst of packing to visit his parents. We've carried a bagful of presents with us and here are the ones which I have made (I went a bit mad, as you can see!).

Ticket Mouth Card

We're going to see Tim Minchin the day after A's birthday - I've had the tickets for ages and I'm sure he's mostly forgotten about it. I didn't want to take the tickets with us in case they got mislaid, so I photocopied them several times onto one piece of paper, then folded it into a mouth shape. Inside the mouth is one of Tim's poems (an epic 9min beat poem, so it printed out to about four lengths of A4! Listen here), to form the tongue. So I hope this will give A a good laugh and have him looking foreward to the show.

I made this amazing Chocolate Macadamia Fudge Cake (which has probably all vanished by the time you read this) - I just wanted to use up some egg whites but I think this will become a favourite. It's incredibly rich - half a kilo of Green & Black's 70%, for starters. Also very gooey! Follow the link for a pic - mine is already packed away at the time of writing.

I had some leftovers from the cake and have recently mastered the not-very-difficult sugaring of nuts, so I syruped up the last of the macadamias and made a little sanbo box for them.

Sanbo Box of sugared macadamias

This box is made from vellum, which I hope will keep the sugar and any grease in the box. Nice and easy to fold but a bit deceptive - the bottom of the box is much higher up than you think it will be so it's not very deep. Nice for a table display, but not as practical for a gift - I'd go for my usual masu box next time, I think, although again these don't come out very deep.

And finally - a major left-over from this cake is a bottle of rum. A's favourite fudge is rum & raisin, so I had a go at making some. It's not great in texture, though it tastes pretty good! I had a lot of fun making it and learned a lot about boiling sugar very quickly, eep. Many thanks to a Kiwi friend for the recipe, which does not include condensed milk (hurray for evil-free sweets!).

Rum & Raisin Fudge

Of course, you need a fancy bag for such homemade goodness and here it is.

Origami Gift Bag

This is made of duel-colour card. I think in retrospect it was a bit stiff and I didn't crease it very well, but again hopefully the thickness of it will stop any grease coming through for a few days. And skilled as it undoubtedly is, I am a lazy person and would probably not bother with the top folds next time - a couple of punched holes and a ribbon would be just as effective!

All origami is from A Handbook of Origami, which I would certainly recommend if you fancy having a go!


I wonder if there's any of that fudge left...

Back to crochet

Are you all full up after those cakes? Lordy, us too - though I have been told off for baking whilst a friend was on holiday and couldn't partake. That's what you get for running off to the sun, mate. :P There is another cake in my kitchen at the moment - the chocolate orange cake, but this time made with G&B's cherry and black cherry jam. Disgustingly good (thanks Lisa!), although not quite as...sophisticated, maybe, as the marmalade version. But ooh, those cherries. Yum.

So now I'm back to real life and buried in piles of admin for S&S - new enrolments are open so the phone's ringing off the hook and the postman eagerly awaited every day. In amongst that I've completed an earflaps hat for this lovely boy:


Not the greatest of shots of the actual hat but sweeeeeeet little boy! The hat is made from Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK in pale green, teal and ocean blue stripes, which are very spring-like and just right for this time of year. The pattern is an adaption from The Happy Hooker - I increased the size and added these tubular double crochet ties; they're a bit chunky but very soft. Tied hats are great for slung babes.

Multiple visitors means multiple requests for amigurumi, too, and here's the first of my queue completed for a very old friend. This penguin is from Tiny Yarn Animals, which is a new one for me. I quite like it - the instructions are clear and this little chap was easy to whizz up. You're supposed to stitch his wings down, but I rather like how he looks - as though he's about to jump on you for a cuddle.



Oh yes, I joined Ravelry...deary me, quite a time-sink! I've put quite a few of my projects up there now and found a few friends, too, it's certainly helpful for keeping on top of the queue that's built up recently.

* Cake Day 6: Vicki's Bickies *

These yummy yummy cookies are peanut butter & chocolate chip, but the kicker is that you make an enormous amount of delicious dough and then freeze it. Cookies on tap! So so useful for having lots of visitors - one burst of effort and you look like a domestic goddesss every time anyone comes round. Recipe courtesy of the lovely Victoria of Baby Bean and known as Vicki's Bickies in this house (as in "Mummmmmmmeeeeeee!!! Can we have some Vicki's Bickies pleadleeedleeedleeesse???").




You'll need:

200g peanut butter
200g softened butter
200g light soft brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
250g chocolate chips/chopped chocolate (I used a mixture of milk and dark Green & Black's)
350g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt

Cream the peanut butter, soft butter, sugar, and vanilla extract together. Beat in the eggs, then add the chocolate (K loved having the responsibility for this bit!). Sieve in the flour, bicarb, and salt and mix. Now you can either put tsp-sized balls on a baking sheet, set the oven to 180oC and come back in 10-15 minutes; or put down greaseproof paper/clingfilm and roll the mixture out into a sausage. Try not to eat all the dough right now.

And that's your lot!

* Cake Day 5: Spiced Strawberry Cake *

We first made Spiced Strawberry Cake for A's birthday last year - K decided Daddy NEEDED to have strawberry cake, so I asked some people who like cake almost as much as me. Many thanks to Lisa! and here it is for reference. I'm cheating with the photos on this one and using the ones from A's birthday, as the cake we made for this weekend was set upon before I thought to photograph it - but to be honest, serving it and seeing everyone enjoy it was much more important than taking pictures! Also, I'm sitting here pigging out on what's left and it's not a pretty sight.



Anyway. Grease and line your press-out tin and heat your oven to 180oC.


You'll need:

5oz softened butter
5oz caster Sugar
1 large egg
5oz ground almonds
5oz self raising flour
1tsp ground cinnamon
1tsp ground coriander
10oz strawberries, halved
1tsp crushed coriander seeds for topping

Cream the butter and sugar, beat in egg, then stir in all the dry stuff except the crushed coriander seeds. You want it light and fluffy. Spread half in the bottom of the tin. Arrange the halved strawberries over this - I've successfully used raspberries, blueberries and blackberries as well; in fact this one is strawberry and blackberry. Now dot the rest of the mixture over the fruit, leaving it pretty rough. Sprinkle over the crushed coriander seeds and bake for about an hour depending on your oven.



We then put whipped cream and more strawberries over the top when cool - if you can bear to wait that long, that is!

Tomorrow: Vicki's Bickies!

* Cake Day 4: Chocolate Marmalade Cake *

This is one of my favourite "melted" cakes to make; it's really quick, deeply satisfying, grown-up enough to appeal to most people and still a hit with kids too. And let's face it, anything that uses an entire bar of Green & Black's Maya Gold is more than alright with me. I'm pretty sure this recipe
 may originally have been a Nigella Lawson.

You need a loose-bottomed tin and an oven preheated to 160oC.

You'll need:

125g butter
100g Green & Black's Maya Gold (orange spiced dark chocolate, if you don't get G&B in your country)
300g marmalade
150g brown sugar
2 eggs
150g plain flour
1tsp baking powder

Melt the butter, chocolate and marmalade together. Keep it on a low heat as you don't want to curdle your eggs later. Add your flour, sugar and baking powder to a bowl, and beat the eggs separately. Once your chocolate mix is ready and cooled slightly, slowly add about half to the dry mix, stirring gently. Then slowly add the eggs, mix gently and then slowly add the rest of the chocolate mix until it all comes together. Then bake for around 1.5hrs - I usually test it at an hour and then 20mins later until it's cooked through. Again, wrap in foil asap to keep the moisture in if you're not going to serve immediately. Fudge sauce is good with this. I've just topped it with a scant 50g 70% G&B's to make it extra-evil.

Don't forget to lick the bowl out - very important!

Tomorrow: Spiced Strawberry Cake!

* Cake Day 3: Kiwi Muffins *

Kiwi Muffins! These are absolutely delicious even though I think I went wrong somewhere - they didn't expand as I'd expected them to and have stuck to the cases. They are SO yummy, though. Unfortunately I can't give the recipe as it's from a quite new book, but I will say you NEED to buy the Abel & Cole Cookbook. It is possibly the best recipe book I've ever had - I've cooked absolutely loads out of it and because it's arranged by season it fits beautifully with what's in our veg box. Although I should probably confess I was so keen to try these out that I didn't wait for them to be in season. Bad me. We also baked the Pumpkin bread yesterday for our first round of visitors and it was honestly to die for - even better as I was able to use fresh rosemary from the patch of concrete which is our garden.


Tomorrow: Chocolate Marmalade Cake!

* Cake Day 2: Carrot & Pecan Cake with Honey & Lemon Topping *

A slightly naughty take on boring old carrot cake - lots of pecans for texture without the bitterness of walnuts, and a sweetly sticky honey & lemon topping. It's all good for you, honest!

You'll need a standard round cake tin with a push-through bottom, and I highly recommend Magic Non-Stick Liner - it is your friend. Not the faintest idea where this one comes from, I remember first making it in '03 or thereabouts.

Preheat your oven to 180oC and grease your tin.

You'll need:
3oz plain flour
3oz wholemeal flour
3.5tbp baking powder
6oz brown sugar
1tsp mixed spice
6oz softened butter
3 eggs
8oz grated carrots
3oz chopped pecans
3oz raisins

Cream the butter and sugar together. Then add the flour, baking powder and mixed spice, and the eggs. When you've got a nice mix, add the carrots, raisins and pecans. Slop it all into the tin and bake for about an hour or so, again depending on your oven. Wrap in foil asap to keep the moisture in.

For the topping, to be prepared about 2hrs before eating:
6oz Philadelphia soft cream cheese
4tbsp icing sugar
2tbsp honey (a good strong one like Greek - the above uses Spanish Lemon Tree honey)
2tbsp lemon juice

Beat it all together and slop it on the top. The above pic only used 3oz icing sugar which is why it's a bit runny. Decorate with any leftover pecans. Stick it in the fridge for about 2hrs (or whatever, you know...you could just eat it straight away).

Tomorrow: Kiwi Muffins!

* Cake Day 1: Boiled Fruit Cake *

We're having a LOT of visitors over the half-term holiday (hello all!). I love baking but I feel rather guilty just doing it for the three of us (well...mostly the two of us as a lot of it gets gobbled when K is in bed), so having visitors gives me a good excuse to make all my old favourites and try out some new ones too. Whilst I don't Twitter, I do Facebook a lot and have been narrating my baking progress for the last few days, which has led to a chorus of recipe requests. I figured what better way to share them than put them here so everyone can pick their favourites out - and have a few photos to drool over in the meantime?

Like most of my recipes, I have no idea where almost all of these come from, and most of them have been tweaked to our family tastes - any plagiarism is completely unintentional. Note that when I say "cup" I'm actually using a fairly narrow mug - so it's a bit bigger than a US cup measurement but not a standard UK mug. It doesn't actually matter as it's the proportions that count; if you use a bigger mug/shoe/wheelbarrow just increase everything else as well.

Boiled Fruit Cake

This one is my "OMG, Visitors!" cake (which is doubly funny to me as my gran-in-law refers to nits as "visitors"...), which is a doddle to make and comes from my mum. I also take it to meets and on holiday as it's fairly robust. It's best made the night before if you can manage it.

Line your loaf tin with greaseproof paper - you can be fairly lazy about it as you can see from the pic. Put your oven on at about 160oC - mine is fan-assisted so you may need it warmer, it's a bit trial and error, this one.
Then you need:
2oz Butter
2 cups dried fruit (I use raisins and apricots)
1 cup hot water
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups plain flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp mixed spice
2 eggs

Add the butter, fruit and water to a pan and heat gently until melted. Turn off and allow to cool whilst you mix the dried ingredients together. Beat the eggs, and when your fruit mix is cool enough such that it won't curdle the eggs, add this and the eggs slowly to the bowl bit by bit, mixing all the while. The final mixture will be quite runny. Stick it in the loaf tin and bake for about 1hr depending on your oven, maybe 1hr30. The trick is when it comes out, turn it out of the tin almost straight away, wrap it in the greaseproof paper and then in foil. Leave overnight so that all the steam is kept in to make it lovely and moist.

Tomorrow: Carrot & Pecan Cake with Honey & Lemon Topping.