The awesome 16th birthday cake i made my cousin

So i was born 7th April 1987 on the same day exactly 10 years apart my cousin Danielle was born. Sharing a birthday with another family member is a bit strange at first but you get used to it. Anyway this year i turned 26 which meant my cousin was turning 16. My aunt and cousins live in Leicester and with the rest of my family living down south, it was arranged that we would all go to Leicester for the easter weekend to celebrate Dani Lou's sweet 16.

In a phone conversation with my mum a month previous or so i got asked/decided that i would attempt to make my cousin a birthday cake for the celebration. Speaking to my cousin on what she wanted all i got was i want chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream, at least she knew what she wanted. Now me being a budding chef and baker by trade mother in law to be is always giving me new recipes to try and new ideas, when we mentioned that i was going to make the cake for my cousin she proceeded to call up the bbc food page online and show me a cake made by Lauren Pascale for a Chocolate Cigarillo cake.

I decided that this was the cake i was going to do, but me wanting to challenge myself and partly show off my skill to my family decided to go for a 3 tier version. Now the next challenge was how to make a chocolate on chocolate on chocolate cake not overly sweet and sickly.

After much searching online and through cook books it was decided that i would attempt to make a chocolate beetroot cake. If im honest i was not keen how could beetroot and chocolate in a cake taste amazing! So i went to the shops with my list of ingredients got home and set about making my first practice cake. Eagerly awaiting the cake to come out of the oven and cool just so we could try it, who doesn't love cake i no i certainly do! The cake finally cooled and time to tuck in i cut slices for both myself and fiancee and the results were incredible. Never have i had such a moist delicious tasting cake that was not overly sweet and left u wanting more.

My fiancee while looking for bits for our wedding came across a cake shop on an industrial estate in Washington uk where they sold boxes of chocolate cigarillos exactly what i was looking for to finish my cake for £10. Saving me much money from online purchases and the worrying thought that they might arrive in the mail totally smashed and unusable.

Anyways after 2 more practice cakes it was time to make the real thing, Being a baker by trade easter is one of the busy'ist times of year and the added pressure of making a 3 tier cake after working a 4am till 12pm shift at work all week was enough to push anyone over the edge. But i did it i got my head down an concentrated and after many hours of baking, whipping buttercream, filling and decorating my 3 tier masterpiece was complete.

For those wondering my cousin loved the cake as did the whole family and words were uttered about making my own wedding cake! Well there is no chance in hell of that :)

Protein and Protein Shakes

Protein shakes you might just think these are for the try hards and the beefcakes who inhabit the free weight room in the gym. But when you look into it they are really useful and have helped me to get to where i am and will help me achieve the goals i have set myself.

I first thought about protein shakes back in June 2012 when i was looking for a way to add more protein to my diet but without having to spend mega amounts of money in the supermarket on fresh meat and fish. So i questioned a regular gym going friend who i knew was into body building what i should look at and where to start. He sent me a link to a company called Myprotein, after perusing there website and confusing myself to beyond belief i had to seek further help from my friend on what i should start to take. After much deliberation i decided to go with the Impact Whey Protein. Having a sweet tooth i thought lets not try any of the vast arrays of Chocolate proteins on offer, i will stick with the bog standard natural and see what its like.

A couple of days later a my parcel arrived my 1kg bag of protein and a shaker. I was eager to try my recent purchase so i did my workout for the day and read the recommended amount of protein to add to the water, shook an down the hatch it went. I must admit the taste took some getting used to a bit like dried milk powder but it was certainly drinkable. I started off just taking 1 shake after my workout to help with my recovery and i was noticing how quick i could recover, It was working! I got half way down my first bag and decided right time for a change i will try one of the other flavours on offer. Banana was the flavour of choice and it was amazing totally loved it! With 150ml of water it had the taste and consistency of a Frujji banana milkshake amazing! I could drink this stuff all day.

As my training got tougher and i started working with my personal trainer i decided that i was going to start doing two shakes a day, one first thing in the morning and one post workout. I was getting used to the Impact Whey Protein that i had now been taking for nearly 6 months and decided to have a look at what else was on offer in my price budget. After much research i ordered a 1kg Impact Whey Deluxe in Strawberry Cream flavour and a 1kg Impact Whey Isolate in Banana. 

How i do it is 1 30g scoop of protein to 200ml of water. Using the Impact Whey Deluxe in the mornings and the Impact Whey Isolate as my recovery drink. Since i have started on these i have also recently adding Creatine Monohydrate which is another amazing product.

I cant speak highly enough of Myprotein they have an amazing array of products at very reasonable prices and would recommend them to anyone.

For anyone interested here is the link to the site go and check it out!

http://www.myprotein.com/home.dept

My journey so far! A Brief summary of me.

Hi my name is Jamie, i am a 26 year old male living in Durham in the United Kingdom. Ive always been a keen sports person, playing various different sports ranging from Cricket to Badminton but have always struggled with my weight. 

In August 2010 i made the decision to leave my family home in Cranleigh Surrey and move 300 miles north to Durham to move in with my girlfriend. When i moved to Durham i weighed a whopping 19 stone 8 lbs and set about changing my lifestyle and finally getting into shape. 

As my lifestyle changed i started to notice i was starting to loose weight nothing major just little bits here and there. As time went on i started to use the wii fit and i know this sounds strange but running for 20 mins on that on the spot in the flat was pretty much what i used to do, that and cycling a mile to work and back everyday. As time went on even more weight dropped off, i started to feel great about myself and started to up the amount of exercise i was doing.

To cut a very long story short 2 1/2 years later i had dropped to an amazing 12 stone 8 lbs still pretty much doing the same routine.

In October 2012 i decided that i wanted to take my fitness and training more seriously and started to venture out of the house running. A big shock to the system but something that i needed! I found myself a personal trainer and joined a gym and have worked hard to tone and get myself Physically fit.

Now April 2013 almost 3 years from moving out of home i weigh a grand total of 13 stone 5 lbs and loving life.

My journey from fat to fit has been a long and pretty tough one along the way but i wouldn't change it for the world. I am a much happier, confident and fitter person than i ever thought i could be.

Its proof that even the lazyist  of people can change for better!

Cheers J