Skip to main content

Theo turns two!

Can you believe two years have gone by already?  Our little blondie is still as cute as ever, with an infectious giggle and a gleeful smile.  He'll happily give out hugs, high fives and "hiya"s to everyone he sees (at least after the first five minutes of staring suspiciously).  He likes things in order; he will make sure your cup is on a coaster and that spills are wiped up.  He has a sweet tooth that we struggle not to indulge, and an interest in vehicles which rivals his big brother's.  And he's been singing Happy Birthday for months now, so it's a good thing he finally got to sing it to himself!

His birthday was fairly quiet.  He enjoyed unwrapping presents, ably assisted by Toby.  The coach was a big hit, but I think he liked them all!  Graham took him out for breakfast, and I made pizza and birthday cake for dinner.



Is it mean to smuggle vegetables into your child's birthday cake?  Not when it tastes this good!  I came across a recipe for chocolate courgette loaf in Green & Black's Chocolate Recipes, and since I happened to have a courgette that needed using, I gave it a go.  Peeling the courgette eliminated the risk of suspicious green flecks in the cake, and even I, who knew it was there, couldn't detect it in the finished article.  It was just a nice moist chocolate cake.


Chocolate Courgette Cake

175g / 6 oz dark chocolate
225g / 8 oz courgettes (zucchini)
200g / 8 oz plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
110g / 4 oz sugar
175 ml / 6 fl oz sunflower oil
2 medium eggs

Grease and 8-inch / 20cm round tin and line the base.  Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F.  Melt the chocolate, and peel and coarsely grate the courgettes.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, bicarb, salt and cinnamon.  Add the sugar and courgettes, and mix together.  Measure out the oil in a jug, break the eggs in and whisk the eggs and oil together.  Tip into the mixing bowl and give it a good stir, then stir in the melted chocolate.

Put the mixture into the cake tin and smooth out.  Bake for about 50 minutes until firm to the touch.  Leave it in the tin until mostly cool, then turn out and finish cooling on a rack.

For the icing, beat together 150g / 5 oz softened butter, 300g / 10 oz icing sugar and 25g / 1 oz cocoa powder.  Add a spoonful or two of water or milk to make it a spreading consistency.  Ice the top and sides of the cake.  Serve to unsuspecting small children and watch them devour it.

 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

One hundred churches

About the middle of January, I was walking to school one afternoon when it occurred to me that I must have visited quite a few churches on my explorations. I started counting them. But I quickly ran out of fingers, so when I got home I plotted them on Google Maps. Not only was the number much higher than I was expecting, it was also tantalisingly close to one hundred. Only a few dozen to go. So of course, every walk since then has had to include at least one church! Last Monday I visited my hundredth church: St John the Baptist, Dethick. It was a beautiful little 13-century building with an unusual tower - I was glad it had claimed the 100 spot. I haven't been inside every church. Sometimes they were locked; sometimes I was in a hurry and didn't try the door. St Leonard's Church in Alton had bellringers practicing, and I almost interrupted a funeral when I stuck my head through the door of St Mary's, Marston-on-Dove. A few, such as St Oswald's, Ashbourne, and St Wys...

Easter holidays 2025

It felt like a busy Easter holiday this year - a nice mixture of household jobs, time in the sunshine, and family celebrations. Here are a few highlights. Birthday cake Graham's mum had a big birthday, so Graham and his sister secretly organised a few friends to come to dinner with her. She was surprised - and pleased! - when a small family meal at the pub turned out to include fifteen extra people. Theo baked and decorated this amazing cake all by himself. My sole involvement was cutting it up at the end. The event was a big success. thanks to my mum for the photo Days out We had a family day out at Peak Wildlife Park , in the Staffordshire countryside. It's been a few years since we last went; the penguins and lemurs were familiar, but the zoo has acquired a couple of polar bears. Believe it or not, these two are only half-grown. They're about three years old. playfighting polar bears lemurs penguins otters   I persuaded Toby and Theo to come to a garden with me with the ...

The Churnet Way: a wonderful walk

The loop from Oakamoor to Froghall and back was one of the most enjoyable walks I've done in a long time. It had a bit of everything: woods, ponds, rivers and railways; steep climbs and sweeping views; an unusual church, an ex-industrial wharf, and, as a final bonus, car parks with toilets. Of course, the sunny weather helped too. I parked in Oakamoor and set off along a quiet lane called Stoney Dale. This is the route of the Churnet Way, which deviates away from the river for a couple of miles. After a while I turned right and climbed up through the woods on a gravelly path, then dropped down to the B5417. a spring in Oakamoor   Crossing the road, I entered Hawksmoor Nature Reserve. It has some fine gateposts commemorating John Richard Beech Masefield, "a great naturalist". I found a photo of the opening of the gateway in 1933; unsurprisingly, the trees have grown a lot since then! A track took me down through the woods to East Wall Farm. Lovely view! Nice duck pond as ...