Latest fantasy purchase is this embroidery by Rachel Castle. So simple, and makes me so happy. I want to hang it above my bed for every rainy day.
She makes plenty more gorgeous stuff besides... all available at castleandthings.co.au
these two...
Alarm - the new Bobo Choses collection is out and obviously I adore it... I can't work out what it is that they always get so right. It's a lovely mix of design and comfort with nostalgia (for me) and genuine childishness. Dreaming of having it all...
It was pretty much impossible for me to narrow my crush down to these six items, the rest is almost-just-as-gorgeous. Available now from Bobo Choses, Shak Shuka and more.
My lovely friend Jennie is always so patient and generous with her time when it comes to helping me out with little sewing projects (and teaching me how to make amazing quilts! Well, her quilts are amazing. And so are her classes - bookable here) that when she offered to spend her actual birthday helping me to prep a quilt for Pablo I thought it would only be right to make her a big old cake...
Jennie is one of the more colourful folk I know (literally - she was dyeing her hair turquoise as we sewed) and made a special request for no chocolate, so I was excited to have an excuse to hunt out a suitably colourful cake. As usual, Sweetapolita did not disappoint and I went with an adaptation of her Strawberry Layer Cake with Whipped Strawberry Frosting.
350g Granulated Sugar
85g Strawberry flavoured gelatin crystals (don't be a moron like me and get block jelly. I had to send husband on a last minute urgent errand to buy crystals and all he could find were raspberry vegetarian jelly crystals, which worked perfectly, just fyi...)
227g unsalted butter, softened
4 large eggs
300g cake flour (this is not widely available in the UK - see tips on how to make your own here)
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
240ml whole milk
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
60ml strawberry puree (blend a handful of slightly defrosted frozen strawberries)
Preheat oven to 170C. Line 3x6in round cake tins with parchment and flour, tapping out any excess. Ensure strawberry puree is not icy, then combine with milk and vanilla. In a mixer, cream the butter with the sugar and jelly crystals until light and fluffy. I usually cream the butter a minute or two on its own first to make sure it's soft enough, or this can take ages... Sift the remaining dry ingredients together.
Add eggs to the creamed butter and sugar one at a time and mix well after each addition. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl so that everything is combined. Next alternate adding your dry ingredients and strawberry milk mixture, starting and ending with the dry. Mix well between additions but be careful to only mix until combined, not over mix. At this stage I also added a couple of drops of Americolor Neon Pink gel colour to give the cake an extra pink kick.
Divide the mix between three pans. I thoroughly recommend weighing the batter so that this is as exact as possible. Bake in preheated oven approximately 30 minutes - my oven is pretty hot, but I recommend carefully (and speedily) checking the cakes with a skewer after 25 mins and keeping an eye on them every 5 mins beyond that.
When the cakes are done, leave them in the tins 10 mins before transferring to racks to cool completely. Then make the icing!
250g unsalted butter, softened and in cubes
330g icing sugar
10ml milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
30ml strawberry puree (as above - it can be cold but make sure it isn't icy)
Whip the butter for 8 minutes at medium speed with an electric mixer. Add sifted icing sugar slowly with the milk and vanilla and mix on slow 1 min and then on high for 6 more. Then add the strawberry puree, and a drop of pink gel colour (optional - and you can of course add more than a drop! Just be aware that the colour does add a slightly yucky taste, and that it MUST be gel colour or you will be adding too much liquid).
Stack the cakes and ice generously between layers before doing a very thin crumb coat to cover the whole cake. Pop the cake in the fridge for 30 mins before removing and applying a thick final coat of icing.
The cake was DELICIOUS, really moist and tasted just like those naughty strawberry milkshakes I'd get at the seaside as a kid. It also looked pretty spectacular in all its pinkness. Definitely one to make again. Two large slices was probably a bit much but I needed to keep my strength up for cutting all those quilt squares...
I made some little moccasins for Indiana! It's my first attempt and I'm rather smug about the results. After some wrangling with the sewing machine tension it was a lot less tricky than I imagined. Going to make a zillion more pairs when I can next rustle up the time. Many thanks to my mama for helping to draw the pattern, which was loosely based on one I bought from i think sew about a year ago and have been aching to use since then.
these two...
"Mum, Indy really wanted to go sledding!"
I never did get my hands on that dreamy Mini Rodini snowsuit, but H&M came up trumps when the snow hit London last weekend. A bit of a timing clash with the day we had to take the car to the MOT, which meant we got snowed in down in Surrey and spent a surprise relaxing night with my favourite aunt and uncle. After a train back to London the snow kept coming and Pablo got his first try on a sledge, made some very small snowmen and came out with:
"Mum, when dogs wee on snow it goes yellow."
"Yes, yucky!"
"But when dogs fart on snow it goes green..."
Also a great excuse for rosy cheeks, waffles and hot chocolate... not that an excuse is really required in this house...
