Where it all started

Whilst hunting through my mums cupboards I came across this photo and it made me smile! When I was little I would always help my mum with the baking and loved nothing more than standing by our Rayburn waiting for the cakes to come out the oven.  I love our retro matching tiles, saucepan and tray. My mum was ever so co-ordinated!

All my recipes come from my mum and the hours we spent baking in our cosy kitchen. Her recipes still form the basis of all my cakes as I have never found any that compare. There was nothing more fun than stirring the mixture until light and fluffy. It did take some time making the buttercream in those days and I have to admit my lovely KitchenAid mixture does make the job a lot faster. I have to say my favourite bit was always waiting to lick the bowl at the end. My sister and I would argue over who got the bowl and who got the spoon and it was a vicious fight depending on which had the most mixture remaining on it! I don't think mum always appreciated my help though as I was slightly messy (and clumsy!) when I was little. One of my mums cook books has a hand written note in it stating 'Charlotte helping to make the cake' with a little arrow pointing to a big smudge and dirty mark from where I spilt the bowl of carrot cake mixture over the book so I can never forget my messiness! Luckily I have learnt to be a bit tidier and keep the mixture in the bowl, although I do have to admit that once the cakes are in the oven there is still no guiltier pleasure than licking the bowl.