I am....

officially an artist!!

London Zine Symposium....

We shall be at this on Saturday, oh yeah, as well a whole load of other ace people, excited much!!!

SUGAR PAPER #5 is here.......

Finally......After what seems like forever, it's finally here! full of lots to do, with a sort of fast food theme, you can knit burger coasters, do some papier mache, crochet a necklace, knock out a burger cake, waste time with a word search, colour in the amazing cover by Bunny and much more.
Comes with a free make your own keyring kit.

Buy it from here now!!

spicy vegetables n sweet delicacies!

Introducing...the first edible vegetable from my little patch, yes, it is the one that says on the seed packet 'perfect for kids' and 'certain to get results' - so I won't get too pleased with myself, but it is exciting. Other veg isn't doing so well, but these are great and I love how they are so brightly coloured to say they grow underground, amazing!


To grow your own raddishes you will need: A packet of seeds, a few pots depending on how many you want to grow and some good soil to plant them in. I haven't got any amazing tips, just follow the instructions on the packet, and in a month you will have some lovely little raddishes to add to your salad!

As masterchef presenters would say, from raddish to macaroons, now these you can't just plant a seed and watch them grow, imagine, a chocolate mamcaroon tree!!! They are pretty simple to make and if you like chocolate you will LOVE these french treats. To make 12 - you will need:

For the macaroons
125g / 4oz icing sugar
3 tbsp cocoa
165g/ 6oz ground almonds
3 egg whites
55g/ 2oz caster sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extact

For the ganache
100g/ 3 1/2 oz plain chocolate in small pieces
100ml double cream

Heat the oven to 150 c/300f/gas mark 2 and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

Sieve the icing sugar and cocoa into a bowl, and whisk in the almonds ( i think whisking them in seems faffy but it helps to give them a smoother finish).
In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until foamy, then gradually whisk in the sugar until the mixture is stiff and glossy.
Now, stir half the almond mixture you made before into the egg white mix, then add the rest with the vanilla essence and fold in until just combined.
The macaroon mixture is ready, now you just need to spoon out 12 circles of mix onto each sheet, I just dolloped it on and smoothed it down with the top of the spoon. Try to get them all the same size so they sandwich together easily.
Time to pop these into the oven until they are slightly firm, about 15 minutes.

To make the ganache, put the chocolate in a bowl. Warm the cream in a small saucepan until just lightly simmering, now pour the cream over the chocolate and leave it to stand for a few minutes, then stir until the mix is smooth and cool.

When you get the macaroons out the oven, move the whole sheet of macaroon filled baking paper onto the cooling rack. When they are cooled, spread some ganache onto one of the bases then sandwich it together with another one. ENJOY!

Kandy

Dino watch Day 2....

OK so I mean my pond monsters, but it's been 24 hrs since I put them in their tank, and they have stared to hatch, only a few, but look at this:(you're meant to be looking at that long thin worm like thing on the right!)

I have a Dinosaur for a pet!!!

Well sort of! Yesterday I received a birthday gift of Triops. these are to quote a pet from the age of the dinosaurs, eeeek!!

I can grow amazing pond monsters, yes I can.Today I started my Triop world. Filled up their tank and poured them in. I'm going to keep you all updated on my prehistoric pets!Apparently they take only 24 hours to hatch and can live for 6-12 weeks, and you can also make a next generation from the first bunch! It also says I can sometimes find other things in my tank too:I hope I get the clam.
Speaking of clams, my current obsession sounds a lot like this:

Ball-O-Wool chocolate cake....

This one was obviously made for the knitorific Kandy :
Ball-o-Wool chocolate cake
You will need:
8oz/225g cater sugar
8oz/225g margarine
6oz/175g self raising flour
2oz/50g cocoa
4 medium eggs
Ready roll icing (red, or if white red food colouring also needed)
Strawberry laces
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For butter cream:
2oz/50g butter/margarine
4oz/100g icing sugar
Vanilla essence
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Also:
3x 10” round baking tins
Knitting needles

Make cake as for Victoria sponge* (the 2oz/50g of cocoa substitutes for 2oz/50g of flour)
Split the cake into the three tins and bake. Cut out four circles from the cake. Make some butter cream, adding 2tsp of cocoa, mix until smooth and creamy.
Place one of the smallest circles onto a plate/cake board, spread a layer of butter cream on top of it. Place one of the medium circles on top, spread on another layer of butter cream. Place the biggest circle on next. Cover with a layer of butter cream. Then the other medium circle, with another layer of butter cream on top. Then top off with the remaining small circle. Next, spread the remainder of the butter cream on the top and round the edges of the cake. This will act as a sticky base for the icing (instead of melted jam or marzipan as the icing pack suggests).
If you bought white ready roll icing, mix in some red food colouring, by adding a few drops and rolling in the palm of your hand. Knead the icing and roll out on a flat, floured surface. Roll until it’s big enough to cover the cake. Carefully place the icing over the cake. Smooth out and trim edges.
Get a small bowl of warm water. Run a strawberry lace through the water, then wrap around the cake (starting an inch from the top). Continue this until the laces are wrapped around the entire cake. Next lay some laces over the top of the cake, covering the gap (around 20 laces).
Almost done! Stick two knitting needles into the top of the cake and there you have it, choc-ball-o-wool!

*Recipe found in Sugar Paper #1.

Things to look forward to in May.....

May is a busy for month for us here at Sugar Paper Towers, full of ace things to make and do. The best has already happened, my birthday fun last week (full blog post to come soon).
Here are just a few of the things we are really excited about:

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*Parenthetical Girls picture taken byNickie
**Sugar Paper colour in cover byBunny