Zombie

TIRED. I am.

Like a Zombie, though a few days late for Haloween - just missed it!

But when you wake to this cute face you cant be cranky, just tired.

Rainbow Layer Cake - EGG FREE version

The How-To

The Recipe - Basic Vanilla Cake

2 and 1/2 cups of plain flour

1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 and 3/4 cups of sugar

250g butter (melted - I think this is the key to the great cake)

1 and 1/2 cups of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence/extract
red, blue and yellow colouring
NO EGGS! The receipe actually has 4 eggs But I just LEFT them OUT!

Vanilla Butter Icing

250g butter
2 cups of icing sugar sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla essence/extract

I used two quantities of the basic vanilla cake and one and a half quantities of the Icing. 

I have three round cake tins, so made three cakes from one quantity of cake mix.

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C

I started with the first quantity of cake mixture 

Place all the cake ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix until well combined.

I have an electric mixer which was perfect, but it could be done by hand, just give it a really good mix. 

While its mixing I greased and lined my three round cake tins. 

They are standard size - I think about 20cm tins.

I seperated the mixture equally between three bowls to colour each batch then put them into the cake tins which I had lined properly - cut out circles of baking paper, greased the base and laid the circles. Then cut strips, greased the sides of the tins and laid the paper around the sides. This made the cakes presentation that much better and no need for evening up the cakes or trimming them as they came out already so beautiful. Lining the tins this way was tedious and took the most time of the whole process! BUT it was worth it.

I made the red, yellow and blue cakes first as there was no colour mixing and I baked two cakes on the top rack and one below. My cakes took about 30 - 35 minutes. They browned slightly and I could tell they were ready with a skewer test and they had shrunk slightly from the sides - you know what I mean

I left them in the tins to cool on a rack before taking them out. Dont rush to take them out, or they could crumble and split. Tread carefully

To mix the other three I added small amount of darkest colour and touch more of the lighter. So for orange - a smidge of red and a dash of yellow and mix. Green - smidge of blue and dash of yellow. Purple is a little tricky smidge of blue and dash of red and see how it goes.

I baked the cakes the night before and stored them seperated by baking paper in airtight cake tins.
The next morning I mixed the icing - put a smidge on the base of my cake tray and laid the purple cake first, then a thin layer of icing then next cake till all cakes are on and finished with a fine layer on the red cake then put it into the fridge for about an hour before putting the final layer of icing over the complete cake. This step helps the final layer go in place easier.

I still cant believe it all worked so well and tasted delicious.

Quilting dilemna

Help Help

I decided to give pinwheels a go. Using charm square size squares it was actually very easy.

I found a quick and easy tutorial here

Mine were not 100% perfect but it still looks good, the yellow softly coordinates it all.

Im thinking of binding with plain white. Simple and sweet.

And I added a little strip at the back which is cute too.

BUT I cant decide how to quilt it together????

I cant wait to get back to the sewing machine and finish it.

Should I quilt in the triangles? do squares? free motion? Oh my!

What do you suggest??

Making an effort

Is it just me or do others struggle to stay organised?
My mind has such a complicated way of organising things that is so unorganised!!
I write lists, then I write them again - like I'm reminding myself but really I am just wasting time I think.

I have found staying organised is something I really need to work at. After borrowing those books from the library the other month,  I found some new ways to stay organised and it really seemed to work for me - for a moment anyway. But I find myself making more lists over lists and realise I have fallen back into an unorganised state and I need to revisit those wise words I read and really focus on them and what I need to do to stay on track and get the most out of my day.

I dont think I waste away the day, but really think I could get more out of it and beat myself up about it.
On the other hand I also cherish the relaxed life that my days are filled with (when you really think about it) I can not complain. Busying myself with kids and household duties is not really the stressful life. BUT  I still think no matter what you do, being organised can make a big difference.

Its not that Im unorganised actually, more that I go the long way about to being organised. My processes are quite scattered and can be time consuming.

I do believe a busy person always seems to be able to fit more in their day, the busier you are the more you can take on. Maybe the easier it is to be organised when you have to be?
 I think its a personality trait too! And maybe a mix of loving it too.

So here I go.... getting focused on being time management sophisticated now!

It was a First

Our little man is a BIG 1 already!

Oh what a fun little person he is. Such a bright button and full of spark.

He makes me smile everyday.

We had a little backyard get-to-gether with our family and close friends, drinks and nibbles and of course a cake.

But not just any cake, a six layer rainbow cake  (egg-free of course)

It looks so good with all the colours and it tasted really good too.

I was quite proud of my efforts.

I used a basic vanilla cake receipe from Donna Hay Magazine and just left out the 4 eggs of each batch. Thats right, just LEFT them OUT! The cake was dense and moist, not crumbly, and everyone enjoyed it alot. I made the effort of lining the cake tins properly, which really makes a big difference in presentation. I didn't need to trim the cakes at all. 

Stay tuned for the How to

Im a backer!

Im a backer! 

I couldn't resist but to donate towards this project, Morgans project .
Morgans blog was one of the first blogs I started reading in my introduction to blogs and I'm still an avid follower. I was first taken with her pictures and then her words.
Im so excited for her and cant wait to see her new adventure unfold - especially knowing I was able to help .... Exciting

Cooking class

Check out these desserts... and they are just the beginning of the 6 desserts we made!

Yes, I took a cooking class. What fun.

It was a gift for my birthday and I really enjoyed it.  

I have not eaten so much egg in a really long time! I was really hoping to get some egg free ideas/substitutes though the chef was completely thrown about the idea of not using eggs - which made me quite proud of my ability to continually try new things without eggs and successfully I might add!

The chocolate fondant has egg in it and while I thought I may be able to make a cream mouse to substitute the egg I have not tried it as yet as the egg version is AMAZING. Sorry kids!

Have you tried Fondant before? Its very chocolately and very delicious.

its a gooey lava cake. Looks like a mini choclate cake/pudding and when you break it open a runny hot chocolate sauce comes flowing out. Very rich, so the size is small but perfect.

I have made it a couple of times and 5 g of flour is tricky to measure, I think I need to use a little more flour for less goo but it still gets eaten every time. I am also still so surprised how quick and easy it is. It does need chilling time, which you may argue is not quick but you can put it in the freezer to speed this up and really overall it is small preparation for something a little bit fancy.

Worth a try :)