The Cake Escape

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 :)

I'm sure this evening would have made her smile. My family and I, dogs included, sat on the bench and had a good giggle. We laughed at my Dad who showed his age as he got cold and wrapped himself up in the dogs towel, and we stuffed our faces with chips and cakes whilst a fitness instructor shouted commands to a tired looking group of people just metres away. I'm sure the smell of our chips only helped to motivate them :)

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).

This is another recipe from "The Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days: Recipes to make every day special".

If you like Gingerbread you should like these, I think they could be one of my favourites. Although I have an urge to try one without the icing swimming in a big bowl of custard...mmmmm.

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.

Anyway, after bragging about my newly found cake skills I managed to foolishly volunteer myself to make a cake for his step sons birthday. I say foolishly because I only had a few days in which to do it and I already had a hectic week. Nevertheless, I did the best I could with the time I had.

Can you tell what it is yet?

Yes I think some parts could have been better but you can tell what it is right?

I was so short on time Mr Chris actually carved and decorated the controller for me. I had to redo some bits but I think he did an amazing job and the cake wouldn't look complete without it. He is a life saver :)

As the title suggests, I didn't charge for this cake but not because Grahame is one of my managers. In the time I've worked for him he has helped me through some pretty tough times and given me some sound advice, this was the least I could do to show my appreciation.

Verity is a very good friend to my sister and a follower of my blog, so I was really pleased when I was asked to make the cake for her son's first birthday party.

I had complete free reign on the design of this one. My sister told me little Harry has lots of animal stickers in his room, and he especially likes the zebra, so a zebra theme it was.

Animals are my favourite things to model. This little zebra took me two hours to make but I honestly didn't notice the time go by. (I'm sure it wouldn't take anyone else that long but I think I move in slow motion.)

To achieve the stripy fondant I used the StreetWise Mat. I know I've mentioned it before but I cannot plug this enough. It is brilliant and now they have a new and improved version for sale.

Lessons Learnt:
If you are going to attempt a wire spray make sure the decoration is not so heavy that it refuses to stay upright. These are the little holes you can see in Harry's name, as originally the letters were on wire and should have been standing out of the cake, in the same way as the stars are.

Inside is three layers of vanilla sponge, sandwiched together with one filling of vanilla butter cream, and one of strawberry jam. I'm told there was just enough for everyone to have a slice and Harry very much liked the zebra.

Many thanks to Al and Verity for sending me pictures of Harry enjoying his cake. I'm glad he had a great first birthday:

A quick note on wire sprays...
Never stick wire directly in to your cakes as it is not food safe! Wire should be inserted in to a flower posey pick, or as I have done, in to a big blob of fondant that your customer knows is not for consumption. Don't worry, I did inform Verity the letters and stars must be removed before eating the cake :)

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

These Animal cupcakes were for our friend Darren. No, he is not a Muppet but a drummer.

This little chap may look time consuming, but once his features were done a grass tip made light work of his fur.

What pleases me most, is these were spotted by Cupcakes take the Cake and featured on their blog. That's pretty cool :)

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.

Not wanting to visit empty handed we took some Coffee and Walnut cupcakes for Chris and his family but we didn't get a picture of them. We decided to leave that to the photo pro and he did not disappoint ->

A huge thanks to Chris and his family for their hospitality and guided tours, we had a great time! We took in some sights, visited the sea life centre, played pirate mini golf... arrr, walked on the beach in the rain, failed to make friends with the seagulls, won lots of tat on the 2p machines, befriended some fat kid envious of our winnings, oh and Mr Chris climbed a rock...

I was responsible for holding the very expensive cameras :/

I'm very much looking forward to my next birthday trip away ;)

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".

Taking after her Mum, little Conster was quick to review the cupcakes and call dibs on her favourite, while Steve chose to devour the love birds starting with their beaks.

Thankfully I'm not in charge of the wedding cake as I'd be devastated if it turned out anything less then perfect. However, I do get to add my own little touch as I will be creating the bride and groom cake toppers.

It's my birthday and someone else gets to bake the cake.
I loaned Mr Chris my recipe for chocolate cake and look what he whipped up while I was at work...

I was chuffed to bits :D

Why a bird's nest? Because I love our little feathered friends.

I hang food out for them almost every day and we get plenty of visitors.

It's a love I've inherited from my Nan from days when we used to sit together and break up the birds bread. I would get her shopping every week and there would always be two loafs on the list, one for my Nan and one for the birds. I know she would have loved some of these pics Mr Chris has captured...

And that's not all! As a birthday gift Mr Chris is treating me to a weekend away (more on that later) and bought me a nifty little bread maker.

It's the Daily Loaf Breadmaker by Morphy Richards and can make a little 1lb loaf in an hour. It's the perfect amount for us and tastes great, especially when it's still warm and smothered with butter.

This was my first loaf using the "fast bake" setting. The fast bake takes about an hour and gives a fluffy loaf with a soft crust. It also has a "basic" setting which is a little heavier and has a crustier edge but takes around three hours.

Mmmm, time to start enjoying fresh bread every day :)

And there's more...

Mr Chris' sister, Ruth, bought me a fab selection of cupcake sprinkles:

I love the little gingerbread men. I foresee some gingerbread cupcakes in the future :)

... The German Friendship Cake.

My sister gave me a bubbling pot of goo, told me his name was Herman and that I had to care for him for 10 days. I thought she'd lost the plot until she explained he was a sour dough cake, and like a chain letter he gets passed on to friends and family.

My little pot of bubbling goo was the starter mix and these were the instructions I had to follow:

"Hello, my name is Herman. I am a sour dough cake. I'm supposed to be on a worktop for 10 days without a lid. Do not put me in the fridge.
Day 1: You get Herman. Put him in to a large mixing bowl and cover loosely with a tea towel.
Day 2: Stir well
Day 3: Stir well
Day 4: Herman is hungry! Add 1 cup of plain flour, 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of milk. Stir well.
Day 5: Stir well
Day 6: Stir well
Day 7: Stir well
Day 8: Stir well
Day 9: Hungry again. Add 1 cup plain flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk. Stir well. Divide in to 4 equal amounts and give 3 away to friends with a copy of these instructions. Herman 4 stays with you.
Day 10: Herman is very hungry. Stir well and add: 2 cups plain flour, 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 2/3 cup cooking oil, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 2 heaped tsp baking powder, 2 tsp vanilla essence, 2 chopped cooking apples (or other fruit).
Mix together and put in to a large greased roasting tin. Sprinkle the surface with 1/4 cup brown sugar and 3/4 cup melted butter. Bake for 45 minutes at 170-180°C(check after 35 mins)."

At first I wasn't sure about Herman, he smelt a bit funky and hogged precious space in my little kitchen, however I proceeded to care for him on my sisters word that he was tasty. On day 10 I was not disappointed. Herman was so delicious he didn't stay whole long enough for me to get a picture, but Mr Chris did get a snap of this slice before it disappeared with my cup of tea.

On day 9 I gave three Hermans away to Louise, Darren & Steph and John. Surprisingly they were all rather enthusiastic about him. From what I've heard Lou's didn't end well but I don't think anyone was surprised (sorry Lou). I believe the other two were enjoyed. Darren and Steph's certainly looked tasty:

If you don't want to wait for a Herman, you can start your own with the following:

5oz plain flour
8oz caster sugar
1 packet of active dry yeast
Half a pint of warm milk
2 fl oz of warm water

1. Dissolve the yeast in warm water for 10 minutes then stir
2. Add the flour and sugar and mix thoroughly
3. Slowly stir in the warm milk
4. Cover the bowl with a clean cloth
5. Leave in a cool dry place for 24 hours
6. Now start from day one of the 10 day instructions

Give him a go, he is a little stinky but friendly :)

For Carole's birthday (my Dad's wife), my dad asked if I could make a cake with "The Boys" on it.

The boys are their two dogs, two Shih tzu's, one named Qin and one named Jayger. They are a quirky pair. I'm pretty sure Jayger thinks he is a cat and Qin is a big eating machine, totally led by his stomach but a real softy. I miss them since I stopped living at home several years ago so I really enjoyed making this.

Jayger and Qin in fondant

"The Boys" - Jayger on the left and Qin on the right.

Creating a fondant dog is easy when you know how. I found a tutorial and then altered it slightly to suit my needs. They're not an exact likeness but I tried to capture their features as much as possible, especially Qin's big belly and Jayger's unimpressed expression.

Mr Chris has so many hobbies I could incorporate any of them in to his birthday cake, but I decided to make something he wouldn't be expecting, something a little bit random that would make him chuckle.

The current EDF Energy adverts feature a little dancing orange blob. According to Mr Chris he has my dance moves. Anyway we love him so I decided to make him in to a cake.

Due to a lack of time and general ignorance on my part this cake quickly became a disaster.

The problem when you live with someone and your home is open plan, it is very hard to make a cake without them seeing it. I told Mr Chris I wasn't doing his cake and then took a secret day off work. It was a real rush to complete it before he got home which led to my first problem.

Because I was rushing I didn't leave the cake long enough to cool before applying my crumb coat of butter cream. It was a hot day which also didn't help. This meant my crumb coat was runny and ended up being only a thin layer. It wasn't a major disaster but it meant you could see the layers between my sponges when the fondant was on.

I used a ball tin purchased from Lindy's Cakes to form the little guys body. Lindy's FAQs give some good tips and guidance for using this tin but I should have paid more attention to them.

I baked two ball cakes and stacked them one on top of the other. To do this Lindy's FAQs advise to flatten the top of the bottom tier and add support dowels to prevent it losing its shape. The support dowels are crucial!

As his body is squashed when he is dancing I decided it wouldn't matter too much if the bottom tier was squashed from the weight of the top one, so I didn't add any support :O
Yes, I'm a complete newb when it comes to stacking cakes.

The result was the bottom tier began to crumble and collapse, and the top tier started to slide backwards where the bottom one was giving way. I had to prop him up with a biscuit tin. He lasted long enough for Mr Chris to see what he should have looked like and get this photo. Eventually (about a week later) I was able to laugh about at his head falling off.

So long story short....
I'm glad I tried something new because that is how you learn and get better but lessons learnt here:

Give yourself plenty of time
Always allow your cakes to cool completely before icing
When stacking cakes add plenty of support to the lower tiers
When trying something new do not ignore advice from the professionals
Stay calm and don't take it out on your sister when she is only trying to help :)

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.

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.

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.

The Cake Escape

Key Lime Pie

The Cake and Bake Show

Ba-da ba-da ba-da-da-boo

BBQ Cheesecake

Happy Heads Only

Gingerbread Cupcakes

A freebie for the boss

1st Birthday Stripes

I want to... EAT DRUMS!

Biscuits are my Kryptonite

Cake in exchange for monies

Mini break

Engagement Celebrations!

Mr Chris dons the apron

Herman...

The Boys

Cake Disaster (a long story)

It runs in the family

Team Player of the Year

Easter Treats

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