Cat shelter update - Liz

I have some great news about Liz.

On the 23rd of April she got a new home.

I wish her the best of luck for the future.

Cinnamon Muffins, Oh no!

I was going to make some great cinnamon muffins yesterday and the first try went terribly wrong. 

The dough went all lumpy, didn't rise properly and I ended up just having to chuck it out. It was sad.

The problem after that is that I hardly had any more yeast so my second try was tiny and I only got to make four muffins. They were big, but still only four of them. I think I'll make them slightly smaller nest time and I'll have to work on the recipe as I'm very unsure about the one I used. 

I think I'll ask my grandmother for her recipe for cinnamon rolls. They are lovely so surely they will make the best cinnamon muffins as well. 

Just as I put them in the oven, the butter started melting right away and they made the whole kitchen smell wonderful. I couldn't wait to see them come out again. 

 

As they came out I could feel the excitement rising and they looked amazing. 

They tasted amazing and the smell, it was like a dream. 

So me and my mother decided to tuck in and enjoy them while they were warm. 

I was half way through mine and I was gutted to see the middle wasn't cooked. 

It was a baking nightmare day and I had been looking forwards to them for a week. 

But I'm not giving up!

I'll make them slightly smaller to make sure they cook properly and then I'll get the recipe perfected. I'll steal grandma's. 

Once I've got it all sorted I'll share it with you all so you can try and taste them yourself.

~ Love Clare <3

Liz sends her love

• Name: Liz
• Age: Almost 2!
• A little about me: Hello there! I'm Liz and I'm super pretty. I came to the cat shelter last year with my son and daughter. They have both gotten great homes now and I'm very happy for them. It also means that I get the attention that they used to get. I have amazing fur that I love to look after and small, pretty ears. I love cuddles and rolling around. You can usually find me occupying the basket on the table. When I lie there I maximize my chances of getting cuddled. 

 

Hello From Christer

• Name: Christer
• Age: I'm 3!
• A little about me: Well, what can I say? I have beautiful mackerel coloured fur and I'm one of the softest little creatures you will ever meet. I'm like silk! I was adopted once but sadly it didn't work out, so now I'm looking for the special place where I will spend the rest of my life. I love cuddling and getting attention and if you need some company then I'll give you my full attention. You rub my back and I'll rub yours.

Lovely Lemon Cupcakes

My posting had been a late this week so today I will bring you this lovely recipe for some lemon cupcakes. Had a great day yesterday with food and drink and the cat and me decided that we had to do some baking.
So here it is!

You will need: 

• 100 grams butter
• 160 grams sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Zest of three lemons
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 dl milk
• 200 grams flour
• 2 tbsp sour cream

This will make about 12 cupcakes and the preparation time is around 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 160 °C and prepare the tray with some sweet cupcake liners.

 

~ 1st step: Put the sugar, butter and vanilla extract to a bowl and beat it until it's light and creamy. 

Then start adding the zest, a bit at a time.

~2nd step: Add the eggs one at a time and beat them in well. Once you've done this you stir in half the flour and half the sour cream. Stir it in well before adding the rest, including the milk.

You should now have a nice smooth mixture that you can start dividing between the liners.

Miss was very interested in this step and my mother gave her some mixture. It made her go crazy and she tried to tell me she needed more. When she realised I wasn't going to give her any she started sulking and didn't want to keep me company any more. 

Oh, and ignore the messy cupcake to the right. 

Now put them in the oven for 20 minutes and while they are getting nice and comfy you can start on the icing. 

For the icing you'll need:

• 120 grams butter
• Zest of one lemon
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 200 grams icing sugar
• Yellow food colouring (optional)

 ~ 1st step: Beat the butter so that it's creamy and soft then start adding the icing sugar a little at a time. 

~ 2nd step: Add the zest and mix it in. Once you've done this you can add the lemon juice. This is when you will have to start tasting. Do you want a mild lemon flavour or do you want it more zingy?

I added probably about twice as much lemon juice that I've written here, but 2 tablespoons is a very good starting point. 

By this time the cupcakes should be ready and you can take them out of the oven. Of course if you're unsure about them being ready yet or not grab a BBQ skewer and stick it through the middle of one of your cupcakes. If it comes out clean then they are ready. 

You'll have to excuse my icing skills. I've never done much icing so it's a bit slap dash. I got this great piping bag set and ever since I've been wanting to do more things with icing. It's my practice so it means I have to make a lot of cakes. 

It's bad I know, but don't let it fool you, they taste amazing. 

Hope you all enjoy them as much as Miss and me do and if you have any questions then feel free to send me a message or comment here on this page. If any of you use the recipe I would love to see a picture or two. 

Have a wonderful Easter!

Week 14

So. . . What will this week bring? Did I ask that last week as well? Oh well, never mind.
I hope you are all well and I'm looking forwards to get on with some Easter crafts. So tomorrow I will be working in some Easter decorations with grandma , Thursday I will be telling you a little about Christer from the cat shelter and on Friday? Well I wasn't going to do any baking until next week but my mum has been thinking about lemon cupcakes for a while now and she asked me to make a recipe for some. So I got to work and finished it a couple of days ago. She told me she had heard something about 2 eggs and 3 lemons so I worked around that to make the recipe. I wonder how they will turn out.