On your marks, get set, bake!

52 weeks. 52 bakes.
Week 1. Bake 1.

Today was my first. Victoria Sponge.

To be honest I used the recipe from The Great British Bake Off cookbook. So I probably shouldn't put the recipe up on my blog, and I wont. But here is what I have learned today whilst making it.

1. To make the best cake use butter which has been out of the fridge for about 1 hour.
   
2. Beat the sugar and butter together for 4-5 minutes which will make it much lighter.
3. Measure the cake tin lining carefully or you will get crinkly edges to your cake.
   

And a happy new year...

So Christmas has now come and gone, the mince pies have been eaten, Santa has left sooty footprints all over the previously clean floor and we head into that period of the year which I hate - new years. I have never been a fan of new years eve, and even less of a fan of the resolutions that people make then slip up on four, five days later. But this year I will make a new years resolution, mainly because being jobless I might actually be able to keep it. Unlike everyone elses resolutions mine will not be focused on loosing weight (although I should really), but it will be the complete opposite - over the next 52 weeks I shall bake 52 different dishes.

I had thought about this before Christmas and luckily I was given The Great British Bake Off book for Christmas, which will be a guide throughout my quest. However I will deviate from this.

Stay tuned for my first bake in January...

Santa Claus is Coming to Town...

So whilst I was at the craft fair I busied myself with making some Christmas stockings.
For the last month I have been collecting different ribbons, this has now sparked a new love affair between me and ribbons and I plan to use more soon. Anyway so I made these traditional Christmas stockings with my family's names on it for that personal touch! They are very simple to do;

• Cut our two stocking shapes by drawing your desired pattern on an old newspaper and depending on your preference either embroider the names on first of last.
  
• Now turn over the top of the stocking to create a neat edge and sew it into place. Do this on both pieces of the stockings.
• Sew the ribbons on using a similar colour thread, don't worry about the ends, they will be neatened up when you sew they two stocking sides together.
  
• Now sew the two sides together and add a loop of ribbon so you can hang it on your bedpost/mantle piece.

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My first craft fair...

I am very sorry that I haven't written a blog post recently, but I have been rather busy with my parents B&B. Anyway here is my account of how my first craft fair went and the key things that I have learnt.

What I have learnt from my limited craft fair experience:

1. Edible glitter is even better than sliced bread.
2. However great edible glitter is, it does get EVERYWHERE.
   
3. It appears that my cupcakes have positives and negatives. Positive, when a child sees them they get a huge smile on their face (the sort you would see in a Disney movie). Negative, they can make even the nicest children have a tantrum when their parents tell them they can't have one. I really hope that as a result the children who were denied cupcakes are not on the naughty list.
   
4. Know your audience, it appears that a small village in Norfolk don't get the chic cupcakes or the vintage tea cup candles - they prefer pewter manicure sets and leather mugs (how can a mug be leather, its ridiculous!). So understand whether your craft fair prefers modern crafts or traditional.
5. Take something to do so you don't just sit there expectantly like a loser.
   

At least next year I know what not to make.

The Make Do and Mend Bag...

Another one of the crafts that I will be selling at the local craft fair is a handmade clutch bag. I got the pattern from a British Pathe film and decided to make it as it seemed quick and easy... So here is the original video on how to make a clutch bag and my updated guide. Enjoy!

BAGS (issue title - FOR GOODNESS SAKE !)

What to do:

1. So I pretty-much followed the video, I got a 1/4 of a metre of tweed style fabric from my local sewing shop for £3 and then cut out a rectangle 'pattern' from a newspaper.
2. I then cut out the material for the padding, (two pieces of thin wadding), the silk lining and the cardboard to stiffen it up.
3. I then sewed the lining to the tweed fabric, right sides facing together, but left one of the ends open. Turn the bag inside out to have the right sides facing out.
4. Now slip in the cardboard stiffing and the two pieces of padding either side of the cardboard.
5. Sew up the end and fold the bag over to create the bag pocket.
6. Now stitch two of the sides to secure the bag pocket.
7. Sew on two snap fasteners on each end of the top of the bag and where it should fasten to. Now it is finished!
8. As the film says if you want you can 'add the broach that he gave you', well as I don't have a he, I will search the charity shops for a suitable cheap vintage broach.

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Yet Another Christmas Craft...

So in a previous post I showed the result of my first attempt at making tea cup candles. Well for the craft fair I decided to make some Christmas smelling ones. I'm hoping to get seven or eight pounds for them (which I maintain is still considerably cheaper than on notonthehighstreet.com). So here is my quick guide to creating some Christmas tea cup candles.

Here is what you need:

• Tea cups - I have used 3 different types of tea cups and made 10 in total.
  
• Fragrance (I brought Blue Christmas and Hollidazzle)
• Wax
• Colouring
• Wicks

What I did:

1. Weigh out how much wax you need, to fill a tea cup with a candle it is the ratio of of a cup and a half of unmelted wax.
   
2. Once you know how much wax you need and have weighed it, choose your colour. The amount you will need about 1g of colour to every 100g of wax, but add more or less depending on how much colour you want.
   
3. No melt the wax, I did it in a old jug in the microwave. This took about 2 minutes, but I checked it regularly. If it is not totally melted then pop it in for another 30 seconds.
   
4. Now wait for the wax to cool until it is approx 55c. You need to let the wax cool before adding the fragrance otherwise it will evaporate. Add about a ratio of 5-10% fragrance to wax (e.g. 100g of wax 10ml of fragrance).
5. Once you have stirred this in well, dab the end of the wick in some of the wax and stick it onto the bottom of the tea cup.
   
6. Holding the wick, slowly pour the melted wax into the tea cup.
   
7. Hold the wick until it stands up by itself.
8. Now leave to cool for a day, trim the wick to 5cm and light your Christmas tea cup candle!

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Claire's Christmas Orange...

So I saw this idea in a garden centre the other day whilst I was wondering around the Christmas section in awe. Anyway, a bag of these orange slices/decorations cost £8.99! I maintain why buy something when you can make it much cheaper? So here is my cheaper version:

All you need is:

• Chopping board
• Knife
• Pastry brush
• A baking tray with a cooling rack on top of it
• Oranges
• Cinnamon

What to do:

1. Slice the oranges into 1/4 inch slices, discard the ends of the oranges.
   
2. Dab the oranges with kitchen towel to get rid of the excess juice.
3. Pour some of your Cinnamon powder onto the chopping board, then using the pastry brush, gently spread a small amount of Cinnamon over the front and back of each slice.
   
4. Then pop them on the cooling rack on a baking tray and place them in the oven at 120c.
5. Let them cook in the oven for at least 3hrs checking them occasionally.
6. Let them cool on the cooling rack then use them to decorate your tree (by threading ribbon through them) or arraigning them in a pot porri bowl.

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