My “Go-to” Chocolate Cupcake Recipe. Dairy Free. Egg Free. Vegan.

Today I’m sharing my “go-to” recipe for chocolate cupcakes. This recipe has never left me down. My oven can be really temperamental when it comes to cake baking, but these cupcakes always turn out perfectly. They’re light, fluffy and deliciously moist.

Chocolate Cupcake

I’ve made them numerous times for fundraisers and they always sell in a flash. None of the children at our local school are vegan, but they choose these cupcakes simply because they love them. It also makes me happy to know that the children with dairy allergies are able to join in.  I often spot their mums making a beeline for me as I step through the school gate with my cake tin.

Next Friday is the annual Macmillan coffee morning here in the UK, which has now gained the status of the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning. Last year, the event raised a wopping £25 million for people affected by cancer.

Macmillan Coffee Morning 2015 Continue reading “My “Go-to” Chocolate Cupcake Recipe. Dairy Free. Egg Free. Vegan.”

I’m Running a 10K to Raise Money for Macmillan

In 2008, at the age of 31, my little sister Jodie was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.  This diagnosis came only a month or two after our Dad died of cancer.  For 2 years, Jodie fought this cancer undergoing many rounds of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and, in the end, a stem-cell transplant. 

Last month, Jodie reached the important milestone of 2 years in remission.  To mark this important occasion I am planning to run a 10k race on July 17th at Castle Combe race track to raise money for Jodie’s favourite charity – Macmillan Cancer Support. 

For those of you that have read my blog posts, you’ll know that this race will be no picnic for me as I’m rubbish at running, but I just wanted to do something to pay my respects to Jodie and everyone else who has been affected by cancer, and the wonderful Macmillan nurses that provide such valuable support to individuals and families.

If any of my wonderful cyber friends would like to sponsor me, all donations will be very gratefully accepted.  Here’s the link to my ‘Just Giving’ page:

 http://www.justgiving.com/bitofthegoodstuff

This morning on the way to school, one of Lil’ L’s friends (who’s also 7) gave me some tips and a demonstration of how I could run faster.  Thanks to ‘S’, I managed to run 4 miles tonight with an average pace of 10.5 minutes per mile (compared to my usual 11 minutes) 🙂

As I only have a week until the big race, I decided to pop out for a quick run this evening along the canal.  As I emerged from a tunnel on the towpath, I saw a reflection of a rainbow in the canal water.  I’ve never witnessed such a thing before.  It was incredibly beautiful!  As I ran home, the rainbow was reflected in every puddle I passed. 

The rainbow reminded me of one of the girls in Lil’ L’s class who told me today that she wanted to be a “weather spirit”.  She said that her favourite weathers are rain and cool summer breezes.  I asked her whether she could possibly be a rainbow too as I love them so much.  She said she would… and tonight I saw one of the most spectacular rainbows I’ve ever seen, stretching across the whole of Bathampton. Magical! 🙂

(c) Eric Rolph