The Cake Holiday - the evidence!

For reasons that are pretty obvious from the pictures below, the recent holiday the boys and I took to England was nicknamed "The Cake Holiday".  It all started with pain au raisins on the ferry and progressed from there.  

Pain au raisin on the ferry

Well you cannot visit a National Trust property and NOT eat cake, it would (as my friend and fellow cake eater, Nicky, pointed out) be quite rude ... although maybe eating TWO each on a visit to Knightshayes near Tiverton was a touch greedy. 
 

Lunchtime cakes at Knightshayes

Afternoon cakes at Knightshayes

On Saturday we visited friends and Ellie baked us a cinnamon and raisin jumble cake.  Her father is head gardener at Sidbury manor which just happened to have an National Garden Scheme Open Day - with cake - we felt it would, again, have been rude to have declined to eat the cakes they were selling.

Ellie's cinnamon and raisin jumble cake

Afternoon tea at Sidbury Manor

On Sunday we chilled at Mum's and whilst we didn't eat any cake per se we did do a nice walk down the valley and clocked the tea shop in the village ... (and had rhubarb crumble for pudding which sort of counts in my book!).

On Monday I really needed a day shopping in Taunton so enlisted the help of 2 friends - and cake - to get both me and the boys through the ordeal.  I detest shopping, although in fairness did do very well and the boys detest shopping even more than I do. So friend, Andrea, came to give me moral support and guidance whilst friend, Jo, came to take the boys off my hands.  And we felt morally obliged to bolster ourselves for the day ahead with cake!  M&S cake no less.

M&S carrot cake

M&S lemon drizzle Cake

M&S ultimate chocolate cake

Tuesday we met up with more friends and as I felt the 3 of us invading was a bit of a cheek, we took lunch.  Quiche and, yes, you guessed it - cake!  Eaten in the garden with an insanely loud wren singing in my ear from a nearby tree and swallows swooping overhead.  It was a very English of lunches with my banana and raisin cake for pudding.

Banana and raisin cake to share with friends

We spent our final day on Wednesday at Mum's and planned a longer walk than Sunday ensuring, though, that it included the tea shop we had clocked on Sunday.  However, I hadn't taken my proper walking boots and the boots I was walking in were really hurting my toes.  We therefore spent rather too long lounging by the river and none of us really fancied the extra 2 hills to get to the tea shop that could, by that time, have been shut anyway. So we headed back to Mum's house (I limped and the boys showed off by running up the hill) and once home we tucked into some sultana cookies Mum had bought.  Very nice sultana cookies actually.

On Thursday we took the ferry home, our bellies well and truly filled with cake.  Strangely for the boys, when we ate dinner, Ben (and I) decided not to have a cake for pudding and Tom only ate half of his. I really do think we were totally caked out.

Are you a cake lover?  Are you drooling at the selection above and if so which would you chose?  I think my favourite was the lemon drizzle but as I am not 100% sure we may have to do a re-taste when we next return to England!