Editor’s Diary: Cats, Cake And Celebrations

I’m starting this week’s Editor’s Diary with a picture of my cats, Zorro and Matilda. And not just because they are unbelievably cute (though they are!)

But knowing what they look like will help as you read the rest of this post.

You see, I recently celebrated a birthday. It wasn’t a milestone one or anything. But it felt extra special because, last year, my birthday fell in the midst of lockdown.

I wasn’t able to mark the occasion with friends and family. I even baked my own cake!

This year, though some restrictions were still in place, I was able to get together with my sister and her family. We spent a lovely day together, with lots of laughs.

And this time, my sister baked the cake! A massively impressive and delicious chocolate one it was, too.

However, the best bit was the decoration. And that’s where my cats come in.

No, they didn’t “help” with the icing! Instead, the decoration on top of the cake was the handiwork of my niece.

She’s just eleven, but already she’s very artistic and loves drawing and painting.

For my birthday cake, she’d put those creative talents to very good use by crafting my two cats in sugar paste!

It looked so brilliant that I had to take a picture to share with readers of this Diary.

Photograph by Angela Gilchrist.

Look at the detail in those cat faces! What a clever girl she is.

Of course, nobody wanted to eat the decorations, so I carefully took them home. The cats were very interested to see their icing sugar alter egos!

Photograph by Angela Gilchrist.

With baking skills like this, I have no doubt my young niece is a future Bake-Off star in the making.

It was the perfect finishing touch to a very happy birthday celebration.

For more from Angela’s Editor’s Diary, click the tag below.

Thinking about baking a cake for your own celebration? We’ve got plenty of recipes to choose from over on our Cookery pages.