Cupcakes and Diets

For the last while I have been baking up a storm, making cupcakes every other day; and eating them! Great for the taste buds, not so good for my poor waistline though... I knew I had to make a change when I bought a gorgeous pair of dark cream combat-style pants last week, a size up from my usual one, brought them home and THEY DIDN'T FIT! So I won't be making as many cupcakes as I was, until I've worked out some lower fat versions anyway!

This does give me the chance to explore new recipes though (every cloud has a silver lining) and I've been having fun with the low-fat challenge. Kezz has just started training too (more on that another time) so this couldn't be more timely. We're getting up early in the mornings, he goes running while I do some yoga and already there's a difference. The hardest part is my sweet tooth though, I didn't realise how much chocolate I'd been eating until now. I'm trying to switch over to other sweets for my evening consumption in front of the tv - currently chomping on Panda Natural Blueberry Liquorice - delicious!

The main cause of my weight gain are Earl Grey Tea Cupcakes (see pic at beginning of post). These are from The Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days, a fabulous book full of far too many scrumptious treats (you'll find a link to it at the end of this paragraph)! These are insanely good, everyone who has tried them goes nuts for them. It's the best of both worlds really, tea, and cake, in a bun! I will add that I usually have quite a bit of frosting left over from this recipe. I tend to pop the leftovers into the fridge and bake another half batch a day or two later to use it up. Or indeed, I have been known to sit down and eat the leftover frosting with a spoon...is it any wonder I've gained weight? I won't divulge their recipe here but I will recommend that you go out and buy this book immediately! Make these, and have a few for me :)