Guilty Pleasures

There is one thing I should make clear from the very beginning, I am completely, utterly and unashamedly addicted to cake! It is my favourite food by a mile and if I had one last request before my end it would be to eat a light fluffy vanilla sponge covered with lashings of buttercream icing. I am constantly looking for opportunities to make and consequently, eat cake. Birthdays, Christmas fair, summer fetes you name it, i'll bake it!

Having said this, after a Summer of mass cake over indulgence (all 5 of our birthday's run in sequence from May to September) I have had to take control of my addiction for the sake of my waistline and consequently my bank balance ... until now! For today my friends is a very exciting day in my baking calendar. It is the day that I attempt to cook my first Christmas cake. On this blustery November day I am armed with every ingredient and apparatus necessary to create what I hope will be the first of many festive offerings. From cinnamon to string and nutmeg to newspaper I am armed and ready with Nigella by my side. Here's hoping it all goes to plan...