A teacher from Cheshire has set herself the sweet challenge of baking a Victoria sponge cake every single day for a whole year.

Cath Webb plans to put her culinary skills to the test by cooking up a storm over the 12 months and giving each cake away to someone needy- simply to put a smile on their face.

The 46-year-old was reportedly inspired to start the baking adventure after she made a cake for a friend who had been diagnosed with cancer, and saw the overwhelming reaction.

Ever since, she has put the power of doing good deeds to force and made an array of Victoria cakes with a variety of jam fillings for a plethora of local people including her own family, hospital staff and the homeless.

Despite the time-consuming challenge of washing up, cooking and cooling, the mother-of-three has recorded a diary of every single entry. But the domestic goddess admits that her husband was sceptical at first, and was moaning how much it would cost in ingredients.

She is due to complete the challenge on her birthday on 6^th April in which she would have baked 366 cakes. 

And the total amount of recipes used included;

- 1098 eggs

- 160lb of flour

- 292 packs of butter

- 160lb of sugar

- 183 pots of jam

- 74 bottles of vanilla essence

- 12 pints of milk

- Two packets of icing/ vanilla bean sugar

Let’s hope the woman protected her clothing from all that baking with Ulster weavers.com delightful ranges of aprons!

We have a cute homeware range called Victoria which is one of Ulster Weavers designs and it would be perfect to cook Victoria sponge cakes in. The collection includes matching co-ordinates of oven glove, apron, pot mitt, gauntlet, cake tins, tea and kitchen cosies and more.

And after all that hard work, we think Mrs Webb definitely deserves her hubby to put the kettle on and give her a nice cup of tea in one of our gorgeous Ulster weavers china mugs!

Dust off your apron and get baking in the kitchen to celebrate National Bread Week!

The national holiday is the perfect excuse to pulling out that old bread maker and enjoying the very best of British bread. Everywhere across the world bread is eaten and the UK flour-milling industry is one of the most modern and efficient in Europe.

The role of bread in western culture has been so important that it’s ingrained into our very culture. In the Bible it says that God fed the lost Jews bread from heaven and now in churches believers are given bread and wine to symbolised Jesus’ body and blood.

Whether it is to make a tasty BLT sandwich or to dip it into a hot and spicy curry, bread is the bread and butter (excuse the pun!) of everyday necessity items; and what could be better than making the house a home with the gorgeous smell of freshly baked bread this summertime.

The weather in the UK has been the ideal setting to take the family out to the park to have picnics in the sunshine, so why not go the extra mile with the kids and get them involved wearing Childrens Aprons and making the bread too? They can be super little helpers needing the dough and playing with the flour!

Now in its 10 year and organised by Warburtons, the holiday has been celebrating Britain’s love of bread as well as raising awareness of its various nutritional benefits.

Martin Garlick, Category Director at Warburtons, said: “National Bread Week grows in popularity every year and along with the picnic awards is a hugely popular annual event. There are plenty of activities for consumers to get involved in during the week with great prizes to be won.

“The campaign raises category and brand awareness so retailers should be prepared to take advantage of this activity to boost sales and profit opportunities.”

HISTORY

Bread can be traced back to over 5,000 years ago with the oldest record on file of bread making traced back to the Stone Age when humans made flour from grass.

Reportedly the Ancient Egyptians were the first to discover the properties of yeast to help bread rise and then the Romans were next to develop the food with milling.

The Vikings then introduced Rye flour to make bread flat but it wasn’t until the Middle Ages that bread started to be traded and bakers existed as town and populations grew.

WHAT CAN YOU MAKE WITH BREAD?

Go all out with bread this week and try multiple recipes ‘till your heart’s content. If you’re culinary skills are at a beginners level simply try sandwiches, toast, toasties and barm-cakes but if you want to expand your cooking horizons try bread and butter pudding, ciabatta, crouton, stottie and whole-wheat.

So have fun this National Bread Week UK until 10^th May and get into the spirit by donning one of our fantastic PVC Aprons but make sure you let the bread cool down before trying to eat it when finished!

Domestic Goddess Shaped Cotton Apron

Cakes Child's PVC Apron

Cakes PVC Apron