Rainbow Cake

I made this gorgeous cake for a little girl turning 2. I had so much fun making it! It was so bright and happy, I couldn't help but feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Unfortunately you can't see the multi-coloured cake inside but I can tell you it was a show stopper! The children were so excited when they saw the colours inside the cake. It gave me so much joy to see their faces. I love making children's cakes!!

Red Velvet Birthday Cake

I got an order for a Red Velvet Cake (RVC) a week ago, I had never made one before so I decided to make a trial cake. Forntunately this trial co-incided with Hannah's birthday so a few people got to enjoy it. I'm not entirely convinced about RVC, I think they are overrated.. much prefer my chocolate cake, that being said everyone who tasted it raved about it, so maybe it's just me! It was exciting making something new, especially when it worked out as well as it did! So here it is .... the famous Red Velvet Cake!

It's all about family

This is what my baking is all about: family. I love baking for my family and in this case with my family! I was so happy when my YOUNGER brother joined me in the kitchen to make red velvet cupcakes.  I have so much love and respect for him, he has already achieved such big things in his short life, and will hopefully continue to do so. I can always rely on Steve to eat my baked goods, I suppose when you do the amount of exercise that he does there is no worry about putting on weight!! I love baking for Steve, he is so appreciative and complimentary and makes me feel like I've done something really special!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Peach Butter Cream Frosting

I made these beautiful morsels for the youngest cousin's 21st birthday. The colour scheme was white and peach, thankfully Wilton food colour gels actually had a colour called peach! But even with the peach gel colour it was still a little tricky getting the right tone. I was so proud of  how they looked, all dressed up in their own little lace frocks ready for a night out, pity they didn't get very far...

Dr Seuss

Once again, not great pictures but what can you do when your photographer is on holiday!


I made this cake for a little boy's first birthday, I know it's not your typical children's cake, but I am really proud of how it turned out.  I had so much fun colouring all the batter and splodging it in layers. If you're wondering what those weird caterpillar/sausage decorations are... they are Dr Seuss trees from "oh the places you'll go"...  of course!I so wish I could have been there for the cake cutting moment when the rainbow was revealed!

007

So not the best photos, but my photographer is currently galavanting about Europe so I have to make do with my point and shoot camera. This is a 60th birthday cake I made for a family birthday. I started colouring the icing with raspberries, so that I didn't need to use as much red colour, also to give it a better flavour. I learned a big lesson with this red colour, the secret is to colour the icing pink first, then add red. 

Wedding Cake

I made my sister's wedding cake for her country style wedding. It was a six layer Raspberry and Vanilla Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. I had so much fun making this cake and I am so proud of how it all came (and stayed!) together. What a privilege to be trusted with such an important task. I love how imperfect it is, my kind of style! It's a little rough around the edges, oozes country charm and boy did it taste good!

Lemon Vanilla Cake

The beautiful, light, lemony taste of this cake is perfect with a mid morning cup of tea. It's the kind of cake that I  imagine being served with vintage china tea cups, lumps of sugar, all lovingly laid out on a gorgeous old lace linen table cloth inherited from Grandma...

Amazingly Delicious Chocolate Cake

This is THE most satisfying chocolate cake in the world. It's sweet, moist, dense...in a nutshell a chocoholic's heaven on earth. I have yet to taste another cake that meets my chocolate cake expectations quite like this one does! It is also very easy to make, why just this last weekend I churned out SIX of these babies!

Photographer Extraordinaire!

Hannah Jones is the very talented lady who takes the pictures for this blog. What an incredible photographer. She is insanely talented and I find her creativity awe inspiring! Not only is she a woman of many talents but she is also a wonderful person, who has become such a great friend of mine, her enthusiasm, energy and positiveness is infectious and I feel energised when I'm around her. Thank you Hannie for always being willing to take photos of my goodies, even when it's last minute and the conditions are far from ideal!

Never Fail Friands

The name explains it all. These little babies are my "go to" when I have unexpected ( but much appreciated) visitors for tea. They take no more than 7 minutes to throw together and 15mins to bake and they NEVER EVER fail! Their unusual, oval shape makes them appear a lot more fancy than they really are. The ones in the picture are raspberry and white chocolate flavored, my favorite! 

Banana Bread

The perfect morsel for afternoon tea. It is just sweet enough to hit the spot without ruining your appetite for dinner. I love the caramelised, almost burnt taste of the crust that gives way to the soft, pale, slightly bananary tasting inside. This always goes down a treat with my darling Dad, who's one of my biggest baking fans. He deserves a little credit here as he has been there from the very beginning of my baking journey and has endured his fair share of "flops". He is not one for mincing words and always gives me his honest opinion... It took several attempts (and much constructive criticism) to get this loaf just right, but i'm pleased I persevered as it is now a family favorite! 

Neen's Shortbread

There is only one Queen of Shortbread, and that Queen goes by the name of 'Neen' - who of course, is my Aunty Jeanine... 

Her shortbread is enjoyed by all the family and her visits are much anticipated as a result of this addictive slice of heaven. 

Mine pales in comparison to hers - but there is something about making shortbread that makes me feel very accomplished!

'healthy' bran muffins

I say 'healthy' with a bag full of sugar rather than a pinch of salt - as this recipe or anything with this amount of sugar could never be called healthy. The beauty of these muffins, is the batter can be made at the beginning of the week (when you are considerably more sane than the end...) and stored for up to 5 days in the fridge and as you want delicious, fresh muffins, you can just whip out the batter and in 20 minutes time, you will have incredible and irresistible muffins on your cooling rack. If they ever make it there....