Culinary disappointment

Bloody hell it's cold. And I don't think it's because I have recently come back from the warmer end of Europe.

There was a Scout camp in the meadow behind the house over the weekend. Poor little sods. I don't think it stopped raining once all weekend.

I have been having a few culinary disasters of late. I was in a real bakey mood on Sunday so decided to make a cake, and, at Mr WithaY's request, it was to be a fruit cake.

I found a recipe I'd not used before and set to, mixing and so on. All went well, it baked for the required two and a half hours, and looked magnificent when it came out of the oven.

Sadly, however, when we tried a slice with a cup of tea later on, it was unbearably sweet. Most disappointing.

I also made some more cupcakes, with a cream cheese topping recipe I found in the Saturday Telegraph*. This was very runny, and when I put it on the cakes it didn't seem to set properly, making them a bit hazardous to eat. And it was very sweet as well, so if I make it again I will cut down on ther sugar in it.

Another thing I decided to make on Monday was grapefruit curd. I have made lemon curd very successfully over the years, and we had some accidental grapefruits** sitting there, so I decided to make up a batch before we went out. Instead of taking the recipe's 20 minutes to set, it took and hour and a half. I was not pleased.

So. All rather disheartening. Never mind.


*It seems cupcakes are achingly fashionable. Once again I am a barometer of popular culture.

**I thought they were oranges.