Pirate Ship Cake

It's early spring, which means birthday time in our house. The kids get to pick what I try to make.

The first choice for our son (4) was a pirate ship cake.

I based it on these instructions, and partially also this design.

As usual for a novelty cake I bought a cake mix, and also pre-made chocolate frosting.

I baked the mix in a baking tray, and cut into four pieces.

Shaped the pieces like a ship.

Sandwiched with some of the frosting, and cocktail sticks to help. 

That's all the layers on. This went into the fridge for a while before frosting (with frosting at room temperature). 

Covered in frosting, with portholes (rolos) and railings on the deck (rolos+flakes). Back into the fridge to set like this.

And here's the finished result. I'm pretty pleased with this one.  

DNA Scarf

I knitted my Mum (a retired A-level biology teacher) this DNA scarf using the "Rosalind" pattern  by @alicebell. It was part of her Christmas present last year.

My Urban Allotment

I enjoy growing a small amount of food each summer. I've done tomatoes, spring onions, lettuce and herbs for several years, but this year also have corgettes, potatoes, beet root, and did have som peas (thanks to a Riverford Buy to grow box). I don't have much space though, just a small border, and some pots in an area just bigger than a driveway (really not enough for the Riverford box), so this site Urban Allotment looks like it might be great for me. Thinking about buying a cherry tree to grow in a pot.

Custard Tarts

Tried to make Cantonese Egg Custard tarts from this recipe. I used pre-rolled puff pastry, and regular milk not evaporated. Wasn't a complete success, although tasted good. Think the filling needed to be deeper. Will try again sometime.

Jupiter Cake

I have to try to make this Jupiter Cake. It is so awesome.

Castle Cake (Take 2)

Here's version 2 of the castle cake (this time in purple by request).

And some intermediate steps. Here's all the bits ready for construction. I broke my own rule and did my own cake mix (instead of a box mix, which is more reliable for structural cakes). The squares indeed came out a bit flat and heavy. 

Lots of buttercream frosting with lots of red and blue food colouring in it. 

Add the chocolate coated icecream cones. I used a ganache recipe to make the chocolate coating (chocolate and cream melted together). 

And once more - the finished result. My daughter helped with the final decorations. 

Easter Bunnies

I made these Easter bunnies for my kids.

I used this pattern found via Ravelry, but I didn't like the eyes, so I decided to copy the face from these bunnies (thanks Google). Also I made the head and body in one piece, which mean doing the pattern for the body upside down.

I like how they turned out, and my son liked them so much he wanted one for each hand (they're just about toddler hand sized), so I ended up making a third one for my daughter. Each takes me about two nights of making (which TV watching).