Happy Birthday Oliver!!

A year ago today my lovely friend Jo and her husband James welcomed to the world a beautiful baby boy, Oliver. So when Jo asked me to bake cakes for Ollie's birthday I was very excited.

So here is...
Using my standard vanilla sponge recipe for both the larger cake and the cupcakes.


Owl Cake 
Two round cakes, the second cut to shape.
A little inspiration taken from here

Pieces secured together with buttercream.

Stomach panel, eyes and wings decorated. Then adding the body colour and details.

And what better to sit beside the mummy owl, but lots of little baby owls....

Owl Cupcakes

Happy Birthday Oliver!!!

Muffin Minx.

Pie.....

So last weekend I made Lemon Meringue Pie. Here's a few little piccies to wet your appetite.


Enjoy.

Muffin Minx

Using your loaf....

In the kitchen cupboard lives a little box. This little box.

It belongs to my Mum and contains index cards with recipes for a multitude of different dishes. But with a loaf of bread sat on the side I knew exactly what card I was looking.....

Bread Pudding.

550g Bread
300g Fruit
150g Brown Sugar
1 tbsp Mixed Spice
150g Marg/Butter
2 eggs
Splash of milk.

Tear all the bread up and place in a large bowl. Cover with water and leave to soak for at least half an hour.

Squeeze out the excess water. I drained away as much as I could then put the bread in a tea towel and squeezed out as much excess as I could - the more you can get out now the less time it'll have to spend in the oven later.

Add all the other ingredients to the bowl and mix.

Line a tin with greaseproof paper and add the mixture.

Pop in the oven on Gas Mark 3 for an hour.

I think mine stayed in the oven for about two hours in the end, not enough moisture rung out at the earlier stage. But a tip for next time I guess.

Perfect pudding to snuggle up with on a cold winter day.

Happy Baking.

Muffin Minx