Friday 30 August 2013

Angel Food Cake

I love watching The Great British Bake-Off and this week they made Angel Food Cake in the technical challenge and the end results looked delicious! I don't have a Mary or a Paul judging my baking skills, but I do have an eager husband and a willing group of family and friends who are all hungry for more of my baked goodies, so I thought I would give it a go.

In week one we saw the 2013 contestants bake and decorate an Angel Food Cake


Mary's Angel Food Cake looked like the one above with a lemon and passion fruit curd which sounds divine! My husband isn't a huge fan of lemon flavours so I decided to go for something slightly different and topped it with fresh berries instead.

What do you think?


I was so impressed with myself and the final cake looked and tasted fantastic!!

...this weekend I will be attempting the next technical challenge and will be making breakfast muffins! wish me luck.

Thursday 29 August 2013

Me, Myself and My Creations

I am going to begin my blog by telling you a little bit about my much loved hobbies and how they came to be a part of my life today.  I have several hobbies that I tend to dip in and out of depending on what creative ideas pop in to my crowded head of creativity. These ideas usually enter my mind whilst at work and so after a long day I like to cosy up on the sofa with of a ball of wool and a crochet hook, or don my finest apron and reach for my baking books to prepare for my next baking challenge.


My favourite hobby changes all the time; one week I love baking and I will bake enough cakes to share with my entire Facebook friends list and then the next week it can change and all I want to do is crochet until I get writers crocheters cramp, but sometimes all I want to do is enjoy a more tranquil craft like finishing off one of my many cross-stitch projects whilst sipping a cup of tea in the garden.


I have several cross-stitch projects sitting in my craft box which I say with a gentle sigh as they were supposed to be presents many Christmas’s ago!
My Cross-stitch projects are a labor of love therefore I don’t like to work on them because I feel I have to which does create an issue when you are making them as gifts. I have discovered over the years that if I work on my hobbies because I have to I enjoy them less and start making mistakes!

Cross-stitch patterns are never fun when you start making mistakes Flashbacks to hours spent unpicking parts where I have missed a row sends shudders down my spine. Many a cross-stitch project have been abandoned due to tiny little mistakes, so it is best to work on these without deadlines.


Crochet is probably the hobby I love and work on the most and excusing the pun I am actually quite hooked on the craft, so much so that I hold regular craft fairs selling the bits and pieces that I have made over the course of the year. I love Christmas fairs as they are always the most successful and well attended; you meet some lovely people and I always go home having learnt something new about a craft belonging to a fellow stall holder.


My dear Mum taught me to crochet around 3 years ago now and I have never looked back. I started off with the humble 'Granny Square' blanket and since then I have created Teddy Bears, baby blankets and clothes and so much more and every time I make something new it always makes me smile.

Baking is a more recent hobby that I have started and one that makes my friends and family very happy when I am visiting with the latest baked goods that I have attempted in the kitchen.  I started baking for the first time around two years ago after watching the 2nd series of The Great British Bake Off.


Baking really pushes my creative ability as there have been success stories and major fails in my kitchen, but I learn new techniques all the time.

These are my main three hobbies, but I do dabble in other areas depending on the challenges put to me, a bit like my craft guru Kirsty Allsopp! Hopefully if you choose to follow me and my crafty ramblings you will be able to get a glimpse at my creative life and all the things I make, bake and stitch with a few little freebie tutorials added in along the way.