Good morning, It is sunny again, not so windy as of late, so I’m hoping it’s going to be warmer. Not that I will be outside much this weekend. There are two family birthdays, so I am once again baking. As, I searched my pantry for my favourite baking tins yesterday, I realised I haven’t baked a birthday cake since last July. Either that or I can’t remember doing them!

I stopped doing so much last year during lockdown. More so as the year wore on. Instead of rejoicing in all the time I had, I closed down. There were shortages of just about everything, so baking was a no no anyway. It is only now, 13 months later that I seem to be emerging from under my stone.

It was the writing which started up again first. I wrote a few pieces late last year, one of which I am now excited to get to again. There have been a few personal setbacks along the way, a few unexpected events. Things, which I have spent too long dwelling over. Maybe it’s the return of the sunshine after a long winter, but I have such a positive outlook on life now. I still only leave the house for shopping, but once again, I am content with my own company, doing my own thing. I do not regret the experiences Covid created for me, but I’m glad to be moving on.

I am really excited to be baking again. I have at last fixed the Chocolate Orange cake post on here. It reads so much better now. It is one of the cakes I am making over this weekend. The other is banana and salted caramel recipe I have adapted from this delicious Carnation Banoffee cake recipe https://www.carnation.co.uk/recipes/banoffee-layer-cake

The finished cake will hopefully resemble a Rubik cube. This could well be the hardest cake I’ve made to date. Making it gluten free & as dairy free as possible is also a concern. I made four banana & caramel sponge bases last night. They are flatter than my normal sponges with using the gluten free flour, but apart from that they are still light and fluffy. I was worried the high sugar content would produce crispy edges, but they have all cooked beautifully. I shall write up the whole recipe and show the end resulting Rubik cube in a separate recipe post.

All of you have a wonderful weekend, however you are spending it. I’ll be back later with the recipe & more pictures.

Love M. XXX