Happy birthday to Kerrycooks!

Hurrah! It’s been one whole YEAR since I started this blog! On a rainy Saturday in March last year, I bought a shiny new laptop and realised I should probably do something with it! Here’s how the internal monologue went –

“I could start a blog? No way, everyone will think its stupid and that I just want to talk about myself all the time! Let’s do it anyway! Plus they’ll be cake! Wheeee!”

I’m very pleased to say that one whole year, 376 posts, and over 1200 comments later, I’m still having an awesome time writing my little blog. I couldn’t have imagined all the great people I would meet from across the blogosphere.

So to say thank you, I baked you this pink lemonade cake. Its fizzy, pretty and delicious. If I could, I would mail you each a piece.

Pink lemonade cake –

For the cake – this is adapted from this Delia recipe. I knew I wanted a really moist cake so it had to be Delia!

• 175g unsalted butter
• 175g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 175g plain flour
• 2tsp baking powder
• zest and juice of one lemon

For the frosting –

• 250g icing sugar, sifted
• 80g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 25ml whole milk
• 30g lemon sherbert powder (I bought a packet from my local Wilko’s for 30p)

First, preheat the oven to 170 degrees/gas mark 3 and cream the butter and sugar

Beat in the eggs, lemon juice and zest. Close up of zest for you!

Add the flour (sifting it into the bowl) and mix. If there are any lumps in your mix, use an electric mixer to get them out, but don’t overbeat, just until everythings incorporated. Pop into greased cake tins and bake for 20-30 minutes.

To make the frosting, combine your butter and sugar and mix with an electric whisk or mixer. When the butter is incorporated and the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, add the milk and continue whisking.

How to deal with a cake disaster – my cake got totally stuck to the pan (I think because my cake pans are old and crappy). Even if this happens (as it also did with my citrus bundt cake!)don’t panic. Just turn out what you can of the cake onto your serving plate and then piece it back together as best you can. And remember – you can hide anything with frosting!

Ta-dah! Pieced together, just a little dip in the centre!

Phew – frosting hides all flaws!

I put a massive crumb coat on this cake – it was so moist and crumbly (and just baked) that it just wanted to fall to pieces. Luckily it held together!

Wacka wacka wacka….

Happy birthday blog!

x Kerry