Tag: Carol McFarland

Hi everyone

Hope you are all keeping safe and well in these strange times. What sort of lockdown changes are happening where you are?

I have to admit I’m a little uneasy about some of the lockdown measures being eased so soon, what do you think?

Although we obviously have to take care of ourselves physically, the statistics show that more people are suffering with their mental health whilst coping with the pandemic. As someone who deals with this on a daily basis, I know how important it is to look after this aspect of my life. For me, it’s baking, which I manage to do by carefully planning a schedule that isn’t going to ‘break me’. Sometimes though, you just have to decide which is more important. Doing something you love releases pain relieving endorphins at the time, but you have to be prepared for the ‘crash’ on the following days. Don’t give up doing what you love – whatever it is – but allow yourself time time to rest and recuperate afterwards is the advice I was given 😍

One of the things keeping me sane at the moment is ‘attending’ some online cake classes. The most recent one has been with the lovely Molly Robbins of channel 4’s ‘Extreme Cake Makers’ (UK)

I showed you in my last post what I would be making, and promised to show you the results, so here I am fulfilling that promise!

I made the cakes about 3 days before and froze them. I used Sugar and Crumbs lemon drizzle flavour icing sugar in place of caster sugar and vanilla in my go to vanilla cake recipe. Lemon is one of my favourite flavours! 🍋 I made a traybake while I was at it too 😋

The shortbread for the ‘fries’ was done the day before, so I was as prepared as I possibly could be!

The days running up to the online class (Friday) had been a bit fraught to say the least. On Monday I had one of those horrible headaches behind the eyes and felt a bit nauseous. I had been taking advantage of the beautiful weather, so maybe I’d got too much sun in the garden 🥵 On Tuesday I was fine, and got my baking done, but on Wednesday I was really ill and stayed in bed all day 😔 By Thursday I was ok again (shortbread day) but was a bit worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up in the class the following day.

Luckily, once you’re in the private Facebook group where the class is streamed, you have permanent access to it, so I had the option to just watch it and do it later, or try and follow it ‘live’

In the end, I did a bit of both! I managed the morning session and watched in the afternoon. That way I could still ask questions and interact with my fellow class members.

The group has been named ‘Molly’s Cake Club online’ and let me tell you, we have so much fun in there! The banter between us all is hilarious and everyone is so friendly and helpful 😀

I finally finished my project, and here’s the result guys!

From start to finish, including prep it took me four days, but I’m so proud of it! Everything is edible apart from the straw and the box lid!

The only problem I had was what to do with it! It’s far too much for hubby and me, so a quick look at my Facebook friends list and voila! One of my friends has a birthday this weekend and was absolutely delighted when I offered it to her 😀 Happy Birthday Marcia 🥳 and thank you so much for the flowers, they are beautiful 💐

Click the link below to learn how you could achieve this and have access and a sneak peek at the future classes that are planned (next month it’s cute doggy cupcakes)

Here is the link:

https://www.sugarandcrumbs.co.uk/molly-s-cake-club-online-24-july-2020.html

My next class is with Georgie Godbold making this beautiful teapot and little mice 🐭 on June 30th

The link for this class is:

https://www.sugarandcrumbs.co.uk/georgie-godbold-sugar-wobblies-online-30-june-2020.html

Then there’s another cupcake bouquet session. Can’t wait to see what new flowers we’ll be making in July 🌷

To access this class go to:

https://www.sugarandcrumbs.co.uk/beautiful-cupcake-bouquets-online-read-product-info-1.html

And remember, it’s online so you can be anywhere in the world and still join in the fun! And you only pay once for multiple projects. That’s my sanity saved, and worth every penny!

Just so you know, I’m not sponsored in any way by Sugar and Crumbs! I just love the ethics of the company and the way they really look after their customers 💕 and if you are looking for a supplier of all things baking related, you won’t go wrong!

Well, I think you’ve probably had enough of my waffling by now, so I’ll sign off

Until next time

Stay safe and healthy

Debbie ❤️