1st Birthday Cake Smash and Celebrations

My little boy turned 1 at the beginning of December. It doesn't seem possible that it's a year since he was born, but then again it seems like he's been with us forever.

I wanted to mark the occasion, but without spending too much money. The main things I wanted to do was a cake smash the weekend before his birthday. Then the Saturday after his birthday we'd be free to have a day out, without too many time restraints.

Slimming World Roulade

I made this Roulade recently which is only 1/2 a syn on Slimming World for the whole cake. I had a quarter serving, which is only 0.125 of a syn. I thought it tasted lovely and it was so easy to make. I had a spare 15 - 20 mins while my baby slept, then finished it off with the fruit later once it had cooled down. I added strawberries and blueberries, but you could add any combo of fruit.

Chocolate Devils Food Cake

Chocolate Devils Food Cake - made by my wonderful husband! He wanted to make a cake for a family gathering and this is a recipe I've made a number of times before and it's always enjoyed by everyone.

Cake ingredients (double ingredients for a 2 layer cake):
2 cups of plain flour
2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cups of veg oil
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs

Frosting
200g butter
1 pack of Philadelphia cheese
1 pack of icing sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 - 3 tsp vanilla essence

Raw Vegan Chocolate Caramel & Pecan Cake

If there's one downfall I have in life, it's my love of desserts. I love making them and love to eat them!! It doesn't help when I'm trying to eat healthy and still want more than a bowl of fruit and yoghurt. Don't get me wrong I love fruit and yoghurt, but sometimes it doesn't cut it.

Then on Sunday I had a friend over for dinner who has a million and one food allergies. I needed to avoid dairy and raising agents, whilst trying to make something that was healthy, so I didn't feel guilty eating it.

I came across a website with a variety of raw & vegan no bake cakes. I already had pecans in the cupboard, so decided to give the chocolate caramel and pecan cake a go.

I didn't have a right sized spring pan suggested in the recipe so used individual tartlet tins. The ingredients below was enough to make 3 cakes, so I made an extra portion of the recipe to make a 4th cake. I served with vanilla vegan ice-cream. The true test of how good the recipe was, was from my husband and he liked it (with the ice-cream).

Afternoon Tea at Home

 Afternoon tea has become very popular of late, with dainty sandwiches, cakes and scones topped with lashings of cream. There are so many places you can go and have afternoon tea from a café to the Ritz in London. I took a friend of mine for afternoon tea and an evening at the spa for her birthday. It was great being in beautiful surroundings before relaxing in the sauna and hot tub.

You can also recreate afternoon tea in your own home. My sisters and I put on a little tea part for our Mum at the weekend. It was so fun to decorate and prepare all the food. The key is to make everything dainty and easy to eat with your fingers.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This recipe makes the most yummy, moist carrot cake ever. People who have eaten it have told me its the best carrot cake they have ever tasted. I don't add walnuts into my carrot cake, but you can add them in if you like.

I find the cake best eaten a day or 2 after you make this cake. Great if you want to prepare for a party in advance. Make the cake and store it in a cake tin, then you can frost it on the day.

Chocolate birthday cake

A friend was having a party to celebrate her upcoming birthday and a birthday party isn't complete without a birthday cake.

So being the good friend that I am and looking for a new baking challenge I offered to make a cake.

Wedding Sweets and Treats

This week I started working back at a company I was working at up until the end of December last year. 4 times I was asked if I had brought cakes in with me. I think I may have created a bit of a reputation for myself while I was working at the company. That's not a bad thing, I can think of worse things to be remembered for. I think it's also safe to say that I enjoy baking and sharing those baked goods with friends.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Recipe sourced from the Nigella Lawson website.

Everyone who knows me, knows I love desserts, particularly if fruit is involved. I've been wanting to make a pineapple upside down cake for a while, so I set out to find a recipe that looked good.

The recipe I found on Nigella's website had some good reviews and it didn't disappoint. Nigella suggests you can make a warm sauce from the pineapple juice to serve with the cake, however I made custard to go with mine.

This is such an easy and quick cake to make with very little effort. Its a lovely nice treat for Sunday dessert or afternoon tea.

If using tinned pineapple, try using the one in its own juice rather than in syrup. I added some of the juice to the sponge, too.

Wedding Dessert Bar

I was at a friends wedding in December, up in the North of England. Another friend and myself had arrived the day earlier to help put chair covers on all the chairs at the reception venue. There was a long table at one end of the room which I assumed was for food, but it was pretty none-descript with just a plain white table cloth on it. My friend and I commented that we could have done something to dress the table up a little if we'd known before hand. But we figured our friend would have said something to us if she wanted anything adding to the table.