A Fordhall Farm Running Club Party

Yesterday evening, I found myself back in the same field where I had enjoyed the Fordfest event two days previously. This time, Fordhall Farm were playing host to my Running Club's party to celebrate five years of affiliation to England Athletics. We were using the same marquee and the same catering from the beer festival. The acoustic stage where my daughter Taylor had played guitar and sang was still in the corner (although now it had a table on it!) bringing the proud memories flooding back. Different memories were ignited by the sight of the beer barrels stacked along the back of the marquee. We were welcome to help ourselves to any leftover ale and despite it being a school night, I would have gladly worked my way along the row of barrels but for the fact that I had driven. Reluctantly, I stuck to coke.

The party started with the choice of a game of rounders or a stroll around one of the picturesque farm trails. I opted for the walk on account of being useless at hitting a ball, too easily distracted to field and fiercely uncompetitive! I am no stranger to the walk but it was a beautiful evening and the setting sun gave it a quite different feel. It was lovely and we arrived back as the rounders game finished and the food was ready.

I am ashamed to admit that when I booked my ticket, I did not order the vegetarian option. I respect the organic farming methods practised by Fordhall and feel there is a certain honesty to visiting the pigs then buying the pork sausages from the shop. When I booked my ticket, the lure of one of their pork baps was enough for me to temporarily park my vegetarian diet off to one side. Had I known that I would also have been eating a pork bap two days previously at the Fordfest, I would most likely have settled happily for a bit of quiche and lettuce. I thoroughly enjoyed my meat indulgence but I do feel this morning as though I am sweating pork through my pores. Too much of a good thing maybe.

After the baps came the Cake.

I had baked some chocolate fudge cake and was really pleased to see that it all got eaten. There was an amazing selection of cake to choose from. I am wondering if there is a correlation between being a runner and making good cakes. I am happy to do further research on this hypothesis. The centrepiece was an amazing cake in the shape of a five to commemorate the five year affiliation and decorated to represent a variety of different races including mud runs. A fondant runner wearing the club's distinctive 'Where's Wally' fancy dress was buried up to their armpits in a chocolatey muddy puddle for a comic touch.

The best part of the evening for me was listening to one of the club members give a talk about his recent travels. Without the aid of a slide show, a script or a power point presentation, this charismatic young man perched on a table in a gloomy tent in a moonlit field and talked honestly and passionately about his solo cycle ride around the coast of Australia. I was captivated by his story (apart from the moment when a huge beetle flew past my head then got tangled in my hair - all I could concentrate on then was GET THIS BEETLE OUT OF MY HAIR!!!)

I will never be a traveller but in the sense that Life is a Journey, we are all travellers. I found the talk hugely inspirational and was surprised by how much his experiences resonated with my own values. The thing that he emphasised repeatedly was that the connections he made with the people he met and the kindness of strangers were more important to him and left a longer lasting impression than any sense of achievement of actually clocking up the miles or seeing the iconic landmarks that tourists flock to photograph.

I think I will remember this young man's words for a long time. I have learned a little more about Australia, a little more about cycling and lot  more about how far a little kindness can go.

To round off the evening perfectly, I got to take home a plastic bottle of one of the ales to share with my husband. We had a pint each before bed and saved just enough for me to have a go at making a beef and ale pie for dinner the following day. This time the 'beef' will definitely be 'beef style soya pieces'... but the ale will be real!

A little boy's birthday

My beautiful little boy was four on the 28th June.

Dylan in a Fire Engine

My daughter Charis' first Speech Day and end of term Prize Giving at her private boarding school was also on the 28th June.

That is one of the problems with big families - days get double booked far too often. One of the advantages of big families is that there is usually another sibling to step in and help out.

My boy started the day surrounded with presents to open on the Birthday Chair we had prepared the day before (putting to good use the flag that seemed somewhat redundant after England were knocked out of the World Cup).

Addy and Dylan help decorate the 'Birthday Chair'

Big sister Taylor then took responsibility for keeping the birthday fun going whilst my husband and I headed off to Chapel where I became predictably teary eyed listening to my Charis singing her angelic best with the school chapel choir.

Next was the Speeches and Prize Giving and eyes welled once again as Charis went up to collect her prize for the best Extended Project Qualification. She has achieved so much already, taking full advantage of the privileged position she finds herself in.

There was a whole day of events and exhibitions to showcase a year of achievements at the school but I felt guilty about not being with my son on his birthday. We gave Charis a picnic lunch which she happily went off to eat with someone else's parents and we drove home. Of course I felt guilty about not giving Charis more time and attention too. All in all I was feeling like a rubbish mum.

I tried not to let my feelings of inadequacy get the better of me and forced myself back in a 'party' mood.

We had cake. That always helps with the party mood.

My sister had told me about this idea for a cake. It sounded fantastically simple - and it was - especially as my husband completely took over the decorating part, feeling that construction sites were his area of expertise. I made the chocolate cake and chocolate fudge topping and he did the rest with the addition of some Maltesers, chocolate raisins, flakes and a pack of mini JCB vehicles.

I did begin to relax and unwind a little seeing my boy so happy playing outside with new toys. I even had the chance to complete a review jigsaw I was sent some time ago and had been saving for when Taylor was back from Uni.

When Charis was finished with all that was on offer at the end of term celebrations, my husband went to collect her (and all her dirty washing!)

To round off the day perfectly, we were all invited to a barbecue at Taylor's boyfriend George's house. Only one of my daughters couldn't make it. Having five out of six of my children all together for the first time in ages was wonderful and I always enjoy spending time with George's family. I let myself relax completely... with the help of a bottle of red wine! The birthday boy was presented with another cake and had a wonderful time running around the garden until he and sister Addy fell fast asleep on the sofa ready to be carried home to bed.

Pokemon birthday cake made by Danielle

I did feel slightly worse for wear the following day but had time to reflect on a mostly successful navigation through a hectic day before starting on the next one!

Apple Cake made with Golden Syrup Sugar

For the last few months of 2013, I found myself having to economise in a way that I hadn't had to for many years. One of the changes I made in my weekly shopping basket was to avoid buying any fancy sugar - nothing but the cheapest white granulated. I used it in all my home baking and although the results were perfectly OK, I did miss the subtle flavour enhancing tastes imparted by the slightly more expensive unrefined sugars -  especially in my crumble toppings (I was making a lot of crumbles thanks to a glut of cooking apples from the tree in the garden).

Now that the purse strings have been loosened a little, I definitely think it is worth spending the extra to experiment with the whole range of sugars available. 

I was quite excited to see that Tate and Lyle had brought out a new, British inspired Golden Syrup Sugar - and even more excited to be offered a sample to try. 

As I still have apples in my larder, I decided to make an apple cake from a recipe that I have already adapted several times with good results. It is a lovely, comforting winter pud, great served hot or cold with cream, ice cream or custard. This is the recipe as I made it last night:

Apple Cake

200g SR flour ( I used the Savers budget range from Morrisons)

2tsp ground ginger

100g margarine

100g Golden Syrup Sugar

1 large egg (from my lovely hens)

8tbsp milk

1 cooking apple, peeled, cored and diced.

Extra Golden Syrup Sugar for sprinkling on top

1. Preheat oven to 200ºC

2. Mix flour and ginger together ( I didn't bother sieving)

3. Rub in the marg

4. Stir in the Golden Syrup Sugar (taking time to enjoy the smell!)

5. Add egg and milk and beat to a thick smooth batter

6. Stir in diced apple

7. Transfer to tin (I used a non stick 8" round one with removable bottom)

8. Sprinkle top with Golden Syrup Sugar (tricky because it has the consistency of wet sand) 

9. Cook until firm and golden, approx 35 mins

I was pleased with how it came out but as the saying goes - the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

I served it with cream and asked my husband for his verdict. He agreed with me that it was good but I pushed him further to see if he could identify a mystery ingredient. He took another mouthful, contemplated a while then said it tasted a bit like.... Golden Syrup!

10/10 for my husband's tastebuds and a big thumbs up for the new member of the Tate & Lyle family.

For information about the Tate & Lyle range, recipe ideas and more, visit http://www.tasteandsmile.co.uk/

A discovery in the dusty archives

I have been doing a lot of clearing up, de-cluttering and reorganising lately - tackling the areas of chaos that I have steadfastly ignored on previous attempts to sort my life out. The mood has followed me into my little corner of cyberspace - deleting anything that served no useful purpose.

I found a draft blog post from the beginning of July 2011. Although I had published an abbreviated version as part of a Reasons to be Cheerful post, I had never published the full version. Neither had I deleted it. As I read through, every word I had written still rang true. Apart from the fact that my son is now three and a half and the cake is a very distant memory, I really could have written this post today. For that reason, I have decided to rescue it from the the dusty archives and publish it now.

Summer 2011

My baby boy turned one this week, which inevitably involved cake.

But it wasn't all about cake. It was a lot about reflection and celebrating the huge amount of joy that the little fellow has brought into my life.

I never expected to be a mum to a boy. I had four daughters in my first marriage and felt that my family was complete. I did not long for blue baby clothes and trains sets. My girls were everything to me.

When my marriage failed irretrievably I had no idea what the future would hold. I felt so blessed to find a man I truly love and we have a life together that is better than anything I might have dared to wish for. I did not expect babies to feature in my new life. I thought I was probably too old to have much left in the way of fertility. I am so glad that I was wrong.

My first child with my new man was another girl. Was I disappointed? How could I be? I had a beautiful baby girl that I fell in love with instantly.

Against the odds, when I fell pregnant again at the age of 46, I allowed myself to imagine what it would be like if this child was a boy. The pregnancy felt different and I wondered if that was an indication but I was far more concerned with having a healthy baby to give the whole gender issue much consideration.

When people said to me that they bet I was hoping for a boy this time, I would reply that  a boy would shake things up and be fun but a girl would fit much more neatly into my life.

I didn't get neat!

When that baby was born and I saw it was a little boy it was quite hard to take in. Even now, a year later,  I look at him and have to almost say it out loud YOU'RE A BOY.

He's a laid back, happy little soul, generous with his kisses and cuddles. He loves his food. He is strong and tough and has the softest skin. He loves anything with wheels. He has an expressive little face and a smile that shows his cute, baby teeth.

I love him with a whole new flood of love that came from a place inside me that I didn't even know existed.

He is my son. One day he will be man.

Panto Time (Oh no it isn't!)

The first school run of the second half of this term went remarkably smoothly. I woke up feeling refreshed and ready for the day ahead after an uninterrupted night's sleep and Addy was very eager to be back in the classroom with her friends.

It has been a half term holiday dominated by pantomime. Oh no it hasn't - I hear you say. I can definitely reply - Oh yes it has! 

My 16 year old daughter Charis has been involved with the local Amateur Dramatics group for quite a few years. It has been an absolute privilege to watch her on stage in the many productions that she has played a part in and to see her blossom as a performer. Her part in the latest production - the annual panto - was as a member of the chorus. She only had one line to say but the chorus had a significant singing and dancing role for the majority of the show.

I am not really a fan of pantomime as a form of entertainment, but it was probably one of the best I've ever seen. It was without a doubt the best amateur panto I've ever seen. This had a lot to do with an inspired performance by a new member of the group cast as the evil fairy. She was amazing. My favourite scene involved the evil fairy concocting an equally evil spell with my Charis and another chorus member playing the part of her minions. Charis was fantastically creepy as she danced with lithesome grace around the cauldron.

Charis is not a natural dancer. She does not have dance lessons. It was through sheer determination and tireless practise that she not only mastered the steps but made them look effortless and professional. I was impressed beyond words. As a result of her accomplishments, she was approached to take on the role of musical director in future productions. Unfortunately, that is an opportunity she is unlikely to be able to explore. This was probably the last production with this particular group that she will be involved with.

The dedication to dancing has also seen her lose inches off her waistline. She was never overweight but she now has a enviably toned, slender body. She looks incredible.

The panto impacted on my week in different ways. For a start, we have had to live with Charis dancing around the house almost non-stop! Rehearsals have been taking up more and more time to the extreme that the technical rehearsal did not finish until after midnight. My husband was always on standby to pick her up and I could never properly go to sleep until she was home.

There were five performances in all including the matinee and Charis was overflowing with enthusiasm for each and every one. I took my mum along to see Thursday night's show. Spending time with my mum was a special treat and I love how she always jumps at the chance to see her grand daughter in action. She agreed with me that Charis was phenomenal with what she had achieved with her dancing. To top it all off - I won the raffle!

As a thank you for the opportunities and support that Charis has been given, I was very happy to make cakes for her to take to the after show party. I am really enjoying baking at the moment and had good results with coffee and walnut, lemon drizzle and chocolate marble cakes. My kitchen was a busy place. I cut all the cakes into slightly bigger than bite-sized, manageable party nibbles and tried not to feel that my sister in law and her children who were staying with us for the weekend were given the thin edge of the hospitality wedge by serving them inelegant piles of off cuts!

The after show party went on well into the early hours. One very jubilant Charis eventually texted one very tired stepdad for a lift home. At this point I was a little worse for wear having consumed unhealthy amounts of wine (and off cuts!) with the afore mentioned bad influence of a sister-in-law.

Charis is not quite sure what to do with herself now that the hectic schedule of rehearsal and performance has come to an end but the friendships she has forged, the confidence it has given her and the many happy memories will no doubt endure.

Four Christmas Cakes

I was late making my Xmas cake this year and a little uninspired as how to decorate it. I also had the annual dilemma of when to actually cut it. I usually wait until Xmas day but more often than not, after the big Xmas dinner, mountains of chocolate and relatively little physical activity, nobody is in the mood for rich fruit cake. I always seem to miss the moment which makes me wonder why I bothered to make it in the first place.

This year I had a plan.

My parents were coming for a pre-Xmas dinner and I wanted to serve cake to them. I also wanted cake to serve other guests we were expecting and an uncut cake for Xmas day (just in case).

I cut my square cake into four equal quarters.

I decorated each quarter differently and had particular fun making icing and marzipan snowmen for one creation. Nothing was planned. I just made it up as I went along.

Three different cakes were available for my three different occasions and the fourth quarter which I left un-iced, wrapped with a ribbon and decorated with glace cherries, remained for our New Year's celebrations.

My four mini cakes may not have had the impact of one show stopping centre piece but it worked brilliantly for what I wanted.

Next year I may go back to making one carefully planned show stopper but it is good to know that this alternative approach worked so well.

Brain Food

#silentsunday

Jubilee-cious

I have to admit that the confusion of events being organised for the Jubilee along with the drizzly weather (although my dad, who took part in the Coronation back in 1953, assures me that the weather was very similar as he marched down the Mall to Constitution Hill) has made me feel a little less inclined to wave my Union Jack.

I did, however, bake some cakes which my willing assistant helped me to decorate. Blue and red food colouring only managed to tint the butter icing pale blue and pink but nobody minded.

My older girls had been playing a Best of British set on the bandstand at a local 'Party in the Park' event.

When they all arrived home, cold and hungry, I had a Veggie Sausage and Chip Curry ready for them. The chips were leftover from yesterday's dinner  (my husband had miscalculated how many portions to order from the chip shop when I was too tired to cook). The curry did have an alarming yellow glow due to a measuring mishap with the tumeric and our tongues did take on that same hue when our plates were emptied but everyone raved about it. Veggie Sausage and Chip Shop Chip Curry has now earned a place as my quintessentially British signature dish whenever an occasion warrants such a thing.

I did insist that everybody join in with a rousing rendition of God Save the Queen (although shamefully Taylor didn't know the words) before cakes were served - on union jack paper plates.

I had also made a madeira cake decorated with strawberries and blueberries to represent the colours of the flag. I didn't have long for my fruit positioning but then it didn't take my girls long to demolish it, either.

It was so lovely to have the family together, relaxed and happy and well fed. For me, this was a perfect way to spend the start of the holiday weekend.

Don't Panig

I have always suspected that my daughter, Charis, has her feet firmly on the Autistic Spectrum - not least because she is incapable of touching her own nose with her eyes closed. It has not gone unnoticed by others but she has never had a formal diagnosis. She is extremely bright and learns to deal with the things that she finds challenging.

Charis excels academically and has high expectations placed on her across the syllabus. She is hard working and methodical and finds most subjects easy. There is an exception. English Literature.

There are some aspects of English Literature that can be tackled with her usual approach. She regularly scores 10/10 on the exam question that asks you to analyse a passage from the study text. However, her overall score is seriously compromised by the scores she achieves on the other questions, in particular when asked to comment on unseen poetry.

Poetry is a mystery to Charis. When asked about the mood of the poem and how it makes you feel - she is completely lost. It doesn't make her feel anything. It is simply a string of words put together in a less than logical configuration.

Charis has her English Literature GCSE tomorrow.

As usual she is putting everything she has into doing well but her inability to 'get it' was starting to drive her to distraction.

I have done my best to help her - including speed reading "Of Mice and Men" so we could have detailed discussions about the characters and themes of the book. We looked at past papers and I tried to give her clues to help her decipher poetic code. I have every confidence that she will do well but it doesn't hurt to remind her of the safety net of resits.

My final offering to help with exam stress was to make her a DON'T PANIC cake. Staying calm is the most powerful strategy at her disposal.

Unfortunately, I was in a bit of a hurry. When I selected the embossing letters to imprint my message on the top of the cake, I picked up the G instead of the C (they looked virtually identical to me). My message read DON'T PANIG.

It was possibly the best mistake I've ever made. It made Charis laugh and relax. I hope in some small way that will help her deal with the task she has ahead.

A Year in Cakes - 2011

As the year draws to a close, it is good to look back and remember achievements and significant events from the previous twelve months.

This is my story told though the medium of... cakes!

Happy New Year!

Reasons to be Cheerful

I'm a little later with this than I usually am, not because I had no Reasons to be Cheerful, rather I had too many and they were all keeping me very busy!

ONE

It is Carnival Weekend in the town where I live and today, at least, the sun shone beautifully on the festivities - festivities that included my girls' band 'Not Quite' doing a live performance of some of their original songs and covers. There where some issues with the sound system but they battled through and were well received. Once again I felt immensely proud. They will be playing again tomorrow in a marquee amidst the main attractions. 

TWO

My first husband took himself very seriously which didn't leave much room for laughter. I am so grateful that my husband now has no such issues. 

If our son wakes up in the night, it is usually my husband that goes to him and tries to settle him - or if that fails, brings him to me. 

My husband prefers to sleep naked.

So as not to find himself in the awkward position of bumping into one of my grown up daughters on the landing with his bits on full display, he usually pops a pair of undies on before going to the baby's room.

We are both suffering a bit with tiredness at the moment for all sorts of reasons (most of them good). When the baby started to cry, my husband sat up and got out of bed on auto pilot. As usual, he went to his  underwear drawer. What happened next changed my casual disinterest in his activities into alert bemusement. Instead of putting on his underpants, he took out a pair of socks and put them on. He then proceeded to go and fetch the baby with his little black ankle socks pulled up high and his manly bits in full  glorious view for all to see. 

Thankfully, my girls were all in their rooms and oblivious to the ridiculous sight of their stepfather.

It wasn't until he handed me the baby and saw the look on my face that he even realised that anything was amiss.

We did laugh.

THREE

I really have to stop referring to our son as 'the baby'. He turned one year old this week which meant (amongst other things) cake. I always love an excuse to bake a cake.

As well as cake (oops - there goes the diet again!) it was a time for reflection and celebration and thinking about how much joy my little man has brought into my life.

He is such a laid back, happy little soul, generous with his kisses and cuddles. He loves his food. He is strong and tough and has the softest skin. He loves anything with wheels. He has an expressive little face and a beautiful smile. He is my son and I adore him. What better Reason to be Cheerful?

Another party, another cake

I am in cake mode again.

It is Ivy's 20th birthday and such an occasion cannot be allowed to go unmarked by cake.

Ivy is a bit of a sci-fi geek. She recently asked her sister to design her a photoshopped Portal to Another Dimension. It is from this design that I took my inspiration for Ivy's birthday cake.

Ivy loves buttercream and glitter so it was a given that both would be incorporated into the design.

To simplify things, I made a fairly straight forward all-in-one sponge mix which I cooked in two round tins.  That part was easy.

The next job was to make buttercream to sandwich the two halves together and spread around the side of the cake.

I had visions of colouring the icing a deep purple-blue like space. I even had little white chocolate stars to stud the icing with to add to the illusion.

When I made my anniversary cake, I had tried to make black glace icing but ended up with dark purple. Just the sort of dark purple that would be perfect for my Portal to Another Dimension cake. I thought it would be simplicity itself to recreate the colour with my butter icing. Wrong.

It must be something to do with the yellowness of the butter but my icing went brown.

I have always prided myself on being quite good at mixing colours when it comes to painting but food colouring does not obey any colour mixing rules known to man.

I added red and blue and black in different quantities but the best I could manage was a sort of dull lilac. To avoid rendering it completely inedible I settled on that and added the stars. It didn't look like any sort of 'space' I'd ever seen but it was quite pretty.

Again, in the interest of keeping it simple, I had bought a tube of ready made piping icing with a selection of nozzles for different effects. Simple it wasn't. It was incredibly hard to squeeze it out of the tube. Although I admit it kept its extruded shape very well, it did not detach readily to form a clean, crisp rosette when using that particular nozzle. I piped a neat ring of slightly deformed rosettes all the way round the perimeter and my hand was aching like crazy by the end.

Next was the fun part - making the swirling vortex that was the Portal to another Dimension. I thought that mixing the colours would be much more straight forward with glace icing - no yellow butter to confuse the issue. My vision was to make vibrant purple, pink and blue and swirl it all around.  Did I really think that mixing the colours would be much more straight forward?!

My purple turned grey, my blue turned brown. The pink was OK but only because Liberty had just been to Morrisons and bought me a bottle of pink food colouring.

It wasn't how I had imagined but I went ahead anyway and glooped and swirled my dirty colours over the top of the cake.

The saving grace of my disasterous project was the edible glitter I had purchased that afternoon from our local specialist chocolate shop. I covered the whole sorry mess with its light reflecting loveliness.

The final touch was to use the writing nozzle on the dreaded ready made piping icing tube to write on the words Ivy's Portal to Another Dimension. I couldn't fit Dimension on so the Portal changed it's functionality to 'Time'. Artistic license!

All that remains to be said is thank heavens for edible glitter and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, IVY.

"Fame - the reprise" and a cake plan

This Saturday, I am having a party to celebrate my 1st Wedding Anniversary.

It is only a family party, but with our family that does mean something like thirty people without trying too hard. Now, I could just about squeeze everybody into my house - I've done it before - but I really wanted room to dance, so we have hired a hall.

The last time we hired this hall for a party, we had it all day and were able to set up the night before. This time, we only have four hours so in order to achieve the quick in and out, it won't be possible to take all the equipment that my girls need in order to perform live as 'the band'. Our answer is to use karaoke instead.

I have created a Karaoke song list with about three different contemporary songs for each of the dance styles that I want represented. We have Waltzes, Cha Cha Cha and Rumba tracks, Rock 'n Roll, Quicksteps and Rhythm Foxtrots. All I need now is for my ever willing family to sign up to sing something off the playlist. My brother in law and my daughter's boyfriend were quick to jump in for some Rock 'n' Roll  and my parents have delighted me by volunteering to perform a favourite song of theirs 'Sway' as well as the song they performed at my wedding 'Love and Marriage'. My dad will probably have everyone in tears if he is brave enough to do a solo rendition of Edelweiss as he has indicated he might.

Love and Marriage performed at my Wedding last year

I have a niece who is something of a musical theatre diva so I hope she will be willing to entertain us all with one of her show stopping performances. Then there is the moment we will have all been waiting for.

My lovely sister threw all caution to the wind last year to sing Fame at my wedding. It is incredibly hard to sing but she battled on through the high notes and gave a performance I will NEVER forget. One of the reasons I'll never forget it (try as hard as I might!) is because the whole thing was caught on video. It was our intention to imitate the Flash Mob phenomena by casually congregating, pulling off a perfectly synchronised dance routine, then casually dispersing. It didn't quite work that way but it was a lot of fun. This Saturday, we are gearing up for "Fame - the reprise". I hope someone has the video rolling again.

As well as planning the music, I am also busy planning and preparing the food. I love the challenge of catering for large numbers. I am not being terribly experimental this time, choosing tried and tested favourites and keeping everything as simple as possible. This leaves me with time and energy to make a Celebration Cake.

My wedding cake was a beautiful three tiered black and ivory masterpiece that tasted as gorgeous as it looked. Needless to say, it wasn't me that made it!

I have already made a madeira cake and now I need to think about how to decorate it to make it the centrepiece of my buffet offerings. My husband has given me a couple of pretty good suggestions but  I'm not sure I have the skill to pull it off. Disaster or triumph - it will still be something to blog about!

"I did exactly what it said in the recipe..."

My mum said that she couldn't imagine it happening. But it happened. My husband made me a cake for our anniversary.

Not just any cake.

A heart shaped chocolate cake with chocolate fudge icing studded with bite sized pieces of vanilla fudge, presented on a silver heart shaped board and in a white cardboard cake box tied with silver ribbon.

OK, so he hadn't left it in the oven for long enough so the liquid middle sank in leaving a surprisingly pretty heart shaped hollow, which he tried to disguise - hence the bite sized fudge studding - but I enjoyed every gooey, globby crumb and drip.

"I did exactly what it said in the recipe..."

As well as my beautiful undercooked cake, he gave me ivory roses like the ones that had made up my wedding bouquet and diamond earrings. I could not have felt more spoilt.

I was delighted by all the lovely wishes from blogger friends, reduced to tears by the song my daughter Ivy wrote for us and slightly concerned that the world would not be ready for what my sister had unleashed on it.

My girls have a regular babysitting booking every Sunday night while my husband and I have our ballroom dancing lesson. This time, they extended their duty to enable us to have a post lesson takeaway curry and champagne without the worry of the baby trying to pinch the naan bread.We toasted our first year of married life together to round off a lovely day.