Macro #2

Following my post about the 'Lemon and Cloud Cake'...

Here is a macro picture of the top - all covered in coconut loveliness. Yum.

Lemon and Cloud Cake

"What !?!" said my husband.

He'd just walked in the door from uni and commented on the lovely smell of baking, to which I replied that I was making a "Lemon and Cloud Cake"

Um sorry Abi - it seems I renamed your light fluffy lemon concoction... To see Abi's true version click here and by the way its actually called a "Lemon and Coconut Cloud Cake"!

Heres mine in pictures:

All ingredients present and correct

Looking like a lemon cloud!

Yummy with a cup of tea

Thanks for the recipe Abi

Chris says I didn't get it "quite" right - I'd bought the Lemon Curd and its not as good as mine, so I have to make some Lemon Curd and then bake it again so he can perform a "Taste Comparison" !

Shopping, tempers and cake

My car passed its MOT today - phew, always a relief not to have to spend money on it! I also went and did the food shop and feel quite cantankerous now. I'm normally fairly relaxed as I shop. I take the view, I don't have to be in a hurry and so I have time to peruse the shelves (I'm probably your nightmare shopper!). Today I was going to be in a different town and so a different supermarket was required. I'm not a Tesco' girl. I have a complete aversion to them, to the point that I'd rather pay more than give them a penny of my money...

Did I also say I'm a girl to hold a grudge?? Anyway my shopping habits usually involve sifting through recipe books with a cup of tea, followed by a trip to the butchers and then Waitrose via the Farm Shop. However today I wasn't in my usual town. I refuse to go to Tesco's, I didn't want to cross right to the other side of town for Sainsburys, so that left Morrisons. Now I've nothing against Morrisons. Oooo - but some of their customers - sheesh... It started well, with me and an older gentleman seemingly sharing a trolley - until he realised he was very carefully putting his groceries in with mine! We had a good old laugh and I offered to go and sit in the coffee shop whilst he shopped for me - which he gracefully declined. However almost all of the other customers looked completely frazzled, snapping at children (and I'm no Saint Mum either), barging into people without an apology. Grabbing stock when an 'excuse me' would have done, and I guess thats the thing thats riled me most. I appreciate that not everyone has the luxury of time, some may not have slept well etc etc - but does that really mean we can just dispense with manners? Manners cost nothing, and further more whats wrong with smiling?

Anyway for fear of turning this into a tirade I am off to collect my ironing and then bake "Abi's Famous Lemon and Coconut Cloud Cake" and if that doesn't put my world to rights - nothing will!!

St Valentine's Parcels

Here are some of the parcels to be sent out for Valentines Day...
Yummy heart shaped Caramel Shortbread - delish!

Happy Birthday Lou.

She was all smiles as she opened the front door and saw her balloon, cake, cards and gifts. We had homemade burgers and fries for tea followed by some lovely ice cream before singing Happy Birthday and eating some cake.

I think she had a lovely day, she certainly looked happy all day.

Birthday Girl

Today is Lou's 10th birthday and I have almost finished the preparations. Gingerbread hearts and stars were iced and delivered to school for lunchtime, along with the two invitations for her Birthday tea (which is to be on Friday - when another cake will be required!). Balloon bought and pink drizzle cake made, iced and candles stuck in. Her presents have been wrapped and placed on the piano along with other gifts and cards from friends and family. All that remains now is to ensure the camera batteries are well charged and to make the beefburgers for tea tonight.

Its a rather pink themed birthday - but then Lou is a girl who likes pink!

I can't believe she is 10 today. I remember my own 10th birthday so clearly. I felt so grown up, having finally reached double figures. My day was made all the more special by having my best friend (who shares exactly the same birthdate) over after school for fishfingers, chips and peas (I have a photo - not photographic memory!). We made birthday badges for each other and then we got to go to the cinema to see 'Splash' - and we got to sit on our own. My mum who'd taken us sat 5 rows behind. We felt so grown up. I hope to create a memory like this for Lou, so on Friday she is off to the local swimming pool with two of her friends. The pool puts on 'disco' in the water for 8 - 15 year olds (adults only allowed in the cafe!), with underwater lights and music. She is so excited by this!

Valentines

I love crafts - but my hubby doesn't really share the passion. He does however love cake... hence I've come up with an idea for Valentines: Heart shaped Caramel Shortbread.

If you'd like one to send to your beloved - hop on over to my Etsy store where you'll find them!

Happy Birthday Christopher

Today is Chris' birthday. I tried to get him to take a day off so I could take him out for the day, but he's currently on his Theatre placements and trying to put 'tubes' in - so his birthday treat will have to wait till February.

To make up for it I've donned my bakers hat and made him Caramel Shortbread and a Lemon Drizzle Loaf to take into the hospital and keep all the nurses, consultants, registrars and anaesthetists happy. I've made Butterfly Cakes as requested and I've got a Lardy Cake proving. Whilst it won't do our waistlines any good, it should bring a greedy smile or two!

Yummy

I've really been wanting to wash my car this week, but as of yet the rain has not stopped, so what else is there to do on a day full of rain except bake?

Sitting down with a cup of tea and enjoying a slice of Caramel Shortbread was yummy indeed, and feeling very generous I've even added some to my shop - rest assured those will be baked to order!

Party Food

It's the Children's school party today and these are the goodies they are taking in to share. There has obviously been some testing going on - in the interests of quality of course - or at least that was what I was told. Plus there has been a request to make more of these at the weekend.

Mini cakes are a go!

The fruits were put in to soak last Thursday and I was intending to bake the cakes shortly after. However when I looked at the quantity of the fruits I realised I didn’t have enough tins to bake the ‘mini’ cakes in. So the fruits have been left soaking up the brandy, whilst we have eaten more beans on toast than we truely care too. We even had Spaghetti on toast - and it was AWFUL. I used to love Heinz Spaghetti Hoops on toast when I was younger. Now, either I had dreadful taste as a child or they have changed the recipe. It was foul!

I finally thought we had enough tins, so I made up the mix this morning and lined an 8″ round tin and 8 tin cans. Spooned the mixture in and realised I still had lots of mixture, so quickly lined a 2lb loaf tin and generally made a real mess and created mounds of washing up. The mini cakes were baked for 2 hours, the loaf tin and round cake have been in 4 and a half hours now. Now I know I am biased - but I’m very, very impressed with how the mini cakes have turned out, so much so that I’ve decided to make up another batch and sell them - I’ve agreed to do a Craft Fair in November with my friend - but thats another post!

Christmas Cakes

Last year I wanted to bake Mini Christmas Cakes to give as gifts, however Chris thought the tins for this too expensive, and I couldn't work out a better (read cheaper!) way to do this, so I let the idea slip, resolving to figure it out, and promptly forgot. Until now!

Still none the wiser and unable to persuade Mr L to change his mind, and unwilling to compromise on wanting to do round cakes instead of square ones the scheme again looked set to fail. I decided to pop on over to the ‘Old Style’ boards on Moneysavingexpert.com to see if the wise people there had any ideas, and naturally they did! Tin Cans - why didn't I think of that!

Now all we have to do is to eat lots of tinned goods. I've started soaking the fruits today and shall stop when I have enough tins!

Today is also my little sisters birthday - so Happy Birthday Casima!