Watermelon Cake DIY

The other day was my sister's 13th birthday, and she absolutely loves melons, especially watermelons. So, I made her a watermelon cake from scratch. It's really simple, fun to bake and tastes amazing.

For the sponge you will need:

- 300g Self raising flour

- 250g Margarine (butter will work too)

- 250g Caster sugar

- 1tsp Baking Powder

- 2 Eggs

- Vanilla extract

- Red food colouring

Extra ingredients:

- Green food colouring

- Jam for the filling (strawberry and cherry are my favourites, but you can use any)

- Icing

- Chocolate chips or raisins (to put on top as melon seeds)

Basic cake instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees

2. Prepare 2 circular baking tins by greasing them with margarine and *lining with greaseproof paper

3. Weigh out all the ingredients for the sponge

4. Add the ingredients into a large mixing bowl

5. Mix the ingredients using an electric whisk

6. Pour the mixture evenly between the 2 tins

7. Put them in the oven and bake for around 20 mins or until done

8. Leave on a cooling rack to cool

*TIP* To get the right size place the tin on top of the greaseproof paper and draw around the bottom using a pencil. Cut this circle out and you have the perfect size paper for your tin.

9. When the cakes are cool, sandwich them together with jam

Icing instructions:

For the pink icing I used a tub of Betty Crocker's vanilla icing and added 2 drops of red food colouring (you can use strawberry icing if you prefer and skip adding the red food colouring). Next spread your pinky red icing over the top of the cake only. For the green icing add 2 drops of green food colouring (obviously) and spread around the sides. To finish off sprinkle a handful of chocolate chips (or raisins) on top.

Voila! You now have the perfect watermelon cake. 

Note

Posting everyday is too hard to keep up with, as I have and will be quite busy through the holidays. From now on I'll just post around twice a week about things that make me happy. :)

Sunday Snaps

I decided to do Sunday Snaps, since I am studying photography at school. I took these photos while on a walk around the nearby fields from my house. Take some time out and enjoy your Sunday!

Photos taken on iPhone 5 by me.

Sporty Saturday: Parkrun

So, today is Sporty Saturday, where I will give exercise tips and even mention a few up coming events.

Photo credit to Parkrun.

Parkrun logo

This Saturday I will be talking about Parkrun. Parkrun is a timed 5k run, which takes places every Saturday morning. It is free and for all ages. I even took part in my local Parkrun this very morning.

There are over 370 Parkruns in several countries, which makes it easy to locate one near you. This can be done by looking through the events at www.parkrun.org.uk (these events are for in the UK only).

To sign up you must register online at www.parkrun.org.uk. Once registered you will receive a unique athlete number and barcode to print out for use when taking part. This barcode will be scanned at the end of every Parkrun along with your place number chip (you will be given this at the end of the Parkrun by the volunteers), so your time can be recorded.

To look up your time, search [name of Parkrun area] Parkrun. Click on the website of your Parkrun and then click on ‘results’, which is situated on the navigation bar. Scroll through the times to find yours or type your name into the search.

If you are not much of a runner you can volunteer at Parkrun and take on the role of a marshal or a bar code scanner. Parkrun relies on volunteers, so it would be useful to help out.

At Parkrun there are a variety of free t-shirts to collect: Juniors 10 runs, 50 runs, 100 runs and volunteers. These mark your Parkrun milestones.

One last thing, there is usually a photographer at Parkrun, so don’t forget to smile when running round. To check out the photos visit your Parkrun website and click on ‘photos’.

Photo taken by Karen Newton.

Anya and I racing at the finish

NEW THEME!!

Edit: I decided to discontinue this theme, since it is too difficult to keep up with. Sorry. I'll still try to post as often as I can though.

I have decided to add a new theme to my blog. I will be posting different topics each day of the week. There is Make it Yourself Monday, Travel Tuesday, Wednesday Wish List, Thursday Baking Tips, Furry Friday, Sporty Saturday and Sunday Snaps.

Today is Furry Friday, so I will be telling you some interesting facts about this week’s animal, which is the fennec fox.

A fennec fox is the smallest fox in the world, which lives in the dry Sahara in North Africa. They are well known for their distinctively large ears, 6 inches long, and cute appearance. They may seem cute and cuddly, but are not house pets; despite this many are caught and sold in the captive pet trade.  Locals also hunt them for their fur. This further contributes to their population decline in the wild, making these mammals endangered. However, they are listed as least concern, since there are no immediate threats towards their habitat.

Fennec foxes are specially adapted to their surroundings. They have large ears, where they can release the most heat, keeping them cool throughout the harsh heat of the day. Another adaptation is their thick fur, which keeps them warm, during cold nights and protects them from the sun. Fennec foxes even have hair on their feet to protect their paws from scorching sands. The fur is a light beige colour for camouflage in their environment.  Fennec foxes are more active during the night, when temperatures are cooler. This is known as being nocturnal.

In the wild fennec foxes weigh around 2-3 pounds and grow from 8-16 inches long. In captivity they can grow slightly more and live longer. Usually, these foxes live up to 10 years, and 14 years in zoos. Their diet differs from what it would be in the wild too. In the wild they would eat plants, leaves, fruits, roots, eggs, insects, rodents and small reptiles, while in captivity they consume fruit, vegetables, insects and meat. This diet may be less varied, but they are mostly like to be fed more food in zoos, as food may be scarce in the hot Sahara.

A fennec fox will dig an underground to live in with at least 10 other individuals. During mating season, January to February, male foxes become aggressive and more territorial, and once they have found a partner they will mate for life. This is called being monogamous. Cubs are born between March and April in litters of 2 to 4.  Here is a photo of baby fennec fox cubs. 

Photo credit to ZooBorns.