Fit For a Queen

So admittedly this is very late as a jubilee cake (make that very very late!), but then it wasn't technically meant to be one in the first place. It was just a pretty cake for a party that happened to fall on the Jubilee weekend.

It's essentially a simple sponge recipe that I got from the BeRo book my mum and I always use, but then with some loveliness thrown at it: cardamon flavour, a lime syrup, cream cheese icing, pistachios, lime peel, and all topped with sugared roses. By far the prettiest cake I have ever made, if I do say so myself!

(Recipe and more pictures after the jump!)

Embroidery

Having picked up a sweet and free pattern over at The Making Spot, I had a go at embroidery for the first time - pretty pleased with the result too! I had a lot of fun choosing the coloured thread from my Granny's old craft box, and can't wait to maybe trying stitching some of my own illustrations.

Pom Poms

I've been making these tissue paper flowers ALL morning - they're like rustling, floaty pom poms and i love them! They are supposed to be for our impending almost jubilee party, but seeing as it is currently raining they might not be such a good idea...still, it was a very good way of using up all the tissue paper I had saved from my unwrapped birthday presents (I just can't bring myself to throw it away).

Found them here, and they are so so simple you could do them in your sleep - or watching The Parent Trap, as I did (how young and innocent Lindsay Lohan was!).

p.s. go here for a miniature version - so cute!!

Chocolate

I had a go at using chocolate moulds for the first time the other day. Deciding to start off small and ridiculously conservative, I just made a batch of small, solid chocolate eggs, it being nearly Easter.

Lots of them got eaten even before they were paired up...so much for Lent...

Nothing fancy whatsoever; simply joined by warming a knife in just boiled water, shaking off the excess then gently melting the chocolate of one of the egg halves, before pressing together.

For something more special, you could make up a ganache to put between the two halves (perhaps a delicate pink one, flavoured with rose water, to go with the white chocolate).

One half left over...how mysterious...

Package them prettily, and give them to someone special.

Have a Happy Easter! The Unlikely Robot.

(I've been wrapping presents all day...)

Cake is my friend

I'd like to introduce you to someone. He's an affable European with a crusty exterior and a sweet heart.

He's also a delicious cake.

This is Herman the German! A 'German friendship cake,' a rich apple and raisin cake that you grow from a fermented mixture similar to sourdough. He lives in your home for ten days, after which he is divided and shared with friends; I got ridiculously attached to my Herman during this time. I almost started talking to it. Almost.

This cake has a deeply spiced and fruity flavour, topped by a sugary, nutty crust that comes from the combination of muscovado sugar and melted butter that is poured over just before baking (and if that doesn't tempt you, I don't know what will!). A quick word to the wise - use lightly salted butter. I used whatever was biding its time in my fridge, and it was a bit too salty.

Full details of Herman's origins and the starter recipe can be found here, if you aren't lucky enough to have a neighbour or friend with baby Hermans to pass on!

Mothering Sunday

Some pictures from today, food not included; we had delicious, soft and floury yorkshire puddings, with fluffy roast potatoes, roast beef, and tangy horseradish, but it all disappeared too quickly to be photographed!

Tomorrow I'm meeting a sweet thing called Herman...

Over and out,

The Unlikely Robot

Welcome

Hello and welcome to our brand spanking new corner of the internet! Please bear with us as we blunder and bungle our way through blogging. 

Here you will find the musings and creations of three students (soon to be crazy cat ladies), who go by the names of Chickens, Smish and the Unlikely Robot, for reasons as yet to be deciphered. 

We will be spring cleaning this corner over the next few days, so please check back expecting changes! We hope you enjoy your stay here.