Ice Over It...

Many people have asked me about making the perfect icing for all sorts of different cakes, so I figured I would put my top tips on here for them and anyone else so that you can access them whenever you want!
To start with, every body needs a good butter cream recipe as a basis for their icing repertoire, and here's mine...

Butter Cream

Short of mixing icing sugar with water, Butter cream is definitely the simplest and also the most versatile icing and works great on all types of cakes - fairy cakes, victoria sponge, chocolate cake, and fruit cake to name a few.  But my main reason for using it is to decorate...it's great for piping and creating different designs on your cakes

To make yours, all you will need is:

150g Unsalted Butter (Softened)

300g Icing Sugar

5 tbsp Milk (at room temperature)
3tsp Vanilla Extract

Step 1.

Using a wooden spoon, beat your butter in a mixing bowl until soft.  Add the Icing sugar a small amount at a time mixing well as you go.

Step 2.
Add in the milk and beat well till you get a smooth slightly fluffy consistency.  (Use more/less milk dependant on how thick you need your butter cream for different reasons)  Add the vanilla extract and mix well.  To brighten up your cake, add a few drops of food colouring.

Step 3.
To make your icing look really nice, invest in a good piping set with a good collection of nozzles to make your cakes look extra professional.

Here are some of the cakes I have decorated with my trusty Butter Cream icing...

Let me know what you think and how you get on, an be sure to keep an eye out for all my other icing tips and recipes!!

x ♥ x

"Millies" Cookies...

Everybody loves a Millies Cookie, and as a baker, I have been looking for years for a good recipe to replicate their gorgeous taste from home! At last I have got it, I took a few different recipes and have mixed and matched the ingredients to come up with what I believe to be the PERFECT Cookie recipe, with the same melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness of the Millies cookie...and now I'd like to share it with you...

My "Millies" Cookies

To make yours, all you will need is:

250g Unsalted Butter (Softened)

250g Plain Flour

200g Dark Brown Sugar
100g Granulated Sugar
3 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 tsp Baking Powder
A Pinch of Salt

2 Large Eggs (or 3 if they are extra small)
190g White Chocolate
190g Milk Chocolate
(Peculiar chocolate measurements I know, but if you get 200g bars...it means you will have a little extra to snack on while you bake)

Step 1.

Preheat your oven to gas 2 (150C/300F).  Grease and line a large baking tray. Place your chocolate in the fridge to harden.

Step 2.

Using an electric mixer, mix up the softened butter with the different sugars to make a gritty paste consistency.  Add in the eggs and vanilla extract, mix until smooth.

Step 3.
Sift the flour into a seperate mixing bowl, add in the salt and baking powder and mix well with a wooden spoon.  Fold in the egg and butter mixture until well mixed.  Separate half the mixture into a second mixing bowl so you are left with 2 equal portions.

Step 4.

Take the chocolate from the fridge leaving it still in its wrapper.  Using a rolling pin, smash the chocolate into little chunks...This will give a rustic look to your cookies with various sized chocolate chunks (instead of simply using chocolate chips).

Step 5. 

Add the white chocolate chunks to one bowl of mixture, and the milk chocolate chunks to the other. Fold in using wooden spoon - DO NOT OVER MIX!

Step 6.
Using a tablespoon, dollop spoonfuls of each mixture onto the lined baking tray, making sure that they are evenly spaced out as the mixture will spread.  Place on the top shelf of the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until soft and golden.
This mix should get you about 17-20 cookies from each of the white and milk chocolate mixes, so you will need to re-line and re-use your tray as you will probably only get 8-12 spoonfuls on at a time.

Step 7.
Remove from the oven, and using a spatula, place the cookies instantly onto a cooling rack.  Once they have cooled slightly, they are good to go...best served warm!

Enjoy...

x ♥ x

Give it a Go...

The lovely Amanda over at 'Tatty Tulip' has been working hard on some of the activities from my Twee and Cakes book...This week she has been trying her hand at cake baking and has made the 'Easter Indulgance' cake...To see how she got on and for her views on the recipe, take a look at the blog post which can be found here.

x ♥ x

Have a Little National Trust...

This year my boyfriend Sam and I have taken out National Trust memberships...they're great, at just £25 for under 25's for an annual pass or £53 for over 25's, this gets you into countless properties across the UK, which can often cost up to £11 and sometimes more for a single entry.  

National Trust Properties are great for family days out in the sunshine, and with many being surrounded by beautiful grounds, they can make such calming and peaceful settings for summer picnics.  Since joining at the beginning of the rather questionable Summer we have experienced here in the UK, Sam and I have managed to really make the most of our memberships, and had plenty of days out, even if it was just for the enjoyment of having a picnic without the fear of having a football kicked swiftly in our direction, as is often the case when picnicking in our local park.

National Trust is not just for the Summer....Many properties and grounds hold special events for Halloween and Christmas and will always put on activities over the school holidays for children, families, and the young at heart.

For more information and to sign up for your membership for the coming year, visit their website Here.

I must admit however, my favourite part from every visit, has been the obligatory visit to the Gift Shop, and during the recent end-of-summer-sales, I am really happy with the few bits I have picked up...

This set of 3 vintage style cake tins I just had to have...I love to bake (as you may know by now) and I aslo love anything that looks like it has survived a good few years of wear and tear.  At just £11 down from £22 = absolute bargain!!!

This adorable duckling doorstop is something I have had my eye on for quite sometime this year, but have been holding off from buying...until I saw it at £17.50 in the sale, and I just couldn't help myself....I have named her Penelope, and she has taken pride of place sat by our living room door!

You can find yours online here.

To shop National Trust...take a flick though their website here.

x ♥ x

Hunt for a Mascot...

If your missing the excitement of 'Olympic Fever' and can't quite hold out for the start of the Paralympics next week, why not this weekend for some cheap fun in London with the family, take a stroll around town in search of Wenlock and Mandeville, our much loved Olympic Mascots!  Here's the ones I found while out and about in town this last weekend...

For your guide and Map on where to find these decorative characters, visit the Mayor of London Website.

Happy Hunting

x ♥ x

Testing the Waters...

As a real scrimper when it comes to, well, anything and everything really, I do LOVE a good bargain, and even more, I love free-bees!  So when I found out about 'Whats in My Handbag' I was very excited indeed!! The website offers multiple opportunities to trial all sorts of hair, make-up and beauty products completely free of charge, so I signed myself up.  The first of my little pressies arrived in the post the other day, and it came in the shape of Yves Saint Laurent 'Shocking' false effect mascara...

The Mascara went on really well, and I am really pleased with the effect it gives your eyelashes.  I do have very thin bottom lashes, and found that as the mascara was such good quality, it went on a little too heavy, maybe it needs a little brushing down with a clean mascara brush after, just to tone it down that little bit.  Close up they do look a little clumpy, but as I have such thin lashes, I need to build up my mascara on them in this way, so that from a distance they can make an impact.

Be sure to sign up for your free trials here and let me know what goodies you receive.

x ♥ x

American Slaw...

Following on from my post on Wednesday this week, yesterday I was still feeling a little down at just the general idea that this year, I will NOT be spending the next two months travelling around America...So to cheer myself and Sam up, last night we decided to have an American feast night!!

Food was such a HUGE part of our travels, and oh my god...In America they know how to serve up a good meal. 

 My boyfriend Sam unfortunately suffers from a number of food allergies (among others), and this really limits us to where we can eat when we're eating out in the UK...We found that at first, we stuck to the mainstream chains, and visited a lot of Hard Rock and Rainforest Cafes, but we were made to feel so safe with the food and service we received, we found ourselves becoming more and more comfortable with the idea of branching out and trying local, smaller restaurants, which was lovely to be able to do.

One food that featured with almost every meal we had, was a large helping of Slaw (coleslaw to us brits) on the side of every dish...So with our American feast, we decided to make an attempt at making our own...and here's how we did it...

American Slaw

All you we need for yours:

3 medium sized Carrots

1/2 White Cabbage

1 large White Onion

4 heaped tbsp Mayonaise

1 tbsp White Wine Vinegar

1 tbsp Wholegrain Mustard

Handfull of Dried Cranberries

Salt and Pepper to taste

(obviously this isn't a traditional American Slaw recipe, but we did the best we could with the ingredients we could get our hands on in the UK - and it tasted spot on!)

Step 1.

Start by peeling and thickly grating the carrots and onion, thinly slice the cabbage, and mix together in a large mixing bowl.

Step 2.

Salt and Pepper the vegetables and mix together.  Pour in the white wine vinegar and using your fingers, mix in with the mayonaise, and mustard. 

Step 3.

Finish with a sprinkling of cranberries, to add that extra sweetness to your slaw!

Served up on the side of a half rack of BBQ ribs, BBQ chicken wings, battered onion rings, and potato wedges...YUM!

What reminds you of your favourite holidays?  and to my American readers...what do you think of our recipe? Let me know if you have any suggestions of other great US recipe tricks :)

x ♥ x

A Trip to Remember Forever...

I'm feeling a little sorry for myself today...As exactly one year ago today, my boyfriend Sam and I were  somewhere across the Atlantic Ocean, flying into Washington DC for the start of the trip of a lifetime where we spent 2 months on a road trip travelling down the east coast of the US...and I'm so wishing we were back there right now ready to do it all again!

Instead, I have the next best thing...I thought I could share with you, my loyal readers, some of the amazing memories we made on our trip...
Starting with a map showing you the route we took and all the beautiful places we visited...

We saw so many different things during our trip, each place we visited was so different and so special in it's own right, I LOVED Atlantic City, it was such a fun place to be with a real buzz, and on the other hand, Savannah was definitely the most beautiful of all our stops...but of course my favourite of all was Disney World...need I say more?!

As a first timer to the states, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect...I loved every single part of it, from the places to the food, to the people...it was amazing and I can't wait to go back...SOON!

Until then, here's a small snippet of the 1000's of photographs we took during our trip away...

Sam at the White House

The 'Love' sign in Philly

Playing mini golf in Atlantic City

The pier in Wildwood

On the ferry heading to Ocean City

The 'carcycle' in Virginia Beach

On the lazy river at our hotel in
Myrtle Beach

On the beach on Hilton Head Island

The steeple from Forest Gump in
Savannah

Sam in the pool at our hotel in
Jacksonville

Playing some more mini golf in
Daytona Beach

Sam getting drenched at Busch
Gardens

The view from our room in Universal

The parade at Animal Kingdom in
Disney

At the pool in Singer Island

My crab legs at Hooters in
Fort Lauderdale

At the pool at our last stop in Miami

In total we drove 1798 miles in 7 weeks...This took us through 10 different states of America, and some of the most extraordinary places and sights we could possibly imagine.  We stayed in 17 different places, from scary roadside motels in 1950's style seaside towns, to gorgeous beach front apartments in southern Florida, with each place bringing new and exciting adventures to our travels...Each part of this trip was utterly magical and something we will remember forever!

To make sure I can keep the memories of this trip safe, I glued every leaflet, ticket, room key card, postcard, and even our mini golf score cards we picked up along the way into this scrapbook,  and I think I'll spend the afternoon having a flick through these memories, reminding myself of how lucky I am to have such an amazing boyfriend to take me to all these beautiful places...maybe that will cheer me up a little :)

What special trips have you been on this year? Have you been to any of the places we visited? What do you think of them??

x ♥ x

Olympic Fever...

Ok, so the Olympics have finally arrived in Great Britain, and following Friday nights opening ceremony, I couldn't be more proud to be British.  The amazing music, the beautiful lights, colours and dancers, and the outstanding finale with the lighting of the olympic cauldron...every single part was a spectacle in itself, and completely quintessentially british!

I must say however, with all the excitement, my boyfriend Sam and I were a little disappointed that we missed out on tickets to the many events, through all our applications over the last few months...*major sad face* :(

So yesterday...As everyone crammed into central London to take their seats onlooking the various sports taking place, Sam and I headed for the Kent countryside with a blanket and picnic basket, to make the most of the little bit of sun we are currently being blessed with.  I couldn't quite resist keeping to the team GB colour coding though...and was rocking out my red, white and blue, in my gorgeous new summer skirt...

I paired the skirt with a plain white vest, and some subtle striped pumps...This was a complete bargain outfit...the skirt was a steal at just £5 from Primark, and the shoes I bought in the New Look sale for just £7.

It was a beautiful setting for a Summer picnic, and we had a lovely day chilling in the country whilst avoiding the hustle and bustle of London city centre!

How have you been supporting your teams so far in the Olympics? Do you have tickets to any of the games this year??

x ♥ x

White Chocolate Layer Cake...

Well, we have been so very lucky to have this short spell of warm summery weather in London this past week, and I for one have definitely been making the most of it, with BBQ's and trips to the beach.

My little sister Eleanor is a big lover of baking, and is slowly building up quite a repertoire of delicious yummy cakes, and last weekend was the best so far.  Together we made a gorgeous white chocolate cake to take to a Summer evening dinner party, and I thought I would share it with you...

White Chocolate Layer Cake

As the weather is doing it's best to hold out for us this weekend, with only a few light showers forecast, here's a delicious recipe for a gorgeous creamy white chocolate sponge.

To make yours, all you will need is:

225g Unsalted Butter 

225g Butter Milk

330g Plain Flour

450g Caster Sugar
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

1 tsp Cream of Tartar

4 tsp Vanilla Extract

6 Egg Whites

For the Filling and Topping:
75g Unsalted Butter, softend
350g White Chocolate
675g Cream Cheese (at room temperature)
750g Icing Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla Extract

And to Decorate:
50g White Chocolate, Grated to make small shavings
50g Milk Chocolate, Grated to make small shavings
A couple of Strawberries to garnish

Step 1.

Preheat your oven to gas 4 (180C/350F).  Grease and line 3 baking tins the same shape and size (you can always bake your cakes one at a time if you do not have 3 the same).
Sift the flour along with the bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl.

Step 2.

In a separate mixing bowl, soften the butter and then mix in 330g of the sugar until you reach a soft, fluffy consistency.  Add in the flour, a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk, mixing well continuously.  Add in the vanilla extract.

Step 3.

Whisk the egg whites in a separate bowl until foamy, add the cream of tartar, and whisk again until the mixture forms soft peaks.  Slowly mix in the remaining 120g of sugar until stiff.

Step 4.

Gradually fold your egg whites in with the rest of your cake mixture until all ingredients have combined.  Divide the mixture evenly between your 3 cake tins and place them on the middle shelf of your oven for 30-35 minutes.
Once cooked through, leave to cool for several minutes in tins before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Step 5. 

To make your filling and topping, break up the chocolate and melt in a ban-marie over a pot of simmering water, remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.

Step 6.
Whisk in the cream cheese, vanilla extract, and butter into the melted chocolate (preferably with an electric whisk) until smooth.  Sift in the icing sugar and whisk again until smooth and thick.

Step 7.
Sandwich your 3 cakes together, layering a generous helping of your white chocolate filling between each sponge and then pur the remaining mixture over the top, spreading out to the edges.  Sprinkle over your grated white and milk chocolate shavings, and decorate with strawberries.

It's a real treat of a cake, so best saved for special occasions with all that chocolate goodness :)

The recipe was one that we adapted slightly from the 'Cake Decorating' Magazine collection, which is a fabulous little collection of recipe's, tricks and tips for baking, and with each edition they send you some lovely little tools and accessories to help with creating some delightful baked goodies.

To find out more about the 'Cake Decorating' magazine, or to subscribe, you can find all the information you need on their website which can be found here.

Good luck with yours, and Happy Baking!!!

x ♥ x

Flamingoing Mad...

As a lover of all things PINK, it's only natural that the Flamingo is one of my favourite animals.  So when I saw this shirtdress, I just had to have it...

I spotted it in Vero Moda about 3 months ago now, but at just under £40, it was still a little too steep for my budget, and I really had to restrain myself from buying it...but was sure to go and have a look every time I was in town, just to enjoy its beauty :) 

Luckily for me...I went in last week and the dress was on sale at just £15, and my boyfriend Sam treated me to it...now it's all mine...and this is how I wore it this weekend... 

Making the most of the sunny weekend we had...
Sitting in the garden in the sunshine!

 

I paired the dress with an old vintage satchel and a pair of pinky brogues with ankle socks...I loved the look and it made me feel really summery on our first real weekend of summer!

Since falling in love with this dress, I have slowly started to notice Flamingo prints everywhere...So for your Flamingo fix...here are some of my favourites...

As a lover of vibrant print, obviously I do favour the prints, however I do also feel that the statement flamingo graphic also works really well and can add a huge amount of impact to a statement piece!

Here's where you can find them...

1. Dorothy Perkins Print Midi Dress

2. Rachel Riley Halter Dress

3. Bold Print Lamp Shade 

4. Marks and Spencer Statement Swimsuit

5. Primark Funglasses

6. Next Print Shopper

7. River Island Jacket

What do you think of my favourite new addition to my wardrobe? and what prints are you all for at the moment? 

x ♥ x