Fondant Cake Number 5 - Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland is a magical and  surreal story which was told beautifully by Walt Disney back in 1951.  It also happens to be one of the favourite films of my friend Mel and as it's her Birthday on Tuesday I decided a couple of months ago that I would bake her a rich fruit cake and decorate it in an Alice in Wonderland style as a suprise.

She collected it this weekend and was thrilled!

This cake has been an amazing project and I've really learnt a lot along the way.  I'm actually quite sad that it's all finally over!

1950's Glamping Glamour

I was so lucky to have been taken away on a suprise weekend by my closest friends last weekend for my Birthday.

With no idea where I was going or what we were going to be doing, I found myself being driven to a campsite in Poole, Dorset where there were 3 vintage Americal Airstream caravans which my friends had decorated.  We dressed in 1950's clothing all weekend and the girls had all baked and set up a really cute tea Party the first night before heading into Bornemouth for cocktails the second evening.

I think it's safe to say that with Birthday camping celebrations with friends and family a few weeks ago and now Birthday 'Glamping' with the girls, I really have had the Birthday that keeps on giving and certainly a Birthday to remember!

Here's to the most special friends a girl could ever wish for. x

Vegan Chocolate Birthday Cake

This week I was asked by a work colleague to make a cake for a 60th Birthday.  Easy you may think.  However there was a twist!

The challenge was that it had to be a vegan cake and should contain no nuts.

I soon discovered that all the design ideas I had would be no good due to geletine and other animal products being hidden in so many ingredients.  However after doing some research on the internet, I found what looked like a suitable recipe for a chocolate vegan cake and used chocolate buttercream icing, made with soya butter to pipe a basket weave side and rope effect around the top.  I also decorated with a '60' and 2 stars, all piped with melted vegan dark chocolate and sprayed with a vegan friendly edible pearl spray.  I put this in the fridge to set then very carefully arranged on the cake.

I was apprehensive at the start of making this cake, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out. 

I just hope it tastes as good as it looks!

Fondant Cake Number 4 - Button Cake

Can you believe that my borther's girlfriend has the same birthday as me?!
This meant I had a busy week a couple of weeks ago preparing a cake for her as well as myself.

I baked a moist chocolate sponge cake with a chocolate buttercream centre and covered on fondant icing.

She is crazy about buttons so I wanted to make a button themed cake.  I made lots of small fondant icing buttons and placed them on a fondant ribbon around the edge of the cake and arranged all the rest on the top.

I think she liked it and I really hope she enjoyed eating it too :)

Fondant Cake Number 3 - Pink Gift

It was my birthday 2 weeks ago and I had a lot of fun making my own vanilla sponge cake to share with my friends and family at my camping celebrations.

The cake went down well and everyone seemed to enjoy the taste as well as love the look.

Making this cake I discovered that having such design freedom was quite difficult.  When you have a theme to work to, it is easier to get the creative juices flowing!

I decided upon a pink theme because, let's face it, how long can you have a pink cake for before you have to grow up?!

Fondant Cake Number 2 - Road and Trees

I was commissioned to make my first cake recently for the 5th Birthday of a work colleague's son.

This was a vanilla wheat and gluten free cake and the brief was to make a cake that could have a toy tractor placed on the top.

I covered the cake board and cake in a grass colour green fondant icing with a road which travelled up the sides and accross the top.  To add a little something else, I made 4 trees, one to repersent each member of their family, and a little sheep.

I loved the challenge of making this cake and was really nervous handing it over.  I was so desperate for my colleague to like it and to my relief he really did.  I was told after the Birthday party that Charlie loved the cake and managed to eat the sheep in one go!!

Happy 5th Birthday Charlie!

Plant them and they will come (aka doing The Good Life)

So it's been a long time since I last updated on the progress of the vegetables I have been growing from seed.  So here are some photos of what's been going on in our garden.

We transfered our precious baby shoots into our new freshly made bed

 
Then covered our potatos in tubs drilled with drainage holes

Watered them in

and Dusty checked our work to make sure it passed inspecion

Then suddenly... BAM.... Potato plants!

and pretty potato plant flowers

Next, to check in on the 3 varieties of carrots

and the Brussell sprouts which are currently in the process of taking over the world!

Sadly our tomatos are still small and in the shadow of our their sprouting neighbours

Meanwhile inside, the man and I are having a strawberry growing competition

Then the really exciting moment we picked out first fresh home grown vegetables

Cleaned up those babies

and sat down for a delivious sunday roast!

The difference in taste from the home grown vegetables and those you buy in supermarket chains is incredible and it's so exciting to watch your babies grow from seed to plate!

Friends and family

"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly"

I'm so incredibly lucky to have the most amazing friends and family.  Friends and family that I know will always be there for me and I hope they know that in turn, I will always be there for them.

These same friends and family did everything they could to make sure that I had a birthday to remember last month.

I would be lost without them!