Double icing swirly whirly girly cupcakes

Darling boy had his first primary school christmas fair today, and as one of life's 'joiners' I'm on the PTA (parent teacher association) at his school.  Donations were requested for the cake stall- what honest self respecting christmas fair doesn't have a cake stall?) Happy to oblige, I made rocky road, with chocolate, biscuit and marshmallow, topped with more marshmallows and glitter being a perfect winner for children.

I also made these cheeky cupcakes, vanilla with swirly whirly double icing.  I fancied a challenge and so went with the double icing- just what every mum wants to do, late on a school night!  I thought something out of the ordinary might sell well, and I was right.  The lovely receptionist at Darling boys school told me my cupcakes were selling "like the proverbial", which is what every charity baker wants to hear.

Oh christmas tree, oh christmas tree, how lovely are your branches

My mother in law kindly volunteered me to make the 'Guess the weight of the cake' cake for the local village Christmas Craft fete.  Always happy to help out a good cause, and flex the creative muscle I agreed and racked my brains for a christmassy themed cake.  I came up with this bad boy.  The tree is made from a vanilla sponge with a chocolate buttercream filing, topped with vanilla buttercream.  The trunk and pot are made from chocolate cake truffle, with the trunk coated in cake crumbs to make it look tree-like, and copper gold edible glitter to make it look all sparkly, innit.  The star is made from dark chocolate with a layer of white chocolate on top, and then more gold glitter.  There is no such think as too much glitter.

The guesses were from the tiny to the ridiculous.  A local farmer, complete with tweedy jacket and rouge cheeks guessed the nearest weight and was the lucky recipient of the cake and the glory.

BOO!

Boo! Halloween cupcakes for the school party.

I made these chocolate beauties with orange and green  or orange and chocolate vanilla buttercream icing for the kids at the school Halloween party, but the PTA decided to auction them off instead for the Bille Butterfly fund.

The lucky auction bidder who won them was a mum from Darling boys school who is also a nurse.  It's nice to know that my cakes have supported such a great local charity, as well as feeding hungry nurses (i.e., people with proper jobs!) who are in professional need of chocolate.