Strawberry Strawberry Cupcakes baked in a teacup

Our veg patch isn't doing very well this year but our strawberries have flourished.  I love strawberries and they just look gorgeous at the moment.

I have been itching to try and bake a cake in a teacup and found this recipe from my Muffins and Bakes cook book for warm strawberry cupcakes baked in a teacup.

Recipe:

8 tbsp butter

4tbsp strawberry jam

4oz caster sugar

2 eggs

1tsp vanilla essence

4oz self raising flour

1lb strawberries

icing sugar , for dusting

1. Grease 6 heavy, round teacups with butter. Spoon 2 teaspoons of jam into the bottom of each cup

2. Cream butter and sugar

3. Gradually add the beaten egg and vanilla essence

4. Sift in the flour mixing well.

5. Spoon into cups.

6. Stand cups in a roasting tin, then pour enough hot water to come up 1/3 of the way up the sides of the cup.

7.Bake for 40 mins at 180 degrees C until well risen and when a skewer is inserted it comes out clean.

8.Leave to cool for 2-3 mins.

9.Place a few whole strawberries on each cake, dust with icing sugar

10. Serve warm with remaining strawberries

11. Enjoy!

Lavender Planter

Just thought I share this lavender pot I made up for a birthday present, I really like the colour combination of the acidic yellow and purple with the black pot.

I'm afraid I go a bit excited about planting up the pot and forgot to take a before photo...but never mind!

A Bouquet of Daffodils - Mothers Day

A simple, yet beautiful gift for Mothers Day. 

At the moment I have a couple of vases around the house full of daffodils and I was inspired to make them into a bouquet, as a trial run for Mothers Day!
It took about 5 days for the daffodils to bloom, so if you decide to make one don't leave it to the last minute. (But you do get to enjoy them as well in the meantime!)
Bunch as many daffodils as you can together to form a dome ( I have used about 30 stems) and then tie with some ribbon.  Finish by cutting the stems - roughly 6 inches long.

This post was part of Whatever goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts

Spring Flowers

To brighten up any garden, or as a gift for someone special  - some potted spring flowers.

To make a similar pot, I have used:

Primroses

Iris

Ivy

Tete a Tete Daffodils

Start with the tallest item at the back and work forward.

Bird Cakes

A tasty treat for the birdies and really simple to make.

To make 4 bird cakes all you need is one 250g pack of lard, bird seed, 1 apple, some bread crumbs, plastic cup/yoghurt pot and some string.

1.Prepare the plastic cup by piercing a hole in the bottom of the cup and threading through the string.
2.Cut the lard into small pieces and melt over a low heat, it does not need to boil.
3.Remove from heat and pour in the bird seed, apple,and bread crumbs mixing well.
4.Pour the the mixture into the plastic cup ensuring the string stays central.
5.Leave to cool and place in the fridge for a faster result.
6.Cut away the the plastic cup.
7.Find the perfect postion in the garden and let the birds enjoy!

Acrylic paint and pencil .....a bit of colour.

I really enjoyed this, it's been ages since I did some painting and maybe it shows! But great to get the paint brush out and use some colour.

Pencil Drawings

The fruit and veg patch - a few life drawings made in the summer - I hope to add a bit of colour in the next few days.