Lemon & White Chocolate Cakes.

This is a recipe I attempted the other day and the cakes were so tasty I thought it would be rude not to share:

Lemon & white chocolate cakes.
Makes 12ish.

You will need:

A mixing bowl, wooden spoon, scales, sieve, cake tray, pretty cake cases, grater, lemon squeezers (or a clean hand), dessert spoon, cooling rack.

Cake:
100g Butter/Marg
100g Sugar
2 Eggs
150g Self Raising Flour
1 Unwaxed Lemon - juice will be used for cake and icing.
100g White Chocolate

Icing:
25g Butter/Marg
100g Icing Sugar

Making the cakes:
Line the cake tray with the cake cases and pre heat the oven at gas mark 5/180 degrees Celsius.

Start by beating the 100g butter/marg in the bowl into smooth.
Add the sugar and mix.

Break the eggs into a separate bowl, making sure there is no shell, pour into the mixing bowl.


Mix.
Sieve 100g of the self raising flour into the mixing bowl.

Mix.
Wash the lemon and using the small holes on a grater, grate the yellow rind of the lemon into the bowl.

Cut the lemon in half, keep one half for the cake icing, using the other half squeeze the juice into a bowl, making sure any pips are removed.
Pour juice into the mixing bowl.
Chop the white chocolate into small piece and pop into the bowl.

Mix and sieve remaining 50g of self raising flour into the bowl.
Mix together, until no flour can be seem left and the only lumps are the white chocolate.

With a dessert spoon, spoon the mixture into the cake cases.

Place tray in the oven for 15 minutes, until cakes are golden and fluffy to touch.

Remove cakes from tray and place on a cooling rack.

Once cool, prepare the icing:
Beat 25g of butter/marg until smooth, sieve in half of the icing sugar.
Mix.

Using the remaining half of the lemon and squeeze the juice into a separate bowl, making sure any pips are removed.
Mix and add the rest of the icing sugar.
If the icing seems too runny add some more icing sugar.
Spoon the icing onto each cake and smooth over, no need to be too neat, as they will be tasty however they look.

Leave the icing to set.
Put on the kettle, make a pot of tea.
Settle down with a cuppa and cake.

Woo Knitting Mojo is back!

Leaving the knitting untouched has paid off, I am back and boy watch me go. I think it was helped by the fine array of wool I picked up while back in Dorset at the weekend. Knitted these quite easy hand warmers on the train back to Cardiff, finished them off with some buttons and also finished another knitted tube bag this time in green - with a black and white skull scarf strap and white toggle lovingly donated from my friend Ashli.

Once back in Cardiff got to work on another hand bag - this time with some lovely soft pastel Russian Doll fabric, another item I picked up from crafty shop in Dorset.

I used the cut offs to make a pocket and a Russian Doll key ring to add to the hand bag, which I backed with the same yellow fabric I had used for the bag lining. I also added a little pink ribbon to attach and I popped some lavender into the keyring before sewing up.

Just need to give it a quick iron and it is ready to sell.
Today before work I had time to make a spicy carrot soup and a coffee and walnut cake using the walnuts my mum sent me home with from her garden.

Om nom nom nom.

This week I have paintings to do and to wait patiently for an arrival of material from the US.

Bunting Connoisseur - Apparently!

Woo last night I nearly finished the 50m of pink bunting for Swn Festival! Being a nice flat mate I decided not to use my sewing machine after 11pm, so just a bit left to do once I have picked up a mended Sebastien the bike this evening.

With sleep not forthcoming last night I decided to make use of all the cut offs I had left from the nice material I had used to make my bags:

The canvas are quite small at 20x20cm, but look quite pretty and will be good Christmas Stocking fillers.

Dress Making Course Week #3 - Laid pattern - got to cut fabric and did tailor tacs. Winner hoping to have a dress made by week #5 and then can start a winter jacket, with a retro cut.

Left on the "To Do" list this week:

Make a bag for a friends birthday

Finish bunting

Make some more jammie dodgers - smaller this time and maybe with a custard cream filling. Mmm.

Start bunting to sell! Winner.

Argh it is times like these that I am glad I can bake!

On several different occassions over the weekend I have started a new knitting project, another bag which will be a long over the shoulder affair with a ribbed top which can be folded down over the top or kept up, everytime I have had to restart it, so on realising I have lost my knitting mojo (temporarily I hope) I have decided to stay away from the knitting needles of doom for a while.
So made some homemade Jammie Dodgers...mmm.



Then on Saturday I popped to Newport where I set up a stall in the ace venue Le Pub, have great memories of seeing British Sea Power there some years ago. Met some lovely girls who were selling there handmade jewellery and clothes.

After a VERY slow start I sold a handbag and a painting, which was good, although next time will bake some of the jammie dodger biscuits to take and sell.

Dress Making course this evening. Although the course has been slow to start, hoping to have at least a dress and a jacket complete by the 10 weeks, but we shall see.

Ta ra!