I was reminded of that this week. If you follow me on Instagram you might have seen a poor little spotty child. The week began with one twin with chickenpox, ousted from nursery (quite rightly) and me in a bit of a tizz with the logistics of this with work. So much to do and all I wanted to do was be able to help him feel better. (Peppa Pig and calamine cream = winner.) I have to say, The Pox hasn’t been half as bad as I’d imagined, just 2 really bad days of misery (for all of us). It could’ve been a lot worse. Although, having only one twin with it does give a looming cloud of nerves waiting for her to become more feisty than normal and then pow, more spots. What can you do though? Just wait, Calpol at the ready. I’m also slightly twitchy about the fact that my Mum can’t remember me ever having had it. Every time I get a sniff of an itch I am on edge, inspecting for a spot. What can I do? Got to go with the flow. Oh and bake a cake of course. So, later in the week, two totally amazing things happened. Firstly, I made this whopper of a cake for a friend’s birthday. In the style of active medication, it restored and calmed my sanity. Concentrating on mixing, baking, slicing, piping, I felt all at one with the world again. Or something. (Ready for the money shot…?) The second utterly amazing and kind of freaky thing to happen, was that this little blog got nominated in the Food category for this whopping great big Brilliance in Blogging Award. I’m wondering if someone is playing a joke on me. Anyway, if you nominated me, thank you so, so much. I’m totally overwhelmed and grateful. I love writing this blog, it’s a total struggle with time and juggling life, but it inspires me to be creative and record things I might otherwise forget. I’ve also met some amazing people because of it in the last 6 months. So anyway, thanks a bunch. I owe you good karma and a Peanut Butter Brownie. Anyway. On to the good stuff. Light airy cake, sandwiched with peanut, nougaty cream and finished with homemade caramel. Enough to brighten any week, yes? The sponge is delicate, with lots of air bubbles that come from using yoghurt and baking soda. I’m not sure why, but it just felt right to have a different texture for recreating a chocolate bar as a cake. The caramel I used is the one I showed you how to make here. I just beat it with a spoon before popping into a piping bag. This makes it runny enough to pipe. If yours is very stiff, you can warm it a little first. Just a tiny bit though or it will melt your icing.
So have you and yours had chickenpox? Any top tips other than cake and TLC? Does cake baking help your stress levels too or just cake eating? Sarah x Let’s be friends Keep in touch on Facebook ¦ Chit chat on Twitter ¦ ¦ Pinning like my life depends on it Pinterest ¦