A quiet visitor in a quiet moment

I made sure I relished in the final days of peace and quiet I had last week, while the girls were attending thier last days of school and kindy, for the year.

I cleaned the house Tuesday, or it could have been Wednesday, which as usual, was a complete waste of time. I'd better get used to the fact it is going to look like a bomb hit it for the next six weeks.

I am looking forward to not having to be up and organised this morning. 

While sitting on the back steps, I noticed a butterfly. It was perched, not moving at all, on my dahlias.

This was one chilled out butterfly. I saw the perfect opportunity to use my camera. So inside I went, and the butterfly just kept doing it's thing. 

I snapped around him, and he didn't care. I gave him a poke on the tail, he opened his wings and kept sitting there. I felt privileged to spend those few minutes with that butterfly. 

I will have to remember that calmness and wonder in the coming weeks. Try to be present, not stress and try to enjoy the crazy. I wish I was that chilled out butterfly.

An InLinkz Link-up

Butterfly and Peppa Pig Cakes

I've made this cake for both my girls, for their first birthdays. It is really simple, starting with a round cake, making four cuts, slapping on some icing and a few well placed lollies, and done! It gives the illusion that you've just slaved away for hours creating a masterpiece, when really, its the proverbial 'cake walk'. I used my chocolate cake  recipe, omitting the cocoa, adding 5 Tblsps of passionfruit pulp and adding an extra half a cup of flour.

 



Summers cake 2012

I used mini marshmallows on both cakes to outline the wings and a musk stick for the body. When I made the cake for Izzys first I used smarties, Summers was much plainer and smaller, as I concentrated my efforts this year on the peppa pig cake.

Izzys 1st birthday cake, 2010. I used the same candle for Summers this year.

The girls had a joint birthday party this year, being Summers 1st and Izzys 3rd. I made a peppa pig cake for Izzy, which I concentrated my efforts on, it was freaking me out just thinking about it, but it all came together in the end. I used this template for the head and fashioned my own template for the dress.  

Izzys 3rd birthday cake 2012

I made a slab cake using the buttercake recipe and cut the head, ears and dress from the one slab. I cut a few extra ears, just in case! My one hot tip is to have a mug of boiling water to dip the icing knife into, it makes spreading the icing much easier and smoother. Have a tea towel or towelling paper handy to wipe the water off in between. I also had a picture of Peppa on the lap top next to me to use as a reference.

I had a glut of whipped cream, Mum dropped off about 5 litres of the stuff left over from the show kitchen. I used this with enough icing sugar to make it thick and used pillar box red food colouring to make the pink, and red of the dress. The eyes and shoes were done with a tube of black writing icing.

The bases I used were glass chopping boards covered in foil. They make awesome cake boards. 

Buttercake

250g butter, softened

2 teaspoon vanilla 

1 1/2 cup caster sugar

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/4 cups self-raising flour, sifted

1 1/4 cups plain flour, sifted

3/4 cup milk

 Beat butter, vanilla and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.

Add flour and milk alternately, Stir to combine.

Pour mix into a greased and lined slab tin, mine was about 25 x 32 cm.

Bake at 180°C/160°C fan-forced for 35 - 40 minutes