Lemon Curd Fault Line Cake

There’s nothing nicer in my opinion than a lemon cake. My Daughter was celebrating her 30th Birthday in May and as a child she would always ask for a lemon curd sandwich, preferably home made lemon curd but shop bought would suffice.

I knew I would need to make a lemon curd cake and thought I would make it a bit special for her.

It was fun getting back into cake decorating although my back didn’t agree with me.

I used the KatySue designs lemon mould and modelling sugar for the lemon and leaves were from the Flower Pro moulds.

It was fun and games as I had never made a fault line cake before but in for a penny in for a pound I would try it. 

It all started off straight forward, all of the lemons and leaves had been coloured before I started so what could go wrong? Actually lots could go wrong, I used far too much frosting on the outer part of the cake and the first layer of sugar paste that I tried just split and slid off haha!

So the moral of the story is, if at first you don’t succeed then try and try again, tadaa!

Open Water Swimming

I’ve started sea swimming again, it was a regular occurrence when I was a child and living near to the sea has always been a privilege to me.

Now the North Sea is far from the temperatures that you get when holidaying in the Mediterranean but if you manage to get in to the North Sea you will find it invigorating.

Safety first, never do it alone, don’t stay in too long, build it up, take a warm set of dry clothes, a hot drink and a snack if you want it.

My partner in crime is my daughter Lauren, as soon as she said she would like to do it I was buying all the gear, shorty wetsuits, shoes, waterproof bags for our phones, changing gowns etc…

This was our first try.

It was gorgeous.

We take a big bucket with us to put or wet gear into for travelling home.

I wont lie, changing into dry clothes was challenging to say the least. I may have flashed once or twice getting changed haha!

I have since invested in a front zipped wetsuit jacket and shorts, much easier to get out of as I have a frozen shoulder. No more flashy me haha!

Our Yorkshire Farm visit.

Those of you that have enjoyed watching Our Yorkshire Farm or read and of the Yorkshire Shepherdess Books will appreciate the excitement I had to visit Ravenseat farm high up in the Yorkshire Dales.

The trip is not for the faint hearted and for most of our journey I gripped the seat of the car and braked several times despite Chris being an exceptional driver it was hairy to say the very least.

Although we weren’t allowed past the gate for obvious reasons one of them being that they were filming that day, we were lucky to see and chat with Amanda and 2 of her girls Clemmy and Annie.

Before I took any photos I asked as I think some can take this for granted.

Clemmy didn’t disappoint us and was as charming off camera as she was on it.

Now what you aren’t seeing here is that I fell over, I was on my crouching to have the photo taken with Clemmy and I wobbled and landed all my weight onto my my fingers and knuckles so decided to sit put and have photos whilst sitting and holding on to my bloody hand.

Thankfully you could get refreshments and there was picnic tables and public loos if you are thinking of visiting.

Annie was such a lovely young lady and we chatted a while with her as her filming was done of the day.

She was helping with the refreshments.

It was lovely so see all of the layout of the buildings that you see on the program and I can see just why Amanda and Clive fell in love with the farm.

Make your Own Chocolate Santa Sleigh

I made these chocolate Santa sleighs many years ago when my Grandson was very young and as he couldn't remember them I thought I would do it all again for this year, I think everyone would agree we have had a very weird Covid year and could do with something to cheer us up.

 

I filmed making these so that you can see how easy they are to construct.

I will place them at each setting for the Christmas dinner but they would be equally fun as a gift for someone.

Happy sleigh making.

Toadstool houses

This is the last of my Toadstool and Mushrooms mould samples for now.

I think you can tell how much I love this mould

Just creating the scene on the top of the vintage teacup set was easy to make with this mould, on the saucer I created realistic mushrooms, so much so that my Grandson thought they were real.

I was thinking that it could be sprayed with a scent or drops of essential oils dropped on to create a wonderful room fresh inner gift. 

All Moulds can be found here https://katysuedesigns.com/collections/flower-pro 

Flower Pro Toadstools and Mushroom Mould

I just couldn’t wait to show you the new addition of the KatySue Designs Flower Pro mould, this is the Mushroom/Toadstool silicone mould which is simply amazing. I love that is has a separate veiner mould with all of the texture needed for the underside of the mushroom.

I mad this using the Mushrrom mould the log slice impression mould, the fern mould and veiner and the tree bark mould, I also used Heartysoft air dry clay.

There are so many different fungi, mushroom and toadstools you can make and the new moulds with give you the perfect design.

My whole design started with an empty Pringles tube and cutting it down in size and covering it with the clay.

Rolling parts of the bark back to make the log realistic and using paints for detail and shading.

The link to all the moulds used is https://katysuedesigns.com/products/flower-pro-toadstools-and-mushrooms-mould-and-veiner

Toadstools and Mushroom Mould at its Best

I have to say as mushrooms go this mould ticks all the boxes for me, I can go from realistic to fantasy and it looks amazing, so easy to use too. The Flower Pro range is simply the best.

The texture on the mushrooms are fantastic

I also used the bark mould around the steampunk top hat and my husband came to the rescue to make me the hat stand.

Of course the scene wouldn't be complete without a fern mould as ferns are notorious for thriving in the damp ground.

I finished the top of the hat with the Log Slice impression mould.

All of the moulds can be found here, this is a brand new launch so you could be one of the first to get your hands on them

They release on Tuesday 27th October 2020

The link is https://katysuedesigns.com/products/flower-pro-toadstools-and-mushrooms-mould-and-veiner

Flower Pro Poppy Mould by KatySue Designs

The Poppy Mould by KatySue designs I used to create a Remembrance Day model last year is still one of my favourite silicone moulds, It was designed by the fabulous Chef Nicholas Lodge along with the Flower Pro Fern mould. 

When you buy from the Flower Pro collection you are buying into a whole educational program that leads you buy the hand to create amazing realistic flowers with step by step videos, isn't that just fantastic?

So I used a fabric hardener (Powertex) to create this model and if I was to put it in the garden I would spray it with a weatherproof varnish.

The Poppy Mould can be purchased here  https://katysuedesigns.com/collections/flower-pro-moulds-and-veiners/Cake-Decorating 

and the educational video can be watched here How to make the Flower Pro Poppy