I’m pleased that there’s been much in the news recently to encourage us to get creative.  With mental health challenges getting greater prominence, I’m delighted that we’re being encouraged to paint or play the piano to help us avoid stress and improve our mood.  For the record, I am no pianist although I do paint cakes and it’s hugely relaxing.

I was encouraged to get creative at an early age – painting, sewing, knitting, modelling and baking all had their place.  My parents and my grandparents have all been fabulous creators – cakes, clothes, gardens and paintings.  When my Grandad’s eyes weren’t up to painting any more, my Gran taught him to knit and hey presto, another hobby was born.

I’ve already written about my Gran’s knitting and my Granddad’s mending skills although I haven’t written much about his baking talents.  He made all of the family celebration cakes – Christenings, Birthdays, Engagements, Weddings, Christmas and Easter.  Lovely rich fruit cakes laced with amazing flavours.  And of course he taught me that good quality ingredients, mixed with love, make amazing cakes.  Long and low (don’t rush it) was the best fruit cake baking advice from Granddad.

Granddad was skilled at cake decorating too although he’d often need to improvise and make his decorating props from Gran’s sewing kit or her pastry cutters.  There were a few specialist shops selling essentials like cake tins and food colours but no on-line baking emporiums 40 years ago.  Together we’d pipe royal icing flowers onto large buttons wedged onto one of Gran’s finest crochet hooks.  Granddad was my inspiration.

It’s been great carrying on this family caking tradition and creating a few showstoppers of my own.  I still love to make rich, dark fruit cakes and wrap them in marzipan before adding some icing finery.  Fruit cakes are so well-behaved – they don’t sag and they get better with age.  But they are not so much the fashionable choice they once were.

My wedding cakes have been a triumph but today it’s all about pale pink and rose gold for my niece’s twenty -first birthday celebrations.  Cue rich chocolate sponge, chocolate fudge icing and about 40 sugar flower decorations to paint this afternoon.  It’s creative and it’s relaxing – the only stress today will be on the rugby pitch at Newcastle.

It’s time to get your creative juices flowing to improve your mood – what are you going to learn?