Belated Happy Easter wishes to you all - I hope that you all had a good break. Over the weekend I finished testing all the recipes for the Sundae book and spent several days writing it up so that now the whole book is drafted, just a fair amount of editing needed but at least the end is very clearly in sight. It has been such a nice project to work on and I am really looking forward to the photoshoots in May as I know they will transform my recipes! Last Thursday my friend Susan and I decided to make hot cross buns using Susan's "prove in the fridge overnight" method. I have to say I was fairly skeptical that it would work (although she assured me it would) as I had always thought that bread needed to be in a warm place to rise. I was of course proved completely wrong! When we had made our dough, and this would work for any form of yeast bread I think, we left it to rise in the fridge overnight. The next morning, the dough was beaten down and kneaded and then shaped into buns and left to rise again and then baked. As you will see from the bowl of dough in the fridge the rising was fairly impressive even at such a cool temperature. The dough was light and had a rich taste - presumably from the rising taking place so slowly. So next time you are making bread, why not give this overnight method a try. It makes for a delicious fresh bread breakfast without having to get up super early to make and prove your dough!

I have made so many cakes this week - it almost feels like I am testing for a cook book again! Golden cupcakes for a golden wedding - a couple in our village were married 50 years ago in the village church and still live in the village, Easter Cupcakes for our village sewing circle More Easter cupcakes for a Danish chap who came over for a meeting yesterday at Birmingham airport (I always find meetings go better with cupcakes!) - these looked very stylish packaged in a proper cake box (I have plenty left from the RHS show) and a red ribbon, an Easter cake for the Mum of a friend of mine who is unwell - swushed up with clear cellophane and a ribbon that matched the cake it looks very pretty, and another lot of cupcakes for a meeting this morning! For the cakes this morning, I added lemon curd to the butter cream which went so well with the lemon drizzle cupcakes - so lemony and tangy. I will definitely be doing this again!

With pretty spring flowers in abundance now, I love to fill the house with flowers. Using jam jars and small glass bottles you only need a few blooms and a little greenery to create a lovely display - for window sills in the bathroom or as a simple table centre piece. If you are entertaining in the garden you can wrap thin garden wire around the neck of a jam jar creating a handle and hang small jars of flowers from trees near your table.

In the course of writing the sundae book, I have discovered many interesting ice cream facts. My favourite by far so far is that the record for the Worlds Most Expensive Sundae according to the Guinness Book of World Records is made by Serendipity 3 in New York and costs the princely sum of $1,000! My brother kindly promised me yesterday that if he ever gets rich he will take me for one!!! For your $1,000 you have 5 scopps of Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream made with Madagascar vanilla, decorated with gold leaf, the most expensive chocolate known to man, Amedei Porceleana, rare Chuao chocolate, candied fruits from Paris, gold sugar almonds, truffles, marzipan cherries, grand passion caviar (I am so not sure about this bit..fish and ice cream - yuk!), all served in a crystal goblet with an 18k golden spoon. My immediate thought was whether for the $1,000 you got to take the glass and spoon home with you. Sadly nothing in this league will be appearing in my book, although gold leaf does make a brief appearance! Serendipity 3 also do other nice and affordable Sundaes so I will definitely be visiting on my next trip to New York!

Flowers at Petersham Nurseries

I have long been a fan of Skye Gyngell who runs the restaurant at the Petersham Nurseries near Richmond. I dip into her two cook books more often than any other of my cookbooks and her natural and balancing way of cooking is just a delight both to cook and eat. I met Skye at the 50 Best Awards a few years ago and was so completely star struck that I could hardly speak! She must have thought that I was insane! Anyway, yesterday I was lucky enough to meet Syke again yesterday as Kathy Brown (pictured above), her daughter Suzanne and I all went to Petersham for lunch to celebrate (rather belatedly) our RHS Show success last September! Not the best day to visit London with all the G20 security and our round trip took 6 hours (about 3 hours longer than normal) but it was worth it for the lovely lunch we had. The restaurant is extrodinary - in a green house with a sandy floor - but it was a perfect setting for a relaxed lunch. We feasted on lemon marinated mozerella with Agretti, capaccio of beef with tardivo and salt cod croquettes, followed by lamb with mint salsa and borlotti beans and Sea Bass with preserved lemons. For desert, chocolate cake with devonshire cream and poached Nespole - a sharp plum like fruit. So many new tastes and flavours - we were in heaven! Just looking at the pictures is making me hungry!

This year I'm taking part in the Children's Society's St. George's Day Bake and Brew campaign to help raise money to make childhood better. It's easy to get involved at home or work. You can serve tea, coffee and delicious cakes - morning coffee or afternoon tea perhaps - to your family friends or colleagues for a donation. The Children's Society website has lots of ideas and print outs to help organise your event. You can order bunting, balloons and posters, print invites and download one of their lovely recipes (my red white and blueberry muffins are there!) - everything you need is at www.childrenssociety.org.uk/stgeorge

Sundae testing is in full flow now and I am having such a nice time! I saw my friend Jess yesterday and we photographed 6 sundaes - with about 15 different icecreams and sorbets, lots of sauces, fruit and sweets. We tested whether peanut brittle worked better with salted, unsalted or honey roasted peanuts (the result is a closely guarded secret!). The only downside is that when we had finished we had 6 ice cream sundaes to eat - it is a hard life!!!!

As you know, here in the UK, last Sunday was Mother's day. I had a special lunch planned for my Mum. Sadly when I woke up on Saturday I knew that something wasn't right - the house felt freezing - we had run out of oil so no heating and nothing to cook on! What a disarster! All my lovely plans went out of the window. Luckily we have a one ring camping stove and a BBQ so I have been cooking on these until yesterday when more oil was delivered. Actually, there were advantages to the camping stove - it meant that I could cook the ice cream bases in the lounge whilst watching TV!! On Mother's Day we therefore had our first BBQ of the year and even sat out in the garden. Sadly with no way of baking, I was forced to buy a cake (actually it was nice I have to admit - a Tesco's Finest Carrot Cake) but I managed to hide it under lots of decoration, flowers and tiny yellow birds and if I hadn't confessed, I don't suppose anyone would have known! Happy Mother's Day Mum xxx

Time is flying by at the moment...days filled with working and evenings filled with inventing ice cream recipes. I have to say it is an absolute joy to write although I am discovering that sorbets are very hard to photograph before they start to melt! Dry Ice would come in handy I think. It only seems like 5 minutes since Peapod arrived at our cottage and yet this week she had her first steps outside! Despite being very timid at first (and hiding under the BBQ for a long while) she has now discovered that there are plenty of things to chase in the garden which she loves. She looks like a proper grown up cat now although still tiny in comparison with Muffy who is enormous with her winter coat! Although I wouldn't say that they get on hugely well (Muffy is not a big fan of Peapod pulling her tail!!!) here was a rare moment of togetherness when they spotted a rabbit! I am hoping that one day they will be the best of friends!

Chocolate Ginger Cookies

Preparation time 15 minutes Cooking time 12 - 15 minutes

Makes 15

250g self raising flour, sifted

100g plain flour, sifted

pinch of salt

200g caster sugar

½tsp bicarbonate of soda

1tsp ground ginger

125g butter

1tbsp golden syrup

1 large egg, lightly beaten

200g plain chocolate, chopped into large chunks

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180°C/350°F. Grease and line two baking trays. Mix together the flours, salt, caster sugar, bicarbonate of soda and ground ginger in a mixing bowl. Heat the butter with the syrup until the butter has melted, cool and then stir into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. Beat in the egg and chopped chocolate.

Divide the dough into 15 balls and place on the trays leaving a large gap between each as the cookies will spread during cooking. Bake for about 12 - 15 minutes until the cookies are golden brown. Leave to cool on the trays for a few minutes then transfer to a rack with a spatula to cool.

One of our favourite breakfasts at the weekend is waffles. It doesn't take much for me to be pursuaded to make a bowl of waffle batter and with a clattering of plates we are sitting round the table with the waffle iron plugged in, everyone waiting their turn for a fresh waffle. Last weekend I went slightly "off piste" and made Chocolate and Coconut Waffles. The verdict was positively tropical!

Chocolate and Coconut waffles with coconut sauce

Serves 4

8oz self raising flour

3 level tbsp caster sugar

3 eggs separated

300ml milk

100ml coconut milk

55g dessicated coconut

100grams butter, melted

100g plain chocolate, melted

For the sauce

300ml coconut cream

1tbsp butter

2 tbsp caster sugar

In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, milk, coconut milk, egg yolks, dessicated coconut and melted butter and chocolate and whisk until there are no lumps. Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peak and then gently fold into the batter mixture. Cook on a waffle iron brushed with a little melted butter (or a frying pan for American style pancakes if you don't have a waffle iron) until golden brown. Add the sauce ingredients to a pan and simmer until the caster sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Drizzle the coconut syrup over the waffles to serve.

I always keep my eyes open for new cake decorations. Sometimes a really pretty chocolate with a dusting of edible glitter will transform an ordinary buttercream covered cupcake or muffin. These little white chocolate disks with sugar hearts looked just lovely on cupcakes that I took to the publishers last week - a fairy cake in the true sense of the word! They were in the Mother's day gift section at Waitrose in case anyone is interested (I am not on commission - honest!)

One of our favourite quick suppers is griddled halloumi served in pitta bread. Simply slice the halloumi into thick chunky wedges, drizzle a griddle pan with a few tablespoons of olive oil, add a sliced fresh red chilli to the pan and grill the halloumi for 2 - 3 minutes on each side. When the cheese is golden and starting to melt squeeze the juice of a lemon over the cheese. Serve immediately in pitta breads filled with salad, fresh herbs and hummos.

Yesterday, Mum, I and 4 girlfriends had a lovely girlie day out at the Country Living Spring Fair in London. By the end of the day we were all laden down with bags of shopping full of things that we didn't really need but just had to buy any way (we forgot about the credit crunch for the day). My favourite purchase was this cake stand (well that's what I am planning to use it for - it is actually designed as a winter scene decoration but I bought it without the houses and trees) I am already busy designing an Alice in Wonderland tea party to use it at and can see it filled with delicate meringues, cupcakes and fancies. At thirty pounds, it wasn't cheap but I am sure that by the end of the year it will have delighted enough people to make it a worthwhile purchase! I hope you all had a lovely weekend

Yesterday was a fairly monumental day - I went to London with my Dad to sign off the final photos for my cake and cookie book - that is it now! All finished! I was told the next time I saw the book would be when I received my first copy! We celebrated with a nice supper at Carluccios and also a trip to the British museum - I have not been before (which is rubbish I know) and was amazed that such an amazing museum was free. I also had a meeting with the publishers on the Sundae book and we have now agreed a final list of recipes - 8 weeks to write them but I don't think it will be anything other than a pleasure! I woke up in the night dreaming about sundaes, sundae glasses and sugar sprinkles! Yum yum!
I have also received a lovely present from my German friend Maren - I was talking to her the other day and saying that life was fairly hectic at the moment and she asked what I needed - I jokingly said cake but didn't think she would take this literally. The postman knocked on the door the other day and delivered the most perfect Sachertorte in a wooden box from none other than Hotel Sacher in Austria (the home of the ultimate Sacher Torte) - what a lovely surprise! I had no idea that you could order cake to be sent from them. I have to say this was THE most delicious Sachertorte I have ever eaten - thank you Maren for such a lovely gift xxx

I was in Suffolk yesterday for meetings and after we had finished I was lucky enough to be taken to the farm's lambing sheds where 2,400 lambs will be born over the next 6 weeks. The shepherds have beds in the sheds as they are needed 24 hours a day. Lots of lambs had been born already (this little black one was only a few hours old) and they were just adorable - I got to cuddle one and really wanted to bring him home with me. One of the shepherds said that she has a lamb that lives with her chickens....now there's an idea!

Aren't these the cutest little ducks - I found them the other day and couldn't resist buying them to decorate my Easter cake. Sadly Peapod couldn't resist them either and, in a fluffy of yellow feathers, one of them is now headless and feetless - I am hoping that the superglue is going to work! Naughty Peapod xxx

Last week I gave two cookery demos - the second one on Friday evening was unexpectdly for 95 people - luckily I found out with a few hours to spare (I was expecting 40 people) and was able to make enough lavender shortbread and other things for them all to have a try. By the end of the week I was exhausted! With the sun shining on Saturday and a quiet weekend ahead of us (what a treat) I decided to make some lemonade as it was gloriously sunny. Needless to say that by yesterday it was snowing and hailing - I had clearly aggrevated the weather gods by daring to presume that summer was on its way and making lemonade. Anyway - it was yummy so perhaps when the days are warmer you might like to try this. I love the way this drink transforms in colour!!!

Fresh Blueberry Lemonade

Serves 6

5 lemons

150g fresh blueberries

4 tbsp caster sugar

Peel large strips of lemon peel (making sure that you remove as much of the white pith as possible as this will make the lemonade bitter) from 2 of the lemons and place in a heatproof jug together with the juice of all the lemons. Cut all the blueberries in half and add to the jug with the sugar. Pour over 400ml of boiling water and leave for 2 hours until the sugar has dissolved and the lemonade has turned a wonderful purple colour. Top up with ice and cold water to serve.

Yesterday I received some wonderful news - that another of my books is going to be published next Spring. As my editor Allee said, I must be a glutton for punishment having only finished editing Cakes and Cookies this week! One morning before Christmas I woke up at about 6am with my head full of ice cream sundae ideas (strange indeed as it was winter and cold and not ice cream weather at all!!!) I wrote them all down and by 7.45 I had a list of 30 different sundaes ranging from Black Forest Sundae, Harvest Apple Sundae to Plum Crumble Sundae and e-mailed them off to lovely Heather and Elly who have found a publisher for the book. I can't tell you how excited I am at the prospect of inventing ice cream sundae recipes and testing them over the next few weeks and months. The sundae above is one that I wrote for Delicious magazine last year - the recipe is here if you would like to try it - Raspberry Fool Sundae with elderflower thins - although you may wish to wait until the weather is warmer!!!

Although it might be odd to be stitching Christmas projects in March I have decided that this year I am going to be more organised. Every year I stitch a small christmas gift for one of our neighbours - I know that they mean a lot to her - and every year without fail, I finish stitching it on Christmas eve in a mad rush. This year I decided things would be different and I have now finished her Christmas present - with 9 months to spare!! Luckily she does not have a computer so will not see this until December 25th but I thought I would share this jolly little beaded Santa with you! I am quite tempted to stitch another one for myself.