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Showing posts from February, 2018

In which Theo turns four and has the most disorganized party ever

I don't know why, but I just did not twig that Theo's birthday was coming up and we might actually want to celebrate, until about two weeks before.  So then I hurriedly scribbled some invitations ("who are your friends at preschool?  Oh yes, I think I remember you mentioning that name at least once before.") and bought cake ingredients. Theo, somewhat surprisingly, wanted gingerbread cake this year.  I'd seen one once with gingerbread men around the edge, which was cute, so that was easy enough for decoration.  It didn't really lend itself to a theme, though. Flipping through the craft catalogue, the best I could come up with was a kind of "funny faces" idea, so I ordered a bunch of stuff.  When the box arrived... it was full of someone else's stuff!  They'd sent me the wrong order, and it was too late to send the right one. So the craft consisted of some bits I found in a drawer, the party bags contained a few things from some

Baking again

One thing I've really enjoyed about working in a cafe again is having a good reason to make cakes.  I've dusted off some of my old recipes and tried out a few new ones too.  Carrot cake and sweet-topped fairy cakes are reliable favourites; a crumble-topped apple cake (with slices of apple pushed into the cake batter) and gingerbread cupcakes have gone down well. However, I haven't always found much time for baking at home.  This week's been an exception.  Three different bakes have gone in the oven, though you'll have to wait a little longer to hear about the third. Firstly, I'd had my eye on a recipe for parsnip and pecan loaf for a while.  Yes, parsnip.  Same principle as carrot cake, as in you mostly taste the spices, not the root veg.  Besides, I like cakes with funny ingredients - I've got an aubergine brownie recipe tucked away to see if I ever dare to make it! Like carrot cake, it uses oil instead of butter, so except for the bit of peeling and