Just a quick update on the new baby chickens... only three little ones hatched out of the eight eggs Daisy was sitting on. A bit sad, but we are glad we had at least three hatch. We still do not know what sex they are, but are hoping for one or two females.

Daisy is a great mum (although they aren't really hers!) and the chickens are so cute!

While having a bit of a baking afternoon with Miss 4 the other day, I smiled as I watched her happily licking the cake batter off the rubber scraper and bowl... remembering doing that myself as a child. Definitely one of the best parts of baking with my mum as a kid!

Thinking about that reminded me of another baking memory as a child. The day me and my lovely long blonde hair met the electric beater.

There have been so many times in my life when an adult has warned me about something.. and then for some reason I would test it out, only to find that they were right! Like the time my poppa told me to watch out for my fingers as he shut the car boot, so what did I do? That's right, I put my fingers in the car boot and wham! I had a very sore, black finger for quite a while afterwards. I also learnt to listen to my poppa.

Well, my mum and I were having a lovely baking time together. I remember standing on my little stool next to the kitchen bench 'helping mummy' mix the ingredients. Then my mum said these wise words, "don't lean too far over the bowl or your hair might get caught in the mixer".

Well, once again you guessed it! There was a flurry of hair and batter and wild screams.

My mum's hairdressing skills came in very handy that day... and I learnt a very good lesson - listen to your elders. No wonder the Bible talks about having a long life when you obey your parents.

Kristy's tip of the week... tie your hair back before baking.

I am about to give away a secret recipe... the best chocolate cake ever. Once you have tried this, I doubt you will ever use another chocolate cake recipe again! I use this cake for all the kids birthday cakes (unless another type is requested) and love it!

The amazing thing about this recipe is that it is so easy to make, so yummy, and very versatile. It makes quite a large cake, which can be cut in half when cooked and filled with jam, cream or frosting, then covered with frosting on top. When I am in a hurry I usually make it and sprinkle chocolate chips on the top before I cook it, and serve without icing, or a dusting of icing sugar.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Preheat oven to 180 degC

Ingredients

1 2/3 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups trim milk

100g melted butter

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Grease a 20cm cake tin and line the base. Put all the ingredients into a processor (I use a normal mixer and it works fine) and mix. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for at least 50 minutes. The cake will rise a lot and when cooked, should spring back when gently pressed or when a skewer poked into the centre of the cake will come out clean.

Frosting

250g icing sugar

100g butter

1/3 cup cocoa

1 tsp vanilla

milk to mix

Place butter and dry ingredients in bowl (or processor) and mix to combine, then add a dash of milk and mix again. Continue until you achieve a soft spreadable icing, then add vanilla.

Slice the cake in half horizontally and spread some frosting on one half (you can also spread with jam or berry puree).

Replace the top half and coat the whole with the frosting. Refrigerate to firm up the frosting.

Enjoy!