Shed Cake

A couple of weeks ago, it was requested of me that I make a cake in the shape of a shed as a surprise for a friend. Now... I've never made a layer cake and I've not got that much experience at cake decoration, especially with fondant. Oh well, I thought, what the hell...

Ok, I must admit, I cheated and used Betty Crocker for both the cake and the frosting, but I didn't want to have some crazy disaster because I'd chosen the wrong recipe. Also, Betty's cakes are pretty damn tasty.

So, two pans to start, and a pattern based on the size of the bread tin:



A Stack of Cake, which was a bit wonkier than intended (the square cake didn't rise evenly), although of course once the fondant was on it didn't really matter. Much.



The Window Side. I ran out of green food colouring, it was really intended to look darker! The shed was coloured by marbling chocolate and white fondant.



The Name Side. Complete with Roman numerals so as not to shock one when thinking about one's age.



Fondant is a bit tricky to work with, and I'd definitely use a marzipan layer underneath next time to smooth it all out, but generally the decoration was fun!

nesting

It's once again autumn weather here (not that it was ever really hot this summer) and the nesting urge has kicked in once again! Yesterday my friend H came over, and we baked bagels, which I've wanted to do ever since I bought the King Arthur Flour Cookbook years ago. (I also want to make the crumpets, but that'll be for another day...)





The bagels were good, and not difficult to make at all! I thnk they needed a little sumthin' more, so next time I will try this recipe, which has malt in. Yum.

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In knitting news, I have finally finished Bottoms Up!, which was supposed to be my Ravelympics project - knit entirely during the Olympics. And now that it's too cold to wear it alone, I've finished it! Ah well, there's always cardis and next summer...



I really enjoyed both this pattern (by Alice Bell), and the yarn (Chelsea by Lily Chin. I'm also really pleased that it's not see-though and I dont have to wear anything underneath it. All the better for that warm weather!



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I have also whippe dout a few more Innocent Smoothie hats, so send off with last year's batch, which never quite made it out the door. (oops)

These are fun ways to try out new techniques and colour combinations. :)



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Oh, and one more thing! If you read this blog in a reader, you should click through and see my new header! It's what I envisaged all along, so it's lovely to have it done.

How to make really awesome flapjacks

Also known as "this is a cooking post" designed to teach y'all in the rest of the world how to cook one of the easiest and yummiest UK treats: flapjacks!

I used this recipe as a base, but I've made the necessary UK-US translations for you all, and I've done it all Pioneer Woman Cooks style, because, well, why not?

First, gather your ingredients: (UK peeps can go to the recipe linked above and follow from there)
* 3 cups quick (but not instant) oats
* 6 T Golden Syrup (look for it in the "British" aisle of your supermarket, or in a specialty-foods shop)
* 6 T sugar
* 1 stick plus 1 T butter or margarine

Bung your butter in a medium to large saucepan



and put it on a heat high enough to melt it but low enough to not brown it.

Add to that the sugar



and the Golden Syrup



to the butter.

(and I may I just say? mmmm. Golden Syrup.)



Melt everything together,



then add the oats.



Turn off the heat, and stir to mix.

While you're doing that, butter the pan.



(or use cooking spray)

Dump in the oaty sugary goodness mixture in a 9x9 inch baking pan (I used a 7x10 inch pan)and pat it down.



Keep pressing down firmly until the oats are all packed together. This will prevent the dreaded crumbly flapjack.



Cook at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Remove from oven, wait 5 minutes, and cut into squares or delicious bar shapes. Wait another 20 minutes or so (if you can) to let the molten sugar cool and harden a bit.

Mmmm. Delish!