I found this nest in my raised bed the other day.
It is made from something I recognize from my garden but I haven't figured out what it is yet. The long loose things on the bottom look so familiar.
The main part of the nest is held together with mud.
This is a closeup of the bottom.
The inside is lined with a soft weave of whatever this is. I guess this is where the saying "cushioning your nest" comes from.
I had been spotting this for a few days before the nest came down.
I'm not sure why the eggs were thrown out or if they were attacked by something. And why would the nest have been pushed from the tree.It is a work of art.
Did you ever taste something and then immediately be hit with a rush of memories? The following recipe will do that to you. This is an old fashioned sheet cake. There are a million or more awful sheet cake recipes out there. This is not one of them. This is the one that reminds you of every family get together or funeral wake or buffet dinner. Not that those sheet cakes were very good. This one tastes the way you hoped all of those other ones would.
Pour 4 teaspoons of vanilla extract into your mixer bowl.
Add 2 cups of sugar.
Add 1/2 cup of softened butter.
Beat to this consistency.
Pour in 2 cups boiling water and let cool.
Break 2 eggs into a separate bowl.
Stir slightly and beat into cooled mixture.
In another bowl combine 2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons of baking soda.
Mix the dry mixture together thoroughly. Then beat this into the liquid mixture.
Pour the batter into a greased 9 x 13 pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes until set.
I used this simple icing on it but you could use any icing you like. Simple buttercream:1 pound confectioners sugar
1/2 cup soft butter
1/8 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3-5 tablespoons of milk
Beat together the softened butter, vanilla, milk and salt. Slowly beat in the confectioners sugar.
Spread the frosting over the cake. I sprinkled it with clear icing sugar because I like the crunch. I also keep it in the refrigerator because I think it tasted better cold. Pour a big glass of milk cause you are going to need it!
It is the perfect balance of not too sweet cake, very sweet icing and very very moist. HEAVENLY!!!
Comments
I seldom find any old birdsnests and when I do they usually are falling appart.
Have a great day now!
Christer.
How exactly do you make the frosting??
I did blanch and peel my apricots for my jam. It looks nice and set up today in spite of a warning that it might take up to two weeks to set.
I am making a chocolate cake today too - for the hubby's fire meeting tonight. Hmmm, great minds, eh?
Georgina**
The nest is very beautiful !!
I never have been able to make a frosting so light ! Nice ! What is confectionner's sugar ? Is it like fruit sugar, very fine ? Or icing sugar ?
thanks for coming by my place - what a neat blog you have - jenean
I believe powdered sugar is the same as confectioners sugar, but what in the world is icing sugar? I've seen mention of it twice today on two different blogs!
I'd guess the shell on the ground was "trash at the curb after hatching and housecleaning," and that the wind blew the nest down. Last week I found one very like that in the middle of the road.
I think that birds are familiar with the concept of planned obsolescence.