Nothing to exciting has been happening, hence the lack of blogging. I’m just really waiting for bubs to arrive. I have been getting a few final things done  but really I feel pretty sorted. I’ve been hanging out with my sister and baby Madeline a fair bit too. It’s been great to pick up bits and pieces of info from what she’s learning. Might make my ride into motherhood a little smoother

I’m not having much luck sleeping tonight, so I’m sitting here with a Milo writing this at 5.30am. Must be my body getting ready for sleepless night. hehe

I must say I have been totally spoiled over the past week. It was my birthday on Sunday and everyone had gone all out to make it a special occasion. I feel totally blessed to have such warm and generous family and friends! It started with a crop last week with some friends and continued on into the weekend with a lovely surprise breakfast put on by my sister. She even baked me cupcakes!  Sunday dinner was with the family. I got lovely flowers, surprise jewellery from my fantastic hubby, some very creative gifts, body lotions etc, some cash to spend on a rainy day and this really cool book.

I’d say it’s an absolute must if you are nutty about cupcakes and baking like me! Cupcakes seem to be sweeping the world in so many forms at present. I have already eyed up a recipe for the next crop I’m going too. Lemon/ Passionfruit Meringue cupcakes sound too good to refuse!  Last week I whipped up some mini carrot cakes with lemon cream cheese frosting. Here’s the recipe I found.

Mini carrot cakes

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/4 cups caster sugar

3/4 cup of olive or sunflower oil

2 cups of plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp mixed spice

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups of grated carrot

1/2 cup of chopped nuts plus extra for decorating (walnuts would be good)

Frosting

150g butter, softened

150g cream cheese, softened

grated zest of one lemon

2 cups of icing sugar

1/2 tsp citric acid ( optional, I just like my icing not so sweet)

Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease two 12 hole muffins trays with butter. (I used cupcake papers instead of greasing tins)

With an electric beater, beat the eggs and sugar until creamy, pale and thick. Then gently beat in the oil.

In a separate bowl, sift together all of the remaining ingredients except for the carrot and nuts. Gently mix into the egg mixture until smooth. Add the carrot and nuts and gently mix until evenly combined. Fill each muffin hole to about 3/4 full. (The original recipe says it makes 18 but I got 15 cupcakes)

Bake in the oven for 20-25 mins or until golden and a skewer comes out clean. Leave the cakes to cool slightly in their tins before removing.

To make the frosting beat together the butter,cream cheese and lemon until creamy. Sift over the icing sugar and citric acid and beat until completely smooth. Top each cake with a generous amount of frosting and sprinkle chopped nuts on frosting.

Well I better end here, but will post pics of the lemon/ passionfruit cupcakes when they are created. Till then take care