Feeling sheepish...

Ok, so Easter was a dismal weekend and the weather finally broke... on Tuesday, in time for work. But this is not going to be another post droning on about the prosaic
English climate; yep it's another one about cakes!
I decided to make the sheep cupcakes (as pictured below) as they looked cute and spring-like…my resulting cakes looked less cute and more psychotic. To be fair, I was at a distinct disadvantage to begin with when I was unable to track down any black icing with which to create their joyful little faces – I probably could have done had I travelled further afield but I wasn’t about to spend my time off scouring the country for it. Anyway, I decided that I could do just as good a job if I melted some plain chocolate and sculpted the faces myself…this may have been my first mistake – I am certainly no artist! To make matters worse the icing did not thicken to a hard enough paste, and (to my horror) when I piped the lovely wiggly coat on my beautifully risen cakes it just melted and covered the bun like snow on a Swiss mountain. Not to be disheartened I soldiered on and placed the sheep heads delicately on top…but given the liquidity of the icing they slid slightly and made the sheep look lopsided. I figured once the faces had been given some animation with eyes and mouths all would be rectified – once again though I was completely deluded. One was described, by my darling fiancé, as the cousin who has been locked in the attic…which I think was slightly harsh – they weren’t abnormal, just special. Though they did inspire him to make a short film that even Hitchcock would be proud of, complete with death metal soundtrack – seriously, a cross between Black Sheep and The Birds.
Despite their slightly demented appearance the cakes were very tasty and I was (eventually) very proud of them. As the box is finally empty I’ll assume someone enjoyed them, unless of course they escaped… :-S

Pictures may follow, although I am loath to expose myself to ridicule - voluntarily!

Easter Treats

I was slightly disheartened to learn that the forecast for the Easter weekend is less than desirable – I figured I’d be enjoying my garden...possibly with a cocktail or two in hand. But alas, the good old English weather has come up trumps again and we’re in for a soggy time - though I’m more than happy to be proved wrong! Anyhoo, it’s not going to stop me enjoying the luxury of a five-day weekend (oh yes people, I tagged an extra day on because four just isn’t enough!).
So in the absence of the sun I’m going to do some more baking. I recently found a recipe for some woolly sheep cupcakes...how fabulous do they look?! I appreciate that my sheep will probably look slightly more retarded than these but they look jolly good fun so I’ll give them a go anyway. Why is it when you’re trying to be good and maybe lose a few pounds you end up finding all these recipes that just have to be tried...?

Summer days...

Summer officially arrived at the weekend and since the sun is shining outside I wanted to bring some of that to my blog... which seems to have taken on a strangely yellow hue recently - what with all the talk of custard. I will consider therapy, but for now will delight in the knowledge that the light nights are on their way, along with evening strolls to the pub... especially since the good people of Bicester have seen fit to re-open one of the good ones - hurrah!

It has also been decided in our house that we should have a sunflower growing competition this year, this was due to the discovery of a free packet of seeds and not, you'll be pleased to hear, a lengthy and well articulated discussion (as that would have ended pretty swiftly after I confess my lack of gardening expertise). Anyway, if it all ends in disaster and we cannot look out onto a display of beautifully cultivated flowers I'm sure we'll manage to chuckle at our pitiful attempts.