Good morning Kate from a fellow creator in Hexham. I've been watching your videos for about 6 months now and you just remind me of me in your thinking! Think we have even got almost exactly the same amount of Subscribers too!! You are so natural and your videos are contagious! Without boring you with the details, my situation has been rather rubbish lately as split with husband, moved out of our Haydon Bridge Farmhouse (that I miss so much especially the animals) and now living in Hexham town centre with my two teenage children and little dog minnie. We are getting used to noise, and things are good now for me :-) We live and learn!! It was great living in the middle of nowhere, but now I actually get to speak to people face to face in the park etc, but still lucky to be living near such fabulous countryside. I'm off to walk the dog down Staward Gorge soon...you'll probably know it! Love it there. Just wanted to say hi as I've been meaning to for so long! P.s. I'm taking the train to London to the Summer in the City youtube creators Event on the 10th/11th August. I'm not really interested in meeting or seeing the well-known KZfaqrs, I'm going really as a social thing, hopefully, meet similar people and learn a few things too. Any excuse to go to London! Looks like I'll probably be going alone as my friends are just not into anything creative! If you're looking for an excuse to get away for a mini-break and maybe visit Liberties! (I've still never been in there) Just let me know! Michelle x

He loved his cake!!! He has a beautiful smile. He loves his mum. Happy Birthday, John.

You out-did your self Kate. It is a beautiful confection. Happy Birthday John and wishing you many more.

OH MY!!!!!!!!! The cake is gorgeous....and so is John. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOHN! If I attempted that cake it would all end up being cake balls.

That was quite a cake! I loved the third picture of John, his face, said mum loves me💗. Nice to see your children so happy. Especially when the gift is something made with loving hands😍

Lovely cake! My kids were never treated to many "home made" fancy cakes...in fact, my daughter came home from girl scouts when she was 8 and was thrilled.."Mom, did you know you can make a cake without a box?"!! I was busted!!

I loved the pause and the arched eyebrow after you said "It's an American recipe." (P.S. I'm American)

Oh very well done! The cake turned out beautifully and the 'Glamour shots" with the birthday boy made me giggle.

That was so fun. I loved how you said it's best not to make substitutions when baking because it's like science, then you substituted half the ingredients!😂 And of course Norma tried to "help you"❤

Their never to old for a birthday cake from mom. Loved the end with John. It looked wonderful.

Happy Birthday John! You have a super creative mum, enjoy every moment!

Hi Bet it was gorgeous. I could just eat a slice.HAPPY 32nd BIRTHDAY JOHN🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈

Hard work paid off...beautiful cake. Can tell John thought so too. Sweet pics. I can tell he is kind like you.

OH MY! Kate, I have to say, I wasn't holding out much hope for that cake . I saw the episode of Chefs Table where she made the Birthday Cake. Your version is different, and it turned out so well. How did it taste? You bake the way a lot of us do, we need to find substitutions for all the things we forgot at the grocers. Those pictures of John are priceless. Happy Birthday John!

That was great. I loved watching your horror of the American ingredients 😂. John looked very happy and pleased ❤️. Always enjoy your videos Kate

What a lovely mother!!! I hope he appreciates it!!!

Kate John’s birthday cake is absolutely amazing

I just love the photos of John with his cake. Great photography and even better memories. Well done on the cake also. I really wanted to lick the bowl thou!!!

Well Kate, I think you deserve a medal for tackling that recipe - it seemed absolutely bonkers but to see John’s face when he was holding it then it was all worthwhile.

That is one lucky guy to have a wonderful Mom like you and an exquisite birthday cake! Happy Birthday John!!

I'm glad the cake turned out well. Here in the States a substitute for cake flour per cup is 2tbs cornstarch placed in the bottom of measuring cup. Fill the rest of the cup with flour and level off. I was a little worried about you using self-rising flour. Here, it has salt and backing powder added into the flour all ready. Makes it easier to make American biscuits and American Indian fry bread. The cake ball things reminded me of a cake popsicle without the stick. Your frosting looked delicious. Thanks for sharing.

photos at the end are priceless! joy!

Hi Kate!! Happy Birthday to John!!! Lots of work, that cake, but it turned out so beautiful, and clearly John appreciated it. I love all your videos and sure appreciate how talented and creative you are. I never miss your videos. Also, Kate, over 10,000 subscribers, there is no stopping you now!!! Thank you for kind and beautifully thoughtful ways!!! Your friend, Barbara

Wow so much work, but he loved it. So did I!

That is a Mother’s love personified!

Happy Birthday John! What a gorgeous cake Kate ! A true labour of love. I thought the thumbnail was from a professional baking channel. What a fun fun video. Some videos are unintentional ASMR, but this was pure unintentional comedy gold!!! "Do not substitute the ingredients..there is a science"...proceeds to substitute half the ingredients with a "that'll do" thrown in with a shrug 🤣. Baking a cake, but alarmed at the amounts of sugar 😁. This cake had it all, lots of sugar, "funky lemon" juice, "weird ball things", batter everywhere, but most of all, lots of love. Hope you all had a wonderful time!

I had a riot watching this! It reminded me of some of the crazy things I have done. One July 4th, I baked a cake for my step-daughter on the charcoal grill because it was so blasted hot in the house, I didn't dare turn the oven on! Thank you for sharing this adventure with us, and thank you even more for sharing the photos of John with his cake. He looked delighted! So fun!

Your videos have been keeping me calm in this time of chaos - here in the US, we seldom bake with castor suguar, but if you put granulated sugar in the food processor, it becomes castor sugar (just so you know)

Kate, you had me laughing out loud on this one. You are too cute. And I must say I was soooooo relieved the cake turned out. I was a bit worried. What a recipe. Sure hope John enjoyed it! Happy Birthday, John !

a fun interesting bit over my way ....my first born a son is John , “Jack”...had to have that nick name because of C.S.Lewis....Jack, then my second born child a daughter her first name is Martha..they were born in 94, and 95 respectively...and it was a very busy start to life with babies... but Kate this was so interesting thank you for letting us share in your family life. Of course it feels so natural because those of us across the pond feel like your neighbors!!!! Happy belated birthday John!

I will take an 8x10 of the next to the last picture of John and his cake! 😂😂😜

John has a lovely Mum to make that lush birthday cake I can almost taste it 😋 Happy birthday John lucky lad 🎂

Happy Birthday John! 🎂🎁🎉🎊 Your cakes are always unique Kate. You gave it your own signature. It looked pretty good in the photo shoot with John. 😉😁 and about the dark video. I learned to never film directly into light and in this case sunlight. You saw the change with the next day. The sun wasn't shinning straight through your window. Always fun your baking/cooking videos. Hope John had an awesome birthday. xxxxx💕💕💕

I think shortening is another word for lard and you can get a veggie version. Too late now though. What a mountain of ingredients! Glad it worked out. Happy birthday to John. X

Love the photos of John with his cake!! Such a sweet son you have. :)

In the States those cake balls are called cake pops. Usually they're put on a lolly stick and chilled or frozen and then dipped in the coating/frosting. But what a laborious, but beautiful cake for a much beloved son's birthday!!

What a loving mum you are. Yum yum looks fantastic. Happy birthday my dear man, you have a wonderful mum.

You make beautiful cakes! Happy Birthday, John 🎉

Those containers are great for confetti and glitter storage.

Wow what a Birthday cake for John!

Self rising flour is not cake flour! Cake flour is part corn starch; self rising has salt and baking powder added! Love you and it is delightful baking with you.

Happy birthday John. Hope you liked you cake.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN....that is a beautiful cake your Mom made for you. I hope you enjoy every bite. Best wishes for many more delightful Birthdays. and y'all have a Blessed day.

Happy Birthday John! The cake was beautiful, well done Kate.

This was the funniest video so far. The sugar comments, the substitutions on your scientific recipe, those curious cake balls, you said we're ridiculous, but we could expect it from you. Well done. Your son seemed impressed.

So much fun watching you put that cake together....and I loved the pictures of John.....

In the end, when decorating the top, you say, I make it up now, as I go along here - well you actually made it up all the way!! Love your free spirit!!

So pretty! Alot of work, but what we don't do for our sons!

Absolutely precious! May 2024

Who wouldn't love a cake like that?

Bless your heart, girl!! Yeah, we Americans like our stuff sweet. We don’t even have caster sugar-we use granulated & brown, mostly, for baking. We use what you call icing sugar (and call it powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar), too. I never kept buttermilk-live alone, too-so I add a tbl sp of vinegar to make biscuits (savory scones lol). The vinegar does the chemical trick needed. Lol

Wow! I have been watching over a year ! I remember you making his cake last year! Happy Birthday to John.

Happy birthday John, your cake was just amazing Kate, you are a fabulous cook. Love your channel, you cheer me up and inspire me. Thank you xxx Dorothy 🙋🏻😘

Fancy cake! I hope your dear boy had a lovely birthday 🎂🎉 🎈

Good fun Kate! John looked really pleased. Happy birthday John!

'Look away' was too funny!! How was the taste? It looked delicious from here!!! Happy bday John🎂

Happy Birthday John, and be a love and share that cake with your mum's youtube family, :-)

Happy Birthday John🎂🎂🎂🎂🎈🎈🎈🎈Beautiful cake 🎂🎂🎂🎂👍👍👍👍you and your family take care have a Blessed day💜💜💜💜

I see the love you have for your son in this cake❤️ 🎂 he is a blessed son indeed!🎂

looks like Christina has some competition!!!!!! That cake is beautiful and you can tell that your son was very happy!!! thank you for sharing and Happy Birthday John!!!!!!!!!!!!😀

Wow! What a cake!! Those weird cake balls looked delightful as well!

Happy birthday John x

Happy Birthday, John! That cake looks amazing. 😎

Handsome chap 😍

Goodness! This American lady gets horrified at the amount of sugar in a lot of our recipes too... Glad it turned out so well. Happy birthday to John and a wish for many, many more!

And I substitute McDougall's extra fine sponge flour for cake flour. Cake flour in the US has a much lower protein count than ours apparently. Although SR does work, the sponge flour really does work to make a very light cake.

Now that was fun, great pictures of John with his cake. Happy Birthday John you lucky guy. Loved how you modified the recipe, I’m notorious for doing the same, and the sugar I’m shuttering thinking the same as you too, too much sugar. Good thing it only happens once it awhile. Thanks for sharing, that was great. 👍❤️😊

Beautiful cake and fun watching you make it. (Mess and all! LOL! ) Happy Birthday, John!

Wow! Amazing cake Kate and great photos of your son. Well done you and Happy Birthday. 👍💕xxx

Kate, you have me in stitches!! Don‘t substitute, but you do nothing but! It will be a mess and it is!! You‘re such a creative mind through and through!! LOVE you. You do everything the way you think fits the purpose - not what you were told to do!

Dear Kate, I made my 17 year old son eat some courgette with pleasure for the first time in the courgette dark chocolate chip muffins. Result! Should I tell him? They were lovely! Sadly, they did not raise. I think my bicarbonate of soda was too old. Still, nice treat during lockdown to keep our spirits up. Thank you! Keep up the good work. You may have gave me an idea, inspiration to sell publish my book... Love your binding/book tutorial. Myself, I read short stories in French and Spanish weekly. You are fantastic. I am still binging on your videos. ☀️☀️☀️💜💜🎨💐

Oh Kate my mouth is watering. I love cake of any kind. What a treat for your son. xx

I never buy buttermilk. Just do slosh lemon juice then complete the amount with milk. Always works. I make lovely hot biscuits, like scones, this way.

Happy birthday John!! You have a very special, creative, lovely mum. 💜😍Kate, the cake looks so good and delicious! Yummy!!! 🎂💐

Scrumptious looking cake, Kate! What fun to make and I bet even better to eat! TFS the inspiration! Happy Birthday to John!

Happy Birthday John! Lovely, impressive cake,Kate.👍🎂😊❤️

OMG, just seeing all of the stuff you are putting into the bowl is sending me into a coma. So much butter and sugar. Would love to taste it. I'll have to look for the recipe. It looks wonderful!!! Great photos of John. Hope you all had a great celebration.

Glad to see that I'm not the only one who never seems to have all the ingredients for a recipe. Substitutions is my middle name. Looks wonderful.

Hi Kate, If u want to keep your brown sugar from going hard after u open it, put a slice of bread in the bag and it keeps the brown sugar soft. I’ve been doing this for years, it really works. :)

Oh ,what we do for our children, young and grown!😉

Terrific. Absolutely fantastic!! Stellar vid - totally Kate-ified! Oopsy daisy. Lol. Great fun, too. Happy Birthday, John! 🎈🎈🎈🎉💕🎶🎂🎶💕🎉🎈🎈🎈

Caster sugar is finer grind than granulated sugar. "Trex " is shortening.

Happy Birthday John. Kate you had me laughing with your slap dash way of making and putting the cake together which by the way looks delicious. Hope you all enjoyed your meal out.

What a beautifully extravagant cake! Wonderful Kate, and I am certain it was enjoyed by all. Yes, we Americans eat way too much sugar! 200 grams is equal to 1 cup of sugar. Corn syrup is deadly as well and found in so many things--unbelievable! However, for a birthday 🎂 treat, it is meant to be enjoyed.

Yummy! I do wish I had someone to make me a lovely birthday cake like that! How about a John calendar? He is so cute...heeheee just kidding :)

Your iPad has cake acne. Nice cake. Seems like a lot of everything but, it's a specialty cake. I'm on a diet watching this. Happy Birthday John son of Kate. 👑🎂

Happy birthday John wow what a cake

That cake is absolutely glorious and I would have loved it! I love the creativity and your thinking outside the box mentality! I’m sure John loved it and I hope he had a wonderful birthday 🎂🥳

Happy birthday, John! The cake turned out AMAZING!

Dear Kate, I am sure that I would have messed up with doubling the ingredients at some point of time and with more than only one ingredient. Your comment with the chocolate was so funny. 😂 I would have loved to "come over" and join and help you with the cake while chatting with you over everything and nothing 😉 Sometimes so relaxing to bake. Happy Birthday to John.🎁🎉 Your cake looks lovely and I'm sure it tasted great as well. xoxo from Germany, Stephanie

My goodness Kate, what a fancy cake! Looks yummy.

Beautiful cake. Lucky John. Happy Birthday John. BTW, be sure to have a cardiologist handy. Lol. John is adorable.

What fun. Happy birthday to your son. The photos at the end were great. 🥰

🍰Happy Birthday John! Kate you made an awesome cake. Blessings

What a fabulous cake loved the cake balls on the top and I bet it tasted delicious. Great photos of John with his cake too!

He loved it. Beautiful cake.

Hello Kate, I so enjoyed watching you make John's birthday cake, it looked delicious. I showed my husband, and he asked could you please send one the same over here to Australia, as he quite likes a slice of cake with berries in it. That's his sweet tooth talking, ha!

Oh this did make me chuckle, how much sugar. But what a cake, wow it looked delicious and John looked chuffed. Well done Kate x

Happy Birthady to your lucky John. Not all sons have a mother as acomplished as you are!

I'm so glad we don't use grams in the U.S. We just measure out with cups and teaspoons. If I had to measure my ingredients, I'd never bake anything. Our dessert recipes do use a lot of granulated sugar, and then powdered ( confectioners sugar) for the frosting.