It runs in the family

It would appear I am not the only one with baking skills in my family.

My sister is a teacher and a member of her schools cake club. Every Tuesday one of the members will bake a cake and they each get a slice.

Last week my sister sent me this picture message:

This was a trial run of a pistachio cake she is going to make for cake club.

Lucky for me I got a slice, and the cake didn't just look good, it was delicious. She even made her own crystallised rose petals!

I enjoyed it so much, I decided to make my own pistachio cupcakes following a recipe from the "Cupcakes" book by Susannah Blake.






This was the first time I'd made Royal Icing but I really like its glossy finish so I will use it again.


0 comments:

Team Player of the Year

Last week I attended my work Staff Awards evening.

To my surprise I was nominated for the "Team Player of the Year award", even more to my surprise I actually won it jointly with one of my colleagues.

Perhaps the baked treats I have brought in to work got me nominated? I'm not sure but it felt fitting to bring in more and so I did.

I baked my chocolate cake because it always goes down well, and an Orange and Almond loaf from the "The Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days" book. Here they are along with my award, which you can just about make out in front of my certificate.



I have learnt to pre-slice cakes for work as I have seen people cut some pretty generous portions, you know who you are :)

All in all it was a good evening and it was nice to meet some of my colleagues that I only get to chat with on the phone.









0 comments:

Easter Treats

Spring is my favourite time of year, I love to see baby lambs skipping around in the fields, gardens full of daffodils, and eat lots of chocolate at Easter.

Inspired by my Mums favourite flower, I made these little Easter treats for my family.




My Mum would buy daffodils throughout the spring for herself and my Nan, a tradition she has passed down to my sister and I. I love them because they remind me of her and I'm sure she would have loved these cupcakes.


I also decided to make some Easter cake pops as I was pleased with how the Owl pops turned out.

My sisters friend Verity lent me the Cake Pops book by Bakerella, so I attempted to recreate the chics and Easter bunnies. I have to admit I did rush these so I wasn't overly pleased with the result.

My obvious mistake... I used left over chocolate icing to make the pops which then coloured the sponge. When coated with the white and yellow chocolate the dark sponge showed through, hence my bunnies are grey. I expect I could have given them a second coat but I was feeling lazy.

Also, I couldn't find anything to use for the bunnies ears. I ended up using flattened marshmallows but I don't think they quite did the job.

0 comments:

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
Blogger Template by Clairvo