Happy Birthday M (3)

It was my niece's birthday last week and she had a little tea party on Saturday to celebrate.  She turned 3, imagine being 3 years old again and looking at all of the wonderful things the world is filled with through those innocent eyes.  For a 3 year old the world is indeed filled with wonder, even the tiniest of things can fill you with amazement and the most mundane can be turned into an adventure.  I see this when I look at my niece and revel in it.  Her eyes are always on the look out for the next mountain to climb, jungle to explore or villain to capture. 

She possesses a trait I never have and have always envied in my piers, and here she is at 3 and she has mastered it.  She is fearless in her outlook.  The higher she can climb, the further she has to fall the faster she can go on her swing and the taller she can bounce on her trampoline the better.  She doesn't stand back and weigh the situation in her mind, make a mental checklist of all the dangers that lie in the next action she is contemplating and then decide that on second thoughts it's not such a great idea, she just does it.  I have always been the opposite and still am to this day, I over analyse everything until all of the fun has been taken out of it.  I am a big old fraidy cat and know that I always will be.  I look at her with my stomach in my mouth (seriously, she is always attempting some stunt or other) and then watch as she emerges from each task triumphant and moves onto something a little more daring and hope if I spend enough time under her tutelage that her bravery might just rub off on me.

She is also a professional bossy boots.  Sometimes she does it in such a sweet and cute way you don't even realise you are being ordered here, there and yonder at her behest.  With age though she is developing a confidence in her powers and adopts a hands on the hips stance and a very stern voice as she points her little finger in the direction she is dispatching you.  She has the men in her life well and truly wrapped around her little pinkie, while the women around her will occasionally pull her up and give her a little talking to, the male of the species will do as she wishes without question.  Her granddad is the worst offender in this instance, it would seem age has softened him and he will let her away with murder allowing her worse misdemeanours to go unscolded and chastising anyone who dares to set her right.

When she is not being serious and keeping her minions in check she will be laughing somewhere, a gorgeous infectious all is right with the world laugh.  It is the kind of laugh that should be bottled and kept for dark and rainy days when nothing can lift the melancholic fog.  She laughs most when she is with her granddad, they are the bestest buds and have such fun together despite the 68 year age gap.  She is intelligent beyond her years and knows how to make others laugh and does so with the timing of Peter Kay to plaster a smile on all of the faces looking back on hers.  She generates laughter through her actions sometimes, making funny faces or a comedy fall, but more often than not it is through her witty dialogue.  She talks incessantly, never stops.  Even when you have moved your attentions from her and have started to converse with someone else she will still be nattering away at your elbow not stopping and just biding her time until your attentions return to her and her ridiculously funny and scarily intelligent ramblings.

These are just a few of the reasons why I love this tiny, golden haired beauty who came into all of our lives 3 years ago.  She was born to doting parents, a besotted granddad, and aunties and uncles who love her as though she were their own.  It is no wonder then that above all of her wonderful traits she is full of love and kindness.  She soaks it up like a sponge from all of those around her and it is so abundant in her that it seems to just ooze from every ounce of her tiny being.  I am amazed by her on an almost daily basis and will continue to watch her and learn from her over the years to come, and who knows maybe I will teach her a thing or two, just maybe.  Happy birthday M, love you lots.

In honour of M's birthday chocolate cupcakes were made and adorned with beautiful roses and sparkly glitter.  Now I was a bit lazy with the baking over the weekend (lazy might be the wrong word, I was pretty tired meaning all imagination went out the window) so baked the same cupcakes I tried out a few weeks ago so will just post a link to the recipe with some new photos.  I also made the 1st recipe I posted on the blog, an easy peasy Pavlova(meringue), so again will just post a link to the recipe with the addition of some photos taken before it was devoured.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
http://likemamusedtobake.blogspot.com/2010/02/where-have-all-fairy-cakes-gone.html

Wafer roses and edible glitter to decorate from Avoca

Pavlova(Meringue)
http://likemamusedtobake.blogspot.com/2009/09/old-faithful.html

Served with whipped cream and strawberries

Where have all the Fairy Cakes gone???

The weeks leading up to my birthday are always filled with much anticipation and excitement, just like those weeks in December leading up to Christmas Eve are for a small child. When it comes to my birthday I suppose I revert back to being a small child inside. I have always loved birthdays - mine, yours, the dog or cats - it doesn't really matter because they are all birthdays and as such should be treated with the reverence the day deserves.

Strip back all the wrapping, presents and candles and think about what that day symbolises. It is the anniversary of the day that a person entered the world, such a wonderful occurrence that should always be celebrated and never forgotten or overlooked. I know that there are certain belief systems that do not celebrate birthdays, and some people see them only as a reminder of the fact that they are getting older. I even have an aunt who would forget it was her birthday until she opened post on the day and pulled out a birthday card. This to me is unthinkable, if you want a reminder that you are getting older just have a look in the mirror and your laughter lines should serve that purpose. Embrace your birthday and celebrate a day that is all about you and has the added bonus of presents and cake!

I have always been made to feel special on my birthday as have all of my family. From as far back as I can remember I would wake up on my birthday and come to the living room to find it decorated with 'Happy Birthday' banners and balloons, my mam would be waiting there with a pile of presents for me on the sofa. The presents would always be wrapped in beautiful paper that was chosen with the same amount of thought as the gifts within, and when all of the family had gathered around they would be handed to me one by one for me to open and declare my love for each one equally. My mam was an expert present buyer and knew each of her girls inside out meaning she never missed the mark, not once, and so every present be it a beautiful dress, those boots you secretly wanted or a teeny tiny lip balm was always exactly what you would buy yourself had you just been tasked with buying your own presents. There was also always the exact right amount of presents to convey the special mood of the day, never too little to make you feel you hadn't been spoiled adequately for your annual day of treats and never too many that the quality of any of them were compromised in favour of quantity.

The thing that made my birthday extra special though was that I shared my birthday with my mam. Imagine that, my poor mam was enjoying her birthday one year and then party hats and cake had to be abandoned in favour of a trip to the maternity ward. I am sure once all of the hoopla and fuss had died down and she was sat with a cup of tea in one hand and me in the other(obviously I have not yet had a child of my own painting this rosy picture of the hours after agonising child birth) she forgave me and for the next twenty years we revelled in this special connection, always blowing out our birthday candles side by side.

So, once paper had been viciously ripped from presents and some of the excitement had been tamed just long enough to get me ready I would be dispatched to the school gates for a day of fun and laughter and not too much learning(there was the little matter of cake to be dreamed about to keep me from absorbing anything hedumacational, you see). Once home from school the preparations would begin for a tea party and I of course would be the guest of honour. They were simpler times back then (again, I am not ancient) but really, 80's birthday parties were quite tame. There were no bouncy castles, clowns, play centres, limousines or other such extravagances back then, no sirree Bob. We had some jellies, a couple of bowls of Tayto cheese and onion, if you were lucky a box of Tea Cakes or Snow Balls, popcorn, rice krispie cakes, maybe some fun size smarties and in later years you were very fancy altogether if you had an ice cream cake decorated with a flake!

The treat I remember most and probably my favourite of all was the humble homemade fairy cake, do you remember them? I can still taste my mam's ones now if I close my eyes and transport myself back to my 5 year old self. Deliciously sweet and fluffy with a slightly crisp outer shell, nothing fancy, just a simple Madeira mix spooned into tiny hand size cases. And so I come to the point of this blog post, where have all of the fairy cakes gone? It's all American cupcakes these days with there multi coloured frosting and edible glitter. Now, I'm not complaining, I LOVE cupcakes and would happily live on them if it weren't for the risks of obesity and heart disease but sometimes it would be nice to see the humble fairy cake championed in bakeries instead of them being confined to the bottom shelf of the supermarket, vacuum packed and drizzled with a bit of pink and lemon icing.

This past birthday I was gifted with a copy of The Hummingbird Bakery cookbook which is just jam packed with delicious American inspired baked delights. Pies, cookies and naturally, cupcakes. So while I sat drooling over the pictures I decided the first treat I would bake from it would just have to be the chocolate cupcakes. I think there is my answer, when faced with the choice of what to bake - fairy cakes or chocolate cupcakes - I am afraid I would always choose the frosted gorgeousness of a cupcake over the humble fairy cake. So that is where all of the fairy cakes have gone, to the back of the line. The competition form their fancy schmanzy American cousins has proven to stiff to beat and the cake of choice for every 80's Irish tea party is sadly out of vogue.

Chocolate Cupcakes

(Makes 12)

• 100g Plain Flour
• 20g Cocoa Powder
• 140g Caster Sugar
• 1&1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• Pinch of Salt
• 40g Unsalted Butter (room temp)
• 120ml Whole Milk
• 1 Egg
• 1/4tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat the oven to 170ºC/325ºF/Gas 3.

Put the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in a bowl and beat with an electric whisk until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined.
Whisk the milk, egg and vanilla extract together in a jug. Pour half into the flour mixture and beat to combine. Turn the mixer up to a high speed to get rid of any lumps.
Turn the mixer down to a slower speed and slowly pour in the remaining milk mixture. Continue mixing for a couple more minutes until the mixture is smooth but do not over mix.
Line a twelve hole muffin tin with paper cases and spoon the mixture into the cases until two thirds full.
Place in the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. They are done when a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean and the sponge has a slight bounce when touched.
Place on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Frosting

• 300g Icing Sugar (sieved)
• 100g Unsalted Butter (room temp)
• 40g Cocoa Powder
• 40ml Whole Milk

Beat the icing sugar, butter and cocoa powder together with an electric whisk on a medium-low speed until the mixture comes together is well mixed.

Turn the whisk down to a slow speed and add the milk a couple of tablespoons at a time.

When all of the milk has been added turn the whisk up to a high speed and continue beating until the frosting is light and fluffy (approx 5 mins, the longer you whisk for the lighter the frosting will be)

Spoon the frosting onto the cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles of your choice.