Christmas Funfetti Sheet Cake + Autumn-Winter Update (2023)

I was planning to do a post about the cake I made for Christmas and since I haven't done my autumn-winter update yet, I decided to do a double post (like previous years). I started it last week, but I was also working on a post on my entertainment blog Star Sparkle Blog that took  lot of time. So I'm posting today instead.

Scroll down to read the update. :)

Christmas Funfetti Sheet Cake

For Christmas (2023) I baked a Christmas funfetti sheet cake. The recipe is from Handle the Heat: https://handletheheat.com/christmas-funfetti-sheet-cake/

This type of cake is called funfetti because of the sprinkles that go in the batter on top and is also called a confetti cake. In 2014 I made some funfetti cake batter "no-churn" ice cream, which I had for Litha that year.

I couldn't get any red and green sprinkles, so used the usual multicoloured ones instead. It would have been nice to have "Christmas themed" ones but never mind! When I first made a Christmas vanilla roll cake in 2013,  I used Sainsbury's Festive sprinkles, which were red, white and green. (Also put them on top of Easter biscuits the following April.) If I make this again, I'll try to get something similar.

I also just used plain flour because I didn't get round to getting cake flour as well. (Plain flour is the nearest equivalent to all-purpose flour in the UK, although they seem to be a bit different.) I couldn't get buttermilk so just used whole milk. Tessa (the recipe creator) suggests using whole milk instead of a buttermilk substitute. 

The cake was quite nice, although a bit dense. I think this is due to not using buttermilk (as Tessa noted, it changes the texture) so if I were to make it again, I'd do it with buttermilk. Overall though, I liked it. Here's a picture:

 

It's also nice eaten with evaporated milk. It should be kept in the fridge because of the cream cheese frosting.

Did you bake anything over the festive season? Hope everyone had a good Christmas and/or New Year, or any other festival you celebrated! :)

Autumn-Winter Update (2023)

And now it's time for my final update for 2023! For the past few years I've written quarterly updates,  from "season to season", rather than monthly ones like in 2019, or "two monthly" ones which I did in 2020. You can see my previous updates for 2023 at the links below:

Winter-Spring (2023): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2023/04/winter-spring-update-2023-happy-beltane.html

Spring-Summer (2023):  https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2023/07/spring-summer-update-2023.html

Summer-Autumn (2023): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2023/10/summer-autumn-update-2023-happy-samhain.html

 

In mid-October I went to a belly dance class with Nadia Undine. I'm not currently dancing regularly but I go when I can. It's nice to do some dancing.

Also in October I went to Lancing Beach for sunset. I hadn't been for several months. It was a nice sunset. Here are a couple of photos: 

Sunset on Lancing Beach- Oct.

At the end of October I celebrated Hallowe'en/Samhain. You can read my post about it here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2023/11/halloweensamhain-2023.html

I normally go to the Bonfire Night firework display at Lancing Beach Green in early November. However, this year I don't think they had one at all. Last year's was cancelled due to strong winds. I considered going to Worthing's event instead, but decided against it because I think it would have been really busy. 

In November I went to Sprinkles Gelato in Brighton. It's an ice cream place similar to Creams Cafe and Kaspas Desserts. I had mint choc chip ice cream and  a coffee gelato shake. I liked them both but I think I prefer the drinks at Creams and Kaspas. 

Apart from that I went for my regular park walks (not as much as weekly this year but fairly often). When I go to Hove Park I like to get a mocha coffee from Burger King afterwards lately! I shared a couple of photos from the park in last month's Autumn 2023 Photos + Winter Links post: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2023/12/autumn-2023-photos-winter-links.html

I've also continued going to Happy Café (Action for Happiness' Meetup events) during the autumn and the start of winter. They've moved to another pub in Brighton for the winter (like last year) and I just went to one this month (I wasn't able to go last month). Here; a pic I took in Brighton when I went to a Happy Café at The Seahorse on the seafront in the autumn:

Brighton seafront- Oct.

 

I didn't do much baking over the past few months, apart from at sabbats. But I did make a Fry's condensed milk chocolate cake in November. It's similar to the condensed milk afternoon tea cakes I baked in August. I didn't take a picture of the chocolate cake but here's the recipe: https://www.lavenderandlovage.com/2022/07/frys-condensed-milk-chocolate-cake.html

I liked it but I think it could have done with some icing. If I make it again, I'll do a chocolate icing/frosting to go with it. 

I've also been making my own hot chocolate, most often based on my favourite French hot chocolate recipe. I first made it in 2019.

In late December I celebrated Yule/the Winter Solstice. You can read my post about it here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2024/01/yule-2023.html

I had quite a nice Christmas this year (or last year now). Except I was feeling quite anxious due to health anxiety. I made "crockpot" hot chocolate on Christmas Eve again, although mine is done in a saucepan, so it's just based on the recipe, lol. I got some nice presents and had turkey etc. on Christmas Day. I baked the funfetti Christmas cake (see above). For New Year's Day I had another family meal (chicken) and bought a red velvet cake from Tesco, rather than baking again, lol. 

The weather has been cold lately. We had snow the other week (which doesn't happen that often in Sussex!). On the lighter side but it laid. Since that it's been really cold (by UK standards anyway lol), about 4C (39F) during the day and -2 to 0C (28-32F) at night. The other night it was down to -6C (21F)! This weekend it's been a bit warmer though, around 11C (51F). 

So that's it for the last update of 2023! I'll probably carry on the quarterly updates during 2024. In last year's autumn-winter update, I mentioned I would be scaling down for my seasonal celebration idea posts, because I felt that I'd already covered a lot. So now I post a bit less on the blog,  but I still enjoy writing here and I add sections with sabbat celebration ideas to my update posts when I feel inspired to. :)

The next sabbat will be Imbolg/Imbolc on 2nd February, so I'll write about my celebrations afterwards. That festival marks the shift toward spring. I've already seen a few daffodils start to come up but the cold weather might kill them off, as has happened other years. 

I hope everyone had a good end to 2023 and a good start to the New Year! And if you haven't had such a great start, I hope it gets better. :) 

Read: The House of Lost Wives by Rebecca Hardy, Fyneshade by Kate Griffin, The Black Feathers by Rebecca Netley and The Winter Sprits (ghost story anthology which is a sequel to The Haunting Season anthology; Christmas present).

Links I found useful during autumn and winter:

Post by Jessica Dimas on intrusive thoughts (found it helpful when struggling with anxiety): https://jessicadimas.com/intrusive-thoughts/

 

P.S. Just seen this post from Lydia Millen about falling in love with January. I thought I'd link it because I struggle with this time of year, and I know quite a few others do too:

5 Ways to Fall in Love with January: https://lydiaelisemillen.com/5-ways-to-fall-in-love-with-january/