Happy Birthday Martina (and happy birthday Tea Time Treats)

Martina was 2 last week. As last year, I used the bbc good food wedding chocolate cake recipe for her cake. It is a very easy recipe which turns out great each time - very chocolatey and moist (so it can be prepared ahead of time and decorated later).

I didn't bother layering the cake (actually I was too scared it would crack, being moist), and would prefer to use same sized tins and layer them on top of each other than cut into two or more layers horizontally. Rather than a 30cm round cake, I baked 2 cakes - 17cm and 20cm, which I then covered with marzipan and sugar paste and stacked on top of each other.

Since this month's Tea Time Treats theme is 'Cake', I am entering this post for November's Tea Time Treat challenge.

Tea Time Treats is a monthly baking challenge co-hosted by Karen at Lavender and Lovage, and Kate at What Kate Baked. Each challenge involves a style of bake or popular teatime ingredient. This month's challenge is 'Cake' hosted by Karen at Lavender and Lovage. The full rules can be found here, if you are interested in taking part.

Update from moi!

Dear all, it has been a few months since I updated this blog. This is not from lack of happenings but on the contrary, due to an overwhelmingly busy schedule. I simply have not had the time to update about all the wonderful and not so wonderful things going on.

My 30th birthday will definately be remembered for all the wrong reasons - I was in hospital at 5am at the A&E with my daughter who had a very high fever (and who had had a fever for over a week by then). We were discharged by noon after the consultant pediatrician dismissed her ailment as a simple viral infection ... only to be back two days later! And this time we were there to stay! Several shots of antibiotics later and we were discharged four days later. Oh, and her apetite is back now!

I have also become an aunt to a lovely boy, J, who at 4 months is almost as big as my 2-year-old! This has made me ever more broody! M will be 2 next week, so it feels just the right time to start planning about further additions to the family (well the planning is already done, it's more a waiting game now)!Speaking of M's upcoming birthday, next week we'll be having a weekend of celebrations, which I'll hopefulyt get round to blog about.

As regards the big home project, we got the necessary permits at the end of September and construction finally commenced this week. Yesterday I left a deposit on the new kitchen appliances, and will hopefully be visiting the carpenter doing the kitchen next Saturday. It is still early days, but I really hope that our home is ready come Spring. We are currently in a rented apartment and although its fab to be living by the sea with all amenities close by (M particularly loves going to the swings), I really miss home.

Now off I go to prepare some yummy chicken curry which I'll share with my daughter!