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.

We were very excited to hear news of Steve and Ruth's engagement and of course there must be cake to celebrate... "always the cake".