Yummmmmm. Just had dinner :) Tonight I did home chicken parmigiana with a side of spinach fettucini tossed in cream, olive oil, and some garlic, and a very simple salad :) - deliciousness. Today I'm going to talk about cakes/baking because that really is my passion. My sister got married this past December and I made her wedding cake - my first ever! I've made cakes and cupcakes all the time, but this was my first proper, important cake. This is what it looked like: It was a christmas wedding with a theme of mistletoe. It was a Genoese sponge, with spiced buttercream and dark chocolate rum mousse for the fillings, and it went down a hit!! I had some trouble with the english fondant and gum-paste which is very different from the american stuff but we got there in the end. I've been making a lot of cakes and cupcakes the past year trying to practice different techniques and things and I have learnt a lot.These are my baking tips for you to make sure that your cakes turn at really airy and delicious. If you can it's always better to make your cake batter by hand because then you can work a lot of air into the batter which is key for getting a light spongy cake. Sometimes standing mixers don't get to the bottom of the batter, so it doesn't get enough air into it. Always always always!! I can't stress it enough that your ingredients are EXACTLY the correct amount. With the cooking it doesn't matter, but with baking it is essential that your quantities are exact! It's also important, that your butter is soft, not so its runny, but so it is easy to cream and not rock hard so it get it out a few hours before you start cooking and let it get to room temperature - the same with eggs as well. If your ingredients are room temperature, your cake will be better. Speaking of ingredients, always go for top quality ingredients, especially if your cake is for someone else or for a special occasion, always use a very good quality vanilla, free-range organic eggs, organic unsalted butter, a good flour, and if you're adding things such as chocolate, which you should always use with a coco percentage of 48% or higher, but other things such as lemon zest or whatever, always make sure that it's good quality. Here are some baking tips for the summer : if the temperature is above 20 degrees celsius, DO NOT MAKE SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM. stick to just basic buttercream. make cakes bake quicker by using 2 tins instead of 1 because sometimes the top can cook a lot faster than the middle. avoid using fresh cream as a topping, and try fresh fruits instead of fondant decorations. And here are basic rules for baking : it's very important that you do not over-mix your cake batter or it will turn out tough-just until its all incorporated, or over-bake it. alwayssss read the recipe before you start cooking, all they way through just incase there is an ingredient not mentioned in the list or a step you may not know how to do, it's also nice to have a good idea of what you're going to need to do before you begin. Always make sure you use metal cups for dry ingredients and glass for liquids. Preheat the over about 10 minutes before you're going to need it ready. Use metal nonstick pans, ones made from glass are better suited for pies. Never remove your cake from the tin as soon as you take it out of the oven, it needs to rest a while just like meat does. Leave it for about 10 minutes in the tin and then remove it letting it sit on a wire rack. Always wash any fruits you may be using, and ling or grease your tin so that the cake doesn't stick! Never ever fill a cake tin more than 1/2 full or you cake will rise and not be flat, it will be like a dome. Place the tin in the centre of the oven so it can bake evenly, and for my last one, never open the door to the oven until 1/2 - 3/4 of the cooking time is over or you just release all the hot air and your oven will have to heat up again taking your cake longer to cook. I hope these tips can help you and bring success to your baking!! :) Here are some pictures of things I've baked: