Christmas Cakes

Our little elf got baking again last night. He also made a lot of mess. I guess it takes being a little bit naughty to be a little bit nice!

Banoffee made us all some delightful little cupcakes last night. Using star, heart, and teacup shaped silicone cupcake moulds, he made a couple of batches of fluffy white cake with red (pink?) and green icing with sprinkles. (He tried so hard to get the icing red, but after what seemed half a bottle of food colouring, even he with his E-number addiction couldn't bear to add any more.) He even displayed them on my lovely Pampered Chef Tiered Cake Tower*. And wrapped it in cling film to keep the cat out.


But then I guess the excitement of the sleet-in-snow's-clothing outside made him a little crazy, and he started making snow angels in the flour. Boy, did I have a mess to clean up this morning!


You see, the cling film kept the cat out of the cakes, but not out of the flour. I woke up this morning to flour all over the counter as well as the floor. And poor Banoffee... he was lying on the floor too. The kids found him there this morning, terrorized by the cat. Daddy told the girls to pick him up and put him back on the counter, but they refused. Because they know if they touch their elf, he loses his magic. Silly Daddy. So there Banoffee lay until Mummy woke up later and rescued him.

And then cleaned up his mess.


The Advent Activity today was supposed to be making gingerbread men cookies to hang on the tree... and eat as the days go by. I have a fab recipe for gingerbread men using molasses but alas(ses), it is in Scotland. So I bought in advance some gingerbread mix. The kids helped me clean up the kitchen and wipe down the table for the project, washed their hands and donned aprons, just for me to discover that they mix still required sticks of butter and eggs. Eggs I have; butter I do not. So the project was a flop. Lots of pouting going on afterwards, for which I can't blame them. But I got a clean kitchen out of it, so thanks, kids! Dad gave them each a biscuit from the shortbread tin to make up for it. We'll make our gingerbread men another day, when the roads aren't coated with a sheet of ice, and I can get to the shops for butter.


*I guess I ought to mention that this is the older style; the new style is glass.