Wedding Cake

Earlier in the year I had the enormous pleasure of making a wedding cake for a colleague. As you can see there was a bit of a Dr Who theme!

The botton tier was a 12" chocolate sponge and the top was an 8" victoria sponge. I'd not made this quantity or size of cake before, nevermind decorated one. I don't tend to do many fully iced cakes, just the odd few at Christmas and they're usually round, so I was really pleased with the finish I managed on these.

I'm afriad I can't take credit for the gorgeous toppers - these were from Eternal Cake Toppers. I think having their doggies on the cake was a lovely touch!

I loved the experience of doing this, and it was wonderful to see so many people enjoying and appreciating something that I'd created, but it reaffirmed that I much prefer baking as a hobby!

Brambling at Mill Road Cemetery

A fair few weeks ago I went blackberry picking at the local cemetery. There were lots of big juicy blackberries to be had.

The cemetery is a little haven away from the hustle and bustle of Mill Road. It's a lovely place to go for a little wander.

As might be expected, it's a tranquil place. There are intricately carved monuments and headstones in almost every direction.

I love the textures and pinches of colour you stumble upon here and there.

A lot of the blackberries (or brambles if you're from Up North like me) were ripe for picking and dropped off the branches with ease.

If you live in Cambridge and have never been, I highly recommend a visit. To find out more take a look at the Mill Road Cemetery website.

I managed to fill my jug to the brim! I went again a couple of weeks ago and there wasn't all that many so it's just as well I got in there early.

I used some of my haul to make some blackberry syrup which I've used in cocktails and desserts. The rest went into some blackberry and apple gin. I've not made it before (I used this recipe) and I can't wait to try it - roll on Christmas!

A very special Birthday

A few weeks back we celebrated a very special lady celebrated a very special Birthday. Mr Makes Nan turned 100! I know, amazing right?! She is an incredible person who never fails to make me smile with all the tales she has to tell about her life.

 

To mark the occasion a party was held on a hot weekend in July, which meant everyone could enjoy themselves outside in the garden. It was a wonderful day with masses of tasty food and great live music provided by the very talented musicians in the family.



There was plenty of punch to be had and, after a delicious buffet, there were too many desserts to choose from, which *obviously* meant I had to try a little bit of everything (with the exception of anything with strawberries as I'm allergic).

Virginia's key lime pie

Judith's fruity pavlovas

my lemon curd merigues

strawberry cheesecake

and it wouldn't be a party without a giant chocolate cake! It was so hot I thought the ganache would never set but it eventually did. It was a big old cake - 24cm wide and 14cm tall - but it disappeared pretty quickly once the candles had been blown out!