Mint Chocolate Birthday Cake

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Today was Mr. TheBoyandMe's birthday. 37. He's getting old now but refuses to admit that he is now in his late 30s.

I digress.

We decided to make him a birthday cake, and as The Boy has an obsession with chocolate cake (thanks Peppa Pig) and that Mr. TBaM's favourite flavour is mint chocolate, I decided to have a go at making a mint chocolate cake.

I used the basic Mrs. Beeton's Victoria Sandwich recipe of 5oz butter/self-raising flour/caster sugar and 3 eggs, and added two sachets of mint flavoured drinking chocolate to the mix. I also added a teaspoon of baking powder as my sponge cakes don't tend to rise very much. (It still didn't, but I'm now beginning to wonder if that's more about my oven than anything else.

We made the cake yesterday and then wrapped it in tin foil once cooled.

Then this morning while hubby was sleeping soundly (because I am a good wife and Mr. TBaM never seems to get lie-ins anymore, so I let him), The Boy and I did the filling and topping. We made a form of buttercream using unsalted butter, icing sugar and chocolate philadelphia (which is yummy). However, in hindsight I needed to add more icing sugar because it was a little too fluid.

Once that was spread on and the cake had been put in the fridge for it to set a little, I melted down chocolate to put on the top. We smoothed this around roughly and then sprinkled over a variety of toppings, including; crushed mint Aero, chocolate flake and white chocolate stars.

The finished cake was incredibly yummy, although very difficult to cut due to rock solid chocolate on the top and slippy buttercream filling! But Mr. TheBoyandMe was happy!

Meal Planning Monday #2

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Last week was my first week taking part in Meal Planning Monday and it was a complete success. I managed to stick to the plan all week, and it worked brilliantly. I'd taken into account my complete lack of energy on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, therefore planning food which Mr. TheBoyandMe could reheat/cook from scratch with ease. Everything else was easily managed and I didn't have that flagging feeling come 5pm when I needed to start cooking.

This week is going to be a little less regular as we have a few interruptions with Mother's Day, Mr. TBaM's birthday, and his parents coming down to take us out for lunch on Saturday. That meal will probably be Pizza Express because The Boy eats the entire meal with ease, and therefore I'll do a lightweight salad buffet for tea that night. Therefore we're having a Chinese take-away meal for a treat on Friday!

  • Sunday: Slow-cooked gammon in cider for the omnivores, cheese souffle (from Asda) for the veggies, sauté potatoes, leeks in cheese sauce.
  • Monday: Spaghetti and meatballs (I have difficulty getting The Boy to eat meat other than chicken, I recently tried him on Ikea meatballs and he loved them!)
  • Tuesday: Mr. TBaM's birthday tea
  • Wednesday: chicken and cheese escalope for Mr. TBaM and The Boy, Linda McCartney Cheese and Onion Plait for me, carrots and chips! (Freezer food for the work night)
  • Thursday: Pasta and salad
  • Friday: Chinese take-away
  • Saturday: Salad buffet

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I'm linking this up to Meal Planning Monday over at At Home With Mrs. M.

The Best Card I've Ever Had!

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Earlier in the week I texted Mr. TheBoyandMe and asked if The Boy was buying or making me a card. The reply was most indignant as he was buying the equipment to make it at the time. Yesterday morning, The Boy and daddy sat down to make the card and this morning I was presented with this little beauty. Mr. TBaM stuck the pipe cleaners on only, the rest is all from The Boy.

And inside, he'd written his name perfectly spelt.

But you'll have to take my word for that…

366 #11

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I can't quite believe that we're rounding up week eleven here and about to launch into week twelve; it seems to be going so quickly. This, last year, was the point for me when I considered giving up. Now it's just part of my daily routine and I can think of far worse things to have built in on my list of 'to-dos'.

Anyone taking part is welcome to join the Project 366 Facebook group. The fabulous community building up there offer support to those taking part in this photography project, and give much blog love. We've made it a closed group so that not every Tom, Dick or Harry can see the content but if you'd like to join just click the 'ask to join group' button in the top right hand corner of the page.

  1. Choose your favourite photo from the past week and link it up below.
  2. Please add the badge to your linked-up post so that other people know how to find all the other fabulous entries.
  3. If you can spare five minutes to comment on just a few other entries I know they'd appreciate it!
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