Spoilt Rotten

I’ve been spoilt rotten so far, and it’s not even my birthday yet! I turn 30 this Sunday which is rather scary. I’m sure I must have lost a couple of years somewhere… My first surprise was this beautiful birthday cake made by the lovely Laura at The Dessert Deli. It was chocolate, Cointreau and raspberry […]

I’ve been spoilt rotten so far, and it’s not even my birthday yet! I turn 30 this Sunday which is rather scary. I’m sure I must have lost a couple of years somewhere…

My first surprise was this beautiful birthday cake made by the lovely Laura at The Dessert Deli. It was chocolate, Cointreau and raspberry and was absolutely delicious.

I couldn’t manage it all so shared with the BBC Good Food Show and MasterChef Live teams here in the office – they loved it!

I celebrated my birthday with my family in Norfolk a week early, to take advantage of the bank holiday weekend. First stop was one of my favourite restaurants, The Constantia Cottage, in East Runton, North Norfolk. It is run by a lovely Greek family and I have been there for most of my family’s landmark birthdays over the years… my Grandma’s 60th, my Dad’s 50th, Sister’s 21st etc, etc. I also remember going there when I was just 8 (I ordered the lobster with garlic butter then too!) It would have been wrong not to go there for my 30th!

 We had a huge BBQ on the Sunday with ribs, lamb koftas, burgers, sausages, chicken tikka and cake. Lots of cake! My mum is a brilliant cake maker and made me such a lovely, stunning cake. It was a vanilla sponge with butter cream and strawberry jam filling, American frosting on top and rose petals to decorate.

Yesterday, the BBC Good Food Show’s newest recruit, Charlie Farr, made me some gorgeous chocolate orange cupcakes! The recipe is in the Primrose Bakery cook book and was really, really good – don’t they look pretty…

I wonder if there will be more cake on my actual birthday on Sunday… not sure my waistline can take it! Thanks to everyone that has spoilt me on my 30th x