KCW .... a couple of weeks late

So I had fully intended on actually making zbl a couple of things during kid clothes week a couple of weeks ago, but life got away on me.  I had to make one of these for a friends birthday:

 A banana cake with with white chocolate and lemon icing using the icing from this cake as a base.

I have to say it was quite tasty, and the icing was lovely! And even better was that altho half the cake got left at my place, I managed to avoid most of it and while I was away at the craft sessions the cake eating fairy disposed of it for me - so kind :-)

I also had to do a bit of selfish sewing - I thought why not test out the the wiksten tank that everyone is talking about. This is what it turned out like:

Sew details :
Pattern: the wiksten tank
Fabrics: a pretty polyester that I picked from the sales table at Spotlight.  It was horrible to cut out and horrible to sew, but this was my muslin, so I know that I will make it from something with a bit more structure next time.
Other stuff: I cut out a large, based on measurements, but ended up taking the side seams in to probably a medium to remove some of the gap.  I think I'll still cut out a large next time, as the fit on the shoulders an neckline is good.  The armholes are not actually wonky as they look in the pic, it's just the dratted fabric again.

I also make this cake (no pic I'm sorry) which is delicious and definitely is on the list to make again - a great way to use up soft apples and I didn't bother with the glaze although I'm sure it would be delicious.

However I did make a couple of things for zbl last week, so here they are:

Sew details :
Pattern: the figgy's banyan tunic (this is the same pattern we used to make our t-shirts at the craft sessions.
Fabrics: the same cotton jersey that I used to make tl's pj pants. It was lovely to sew although the machine did have the odd conniption, but that could be because I managed to ding my jersey needle on a pin so it is probably not as sharp as it should be :-)
Other stuff: The pattern is super easy to cut out and use.  I have to admit I didn't actually follow the instructions very much as I'd made it a week before, the only difference being the lovely handkerchief points that I had to sew, cut and sew again cos I didn't really measure and didn't get my angles right - whoops!

zbl has already worn this out to lunch and the lovely hostess commented on how much she liked it, which was nice as all tl can see when she's wearing it is his pajamas - no imagination!  It was a tad tight, but she was wearing two layers under it since summer is here today, but probably gone tomorrow!  Regardless I think I'll make a 2T for the next one.

Sew details :
Pattern: This is the recess raglan that I bought as part of this bundle (yay! I'm actually using one :-))
Fabrics: This is a cotton knit that I got from (you guessed it) Spotlight.  It was much firmer than the one above and so was a dream to sew.  I should have used a ribbing for the neck, but all the ribbing I have didn't really go (might necessitate another trip?) so I just used the same fabric and make the neck piece much longer to allow more stretch over the noggin (she is in the 95th percentile for head, so this is important)
Other stuff:  This again was a very quick sew up, I made it in one of her naps.  I'm assuming the instructions are good as again I didn't really used them (naughty!)
She hasn't worn it yet, so I am hoping it fits over her head, it will certainly be wide enough and long enough.

And that is a wrap, next thing on the list is a dress I need to sew up that has been cut out since I was 6 months pregnant - whoops, and also some bubble shorts, cos summer is coming baby - which reminds me I must call the air con guys again.

The cake

So, as I mentioned in the previous post I love to cook (and eat!)

Every year since we met, I have made tl a birthday cake. To start with they were out of the Australian Woman's Weekly Children's Cake Book - the tip truck was the first one, followed by the train cake and numerous others. More recently we've started down the slightly more adult track with a Red Velvet Cake, which was delicious, but huge for two people. Last year we had an elaborate icecream cake including cones which did not look flash, but tasted ok and this year the request was for a chocolate salted caramel cake.  After spending what felt like 400 hours scouring the internet looking such recipes, (about half of that was just spent looking at the fabulous things that Deb makes, most of which were not even cake related!, by the way this cake is divine) I decided on this Martha Stewart one. Since we were only going to be 3 for the initial eating of the cake, and tl is travelling for work this week, I decided (for my waistlines sake) to make a half size one - still six layers but 10cm cake tins rather than the 9 inch ones for the full recipe.

Here is the final result:

And here is a very dark photo of the inside - lovely even layers - not! 

So how did it taste - well, I am a lover of butter, so the fact that this cake contained oil rather than butter could contribute to the fact it was a tad dry, it could also be that in a couple of days it would have moistened and will be amazing.  In the future, I will stick with my my go to chocolate cake (altho in order to get four layers for this cake you need to double the recipe otherwise they are like biscuit thin - Donna Hay you need to update this online, like you did in the more recently published version of the cake!).

Back to the cake! The caramel was delicious and the frosting - amazing, I will be using this again! Altogether, not a bad cake, and tl thought it was delicious and it matched what he asked for so that was the main thing! Now I just have to refrain from eating it in place of lunch and dinner while he is away otherwise I will turn into one of these: