School Holiday Survival Kit!

School Holiday Survival Kit

The school holidays are upon us once more, wow, how the time has flown since Christmas!! Unfortunately, I'm flying solo on this weeks break as hubby has to work, but I still have a very active 5 year old who requires entertaining every minute of every day.

My first instinct to prepare for a full on week of activities, is to dig out my collection of cookery books and begin looking for some sweet inspiration in the form of cakes, biscuits and pastries.  

My trusted fail safe favourite is always the ever popular cupcake. I love using the Hummingbird cookbook & the recipe is easy enough to find on line, if you don't have the pleasure of owning the book, I'm sure I gain weight just looking through the pictures. I decided to make the Vanilla variety. The batter is quite wet, so I find that putting it into a jug first, and then pouring it into the cases an easy way of making sure more gets in the case and less is wasted - result!!

Of course, the butter icing had to be pink!! A house dominated by women dictates that pink prevails in many aspects, including cake decorations! A quick sprinkle of 100's and 1000's to crown this gooey delight, and hey presto, first batch of baking completed and safely tucked away in a tin before they are spied and eaten.

Next on my list was lemon tarts, my husbands absolute favourite! I simply made a sweet pastry, using twice the amount of plain flour to butter, adding a small amount of caster sugar and a few tablespoons of cold water to bind together. I chilled the pastry for a while in the fridge while I prepared the tin. I love making teeny tiny tarts and this mini tray ensures the tarts are small enough to pop whole straight into my mouth, what could be more perfect! I added a star topping for no other reason than because I felt that way inclined! The lemon curd filling was shop bought, I have never got round to making my own and this particular brand is lovely and tangy, it certainly ticks all the boxes.

I will admit, this batch didn't make it to a tin and the minute they were cool enough, were gobbled up by us all with a cup of tea, they really do go down a treat - fortunately I have some pastry left over and will be making more very soon!

In the course of my uninterrupted afternoon (the joys of a play date) I also rustled up a lemon drizzle tray bake and a batch of shortbread. 

My cake tins are now full with a selection of sweet offerings, I feel prepared for collections of hungry children, impromptu picnics and last minute guests. 

Heres to a fun packed week off, hoping you all have a good one. Back soon....now where is that tray bake!!