Madron 2026

Last Wednesday (23rd September) it was Madron, also known Mabon/the Autumn Equinox. (Although for some it was Tuesday the 22nd, depending on your time zone.) My main celebration for this sabbat is baking. I most often make some kind of ginger cake (before that I made gingerbread, like I do for Lammas but occasionally do something different. Last year I baked a buttermilk spice cake.

This Madron, I decided to go back to ginger! I baked a gingerbread sheet cake. The recipe is from Cloudy Kitchen: https://cloudykitchen.com/blog/gingerbread-sheet-cake-with-maple-cream-cheese-frosting/

It's a one bowl recipe (made all in one bowl) and has a maple cream cheese frosting. I used treacle instead of molasses and mixed spice instead of allspice because both of those are more readily available in the UK. 

The cake was quite nice, although as I've mentioned before, these types of cakes can be a bit heavy (probably due to the treacle). I made a gingerbread traybake for Madron 2024 and I think that was a bit lighter because it also had golden syrup in it.

Here's a picture:  

 

Winter-Spring Update (2025) + Easter Baking

We've just passed the first quarter of the year, so it's time for my first update of 2025! Also, since Easter is coming up next weekend, I've added a section with some Easter recipes (scroll down for that). :)

Winter-Spring Update (2025)

For the past few years I've written quarterly updates (from "season to season"). I started out writing monthly updates in 2019 and then "two monthly" (two months at a time) ones in 2020, but found that quarterly was better for me. So I'm going to carry that on in 2025. :)

You can see my autumn-winter 2024 update here if you like: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2025/01/new-year-gingerbread-cookies-autumn.html

I didn't do much during January really. I had a bit of a stressful start to the year, due to personal circumstances. 

At the beginning of February I celebrated Imbolg. You can see my post about it here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2025/02/imbolg-2025.html

Also during February, I went to Popeyes and got some food. Similarly to Slim Chickens, I'd had milkshakes from there before but not a meal. I tried Slim Chickens' food for the first time in December. I like them both, but like Popeyes' chicken a bit more and  prefer Slim Chickens' milkshakes! 

At the beginning of March I celebrated my birthday. I got a few presents and had a red velvet cake from Marks & Spencer (a small one because they didn't have the bigger one I usually get) and some food at home. I also got takeaway from Nando's. 

In mid-late March it was Ostara/Ostara aka the Spring Equinox. You can read my post about my celebration here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2025/03/oestara-2025.html

Later in March I met up with my dance friends at a pub in Hangleton (Hove). It was nice to see them.

While I'm not currently going on regular park walks , I went to the park a few times during February and March. I had planned to go to Hove Park for Oestara but ended up going to a nearer one instead, because it was quite a busy day. However, I went to Hove a couple of weeks later, around sunset. I also went to Burger King and got a double bacon cheeseburger, a mocha latte and a Coke, then went and sat in the park for a bit.

Here are a couple of photos:

View from by Hove Park.

Oestara 2025

Last Thursday (20th March) it was Oestara, (more commonly known as Ostara), aka the Spring Equinox. My main celebration for this sabbat is baking and this year I made carrot cake bars with vanilla cream cheese frosting. The recipe is from Simply Taralynn: https://simplytaralynn.com/2025/02/12/carrot-cake-bars-with-vanilla-cream-cheese-frosting/

They were quite nice. Here's a pic:

Taken before I cut them into bars!

 

Madron 2024

Last weekend (Sunday 22nd September) it was Madron, also known as Mabon and the Autumn Equinox. My main celebration for this sabbat is baking and this year I made a gingerbread traybake. The recipe is from The Baking Explorer: https://thebakingexplorer.com/gingerbread-traybake/

When I've baked gingerbread cakes or muffins in the past, I've often made a cream cheese frosting (one of my favourites is from the James Martin white chocolate Easter cake I've made several times). But this time I made the buttercream icing that goes with the recipe. It's a simple one made out of butter, icing sugar, ground ginger and vanilla extract.

The traybake itself was quite nice. Here's a picture:

Pic taken before I cut it!

 

Summer-Autumn Update (2022)

It's already October, so it's time for my 3rd quarterly update- summer to autumn! You can see my previous updates at the links below:

Winter-Spring Update (2022): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2022/04/winter-spring-update-2022.html

Spring-Summer Update (2022): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2022/07/spring-summer-update-2022.html

 

In early July I went to a metal fusion belly dance workshop in Portslade with Lianna Greene, which was fun. It's been good to get back into dancing again this year (after the lockdowns and uncertainty due to the pandemic) although I'm not currently attending regular classes.   

I also went to Lancing Beach at sunset during July. It was more of a "gentle" sunset but still nice. Here's a photo:

 

Sunset at Lancing Beach.

Christmas Brown Butter Pecan Cake + Autumn-Winter Update

I wanted 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 make this a double post. (Like last year's.) Scroll further down if you just want to read the update. :)

Christmas Brown Butter Pecan Cake

For this Christmas (or rather Christmas 2021 now!) I baked a brown butter pecan sheet cake. The recipe is from Handle the Heat: https://handletheheat.com/butter-pecan-sheet-cake/

I normally make the cake on Christmas Eve and then ice it on Christmas Day. But in this case the glaze needs to be done when it's warm so I did it all on Christmas Eve. It came out quite nice, except the glaze melted into the cake, so it didn't look quite like the pictures!

I still liked it. I had some with leftover condensed milk (that I had used for Christmas Eve crockpot hot chocolate, see below) and also some evaporated milk another time. Here's a picture:

 

 

Christmas Ginger Poke Cake + November/December Update

I hadn't written my November/December update yet and I was also planning to write about the ginger poke cake I made for Christmas, so I decided to do a double post. (Rather than two weeks apart). Also did that last year). If you just want to read the update, scroll further down. :)

Christmas Ginger Poke Cake

For this Christmas (or Christmas 2020 now!) I decided to make a recipe based on a gingerbread poke cake. It's from Fantastical Sharing of Recipes: http://www.fantasticalsharing.com/2020/12/gingerbread-poke-cake.html

The recipe uses a cake mix which I thought was easier after a stressful year! I called it a "ginger poke cake" because I couldn't find an actual gingerbread cake mix. So, I used Wrights ginger cake mix. 

I hadn't made a poke cake before but I've come across them online. I think they're more popular in America. You make the cake then poke holes in it with a wooden spoon, and pour condensed milk and caramel sauce over the top to soak in. I couldn't find a caramel sauce either, so I just used condensed milk. 

The recipe uses Cool Whip but I don't think we have that in the UK. So, I made a cream cheese icing using a recipe from Nigella Lawson. It goes with her Guinness chocolate cake. (I haven't baked the cake but it looks very nice!). I previously used cream cheese frosting instead of Cool Whip when I made a gingerbread cake for Madron 2015. It was Betty Crocker's ready-made frosting in that case.

I liked the cake, although I do think it could have been a bit nicer, the flavour and texture. Here's a pic:

 

May/June Update

It's time for the May/June update!  You can read the other updates (each covering two months) at the links below:*

Jan/Feb: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/03/januaryfebruary-update.html

March/April (+ Baking Inspiration): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/05/marchapril-update-baking-inspiration.html

May started with Beltane on the 1st. (Although some people celebrate on 30th April). You can read my post about celebrating here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/05/beltane-2020.html

Back in March we went into lockdown in the UK due to the coronavirus and this continued into May. So, there's not really much to report, I just went out for food shopping/essentials a couple of times a week, lol. In the past when I've been really depressed, I haven't gone out much, but in recent years I've been doing more things, so I've had to adjust to that. (I do realise it would be more of a big change for some people).

We had some nice weather and sunny days and beautiful flowers blooming. Here's a picture I took while out one day:

March/April Update + Baking Inspiration

Time for the March/April update! This year I decided to do updates every couple of months rather than monthly ones like last year, because I sometimes found it hard fitting them in with the sabbat posts.

I'm a bit later writing this because I did the Beltane 2020 post last weekend. This will be quite a long post because it's covering two months. Also at the end I've included a baking inspiration section because lots of people are baking right now! So if you're here for the baking, just scroll down. :)

Read Jan/Feb's update here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/03/januaryfebruary-update.html

These past couple of months have been hard worldwide with so many cases of the coronavirus and lots of countries introducing lockdowns/quarantines. Late Feb/early March was like the last "normal" time here in the UK (before lockdown).

March started with my birthday. I had a good day, I got some nice presents and had a red velvet cake again, like last year. Then a few days later I went to Nando's with my mum, the Brighton one this time rather than the one in Hove. I had my "usual" (although I only go about once a year! lol), chicken butterfly (plain-ish), chips and Coke. Then for a change I had frozen yoghurt for pudding (dessert) and bought some carrot cake to take home. Here's a pic of my food:

Easter 2020

Last weekend it was Easter and I baked the frosted white chocolate cake that is one of my favourites to make. The recipe is by British chef James Martin and is a Madeira style cake with white chocolate in the sponge and cream cheese frosting. For more on the cake and the recipe link, visit this post: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/04/frosted-white-chocolate-easter-cake.html

 I made it on Saturday and then iced it on Easter Sunday (12th April). Some years I do it all on the Saturday, just depends.  Here's a picture:

Christmas Gingerbread Sheet Cake + December Update

I'm combining my usual Christmas baking post with my monthly update post. So scroll down for the December update. :)


Christmas Gingerbread Sheet Cake

For Christmas this year (or last year now!) I baked a gingerbread sheet cake using a recipe from Handle the Heat. You can find the recipe here: https://www.handletheheat.com/gingerbread-sheet-cake/

It came out quite nice, although perhaps a bit heavy on the spices! Here's a picture:

Easter 2019

This Easter I baked the frosted white chocolate Easter cake that I made for the last couple of years. (I've made it 3 times altogether now, first time was Easter 2013). It's a Madeira style cake with white chocolate in the sponge and cream cheese frosting. The recipe is by British chef James Martin. For more on the cake and the recipe link, visit this post: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/04/frosted-white-chocolate-easter-cake.html

I made it on Saturday and had a piece, although the frosting hadn't properly set, lol. I think it tasted better the next day (Easter Sunday), the flavour had come out more as well.  Here's a pic:

Easter 2018

This year for Easter I baked the frosted white chocolate Easter cake that I made last year, and a few years before that as well. It has white chocolate in the sponge and cream cheese icing. For more on the cake and the recipe visit this post: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/04/frosted-white-chocolate-easter-cake.html

Here is a picture of this year's cake:

Oestara 2018

Last Tuesday was Oestara aka Ostara and the Spring Equinox. As I mentioned in my Celebrating Oestara and Spring post I baked a white chocolate Malteser cake. Here's the recipe: https://goodfood.uktv.co.uk/recipe/white-chocolate-malteser-cake/

Update 13/3/22: The Good Food site is now gone but here is a recipe that I think is quite similar, (although it has malted milk powder, not drinking chocolate and the one I made didn't have any rum in!): https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/chocolate-and-malteser-cake/

I couldn't find white Maltesers so I just used ordinary ones for the top of the cake. I put Cadbury Mini Eggs on top as well. The recipe requires Malteser drinking chocolate, so I put in two 50g sachets and I used Tesco white chocolate for the icing. It came out quite nice. Here's a picture:

White Chocolate Christmas Cake + New Year Biscuits

I normally post on Sundays or Mondays but since this year those days were New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, I'm posting today instead. :)

For Christmas I made a white chocolate Wonderland cake. The recipe is from British blogger and YouTuber Tanya Burr's book Tanya's Christmas. The recipe was featured in OK! magazine. I can't actually find the recipe online but here are a couple of other white chocolate cake ones:

http://www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/easiest-ever-white-chocolate-fudge-cake/

 http://www.bakewithstork.com/recipes/white-chocolate-cake-with-strawberries

The Wonderland cake has white chocolate in the sponge but not in the icing itself, that's just buttercream. I think the second recipe is a bit more similar to it than the first one. The recipe has white chocolate stars on top but I just grated some on top and added hundreds and thousands. It was quite nice, although I think it got better a couple of days later. I baked it on Christmas Eve and did the icing on Christmas Day. Here's a picture:

Lammas Celebration Ideas

Lammas is coming up this week (it's on Tuesday 1st August) so I thought I'd do a celebration ideas post to accompany my past ones on Hallowe'en/Samhain, Oestara, Beltane and Litha. (Read them as well if you'd like some ideas for future celebrations, the closest is Samhain in October!). It's my favourite sabbat apart from Samhain aka Hallowe'en! :)


The main themes are harvest and the Sun God Lugh (pronounced "Loo"). At Lammas he's slain and will be resurrected at Yule in the form of the new God (much like the Christian Jesus). Some people make a Corn King to represent Lugh.


Here are a few links with more info about Lammas aka Lughnasadh (also click on Lammas at the start of the post to read more about it):

Update 4/8/26: I've removed and replaced some links.

https://www.learnreligions.com/celebrating-lammas-or-lughnasadh-in-august-2562156

https://thepaganandthepen.wordpress.com/2010/07/31/lammas-corn-king/ (Currently a private site)

https://www.sagegoddess.com/blog/musings/simple-ritual-ideas-lammas-first-harvest/ (Updated in 2022)

Baking- One Bowl Chocolate Cake and 7up Cake

I've been doing some more baking lately, so thought I would do another baking post. :) I recently made one bowl chocolate cake and 7up cake.


One Bowl Chocolate Cake

A couple of weeks ago I made a one bowl chocolate cake. (The reason for the name is that it's all mixed up in the same bowl). The recipe is from Six Sister's Stuff, here's the link: https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/recipe/one-bowl-chocolate-cake-made-from-scratch/


Note: When I've visited this site recently I've been getting a warning message from my anti-virus saying that it's a security threat. However I emailed them and one of the sisters told me that they have had their site checked and it's not coming from there. I used Google Chrome to view the site like she suggested and nothing's happened. (My usual browser is Firefox). So it's probably best viewed in Chrome. :)

I've previously made one bowl black tea chocolate cake but that had a bit of a bitter taste with the tea. I did like it but this cake was nicer. Here's a picture:

Frosted White Chocolate Easter Cake

For Easter this year I made a white chocolate Easter cake. I decided to make it on Good Friday because other relatives were also baking things and I knew I wouldn't be able to eat everything on Easter Sunday! lol. The recipe is a James Martin one. Here's the link: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/10209/frosted-white-chocolate-easter-cake

I first made this for Easter a few years ago (I think in 2013) and although at first I wasn't that sure about it, I ended up liking it. So I thought I would be good to do the same cake again this year. It has white chocolate in the sponge and cream cheese frosting/icing with Mini Eggs on top. Here's a picture:

Baking- Cookies + Cake

I've been doing some baking recently so thought I would do a baking post. :)


Oatmeal Cookies

The other week I made oatmeal cookies. The recipe is from my new book Magical Housekeeping by Tess Whitehurst. It's actually an oatmeal cookie ritual for abundance and luck but you can make them without doing the ritual. :)

The recipe is adapted from a book called The Garden of Vegan by Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer. I'm not vegan, so I made some substitutions. I can't actually copy the recipe on here but here are a couple of other vegan cookie recipes:

http://minimalistbaker.com/5-ingredient-vegan-gluten-free-cookies/

http://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/2016/09/08/vegan-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies/


The cookies have tofu in them. I'd never cooked with tofu before. I used the Toofoo brands which I bought from Tesco. I used white flour and ordinary white sugar and vegetable oil instead of canola oil. The recipe has agave nectar or maple syrup in it but I decided to use golden syrup with a bit of maple.

I wasn't sure what they would be like but they came out quite nice. The only thing was I think they could have done with being baked a bit longer, because some of them were a bit soft in the middle and the tofu was a bit chewy. But I was worried about burning them! They taste different to ordinary cookies but still yummy. Here's a pic:

Christmas and New Year 2016/2017

For Christmas this year I made a frosted vanilla cookie cake. It was adapted from this recipe: http://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/2015/11/19/baileys-frosted-vanilla-cookie-layer-cake/

The original recipe uses Bailey's coffee creamer (Frosted Vanilla Cookie flavour). While I do like Bailey's (although I haven't had it for ages) I wasn't keen on having it in a cake and I'm also not sure if we can get that flavour coffee creamer in the UK. In the end I used some creamer from Sainsbury's. I don't have creamer often but I used it the other year when I made an iced coffee. I realised afterwards that the Bailey's creamer seems to be a powder whereas the one I got was liquid, but it worked out ok. :)

The original cake has 3 layers but I cut it down to 2 so it was less complicated! lol. The recipe uses shortening which is vegetable fat, I think. My mum suggested I use lard but the only one we had was pork fat and we decided I shouldn't use it because she made a birthday cake for my 7th birthday with lard in the icing which was horrible! lol. In the end I used Stork which I had already in the house and that worked. Shortening is sold under Trex, Flora White and Cooken here, so maybe another time I'll try one of those. Probably Flora White.

The filling is made of sugar cookie crumbs.  For Oestara 2015 made my own sugar cookie bars but I couldn't be bothered to make them on top of the cake! lol. The nearest I could find in the shops were Sainsbury's shortbread rounds (I wanted something soft and sweet). The creamer goes in the filling as well as the cake and it's also in the frosting.

I wasn't sure how the cake would come out because I substituted ingredients but it was nice. Because it only used egg whites (I think this type of cake is called a "white cake" in America, although maybe not exactly because it had all purpose flour aka plain flour, not cake flour in), it made a fluffier, lighter sponge. I cut up some biscuits and put them on top of the cake with sprinkles.


Here are a couple of pictures:

Outside of the cake