It was my Grandma's Birthday last week so I hosted a little evening tea party for her and the rest of my family. My Mum doesn't have a kitchen at the moment and I always like an excuse to host a gathering anyway. I baked a Victoria Sponge and some chocolate berry brownies and decorated everything with fresh roses. When I arranged it, it has been so hot for so long that I thought we could all sit in the garden but it was a grey rainy day instead so it was Plan B inside with the doors open! Some more photos and the recipe for the cake below... 

Berries and rose petals all piled up make everything look pretty.My Grandma's such a keen gardener so I knew she'd appreciate all the flowers.

Pink fizz to match the roses!

For once I steered away from the traditional Mary Berry recipes and you know what? It was the best Victoria Sponge I've made because of it. I swear by this recipe now from BBC Good Food. It's a 1997 classic with over 300 ratings on, fail proof basically! I had bigger tins than they suggested so times the whole mix by 1.5. I used fresh cream instead of making buttercream, although it was hot and humid so it started slipping out the cake a bit too fast. It was super easy to make and can then be decorated however you want it, bunting/berries/flowers/cake decorations/icing/you name it.

It was a drab evening so I lit some candles to pretty everything up.

My Grandma loved the cake and I love this photo of her. My Grandpa actually phoned me the next day to ask if I could get one printed for him as he loved it so much. Too cute!! She was 79 last week, next year they'll both be 80. I love them both to bits <3 <3 <3.

Cake, Fizz, Brownies, Berries and Family, what could be better?

R <3 xx