From the berries on the bushes outside my back window to my new door mat I can't get enough of red spots at the moment. I'm trying to justify some of these gorgeous items.
Cake tins from Inspirational Elements, apron from Cox & Cox and cake cases and doilies from Dot Com Gift Shop.
Very excited to receive in the post today some new cookie cutters from Cox and Cox. They are star shaped and start with a large one descending down in size to a teeny tiny one. You then cut out the cookie dough, bake, then ice, then pile them on top of each other and what do you get? A Christmas Tree. Ahh.
I may have to do a trial run in the next few days...
I was taught how to make these Peggy Porschen type cookies at a workshop run by Splat Cooking (Posh Icing workshop) but if you don't have time or the inclination to make them, you could just let someone else do the hard work.
Biscuiteers Christmas Tin, £25 from John Lewis.
There are some gorgeous Christmas cake stands around this year.
From left to right: Lakeland Reindeer Cake Stand, Aspen & Brown Red Spotty Cake Stand, Etsy Holiday Desert Pedestal.
Raymond Briggs's The Snowman and Father (bloomin') Christmas are my two favourite Christmas films and books. My son even has pictures of them on his bedroom wall all year round. So these cakes from Waitrose may very well be a must. The trouble is, which one?
Each cake consists of vanilla sponge with raspberry jam, buttercream and soft icing. £12.99 from Waitrose Entertaining.
Now, I don't usually get excited about tea towels as I hate washing up but this one from John Lewis is so lovely I had to mention it. It is part of a range which includes oven gloves, an apron, cake tins and more.
Prices from £6.
Chocolate brownies are heaven. That's if they are made the way I like them. Slightly crispy on the outside with a deliciously chewy inside. (Gah. I'm making my mouth water).
The best recipe I've found is in, believe it or not, Annabel Karmel's Feeding Your Baby & Toddler book, which I've adapted slightly to include lots more chunks of chocolate.
Ingredients
Remember, remember the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot.
I have always loved Bonfire Night. As a girl I remember mushy peas in polystyrene cups (with mint sauce for those who liked it - I didn't), a big bonfire and fireworks at my local Scout Hut and my mum's bonfire toffee recipe (ooh, I must find that out).
On the BBC Good Food website there are lots of recipe ideas if you are hosting your own party, including this gorgeous one for Campfire Cupcakes. Which, to be fair, would be proper scrumptious any time of the year.
I feel very privileged to be hosting the Heaven Can Wait blog tour on the birthday of the author, Cally Taylor. Happy Birthday Cally! And look, I've made you a birthday cake.
It’s the night before Lucy’s wedding. She’s marrying the man of her dreams; kind, handsome, funny Dan. Everything’s going to plan and she’ll next see Dan as she walks up the aisle, but then Lucy falls from a ladder and breaks her neck. And, as is the way when people die, Lucy wakes to find herself in Limbo (halfway between Heaven and Earth) and with a decision to make. She can go to Heaven and wait for Dan to die or she can attempt to pass a task which will enable her to live as a ghost on Earth. Unable to accept a lifetime’s separation from her soul mate, Lucy decides that she’ll face the task. But, there’s a problem. Becoming a ghost isn’t as straight forward as Lucy had hoped and she finds herself living in the House of Wannabe Ghosts, which is grotty student-style accommodation in North London. Lucy has only three weeks to complete her almost impossible task. Things are ridiculously hard. And then when Lucy discovers that her so-called friend Anna is determined to make a move on the heart-broken, vulnerable Dan, the pressure is truly on…
Hello Cally and welcome to Simply Bake. As you might expect from a cake blog I'm afraid the questions will be food related.
What is your writing routine? Do you have a particular snack or drink when writing?
I normally write in the evenings and at the weekends. I spend at lot of time at the laptop in my bedroom for my day job and decided to buy a Netbook so I didn’t have to sit in the same place for twelve hours a day! Now, when I write, I sit on the sofa in the living room with my Netbook on my lap.
I used to be a terrible snacker – chocolate was my favourite reward for writing – but that had to stop because I was writing every day, eating chocolate every day and was at serious risk of a bad case of ‘writer’s arse’!
These days I have a drink on the table next to me instead. Normally it’s coffee, diet coke (I’m a bit of an addict) or water. On a day when the words just won’t come it’s a glass of wine!
Continue reading "Heaven Can Wait by Cally Taylor - Blog Tour" »
Over on the Little Stuff blog I have recipes for Bread & Butter Pudding and Eggy Bread which I make for both my children (and husband).
