Soldier, Painting
Thomas Wilkinson
How to Paint: The Dead of Dunharrow

In which I finally start delivering on the promised painting guides...

I have been sat on a fully constructed Battle of Pelennor Fields box for just about a year after purchasing it as a Christmas present to myself at the tail end of 2021. Having signed up to a few "slay the grey" style challenges in the New Year I thought it was time to start with a nice easy paint job.

How to Paint: The Dead of Dunharrow
Puddings, Sponge
Thomas Wilkinson
Vegan Christmas Puddings

In which I modify an old family recipe to be vegan friendly...

After successfully turning my hand to vegan Christmas cake I thought it was high time I adapted my old Christmas pudding recipe to be vegan too.

Vegan Christmas Puddings
Tinker, Web, Python
Thomas Wilkinson
Dominant Colour Extraction in Python (for a ...

In which I discuss getting the dominant colour from an image quickly...

I have recently made a Discord bot that searches for online versions of board games to help people find games to play remotely. This link will add it to your server.

Discord embeds have a colour bar down the side that can be manually set. I thought it would be cool to have this display the 'average' (i.e. dominant) colour of the board game box and decided to investigate the best way to do it.

Dominant Colour Extraction in Python (for a Discord Bot)
Tinker, Productivity
Thomas Wilkinson
The Holiday Do List

In which I plan my holiday tasks…

So it may just be because it is 2020 or perhaps I'm just a bit lazy but I’ve found that I often start holiday breaks with a list of things I’d like to do and by the end of the trip* I’ve not achieved most of them. Whether it’s odd jobs or relaxing activities I wanted to get through I just accidental sit around and don’t do them. This holiday season I decided I needed a to do list and though I’d try out the new Todoist Boards feature.

*Or, let’s be real this year: sitting on the sofa at home.

The Holiday Do List
Tinker, Podcasting
Thomas Wilkinson
How to Record a Podcast Remotely And Get It ...

Remote interviews are a fact of life for every podcaster, and in today’s era of social distancing, more so than ever. Since you rarely get the chance at an interview do-over, nailing down your remote recording workflow is essential. We’ll show you how to prepare for and record a remote interview, so you get it right the first time — with some additional tips along the way to make sure all your bases are covered.

How to Record a Podcast Remotely And Get It Right The First Time

Cake

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Wilkinson Family Fruitcake

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My Grandma's old fruit cake recipe - simple and tasty!

Ingredients*

  • 16 oz (450 g) self raising flour
  • 8 oz (225 g) caster sugar
  • 8 oz (225 g) margarine
  • 4 medium eggs
  • 24 oz (675 g) mixed fruit
  • 2 tsp (10 ml) Mixed spice
  • 1 tbsp (15 ml) vanilla essence
  • Milk

*This makes a double sized cake suitable for feeding the Choir & Orchestra. Half these quantities for a normal loaf tin :)

How-to

  1. Preheat oven to ~160°C
  2. Sieve the flour and mixed spice together into a large mixing bowl.
  3. Add the remaining dry ingredients.
  4. Mix thoroughly.
  5. Melt marge in a saucepan.
  6. Add to dry ingredients.
  7. Mix thoroughly.
  8. Add vanilla essence and eggs.
  9. Mix thoroughly.
  10. Add milk if necessary to achieve a good consistency.
  11. Place in a large, greased loaf tin.
  12. Bake for ~2 hours.*

*You'll need to use your skill and judgement depending on your own oven. I tend to check after 90 minutes and adjust times accordingly.

Wilkinson Family Fruitcake
Wilkinson Family Fruitcake

Tom Out!

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Giant Jaffa Cake

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Ingredients

  • 12 oz self raising flour*

  • 12 oz caster sugar

  • 12 oz margarine/unsalted butter

  • 6 medium eggs

  • 2 packs orange jelly

  • 1 pint water

  • 300g chocolate

How-to

  1. Cream the sugar and marge together in a big bowl

  2. Add in the flour and eggs slowly.

  3. Mix thoroughly.

  4. Bake in a frying pan at 180°C for ~30 minutes (or until cooked through)

  5. Leave to cool.

  6. Dissolve two packets jelly in ½ pint boiling water.

  7. Make up jelly to 1 pint by adding ½ pint cold water.

  8. Leave to cool in a small bowl (pick one the correct size and shape for a good jaffa cake look).

  9. Carefully slide a knife around of the jelly and then upturn on top of your cake base.

  10. Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie (small ceramic/glass bowl in a saucepan of hot water).

  11. Coat the (top of the) cake in chocolate.

  12. Allow to cool

  13. Apply a pattern in any remaining chocolate to the top.

  14. Allow to cool.

  15. Enjoy :D

Enjoyed!

*The original recipe said that baking powder was required then their cake overflowed. It really isn't required.

Tom Out!

P.S. Original recipe: http://www.pimpthatsnack.com/project/332/

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Maple Syrup Refrigerator Cake

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Well this is my first proper post on this new blog and what better way to start than with some baking!Since I will be attending a small Tea Party this week I decided to make a Refrigerator Cake (sometimes called Tiffin) with a twist. And while I was at it I also made a normal refrigerator cake (because I'm a scientist and needed a control cake, plus there was a house warming to attend later in the day).

Ingredients

To bake along with this blog obtain the following ingredients:

  • 4 oz (125 g) Margarine

  • 2 oz (50 g) Soft Brown Sugar [for an original refrigerator cake substitute Caster Sugar]

  • 2 tbsp. Maple Syrup [for an original refrigerator cake substitute Golden Syrup]

  • 2 tbsp. Drinking Chocolate

  • 1 tbsp. Cocoa

  • 10 oz (300 g) Crushed Digestive Biscuits

  • 2 oz (50 g) Glacé Cherries [chopped]

  • 2 oz (50 g) Raisins

You can also add chocolate icing (however, since this is such a rich cake I never feel it needs it!):

  • 4 oz (125 g) Plain Chocolate

  • 1/2 oz (15 g) Butter

Recipe

  1. Place margarine, syrup, sugar and milk in a pan and heat gently.

  2. Add drinking chocolate, cocoa and half the biscuits and mix well.

  3. Add remaining ingredients and stir until thoroughly mixed.

  4. Press into an 8 inch (20 cm) Sandwich tin.

  5. Chill in fridge until set then remove from tin.

Icing (optional)

  1. Melt chocolate and butter in a small bowl over a pan of hot water (a bain-marie) and mix well.

  2. Spread over biscuit mixture and allow to set.

Step-by-Step Comparison

I decided to take comparison photos as I went along between the two (you know for Science! ...and baking).

[Original on the left, Maple syrup on the right]

Step 1:

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Not much difference at this stage though the Maple syrup was obviously (and worryingly) runnier than the Golden syrup.

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At this point the margarine just wouldn't mix with the Maple syrup and I seriously began to worry about the integrity of my dessert!

Step 2a:

Now there is potentially room for debate on the, until now, presumably uncontroversial topic of crushed digestives. Do you use old broken biscuits? Do you break them individually? Do you smash them with hammers? [Clearly not, that is silly and dangerous] Do any of these methods achieve such good results as in the next picture?

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Now this is definitely the most fun part of making a refrigerator cake because the answer, my friends, lies in using the trusty rolling pin:

Pictured: Biscuity doom

Step 2b:

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The darker colour of the Maple syrup and brown sugar mixture is beginning to show. Also it is finally mixing well. [Watch out at this stage as the Maple syrup boils much quicker than its Golden cousin]

Step 3:

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No difference at this stage but the second best part of making refrigerator cake is eating spare glacé cherries. Om nom nom!

Step 4:

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Again the Maple syrup cake is much darker in colour and was scrumdiddlyumptious (at least I thought so, the real test will be at the Tea Party).

That's all for this Sponge Post :)