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! ♥
Thoughts of Spring! How much fun and inspiring your blog is…I’m so glad I found it. Too bad the internet wasn’t as accessible when Gladys Taber was still with us. I wonder if she would have used a blog to stay in touch with her fans as you do. I do get e-mails from Tasha Tudor’s family and enjoy reading them. It brightens my day when I see another e-mail in my box from
Susan Branch. As much happiness to you as you bring to others.
Spring is coming! I have never seen this book and I collect Tasha Tudor
So please include me in the drawing.
I love everything about your site but especially now I love the spring and Easter stuff. Easter has always been my favorite holiday. Your lamb cake is adorable~! Did you make his nose black? That would be cute~! My daughter was having a baby a year ago and wanted her Dad to do water colors of lambs for the baby’s room. He did two of them. It was fun to watch him paint them. Anyway .. thank you for all that you share!~! Becky
I think I am going to start a lamb collection–you inspire me!
It seems spring is almost here–my shrubs are budding out! Time to get into the flower beds once again.
Susan, I’m just discovering your blog, and am enchanted! Im a big Beatrix Potter fan and found you while searching for her. I read through your blog post on when you visited Hill Top Farm, and it was wonderful! I’ve just purchased your book “A Fine Romance” through Amazon and am very excited for it to come.
This is maybe not very fair, since I’m just barely finding you, but I would love a chance at your giveaway! I’m definitely going to try your cupcake recipe – my mother LOVEs carrot cake and these would be a great thing to take to our family get together next week.
Anyway, I’m loving your website! Your illustrations are wonderful!
Nice to meet you Rebekka! xoxo
Oh how sweet!! Lambie cakes!!! However do you come up with these things?? We are awfully glad you do!! Much love – Raquel XOXO
Nothing says SPRING more than LAMBS!! Your festive cake celebrates the freshness and JOY of SPRING! Thanks for sharing! Love Tasha Tudor!!
We’re ready for SPRING !! My jonquils are blooming and the quince is budding.And my sweet pups are cavorting like lambs. Love this post….thank you so much. Kathy
Love the lamby!!
Love the musica!!
Robin Faris
Thank you for your bight and cheerful posts!!
Robin Faris
Hey Susan,
Enjoyed seeing your lamb cake. Not sure mine would look that good but I would love to try. Happy, almost Spring!!!
I live here in Alaska and I have my own transcription business and I have been so busy for months and months and months and just can’t seem to get a break. I know I should be grateful because it pays the bills and allows me to take care of my two kids while working from home. But the welcome break that I always take are your posts because if I don’t get much of a break during my busy day, I always stop to read your posts and that is my welcome break. Just the break I need to feel all warm and cozy inside, thankful for so many things and I want to say thank you for giving me those breaks through your posts. ♥
My pleasure Sonya — stay warm up there! xoxo
Hi Susan, What a delightful cake to make to remind us that spring is just around the corner. My family loves lemon and coconut and I will be making this cake. I would love to make it in the lamb cake pan. You are so generous with your beautiful posts and all the things that you give to your girlfriends. I have a number of your books and love each of them and I have a number of Tasha Tudor books and have always loved her art and her writing. I would be absolutely thrilled to have this present. Thanks for all you do to bring joy to so many people.
Pat Holland
I hope I’m not too late to enter! My Mom has this same lamb mold. 🙂 I am enjoying Spring already here in Texas! Sending some your way!
Love and Hugs,
Lisa Hay
Yooohooo Susan, over here! Pick me, purty pleez. My Easter table would look wonderful with a lamb cake in the center.
Lamb cake reminds me of my beloveD german grandma.
She made a lamb cake every Easter with a ribbon and little bell around its neck.
Oh and green grass made with dyed coconut!
Thank u for the bittersweet memory of the biggest hero in my lifem
Best wishes to youn
Michele
P.s. Waht kinD of camera do you use?
P.s.s. Could you do a little illustration of how you paint a shamrock?
My camera is about three years old but it’s a Canon T2i — there’s probably a newer edition now. If you have one of my calendars, turn the page to March, and there are a few shamrocks there.
I have tried for a lot of give always, but this is by far the one I am most hoping to win! The lamb mold would delight and inspire my five children’s imaginations this Easter!
And the book I recently checked out of the library because I just love Tasha Tudor. It is so sweet.
I recognized Tasha Tudor even before you said the illustrations were hers. Oh such KINDRED SPIRITS we girlfriends are. Thanks for the chance to win your lovely gift. Good luck one and all. Oma as always is waving HELLO!!! XXX
In Texas, Spring is here…at least for this moment. Who knows what tomorrow will bring! 🙂 I love the flowers in the North, so I am so happy I receive your blog to live the seasons vicariously through you! Thank you! Mary
Just got back from a cruise – my first and it was wonderful! Checked your blog and saw the lambie mold. I bought one of these 40 years ago and a cast iron one too…love to use them! Learned some tips from your blog on using too. 🙂 Thank you. So enjoy your wonderful thoughts, tips, and fun things all these years..
Seeing lambs on the hills in England in nothing short of wonderful. What is it that tugs at our heart strings when looking at those cute little faces. You just want to cuddle them. Loved your little lamb cake and the mold it was made from. So cute. Have my fingers crossed that your little lamb will find its way to Bedminster, NJ. Thanks for the recipe and your always uplifting posts. SMH
I definitely have Spring Fever and I would love to be able to make the LEMON DAISY LAMB CAKE with your Lamb Cake Pan. I have always loved lamb figures too, but I never knew why. Now, because of you, I understand. I have one of the cast iron Lamb Banks (forget where I got it now) and several of the fluffy Christmas Lamb figures that I purchased at a huge Antique Mall in Pittsburgh, PA light years ago. I am not sure I could make my cake look as good as yours either, but if I could get my sister, Suzanne, or my daughter-in-law, Christine, to help me I am sure it would be too cute to eat. We would just have to nibble on it.
Your lamb cake is adorable and I bet it’s yummy!
Love the lamb cake pan and the cake looks fantastic. Can’t wait to try it!
OH my what joy!! Brought back memories of my mother in law who used to make a lamb like that every year, complete with coconut all over, and some on the plate with jelly beans added to the plate for color. ADORABLE!! Loved the flowers on todays blog post too. Pink flowers in a heart adorned cup!! Breathe!!! Smile!!!
Just plain love this whole idea…great giveaway….
Here in California it is faux-spring. In the middle of February, it is sometimes 80, tricking the trees into thinking it is time to bloom. Crepe myrtle are alive with vibrant pink blooms. Your lamb cake reminded me that there was a cake pan among things found in the garage belonging to the grandmother of my husband. I kept it even though I never thought I would have the courage to use it. It is clearly serendipitous, and I am gathering ingredients for an Easter family meal. Your blog is a happy reflection when it comes and makes a lovely counter to the news of the day.
Susan, you crack me up. When my friend first told me about you I thought you might be, um, a little on the corny side for me? But not the case at all – you’re a pretty hip chick – “can you dig it?” (too funny). I’ve really enjoyed your website. You & I are about the same age & both lived our teens in Southern Calif., so I love it when you send me down memory lane : ) Thanks Susie P. for turning me on to Susan B.!
Susan, you crack me up. When my friend first told me about you, I thought you might be, um, a little on the corny side for me? But not so – you’re a pretty hip chick – “can you dig it?” (too funny). You & I are about the same age & lived our teens in So. Calif., so I love it when you send me down memory lane : ). Thank you Susie P. for turning me on to Susan B.!
I can definitely dig it. Hey, I met the Beatles running through other people’s back yards. How corny could I be? 🙂
Susan, My friend Patsy finally is with all of us girlfriends!!!! (How many of Susan Branch books have I sent you over the years?) This is why I need to get up on my “Soap Box” …..so I can talk above all the unimportant things going on……and talk about YOU …and your wonderful blog. The funny thing is she is corny and crazy (but a Lady)….and she would of been one of the first ones to run through the yard to see the Beatles…but she would be screaming all the way…then after HUG you so hard you couldn’t breathe and then forever be your friend. Together we have never seen anyone famous but we have HAD some wonderful adventures and some awesome “road trips” Have a great day and thanks ..We finally got another girlfriend… the Soap Box lady Susan P (AKA Susie P)
Girlfriends FOREVER Susan! Loved that!
I only recently began receiving your blog and am enjoying it — especially the lovely pictures of spring in this one to remind us that winter won’t last forever! Your lamb turned out so cute! And I was intrigued by the garden book with Tasha Tudor illustrations — I wasn’t aware of that book of hers. Her illustrations and books have been a favorite of our family’s for decades. So glad that her family is keeping her legacy alive. A few days ago we had snow in Idaho, and today it was 55 and felt like spring had come! Always wonderful to have a warm day now and again in February and March to give us hope! Hope you get a spring day soon — the East Coast has really been hammered this year! Thanks for sharing your talents with us all!
Since a friend introduced me to your blog, I have fallen in love with all things Susan Branch. It’s looking like spring here with daffodils poking their heads up looking for just a bit more of the warm weather and sunshine. Loved the lamb cake – my mother-in-law would have wanted to try it but she departed this earth last week – 86 years young. Think about her looking at your happy newsletters.
I’m so sorry for your loss, Lynn. Sending love, lots of spring flowers and blue skies.
The plants and trees here in north Texas are saying “Spring is near!” My Saucer Magnolia is blooming! I’m thrilled to see it’s lovely, purple-y, magnolia-like blooms. It’s always the first to bloom as a precursor to spring. Love it!
I make a marshmallow-like icing, but beat the ingredients over a simmer of hot water until it is nice and fluffy. I plug in the beater and “whir” away until it is all combined and lovely and delicious!
Happy almost Spring . . . Your blog is always such a treat!
Hugs,
Tamara in Florida
We have an aunt who would make the lamb cake every Easter. She always covered it with fresh coconut. It just would not be Easter or Spring without the pretty Lamb cake. Such sweet memories 🙂
I learned to cook at a very young age. My mother gave me Mary Alden’s cookbook for children when I was 7 years old and I still have that book at age 65. The lamb cake pan would be wonderful to use with my 7year old grandson.
Sending warm Phoenix weather your way…your lamb cake is darling…hope we can get into our house…a foot+ of new snow in Michigan!!!…xoxo…
Hello: Your posts are adorable and so is your lambie cake pan. Tasha Tudor did some lovely things…..Thanks so much….arden
I tried to comment when you first posted but the server seemed to be down–probably with all of the othef hopeful entrants trying to gef their comments in! Not sure if mine ever came througb so thanks for a second chance. If i win I am throwing a lamb-themed baby shower whether there are any pregnant women on hand or not. That cake mold deserves it. Lovely! And tasha is one of my inspirations…thanks!
What a wonderful, springtime lamb cake you’ve made! I’d love to try making one just like it, and the recipe book looks so sweet. Thank you for sharing!
Lambs are sort of special to me. I still have my very first stuffed toy, Lambie, which I took everywhere…we shared many adventures! Just recently, I found a photo of me with my Lambie, sitting in an applebox out in the back yard. ( this was long ago! )
What a treasure. Spring is just so green, my favorite color, and bright. Easter to look forward to and the hope of a lovely lamb. What a wonderful tradition for a family. Thank you for all the inspiration, I get gooseybumps.
xxxooo e
This whole post just broke my heart with such cuteness. When we were in England I remember those wooly sheep dotting the fields. I crept near fences & gathered bits of wool left behind by the sheep. I adore Tasha Tudor. We visited her old home where she used to sail the boats down the river for her children. I would love to bake a . Lamb cake but it would devastate me to cut into it. Such sweetness for spring. Thank you for inspiring each new day.
Hi Susan!! Oh my!! Thank you for such a beautiful post with the hopes that Spring around the corner!! And even the beauty of a snowy wonderland! As much as I should be sick of snow from this winter’s arctic blast, I STILL think it is beautiful.. But just don’t tell my friends and neighbors that I said that…they would seriously hurt me! I would love to bake a lamb cake for my sweet granddaughters for a spring celebration when it finally does arrive!! :). Also would love to celebrate spring with such a special book!! I am a big big fan of Tasha Tudor!! Her art is incredibly beautiful of such sweeter times!! I have a few of her books that I have gathered over the years, and they bring such joy and calmness to soak in the sweetness after a rough day!! 😀 As always, Susan, thank you for your kind generosity of beautiful gifts!! Your gifts and your blog and your art bring so much happiness to all of us women who love the finer things in life!! :D. We all must hang in there…Spring is just around the corner!!! 🙂 xoxoxo
Your Lamb cake brought warm memories to my heart. When I was a young child, this Lamb cake was my birthday cake on my 8th birthday. My best friend’s mom made for me. I felt so special that day. What wonderful moments stay with us a life time. Your Post was wonderful,thanks
I love your best friend’s mom — what a gift!
Dearest friend,
I am so-o looking forward to meeting you at the Friends of Gladys Taber reunion in CT in June. I can’t wait to have you sign your book (well, mine now) A Fine Romance with your authentic signature!
Lolliegirl
That is going to be such a fun weekend — I’m really looking forward to meeting you Carla!
Good Morning, Susan!
As always, your blog posts make me smile and appreciate life’s simple pleasures. Beginning my day with a new post from you energizes and inspires me. Thank you for sharing your daily round (and so much more!) with us.
Wonderful post! Thank you for the taste of spring. My daughters have been wanting a lamb cake pan, so your giveaway is exciting! Thanks for all you do.
I have been traveling to WI and did not see this post. I do love lamb cake for Easter. My niece told me that you must eat a gingerbread man’s head first so you can’t hear him scream as you eat the rest. I guess that goes for lamb cake and chocolate bunnies too.
Have a good day girlfriends and Susan!
I reread the post and I am entirely grateful for the demo on the cake mold!!! On my father’s side there is a tradition to make a lamb butter mold for the Easter table, but you can buy them already made too.
Oh gracious – I’ve never used a molded cake pan before! Your lambkins is just adorable, almost too cute to actually eat. You did eat it, right?
Please hug the kittens for us all!
LOL, we ate it!
Susan, loved seeing how you made the lamb cake! It is precious! You and your wonderful blogs are an inspiration to me! Loved reading “A Fine Romance” on a camping trip in the Rockies last summer and now I am reading it all over again at a more leisurely rate. An endearing book! A dear friend of mine and I dream of you coming to Cosco here in Colorado Springs.
Susan, your lamb cake was the first I have ever seen. With your detailed instructions (and cake mold) I would love to make one. Hope it comes out just like the pictures! lol Hugs and Sunshine!
What memories – a sweet aunt made a lamb cake at Easter for my daughter when she was just a wee girl. Would love to win this giveaway. The book looks absolutely charming, I am a great fan of Tasha Tudor’s work.
Loved the little lamb cake. And how very clever to use the toothpicks and wood skewers to stabilize his head. I think a chocolate pound cake would make a cute lamb so he would already have the dark nose and ears. What fun.
The lamb has a special meaning in our family.. It represents a passing of a child… Yet the meaning of spring and new life for us too. The pan would bring great joy to our family and would be passed down and cared for forever .. The book would be the cherry on the cake! Thanks for giving us a chance to win! Thank you and happy spring! Soon!
Hi Susan,
I can’t tell you enough how I love, love, love your books, blog, and just about everything else you do! Whenever I feel like I need a little mini vacation, I just sit down with one of your books, and I’m transported to pure joy and relaxation! No traveling necessary! : ) My mother-in-law owned a gift shop up on the North Shore of Lake Superior in Duluth, MN (The Corner Cupboard) and sold your books. I’ve been in love with them since my first one! I have three daughters who also love your books. After high school, two of them went to school in England in the Lakes District, and have LOVED reading A Fine Romance. My one daughter and her husband are going there this summer, and have gotten some fun ideas from you of places they want to visit. My son, who is just 16, rolled his eyes when I purchased an extra copy of A Fine Romance for his future wife some day. I told him she will so love it!!! Can you tell I’m hooked? Have a lovely day, and thank you for all of the lovely moments you have brought into my life over the years through your books!
That is so cute … for his wife someday! Makes me proud and happy to hear you say that Jillayne! No rolling of the eyes from this quarter!
Baaa awwww !!!!
I would like to enter the drawing for the Lamb cake pan and the Kitchen Gardens cookbook. I’ve always loved Tasha Tudor’s illustrations since reading stories (a favourite pastime) to my children, now grown up, and my grandchildren. I am English and I remember many kitchen gardens, my father being the family gardener, which accounts for my love of vegetables today…
So to win these would be a great joy, as it would to all your girlfriends, I know!! Just keep doing what you are doing, you bring joy to so many – and I love your posts. Thank you so much, Sally
I LOVE your blog. The cake is precious; I used to make an annual rabbit one.
How wonderful! What a lovely post, I can’t wait to make that delicious looking lemon cake and frosting!!! Would be so much better in that darling lamb mold!! What a delightful beginning to Spring, I just can’t wait for Easter! The green coconut grass with jelly bean eggs would look so pretty around the lamb on my large vintage platter! Love it, and love Tasha Tudor’s books and drawings! Thanks for having such a lovely give-away!! 🙂
Your lamb cake is just darling. Can’t wait to try it!
Loving your book A Fine Romance – my daughter gave it to me for Christmas. Oh how I would love to travel to England! But, your book has taken me there. Also, the Lemon cake was such an inspiration to look forward to the Spring. This weekend here in VA was soooo Spring like – 63 degrees, sunny and the air smelled so clean and fresh when we went for our walk. I hear there is a storm coming in the next few days. I’ll need to bring out the cook book and do some more baking when the flurries begin to fall. Thanks for your inspiration!
My best friend, Kelli, makes a lamb cake every year for Easter, in a mold she inherited from her gramma, so special and all of our kids and now her grandkids grew up with lamb cake every Spring. Love the family traditions and love your blog which always brightens my day!
LOVE your blog and books!!!
You love birds; are you familiar with the late Michigan artist Gwen Frostic?
No, I’m not — will have to go look her up! Thank you Polly!
Hi Susan! Your lambkins cake is adorable. I would love to make one of these but have to see if I can find the cake form … unless I win it. 🙂 It reminds me of the butter lambs that look just like this. We can buy them each Easter in our shops here in Holland. It is a tradition like a butter bell is at Christmas.
I would love to win as I would cherish the cookbook because of the Tasha Tudor illustrations. I just adore her work and collect her books. She was included in my list of heroines along with you in an old blog post.
Thanks for giving us all a chance to win something very special from you.
Hugs from Holland,
Heidi
I really enjoy reading your blog. It cheers me up and makes me look forward to spring. This is my second year in my Mom and Dad’s home – and I get excited about seeing the flowers that come up because I had never been home at spring so it is like a gift from my Mother. Have a wonderful spring !!! Judy
I just love opening up my e-mails and reading your Blog. Susan, you truely make me smile. I love how you bring all of us right into your home and make us feel right at home, its like being right there with you. Although, I will say you make everything look so easy.
When I have a moment to my self I love pulling one of my Susan Branch books out and just look through them. They have such wonderful ideas and they are so personal, I can’t get enough.
Just wanted to take time out to say Thank you.
Mickie
I appreciate that so much Mickie.
Susan,
You are a delight and your website brightens everyone’s day! You have such a poetic soul. I feel you are a kindred spirit. You have brought many memories of my grandmother back to me with your lamb cake and thank you for posting the recipe for cake and frosting here. It looks absolutely delicious! I also love Beatrix Potter and you must watch the movie “Miss Potter” it is one of my two favorite movies. I am sure you have seen it but I just thought I would mention it. Thank you for your gifts of creativity and kindness, You are wonderful…
All the Best,
Joy xo ♥ 🙂
Hope I’m not too late to enter! Seeing the Betty Crocker Kitchen Cookbook reminds me of my 1950’s Betty Crocker Cookbook for Boys and Girls. It’s what got me in to cooking and you have to take your inspiration from whatever the source!
Love the recipe, thank you for sharing. Placing the sticks in the neck is a great idea, thank you again!
Little lamb is just too cute to eat ( well maybe) – yum yum!
Such a great mood- lifter on another gray cold Illinois day!
What a cute lamb cake and book combo!
I love the lamb cake! My mom made me one for my first birthday. It became a tradition that she did for both of my brothers as well. I haven’t heard of Tasha Tudor until now, but I’m excited to be introduced to her. Thanks so much for spring inspiration, my yard is still covered in snow, which is unusual for us here in southern PA!
Loved this post! We finally had spring-like weather yesterday, and your beautiful blossom photos have me longing for the warmer weather and lovely colors of spring.
I’ve been reading and enjoying your books for years! I’ve also been savoring every page of A Fine Romance. Thanks so much for all you do to inspire me to make my home a more inviting place.
Wonderful sights of Spring…can’t wait to see green grass again….:):):)
That is such a sweet picture of you holding the cake and looking over the top of your glasses. It feels like spring will never arrive here in Wisconsin. Another cold, windy day. My hens won’t even come out of the coop…..poor dears. Your lamb cake is surely a sign that spring will indeed come…in her own sweet time, I guess.
I’m the wacky fan that stalked you and poor Joe at the Ace Hardware in Tulsa!!! What a treat to finally meet you – BOTH! Like you, I am blessed with fabulous girlfriends – love your Spring inspiration … We need a little sunshine! Love your blog and YOU!! SusanP
LOL, I’m reading and remembering and laughing out loud — just told Joe, he said, she was very nice! Nice to hear from you Susan!
My husband had a cake made with this mold when he was a child. He talks about how much he loved it. I have always wanted to find him one so I could surprise him with it on his birthday!
Thank you for all the beauty in the little things your blog brings! Debbie
I’ve just discovered this blog and am planning on buying the book. Very excited. This is just my kind of thing!! Warmth into a cold snowy day!!
One of the cutest cakes I’ve ever seen!
While sipping on a cup of tea and looking out at the snow covered ground, I decided to read your blog. What a sweet treat to see the beautiful pictures reminding me that spring is just around the corner! The lamb cake (pan) is adorable! The added bonus of the book will be a treasured gift and one sweet reader will be blessed!
Really enjoy your comments and articles. Thanks so much
I am in love with sheep after reading your book!
They seem to represent the English countryside so
perfectly. Have to get me some, even if they are of the
porcelain variety.Thank you, Susan!
Lovely lamb cake! Would love to win the form and the cookbook. Come soon, Spring!
If winter is here, can spring be far behind? I surely hope not and I usually don’t mind winter at all! I do have Kitchen Gardens as I love everything Tasha Tudor! Time to dig it out for a little afternoon reading! Thanks for your wonderful blog Susan! Love it as always! And I love sheep!
Something so whimsical about delicate puffy cotton coated lambs! I love your site. You said hi to me on twitter once and I about exploded lol.
Sincerely, biggest fan (equivalent to the moon and stars)
Michelle
I’m glad I did that Michelle!
A friend introduced your books and blog to me, but years ago, I had discovered you. What a delight to re-discover you via your blog! You’ve inspired me to create ‘domestic bliss’ with my cooking and decorating. Thanks for being such an inspiration. Both your writing and drawings inspire me!
What a wonderful post, SPRING, oh SPRING please come soon…..my toes are cold!
Love the lamb cake I had a dear friend that made these with her daughter every year.
What no Jack helping, unhearable!
I have been a fan for many, many years, Susan. Just looking at your artwork makes me feel happy and inspired. I still have some of your stickers that I purchased about 20 years ago….I love looking at them! I’ve recently started a journal and hope I can make it look as comforting and colorful!
I have a friend who loves lambs. This recipe and little lamb mold is adorable. Would love to win it for her. Your blog is quite sweet and refreshing. Thanks for sharing.
Susan, I think “A fine romance” is your best ever. I felt like was there with you. I will surely read it many over. Your lamb cake mold is adorable. I would love a chance to have it. Happy Day to you
love love love everything susan branch! So fun!
I loved “A fine romance.” Your best yet. I will read it many times over. Lamb is so cute. I would love to have her in my kitchen. Happy Day to you.
Why thank ewe, a lamb cake pa n would be baaa-utiful! Oh how could I resist?!!! Xo
What a delightful post!! I loved every word and tantalizing picture! Your cake is adorable!! I always love reading your directions…only you can make them so much fun! You were just the burst of sunshine I needed in this cold, gray day in Missouri! I’ll be crossing my fingers that your bunny cake mold comes to live with me! ;-))
New to your blog and just love it. I’ve always been drawn by your books and drawings. Thank you for a much needed touch of spring!
Nice to meet you Pat!
So glad to have rediscovered you and your artwork. Was a big fan probably 20 years ago but lost track of you. Here’s to new beginnings!
Welcome back Susan!
love, love, love your lamb cake! So precious 🙂
I would love to make a Lamby Cake for my sweet little granddaughter Bella! She is 2, and I know she would be tickled pink!
BLessings,
Bren
I have a really old lamb cake mold – i’ve never been brave enough to try it. Your blog has inspired me to do it this year. Your tips/hints were very helpful.
thank you
-Iowa
My mother always said the same thing, “Wear clean underwear in case you’re in an accident.” Can’t wait to make the carrot cupcakes. Yum!