Although tinged with sadness, Christmas 2012 was an enjoyable one. I got to spend it with all my family and I even had a decent boy to celebrate it with.
It was also an anniversary so we stayed up till midnight on Christmas Eve/Christmas morning and opened our presents. It was the most romantic thing I had ever done.
The best present I could have ever recieved was a mixer. I knew how expensive they were so I never asked for one. I’d bought my mom a food processor and made ‘do’ with that or if I wasn’t at home, would just mix with a hand whisk. So long as the cake turned out okay, I didn’t care how it was prepared.
This. Is. The. Beast.
I like baking cakes, it relaxes me. Some people find that hard to believe because it’s said I’m a demon in the kitchen as I strive for perfection.
I had a fondness of over using food colouring and making crazy monsters. The first picture I have attached is of a monster cake I did for my niece Isla. I don’t know who was more pleased with it, her or me. The second picture is the inside.
So this was my Christmas present, my new best friend and yet I was hesitant to make anything with it. I felt as though I had lost my flare. I had been given books and was encouraged to make something so I chose an old favourite; soda bread. We being Irish are quite fond of soda bread and my nan had a recipe that was simple. So, the next time I was in the supermarket I picked up some buttermilk which brought back some fond memories of my nan getting frustrated because she could never find it in the supermarkets.
I had never made bread before and I was a little uneasy when it would come to kneading the dough.
That was the end result. It looked quite impressive and when it came out of the oven, I did the knock test on the bottom of the bread and my mom being an expert convinced me it was okay. It tasted lovely as well although wanting it perfect, I felt it could have done with another 5 minutes in the oven.
I had gotten used to using packaged mixes and was again, encouraged to try doing a simple vanilla Victoria sponge with just the ingredients. Had I have known I was going to start writing a blog I would have taken step by step pictures but it was greatly appreciated and the picture is below.
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