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2014 in Review – The Cakes

January 3, 2015 by Bel 4 Comments

As part of my round up for 2014, I wanted to recap on the cakes I’ve made this year. In May I did a sort of mid-year round up, but this is for the complete year. Though I’ve actually made far more than the cakes pictured below, these are the key cakes of 2014.

Though I did make a fairly simple cake for my sister’s birthday in February, March was really the first time I got busy. What with Lily, Amy and Chris all having a birthday in March, it was pretty crazy. Lily’s was my first and also one of the most important in the whole year. She was massively into Frozen (and still is) so that was the theme of her cake. Only 9 days later, it was Amy’s birthday and as I’ve always wanted to make her a Peter Pan cake, this is what I did. The three tiers made this the biggest cake of the year. It was a pretty impressive cake. Less than a week later, it was Chris’ birthday and I was pretty much caked out. As such he got a very simple Minion cake but he was happy nonetheless.

After a very brief break, my mum’s birthday came next in April. There was really no specific theme I could think of for my mum, so instead just asked what flavour she’d like. Having requested something with cream, I put my mind to something she’d love and came up with a Tiramisu cake. This as a huge hit and I’ve had several requests to make it since – most recently a few days after Christmas. Next in April was Erika’s birthday, though her party was technically in May. All I really had to go on was the fact she liked sweets, so I made a cake that somewhat looked like a bowl with sweets in it. My birthday was next but luckily I didn’t have to make my own cake as Nat did it instead. Good job too, given the theme (NSFW), as I”m not sure I would have pulled it off as well as she did! However only a week or so after mine, came my brother’s birthday. Since he was having a superhero party, I made him a superhero themed cake!

Only a few weeks after my brother’s birthday, it was Harry’s 1st birthday. While I don’t usually make cakes for other people’s kids, it was Harry’s 1st and that made it special (he’s also going to be my Godson). I really had no idea what a one year old would like so I searched around Pinterest till I came up with the idea of building blocks. It was a bit of a rush job but I think Harry’s cake turned out okay in the end. Luckily I managed a bit of a break then, at least until the following month. Even then the cake I made for my friend Chris, was a bit of break from the norm. His wife Hollie, suggested a cake that had been circulating its way around Facebook. Always up for a challenge, I figured I’d give it a go! Though the original cake had been Maltesers and M&M’s, I opted for Maltesers and Smarties – this was largely because nowhere I went had the smaller packs of M&M’s and I didn’t give myself very long to search! It turned out pretty good and seemed to wow everyone at Chris’ birthday party. Finally, I genuinely got a break – this time from between July to November. Then, amidst a heap of sewing, I had to make Nat a birthday cake. Sadly I can’t believe I never actually got around to blogging about her murder mystery, but we had fun with a fairytale theme. As her character in the murder mystery was Red Riding Hood, I decided to theme her cake the same. Megan actually helped me with the cake, solely making the Red Riding Hood figure on the top!

That brings me to the last cake of the year, which was actually for Megan’s birthday. Still bogged down with sewing, murder mystery planning and of course Christmas, Megan’s cake was a bit of a rush. Luckily for me, she’d enjoyed helping with Nat’s cake and had wanted to help with her own. Settling on a fairly simple Harry Potter cake theme, Megan actually made all the items on top of the cake (bar the scarf which I added as a surprise once she’d gone to bed). I made and iced the cake myself and once Megan was in bed, put all the elements together so at least the finished look would be a surprise for her.

While this coming year I will definitely be cutting down on the amount of cakes I make, I also know I will have more time to fiddle so I’m looking forward to developing more skills. With Megan be interested in helping, it also makes it feel a bit more enjoyable for me. Megan definitely has artistic talent that I do not possess!

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Filed Under: cake decorating, year in review Tagged With: 2014, Amy's birthday, cake making, cakes, chris' birthday, Disney, fairytale, frozen, harry potter, Lily's birthday, Megan's birthday, Minion, Nat's birthday, Peter Pan, superheroes, Tiramisu

Mum’s Tiramisu Cake

August 16, 2014 by Bel 4 Comments

Do you know that I’ve been meaning to post about this cake since April, when Mum had her birthday? I guess I’ve just made so many cakes in between that I never got around to it. Anyway, with last week’s GBBO having the theme of cakes, its spurred me on to actually get this posted about.

My mum is not a fan of icing on cakes. She doesn’t want something decorated with a geeky theme or thousands of sweets. Instead when I asked her what kind of cake she would like, all she requested was fresh cream. However this was my mum and I wanted to make her something special. So the more and more I thought about it, the more I knew I wanted to make it something she would love. As her favourite dessert is Tiramisu, I had the brainwave to make a sort of Tiramisu Cake – and this is what I came up with.

Tiramisu Birthday Cake

Cake:
2 packets of sponge cake mix
1 tsp instant coffee powder/granules
60ml coffee
1 tbsp coffee liqueur
Filling:
1 container of mascarpone cheese (approx 250g)
120g icing sugar
2 tbsp coffee liqueur
Frosting:
500ml double cream
60g icing sugar
2 tbsp coffee liqueur
Decorate:
a Flake, cocoa powder, grated chocolate etc.

Now if you read the ingredients before you read the instructions, you might be gasping that my recipe features two packets of sponge cake mix. I don’t want to lie to you.. this is what I used. They were about 20p from Tesco and saved so much extra hassle! However if you really want to make the sponge mix yourself, there is nothing stopping you. You’d need enough mix for 3, 9 inch tins.

1. Make up the cake mix, according to the instructions. Divide the mixture into thirds, two of which can go straight into the cake tins (greased/lined, 9 inch tins) and the other should remain in a bowl. Add the instant coffee to the last lot of cake mixture. Stir and then add to the final cake tin. If you do not have a coffee to use, check this coffee that supports animal rescue.

2. Bake in a preheated oven (180°C ish, Gas Mark 4/5) for approximately 20 minutes – until the cakes are cooked. Leave to cool, turning out onto a cooling rack after 10 minutes or so.

3. While the cakes are cooling, you can do three things.
– In a small bowl or cup, mix the 60ml coffee (i.e. filter coffee, or coffee made up from instant powder) and 1 tbsp of coffee liqueur – set to one side.
– In a slightly larger bowl, mix the mascarpone, 120g icing sugar and 2 tbsp coffee liqueur. Whisk until smooth and slightly thicker (preferably with an electric whisk). Refrigerate once done. This is the filling.
– In another bowl, add the double cream, 60g icing sugar and 2 tbsp coffee liqueur. Whisk until stiff (preferably with an electric whisk). This is the topping. Take about 8 tbsp of this mixture and add to the filling mixture. Refrigerate once done.

4. When the sponges are cooled, you’re ready to assemble the cake. Place one plain sponge onto a serving plate, cake board etc. With a skewer or cocktail stick, poke holes at random intervals throughout the sponge. Carefully pour some of the coffee/liqueur mixture over the sponge, so that it soaks into the holes. Next, add a layer of filling mixture, then top with the coffee sponge layer. Add another layer of filling mixture and finally add the last plain sponge. Poke holes in the top sponge and pour the remaining coffee/liqueur mixture over the cake so it soaks into the holes.

It’s not pretty but you get the idea!

Your cake is basically made, so its now just a case of decorating it and making it look nice. Of course its pretty much up to you, what you do now, but this is what I did.

5. Taking the topping mixture, spread over the top of the cake and down the sides to smooth and neaten the look. While I had originally intended to completely cover the top and sides in the topping, I ended up deciding to leave some of the brown sponge showing as I thought it looked nice. Once you’re completely satisfied with the covering of your cake, sieve some cocoa powder over the top and/or sprinkle some grated chocolate or pieces of broken up Flake.

And that’s it, you’re done! An amazingly tasty, Tiramisu Cake.

Obviously if you’d prefer, you can make without the coffee liqueur and its just a fancier coffee cake. However as Tiramisu traditionally has alcohol in it, that’s why I went with the liqueur. At all stages, make sure you keep tasting. More icing sugar can be added for a sweeter taste or more coffee could be added for a stronger coffee flavour.

My mum loved it, as did everyone else who tried a piece. While its wickedly filled with calories, its great for a treat – especially a birthday. The recipe is so simple and can be easily adapted. Why not give it a try yourself?

Filed Under: cake decorating, recipe Tagged With: baking, birthday, cake, cake making, food, mum, recipe, Tiramisu

Baby Shower

April 22, 2013 by Bel 2 Comments

Haven’t updated in forever again, but that’s because as always I’m busy doing nothing! Work is going well (but admittedly a little boring), life is pretty good and once again I’m sinking my teeth into organising something.

Aside from my birthday party murder mystery (which will warrant a whole post of its own!) I’m also in the process of organising a Baby Shower for one of my best friends. Nat, someone I have been friends with for years and years, though best friends with for perhaps 2-3 years, is expecting her second baby (another boy) on June 9th. As she has asked me to be one of the godparents, I thought it was only right to organise her a baby shower! This is only the second ever baby shower I have thrown (its really not a big thing in the UK) but I’m super excited, even if I’ve only had 2 weeks to organise it in.

The baby shower will be held at my house next Sunday and quite a few of Nat’s family and friends are attending, many of which I haven’t met before or have only met briefly. I spent the whole weekend figuring out a theme, a cake and of course the baby shower games we’ll be playing. I won’t go into too much detail as my friend actually reads this blog (and has one of her own over at But a Mask) but I’ll be sure to post again afterwards with a few pictures and an update.

For now I’ll leave you with this picture:

This is just some of the things I will be using for the Baby Shower cake. Now I’m heading off to buy gifts from an online baby dress boutique and the make a start on the cake! That and bake my mum a cake for her birthday – which is tomorrow!

Filed Under: cake decorating Tagged With: baby boy, baby shower, baking, cake, cake making, friends, Nat, organising, party, surprise

Hi, my name is Bel!


I’m a forty something, mother of two, self-confessed geek!

Here on my blog you’ll find;
books I’ve read, clothes I’ve made, movies I’ve watched, cakes I’ve baked, products I’ve tried, places I’ve been, pictures I’ve taken… plus lots and lots of DISNEY!!

I’m a lifestyle blogger – covering a little of everything I love <3

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