Baking Tips ♥ Preheat the oven. This ensures that your cake will be cooked evenly and at the right temperature as soon as it goes into the oven. ♥ Always grease or line your baking pan or cake tin with greaseproof paper. This prevents the cake from sticking and burning. ♥ Bring all cold ingredients such as butter and eggs to room temperature before use for best results. ♥ Never fill a cake tin more than half full. ♥ Place your cake tin in the centre of the oven as this will ensure good circulation of air around the tin during cooking. ♥ Always ensure the cake is completely cool before handling or decorating it to avoid crumbling, breakage or movement of the cake ♥ To prevent your cake sticking to the plate or board, dust the surface with icing sugar ♥ To cleanly cut through an iced cake, dip your knife in water to stop the icing and cake from sticking.

Chocolate Facts ♥ 17,000 people in Belgium - that’s 1 in every 200 workers - are involved in the making, selling and promotion of chocolate ♥ One chocolate chip provides enough food energy for an adult to walk 150 feet. Therefore, it takes about 35 chocolate chips to walk a mile or 875,000 to get you around the world ♥ It takes the whole of one year’s crop from one tree to make half a kilo of cocoa ♥ USA army rations include 3 x 40g chocolate bars ♥ Terrys of York will produce more than 350 million segments of chocolate orange a year ♥ 66,000 Crème Eggs are made every hour ♥ During the Aztec reign, a slave could be bought for 100 cocoa beans ♥ 1 in year-olds claim life without chocolate is not worth living

Simple Topping Recipes ♥ Buttercream 250g butter teaspoon vanilla extract 600g icing sugar 2 tablespoons milk In a large bowl, cream together the butter and vanilla. Blend in the sugar, a quarter at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the milk, and continue mixing until light and fluffy ♥ Chocolate Fudge Topping 3 squares chocolate 1 tbsp. butter 1 1/2 c. sugar 1/16 tsp. cream of tartar 1 lg. can evaporated milk Dash of salt 1 tsp. vanilla In double boiler, melt together 3 squares chocolate and 1 tablespoon butter. Add slowly 1 ½ cups sugar, 1/16 teaspoon cream of tartar, 1 large can of evaporated milk, dash of salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla. ♥ Glace Icing 100g (4oz) icing sugar – Sieved 15ml spoon (1tbsp) water Mix sieved icing sugar with water in a basin. Beat until smooth, add colour and flavouring as required. The icing consistency needs to be thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. If it's too thin add a little more sieved icing sugar, if it's too thick add a few more drops of water. Remember to do it little by little.