Life Is Short, Lick the Spoon

Yesterday was my day to bake a birthday cake for my favourite (only) niece, Julia, so I put the mixmaster through its paces bright and early. How to you like the 'tattoo' on my mixer? Words to live by 😄. It was a gift from Julia last Christmas and I only recently got up the courage to figure out how to apply it. Isn't it fun?













We have several people that we gift tins of cookies to at Christmas so, despite the haul from last weekend's bakeoff, there were still a few more recipes that I wanted to make up - you know, the ones that you'd miss if you didn't bake them - so, while the cake was in the oven I decided to make up a batch of Thimble Cookies. Love those raspberry centres surrounded by that little ring of crushed pecans.

Then while the cake was cooling I made a batch of Toblerone Shortbread. It is a quick recipe and they always get rave reviews.

After the cake was iced I still had a bit of energy so I moved on to Fudge Brownie Cups.

I love making these little bites because it gives me an excuse to use my tiny little tins that I picked up on a trip to Paris several years ago. Its a lovely walk down memory lane.

And they always look great on a plate of sweets. Oh, did I mention that they are delicious?

I decided that if I put my mind to it I could finish up all of the baking that I needed to do for the holidays, so I quickly mixed up a batch of Fanciful Ribbons. The combination of raspberry and the hint of almond in the glaze just says Christmas to me.

Last on the list were my Pecan Shortbread. This is one of my favourite cookies - a lovely combo of chocolate and nuts and a wee hint of cinnamon. There's also a nice crunch and I love enjoying one (or two) with a cup of tea.

So, it turned out to be an unexpected day of baking, but, with the possible exception of a Gumdrop Cake, I think that my baking is finished and that's a terrific feeling. Today, its birthday party time!...M