Eee is Five

My little Eee has turned five.

I can hardly believe it.  Usually this age signals an entry into school life. I am very glad to say that we are enjoying our home school life so much we will be continuing that for little Eee as well.  Of course she is already learning but I guess I will 'up that a notch' as her early literacy skills develop and need enhancement.  She is currently at that lovely stage of absorbing so much information and eagerly desiring to learn new things.  "Would you like to go and play? or would you like to do your Maths?", "Maths!" is her reply.  I'll lap it up while it lasts. :)

The cake required for the birthday was quite a simple trampoline. I was very grateful for this as I was unwell for most of August.  Getting my head around a more complex cake was not what I needed as I recovered from persistence congestion and coughing.

I have always included my girls in cake decorating for their birthdays rather than keeping the cake a surprise for them.  For this also I am grateful as it means that they set to work in decorating for themselves while I simply supervise.  They are also learning valuable skills as well as setting their creative minds and fingers to work.

And with the addition of a few sweet little dollies the trampoline comes alive.

Happy Birthday little Eee!

From your cute little nose

to your tippy-toes

God's wonderful work surely shows.

Happy Birthday Tutu you.

You made me and formed me with Your hands. Psalm 119:73

(printed on the card received from Granny)

Icing Granny's Lamingtons

We did ice these lamingtons just a day or so after we baked the butter cake for them.

I just have not got to blogging about it.  I'm probably spending my time eating them ;)

Creaming the butter

Sifting icing sugar with cocoa

Adding the secret and unique ingredient ;)

Production line in swing with Ess and Eee.  My hand seems to need to be in every bowl :)

This box of prepared lamingtons reminds me very much of the box my Granny would carry out to our picnics.  Beautiful pale, hand-formed lamingtons, coated in chocolate icing, covered with coconut.

The finished cake is a sweet, rich and moist delectable delight which few can resist the lure of.  Very moorish as well unfortunately.

I have to say that these lamingtons were definitely given the thumbs up.  The girls have been telling me lately that my food should be "sold in a shop".  I think I'd prefer to cook less and eat more than anyone running a shop, and stay home with my family.  Ess is letting me know as I write that "they are certainly fit to be restaurant desserts".  I'll take that as a very high compliment.  Really I am just glad to be creating fond memories for them which they'll cherish for their lifetime.

By Broulee Beach

We spent the day by Broulee Beach yesterday,

soaking in the sand and the sun,  

sights and sounds, 

the colours and textures.

There were sand pies to be mixed, 

time for solitary exploration 

sandcastles bedecked with star-shaped shells

rock pools to paddle and wade in

fish to attempt to catch in our bucket

sand angels to make

and vistas to enjoy

Lamingtons: Butter or Sponge?

Fresh Butter Cake squares waiting to be made into lamingtons,
 if they aren't consumed first.

There are some times when you just wish you still had your Granny around to ask a few questions.

Do you find that?  As I'm getting older and have a more mature perspective of the world, shall we say, I find myself wanting to ask my Granny a few more questions than I had thought to before she died when I was about 20.

Creaming the butter

When growing up I took for granted the fabulous lamingtons my Granny made for the family to share on picnics out on the farm.  I just devoured them.  We all did.  They were fabulous.

Little Eee loving helping with creaming the butter and sugar 

As I grew older I realised there were other sorts of lamingtons you could buy from bakeries and also supermarkets.  I never really took to those at all.  I have however come across a few and eaten a few as they are a favourite sweet of my dear Generous Gentleman's.  They always left a metallic taste in my mouth, and still do.

Ess helping sift flour into our bowl

So when the opportunity arose to take the family to the Great National Lamington Bake Off in order to celebrate Australia Day we all jumped at the chance.  I was curious to see what it was all about and how a chef might interpret the lamington these days.  My girls love baking (and tasting of course) and my lovely husband just loves eating lamingtons.  So it was a match made perfectly.

Fresh golden butter cake with the recipe I transcribed
at the age of about 10 years

When it was discovered that two out of the three chefs were baking a sponge cake for their lamington a question arose concerning the original and authentic lamington.  Would it have also been a sponge cake or would it have been a butter cake?  Granny always made a butter cake for her lamingtons and I have assumed that the spongey light and fluffy cake was made by the bakeries and supermarkets.  However it seems that some others consider the sponge base is a more authentic lamington.  Or perhaps they prefer the light and fluffy sponge cake?  It seems that the CWA baked a butter cake for their lamingtons as well.  I am yet to find an example of the sponge cake being used for lamingtons by the older generation, apart from mass production for school fetes and the like.  What is your preference?  

For the results of the bake-off take a read of the Canberra Times article.

Waiting for icing and coconut

Now I'm on a mission to bake lamingtons with my family in the fashion of my Granny's, to share with them the tradition I hold such fond and vivid memories of.  I'll ask them which cake they choose as their cake of preference: butter or sponge?  I already know my choice.

Unexpected Discovery

This is what we found recently on an unexpected pit stop needed by our four year old Eee.

We were actually a little annoyed with her because we had just passed a number of toilets in the town of Braidwood which we had just driven through. Fortunately however we soon found this stop for her to relieve herself and for us to find a place we might return to one day to enjoy a picnic and a time of exploration and discovery.

Here we are at the Shoalhaven River by the Warri Bridge.  When you are driving along the highway and across the bridge, you just don't notice the beauty lying underneath.

So many wildflowers to feast our senses.  Beautiful isn't it!

We were ll so glad we stopped.  Thanks little Eee.