After Miss Connie Jean requested a Princess castle cake for her 5th birthday I feared she was starting to over estimate my baking skills, but perhaps she has more confidence in them then I do...

And maybe I cheated a little...

Originally I wanted to bake the turrets but as I lost track of what day it was over the Christmas period, I didn't leave myself enough time. The turrets are actually kitchen roll tubes covered in fondant. Not edible but quick, easy and they get the job done! I read somewhere that cakes can be baked in food tins so if you're making a castle cake and you would like edible turrets, maybe that's something to look in to?

The tops of my turrets are ice cream cones dipped in pink candy melts and covered with sprinkles (a whole pot of sprinkles). South Park shot glasses came in handy when leaving them to dry. I used the same glasses to squash the top of the kitchen roll allowing the cones to sit snugly, secured in place with a little buttercream. I was wise enough to make more cones then needed as two crumbled in the process.



A castle has to be high! This cake is three layers of madeira sponge sandwiched together with pink buttercream icing and jam. This is it with its pink crumb coat. For anyone unfamiliar with cake terms as I once was, the crumb coat is a very thin layer of icing that traps any loose crumbs, and helps to give a smooth surface before the applying the final layer of icing or fondant.






The slices were generous but expertly cut by Nanny Maggie one slice served two people. 


Ideally, I would have liked to add more finishing touches such as flags and a princess but I ran out of time. Nevertheless it got Connie's seal of approval and that's all that matters :)

This little fella was created for our brother-in-law Steve, to celebrate his birthday. 

Following on from the Cake and Bake show, I met up with my sister and Verity for a cookie date to put our newly acquired knowledge in to practise. Not wanting to miss out on cookies, Mr Chris tagged along and even had a go himself.


Rachel's recipe produced a huge number of cookies giving us plenty to practise on. 

I can't take any credit for the baking as Verity was chief baker, but the cookies tasted great. They had a nice buttery flavour with a slight hint of vanilla, a nice crispy edge and a crumbly centre. I have a weakness for biccies so mine didn't last long at all. 

We used the "flooding" technique to cover our cookies. With this technique you use a slightly firmer icing to pipe a dam around the outline of the cookie, and then a runnier consistency to fill it in.

When piping the outline Rachel taught us to lift the icing bag away from the cookie and let the icing just fall on to it. This really helps but still requires some practise. We used a #1 tip for the outline but it was very fine. I'd probably try a #2 tip next time.

After piping the outline wait at least 15 minutes for it to dry before "flooding" the cookie. For this we used a #4 tip. Fill the inside of the cookie, then give it a gentle shake to help smooth the surface. You can use a cocktail stick to help fill any gaps. 

At this point you can add more colours if you want them to sit together, or wait for the surface to dry and then pipe on top.

Can you spot Mr Chris' cookie? :)

Rachel's cookie recipe:
400g Flour
200g Butter
200g Sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla Essence

Beat together the butter and sugar. Add the egg and vanilla essence and combine, then gradually add the flour. Chill the dough for 15 minutes before rolling it out and cutting shapes. Cook at 170 degrees for 10 minutes until lightly golden.

Royal Icing recipe:
250g Icing Sugar
1 Egg White
1 tsp lemon juice

Whisk the egg white until it begins to froth, gradually add the icing sugar followed by the lemon juice.

In the past I have struggled to get the right consistency with Royal Icing, switching back and forth between adding more water, then adding more icing sugar. Rachel gave us a few tips to help us get it right:

• It is harder to thicken icing by adding more icing sugar then it is to thin it. It is also very easy to add too much water so add a light misting of water at a time by using a spray bottle.
• The 10 second rule - To check the consistency of your icing, dip a spoon in to it and then lift it out allowing ribbons of icing to fall back in to the bowl. If the icing is the right consistency the surface of the icing should become smooth again in 5-10 seconds.
• If the icing is too thick it will curl back over the icing tip when trying to pipe it.

Take a look at this tutorial on Sweetopia for some excellent step by step instructions and techniques for decorating cookies. I love these beautiful butterfly cookies, I think I'll have to try them myself some time.

If you've been enjoying "The Great British Bake Off" on BBC2 as much as me, you'll probably recall Ryan Chong's amazing key lime pie. This pie was so great Ryan won "Star Baker" for that episode and the judges, Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, described it as one of the best things they'd tasted in all three series of the Bake Off.

Watching it we had one of those moments when Mr Chris and I share the exact same thought... We must make Key Lime Pie!

And so we did...

Putting Mr Chris' gift to good use, I found a recipe in "Mary Berry's Baking Bible". This was really easy to make and actually required no baking so you can't really go wrong.

It's a very tasty, light and refreshing dessert. We shared it with a few friends and it went down well. As nice as it was, I still need to give Ryan's recipe a go but at least now we have something to compare it too. I think Mr Chris is particularly keen as he went out and bought me the Bake Off recipe book containing Ryan's recipe: "The Great British Bake Off: How to turn everyday bakes into showstoppers". I think Ryan's version will have to wait until I have some more free time but if you want to give it a go you can find the recipe on the BBC Website. Enjoy!

The Cake and Bake show was a two day event held at London's Earls Court. Apparently over 21,000 people attended during the two days and I can certainly believe that. I went along with my sister and our friend Verity and it was jam packed!

The first thing we stumbled across was the "Edible Beach" competition.

These were some of my favourite entries.
My poor photography doesn't do them justice but the attention to detail is incredible, I can't imagine how many hours must have been spent perfecting them.

I'm afraid my cakes would look pitiful in comparison but watch this space as I'm still learning.

Taking the opportunity to learn some new skills at the show, we joined a couple of the classrooms on offer. There were so many it was difficult to choose between them but as each class was an additional £5, we had to be selective

On a side note, I was gutted to find out Lindy had joined the show after I'd already booked my tickets :(

Rachel Hill from Rachelles

The first classroom we joined was "Hand Decorated Cookies" with Rachel Hill of Rachelles. 

Rachel shared her recipe for perfect cookies and demonstrated how to pipe and "flood" with royal icing. She gave us some great tips such as the 10 second rule for checking your icing consistency, and using a spray bottle to thin the icing. She also showed us several techniques to decorate cookies including icing lace and embroidery patterns.

Icing cookies is a first for me, so I'm looking forward to a future baking date with my sister and Verity to put our newly acquired knowledge in to practise.

Laura Edwards from Mamma Jamma Cakes

The other classroom we opted for was "Cake Sculpture" with Laura Edwards of Mamma Jamma Cakes.

Starting with a 10" (or possibly a 12") round Madeira cake, I was amazed at what she turned it in to.

Laura demonstrated how to make this Koi Carp fish, sculpting, covering, decorating, and air brushing it all within half an hour!




In this picture, the cake on the left is the one from the show, the one on the right is the one above, the "and here's one I made earlier" one.

I actually got to try the Dinkydoodle airbrush at the show. I did really like it but I don't think it's for me at this moment as my cakes are mostly one block colour. I imagine it'd need some practise to be able to get an even coat with the airbrush, also I'm too impatient to let it dry and I don't really have a space I can airbrush in. It could be a purchase for the future if my cakes become a little more elaborate :)



My favourite part of the show without a doubt was star speaker Mary Berry. I'm a huge Mary Berry fan. I love her recipes and I love The Great British Bake Off.

When I discovered she would be doing book signings, Mr Chris very kindly bought me "Mary Berry's Baking Bible" to get signed. Unfortunately I missed out as we were in one of our classes at the time she was signing, but I can't wait to try some more Mary Berry recipes. Expect to see some on here shortly :)

Whilst sharing funny stories and tales from GBBO, Mary whipped up a Hazelnut Meringue Roulade and the hugest Chocolate sponge cake. Both looked delicious, I was only sad I couldn't get anywhere near the front to pinch a bit.

Mary Berry in action

The Cake and Bake Show returns again next year but I'm not sure if I'll go back yet. Whilst I really enjoyed the classrooms and demos I felt the event was far too crowded. Most of the items on sale were overly priced, or at least I know I can get them cheaper on line, and there was a distinct lack of freebies. Whatever happened to the freebie? I remember when one of the perks of going to a show was all the freebies you would collect on your way round. So come on the Cake and Bake Show, when you return next year... more freebies :D

Today is the last hair cut I'll have for a while as my hairdresser is off to start her maternity leave. No one else can tame my hair like she can and so I have to wait until she comes back. 

I knew this day was coming and although I had all morning, I, in classic Cheryl style, opted to sleep in and leave myself less then 60 minutes to make these. 

With the countdown tune stuck on repeat in my head, 60 minutes later and one messy kitchen, ta daaa....

Not my best work but not too shabby either. Mr Chris managed to snap this photo literally as I was running out the door.

Usually I like to make everything myself but sometimes you just can't beat some of the cake toppers available. I spotted these little baby grows on ebay. They are printed on edible wafer card and I think they're pretty cute. 

Wishing Lisa all the best as she heads off to become a Mum. I hope she enjoys these and takes it easy before the sleepless nights begin.

No I haven't gone crazy and baked barbecue sauce into a cheesecake. 

Today is probably the last barbecue we'll have this year and so to commiserate, I decided to make a tasty dessert to follow the meat feast.

This is another recipe from the "The Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days" book, Butterscotch Pecan Cheesecake. Another first for me as I've never made a cheesecake but I'm happy with how it turned out. 

Although tasty, perhaps a little too heavy following so much meat. Fortunately Mr Chris' family was on hand to help us struggle through it.

These cupcakes are inspired by Tankerton and made in memory of a truly amazing person, my Mum. Today it will be seven years since she died but I won't be dwelling on that. Instead I will celebrate her life with my family and remember all the silly things we got up to.

We have a bench at Tankerton sea front for my Mum. It was a place she loved to go, to walk the dogs, take us for fish and chips, or to get away from us when we would drive her crazy. This evening we all headed to the bench and kept our promise... "Happy Heads Only". 

My Mum didn't want anyone to be miserable. She told us any time we had sad thoughts, we were to remember something silly that made us both laugh, and to hold on to it. It's not always that easy. There have been times when she has been very much needed and she is missed every day, but she taught us to be strong and left us with many happy memories.

Beach huts, ice-creams and wind turbines

Funky coloured wind turbines :)

So here's to my Mum, Christine Thorn. I'm sending a huge hug to you today, and to Nan and to Lottie. Thank you for everything you did and still do for us. See you again one day, love you always xxxx

Tankerton Beach Huts - photo by Mr Chris

I've been looking for an excuse to make these and at last I have one... Lou's birthday... and these were on time (unlike her present which still sits on my dining room table).

I've worked with Grahame for a number of years and at various companies. He may have dropped me in it on occasion but overall he is a good person to work for, hence if he has a job going that's right for me I'll apply for it.

More belated birthday treats. One day I'll get them there on time :/

I can get through a pack of biscuits like a bag of crisps, once opened they are gone in seconds. For this reason I resist the temptation to buy them. I can resist placing them in my shopping trolley, I just can't ignore them once they are in my cupboard.

There is however, a flaw in my plan. When the cupboards are bare of biscuits I make them instead.

This weekend I was looking through my collection of recipe books and stumbled upon "The Ultimate Cookie Book" by "Catherine Atkinson". I must have inherited this one as I don't recall ever baking anything from it. Today will be that day!

With a growing craving for biscuits I flicked through the recipes for a quick and easy treat, settling on choc-tipped cookies. I used to pick these from the bakery as a child, although then they were sandwiched together with a generous portion of cream. I left out the cream as I'm on a mission to eat healthy ;)

These should keep me going for now...


But if not, I always have more :D

Word of my baking has spread as one of Mr Chris' colleagues asked if I wouldn't mind making a couple of cakes if she paid me for my efforts. It sounded like a good deal to me so I got baking.

The first cake was for her husband, a keen diver.

I love how this turned out but I must give credit for other peoples ideas! 

Originally I was going to create the diver as if he was swimming, with his face in the water and feet sticking out the top. Then I stumbled across a cake on flicker and it looked so good I decided to create a mini version of it. 

I added my own little touch as I tie-dyed white and blue fondant to create the affect of waves. It worked quite well but sadly it doesn't show so much in the photo. 

Check out this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaEES5yyhVc if you want to tie-dye fondant. It gives a great demonstration on the method (although I must admit I'm not overly keen on the end result in this one). It also features the Steetwise Mat which I've mentioned before and love!

I would have liked to have added some more sea creatures but don't forget, I had a second cake to be getting on with...

The second cake was for their friend and needed to include Jacko, his little pug dog.

Sorry Jacko, I might have added a little too much fondant to your belly.

Jacko the Pug

The cakes were on display at a joint birthday party and went down well. I didn't charge much for them, just enough to cover ingredients as I'm still building my confidence. I also had some transportation issues which led to a little bit of damage. It was nothing that couldn't be repaired but I think a cake should be flawless when you're charging for it. Nobody wants a one eared pug on their cake or a diver with a flat head. (Note to self - must invest in larger cake boxes).

I'm not sure if I'll sell many more cakes. Firstly it's tricky to bake during the week around work, but mostly it's much more stressful to produce a cake when someone is paying for it. Anyway, we'll see :)

Photo by Chrissphotos

This weekend Mr Chris whisked me away for my birthday surprise. 

We took a trip to the not so sunny Weymouth and tied in a visit with Mr Chris' flicker buddy Chrissphotos.