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! ♥
My mother would always make the lamb cake for Easter, Susan, and she also had a bunny pan so she would make a bunny cake, too. Like you, she would put it on a plate and stand it among the Easter grass that she bought to fill an Easter basket. The eyes would be made from tiny jelly beans and it would be lemon-iced with lots of coconut over it. Even the tiny hole in the lamb pan brings back memories for that is just like the one she had. Your cake sounds delicious!
You inspire me so much everyday! My girls would love to make a lamb cake! And I would love the book! I try to visit your blog everyday, even reading old posts over. You keep me in the moment and remind me to look for the little sparkles in my life. Thank you!
Mmmmm I can smell that lemony lamb cake!! I want to try it, with or without the mold!! Hope I am the lucky one!! Happy Spring!! (ALMOST!!!)
My April child always had a bunny cake for her birthday. Perhaps, this year a lambie? She will love the lemon and coconut, too!
We had a snow/ice/rain storm last night and your post on spring made me feel so very good! I would love to win the lamb mold and cookbook!!!! Thank you for the wonderful giveaway!
Love this post, even if I don’t win lambie. Cheers to spring!
I loved the idea to tie a bow on the cake mold! It would look cute sitting out in my kitchen this spring! My neighbor got me putting bows on all my garden animals i like to collect and change them for each holiday.
How fun! I think I want to make a lamb cake. So adorable!
My 1st comment seems to have been lost, so here goes #2…Such a cute cake! And, the Kitchen Gardens book looks lovely…Thank you for the opportunity to win both! ~ Donna
Your lambie cake looks too cute to eat! But I would anyway. 🙂 I think you are a cake-baking genius to think of putting an internal support structure in the cake. If my lamb’s head fell off, I think I would just cry and not try again. But you have given me some courage! And I would love to win the cake pan and the lovely Tasha Tudor book. She is an absolute favorite of mine! I have the bee hive cake pan, so it looks like your recipe would be perfect for that as well. I’ll definitely try it!
My goodness, this sweet lamb cake surely makes me feel that spring really is just around the corner.
I’d love to be the winner of the cake mold and book.
Diane in North Carolina
Susan, Thank you for the beautiful “musica”. I can hardly wait for all my birdies to get back from their winter vacations. I’m not a great baker, but your lamb cake is adorable! I wouldn’t mind taking a crack at making one just like it. I believe “successful lamb-cake baking DNA” is just what I need!
My grandmother and aunt would collaborate and make a lamb cake for Easter dinner – they would spend a full day doing this and it would fill the kitchen with wonderous smells. I’d love a lamb mold and be able to do this with my little granddaughter. I remember being in charge of shaking the bag that held the coconut with a few drops of green coloring. That was way, way back in the every early 50’s – when a day spent baking and decorating a lamb cake would have been understood.
AND the cookbook with Tasha Tudor’s illustrations is a gift unto itself. She led a life I would love to emulate – but alas I am not of the Tudor tenacity and fortitude. I can sit here with her books of photographs and dream of flowers that cascade down my yard and chickens wandering in and out of the kitchen and everything, absolutely everything cooked from scratch and from kitchen gardens.
Oh a wonderful taste of spring! Was just writing a post card with lambs gracing the front to my grand daughter about all the wooly creatures I saw on my drive home from Phoenix to Farmington, NM. Sheep are abundant on the Navajo Reservation I drive through. They were munching on the tiniest green shoots just appearing up out of the gray winter earth. I returned home with lemons I picked off my sister’s backyard tree so this is a perfect time to make this cake!
I can taste the lemony, coconutty, goodness just from the pictures. Thanks for the give a way!
Name in – hopefully – name out!!! Have a granddaughter that is nutsy over lambs – this would be perfect gift for her! Fingers crossed. 🙂
I love the lambie cake pan! I have several other stand-up types that were my mom’s…love them! Thanks for this drawing!
Hi Susan,
Lovely blog about the cake..so helpful to get recipes, too! I almost always have lemons in my garden here in southern Cali. I would love to make a lamb cake for my 65th bday on May 11th. So, to tell you I want it BAAAA-dly, is an understatement! The book just makes your give-away extra sweet!!
Hugs,
Jerri Ellen
San Juan Capistrano, CA
What a wonderful tip to use the skewers to help keep the lamb cake together! Who can say no to lemon and coconut? Your cake is a teaser for the Spring yet to come. What a wonderful creature, the lamb. I love working with wool, for knitting, crocheting and weaving. There is nothing like wool to keep you warm, especially after the Winter we have had!
I just love the lamb cake idea, and would love to do it for Easter this year. You certainly are an inspiration! I love all your clever ideas, and delicious recipes. Only you can turn a bleak gray day into a beautiful work of art. I thank you for sharing your beautiful talent with everyone. You will never know the joy, happiness, and encouragement you have given me over the years. What a beautiful soul you have for sharing your time, talent and treasure with the rest of us. Thank you for sharing your precious gift. Nancy
Thanks for your beautiful pictures and their harbingers of spring! I am eager to try the lamb cake, although I may have to bake it in my football stadium cakepan!
Cheers!
Oh Susan, this post was so inspiring. I can’t wait till spring. I never think your posts are too long. I Love reading them. Thank you so much!
I love the cake. It turned out so nice.
I also love the photo of the house. A great photo!
We are receiving icky weather today…sleet, rain and snow. Dangerous outside, so inside we will stay!
I think you just inspired me to bake a treat for my boys. 🙂
xx oo
Carla
What a cute cake and it looks yummy too.
Susan, The book sounds so nice, and I loved the directions being on here for making the molded lamb cake. Thank you, Rebecca
That book looks wonderful~ would just love to have a look inside it! Good luck to me! It’s snowing here today so the Spring photos were just what I needed. Well, gotta go. The kiddos are getting out of school early and I need to get some things done before that! Take care, Susan!
Such memories you bring back! In the the late 1980’s a good friend of mine arranged with an elderly friend of hers for us to have tea at Tasha Tudor’s farm. I was beside myself with excitement as I had long admired her through her books as well those she illustrated for Mary Mason Campbell. ( A Basket of Herbs, Butt’ry Shelf Almanac and Butt’ry Shelf Cookbook ) But alas it wasn’t meant to happen. Ms. Tudor fell ill and another opportunity to visit never presented itself. However, a signed copy of her print of old roses hangs proudly in my bedroom. ” Thanks for the memories.”
Spring Time and Easter…oh my! I love it so. Thanks Susan!
First so glad you and your husband arrived safe and sound after the storm.
The lamb cake is adorable. The weather is strickley for baking. So our homes
smell so very yummy..
Thank you for all you do. Love your books.
Enjoy the rest of the snow season. Easter is not far off. The first day of spring
will be here before you know it.
Seeing this post has convinced me to make my own lamb cake for Easter this year just to see my 1 year old grandson’s face at the sight of it! He loves animals and I can just imagine the expression on his face when he sees one made out of cake! Yum!! I think I will try your Daisy Lemon Cake also! I can imagine it tastes like a bite of Spring!!
Years ago my young daughter had a little stuffed white lamb that wore a yellow dress. And she named her “Sheepie.” I would get mixed up and call her “Lambie,” but she always corrected me. Fond memories : ) Hurry up Spring!
Hi Susan! Thank you for a hint of Spring time. I loved the hints about making the lamb cake (tying it with string) and making it whole. Growing up I made a rabbit cake in two pans and frosted the middle. I like your way better. Your recipes sound fabulous, especially that frosting. Yummo!
What a breath of fresh air Susan..Thank U!! Right now it is snowing so hard I cannot see across the street here in Michigan…I would LOVE to have the lamb mold and garden book. I have a pic of my christening back in 1957 with a lamb cake mad by my precious aunt and the mold has lon since disappeared. The gardening book looks magical.. I cannot Wait for green grass! You are a true blessing! Thanks for brighting another snowy day!
I just found a used copy of The Summer Book this past weekend (lucky me!). I am getting Spring Fever too!
Boy did we need that!!! Thanks for the cheering up.
The book looks absolutely charming — and illustrations by Tasha Tudor makes it even better! I love little lamb cake mold, too. Happy pre-Spring, Susan!
Here in Minnesota we are waiting for the biggest snowfall of the season. Thanks for the lift that I dearly needed!
My neighbor when I was a young girl would make an easter lamb cookie that also sat upright and when you cut in, was filled with jelly beans! Also so cute on the table.
Hello Susan!
I DO feel encouraged after reading this delightful post! Spring really, truly, is coming. I’ve been sitting here in the dining room
watching my 6 foot long roof ice spears dripping and shrinking before my eyes – hurrah! Of course I know there will be more ice and snow, but at least for a few days I can pretend this is on it’s way out! Love, love, love the lamb cake, you clever girl! Thank you so much for brightening my day – as usual!
Just LOVE the cute Lamb cake and the chickie cupcakes!! Look so scrummy, but almost too pretty to eat! And so generous to give away the lamb mold and the wonderful Kitchen Garden book with the Tasha Tudor illustrations, so very special. Thank you for the lovely glimpse of Spring!!
This post brought back so many lovely memories for me – baking with my mother and learning to sift flour onto waxed paper, Tasha Tudor and her wonderful drawings, winter in New England, Spring in New England, and Gladys Taber (one of my favorite authors, even from childhood). I have always believed we are kindred spirits because we love so many of the same things. I love all the girlfriends because we all share similar loves, especially for home and family. I would love to make this cake for my girlfriends. Thanks for the memories!
Susan, I Wooly Appreciate Ewe! Thank Ewe very much!!
Very cute!
What a cute lamb!
Susan….just have to tell you how much I love your recipe cards…ALL of them. They are so nice to write recipes on, plenty of room and big and your illustrations are so wonderful. (Can you tell I just used one to write down a recipe? 🙂 )
So nice to hear Karen!
Dear Susan,
Thank you for sharing such a joyful post with us! The birdsong, the spring images, and then the wonderfully cozy cake baking session! Love it! Please know that you are such a delight and inspiration to so many and I hope it warms your heart to know how much we love you! Have a blessed day!
Rebecca
Oh my Susan! What a perfect way to welcome “Spring”!
Hello, Susan! Some time ago I discovered your blog because of Jane Austen, who I love! And then I found much more than this: a great, inspiring blog, with sweet texts, images, recipes and English culture, which I admire so much. I’m a fan and of course I’d love to win both, the book and the mold. Here in Brazil we don’t have any… 🙁
The lamb cake looks great, you did an excellent job. Loved the blog, and no, they never get too long for me. The instructions for baking the cake are great.
If I win the mold, I will make a lamb cake for Easter. The garden book looks very interesting, a keepsake, especially because of Tasha Tudor.
Thanks for taking the time to take the pics and post.
The book looks fantastic!
Susan,
Love the lambs! I love spring too. Thanks for the recipe for the lamb cake.
Mary A
What a sweet cake! My 8 yr. old daughter would love us to make this cake together and have tea! 🙂 Thanks for the opportunity to win! 🙂
Thank you for the renewed hope of spring! We’ve actually had a couple days of thawing/rain here in South Bend, but still have sooo much snow. A poor, confused opossum was up to our patio door this noon, scrounging for food.
Like many of your other readers, I’ve never made a cake in a form pan, but am always thrilled to get special “insider tips” from the pros (like you!) who have made a recipe over and over and perfected it and are willing to share all those wonderful tips — like the toothpicks and the dab of frosting on the plate. If Lucy or I win the drawing, we’ll have the making of a lamb cake be a true Lucy and Ethel adventure! (Hmmm … is there an episode about that already?) Also, I LOVED the pic of the house you were visiting — reminded me of a Thomas Kincade painting and looked oh so cozy. Keep thinking spring, if you please — you are keeping our spirits up! Hugs, Ethel
Thank you for the glimpses of spring! I just came inside from shoveling the wet heavy snow and ice away from the house foundation and off the deck before this warmer weather causes a flood. Exhausting work and now I enjoyed the pictures, recipes and imagined smells! 🙂 Thank you Susan!
Love this post! I have a severe sheep/lamb fetish. I have SO VERY MANY sheep knick-knacks around my home–sitting on every available table, on the wall, out in the garden…you name it. I MUST HAVE these two things…oh may my name be drawn!
It’s in the 40’s today! 20 days till Spring! Thank you for the lovely Spring photos. Soon! Would love to make my own sweet lamb cake. Think Spring! Luanne
Your blog is wonderful to read! I get so many ideas from you. And I love the lamb pan, a wonderful gift for someone!
Susan.. Your post brought back so many wonderful memories of my childhood. Every Easter my Grandmother would make a lamb cake with raisins for the eyes, a pink jelly bean for the nose,a cherry for the mouth and green dyed coconut sprinkled with jelly beans around the lamb! After my Grandmother passed away my Mom continued the tradition. Sadly my Mom passed away in December. I have now inherited the lamb cake mold… so with your wonderful post complete with detailed directions I will bake my first “Grama Lamb Cake “this year! I have printed off your blog directions today. I would love to have the garden book to add to my collection of your cookbooks,as Betty Crocker was a staple in my home growing up. Heartfelt thanks to you for your blog. Stay warm and cozy. Spring is coming… Much Love to You. Nancy.
What an e x c i t i n g and generous give away ! Thank you for sharing with us !!…and the only problem w/the cake.. ? it’s too beautiful to cut !
What a darling lamb cake almost too cute to eat! If that doesn’t make you think of Spring nothing will!
I love it all! I hope Vanna chooses me so I can make that precious cake for my family. There is nothing like lambs, bunnies and chicks to give us hope that spring is almost here!
Oh my what a lovely dinner you must have had ~ gorgeous house, darling cake!! What more do you need??? Please show the rabbit cake mold if you have a chance, how darling. So idyllic!
I hardly know what to comment on first! The lamb cake pan which just might break my obsession with my bee hive cake pan, the micro-planer -which I love- my older sister gave me mine because she was certain I needed one( I have four older sisters who are always giving me things I need, most times they are right!) or the Tasha Tudor illustrations. Love anything she illustrates. I named my three rescue kittens ; Pumpkin, Moonshine and Sylvie-Anne after the Tasha Tudor “Pumpkin Moonshine ” book, a book everyone should have! Great post, come on spring !!!!!
So right, Lynda! Everyone should have “Pumpkin Moonshine.” Love those Tasha illustrations especially.
I think my grandma’s Bonnie Butter Cake and Seven Minute Frosting (pretty much like yours but you beat the ingredients in a double boiler for seven minutes) would work wonderfully for a lamb cake.
This post was exactly what I needed to get me out of my slump! It’s been one of those weeks and the weather hasn’t helped either. I officially have Spring Fever and can’t wait to back my own lamb cake!
Oh Susan, you are truly inspiring. I think the lemon zest lambie cake sounds so delish and what a wonderful centerpiece that would make for Easter. Yes, I would love this one. My one cousin and her husband are coming to visit from Belfast, Northern Ireland in April and my sister will be here as well. Wouldn’t that be just grand. And, since we LOVE coconut, that would be perfect.
Well I’m sad to hear that this Sunday night will be the last episode for this season of Downton………..and it will be 2 hours. Although I love the 2 hours, I’m sad we have to wait until next January to see the next episode. There is a quiz out as to who you are in Downton Abbey………..have you taken it? I am Lady Mary and my Joe is Matthew so I guess we were meant to be. Sometimes a lady gets a man’s name or vice versa. You and Joe have to try this bit of fun.
Thanks for all the tidbits of fun you send our way – I love them all. Luv, Gail xo
I just found the Quiz … Fun!
Well, this time I turned out to be Earl Grantham! And again I don’t know what to say! LOL.
Oh, I love your lamb cake! And since my knitting/quilting shop is called The Loopy Ewe, I think it needs to come live at my house. (Vanna? Pick me!)
Dear Susan….you did it again. You have re-inspired me!!! Now I just HAVE to make a lamb cake for my dear little great-(can’t believe it!)granddaughter’s first birthday if I can find a lambie mold in time.
I too have a large collection of dear little lambs (one of my favorites I bought in Hawes, England) and love it that you are collecting them too.
And, as I have told you before, I grew up with the same Johnson Brothers dishes (my niece now has them) and seeing the cupcakes on them took me home again!
Some day I hope you can tell me where to find the candle holders that you often show …. the ones that look like Silhouettes.
Thank you for sharing your dear, wonderful happenings and ideas.
What a sweet cake! My kids would have such fun making the cake with me for my dad’s birthday on April 2nd!!! Thank you so much for sharing!
Oh my, I have always wanted to know what to do with a lamb mold. I have seen them in vintage shops. I would love to try to make a cake. Yours turned out lovely. Thanks for the opportunity.
Susan,
The cake turned out beautifully. I’ve never baked a cake using a mold, but would love to try it. I love your step by step description. How could anyone go wrong baking a cake the great way you list every step with pictures no less? I loved the picture of the house where you were going for dinner. It did look like a fairy tale. It was beautiful, but I know you have had a bad winter. I think of you every time I see the weather forecast for your part of the country. It’s beautiful to see since I live in Florida and don’t get to see snow any more. I have the picture of your house with the snow falling from your last blog as my screen saver right now. So thanks for sharing. I hope spring will there soon. Love your blog. It could never be too long for me. Sue in Fl.
AHHHH! How lovely, a bit of Spring even if it is imagined!
What a sweet spring post—we’re all ready for it! Your lambie cake is just adorable and the cookbook illustrated by Tasha Tudor looks interesting. Spring is so close now. The snow is melting in VA and when I went to fill the bird feeders this afternoon, I spotted daffodils peeking through the soil! Makes me so happy!! xoxo ♥
Oh Spring! Susan, I do love your candle in your measuring cup:)!!
Hi everyone,
I am soooo ready for spring! Even though today was in the 50’s…it started with icy roads.
We have had the fourth snowiest winter on record. It is beautiful to look at but awful to drive about in. We lost trees and a shed during one of the storms… At least we had power.
It will be wonderful to see all of nature in bloom.
I love the Lamb cake mold… Just loved the way you iced the cake …leaving the face exposed.
Never had a cake mold in the shape of a lamb, but do have a butter mold in a lamb shape.
I use it every Easter to make a lamb butter for our dinner table. …it would be nice to have matching lammies!
I have never seen that garden book, but it sounds lovely. It would be great having both those fabulous gifts you have hand picked…please Vanna….think of me!
Those recipes sound yummy…cannot not wait to try them!
Thanks Susan for another great blog.
Think Spring!,,,
Kathie from Limerick, Pa
How sweet the lamb is. And that book looks wonderful! I love Tasha Tudor and have her garden book, but I’m not familiar with the writer. Looks so very special. My husband has set up everything for planting this years seeds in the basement, so spring can’t be far behind.
Hi Susan! Your lamb cake is too cute! My mom used to make a rabbit cake for Easter when I was little, and this post reminded me of that. My husband has a huge family and Easter is one of the big family dinners. I would love to make your lamb cake for Easter this year! (Hopefully I will be able to make something this year, that is…I had spine surgery in December & I am still recovering. It’s been a rough road but I have to say, your blog always puts a smile on my face 🙂
This is a little off-topic, but I know you are an avid reader, and I’ve been wanting to ask you if you’ve ever heard of/read “The Snow Child” by Eowyn Ivey. If you haven’t, it’s a wonderful, well-written book, and perfect for reading on snowy, chilly days (or nights!). I actually loved the book so much that I bought a first edition hard cover for myself. I’d like to send you my paperback copy if you’d like to read it. I think you would really like it & I’d be honored to send you my once-read copy (it looks new). Speaking of books, I loved “A Fine Romance” and I’ll be checking to see if you come to a bookstore in my vicinity (I live in Delaware, but would travel to the Philly or Baltimore area to meet you!!)
Anyway, thanks for having such a happy and inspiring blog – and I love all of the pictures of Jack and Girl.
I just ordered that book! My girlfriend read it and loved it! Thank you for the sweet offer Tara, I know I will love the book.
What a cute cake! As much as I love the winter and snow, I did enjoy reading your post.
Susan,
The lamb cake is sooooo cute!!! I host Easter for my family every year and would love the cake pan. I also love Tasha Tudor and would love to receive the book as well. Spring is coming!
Adorable lamb! I love your idea of using toothpicks and the skewers for the extra support. Thank you for sharing such a creative and fun kitchen project. I’m going to go and buy a mold. Still learning (and having a ball) with friends at age 66….
Sending,
,’ . * )
( . ‘ ,’ ,* ‘ ‘ )
( , ‘ smiles, Genie
Love the cake. My mom used to make cakes like that when we were younger. I love the frosting you used haven’t thought of it in years. Usually make butter cream or cream cheese. Also like the zester. I’ve tried a few and don’t care for the results of the zest. More a pile of mush than a very fine shred. Great post!
Yipee! Such unique gifts!. How kind of you to think of us.
What wonderful gifts! Thanks a bunch
Love your lamb cake so wonderful and love to herb garden!
The lamb cake is precious…..perfect for an Easter table centerpiece 🙂
I must have that book!!! Hope you pick my name!!!
It’s been a looooooong winter in Iowa! The lamb cake pan and recipes would certainly be a welcome sign of the spring we hope arrives soon! With your photos and guidance, I’d welcome the opportunity to share this with my family and friends! As always, I love your blog! Kay
I wondered what was wrong with me…and that’s it…Spring Fever! Thanks for the fun post and chance to win the lamb pan and book. I decorated many cakes back when my kids were small and that looks like a cute one.
Oh my…what inspiration! I absolutely love all of the seasons, but winter does get long even though we all know that the wait makes spring even sweeter! I have been trying to add just a few small little touches of spring here and there to help us wait patiently! What fun it would be to make the lamb cake! I will definitely try the cake recipe! I am a huge fan of Tasha Tudor! I never saw that cookbook before! What a great find! Thank you for the inspiration!
Susan I love seeing your beautiful pics of your winter wonderland. Southern Calif. has had no winter at all. It is about 79 degrees outside as I write this. Not that I’m complaining but we really need some rain. Could you send a little snow in the lamb if I win it. Thanks Kathy
Hi Susan,
Oh, a lamb cake – how original and wonderful! thank you for your step-by-step instructions – I will try it for easter….”I think I can….. I think I can….” Last time I made a shape cake was for my 7 year old son (26 years ago!) I made a train, when I got done sticking it together with all that frosting it weighed a hundred pounds – or so it felt! Those days are gone, but ‘on with the lamb’ – but where do I get the mold if I don’t win?
Dixie
thanks for your sweet and ever lively conversation.
Thanks for the dandy lamb cake tutorial; I will keep it in mind as I always host Easter dinner, complete with egg hunt. The grand nieces and nephews will love the cake. I perked up when I saw the kitchen garden book illustrated by Tasha Tudor. I didn’t know of its existence. I have a well-loved copy of her Christmas book (I also have a nice little copy of one of your Christmas books and have given others as gifts). Spring is in the air today, but alas, it is a tease. The winter winds return tonight.
Thanks for the taste of spring. I would love to win the lamb mold and book.
Cute cake and lovely book! Thank you for the opportunity to win BOTH!! ~ Donna
You’ve out done yourself again with that lamb cake! Soo cute. Just returned from a long weekend trip to So. CA. The sun and warmth were extra special. It was nice to see bright colors again. Although mustn’t complain because I do have crocus in bloom, pussy willows are showing as are the red and yellow twig bushes. There is Spring hidden and playing peek a boo as the wind, rain, snow, hail, sleet buffet us as each storm rolls through Western Washington on its hurried way to somewhere else. 🙂
Your blog is one of the bright spots of my day. Your beautiful spirit shines through your lovely drawings. I have always wanted to bake a lamb cake…it would be such a treat for Easter.
Love the Lamb cake pan! My sister inherited my mom’s, but I have memories
of the lamb cakes she made growing up. Springtime and Easter delights for many years! I’ll keep that thought because it’s another snowstorm outside, again!! Good Luck to all the girlfriends around the world. Thanks again, Susan
for your play-by-play recipes, it makes baking that much more fun!
Think this spring post is just what we all needed to lift our spirits! Must say your recipes are so easy to follow with the wonderful photos and step-by-step instructions-almost like standing alongside you in the kitchen! The lambie cake is so unique and special. Bet your dinner friends appreciated all your efforts!
Susan,
You always brighten my day…but today I have just 3 words for you…..
YOU ARE AMAZING!!!!
Thank you for all you do for us to make our lives full of old fashioned goodness!
Dolli
Susan: That lamb cake was a masterpiece! Don’t know if I could make something that gorgeous! Takes a lot of talent and a lot of patience! Your pictures of Spring were so inspiring – so nice to see some color and green in your blog amidst all this white! The gardening book looks wonderful, and the Tasha Tudor pictures look so inviting, you just want to jump into the page and be a part of her world.
Arnie and Paula’s house is so beautiful in that winter picture. Reminds me of a Thomas Kincaid picture. The lights in the windows so welcoming, you just know there is going to be something luscious, warm, and comforting to eat for dinner!
We walked into the house to a big crackling fire — it was perfect.
I remember my aunt making lamb cakes for Easter Dinner back in the late 50’s-early 60’s. Always wondered why she stopped. Maybe too many heads fell off, I suppose! It would be fun to make one for my grandkids, I bet they would love it! But I’d have to figure out a sub for coconut, I never could get on that bandwagon! Too bad for my Mr., since he loves the stuff! ;-))