Voyage of self discovery

Did you know you are the average of the 5 people you surround yourself with? Have a think about that one! are you surrounded by driven, motivated people or those that would rather hold you back? Just like a machine our mind and body needs regular maintenance. Some people think reading a book or watching a good film is enough but it's not! When was the last time you sat in silence and listened?Listened to silence? When was the last time you sat on a bench and watched the wind brush through the leaves. For those few seconds your mind, body and spirit rest and it's very important to embark on the voyage of self discovery. Did you ever hear the phrase as happy as a pig in sh#t? Today I am baking a pig in a mud bath that will be entirely edible and symbolize how we should all try and rediscover our inner child.

First off I needed a base. The most obvious base to me seemed to be a square brownie.Solid and sturdy it would be ideal. I melted the unsalted butter and Cadbury's chocolate over a moderate heat watching like a hawk just in case it curdled. Like this one time I tried to save a few euro by getting Cadbury's bubble bar on offer to melt! WOW note to oneself they do not melt well :(. Once all is well and melted. In a bowl whisk the daylights out of the sugar and eggs. Now this is fun, pour the hot mix into the egg one and stir. It makes a kind of marble effect! I may have brownie marble worktops in my dream house yet lol. Mix until nice and chocolatey. Sift in cocoa and flour folding as you go! Pour into a tray and bake for 25 min in a moderate oven.

Once cooled I needed to think about a surround. Timber isn't exactly edible so time to rethink the situation. Cadbury's fingers seemed the perfect choice so I halved them. Now to stick the fingers to the base of brownie I used icing sugar and left it set. Filling the mud bath was a lot quicker than running a normal bath. A bit of melted chocolate poured in and there you have it. Now the bath was in place what about the pig.

Using fondant which I dyed pink and shaped a belly.I then poked a hole to symbolise a belly button. The head was great fun again rolling off pieces of fondant and shaping them. 2 pokes from a fork and we had a nose. 2 ears, and 4 legs later we were ready to position them in the mud.

As you can see from the pictures this pig is chilled to the maximum. Slow down, take time for yourself before it's too late. Cease the moment and enjoy life and just as important enjoy baking.