A Cake-tastrophe and A Lucky Win From Udi's!

How the devil are you? Been a bit of a rough week? Grab a slice of (gluten free!) cake, and a cuppa, and sit down with me for a couple of minutes.

This week has been something of a mixed bag. It was my Dad's birthday on 29th, and I had planned on making him a chocolate orange birthday cake. I figured I usually make him lemon so it might make a nice change. Oh, what a mistake! Let's just say that I found out the hard way using fresh juice squeezed from an orange was not a great idea. It looked fine when I put it in the tin but that was about it. It was solid on the bottom, oily and gross on the top, and the texture was AWFUL!!

He ended up with chocolate orange fudge instead. He liked it, but it's a little tricky to put birthday candles n.

I'm actually getting quite into making fudge. It's super-easy and you can put almost anything you want in it! If it weren't so damned expensive (each batch makes about 30-odd pieces and uses 450g sugar. P.S. Not a health food either) and I was sure people would buy it, I'd love to make more of it. Mm....fudge.

In other news...look what I won!

During my entire childhood the only thing I ever really won was a postbox-shaped piggy bank at Danielle Tucker's birthday party one year. But since then I've been quite lucky for some reason! I won countless Disney Channel and Nickelodeon goody bags; even a Toy Story 2 cutout signed by Buzz Aldrin. These days, I enter quite a few competitions and then promptly forget all about them. So I was really excited when I was contacted by Udi's a couple of weeks ago to say I'd won a prize in their competition (that I have no recollection of entering). And my hamper arrived yesterday afternoon. Cinnamon & raisin bagels, apple & cinnamon toaster pastries, strawberry breakfast bars and a pack of their toffee and chocolate chip muffins.

Best of all? Two days ago I was contacted by Newburn Bakehouse to say I'd won something in a competition with them (which again, I don't recall entering at all!). I'll have to let you know what I get when it comes through, but I'm really excited!

In the meantime, I'm baking a cake for my Grandad's birthday tomorrow (for God's sakes, let it be better than my attempt at Dad's!) and plotting a barbecue for next weekend. Watch this space!