The great outdoors...

A little background information...a couple of years ago, I persuaded my reluctant hubby-to-be that if we had a tent and some camping essentials we could enjoy many cheap weekend breaks, instead of wondering what the devil to do come Saturday morning. So, we embarked on our research and visited many camping stores to find the tent of our dreams...our main criteria were 1) we knew we wanted to be able to stand up and 2) we knew we wouldn't need a huge sleeping capacity...and so the Outwell Carolina M (unfortunately this is now discontinued) came into our lives. It's a 3 man tunnel tent with a "bedroom" type compartment to the rear, comfortably sleeping us two, and a large living area extending to the front. Three years on and several trips to Go Outdoors and Attwoolls later, our "essentials" list comprises of the following:

• Tent (inc ground sheet, poles, pegs & guylines)
• Tent footprint (inc pegs)
• Mallet
• Tent carpet/picnic rug (really helps with tent warmth under foot)
• Windbreak (for privacy/shelter)
• Tent lamp (spare batteries/cigarette lighter charger)
• Headlamp/torch - essential for returning from the pub/night-time toilet trips
• Air bed & pump (car/foot pump or, in our case, both)
• Sleeping bag/s
• Pillow/s
• Extra blanket/throw/duvet to chuck over the top of sleeping bags (if you have room)
• Fold up chair/s
• Storage unit/small table (not a necessity, but certainly helps)
• Stove & gas
• BBQ & charcoal
• Kettle
• Large pan (with lid) & frying pan
• Mugs
• Glasses
• Plates
• Bowls
• Wooden spoon/spatula
• Tongs and fish slice (BBQ-tastic)
• Mini chopping board
• Cutlery
• Sharp knife & scissors
• Bottle opener, corkscrew & can opener
• Washing up liquid, sponge scourer & dish cloth
• Tea towel
• Kitchen roll
• Foil
• Antibacterial wipes (handy for giving greasy stuff a quick wipe before washing up)

Everything listed above has been packed into both a Peugeot 206 and a Mini Cooper - surprising what you can fit in! Needless to say our list has grown a little due to experience, but it's quite easy to work out from our list what the actual essentials are. I would also say it's worth packing some "store cupboard essentials" in case there are no shops open, or you find yourself miles from civilisation (more on camping food in my next blog).

Up next....off to Byecross Farm x

Christening cakes

Morning toots!

I seriously need to catch up on my blogging....so from now on I'll be setting aside some time every Monday to update things. Hope everyone had a wonderfully splendid couple of weeks?! The weather hasn't been so bad of late, in fact it's been just right for sandwiches, tea and cake! I've just posted a couple of pictures of both types of cupcake, so you can have a look at how I decorated them. The lemon buttercream came out a little runnier than I would normally have liked (as I was holding the piping bag my body heat probably didn't help with that), so they look a little more "smudgy" than normal...although, that said, I came to like the "fluffy" softness of them. I also stamped some little butterfly shapes (thanks to my friend Amy, who loaned me the cutter) out of Squires Kitchen Sugar Florist Paste and hung them upside down over the side of a bowl to give a 3D effect. Once they had dried out, I dusted them in edible shimmer and attached three edible pearls to the body of each butterfly. You can see I added a couple of butterflies to each cupcake after icing and for a little more sparkle I sprinkled over some edible glitter. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get a picture of them displayed on the lovely vintage cake stand, but I am pleased to report that several guests complimented me on the yumminess factor, which made it all worth the effort.

Next post coming soonly x

Cheeky lemon sponge cupcakes with lemon curd buttercream

Lovely lemon sponge, tangy lemon curd filling, topped with lemony buttercream

Raspberry jam cupcakes with vanilla buttercream

Vanilla sponge, filled with tangy raspberry jam and topped with vanilla buttercream (design inspired by old fashioned swimming hats!)

Baking & soon-to-be Bank Holiday...Blog on!

Having never put pen to paper (or should I say, fingers to keyboard) in order to share my ramblings, this should be, at worst, interesting. I hope you enjoy! 

Are we sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin ... 

A few weeks a go I received a text from my mother, kindly informing me that I'd been volunteered to make cupcakes for my niece's christening. So that's what I'll be doing this weekend, whilst hubby will no doubt be gaming (needless to say, he loves it when I bake) :-) 
Having looked through various books, my favourite at the moment being one from the Primrose Bakery, I've decided that suitably springy/summery flavours are lemon (which I've made tons of) and raspberry (which I've never tried, so I'm making a small trial batch today). Both cakes involve a flavouring throughout the sponge and also, when cold, a blob of jam or curd inside. I cut a small circle of the sponge out of the top and drop in a blob of really zingy lemon curd (a good one for "blobbing" consistency and flavour is Tesco's Finest) and for the raspberry ones I'm using Wilkin & Sons seedless jam. You then replace the sponge "plug" and generously swirl the buttercream on top as normal. I do love using curds inside the sponge, it adds a different texture, taste and keeps the cake moist! I imagine the jam will work the same way, will post pictures and let you know the results of the all important taste test next time.

Anyway, enough chit chat for now. Enjoy your weekend and thanks for reading x