LILY: BIRTHDAY SURPRISE!

When reader Lily met Cathy on a recent tour and bought the book CHOCOLATE BOX SECRETS, it didn't take long for inspiration to strike!

Lily says:
I met Cathy Cassidy at a book talk at a local school recently, where lots of schools came together to take part. Afterwards, I bought the book CHOCOLATE BOX SECRETS and got it signed by Cathy. I loved meeting Cathy and found it the whole day quite inspiring! Then very soon after, it was my mum's birthday and I decided to bake a birthday cake from the book. I planned to make the cake while Mum and Dad were out at their school Open Evening, so they wouldn't know... it would be a surprise! The baking part went well, and then on the actual day I sent them off for a birthday dinner and decorated the cake while they were out - it was all ready when they came back and they were so surprised at the result!

The cake was Skye and Summer's three-tier birthday cake from CHOCOLATE BOX SECRETS and the recipe seemed straightforward. The cake looked delicious and I knew right away I wanted to make it for Mum's birthday. I loved reading about Skye and Summer in the series, so making Skye's recipe was exciting! The recipe was quite easy and fun to follow... the only tricky part was trying to do it all in secret so I could surprise my mum! Luckily, my grandparents were over from Spain and staying with us, so my grandma supervised me while Mum and Dad were out, which meant it could be a real surprise!

Everything was set out clearly and worked the way it was supposed to, which was good because I don't bake much - well, never really! It was fun, and although the cake looked amazing it was quite simple to put together with the three tiers of sponge, the cream and the fresh fruit.Mum loved the cake and said it was the best surprise she had ever had! We all had a slice, and it was absolutely delicious! I even got to have a glass of champagne with it - well, OK, it was fizzy water, but hey! The cake was scoffed in record time, and I think I will definitely be trying more projects from CHOCOLATE BOX SECRETS soon!

Cathy says:
This is probably the best ever book review ever - and when Lily's mum sent me a pic of the awesome surprise cake, I knew I had to find out more about the story! Have YOU ever been inspired to make or do something because of something you've seen in a CC book? COMMENT BELOW to tell us more!