He gained eyes, and a glaze to make him look all gelatinous and slimy

His wings are made and drying out ready to be painted tomorrow.

What 76 cupcakes looked like?

Well! Here’s your chance to find out!

Ok, this fella stands at 10inches tall!

He’s made from 4 ‘pound cakes’ stuck together with butter cream, some dowels placed in to hold him up. Sculpted and crumb coated and then covered in about 2kg of fondant.

The tentacles were all individually added and then he was painted green with dabs of blue.

He’s currently sat drying out, tomorrow he will gain eyes and his wings will be made, they won’t be set in place though until he’s made it to Larpaid otherwise they’ll break in transit.

Recipe

Cream together400g caster sugar and 450g butter

Whisk in 8 eggs

Add 2 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp vanilla extract and sift in 460g self raising flour

Fold together

Cook at 180C for about an hour.

Made for a birthday this recipe made one large Tirimi Su (11 x 9 inches) with enough left over for a 1 portion bowl (for testing purposes of course!)

The recipe has been taken from the most amazing Italian cookbook The Silver Spoon (that everyone should own, it is an encyclopaedia of all Italian cooking up to and including ‘Il Quinto Quarto’ – offal) though it has been modified slightly.

NB – This recipe contains raw eggs and as such should not be eaten by the pregnant, elderly, small children or anyone else with low immune systems.

Whisk 4 egg whites to stiff peaks

In a separate bowl whisk 8 egg yolks with 300g icing sugar until pale and fluffy.

Fold in 1kg Mascarpone Cheese and then the egg whites.

Brew some strong coffee and add the liqueur of your choice (Amaretto or brandy is traditional, Baileys or Tia Maria work well.. experiment! Find what you like!)

Dip the sponge fingers (lady’s fingers) into the coffee and layer on the bottom of the dish. Cover with a layer of the mascarpone mix and sprinkle with grated chocolate.

Add another layer of dipped fingers and then finish with a top layer of mascarpone.

Sprinkle with some more grated chocolate.

Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

This was in fact so delicious it got completely devoured before a photo could be got, so the recipe will have to suffice.

Preheat oven to 180C

Grease dish

Mix together 250g self raising flour, 165g caster sugar and 2 large tbsp cocoa powder

Add 125ml milk, 1tsp vanilla and 30g butter (melted)

Stir together

Spoon into dish.

Mix together 150g brown sugar and 25g cocoa powder, sprinkle evenly over the pudding

Slowly pour 430ml boiling water over the pudding

Place in oven and back for 45-50 minutes until the top is set and firm.

Enjoy hot!

Made in a fit of randomness, created completely out of my head!

Poach the chicken breasts in stock for about 10 minutes. Take off the heat and leave to stand until needed.

Finely dice one onion, one leek (try and get one that’s still young so it’s mainly all white and light green) and one celery.

Saute in butter until soft

Chop up some mushrooms and add them.

Add flour and stir well.

Gradually add the stock the chicken was cooked in stirring well, add more stock if necessary to get to the desired consistency.

Chop the chicken into small pieces and add, along with sweetcorn.

Leave to simmer for a while.

Just before serving stir in some cream.

(this made about 5 litres of soup!)