A Splendiferous Day

Yesterday was my birthday and like a true child at heart, I was mega excited about it!! It was a lovely day and I thought I would share a few pics of some of the great pressies I was lucky enough to receive. There was a pink and cake related theme going on with the cards, wrapping paper and some of the pressies, so I guess people know me well!

Great British Bake Off book, Mary Berry's Cakes and Bakes, pink apron and oven gloves and matching tongs and spatula - these encompass some of my favourite things!

Tarte tin and cake lifter as seen on Great British Bake Off. Tarte au Citron, here I come!!

More lovely books to curl up with on rainy weekends. Particularly excited about the Dawn French book which I've heard is hilarious.

New additions to the book shelf!

Left handed dressmaker's scissors. Any lefty will know what this means to me, I am hoping they will revolutionise my sewing projects. No more struggling with crapola scissors that I can't make cut!

 

The most recent addition to my handbag wardrobe - tartan Cath Kidston tote! I treated myself with some birthday money, and I love it! I don't usually go for tartan things (unless they're in my family tartan) but this was a must have! 

Mr PC and I spent the day in London (a rarity these days) and we had a lovely time. We went to Harrods' Christmas World and I must say I was hugely disappointed with the rubbish selection and poor quality of goods on offer. There was not a single thing I wanted to buy which to be honest, is highly unusual! Actually, there was a really cute cushion with appliqué gingerbread men which I liked but it was £80 so I threw it back on the shelf in disgust and disbelief. It was Made in China and so probably cost a few pence to make...

We then had a delicious lunch in a proper Italian restaurant across the road from Harrods and we pretended we were in Rome. A jaunt round Covent Garden was the afternoon activity and I tasted my first macaroons from Ladurée. I must say, they were delightfully scrummy but far too small for my greediness liking. You'd need to eat at least six to get a proper cake fix!

In the evening we went to see The Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium and it was pretty cool. I was such a kid! I think the dog playing Toto absolutely stole the show, he is so well trained and never missed a command. The way they did the black and white bits and the tornado was really cool and those ruby slippers, well....

The show was great but there are few things which I think were a bit wrong:

• Toto is white when in the film he was black
• Dorothy didn't have a basket
• Most of the Munchins were played by adults
• The boys from the Lollipop Guild had scooters, not lollipops - why?
• The Munchins were all blue - what's that about?
• The Wicked Witch didn't wear a hat so when she got melted there was nothing left of her

All in all it was delightful birthday and this morning I woke up to Mr PC's freshly baked birthday cake!!

Carrots, in a cake??

Today is my Mum's birthday so I thought I'd share a few pics of the carrot cake I made for her. Needless to say, there is none left. Cake does stick around for long in our house. We have a saying 'Have cake, will eat it' and never is this more true than when I've made carrot cake!!

We did manage to take some pics before the Cake Monsters (ie all of us) tucked in and scoffed the lot!

Cake at eye level

Pretty swirl!

I think I made a pretty good job of the icing this time. I always struggle to spread the icing neatly as I prefer a piping bag but cream cheese frosting is not good in a piping bag... Anyway, I remembered to use my turn table this time and managed to get a nice swirl all the way up the sides and on the top! If you ice a lot of cake, I def recommend a turn table, it is such a great tool!!

Walnuts decorate the side and denote the size a slice should be

Obligatory pic with the candles lit

It looks like carrot cake is the birthday cake of choice in my family. Whenever I ask someone what they want for their cake they always say 'Ooh make me a carrot cake please!' I usually reply saying I can make other cakes too but I don't mind though cos I love carrot cake too! And the best part about making the cake for a party is that you know you'll love it and it's always me who asks 'Is it cake time yet?'

NB. The carrot cake recipe is from my trusted Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook and it's a failsafe recipe!!

Let them eat cake

Today is my birthday and I just had to show you a pic of the cake that my wonderful hubby made for me:

It was a Brooklyn Blackout Cake from the Humming Bird Bakery Cookbook and it was A-MAZ-ING! If you don't have this wonderful book, go and buy it right now! It is the best cake book ever and every single recipe that I've made so far is to die for!!

My hubby never bakes (I'm in charge of the cakes round here) but as I believe it is wrong to bake your own birthday cake, each year he rolls up his sleeves and makes a fabulous cake for me. It may not have a fancy icing design but it was so yummy, there's none left! (Please note that I did not eat it all myself).
 

On the subject of cakes, these Halloween cupcakes made by my sister's friend (aka The Bad Fairy) were equally delicious and absolutely gorgeous to look at. Check out the detail on the decorating!

Birthday Giveaway - And the winner is.....

"Drum Roll Please................."

The winner of my Birthday Giveaway is............... Selene16!!! Please contact me with your details so I can send you your surprise treat!!

Congratulations to you and thank you to all of you who entered. And, if you like giveaways, stay tuned as there will be a Christmas giveaway in the next few weeks!!

Birthday Giveaway

It's my birthday this month and in celebration of this, I have a surprise giveaway for one lucky person!!!

To be in with a chance of winning a surprise pressie, please leave a comment at the end of this post and I will select a winner at random. Make sure to leave your name or a pseudonym so that I know who you are (anonymous comments will be discounted)!

Entries must be made by 10pm Saturday October 23rd, and I'll pick a winner on October 24th. Check back here then to see who wins!