The dreadful weather has made me think back to summer and share this picture of Eloise enjoying brioche buns in the garden!

My previous attempt to make pancakes with my two year old Eloise was... Interesting... It was pancake day around her second birthday. It was a complete disaster, she had to go straight to the bath without eating any pancakes! And the kitchen looked like a milk tornado had hit Horley...

Six months on I thought it was time to tentatively try again... Savoury pancakes this time stuffed with cheese and ham - simple surely?

What a difference! The kitchen wasn't exactly clean afterwards but in relative terms it was spotless! Eloise mixed the batter all by herself and then supervised my frying and flipping. Yum!

I couldn't resist trying out the raspberry lolly recipe Annabel Karmel shared here on the blog last week for teething toddlers and when Eloise's best friend Ben (who is currently cutting his last few molars) came to visit it was perfect timing.

They were crazy easy to make following the simple steps.  I must admit i only added half the caster sugar as my raspberries were nice and sweet. The only issue was that my lolly cases were huge so the mixure only made 2! Eloise and Ben didn't seem to mind though and enjoyed them in the sunshine.

I will be making these tonight and popping them in the freezer with my fingers crossed for a sunny weekend! If your little one is having a hard time teething Nelsons, the company i work for in daylight hours, make Teetha granules and gel which you can buy from the supermarket to help calm and soothe teething tots. Find out more at www.teetha.co.uk

Eloise has been poorly this week so we have been cooking up some tasty treats to share with you all. Today luscious lemon cakes. Eloise is not a big fan of traditional sponge but lemon is always a big hit.

To make these lemon cakes we used my basic cake base then add some lemon essence instead of vanilla. As you can see Eloise's technique for filling the cases is getting a lot better. She also loves her 'I love cupcakes' apron, she has a matching version for her dolly!

Whilst the cupcakes were baking we mixed up some freshly squeezed lemon juice and caster sugar and drizzled all over the warm cakes. This made them super lemony and sweet and created a nice glaze on top of the cupcakes. Eloise's face eating the tart cakes cracked me up but she came back for more so she must be feeling a bit better.

Today it is raining. Chris is out for the day so Eloise and I have been entertaining ourselves with our latest eBay purchase (The Little Mermaid DVD), napping (Eloise), laundry (me) and baking. Well not quite baking. More melting, mixing and refrigerating. I don't remember making these as a child but I remember eating them!

Baking with Eloise is still a challenge but she is getting better and enjoys filling up the cases now. The only problem is i have to make double as she eats so much along the way! Luckily her wares only get eaten by the family...

I really like fridge cakes. One of my favourite is a mixture of crushed digestive biscuits, melted butter, golden syrup, melted chocolate and a good slug of Cointreau. Mix the lot together, spread in a baking tray lined with cling film and cover well. Freeze (yes, freeze) chop up into wedges and enjoy.

Top tips for fridge cakes:

1. Cool your melted chocolate before adding your krispies/cornflakes/biscuits or they will go soft.
   
2. If using cake cases place them in a muffin tin before spooning in your mixture to support the sides and stop them collapsing. Then refridgerate in the tin. (As pictured above)
   
3. If adding honey or syrup to your cake set in the freezer as the fridge won't be sufficient.
   

And remember to leave enough mixture for spoon licking at the end!

Can't wait to enjoy these together tomorrow. Perhaps we may even get enough sun to sit in the garden (not holding my breath!)

This weekend we had Eloise's big cousins James and Emily to stay. This called for some group baking making clever use of the copious amounts of Easter egg chocolate Eloise received.

James supervised Eloise's bowl whilst Emily rode solo. The recipe was a chocolate oil cake (oil used instead of butter) We added cocoa powder and melted milk and white chocolate in the mix to make a very rich flavour. The mixing went well but transference into the cupcake cases proved a little messy - especially with Eloise involved!

Amazingly the cake rose really well and we topped them with a chocolate ganache and butterscotch pieces.

The cakes were demolished in record time and Eloise was so enthusiastic she required a bath afterwards!

Last night I made 2 little icing slippers for my latest cake topper. I need to spray them gold so I left them on my dining room table to harden up over night.

I came down this morning with my daughter and as I was making her breakfast I noticed her chewing on something...

I now have to make another slipper!

My goddaughter/niece Emily turned 5 last week and I bought her a cupcake making kit.

Today Em tried out her first bake with help from her glamourous assistant/mum George. The recipe was chocolate cupcakes - an excellent choice.

I am sure you will agree these action shots show a master baker in training and I love the pink mouse apron!

Good job Em! X x

Eloise helped me bake today. We had another go at a sourdough Herman cake. This time we made a Nutella muffin version.

Eloise was very good at helping with the stirring (although i did have trouble stopping her eating the mixture!). During the baking she insisted on sporting a Grecian look by only having one arm in her babygrow. Not sure if this is her signature baking outfit, we'll find out next time!

We drizzled white chocolate on top to fnish them off. Feedback on these cakes from the adults  were that they were a little dry - this could be because we ran out of oil so they were missing about 1/3 cup.  The kids however loved them with Eloise's cousin Emily eating 2 in one sitting!