Cheey Feet for a Momentous Occasion

This week has felt incredibly busy with appointments and tea parties squeezed alongside restaurant deliveries and of course, football matches.

My mother and sister both celebrated birthdays and so I brought out the baking trays for cake and tea on two occasions this week. I'm not going to give away the recipes (just yet!) but have decided it is necessary to tempt you with some photos and prove that I have been baking.

Peach and poppy seed cupcakes with peach buttercream for mummy were all gobbled up in an instant.

For E, I decided to continue along the healthy cake path and make fondant fancies with a carrot, courgette and orange sponge. Seriously moist and tasty. Three days later it has, if anything, improved.

On my mother's birthday, I'd come up with a fun foodie way to celebrate Wimbledon having seen a picture of an ice cream cone with a tennis ball in it (can you guess what I was going to make yet?). I made half of it and stored it away ready for the next day to create the second part of the dish.

In true show-stealing style, M decided that this would be the day she took her first step. Three days later, she took 3 more and today another little one! I wonder if she'll be on her feet in time for her birthday party in mid-august. I'll be sending her out with a tray and drinks for everyone. What? She's got to learn how to waitress for the restaurant sooner or later.

Such exciting times call for a little celebration and naturally one that is edible.

How appropriate that I have accquired my mother's feet shaped cookie cutters. My thought immediately turned to one of Nigella's recipes that I haev tinkered with in the past. Sorry N - but yours were just a little too cheesy for me. Here is my adaptation of Nigella Lawson's 'Cheesy Feet'.

Ingredients

75g grated Cheddar cheese

25g grated Parmesan

25g soft butter

50g plain flour

25g wholemeal flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp paprika

Method

Preheat oven to gas mark 6 or 200C and line a baking tray with baking paper.

In a medium sized bowl, rub the butter into the flours, baking powder and paprika until they begin to come together.

Add the cheeses and rub in a little more before bringing the mixture together to form a dough.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 5mm thick and cut out your desired shapes until you've used up all of the dough.

Transfer your shapes carefully onto the baking sheet and place in the fridge for 5mins of until you want to cook them. This will stop them from spreading in the oven.

Cook for about 8mins until golden. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack to crisp up.