G’day, how are you all? We are on the second day of Spring here on the beaches. And it’s raining.
Now, one of the things I collect, ahem along with a whole lotta cr*pola is old cookery books, I just love to flip through them late at night…for sure they are full of entertainment.
So, A Medley of Recipes is one that I have found interesting and amusing. Written by Dorothy Allhusen and published in 1936, published in Henrietta St, a street I passed many a time on my way to work all those years ago. If you know Elizabeth David, it is of the same kind of feel, only years earlier and full of such delights as ‘A Doctor’s Recipe for Beef Tea’, instructions on how to sour milk by leaving it in a warm cupboard, and bizarrely recipes for how to ‘take stains out of marble’, ‘dye a gown’ and ‘sweeten rancid butter’. I almost expected to see a compound on how to mix beachy white paint. There is not a single picture in this book, so very different to the highly styled, lifestyle books of today..
Anyway, in that book was a recipe for Orange Cake, contributed to this publication by Lady Congreve, no less…now I’d also seen something similar in the Donna Hay Season’s book (don’t forget the giveaway open til close of play Friday) …and of course Donna’s version, not only ridiculously easy, positively enveloped in the splendour that is, Donna Hay Styling seemed to illustrate my idea of an orange cake perfectly.
So, then, in a fit of domestic glee I found myself mixing and folding, and if you’ve been with me for a while you’ll know that baking ain’t my thing. Baby.
And unbelievably for me, as one who regularly ends up with burnt or sunken offerings in the baking department, this actually worked, save the odd crumbling to the edges that needed fixing.
The recipe : 4 eggs 1 cup sugar 1 tsp vanilla 1 cup sr flour 150g butter 1 cup ground almonds (plus I threw in half a pack of poppy seeds) for topping : 1 cup caster sugar 1/2 cup water 2 oranges sliced. Topping : sugar, water, vanilla in pan over medium heat until sugar dissolves, add orange for 10/15 mins simmer. Eggs Sugar and vanilla in bowl, mix until thick & pale, sift over flour and fold through. Fold through butter and almond. Put orange mix in bottom of tin. Pour cake mixture over orange and bake for 45 mins .
Verdict : Delicious
Though, there has been a lot of debate in this old cottage about this cake, because as a non-cake lover, I am loving it…and Mr BC who considers himself severely hard-done by because I am not a baker doesn’t like it one bit. And he is one who eats cake with beer.
Now onto more exciting things. Like the cake stand. Isn’t it yum-scrum?
I found this while treasure hunting on our recent holiday up the coast. It was a Vinnies special, I love me a bit of silver with all the white.
OK that’s it from me, I am off to work on things for the BC Store…and I am working in a project that involves zinc not white paint…more to come soon.
Don’t forget if you want to win the Donna Hay Seasons book giveaway…just comment on this post, tell me what you think of my baking or even send me foolproof baking schemes. This girl is on a roll! Closes end of play Friday.
Covet cakestands! Speaking of, at Jordan Ferney/Oh Happy Day, the posting today is about her husband’s paintings of cakes/stands and an upcoming show. Would love one of those paintings however I am pretty sure that they are not at the price point I would like:-)
Ooohhh how can you not love cake? I picked up a vintage book while at Cape Cod, called ‘The Butterick Book of Recipes and Household Helps’. The back pages of the book consists of readers tips and even though this book was published in 1927, they have been coming in mighty useful! Your cake looks delicious by the way! Lx
Oh My! That cake looks like my type of cake….nice with a big blob of King Island Dairy Double cream…..yumm!!!!
I would love to win Donna Hay’s book,…but I don’t have any foolproof baking schemes…..just a couple foolproof recipes….zuchini slice and a fabulous muffin recipe!
Pretty brave of you to attempt a recipe from 1936! Cake looks yummy! Just read a review of Donna Hays book as it is now available for sale in Canada. You Aussies will be cooking spring/summer recipes and we will be delving into the fall/winter ones!
i’m going through a bit of cake stand loving at the moment of the depression glass kind. Sadly I am selling two of them cause I have too many and not enough cakes!
alicia
Looking at your beautiful pic, and reading the ingredients, I’m sold. I’ll have to try the recipe now. Anything with almond takes my fancy. Even store bought almond fingers – yum! And even better then, no baking required.
Love the cake stand…never seen one like it in the US! Orange cake looks bakery worthy! Perhaps a dark chocolate drizzle would add another dmension? My only foolproof recipe is a double chocolate torte..so simple! Brownie mix, chcoclate chips and butter coating- tastes like a piece of chocolate candy…yum.
Good for you for trying something new!
Beautiful cake ! My daughter had an orange cake at her wedding with cream cheese frosting it was yummy. Bet it would be good with an orange liquor drizzled over the top. I do love the cake stand too ! I noticed the green ones in the shop picture. I covet those, my kitchen is accented in antique kitchen accessories in that green we call it Jadite. Its from the 1950s ! I have a fab recipe for cobbler hmmm not sure what you would call it. Like a cross between a cake and pie, like a dump cake? It is fool proof ! Great use for any fruit at all. Your family will think you are Martha Stewart !
Sarah – what a beautiful blog! That recipe for orange cake is surely calling my name. Love the cake stands also. I am saving your website so that I can come back often and make myself at home. I think I am in love here~~
Hello there. I am very jealous of that cake stand. I never find anything like that at Vinnies. But also am more than a little impressed with that matching doilie you have there girlie. It looks like paper? From where?
That is the best cake stand I have evah seen (I daren’t even look at the cake, just the sort I like, rich and light, moist and crumbly. forgive me while I drool on my keyboard….)
I have just a few old cook books, which I love to browse through.
We also have at least half a dozen old medical books (dh is a peads doc) which can be hilarious. One advised when pregnant not to look too lovingly at the vicar or your child will look uncannily like him! I just may have to blog about it someday!
Love the cake – I am a cake eater but definitely not a cake baker
Donna Hay, one of my favourites! Love to join in for the Seasons give-away!
Your cake looks absolutely delicious (even more now I’ve decided to start excercising more & eating less…), and so does the cake stand! I love to bake in fall & winter time, so cosy!
By the way, thanks for thinking with me on the kitchen floor… still discussing what to do, I’ve also seen some very nice & light coloured (kitchen) rugs…
Bisous from Versailles, Chantal
The first picture I saw when I opened this post was the second one & my first thoughts were that it was out of a Donna Hay magazine! Not that I thought you couldn’t bake Sarah, it’s just such a good picture. What’s the secret to getting such a nice tall cake?
I love love love that cake stand! I can’t believe you find such good things at Vinnies etc. All I seem to find is smelly old cardy’s!! Cake looks yum Going to give it a go this weekend x
That cake looks very, very yummy. The cake stand is too! And the flowers on top are so pretty.
As for Mr BC not liking the cake – I’ll take his piece ; )
me too, i find the cake stand just great ! wouldn’t mind to have one like this !
cakes and beer….. well, as we say in french : we need all kind of people (no offence for your husband !!)
Belle journee !
Cake looks lovely, as do all you pictures (reading from the grey shores of the UK, I am very jealous!) Can I suggest lemon drizzle cake, a good british classic and fool proof, seriously one of the easiest cakes ever made!
Well, I don’t know what it tastes like but it sure is pretty and the silver cake stand is perfect! I change my decor with the seasons so a seasonal Donna Hay book would be great!!
Go Sarah! It’s always good for us to branch our and just TRY! You tried and succeeded!
The cake is lovely! I especially like the pretty flowers on top! But it looks like it tastes amazing! I love citrusy things.
I need to bake a pie before the berries are gone. And then I promised my son some chocolate chip cookies after that. I love to bake! But I think as far as expertise…..practice, and reading through the recipe a couple time before you dive in is good. I also watched a video one time on baking bread and it totally took the fear out of it for me. If you have a friend that bakes something really well, ask if you can watch. I have had some of my college girls come do that here.
That cake looks so good, Sarah! And so beautifully displayed on that awesome cake stand! I’m feeling especially lucky after reading your post today. My hubby does all the cooking and baking around here….unless, of course, I come across a moment of extreme daringness and creativity. And that’s not promising that it’ll be eatable in the end. lol! But we have a nice trade-off. He cooks/bakes and I clean up the disasterous kitchen when he gets done – then I go mow the lawn.
I don’t have any great baking tips for you as I am not much of a baker…my husband is diabetic and sugar is important to give baked goods structure. Your cake looks amazing though, and the cake stand too!
I am loving the look of that gorgeous cake and the beautiful cake stand. Would love to win! I just heard of Donna. Can’t wait to try one of her books. Blessings!
G'day! I'm Sarah, I live in a tatty old cottage, near the sea in Australia with a battered old deck & a big old fig tree out the back...stripped wooden floors, old sash windows & a jumble of vintage furniture. [Read More …]
Beach Cottage ladies, we have some vintage linen and some wood/twig washed up on the beach today here in Beach Cottage Land….don’t say I don’t keep you entertained now will you . Come on in. So, yep I have posted about colanders on this blog, about things sourced from the side of the road, about [...]
G'day ladies, let's have a Too Easy Beach Cottage recipe yeah? The original place for Too Easy Recipes on the web ;-)
So, after my last salad went down a storm in my inbox, that's here if you missed it, I had to do this one seeing as I make it most weeks.
There is a problem with this salad and kiddos though...it looks, well, it looks, kinda yucky...but once they try it, they'll ask if and when they are next having it....at least that's what happens in this ratty old cottage...but I must interject here that my kiddos are 'good eaters'? ...they didn't get a choice in that ;-)
Now, stop, don't start running and hitting that next on your blog reading list, pulses are your best friend in the Too Easy Dump & Go kitchen for the busy mum, or busy anyone for that matter...that reminds me I must blog the garlic canneloni Go To for when you forgot to do dinner, feel like a bath but have three ravenous young Beach Cottage Kiddos on your hands...another day.
I am almost embarrassed to tell you how easy this is, we have it so much that I always have a couple, make that six, cans of lentils around and a jar of goat's cheese in the fridge...the great thing about this is that it's all too easy to get ready in just a few minutes, but it looks, tastes and seems like you did oh so very much more than that.
You can obviously too change it up a bit depending on what you have to hand in your kitchen, and I must say that is how I settled on this version...because one day when I made it I didn't have enough Parsley in the garden and so I chucked in some basil too, and liked the Summer feel it added.
I think of this as being a rather posh salad, not sure why, because it couldn't really be further from the truth...the great thing is that it works so well for an average run of the mill day, (when I did this for this blog post, it was a hot Sydney Sunday and I did it just simply to go with Rosemary & Garlic stuffed pork, you can see that pork here),
...but just as easily it works on a regular old Wednesday night when you have lost all enthusiasm for rustling up yet another meal, or indeed on Saturday night, when your friends are on their way over for dinner and you my friend, are in your new vintage inspired clawfoot bathtub (that's me in a few weeks time, k?) without any clothes on, a tipple and no idea what to cook for dinner...
I have a complicated and ever-changing relationship with goat's cheese...it never fails me in its performance and it never fails to impress me (you can find out a bit more on what I like in food here if you like) and I kinda collect it...because it's very easy to collect and has a fairly long fridge-life, I love trying out different ones and there's not many things I love more than goat's cheese on sourdough...but I think the best thing about it is not thinking about it exclusively in the toast/salad department...I've stuffed it in chicken and all sorts of things as a last minute and it's been fab.
But let's get down to the nitty gritty of this super salad that makes you look like an angel who has been on her knees all day scrubbing the front step when really you are in the digital world and spent most of ...
G'day Beach Cottage ladies, howdy, howdy howdy today for a Beach Cottage Too Easy recipe.
If you like cake, cream, sugar and chocolate, make this.
This is, rather than a recipe, a putting it together...as you know I am no dessert maker, but, I do make quite a few sweet things, because, somehow I have ended up with kiddos, who in their roles as offspring, believe that part of the deal, is that not only do I feed them a home-cooked meal with a few homegrown ingredients in there, yes, they also believe that dessert and not the kind that comes out of a packet is included too in this All-Inclusive Deal they call Parenthood.
So, this, for sure, is no culinary masterpiece, but if you are looking for something that is so very easy, dump-able, uses everyday ingredients and at the same time makes you look like you spent hours pulling things together plus tastes good....well, then this is for you.
Best though, you don't make this for yourself, if you have spent the most part of your week sitting on your derriere reading blogs...this my friend ain't low in the calories department...if, however, you are treating yourself to a delight in a mason jar, this is so for you.
I first had a version of this when at dinner back in Old Blighty with a girl, I once, in another life, caught the train up from our village to London with...she was a funny thing really...I am not quite sure how we got on...she was kinda prissy and a bit bothered by too much...I would run to the train flustered, having got up late, and she would have a spreadsheet on the train times, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, a few years later when we both had bambinos, I bumped into her again and we met up for playdates and dinner sometimes....this particular night, after a lovely meal she served up little bowls of creamy, cakey fruity stuff topped off with chocolate flake...it was delicious!
She didn't serve hers in little jars like this, hers were in a champagne glass and not quite so layered as these ones, plus she used tinned fruit not fresh or frozen.
Years later when said offspring kept requesting dessert, one day I wangled together somehow these from what was around in the fridge and they've been with us ever since.
Most likely, if you ever come here for dinner, and shock horror, you dont' bring the dessert with you, this, if you are lucky, will be what you will get.
Throw it all together, sprinkle a lil bit of chocolate on the top and the blog reading past-time you so rudely left in order to make this, is my friend, your oyster.
Beach Cottage Too Easy Layered Raspberry, Cream & Sponge Dessert
1 small maderia or butter cake or a pack of cupcakes (or of course make your own)
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
8 tbsp fruit
1 x chocolate Flake or chocolate bar for grating
1. beat the cream cheese until it is soft
2. whip the cream until soft peaks form
3. combine & add the sugar through
4. cut your cake into portions
& layer into the bottom of your jar
5. add a tablespoon of fruit
6. layer on top the cream combo
7. repeat
8. grate chocolate or Flake on top
*Beach Cottage Recipe Notes : this is just a guide really, you can use any cream that you have on hand...I have made this with clotted cream (don't even go there unless you want to seriously get these babies on your thighs), with double cream and I have even, in desperate times squirted in that, ...
G'day Beach Cottage ladies, well I thought it was time for some blogging tips here today, alongside a few nice flowers and shells ;-)
I was recently part of a blogger discussion group over at Kidspot and a couple of hours later had a few questions from girls who couldn't make it to the live chat, one was on my Facebook page and one via email, the Facebook one I will deal with in another Real Girl Blogging Tips post...the email one asked me what essentials do I think every blog needs?
Well I have been around here for a while now doing the blogging thing, so I should know this, yeah and I mused this on my walk by the sea this morning I thought well what do you only need?
...I think it is really very easy when blogging, whether or not you are blogging up there in the lofty heights of the Super Bloggers or you are just dipping your toe in the water, to get side-tracked by 101 million different things that are 'essential' to your blog and if you are someone like me who actually gets a thrill from reading blogging tips then you are in an even worse place because you will find yourself literally buzzing with these essential things to add/do/implement on your blog.
However, walking along, gulping down that brisk sea air today (no sunshine & clouds) I thought you actually don't need any of that professional blogging stuff to be successful...but there are a few things that are pretty much crucial ...and once I started to think about it I got it down to about 5 - these are the only things that you need to concentrate on...once you have read through take a look at some of the big girl's blogs...you'll see that actually they don't have bundles of stuff on their blogs...but they do have all of these...
So here are my top things that your blog must have
1. About Page
There are all sorts of About Pages out there, and if you search on it there are many different tips and ideas for what to have on yours
Whatever blogging platform you use, adding an About Me Page is easy, quick and simple and will do everything to grow your blog.
I like a long-ish About Page, I am inherently nosy and I like to know a bit more about the person but at the least you should have on it your name and where you are located. I also think a photo is good too...over the last year or so I think this has become more important in blogging - if you are hesitant about that as I was, you can try using sunglasses or a behind shot until you get comfortable.
There is nothing worse than stumbling upon a new blog and going to find out more to only be faced with a piddly little one liner About Me Page...well there is something worse, not having one at all!
2. Contact Page
The chances are someone, somewhere will want to contact you and you will be surprised what lands in your inbox once you put yourself out there on the world wide web with a blog.
Many bloggers also use this page to include details for PR's/brands that may want to contact them and some bloggers put their stats on there too.
A short, to the point and simple Contact Page works really well...whenever I have wanted to contact another blogger I am often very busy and have limited time so I don't want to hang around sifting through information looking for an email address, so concise and clear ...
G'day lovely Beach Cottage lovelies.
So, yeah, so on a roll people, so on a roll.
I feel kinda home accessory wired right now.
I am always telling people, if anyone ever listens, that blogging is all about passion, not that sort of passion, but about passion that makes one tick.
Things like this make me tick tick boom.
I love finding things that suit my budget and let me treat my home but look amazing too.
So without further adieu I introduce you, ladies of the beach, to the blue vintage glasses that I have been stroking for about a week or two now...
These glasses are from a little boutique I sometimes happen upon, this boutique sells also pet accessories, carpet cleaner, bras and compost...it's quite unique though.
And, thanks to my friend Marnie (she blogs over here, go take a look at her praying position, interesting), who just so happens to be one day having me over for a lil' Greek dinner, has let me in on the fact that we call Kmart....The KMart...with an accent ....as in 'I love The KMart'...just like her MIL does. Oh yeah. Love that.
So I have had my eye on reproduction vintage glass blue wine glasses and being trying to find real true vintage blue glasses for like ever.
Oh yes I have spied them in Frenchy boutiques, I have lusted after them in stores that I shouldn't even enter and I have put them back pretty quickly in those shops with the hand-written price tags. C'mon, you know the ones.
And, though all of the above have tempted me, muchly, really, even with my wardrobe stashing skills I just thought that, actually, I'd rather be saving that casherooni for our next trip overseas..
Hello The KMart.
Tick Tick Boom
Vintage style blue wine glasses.
Do not come to my old place and think you might pick up one of these and smile with pleasure at their handblown quality, their weight, and be secretly jealous that my wine glasses cost more than your car...friend, that would not happen...these do not feel like that...indeed these in a funny way reminded me of my baby girl, she was a tiny little thing, with stick legs, the tinsssssssiest ankles and wrists you ever did see, she slept sideways in her cot wedged in between rolled up blankets and would only settle attached to Mr Beach Cottage or I or a (dirty) pj top of mine scrunched up under her nose...the first few times I picked her up to cuddle, being used to Honeymoon Baby who weighed in at 9lbs at birth and has never really stopped growing, I nearly threw her little bird-cum-rat down covered body over my shoulder.
These glasses are like that...be careful or you might lose your wine down the front of your shirt.
But oh baby, we are not talking picking up here, we are not talking quality, we are not talking house accessory snobbery.
Beach Cottage ladies, we are talking aesthetics.
And this is what I need in my cottage.
Blue vintage style glass, paired with coastal / nautical / beach stuff on my deck.
It's The KMart.
Tune in tomorrow, tomorrow, I have more budget foofing for your home, or maybe it will be the dress that wraps me up in supermarket-chic and makes me feel like me again.
Good Day to you my friends, wanna come hang out on my deck, talk house accessories, The KMart and drink some wine from blue glasses?
Sarah
Oh yes indeedy… love, love, love the cake stand. Doesn’t it look fabulous with all the white.
I’m all inspired to whip up an ornage cake now!!
Hope your rain Sarah doean’t make it further up the coast.
Hugs ~ Kerryanne
I’ve never had orange cake before. Sounds delicious!
It looks great! And styled so nicely too.
That cake stand looks as delish as the orange cake!!!
Covet cakestands! Speaking of, at Jordan Ferney/Oh Happy Day, the posting today is about her husband’s paintings of cakes/stands and an upcoming show. Would love one of those paintings however I am pretty sure that they are not at the price point I would like:-)
Ooohhh how can you not love cake? I picked up a vintage book while at Cape Cod, called ‘The Butterick Book of Recipes and Household Helps’. The back pages of the book consists of readers tips and even though this book was published in 1927, they have been coming in mighty useful! Your cake looks delicious by the way! Lx
Oh My! That cake looks like my type of cake….nice with a big blob of King Island Dairy Double cream…..yumm!!!!
I would love to win Donna Hay’s book,…but I don’t have any foolproof baking schemes…..just a couple foolproof recipes….zuchini slice and a fabulous muffin recipe!
Pretty brave of you to attempt a recipe from 1936! Cake looks yummy! Just read a review of Donna Hays book as it is now available for sale in Canada. You Aussies will be cooking spring/summer recipes and we will be delving into the fall/winter ones!
i’m going through a bit of cake stand loving at the moment of the depression glass kind. Sadly I am selling two of them cause I have too many and not enough cakes!
alicia
Looking at your beautiful pic, and reading the ingredients, I’m sold. I’ll have to try the recipe now. Anything with almond takes my fancy. Even store bought almond fingers – yum! And even better then, no baking required.
Love the cake stand – gorgeous!
Love the cake stand…never seen one like it in the US! Orange cake looks bakery worthy! Perhaps a dark chocolate drizzle would add another dmension? My only foolproof recipe is a double chocolate torte..so simple! Brownie mix, chcoclate chips and butter coating- tastes like a piece of chocolate candy…yum.
Good for you for trying something new!
Baking looks fabulous.. as does the silver with white. I have a stand like that and now feel inspired to actually use it!
Beautiful cake ! My daughter had an orange cake at her wedding with cream cheese frosting it was yummy. Bet it would be good with an orange liquor drizzled over the top. I do love the cake stand too ! I noticed the green ones in the shop picture. I covet those, my kitchen is accented in antique kitchen accessories in that green we call it Jadite. Its from the 1950s ! I have a fab recipe for cobbler hmmm not sure what you would call it. Like a cross between a cake and pie, like a dump cake? It is fool proof ! Great use for any fruit at all. Your family will think you are Martha Stewart !
That looks so yummy , I’m going to give it a go . Love the cake stand too.
I want me some cake!! At first glance I thought you had piled lashings of cream on top.
Looks fab Sarah and you know what, I like crumbly uneven cakes….much more scrummy!
Oh and the silver cake stand is pretty divine too.
xx
LOl Anne Marie I thought it was cream too !
I looove cream Angie!
That cake looks so scrummy, I would love to eat it! Love the cake stand as well
Sarah – what a beautiful blog! That recipe for orange cake is surely calling my name. Love the cake stands also. I am saving your website so that I can come back often and make myself at home. I think I am in love here~~
Vicki
Vicki this site is addictive ! As good as meeting up with the girlfriends for a glass of wine at the end of the day !
I feel like that too…I love hearing what you all have to say!
that looks devine and now i’m going to have to keep my eye out for a similar silver item at lifeline or vinnies – it looks great as a Cake stand!
Hello there. I am very jealous of that cake stand. I never find anything like that at Vinnies. But also am more than a little impressed with that matching doilie you have there girlie. It looks like paper? From where?
mmm that cake looks absolutely SCRUMPTIOUS!
So why doesn’t Mr. BC like the cake??? Taste? Texture? It looks delicious and most beautiful with the cake pedestal!
That is the best cake stand I have evah seen (I daren’t even look at the cake, just the sort I like, rich and light, moist and crumbly. forgive me while I drool on my keyboard….)
I have just a few old cook books, which I love to browse through.
We also have at least half a dozen old medical books (dh is a peads doc) which can be hilarious. One advised when pregnant not to look too lovingly at the vicar or your child will look uncannily like him! I just may have to blog about it someday!
Love the cake – I am a cake eater but definitely not a cake baker
gorgeous writing and insane photography. but i’m lusting most after the tray the cake is displayed on. delicious. love your blog.
Donna Hay, one of my favourites! Love to join in for the Seasons give-away!
Your cake looks absolutely delicious (even more now I’ve decided to start excercising more & eating less…), and so does the cake stand! I love to bake in fall & winter time, so cosy!
By the way, thanks for thinking with me on the kitchen floor… still discussing what to do, I’ve also seen some very nice & light coloured (kitchen) rugs…
Bisous from Versailles, Chantal
The first picture I saw when I opened this post was the second one & my first thoughts were that it was out of a Donna Hay magazine! Not that I thought you couldn’t bake Sarah, it’s just such a good picture. What’s the secret to getting such a nice tall cake?
I love love love that cake stand! I can’t believe you find such good things at Vinnies etc. All I seem to find is smelly old cardy’s!! Cake looks yum Going to give it a go this weekend x
That cake looks very, very yummy. The cake stand is too! And the flowers on top are so pretty.
As for Mr BC not liking the cake – I’ll take his piece ; )
Vintage cook books are great fun aren’t they, all kinds of things we do not think about these days or use often.
Do like the look of cake stands, they elevate everything to a status of being just a little special.
Especially lovely photos/styling today x
I love that cake pedastal. It is so unique and beautiful. The cake sounds delicious. Have a great day! La
Looks amazing Sarah, hard to believe you are not a baker.
Love the cake stand and love orange cake! But, please tell me what is “caster sugar”? I have not heard of that one before. Thanks!
me too, i find the cake stand just great ! wouldn’t mind to have one like this !
(no offence for your husband !!)
cakes and beer….. well, as we say in french : we need all kind of people
Belle journee !
I’m not a baker, but you are inspiring me! My family would be so proud if I did something like that.
Cake looks lovely, as do all you pictures (reading from the grey shores of the UK, I am very jealous!) Can I suggest lemon drizzle cake, a good british classic and fool proof, seriously one of the easiest cakes ever made!
Yummmm think I might give it a go for Fathers Day this Sunday……thanks for all your wonderful inspiration, I love visiting you here.
Love the cake stand and I’m going to have to try the orange cake! It all looks fabulous!
The cake looks scrumptious. A question: what is caster sugar. Maybe it’s what we call powdered sugar? Thanks for the chance to win!
I am in love with your photos. Live in the desert/mountains, but long to live on the beach, surrounded by white rooms. Thanks for the escape!
Delish cake, gorgeous cake stand…..fabulous photos…
This blog…
Priceless ((*_*))
It all looks delicious, the cake stand included. Like your hubs, I think I could consider myself a cake with beer kind of girl! Love them both!
Well, I don’t know what it tastes like but it sure is pretty and the silver cake stand is perfect! I change my decor with the seasons so a seasonal Donna Hay book would be great!!
Donna
This looks beautiful! and yummy. A cake stand is something I never realize I need until I have a party…this one is so lovely. Good find!
Go Sarah! It’s always good for us to branch our and just TRY! You tried and succeeded!
The cake is lovely! I especially like the pretty flowers on top! But it looks like it tastes amazing! I love citrusy things.
I need to bake a pie before the berries are gone. And then I promised my son some chocolate chip cookies after that. I love to bake! But I think as far as expertise…..practice, and reading through the recipe a couple time before you dive in is good. I also watched a video one time on baking bread and it totally took the fear out of it for me. If you have a friend that bakes something really well, ask if you can watch. I have had some of my college girls come do that here.
God bless!
That cake looks so good, Sarah! And so beautifully displayed on that awesome cake stand!
I’m feeling especially lucky after reading your post today. My hubby does all the cooking and baking around here….unless, of course, I come across a moment of extreme daringness and creativity. And that’s not promising that it’ll be eatable in the end. lol! But we have a nice trade-off. He cooks/bakes and I clean up the disasterous kitchen when he gets done – then I go mow the lawn. 
xoxo laurie@heavens-walk
I’m sitting here with a cup of coffee enjoying your blog but alas no Orange cake in sight! It looks delicious!
I don’t have any great baking tips for you as I am not much of a baker…my husband is diabetic and sugar is important to give baked goods structure. Your cake looks amazing though, and the cake stand too!
What’s this unholy deliciousness? I’m surprised it doesn’t call for any citrus zest. I’m a huge fan of those little bursts of peel flavor.
I am loving the look of that gorgeous cake and the beautiful cake stand. Would love to win! I just heard of Donna. Can’t wait to try one of her books. Blessings!