I saw a sponge cake recipe using blueberries and pears and thought it was a nice combination so decided to give it a go. The pears (2) are peeled and cored and then cut into 5, once the sponge batter has been made the pears are placed on top with the rounded side upwards. After baking and cooling, the sponge is filled with vanilla buttercream, but I added blueberry conserve as well and the cake is topped with vanilla buttercream and then decorated with blueberries which I s

I was asked to make a celebration cake to be cut at the unveiling of a special garden bench at Weston Acres, Royal Alfred Seafarers in Woodmansterne. My customer has researched and written the history of Weston Acres. She brought all these elements together and then needed a special cake for the unveiling event. I made the standard vanilla traybake cake which I decorated with a printed edible icing sheet with a photograph of Weston Acres. The print was framed with vanilla

I've been making this cardigan/jacket as something completely different to the other project that I'm working on. I used some Lauren Aston super chunky yarn and a King Cole knitting pattern. It's a patchwork effect for the body and sleeves and I used a twisted rib for the collar, button band and welts. Very pleased with the finish but I won't be wearing it yet awhile as our temperatures are still in the 20's.

I was asked to make a special birthday cake with a very specific decoration needed. The 'birthday girl' had worked in DR Congo as a missionary so the cake needed to include a map of the country in the colours of the flag. Once I had got my head around that I also needed to make a dozen birthday cupcakes. Flavour of choice vanilla so I used my standard traybake cake recipe along with the vanilla cupcake recipe that is my go to. Really pleased with the finished result for t

Taking a bit of downtime from the baking this month as I have a big craft project going on in the background. I did find time to try this recipe for an Apple and whiskey soaked sultana cake which I found in an edition of Country Living Magazine. Truthfully, you need to play around with the variety of eating apple you use as I didn't find that my choice provide enough of an apple flavour and it could probably have done with a little more whiskey but a nice looking cake and

Another Flower Show on Saturday, I entered 3 craft classes (a crocheted organiser using an old wooden coat hanger as the base, an embroidered straw hat and 3 photographs of my tree peony), and a batch of lavender shortbread hearts, along with an orchid plant too. I was working in the tea room and took along some cupcakes as my donation. I did really well with my entries - 4 x 1st place with 3 blue ribbons and a Certificate of Merit and a 2nd place as well. Feel very lucky t

Another cupcake order for a special birthday - this time it was the 21st birthday of the son of a friend. I used the basic vanilla sponge recipe, filled with raspberry jam, topped with vanilla buttercream and a selection of sugar paste Happy Birthday toppers made using LissieLou stamps and embossers, which were then painted with gold dust. I added gold stars too.

As England approached the semi-final of the World cup I made another batch of cupcakes for The Coffee House in Tadworth. It's history now, but unfortunately we didn't get through to the Final, but a beautifully decorated cupcake might help to ease the pain a little. The cakes were vanilla flavour sponge, raspberry jam centre, vanilla buttercream topped with a selection of themed toppers.

On a beautiful sunny evening the BVIB (Banstead Village in Bloom) volunteers met at our Allotment for a social evening and also to celebrate the 80th birthday of one of the group. We had a lovely time, the Allotment looked fabulous, our sharing table of food was very tasty and we all enjoyed a slice of courgette, hazelnut and lime cake with cream cheese and lime filling and topping that I made to celebrate the birthday.

My neighbour had arranged a summer party in his garden at the weekend, so I made him a batch of vanilla and salted caramel cupcakes to add to the refreshment table. The vanilla cupcakes were filled with raspberry conserve, topped with vanilla buttercream and a sugarpaste topper. The salted caramel cupcakes were filled with salted caramel sauce, topped with salted caramel buttercream and decorated with honeycome nibs, fudge chunks, chocolate curls, chocolate vermicelli and b

During record temperatures I was back baking in the kitchen to fulfil an order from one of my regular customers for some birthday cupcakes for his daughter. I made a selection of vanilla and salted caramel cupcakes and decorated them with sugarpaste toppers and sprinkles. Really pleased with the finished result and so was he.

It wouldn't be my birthday without a decorated cupcake or a cake, so I used a few plain cupcakes that I had frozen earlier as the base for a small batch of pretty little cakes to celebrate my birthday. In particular I used a new mould that I bought recently with a sequin finish - just add some glitter dust to the mould before adding the sugarpaste and when it is turned out you have a lovely sequin effect. Perfect. I can see this will be a popular addition to my collection

Another Flower Show and I decided to enter a mix of items. I entered 2 baking classes - 3 decorated cupcakes and 3 French Madeleines and on the horticultural side - a potted orchid, a potted flowering plant and a flowering shrub. I had a good result with my baking being awarded a 1st and a blue ribbon for the cupcakes, a 1st and a certificate of merit for the madeleines a 2nd for my orchid and 2 x 3rd for the other items.

I made a colourful selection of Father's Day cupcakes to deliver to The Coffee House. I made a batch of vanilla cupcakes and a batch of chocolate cupcakes which were decorated with sugarpaste toppers, sprinkles and a few chocolates as well. The cupcakes looked good enough to eat! Let's hope that they sell well for my customer.

With the first England game of the World Cup scheduled for 17th June, we decided to have some themed World cup cupcakes to sell at The Coffee House. I made vanilla cupcakes, filled with raspberry jam and topped with vanilla buttercream and a selection of sugar paste toppers to celebrate England with a red and white theme. I also made the golden boot, a gold trophy, a football and I bought some wafer paper toppers printed with colourful World cup themed images. I added a sp

We held our Annual fundraiser coffee morning on 11th June for the Alzheimer's Society. We had given the Hall at St Peter's church it's blue hue ready for the event and despite a very wet morning we welcomed lots of people to join us. It was a very successful morning and we have so far raised £680 for the charity. I had the usual cake stall and made a selection of cakes - Coffee cake decorated for The Alzheimer's Society, a Courgette cake, a GF Polenta and Almond lemon drizz

I hadn't baked for Surrey Police for a while so I made them an orange sponge which I topped with some lemon buttercream, I portioned the cake into 16 squares and topped each square with a sugar paste sunflower, rose or bee and then added some lemon sugar sprinkles. The cake disappeared in double quick time when it reached the office.

I entered a mixed exhibit under the title 'Chelsea Flower Show' at the Show on Saturday. I made a knitted bear dressed as a Chelsea Pensioner for my craft item, I made a selection of decorated vanilla cupcakes for the baking element (I included sugar paste gnomes as Chelsea allowed them to return to the Show in 2026) and finally I included a mug of roses for the flower category. I was really pleased to receive a 1st place and a blue ribbon for an Exceptional Exhibit. I spe

The Annual campaign by Innocent Smoothies, in partnership with Age to Concern, to knit woolly hats to sell on their Smoothy bottles is due to be launched on 22nd May, my Knit and Natter group had our own launch party on 19th May in Banstead Library where we meet on a Tuesday afternoon. I made a vanilla traybake cake decorated with fondant icing wooly hats and sprinkles to share with my fellow knitters. I have made a few hats using a Zandra Rhodes designed double knitting woo

I had an order for another 60th birthday traybake cake. I made my go to Mary Berry vanilla traybake cake which I glazed with raspberry jam, topped with a sheet of fondant icing and then decorated with sugarpaste Mickey and Minnie mouse cut outs along with blue stars and a Happy Birthday message. I also added sugarpaste white gloves and Minnie's red spotty bow to give the cake a little more interest and colour. The cake was edged with vanilla buttercream rosettes topped wit