NOT a Practice Cake, or, I Really Am That Good

As you may recall, I made a couple of practice cakes in preparation for making a cake for my friend Jody's 30th birthday. I was pretty smug about how well they turned out.

And my smugness was apparently well-placed, because this is how the actual cake turned out...

Today, though, my smugness was turned down a notch. I attempted to make Neenish Tarts, and they turned out NOTHING like I remember them, and they looked a little scrappy, too. Perhaps it's because I used a very home-made recipe (from a cookbook I got for my birthday from Alice - thanks A!) which, except for the fact that they're two-tone, holds little to no resemblance to the ones you get at bakeries. Also, the pastry was a little over-brown because I over-greased the tins, and also because it would seem that, for once, the fact that the fan-forced oven in my new place is the third and only oven in a row that actually requires you to drop the temperature by twenty degrees! Just when I was beginning to doubt that you needed to it, too. And, lastly, I've always been a bit unco with decorating. Hopefully practice will make perfect.

So here they are.

Soooo, let's focus back on that cake, shall we?! Nice and close!