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

pudding party

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Bruce Bogtrotter's Cake

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In which I make a ridonculously chocolaty cake from a possibly recognisable children's book...

I'm sure many of you will have read/seen Matilda by Roald Dahl. There is a famous scene in which Bruce Bogtrotter having stolen some of the Trunchbull's personal cake is forced to eat an entire chocolate cake.

Luckily Gary Rhodes (you know that TV chef you haven't seen in a while) wrote a recipe book called Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes which tells you how to bake a slightly smaller version of the cake.*

*The cake in the book is "fully eighteen inches in diameter". The original recipe makes a 9" cake so I doubled the ingredients and made it twice as high!

Ingredients

  • 450g plain dark chocolate
  • 350g butter
  • 450g caster sugar
  • 120g self raising flour
  • 12 eggs (separated)

Icing

  • 450g plain dark chocolate
  • 450ml double cream
Chocolate!

Recipe

Mixing choc and butter

  • Melt the chocolate and butter together.
  • Allow to cool (so it doesn't cook the eggs).
  • Mix in sugar, flour and egg yolks.

Stiff peaks in the egg whites

  • Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks are formed.

Mixing the eggs into the chocolate


  • Fold half of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture.
  • Fold in the other half until just combined.
  • Grease two 9-inch (21 cm) cake tins.
  • Bake at 150°C for 35-45 minutes (keep checking with a knife and don't burn it!)
  • Leave to cool on a rack while you make the icing.
  • To make the icing simply melt the chocolate into the cream over a low heat.
  • Leave the icing to cool (~2 hours unless you speed it up in a fridge)
  • Ice the cake (you should have around half an inch of coverage all over)
  • Serve
Bruce Bogtrotter's Cake

Tom Out!

P.S. Pudding party pics to follow!