Journeys Are My Diary

Life, Adventures, Entertainment and more - A little bit of everything blog!

2014 in Review – The Cakes

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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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Week 48 – Monday Round-up

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Once again I haven’t kept up with my round-up post this week, so I’m going to make it a quickie. As you’ll have seen, I haven’t been very active on my blog this week and that’s because I’m still super busy making costumes and writing a mystery party – not to mention organising the Murder Mystery party we had on Saturday just gone. I know this coming week will be just as crazy so I’m hoping to get some post scheduled and not neglect my blog quite so badly this week!

Monday to Friday was work and school for everyone and honesty it dragged so much. In someways I was thankful because it meant that having so much to do, I actually felt like I had time to do it, but at the same time a week of work seemed never ending! Not only that but I started to feel sick towards the end of the week and that made everything worse!

Megan was actually off ill on the Monday and Mum had to look after her for the day. This meant that Lily didn’t end up staying for Singing Stars after school – which was nice as we all got straight home. I spent the evening working on costumes (as I did most evenings this week) and of course catching up with X Factor and I’m a Celebrity. Lily had pizza for dinner and we got to use our new Slice Sabre which I have to admit is very amusing. It comes on promotional boxes of Chicago Town Pizza and there are two different versions. There is even a game to while away the hours, once you get bored of playing with the pizza slice itself!

By Tuesday Megan was back to school again and feeling a lot better. The kids were with their dad so I was home a little earlier than usual. I spent the evening doing more dress making – this time concentrating on Nat’s Aurora dress. Wednesday was Megan’s class assembly and I got permission to be in work half an hour later, in order to go. It was a very funny assembly based on I’m a Celebrity (but I’m a Criminal) and was all about past punishments through the ages. Sadly I had to head to work afterwards but the day did feel a little shorter at least. That evening I attempted to start on Nat’s birthday cake but sadly it all went a bit wrong and I sent the cake with Chris to work the next day!

The following day was Thursday and I had Parent’s Evening after school. Mum met me there to look after the kids and I had my appointments at 4.45 and 4.55. The kids are both doing great and not a single bad word was said about either of them. I was absolutely thrilled and a very proud mum. After Parent’s Evening, the girls and I headed to Nat’s because it was her birthday. I’d bought her some Harry Potter stuff which you’ll soon find in a Hot Topic Haul additional post! We stayed for about an hour before heading home and then I spent the evening re-trying to make cake. This time it was successful though so at least I knew I was on my way in the huge process that is cake making and decorating! While waiting for the cakes to cook, I started to print out the murder mystery, ready for Saturday. Unfortunately the printers (both of them) didn’t want to play and I gave up as a bad job. I decided that buying a new one (especially in Black Friday sales), was probably the best way to go!

Friday I was so pleased to see, but at the same time I knew I’d not got as much done on costumes as I’d wanted to. Megan and I sat together and picked out some ribbons to order on Ebay before school, but then we headed off – knowing the evening would be a busy one! After work I headed into town to get a new printer and unfortunately got caught in traffic. I called my mum to get the girls from school and it was a good job I did as I was almost an hour later picking them up from her house. With my new printer, we headed back home but then decided at the last minute to head to Tesco for some icing (for the cake). While there, we had the brainwave to shop for the following day’s party while we were there and racked up a shopping bill of over £100!

That evening I started to work on my cakes and Megan made a Little Red Riding Hood to top the cake with. I also set up my new printer and got the murder mystery all printed out – killing both my new cartridges. I headed to bed at a fairly reasonable time as I’d been feeling quite rough all day and didn’t want to feel bad the next day. Unfortunately my internal body clock had me awake at 8am the next day and so I figured I’d just get up and get on with things. My voice was terribly croaky but luckily I didn’t feel too ill in myself. I wrote a list of everything I needed to do that day and then proceeded to get dressed and pop to the Post Office for some parcels and then to Boyes for a few bits of material. After that the day flew by with party preparations, cooking, cleaning and tidying – and of course Amy arriving. Everything went fairly smoothly and at about 8.30pm our Murder Mystery began. It was a fun evening and I was glad to see everyone and catch up. I didn’t drink as I was worried about feeling worse the next day but I didn’t really mind or care. It was well past midnight by the time we all headed to bed though and sadly I was awake at 8am again the next morning.

Finally it was Sunday though and the end of a long week – if not, the start of another busy one. I officially lost my voice though and spent majority of the day whispering to everyone. Funny thing – when you whisper, its almost certain people will whisper back! The whole household was whispering all day. I spent majority of the morning watching I’m a Celebrity as we had 4 episodes to catch up on. However I then had to take Amy to the station and then girls and I popped to Argos back in Gainsborough afterwards. Though I had big plans for how I would be spending the afternoon, none of it got done. I spent majority of the afternoon helping the girls finish their top secret Disney Project (all will be revealed later) and watching more I’m a Celebrity and X Factor. Afterwards I had some dinner, then a bath and finally spent the evening blogging while Chris was on his X Box. I have so much to do but being so ill I knew I needed some time out for me. However that now means I have Monday-Thursday evenings to get this mystery party sorted, not to mention all the costumes finished. It’s going to be a stressful week but fingers crossed I’ll get it all done!

Week 42 – Monday Round-up

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Again, another repeat of my Sunday Round up, with a little more info – my weekly round up, for Monday!

This week has seen the end of week 42. I seriously can’t believe there are only 10 weeks of the year left. That said, I’m so so pleased to see the end of this week – its been both good and bad but mostly the end of my work week has been the landmark for this whole week. I now have two weeks off and while I have more planned for it than what is physically possible, I’m really looking forward to getting stuff done, as well as some down time.

Monday to Friday were work or school for everyone in the house. The girls were supposed to have Singing Stars on Monday after school, but at the very last minute it was cancelled. In a way I was pleased because it meant we got home earlier than expected. Chris was home not long after us too, so it was nice to spend the whole evening together. While I did do some online stuff and blogging, Chris and I also spent the evening watching the new first episode of Walking Dead and the first episode of Gotham too.

Tuesday the girls were with their dad so I was able to head straight home. Chris was off so it was nice to get some time with him, but I also had stuff I wanted to get on with. I did more blog stuff and then actually took a bath. When the girls were home, they unfortunately had to go straight to bed. Chris and I spent the evening together though I was on my computer and he did a mixture of Xbox and watching TV.

Wednesday I got an email about Disney on Ice for next year, I even mentioned it to the kids in the car on the way home. Then when I checked Facebook I saw that Amy was disappointed to not have one nearby to her, so I offered for her to come over for the weekend and we could go together. When I looked at the tickets, they were selling fast so I ended up pinching Chris’ credit card and booking our tickets! After that though I just spent the evening relaxing. My head was hurting quire a lot so I ended up sitting on the sofa and reading “Insurgent”.

Thursday I woke up feeling incredibly emotional for no real reason. I burst into tears several times before I even got to work. However overall it wasn’t a terrible day and I actually picked up a job application form for a new job I want to apply for. On top of that I had another relaxing evening where I actually finished off Insurgent – expect a book review soon!

Friday was finally the end of my work and I was so pleased. I called briefly at my mum’s after school and she came up to see the girls at school with me, as she was leaving for holiday that day. When the girls and I got home we went to pick up parcels – I received 2 “My Little Box”s, of which I will be reviewing later in the week. Megan and I also started to make a cake for Chris’ Gran, as it was her 90th birthday and we planned to go around the next day. In the evening I had hoped to sew but got distracted by online shopping. I won’t even tell you what I bought…

Saturday I got up and decorated the cake for Chris’ Gran, then did a little work on my computer before finally settling down to do some sewing. In the end though we headed out to Chris’ Gran’s fairly early, staying there for about an hour before coming home and having lunch. After lunch Chris had to head to work and I went back to sewing. When I ran out of material though, the girls and I headed into town for some more. We ended up having a little bit of a wander and then I bought them a notebook each and McDonalds for dinner. Then when we got home I went back to sewing and before long I was joined by both of them to sit at the table and write stories. Eventually Lily went to bed and not long after Nat arrived. I finally got around to making myself dinner and then Megan went to bed leaving Nat and I to chat. The whole evening flew by and it didn’t feel like we covered anywhere near enough topics, but it was midnight by the time she left! When Chris got home I made him open his “My Geek Box” which had arrived during the day – I’ll be blogging about that later in the week too.

Sunday I was really hoping for a lie in but it was not to be. I got up and went straight to sew, but as the girls both came to join me, to write more, it didn’t really end up being that constructive. In the end Megan and I went to watch Saturday night’s X Factor and when that was done we all agreed we’d got out and get the weekly shopping done. We headed first to Aldi and then to Morrisons, before coming home and actually getting lunch. After that I decided to knock sewing on the head for a while and instead settled down to watch TV and get loads of blogging sorted for the week. I ended up watching Casualty, followed by The Apprentice, followed by three episodes of Doctor Who. We had pizza for dinner and the girls had a bath and after they went to bed I finally went back to my sewing. Chris was home earlier than normal as its a Sunday and we spent the evening together before heading to bed.

42/52

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Oh my goodness, only 10 weeks left of the year! That’s mental…

This week I actually have two separate pictures for a change! Megan was helping me make a cake on Friday night, after Lily was in bed. She tells me she wants to make a Harry Potter cake for Lily’s birthday… I feel like that won’t end well. Lily was in “Shine” Assembly this week. It was for being helpful and always putting so much effort into her work. I’m so proud of her as she’s ALWAYS in Shine at the beginning of the school year. What a girl!

Mum’s Tiramisu Cake

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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?

Baby Shower

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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!