Jungle themed gluten free birthday cake

Strawberry gluten free layer cake (makes one cake)

Ingredients
125g (slightly over 1/2 a cup) butter, softened
190g (2 cups gluten free all purpose flour) gluten free plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
200g (1 cup) caster (superfine) sugar
152g (1 cup) fresh chopped strawberries
2 eggs
40ml semi-skimmed milk (half fat milk)
1 or 2 drops pink food colouring


Cooking instructions

1. Preheat oven to 160-180 deg C (325-350 deg F).
2. Lightly grease and line 23cm (9 inch) spring form cake tin with paper.
3. Beat butter, honey and sugar with an electric mixer until the mixture turns a pale colour.
4. Lightly beat eggs.
5. Stir in sieved flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, eggs, strawberries, milk, vanilla extract and food colouring till mixed thoroughly.
6. Spoon into cake tin.
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes until cooked or a skewer comes out clean.
8. Place cake on a wire rack to cool.

Banana gluten free layer cake (makes one cake)

Ingredients
125g (slightly over 1/2 a cup) butter, softened
190g (2 cups) gluten free plain (all purpose) flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
200g (1 cup) caster (superfine) sugar
1 freshly chopped large banana
2 eggs
40ml semi-skimmed milk (half fat milk)
1 or 2 drops pink food colouring


Cooking instructions

1. Preheat oven to 160-180 deg C (325-350 deg F).
2. Lightly grease and line 23 cm (9 inch) spring form cake tin with paper.
3. Beat butter, honey and sugar with an electric mixer until the mixture turns a pale colour.
4. Lightly beat eggs.
5. Stir in sieved flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, eggs, banana, milk, vanilla extract and food colouring till mixed thoroughly.
6. Spoon into cake tin.
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes until cooked or a skewer comes out clean.
8. Place cake on a wire rack to cool.

Kiwi gluten free layer cake (makes one cake)

Ingredients
125g (slightly over 1/2 a cup) butter, softened
190g (2 cups) gluten free plain (all purpose) flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
200g (1 cup) caster (superfine) sugar
2 freshly chopped kiwis
2 eggs
40ml semi-skimmed milk (half fat milk)
1 or 2 drops pink food colouring


Cooking instructions

1. Preheat oven to 160-180 deg C (325-350 deg F).
2. Lightly grease and line 23 cm (9 inch) spring form cake tin with paper.
3. Beat butter, honey and sugar with an electric mixer until the mixture turns a pale colour.
4. Lightly beat eggs.
5. Stir in sieved flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, eggs, kiwi, milk, vanilla extract and food colouring till mixed thoroughly.
6. Spoon into cake tin.
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes until cooked or a skewer comes out clean.
8. Place cake on a wire rack to cool.

To decorate (one cake)

You will need
Chocolate butter frosting
Roll on white icing
Sugar paste
Smooth strawberry jam
Food colouring
Petal paste
Oak leaf cookie cutter
Palm tree cookie cutter
Jungle animal mould, medium
Monkey lollipop mould
Small flower blossom plunger cutter
Nigella Lawson Living Kitchen cookie cutters A-Z/0-9 shapes, blue

Instructions

1. Using a wire cake cutter trim off top of all three cakes.
2. Sandwich cakes together using chocolate butter cream.
3. Lightly cover cake in strawberry jam.
4. Lightly dust surface with icing sugar, knead icing till soft and pliable.
5. Roll out white icing using rolling pin to be a bit bigger than the size of your cake so that you can easily cover the sides.
6. Use a rolling pin to help support the weight of the icing as you lift it over your cake. Once in place begin smoothing and firming the icing from the centre of the cake, working out towards the edges and down the sides to give a smooth, even finish.
7. Trim off any excess icing with a sharp knife.
8. Add a couple of drops of green food colouring to white roll on icing and roll out as before.
9. Using the oak leaf cookie cutter, cut out 20 leaves.
10. Lightly dampen undersides of the cut leaves with water using a small paintbrush and place 10 of them around the top edge and 10 around the base.
11. For the flowers, palm trees and letters repeat steps 8 and 9, colouring icing as required, and cutting with the small flower blossom plunger cutter, the palm tree cookie cutter, and the Nigella Lawson Living Kitchen cookie cutters A-Z/0-9 shapes in blue.
12. To make the animals around the sides, I used petal paste which I coloured using food colouring. Simply push coloured petal paste into the jungle animal mould. Once set, push out and using an icing sugar/water solution paint onto the backs of the animals and stick into place on cake.
13. To make the monkey on top I did as step 12, pushing small amounts of different coloured petal paste into the leaf section, the face and the monkey, with one of the monkey lollipop moulds.

Have a sweet day!

Vintage Cream

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you the wonderful work of design and colour consutant Frances Tobin. Check back soon for some more of the most inspirational photographers on Flickr.

Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites (clockwise from top left):

• The beautifully serene White bedroom
• The delightful print and texture in Frame detail
• The delicate Crochet bedspread
• The charming composition in Picture frames

Have a sweet day!

Polka Dot Kitchen Giveaway

Image by Country Living

I am so excited to bring you another giveaway, this time from Variete stores. Variete stores has 36 niche stores from bedroom furniture to lighting to cookware. I have chosen for you a selection of their pretty polka dot kitchen textiles.



The winner of the giveaway will receive all of the above items: flamenco pink polka dot apron, oven glove, double oven glove and tea cosy; flamenco blue polka dot oven glove, double oven glove and tea cosy. Altogether these items are worth over £50!

To enter, please visit their cookware shop (click link to visit) and then leave a comment below this post letting me know what else from their range you would like to see in a polka dot print. The giveaway ends on Saturday, September 4th 2010 at 10pm (GMT) and I will randomly select and announce a winner on Sunday, September 5th.

To increase your chances of winning this fabulous prize, you can gain one additional entry for doing each of the following:

• tweeting about this giveaway
• blogging about it
• following/subscribing to the Torie Jayne blog

For the first two, please leave a comment below with the link to your tweet or blog post.

This giveaway is open to readers from the UK only.

Good luck and have a sweet day!

Whitney Smith

This week on "Wonderful World of Etsy", I am featuring the gorgeous ceramics from Whitney Smith, whose designs are based around her love of flowers, birds and other organic forms found in nature.

1. Bird Ceramic Vase in Vintage Green
2. Five Nesting Ranunculus Rose Bowls
3. Bird Cupcake Ceramic Stand
4. Dogwood Flower Ceramic Lidded Vessel in Vintage Green

Have a sweet day!

Call for Sponsors - Sep 2010

I love posting about interior design, home accessories, crafts, baking, Etsy, and sharing with my sweet readers my ongoing projects including inspirational photos and more. Sponsors are chosen based on their relevance to Torie Jayne readers and the topics covered here.

At the moment I am offering 2 months for the price of 1 on the first two sponsors who sign up for September 2010. I am currently offering affordable advertising space on my blog with rates starting at just $20.



I have also begun giveaways, with another fabulous one coming later this week, so please feel free to contact me if you'd like to sponsor a giveaway with a product from your store.

If you have any questions you can reach me at toriejayne@gmail.com, and I will respond to all inquiries.

Thank you for your interest in advertising with Torie Jayne!

Have a sweet day!

Front Yard

A couple of Mondays back, I showed you how I changed the front of my house in House exterior colour scheme. This week I am sharing with you how we changed the front yard.

If you read that post you will know we replaced the picket fence and changed the layout so the path down the side of the house has no gate at the front. Also, we removed the paving stones and replaced them with pea shingle. I bought some cheap wooden planters from Primrose London, painted them in Cuprinol garden shade Beaumont blue and planted them up as below.




In the square planters:

Scabious (Butterfly blue) - Masses of lavender blue flowers from April to November above neat, compact foliage.
Hardy perennial.
Height: 40cm, Spread: 30cm.
Position: Full or partial sun in well drained soil.
Care: Remove faded flower heads regularly to promote further blooming and cut down all stems to 5cm in Winter.

Silver Anouk Lavendula - Anouk is a compact, upright, evergreen shrub with narrow, silver-green foliage. In summer it has showy heads of dark purple flowers, arranged in vertical stripes, topped with pale purple bracts.
Evergreen.
Height: 40cm, Spread: 40cm.
Position: Suitable for any garden.
Care: After the first blooms are out flowered they can be pinched out and the plant will make new flowers on the same stems. After blooming, trim back 50% of the plant. This will ensure flowers for the second blooming period of the year.

Blue Wheat Grass - Forms clumps of intense blue foliage.
Semi evergreen.
Height: 35cm, Spread: 45cm.
Position: Suitable for any garden.
Care: Well drained soil.



In the rectangular planters:

Lobelia - A charming display of colorful, dainty blues.
Height: 13cm, Spread: 25cm.
Half Hardy.
Position: Sun to part shade. Borders, beds, window boxes and containers.
Care: Best in fertile, well drained soil kept evenly moist.


Nemesia - Trailing blue.
Height: 18-30cm, Spread: 40cm.
Half Hardy.
Position: Full sun. Borders, beds, window boxes and containers.
Care: Best in fertile, well drained soil kept evenly moist.

Have a sweet day!

Summer Sorbet

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you a Summer sorbet palette with these gorgeous pics. Check back soon for some more of the most inspirational photographers on Flickr.

Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites (clockwise from top left):

• The pretty Greengate tableware in Polkadots by Craft & Creativity
  
• The gorgeous coloured pencils in simple pleasures by Creature Comforts
  
• The wonderful close up of colored twine set - melon sorbet
  by Creature Comforts
• The adorable bird New cups by Aya Rosen
  

Have a sweet day!

Jungle Bench

For my niece Molly's first birthday we decided to get her a child's bench that she and her friends could sit on in the garden; something she could treasure for years to come as I still have my little wicker chair from when I was a kid. After much searching I found this one at Gardens and Homes Direct.



My other half put it together for me and painted it white using Cuprinol garden shades, Pale Jasmine and I hand painted the animals in a variety of pastel paints. I had some 5cm foam cut to size and made a removable cover using a pastel print jungle fabric from Fabrics Clearance.



Have a sweet day!

Sweet Blancmange finds

1. Mrs White's old fashioned porcelain rabbit jelly mould
2. Sweet Treats gift tags
3. Jelly and cake wallpaper
4. Large vintage jelly mould
5. Mrs White's old fashioned porcelain jelly mould
6.Cavallini sweet treats gift paper

This week in my series of posts, "Fridays Finds", I bring you a selection of sweet blancmange-themed goodies!

Have a sweet day!

Fairground

This week on Wonderful World of Etsy I bring you the pastel hues of pretty fairgrounds.

1. Vintage Ferris Wheel - 8x10 Fine Art Photography Print
2. Childhood Dreams. Carousel Flower Bracelet.
3. Ava and the Carousel
4. The Roller Coaster 8x12 - Vintage Inspired Photography Print
   

Have a sweet day!

Mrs Stokes

I recently discovered Mrs Stokes at Vintage at Goodwood. What a pleasure it was having a peek at her beautifully presented pretty vintage tea sets.

Her passion for vintage china shines through and she gave up her job at a national newspaper at the end of last year to pursue her obsession, by selling vintage teacups and saucers at Portobello market in London, England. She has since moved to Bath for a more idyllic life where she sells them at the local Green Park Station market and also on her online shop.

If you live in London, don't forget to look out for her once a month at Portobello Market. It will be well worth the visit!

Have a sweet day!

Blancmange

I don't know why, but recently I have been dreaming about eating blancmange; something my grandmother used to make us as kids which I have fond memories of.

Supposedly anyone under the age of 80 has little idea what blancmange is. I beg to differ! But for those of you who don't know, blancmange (pronounced "blaw-mawnzhe") literally meaning white dessert in French, is an English summer jelly-like milk dessert stiffened with cornflour and set in a mould. It is often coloured pink.

So, as this week on Torie Jayne I am showing you all things vintage in a homage to Vintage at Goodwood I decided I would make some blancmange. I was strolling down the baking aisle in my local supermarket ready to pick up the ingredients I needed to make one when I noticed a box of strawberry, vanilla, raspberry and chocolate blancmange. So yes, I cheated and bought a box from Pearce Duff, which turned out not to be exactly cheating as the brand started in 1847. I borrowed a couple of vintage moulds from my mother who had had them passed down to her from her mother.



After seeing this vintage Birds advert, I decided to make mine in tiers of flavour.

If you want to make one from scratch, I found this recipe from 'Modern home cookery in pictures' contributors, Blanche Anding and Joan Robins; photographs by Tanner circa 1955.




Cornflour Blancmange

Ingredients
1 1/4 oz cornflour
1 pt milk
2 oz sugar
Pinch salt
Flavouring

Cooking instructions

1. Smooth the lumps (if any) out of the cornflour and shake with a very little of the milk.
2. Put the rest of the milk on to boil with the sugar and a pinch of salt.
3. When almost boiling pour the hot milk on to the slaked cornflour and mix well.
4. Pour all back into the saucepan and boil for three minutes, stirring all the time.
5. Rinse a mould or small moulds with cold water and pour in the cornflour mixture.
6. Allow to set and then turn out.
7. If flavouring is used it should be added after boiling and just before pouring the blancmange into the mould.

Have a sweet day!

Acorn & Will

As you may know, I went to the Vintage at Goodwood festival last friday, where I fell in love with the super cute brand, Acorn and Will.

Born out of Daniella's passion for all things vintage, she has created a range of goodies that are both lovely to look at and practical to use. I love the way she breathes new life into her vintage fabrics by making them into the prettiest of rings, brooches, mirrors and cushions. She also has an excellent eye and sources the most beautiful vintage homeware, including glasses, china and kitchen jugs.

I couldn't resist buying something, and went for one of her pretty lilac bird brooches, although now I'm really regretting not buying those pretty mint bowls as well!

Have a sweet day!

Vintage Mint

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, in keeping with my Vintage week, I bring you a vintage mint palette with these gorgeous pics. Check back soon for some more of the most inspirational photographers on Flickr.

Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites (clockwise from top left):

• The pretty dress in Untitled by Bonjour Hello
  
• The gorgeous crochet lace in Untitled by Cori Kindred
  
• The wonderful telephone in Mint Green Calls by Krista Palmu
  
• The great colour of the sofa in front porch style by papernstitch

Have a sweet day!

Vintage at Goodwood

Yesterday I went to the UK’s first vintage festival "Vintage at Goodwood", tucked away in the simply stunning surroundings of the Goodwood Estate in West Sussex. Billed as fashion's answer to Glastonbury, it is the brainchild of Red or Dead founder/designer Wayne Hemmingway and his wife Geraldine, and is a celebration of five decades of British music, fashion, film, art and design, from the 1940's to the 1980's.

After being fitted with our retro watch wrist tags we walked through an almost magical woodland with twinkling lights hanging from the trees. I could feel the excitement building inside me. As one teenage girl beside me declared, "I love it already!". Upon entering the festival arch we were greeted by an array of gorgeous vintage cars and the cute film set-style "High Street" at the hub of the Town. We headed over to the Yellow Brick Road in the vintage marketplace, passing teams of girls swanning around with gorgeous vintage-style hair do's that they had had done at the aptly named Beauty Bar.



There was stand after stand full of gorgeous vintage and vintage-inspired treasures. My favorite stand was Acorn and Will. In fact, I loved it so much that I will have to dedicate a whole post to them later, including their pretty bird brooches, reels of fabulous polka dot ribbons and an array of pastel kitchenware.



From the Yellow Brick Road we strolled down Eclectic Avenue, admiring the pretty lace dresses in hues of washed out pastels adorned with feathers and gems.



At the end of Eclectic Avenue there was plenty for the kids to do at the vintage Butlins camp.



After having a peek around a few of the beautifully presented display caravans and Airstreams that were decorated with lots of bunting and kitsch florals, curiosity got the better of us and we headed over to the group of photographers who had assembled at the Beach BBQ.



Aha, you can see what all the fuss was about! Who could resist these bathing belles in their cute swimsuits!



As we meandered around the fairground, I got distracted by the Vintage Food Quarter.




I couldn't help myself and bought a quarter of strawberry bonbons at the Candy Camper. The draw of the film set High Street became too much and we headed up South Street towards the clock tower.




Mingling around the shops with the perfectly dressed revelers.



Watching festival-goers getting vintage make overs and enjoying all the eye candy and tunes the festival had to offer.

Have a sweet day!