The way I see it, we need a little spring. As they say, reality is something you rise above, so let’s do that today! Let’s rise above! Get a cup of tea Girlfriends, turn on the MUSICA, put your face close to the screen so even your peripheral vision is enveloped in bloom and enjoy your. . .
It’s spring fever. You don’t quite know what it is you want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so bad. ♥ The Adorable Mark Twain who knew.
Can you smell the fresh ocean air up from the harbor, still cold, filled with flowery scents of spring? Whoosh! The wind blows through the petals. Wrap your sweater a little tighter. Mmmm, we are so lucky. Don’t you just love the internet?!
We can see last year’s weeping cherry trees in full bloom even on a snowy day . . . makes you want it so bad, your heart just aches for it. It’s coming Girlfriends. The waiting is what makes it so wonderful. ♥
Right now we are still having our most delicious dinners of deep dark and delicious homemade Chicken Soup — but today we are looking for COLOR and so it’s time out for . . .
We love to do the chicken dance — here’s my recipe for Carrot Cupcakes which I think you will want to save. SO good, filled with fruit and nuts, lots of shreded carrots, pineapple and coconut. Cream Cheese frosting. The recipe will also make a three-layer cake ~ with so much batter you will have extra cupcakes, enough for your spring-starved girlfriends, chicken hearts and wolfmen too.
We just got in a new batch of these festive easy-to-make kits for darling dancing chicken cupcake toppers in case you’d like one.
And we still have the Cupcake Garlands that Janie made for us. It’s these happy colors I love to see. But you know, I’m on a lamb kick right now.
They are just so darn cute. They baaaa “Spring.”
And here’s my newest concoction. We found perfect old-fashioned Lamb Cake Molds for our web store . . . I made the cake using my Grandma’s homemade Lemon Daisy Cake recipe because it makes a firm cake, almost a pound cake but not quite, a cake that isn’t too crumbly and holds together. But a box cake and frosting will work too and I’m not against anything that makes a lovely smell come from the oven (there’s one boxed white cake I’ve used that has confetti colors in it that I think might be perfect for lamb cake) ~ the directions that come with the pan tell you to make it using less liquid. ~ in case you feel a need for speed. I’ll show you how to make the Lemon Daisy Cake, and I’ll put the full recipe at the end of this post so you can print it out.
So here we go. First tip: Successful unmolding of your cake is paramount. The way to do that (for any molded cake) is this: Melt a couple tablespoons of Crisco and brush it into ever nook and cranny of your mold. The mold should be cool when you do it so the oil will stick.
Also, take the time to flour your pans. Just shake flour over the oil until it sticks everywhere and shake out any extra. Notice we have kitchen twine, toothpicks and wooden skewers? You will need these … as you’ll see later. Put your prepared pan on a cookie sheet with the lamb face down. Preheat your oven to 375º ~ feel your kitchen getting warm and cozier by the minute. Pop an old movie into the player . . . I watched/listened to Gosford Park while I cooked — here’s the MUSICA from it …
This recipe and lamb cake is really so easy! All ingredients should be at room temperature. Two sticks of butter and two cups of sugar go into a large mixing bowl.
Put four roughly measured cups of flour into your sifter and sift three times . . . then measure out 3 cups. You want to measure after sifting. Any extra flour goes back into your container. Put the sifted flour back into the sifter, add one TBSP baking powder and 1/4 tsp. salt and sift again two more times. Use my waxed paper method for sifting unless you have a method you like better.
Allow all petty pets to watch your every move.
Now cream the softened butter and sugar together with an electric mixer . . .
. . . until light colored and fluffy
Then, one at a time, add the yolks of four eggs (save the whites in another bowl), beating well after each.
Once the eggs are incorporated, sift in dry ingredients by thirds alternating with buttermilk ~ little bit of flour, a little bit of milk, repeat~ beat until smooth after each third.
I like the old-fashioned tangy flavor the buttermilk gives this cake, but if you are at home and all you have is regular milk, that will do just fine.
Stir in the grated rind of two lemons . . . so easy to do with the wonderful Microplane Graters (← let me demonstrate!) . . . Miracle things no kitchen should be without. Like little razor blades for fast easy no-more-knuckle-in-the-food cooking.
Beat your reserved egg whites until stiff, then fold them into the cake, and voila, Daisy Cake batter is done.
Fill the face side of your mold (you’ll be able to tell which side to fill because the other side has a tiny steam-hole in it). Big tip #2: Head-falling-off can occur, it’s a possibility you will want to avoid from the get go. Because if it does, you’ll try to glue it back on with frosting. Which puts a wide messy crumbly lump around the lamb’s neck. While you’re busy sticking the head back on, the ears fall off. It’s terrible. I’ve made that mistake, but no more. Now I am stick woman. Toothpicks for the ears and wooden skewers for the neck.
Then I tie the mold together with kitchen string, just in case. If, for some reason the batter tries escape out the sides, I’m ready. We want a perfectly molded little lamb here, on the first try. Pop the cake in the oven an let it fill your toasty kitchen with fragrance of lemon-baking heaven.
Set your timer for 55 minutes and take a look outside and see what’s going on.
There’s bound to be something.
After the cake comes out and is cooling, you can pull out your Summer Book and find my recipe for Old-Fashioned Boiled Frosting on p. 109. But just in case you don’t have that book, here’s the recipe . . .
This is another easy recipe that’s like science magic. You need a candy thermometer like you see here. I have it hooked on the side of a small heavy-bottomed pan that already has a third-cup of water in it . . . I’m adding a cup of sugar.
Then 1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar and a pinch of salt gets stirred in ~ put the pan over high heat and boil without stirring until mixture reaches 240°.
While that’s going on, beat two egg whites until stiff.
When the sugar liquid is hot enough, pour it in a thin stream into your egg whites beating all the while, and watch it get thick, white and fluffy . . .
Just like this! Look at that! You are a genius!
When the buzzer goes off, Ta-Daaa your lamb cake is done. Pull it out of the oven, and now is where your patience must never come to an end. You have to wait until he is totally cool before you set him up to frost. You can cut the string, take off the top part of the mold, let him sit like that a while. Put the mold piece back on, turn it over, and do the same thing. Until he is completely cool.
Meanwhile you’ll have made your frosting . . . swipe the middle of your cake platter with a wide swath of frosting so the lamb has something to anchor him in standing position.
This is what we’ve waited for. He’s up! He came right out of the pan with no help. Look at him! He’s perfect. I didn’t have to do a thing but turn the pan into my hand and set him into the frosting smear. But then, how to frost him was my next question. I wanted to see if I could come up with something a little bit different than the way I usually did it (with raisin nose and chocolate chip eyes), make him more real. I needed inspiration and I knew just where to get it.
I pulled out the little book we bought in a bookstore in Ambleside in England filled with lamb pictures, all the different breeds.
I thumbed through it and chose this guy. That’s what I wanted my lamb to look like. Within reason.
So I started applying the frosting. I couldn’t hold the camera and frost at the same time, but there is no real trick in the frosting ~ it all goes pretty easily. For the corners like under his chin or around the ears, just put a good lump of frosting on the very end of your spatula or wide knife and plunk it right where you want it, spreading from there. You can wipe off the plate with a damp paper towel when you are finished.
Hello just-born lamb. Of course Lemon cake and coconut go together perfectly, and lambs need wool, so here is. If you press the coconut in a little bit, it keeps him from looking too hairy.
Just as sweet from the back. In the past I’ve decorated the plate with green-tinted coconut (like Easter grass) and jelly beans, and egg-shaped frosted cookies . . . but I was taking this cake to friends for dinner and it isn’t Easter quite yet, so I decided to leave it plain and my version of homemade-elegant.
So darling, always the cutest thing on the table at any party. (Just pulled out my lamb vase too — almost time to fill him with forsythia cuttings! I collected a few more lamb vases when I could find them on our cross-country trip in case you “need” one too . . .)
I wrapped him up, lamb cake-to-go-go. So that’s about it. I hope you enjoyed our springtime retreat and are all inspired to make a lamb cake of your own. And if so, you might need a lamb pan, and that is what I can help with.
Because I washed my lamb cake mold, dried it and tied it with a ribbon, and here it is, all freshly imbued with successful lamb-cake baking DNA ~ and I hope you will leave me a comment at the bottom of this post, because if you do, you will be entered in my drawing, and he can be your very own. In the next few days, our darling girl Vanna will pull one of your names out of her Easter Bonnet (the one with all the frills), and one of you will be the grandest lady in the Easter Parade. Or, at least you will have a new, slightly used, lamb cake mold. ♥
Now one other thing I wanted to ask you. Do you have this book? Because if you do, you will know how inspiring it is. I found this one years ago in a used bookstore and have loved it ever since. It’s my go-to, never-gets-old classic; a small, 
inviting garden book, where every word is a pearl. Planning a garden takes a little time, and this book will help you get in the mood. You feel as you should when you read it, as part of the earth, part of the ebb and flow of the seasons and the ancient practices of sowing and reaping from the precious green earth that God has given us. You can smell the warm dirt, taste the crisp, still-warm-from-the garden organic vegetables, hear the bees buzzing in the rosemary. That’s how you feel when you read this little book. ♥
The charm doesn’t end with the wonderful words of Mary Mason Campbell, it continues with darling drawings by Tasha Tudor. Kitchen Gardens was published in 1971 and describes the art of gardening as the simple and wonderful thing that it is.
And this book is for you too. I have two, and you get one. I signed it and when I find out the name of the winner, I will put their name in this lovely old book and off they will go, Lamb Cake pan and Kitchen Gardens, hopefully to make someone’s day. I have to say, you deserve to win after reading all this! It’s getting long — I’m so sorry!
And now, one last thing, just so you can see ~ this is where we were going for dinner the night I made the lamb cake . . . Isn’t it pure fairy tale? Our friends Arnie and Paula live here. When I see visions such as this, I think maybe winter’s not really that bad! Here’s your recipe:
LEMON DAISY LAMB CAKE
You will need melted Crisco and flour to prepare mold, plus two wooden skewers and two toothpicks for lamb.
- 2 sticks butter (1 c.), room temp.
- 2 c. sugar
- 3 c. sifted cake flour
- 1 Tbsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 4 eggs, separated, room temp.
- 1 c. buttermilk
- zest of two lemons
Grater, in case you need one . . .
Preheat oven to 375°. Paint the inside of your mold with melted Crisco, sprinkle with flour and shake out extra. Cream softened butter and sugar together with electric mixer until light and fluffy.
Measure your dry ingredients: sift approx. 3 c. flour three times before measuring out three cups and putting them back into the sifter (any extra flour just goes back into your container) ~ add baking powder and salt to sifter with flour in it and sift two more times. Set aside.
Add egg yolks, one at a time, to butter-sugar mixture; beat well after each ~ put the egg whites in another bowl.
Sift in flour mixture by thirds, alternating with buttermilk, beating until smooth after each addition. Stir in lemon zest. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold them into the batter.
Fill face part of lamb mold (the side that doesn’t have the hole in it) full and put it on a cookie sheet. Lay toothpicks in centers of lamb ears, put clipped wooden skewers or a popsicle stick in center of neck down to body for support. Press them down slightly into batter. Put on the top of the mold and tie it together with string. Put the cookie sheet with the lamb cake into preheated oven and bake 55 minutes. Remove from oven, cut string, allow lamb to cool 15 min; remove top, cool longer, turn it over, remove other side of mold, allow it to cool competely before frosting.
You will have extra batter — enough for one 8″ single layer cake, or several cupcakes. With my extra batter, I made a bunny cake… with a vintage bunny cake mold I found somewhere on my travels. Lambies and chickies and bunnies . . . oh my!
CLASSIC OLD-FASHIONED BOILED FROSTING
You will need a candy thermometer for this. Pour 1/3 c. water into a small, heavy-bottomed sauce pan, then stir in 1 c. sugar, 1/8 tsp. cream of tartar and a pinch of salt. Hook the thermometer on the side of the pan making sure the tip of it is in the mixture. Boil until the mixture reaches 240°. Meanwhile beat 2 egg whites until stiff. Pour the 240° syrup over the whites in a thin stream, beating constantly until thick and glossy. Lay a wide strip of frosting down the middle of an oval serving plate. Tip the lamb cake out of the pan into your hand and set it in the strip of frosting to anchor it. Frost the lamb; pat and sprinkle coconut onto sides. Press coconut in slightly to keep the lamb from looking too hairy. Voila, he is done, and you are amazing! Happy Spring Girlfriends! I think I have delighted you (in the immortal words of Jane Austen) long enough! ♥
Oh Spring! It cannot come soon enough. But here on your blog it’s in full bloom. The lamb cake mold is so adorable and Tasha Tudor (omg!) – love seeing her wonderful illustrations. It would be wonderful to win – thanks so much for the posting. Makes me feel happy!
Just yesterday saw a few forsythia bushes beginning to pop here in Georgia–right on the heels of our crazy ice storm of last week! Spring is on its way! Susan, you are a jewel. I really look forward to each of your posts–you are living my fantasy life in New England. I would be so pleased to welcome your lamb cake pan and book into my real life here in the South.
Thanks so much Susan for this give away. My sister got the lamb cake mold, so it would be nice to have one if my own. As always, love your posts!!! Spring will be here soon!!
Love, love, love. I’m so glad we can still get the cute things here on your site that I loved in your store in the Village. Keep it all coming! =)
Wow, that is a lot of comments. Just moved from MA to TN in Sept. Not missing the snow, at least not yet. I’ve been working in the garden all week, shoveling dirt, not snow and it’s been a pleasure. Beautiful post and what a wonderful giveaway, 2 of my favorite things, sheep and herbs. Oh, actually 3 things, Tasha Tudor too. I love the book about her garden.
I showed my almost four- and five-year old children the step-by-step photos for making the adorable lamb and they loved it! They couldn’t get over how the “strange-looking” mold could turn into a cute little lamb.
This lamb cake was always featured as the coveted raffle item at St Joseph’s School Spring Bake sale in Amesbury, MA when I was a little girl. I always thought if I won it I would never eat it because it was so beautiful! After reading over your recipe I realize that I finally grew up. I will bake it and then eat it if I win it!
Being the grandest lady in the Easter parade would be nice, but seems impossible after 1000 comments, but I still hope to win. What a fabulous and charming post. Thanks for all of the insider tips.
I smiled the whole way through — at the photos, and the lamb mold, and your humor. So wonderful! Just got your precious book, “A Fine Romance” on my doorstep today and so have been savoring it s.l.o.w.l.y. Thanks so much for years of bringing good things to my kitchen.
Hey Girlfriend Kelly,
Love to see you here! 🙂
Maybe we ought to start a Branch-o-phile blog along? Or maybe we should get up a Fine Romance tour? 😉
xxooxx
Gabs
Hey Gabi! Love to see you here as well! Now wouldn’t that be fun to do either/both? Every day deserves a bright, happy place like this. <3
Thank you for restoring an Indiana girl’s faith that spring will come again! I loved the tutorial. It seemed I was in your kitchen chatting with you. I hope your friends enjoy eating the cake as I did watching you make it. Thank you for sharing the artistic gifts you have been blessed with.
My Grandmother used to make a lamb cake at Easter time, but it wasn’t a dreamy lemon cake ~ but what memories your post brought back! Thank you for the recipe, which is going on my Easter menu! And what a sweet little gardening book. I am moving soon to a new place with a little garden plot, after living at 2000 feet in the mountains of western Washington, where the deer ate every attempt I made to garden anything! Blessings to you!
Hello Susan!
I am new to you and your blog and I must say I love what I have read and seen so far!Please enter me in this drawing!I would love to win this wonderful prize.:) Would add a bright spot to our gray Oregon winter.:)Thank you~Sharon Goemaere
What a beautiful giveaway,I would love to win!!!!!! I love spring,little lambs,gardening and warm weather!!!!!!
Hi Susan!
Looking forward to making your Lamby cake for my ‘big’ kids who will all be coming home for Easter this year. I might just have to order some cute chicken cupcake toppers too:) Thank you SO much for the little peep of spring!
Thank you for posting the lemon cake recipe. I have our original lamb cake mold from the early 1950’s along with the photos of my sister’s 5th birthday party where the children would not let Mom “kill” the lamb by cutting the cake. 🙂 If I win, I will give the new mold to my niece so she can bake the cake for her little girls. Thanks also for the trick to prevent the head and ears from falling off. You are a genius! I have lost many an ear over the years.
Oh my! I would love to own the lamb mold. My grandaughter who is 8 years old is planning to open a Bakery of Love when she grows up. We have many long distance business meetings exchanging recipes. Oh, and she plans to have a barn behind the bakery because she loves animals. The lamb mold would be a perfect addition for the bakery. Love your blogs Susan.
Bakery of Love. What a perfect name!
Your lamb cake turned out so charming, and sounds delicious! My grandchildren would be tickled over such a cake:)
I love this Lamb Cake Mold..I hope that I win it. I have a son who’s birthday is April 19 and sometimes falls on Easter. A lamb cake would be perfect for his Birthday! I have your Summer book with the frosting recipe. I love your books. The first I found was the small Christmas one. I loved your illustrations. Seems I’m full of ‘Love’ but it’s all true! Virginia
1,000 comments? Goodness! What a darling cake; I would just love to try to make one myself. And the book sounds wonderful. I’ve been wanting to start a kitchen garden this spring and the book might just be the inspiration I need. And Tasha Tudor? Love her!
Oh Susan you are so wonderful. Your books, paintings, blogs and just you being you speak to my heart. Every year I look forward to turning the pages of your calendars. They are just so happy and thoughtful. Your lamb is so adorable. As soon as I read your post I thought “Where can I find a lamb mold” I want to be able to make a lamb cake for my children this spring 🙂 Thanks for your wonderful blog, it’s so fun to read.
What a breath of fresh air….the lamb cake is so cute!
I love this lamb mold!!! My hubby’s grandmother used one just like this!!! She always covered the lamb with coconut too! Tasha Tudors’s book would the icing on the cake!
Thank you so much for reminding me that Spring is on the way!!! Thank God!!!
I adore Tasha Tudor illustrations and lambs. I’m a knitter and a gardener, so these prizes are perfect for me!
Susan, You have no idea how I look forward to hearing from you … I am sure I am not alone in that 🙂 Yay Spring!!! What a delightfully inspirational and uplifting peek into the near future! Thank you so much
I never would have thought about the lamb’s head falling, until it was too late. The toothpicks and skewers are a clever idea.
Absolutely adorable Susan!! He sure would be on my Easter table!! Nice to see a cute little bit of spring, since here in Michigan we’re in a deep freeze!! Blessings to you:)
I very much appreciate all you do for your fans-besides the wonderful gifts you are presenting the winner with, the recipes and step by step instructions are tremendously helpful to me. I’ve never baked a cake that required sifting so many times, I bet this cake is amazing in taste and texture. I’m going to be on the look out for this beautiful garden book myself. Thank you for introducing us to so many cherished items in your kitchen.
Your tutorials are wonderful! I love your sifter….what a beauty. Thanks!
I so enjoyed following along as you bakes your Lamb cake. He turned out just perfect. I would love to have your pan and beautiful book. Thanks so much Susan for sharing tour talent and home with us. Linda
I LOVE little lammy…..and would love to bake this darling cake. Love your photos and can smell this baking from California….yummy!
My friend Debbie and I already said we would share the mold and bake our first cake together so I really really hope we win……hugs to you on this spring like day…
I love your sweet lamb cake and the book! I have a fondness for old Betty Crocker cookbooks as my aunt worked in the Betty Crocker test kitchens back in 1950. In fact, she introduced the Snickerdoodle recipe to them while she was there and became known as the “snickerdoodle lady”. You might enjoy reading about her here: bettycrocker.com/menus-holidays-parties/mhplibrary/parties-and-get-togethers/vintage-betty/the-snickerdoodle-lady
Thank you for a wonderful giveaway!
I love lambs and I live cake! It’s perfect!
Susan, I love the Lamb cake mold and am anxious to make it for my card group luncheon next month. I received your book, a Fine Romance, in the mail today and have already devoured half of it. Don’t know what took me so long to discover you!
What an adorable lamb cake. I’m so glad you were able to figure out a simple way to prevent disaster ie head and ears falling off. I never can figure out how to prevent such things. I’m not the least creative! Hope Vanna is smiling on me when she picks the magic name. Kathy
What a fun giveaway!! My 12 year old twin girls love lambs and love celebrating all the holidays and seasons – we just made Valentine’s sugar cookies using your recipe! Thanks for sharing your talents with us!!! HAPPY SPRING!!!!
I am in love with this blog! The pictures just make Spring seem that much closer. Meanwhile … I live on the snowy, blowy coast of NH. Any idea how soon I can bring in some of my forsythia branches???
I’m going out today. They had their freeze, I think you could bring them in any time now. The days are long enough.
Dearest Susan, Oh be still my heart!! I love lambs, too. We just came back last Fall from a wonderful trip to Ireland —lots of lambs there. Closer to home, there is a sheep farm and in the spring when the grass is soooo green along the back of the pasture at the sheep farm is forsythia—and it reminds me of Ireland when the sheep are out grazing there–so beautiful! And then to mention the book illustrated by Tasha Tudor! I have loved her artwork since I was a little girl–Christmas cards, Advent calendars, the book “Take Joy!” is a treasure of mine and I’ve given it as Christmas gifts before….as a little girl I named my kitten Tasha. Now, many years later, when my kids were of a certain age—we felt it was a good time to get a dog. I never had a dog in my life–but guess which breed we researched and decided would be for us? A corgi! And just like eating potato chips, can’t just have one—so a year later we got our 2nd corgi! So when I read your most recent blog, my heart just about stopped about your giveaway! Thanks for listening….
I want a corgi! But we still travel too much … I just love them!
When I was a little girl, we had a neighbor who made a lamb cake every year for Easter. I never knew how she did it – now I do!
My mother-in-law made a lam cake every Easter…I imagine my sister-in-law has the pan…I love to win it…thanks for the memories Susan!
I love love love Susan Branch!
I get so much inspiration each day that I click on to this blog.
A M A Z I N G!
I love your Fine Romance book.
I love sheep and I love England!
My happy place of all!
Warmly,
Gail Helgeson
My mother-in-law made a lamb cake every Easter…I would love to win the pan…thanks for the memories Susan!
Wow!! I would really like to win the book and the lamb mold!! I bought your calander last year and loved it!! One of my all time favorites!!
Susan, do you really have time to read all these comments? I hope you read mine, ’cause I’m reminding you that my daughter Jenifer and I are leaving for England next week. You would be fun to have along! If I win the adorable lamb mold and the beautiful book, I promise you they will have a good home. I have all your books, and I just re-bought the Tasha Tudor Cookbook, which I used to have, loaned it, and never got it back. Now I’m more cautious about lending my books. I tell everyone about “A Fine Romance” but I’m not lending my copy! Thanks for the step-by-step instructions for the cake. I can almost smell it baking! I can’t wait to see those little lambs in England. I would not, could not eat those babies! When I see a pub blackboard advertising “crispy lamb”, I always think, “it used to be “frisky lamb”! But eating a lamb cake is different!
I make time. I love them. I feel we are connected and it’s important to me. I don’t know why, I’ve always felt this connection but before the Internet it was always sort of a one-way street — my books were and still are, letters to everyone. Now look, everyone is together! Couldn’t love it more! You and Jennifer have a WONDERFUL time in England, I’m so so happy for you!!
Love your blog. Adorable lamb mold and if I don’t win the book I will definitely be on the prowl for one!
Ha! Now I know why I had trouble getting onto your site, Susan. Over one thousand comments! Well, count me in as 1001. I will make your cake to celebrate the first day of Springtime.
I know you are soooo ready for spring but I do love your snowy pictures! We haven’t had snow all winter just cold cold weather. The book looks inviting and the lamb cake is adorable. Thanks for the wonderful blog 🙂
Thank you for posting those pictures of spring! I needed to see them to help me get out of the winter funk! I think spring is my favorite season…all new life and new growth. Lambs remind me of spring. I have always liked them. the cake you made is beautiful. I would love to win your give away this time because I know people who would absolutely love the lamb mold pan and the garden book. And it would make me so happy to give them away, even though I would love them for myself. My friend, Gail, moved to Florida. She reads your blog and loves to cook and bake, much more than I do. She said she would love to win the pan and I know she would make a beautiful cake with it. My cousin, Ann, lives in MA. She and I grew up like sisters. She and her husband are retired school teachers and I know they love and collect old books. But even more, they grow the most beautiful gardens in their back yard. They could be in magazines. I know she would really appreciate the book.
If I was the winner, you would be helping me pay it forward. Although, I would love the book and pan for myself, I know others would be so happy to receive it.
One of my favorite former students passed away last spring, a few weeks short of her 20th birthday. She suffered from liver disease for many years, but it grew worse when she was in college. She was on the list for a transplant, but didn’t make it. Colleen was always thinking of others first. She was hoping to be an occupational therapist. Colleen’s mom recently sent a letter asking that Colleen’s friends pay it forward in memory of Colleen. So if I was the winner, you would be helping me pay it forward and Colleen would be smiling from heaven.
Ann Beirne
Her poor mom, she must be beside herself — so young. My prayers go out to her.
How lovely! Thank you for sharing . . .
Such a sweet and yummy looking lamb cake. I don’t have any lambs, but now I may start a collection of my own. Would love to win this mold and book. I will think of you!
Dear Susan, I recently re–discovered you (my girlfriend gave my Christmas Joy in 1995) when I found your new book “A Fine Romance”; the past 3 weeks I have purchased on thrift books.com almost ALL your previous books and most of them First Editions. I have been busy reading them all! I love love love your writing,
drawings, water colors, recipes and sweetness! I wanted to write you weeks ago but this was the perfect blog with the lambie pies … so adorable and I am anxious to make your cake! Thank you for sharing you … your talents and inspirations!
(I have your Rose Chintz china and a teapot collection! Aloha, Evie
I didn’t even know you had a blog until a friend told me about this giveaway, so even if I don’t win (but I hope I do), I’m a winner because I found you! The lamb cake pan is SO cute. The book sounds lovely and with illustrations by Tasha Tudor, this giveaway couldn’t get better. Well, unless I win! 🙂
What a perfect cake to chase this snow away!
Oh my goodness! I have a cast iron lamb cake mold just like this. It is so old that I do not use it. I have always wanted to find a lamb cake mold so that I could make a lamb cake! I love anything by Tasha Tudor! I have the “The Snow Before Christmas” by her. I would love to add another book to my collection signed by you! Thank you! Thank you!
Dear Susan, I’ve been reading your blog since ~almost~ the beginning. It’s like a little get away trip for me. To your island, to your cozy home. It doesn’t matter what the season, I’m always inspired. How I’d love to bake with something you’ve used, in your kitchen…
~tara
I love your lamb cake… would love to make for Easter this year.. I know my kids would enjoy. Your blog is very inspiring and always so full of wonderful things to make and do…Thank you and God bless you.
Thank you for taking us through the baking process. So very helpful. Lamb chops and lamb cake for Easter at my house this year. Spring thoughts and warm wishes to you and all the Girlfriends. xo
This has been such a crummy winter but the lamb has warmed my heart! I can’t wait for spring!!! We moved into a new home with lots of garden space and I can’t wait to plant my first organic garden…hopefully with the help of you and Betty Crocker!!!
Thank-you for a quick look forward to Spring. We have had so much snow it’s hard to believe we will ever see lambs and grass again. I would love to make that very cute lamb cake for my daughter who collects lambs.
What a wonderful giveaway, Susan! I’ve never known how to use a mold for a cake and now I do. Thanks for the opportunity to put my name in the hopeful pile. I remember my mom making that marshmallow like frosting when I was little. I always thought she used real marshmallows because it turned out so shiny!
ps it was 90 degrees today in Phoenix, AZ. I miss winter already because all we had were some storms that blew in and a few cool days along with them. But the trees and bushes are very pretty that have started to bloom already. Love ya, Girlfriend.
Hi Susan!
I love the lamb! Thanks for the opportunity 🙂
All the best,
Allison
love, love this cute pan, love all things Susan Branch…I just rec’d 2 copies of your “Days: diary and every page is a joy.
Susan, THANK YOU for those lovely spring pictures at the start of your post! This has been the longest, coldest, snowiest winter I can remember! Spring can’t get here soon enough, but it will one day!
Your lamb cake looks darling, and the recipe sounds wonderful! Thanks for sharing!
It is always such a joy to read your posts. Your Spring pictures are lovely but I also enjoyed seeing the snow as here in Utah the snow has missed us this season.
I know you hear this all the time from your fans, but you are such an inspiration. I have copies of your books put away for my two girls. I love knowing that one day they will have them in their homes and cook from them. Thank you for the happiness you bring. Love the lamb cake and the book with Tasha Tudor’s drawings. If I don’t win the drawing I might have to find a copy for myself. 😉
Sincerely,
Beth
XOXO Thank you Beth.
I’m looking forward to Spring as well, especially after 2 snow storms this week! I would love to win the Kitchen Gardens…so fun to read and plan for my backyard veggie garden. Thanks for the having the give away!
The lamb cake is adorable and the MMCampbell book would be a treasure! I have her Buttry Shelf cookbook and, like all of your books, I read it over and over. Would love to have this one, too. Want to make this cake for a ladies’ spring tea. Thank you for the recipe and inspiration!
I was born on Easter Sunday and even though my birthday has never again fallen on Easter, I’ve always had a spring cake – bunnies, lambs, chickens, flowers…I love the spring-feel of your post and I’m going to be making that icing!
You have such a lovely blog, and anything sheepie sets me right up for spring. I love your lamb cake and would love to make one using your recipe. Happy thoughts of Spring to all! Shari
Your lovely blog gets me in the mood for Spring! I would love to make your cake in the darling lamb pan. Happy thoughts to all! Shari
Whoohoo, the 1001st comment! I just discovered your blog! Thank you from the snowy north!
Oh Van a do pick me! I do like Tasha’s illustrations!!
I have my mothers lamb mold. She made it a lot when we were kids, but the head always fell off. Thank you for the tips and showing how to prepare the pan and put the sticks in the head. I am going to copy the recipe for the cake and icing, thank you for sharing it.
Love the Lamb Cake! My first Grandchild was born 5 days ago on a Very snowy morning. Little Nora Catherine, a tiny little red headed beauty! Grammy would love to make her a lamb cake for her first Easter, Christening or even a first birthday. Thanks for the touch of Spring you shared with us today. It’s just what your snow weary friends needed. My remedy, head to beautiful Providence this weekend for the Rhode Island Garden and Flower Show. My BFF, college roomie and I will spend the entire day there planning next years gardens, picture taking and smelling the mulch. Thanks Susan I will be counting sheep in my sleep tonight
CONGRATULATIONS on little Nora Catherine!
The cutest cake! You gave directions so well that I think even I could make this cake! I’m so looking forward to Spring also. I love the look of the book too.
Enter me….I would love either or both of them. Thanks Susan.
Your website is just wonderful. When I sit down to read, I take a deep breath and relax. Thank you for showing us such fun ways to celebrate each day!
I am so ready for spring … and for Easter! Love this post and the chance to win the mold – pick me Vanna! I will have to print the recipes tonight. You bring us such joy Susan with your books and your blog. Thank you!
Such a pretty cake. I would have never thought of putting the sticks in there to hold up the head! Beautiful little house. I bet it was nice and cozy on a cold winter’s night.
Have a great weekend!!! pam
Isn’t thatjust darling! The fact you used lemon makes it even better. I love a lemon cake for Easter and this would be perfect!!!
What a lovely post as usual! The step by step instructions for the lambie cake are so helpful. I continue to enjoy “A Fine Romance”, savoring bits every weekend, thank you so much for sharing your English experience with us girlfriends.
Hugs!
So cute and I collect Tasha Tudor books and this is one I don’t have. Love to win it !!!!
My mother had a cast iron lamb cake mold, which my oldest sister now owns. She has tried to continue with the traditiothan of baking this cake for our Easter celebrations but, woo, with traveling approximately thirty miles, some years, the cake did not fair well! I see that you have used skewers in the head-on might have been the solution-toothpicks were utilized by my mother and sister but mom did not travel with the cakes she made! I would love to carry on the tradition for my growing family-one grandchild here and one on the way! The recipe sounds great-nice and fresh!
I do have the Tasha Tudor (Campbell ) I collected Tasha’s books many years ago. I just never seem to find time to be delighted again by her beautiful little books. Years ago, I also had a lamb cake pan. I was always baking cakes for my friends.
Great post. Can’t wait for spring. The lamb mold is super cute. Love your blog!!! Look forward to every post. I check daily and sometimes more than once a day.
I love Tasha Tudor! I love cake! I love lambies. And I love you!
Lovely…the cake looked marvelous!! I love your creativity with the frosting! Keep thinking SPRING!! Crossing my fingers that Vanna pick me so I can recreate a lambie cake too…the book is awfully sweet too. Happy weekend!
I don’t now about spring being almost here ,but boy did it feel good! It is currently below zero and crazy windchill ! But hey we can dream! I love in your previous posts your chicken gene and wolve gene’s! Your halarious writings have made me laugh more than once! A specially in your book A Fine Romance! I love your advice on driving in England!What a cute lamb and a beautiful book, both would be a joy to win! Thank you again for putting a smile on my face!
I really enjoyed your lamb cake. I grew up with my mom making one every Easter. She had a big heavy cast iron mold that belonged to a great aunt of my dad’s. Those are great memories, both of my parents are gone now but the memories are strong. My oldest sister inherited the lamb cake mold. I would so enjoy having one to give those same memories to my grandchildren.
Thank you so much for helping me to remember.
Kathi
Lovely spring cake! I cannot recall if I left a post already? Happy Spring!
That lamb mold is totally adorable. The cake sounds yummy too! I don’t know whether to pin on my sheep board or my cake board!
Can’t wait to try the cake! Maybe I’ll have made it once for practice before my lamb mold comes??!! 🙂
oh susan…you make me want to live in your blog! this winter is starting to last just a tad too long and the beautiful shots of your home with sunlight and flowers make my heart sing! Tra la!!! Love the lamb cake, have the wonderful garden book….love love Tasha tudor!!! Wonderful artist, like you who make the world an even lovelier place than it already is!!! Heartfelt thanks!!!! melissa
Awesome cake, I think he needs a couple of jellybean eyes, and dyed green coconut for grass for him to lay in. The gardening book gives me hope for spring. I have found a couple of Tasha Tutor books at the second hand store, I love them, I wish I could have met her.
Oh how I love reading what you’ve been up to. I love the photos of your home, its my dream home. As for the lamb mold and book, its precious. Thanks for the step by step instructions. I hope I win!
Love the adorable little lamby!!
Darling lamb mold and cake! Oh, you are encouraging me to hang on, “spring is on it’s way!” Thank you!
Susan, thank you for this wonderful tutorial. I had both a lamb and bunny mold. I tried in vain to bake nice cakes, but I never could get them to release. Sadly, I sold them at a yard sale a long time ago. This post makes me want to.buy new ones! I love how you left the ears and nose unfrosted. xo
The Crisco really works … what a difference!
I love that gorgeous little lamb of yours. My husband and I just returned from Connecticut back to our home in the Virgin islands. I love those snowy Winter days in New England. Thank you for brightening my day all the time with your lovely postings Susan.
I think the lamb cake would look cute with little mini marshmallows for wool! 🙂 Thank-you for the glimpse of spring!!! OX