This weekend is the third Concert at Cratfield in the 2013 season and I am baking – starting with a Chocolate Beer Cake, based on Delia Smith’s recipe. I am adding spices, and I am experimenting with quantities because my tin is so big! The beer is Mucky Duck, made by Buffy’s Brewery and recommended by Roger, who owns The Poacher next door. (Fantastic beers in this pub, and the beers change all the time – well worth travelling to taste!)

The cake smelt wonderful out of the oven, but it should have been glazed to show the shape of the tin, but the glazing was too thick so the cake is iced instead. This shape is hidden –

And this was how I wanted to glaze the cake – clearly a failure on my part!

More research clearly needed! Eat Your Books is a new website with loads of books and ideas where I am building up my bookshelf – do visit. And of course Pinterest always has ideas for presentation, as has Tastespotting. I know how I want to present the cake, but I need a better recipe for the glaze…