Mini panettone

Recipe here

Chocolate coconut cake

Cream 225g soft butter with 200g caster sugar.

Add 175g self raising flour, 25g cocoa powder, 25g coconut milk powder and 1 teaspoon baking powder.

Add 4 eggs and beat until smooth and well mixed.

Bake for 40 minutes at 180 degrees.

To make the icing mix 2 tablespoons chocolate spread with 100g icing sugar and enough hot water to make a smooth paste. Spread over cake and sprinkle with dessicated coconut.

Knitted Sling

Actually it's a snood.
You might recognise it from this post.
We've been into Birmingham today and my stupid, foolish, lovely husband failed to place the neatly folded ring sling into his bag as per my direct request.

Luckily I was wearing the snood. It's a little stretched now, but it worked just fine!

Mama made Monday - advent calendar

The children are every excited to see a string of little bags pinned up the stairs.

I bought the string and Christmas pegs in Poundland; they are supposed to be for cards. I needed two because there were 12 pegs in each packet.

I bought the paper sweet bags on ebay; they were just over £2 for 100.

Ours contain sweeties, but you could also fill them with small toys, crayons, erasers etc.

I'm hoping to have time to hand print some labels with the numbers 1 to 24, but no promises on that front!

Wartime Syrup Sponge

A very frugal cake, made with no eggs and no fats, so probably not too calorific either!!

Sift 8oz self raising flour and half a teaspoon bicarb of soda into a large bowl.

(I don't usually bake in imperial but it is a wartime recipe!)

In a saucepan melt 4 tablespoons of golden syrup into half a pint of milk.

(Heat until mixed in, no need to boil.)

Pour milk and syrup mixture onto flour and beat well until no lumps of flour remain.

Pour rather gloopy mixture into a greased 2lb loaf tin and bake for 40 - 45 minutes at 180 degrees.

This makes a rather nice, not too sweet cake. I see no reason why you couldn't use soya milk and make it vegan.

11th November tomorrow - how about baking a wartime cake to remember those housewives who managed to feed their families in such tough times?

Wedding card for a special friend

I'm going to a wedding on Friday.

(Shhh, it's a secret!)

I've made this card with patterned papers and a digi-stamp which I downloaded for free on the craftee guiri blog.

The words are handwritten, and I've finished it off with a bit of ribbon and a couple of brads.

Mama made Monday - going slightly (crochet) mad

My poor knitting needles have been neglected.

I can officially crochet.

Okay, so I seem to mostly crochet round things, but it's still crochet.

Here is my bear hat, which came out rather large - toddler size rather than baby, then I made the chicken. I know it's not Easter but I like chickens.

Finally I made the little earflap hat for a friend's baby. It is his baptism on Sunday, so I'm going to give it as a gift. Hope he and his mum like it; it's always rather nerve wracking when presenting a handmade gift.