A history of cakes/puddings/tarts I've made

I decided to write a blog about all the tarts, cakes, puddings, biscuits and muffins I make. This is for a number of reasons, in no particular order:

• I seem to make a lot for friends and family


• I wanted to keep a record of when things worked out well, what was liked/disliked


• I wanted to keep a special record of cakes for occasions


• I wanted to share recipes and use this online resource for discussion, information and knowledge


• My husband has a nice camera and he takes lovely pictures of my cakes!

So, there's some reasons why I'm doing this.

In order to start I think I'll post a few of the cakes (I'll use the word cakes to describe everything from biscuits to muffins, from pavlovas to bakewell tarts) that have been made in the last year or so and hopefully, once this is done, I'll be able to update this site regularly.

September 2006 Millie's first birthday

My daughter Millie's first birthday was marked with a small family party and I made cupcakes in a red and white theme. The recipe was my usual:
6oz butter and sugar, creamed until pale
5 oz SR Flour, sifted
1 oz coca powder mixed with a little hot water into a paste
1 tsp baking powder
3 large eggs, whisked to a froth

It's pretty much a fail safe recipe which I tend to rely on for most cake bases. It's very much the family heirloom cake mixture.

I also made the scones to my mum's recipe although they never come out as big and fluffy as my mum's. She is the best scone maker in the world. My mother in law kindly donated the chocolate cake at the back. It was a really simple party, and Millie had a muffin sized cake all of her own which she devoured rather too quickly. Her first taste of chocolate and cake was the start of a slippery slope...