Valentine's Cake

I am so lucky to have a husband who can cook and make delicious cakes - the cake he has made for (late) Valentine's day celebration is from Nigella Lawson's 'Feast' cookbook (the chocolate cake section), Chocolate Malteser cake -  it is a kind of malted chocolate cake.

I would say that this cake is a delicious, popular and reliable celebration cake and he has made it a number of times, not just for me but for friends as well.  Todays cake was certainly the tallest one he has made! 

I was pondering the cake and the fact that the recipe for the cake part doesn't have a lot of fat in it - so if you wanted a low fat celebration pudding it would work quite well using fresh fruit and reduced fat creme fraiche for the filling instead of the malted icing (which is where most of the fat content comes from!)  

This should be the last cake we make before Easter - but we will see..... 

I am trying to finish off spinning a two ply that I have been making with Polworth in very spring like Easter colours.  I have been doing this on the Westbury wheel, she is much slower than the Louet giving me time to think.  They are both very different wheels and I like them both. 

I am still struggling with the border of the Ashton shawlette, it takes forever to do a row and I have to concentrate so hard that I can only work on it at the weekend.  I am determined to finish it (with all its mistakes!)