tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69602191365866443652024-02-20T22:57:53.445-08:00Miss CakeaholicAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-83014197678135960162013-09-04T12:40:00.002-07:002013-09-04T12:40:40.922-07:00 Just One Word I have taken this from a beauty YouTuber called Julia Graf. I thought it looked fun! So here goes...<br />
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Answer the following questions with one word only: </div>
<b><br /></b>
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<b>Your hair?</b></div>
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<i>Glossy.</i></div>
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<b>Your mother?</b></div>
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<i>Sensible.</i></div>
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<b>Your father?</b></div>
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<i>Respect. </i></div>
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<b>Your favourite material object?</b></div>
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<i>Car</i>. </div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Your dream from last night?</b></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Forgotten.</i></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Your favourite drink?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i>Chai.</i> </div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Your dream car?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i>Audi.</i></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>The room you're in right now?</b></div>
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<i>Bedroom.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Your ex?</b></div>
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<i>Hazy.</i></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Your fear?</b></div>
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<i>Failure. </i></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>What do you want to be in 10 years?</b></div>
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<i>Happy. </i></div>
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<b>What are you not?</b></div>
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<i>Shallow.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>What did you do last night?</b></div>
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<i>Chilled. </i></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>What's the last thing you did before this?</b></div>
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<i>Drove.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>What are you wearing?</b></div>
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<i>Dress. </i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Your favourite book?</b></div>
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<i>Biographies</i>. </div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>The last thing you ate?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i>Yogurt. </i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Your life?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Floating.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Your mood?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i>Content.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Your friends?</b></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Epicentre.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>What are you thinking about right now?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Clouds. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Your summer?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Fast. </i></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>What's on your TV?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Reality. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>The last time you laughed?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Text</i>. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>The last time you cried?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Songs. </i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>School?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Perfection. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Your favourite weekend activity?</b></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Cinema.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Dream job?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Writer.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Your computer?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Old.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Just outside your window?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Garden. </i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Beer?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Lime.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Mexican food?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Wahaca's.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Winter?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Freezing.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Religion?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Controlling. </i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Vacation?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Beach.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>On your bed?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Clothes. </i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Love?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Everything. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I tag everyone to do this post!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-38869621274355498742013-08-27T13:52:00.002-07:002013-08-27T13:52:49.380-07:00 Dark Chocolate and Amaretto Cake <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaICTGFxgol5wiW9kCR7bkUkHSn33Z6zagyGqsqYsgvuLIK_tyOrYTry_8dfS0KZHhmIkvBna_eauDnm4yJoVsm8OXGyiKqs8kbllV0vk650ofdLDzUnmQDYps49BN7Q1_migoGXMbGSs/s1600/20130826_184514%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaICTGFxgol5wiW9kCR7bkUkHSn33Z6zagyGqsqYsgvuLIK_tyOrYTry_8dfS0KZHhmIkvBna_eauDnm4yJoVsm8OXGyiKqs8kbllV0vk650ofdLDzUnmQDYps49BN7Q1_migoGXMbGSs/s320/20130826_184514%255B1%255D.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdKs92R65MUkvJP4WnliIrlodCZZuapfnU1IVoN-fglHcvvkyn-BliwQ3vqPRPVXYvBfujkcbiu9u7emgu6GVI8omcYTQhm-Xlt6R35nXVfOODZWIoDTWyd9uM4wFlqE7nPrnDnnaBHU0/s1600/20130826_185037%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdKs92R65MUkvJP4WnliIrlodCZZuapfnU1IVoN-fglHcvvkyn-BliwQ3vqPRPVXYvBfujkcbiu9u7emgu6GVI8omcYTQhm-Xlt6R35nXVfOODZWIoDTWyd9uM4wFlqE7nPrnDnnaBHU0/s320/20130826_185037%255B1%255D.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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I have accumulated a lot of baking books of late. Sometimes they are more of an assault on the eyes, rather than on my taste buds as I flick through them in awe of the pictures. So I am making it my mission to bake from said new books and temporarily turn my back on my faithful books. <br /><br />This one is from the <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Clandestine-Cake-Club-Cookbook/dp/1782060049/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377556131&sr=8-1&keywords=Clandestine+Cake+Club+cook+book" target="_blank">Clandestine Cake Club cook book</a> and contributed by Carmela Hayes.<br /><br />Well, what a delight to make! First of all, it was super easy with the all in one method (so a lot less washing up… phew!) and a lot of fun crushing the amaretti by hand. I feel like Nigella Lawson here as she goes into such detail over how food feels, looks or sounds… however, I felt very satisfied with the sound of the popping biscuits! Amaretti is a delight. Crunchy, light and airy, yet still has substance.</div>
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I have to confess that I didn't use Amaretto (even though we have it in the liquor cabinet) but used the same measurements of almond extract instead. I made the decision not to use it because I'm very wary of my palette for alcohol in cakes. The book also doesn’t suggest topping the cake with chocolate or more biscuits, but felt it would turn it into sheer decadence if I did. The more chocolate the better! So I covered it in milk chocolate as the cake itself had an abundance of dark chocolate in it. Plus, I prefer licking the bowl of milk than dark chocolate…<br /><br />This cake is highly recommended for almond addicts. Super rich, moist and satisfying. The addition of crushed biscuits is rather different too because I’ve never seen them added to cake mix before. It turned out brilliantly and makes up for the small amount of sugar added. The book recommends baking for 40-45 minutes 180 fan, however it only took 30-35 minutes to bake. Go out and buy the Clandestine Cake Club cook book, you won’t be disappointed!<br /><br />P.S. has anyone seen Julie and Julia? I watched it yesterday and loved it. It’s a true story of Julie Powell who cooked/blogged her way through Julia Child’s cook book.<br /></div>
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-22632934594837367072013-08-26T14:59:00.000-07:002013-08-26T15:04:00.013-07:00 Pastels and Vintage Lace Cupcakes <span lang="EN"></span><span lang="EN"></span><br />
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<span lang="EN">We had a long awaited family catch up last weekend (we live up north in Nottinghamshire and Sheffield, while they live down south in Essex, Bedfordshire etc) and don’t see each other as much as we’d like to. Life just tends to take over and as we all know, time flies by! However, I have a car now, so I will definitely be seeing more of them.</span><br />
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They have never tasted my baking before, but have said that they’ve ‘regularly drooled over pictures of my baking online’, so I definitely had to provide dessert!</div>
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I made some of my best sellers/most loved by family/signature bake, which are my Maltesters cupcakes. I also baked some orange poppy seed cake, which is another household favourite and will get the spotlight in a blog post some time soon.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOJuE1_E0kKU5w6TAyCDjms6AmVVmgSkGjBOiTZ2w04Eg031Xs7zBh224fHH55kLPH77mFGnrVY3tRUFwB387FPIK8p_0XTbPJK88BozaOUyssHJxdZXcAJIc6NsiWnp-U5an1nXlGBy8/s1600/20130818_095354%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOJuE1_E0kKU5w6TAyCDjms6AmVVmgSkGjBOiTZ2w04Eg031Xs7zBh224fHH55kLPH77mFGnrVY3tRUFwB387FPIK8p_0XTbPJK88BozaOUyssHJxdZXcAJIc6NsiWnp-U5an1nXlGBy8/s320/20130818_095354%5B1%5D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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It was my Auntie Sylvia’s birthday on the 12th August, so I made her some bespoke cupcakes. I would never trust the postman to deliver a batch unscathed so I was thankful to be able to give them to her in person. It was an absolute delight to give them in person because of her reaction and everyone else’s reactions to them. One of my favourite things in life is to make people smile through my baking and decorating.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPES0KKLM3Q32jm63pM92lHn7sXW0QWx0hiEYRTvPt77c6BaiOL7m2ME8Cqm3wJb0ZmLf7WjHVqKNOYL8Zo4qdPrFL8-TMnL09aDVP8xozmXlVzm2IM1sVHTtVEDAA4F3jHBpZ9tShMjE/s1600/20130818_095429%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPES0KKLM3Q32jm63pM92lHn7sXW0QWx0hiEYRTvPt77c6BaiOL7m2ME8Cqm3wJb0ZmLf7WjHVqKNOYL8Zo4qdPrFL8-TMnL09aDVP8xozmXlVzm2IM1sVHTtVEDAA4F3jHBpZ9tShMjE/s320/20130818_095429%5B1%5D.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFbAboaAh6SJqESHrGOfk5JV6n5hMkUpPbBoIjL-FeVNUu5c0k54jX83NaNf2LtI7i3-WGscMp5GAEQFCszMq6N6DfUJLIFa2LGnuQaH-yRDlfiQBTu54n1J4KMHtawKGeRq3YzEGwU4U/s1600/20130818_095419%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFbAboaAh6SJqESHrGOfk5JV6n5hMkUpPbBoIjL-FeVNUu5c0k54jX83NaNf2LtI7i3-WGscMp5GAEQFCszMq6N6DfUJLIFa2LGnuQaH-yRDlfiQBTu54n1J4KMHtawKGeRq3YzEGwU4U/s320/20130818_095419%5B1%5D.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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I honestly had no clue how I was going to decorate them. I had a few new tools and techniques that I wanted to try out and the rest would be ad-libbed! It takes one completed cupcake for me to then see where I’m going for the rest. That’s the excitement of starting with a blank canvas. My favourite style of decorating is definitely the elegant vintage lace, with pastel shades and bold flowers. I likened all of that to a very well put together outfit (LBD + Tiffany jewellery + statement scarf) with a flawless face of makeup. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj64pBm2b0QKOB_ZiA-YQK8hvr7XEwRbNvGIBpsZuR5jXdBwOoFiBE1nZ1G-0QyYz2PSiJnOk-YcPcYUUUrpbugOcJXce6qPdfK0i9i2fF49_XDndjZ-h7Ufosvz-VkDYu1PIgOR_8c0CM/s1600/20130818_095017%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj64pBm2b0QKOB_ZiA-YQK8hvr7XEwRbNvGIBpsZuR5jXdBwOoFiBE1nZ1G-0QyYz2PSiJnOk-YcPcYUUUrpbugOcJXce6qPdfK0i9i2fF49_XDndjZ-h7Ufosvz-VkDYu1PIgOR_8c0CM/s320/20130818_095017%5B1%5D.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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What I love the most about cake decorating is how much you can let go of your thoughts. I did not think about anything but those decorations and the task in hand. It was utter bliss, made even better with the perfect play list!</div>
</span><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-53909942098928759242013-08-03T16:48:00.001-07:002013-08-03T16:48:39.069-07:00 Some break up advice <div style="text-align: justify;">
Trust me I am not a relationship expert, however I know that these
points helped me so far. Even if this helps just one person out there, my work
is done.<br /><br />1) Friends and family – you have to talk it out. Every
little confusing detail. Don’t ever think that you are burdening
them. That is what they are there for and quite frankly, they really do
show how much they love you in times of need. A good friend of mine
said, “Heather, go home to your family, be all warm and snug and let
them take care of you”. You absolutely should. You may feel like a
child by doing that and lets face it, we are adults, but you are their
child. It’s absolutely instinctual for them to protect you. <br /><br />2)
Watch absolute rubbish on TV, maybe something you thought you’d hate, or
something your other half wouldn’t have liked you watching. I now have
a serious love for The Only Way is Essex. It’s so naf, but it helped
me get through this very rough time in my life because it took my mind
off my life and my heartache. Plus it was the only thing that could
help me fall asleep! <br /><br />3) Avoid music for the first few days, or
weeks if you love and treasure music like I do. My sister told me that.
She told me point blank, “do not listen to John Mayer, do not listen to
the Beatles, don’t even listen to Incubus, they’ll be tainted
forever”. Suffer in silence then?! No, of course not. Music means a
lot to me, so I chose my play list carefully, not involving my most
beloved artists. I knew Taylor Swift’s Red is what I needed. It’s
funny how much you listen to something and it’s so fitting to your
situation that you think it was actually written for you. I would like
to give Taylor a hug for writing so poignantly.<br /><br />4) Take time off
work if you need to. There is no shame in that. I took three days off…
I could have done with longer but you can drive yourself mad at home if
you don’t throw yourself back into normality.<br /><br />5) Then, throw
yourself into work. Luckily for me, work was ramped up a fair few
notches after my break up which has worked out very well for me. It’s
time to shine. Hobbies? Throw yourself into those too and find some new
ones.<br /><br />6) Listen to your heart and your most dark thoughts.
Don’t ignore them. Don’t put on your best brave face, with a copious
amount of MAC blush. It won’t get you anywhere. Soon enough it would
melt off and reveal the real you anyway. Be the real you from the get
go. <br /><br />7) In an odd way, soak it all up, feel dreadful, feel sorry
for yourself, cry, stay in bed all day if you want to. You should feel
and embrace this in the beginning. Denial is not nice. Especially
with break ups, sweeping statements such as “oh I’m fine, I knew it was
coming, we just weren’t right for each other” – some statements might be
true and heavily philosophical, but are you really digging deep into
your heart? It’s best to dig deep, let it all out now rather than six
months down the line. <br /><br />8) Time. Time. Time. You won’t feel like
this forever. ‘This’ is implied meaning. You know how you feel right
now. You can’t describe it. It’s that heavy hearted feeling. I’m told
that time is the most important element for getting over anything in
your life. You may feel like there’s a huge cloud hanging over you all
the time and that you’re haunted. It won’t be like that forever.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-46976895045754621932013-08-03T16:40:00.000-07:002013-08-03T16:40:10.860-07:00 Fear is a friend that’s misunderstood <div style="text-align: justify;">
This is not baking related but it explains the last three months of my
life. It might even help someone else who is going through the same
thing.<br /><br />Nothing will prepare you for the moment where everything
you’ve built comes crumbling down. Why me? Did I do enough? Did I do
too much? The more I tried, the less it worked.<br /><br />Break ups. Devastating. We’ve all been through them and we can all empathise and sympathise. <br /><br />Once
the reality sunk in, I reacted like I was very ill. As if I had a 24
hour bug and the only thing to do was to get it all out and be left with
nothing. I wasn’t ill though. But my body reacted like I was. I
couldn’t breathe. I had moments of sheer panic where I just couldn’t be
alone. I couldn’t sleep. I cried endlessly. I lost half a stone. I
was experiencing stress and I always knew in psychology lessons at
school, that given the choice of the options: fight or flight, it would
always be fight. Why metaphorically run away and deny?<br /><br />I locked
myself away. I saw the light of day only when I needed to or when I saw
my friends. I didn’t go out drinking like people tend to encourage.
That would have ended in tears, literally. I saw my friends and family
quietly; we talked about it over and over again, like the same song on
repeat. Forming various flow charts in our heads to try and understand.
However many paths they led me down, the end result was always the
same. Powerless. <br /><br />I have grieved like this was a real
bereavement. That person is no longer in my life and can never be in it
again. Too much has happened. He is circa 2006 – 2013. <br /><br />I gave
my relationship postmortem what it deserved. Time, understanding and
respect. I took the time to listen to my head and my heart no matter how
conflicted they were. However, should I have seen it coming? Were the
signs there? I just wanted it to work - that’s all I knew. Nothing like
this is logical and straight forward, however much you want it to be. <br /><br />What
have I learned in this brief three months? Not much as yet. I am the
same person now as I was six years ago when all this begun. My
fundamentals never change. I always work some moves ahead, like a game
of chess. I like to know where my life is going or at least working
towards it. Some say this is controlling, I prefer ambitious. My
fundamentals is my personal gravity – essential to just being. What
would I do without them? They are my benchmarks.<br /><br />I have got
stronger and wiser from this experience and I now realise I have some
serious courage. I was told I was brave, “I’m proud of you”. Are you
kidding me? You’re proud of me in the state I’m in? I didn’t
understand. But it’s because I had the guts to listen to my intuition,
take control and call time on my relationship that could never work. I
had to say goodbye to my first love who I wanted to live out all my
fundamentals with. My gravity was our gravity. But life isn’t that
logical and you don’t always get what you want.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-76618477996809307552013-05-12T03:05:00.000-07:002013-05-12T03:05:09.091-07:00 Where have I been? <div style="text-align: justify;">
So I said in my last blog that I would be blogging again soon. This promise hasn't surfaced. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
My life has massively changed of late and I'm just trying to ride the storm at the moment.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I have experienced bereavement twice since February. The first was the passing of my Grandma. The second wasn't technically bereavement. But it certainly feels like it, even though that person is alive and well. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Anyway, enough of the cryptic clues. I'll be back to baking when I'm back to normal. However long that will take.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Bye for now fellow baking enthusiasts.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
xoxo</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-56392915069974577122013-02-16T12:30:00.000-08:002013-05-12T06:20:01.141-07:00 I'm back after a long break <div style="text-align: justify;">
Okay, so here I am, back to blogging! I have been away for a long time and I feel that I need to get the reasons why on a post to explain. Time flies doesn't it?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It's pretty simple really, I got a new job at the start of December - same company, just a different role altogether. I was completely ecstatic when I heard I had got it as it was exactly what I needed - a new challenge and a job that would make me think and use my brain. I get restless in jobs if I can't use my creativity or my brain...</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So basically, I've been focussing all of my efforts and energy on my new job. By energy I mean that on weeknights I'm almost asleep on the sofa at 8pm! It's a tiring job and my mind works overtime. Or if I'm not falling asleep at 8pm, I'm completely unwinding watching my new favourite TV show, Breaking Bad - has anyone else watched it?! So baking has come at the bottom of my priorities of late, which will hopefully change.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I thought that a quick post would be best and then I'll post a baking blog very soon.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Look what the postman brought me today!</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuYR0EeLpxjkpJqUa3aked31G1sU8W5id0bTAKRrZLS-4Fu6QVzvOizO9p4MeE0ImYnVdnpGV2djIdyFX6hSQ3DUTY7hYAXub8lgxct_KPwGgDps-_yHVf4bQn6hU9ImwsyV3NUXj51B4/s1600/20130216_202029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuYR0EeLpxjkpJqUa3aked31G1sU8W5id0bTAKRrZLS-4Fu6QVzvOizO9p4MeE0ImYnVdnpGV2djIdyFX6hSQ3DUTY7hYAXub8lgxct_KPwGgDps-_yHVf4bQn6hU9ImwsyV3NUXj51B4/s320/20130216_202029.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-29827342481076977112012-11-18T12:34:00.000-08:002012-11-18T12:37:04.873-08:00 Art Attack Cake <div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I was asked to create a
cake for my colleague's daughter who was turning three and loved Art
Attack and Mister Maker. I jumped at the cake at making an art
themed cake, knowing that it'd be a lot of fun to make. Organised
chaos sprung to mind!
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I was told that her
favourite colours were pink and purple - a little girl after my own
heart! So I decided to cover the cake in a deep pink colour, with the
theme of purple elsewhere. I knew that I wanted the cake to have an
artist palette, paintbrushes and paint tubes on the top of the cake.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I used and coloured royal
icing for the paint on the palette. I was so pleased with how paint
like it actually looked, especially with the squeezed out effect with
the peaks. I dipped the end of the paintbrushes in the royal icing
that left a really realistic look of paint – looking a little messy
and thick just like the real thing. The palette was made purely of
flower paste to ensure that it dried hard. </div>
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</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA1mgYXahJO1LBOX8tQRUPClBZ8_ZAHGtjmdID-JaAmm_NFYYa41ihVE_DgZJXj5P79kP9MENmEuIDho6rhrClyeUf6fAozZEgMi4IJpgyWZzcy4OQGPoRPH9zUHPFFHx97U8D15L41cI/s1600/IMG_4266.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA1mgYXahJO1LBOX8tQRUPClBZ8_ZAHGtjmdID-JaAmm_NFYYa41ihVE_DgZJXj5P79kP9MENmEuIDho6rhrClyeUf6fAozZEgMi4IJpgyWZzcy4OQGPoRPH9zUHPFFHx97U8D15L41cI/s200/IMG_4266.JPG" width="220" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVT2d6FK3bQ1-gnN7W-GkjDe9XqrRxdbu7jUd9t3aA-V8zVVUoxn4csnvAIJuVVNRrRMDjALinQkIWNjDmFvjDioM-1mxgJaEsN49R-S7HbhARhuquwiUNt26mMxVn75WeX_cRZtVEOe4/s1600/IMG_4250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVT2d6FK3bQ1-gnN7W-GkjDe9XqrRxdbu7jUd9t3aA-V8zVVUoxn4csnvAIJuVVNRrRMDjALinQkIWNjDmFvjDioM-1mxgJaEsN49R-S7HbhARhuquwiUNt26mMxVn75WeX_cRZtVEOe4/s200/IMG_4250.JPG" width="220" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The paintbrushes were
constructed in three parts. A long sausage shape made out of flower
paste with a small amount of sugar paste mixed in. A small rectangle
for the metal between the handle and brush and a tear shaped tip for
the brush. I coloured the handle with some caramel colouring and
once air dried for a short while, I scored it to give the affect of
wood grain. To make it look more like wood grain, I made a thin
brown paint (water consistency) so it could be painted on to give a
varnish affect. It worked as desired as the scored areas were darker
and trapped the colouring beautifully.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The picture stood at the
side was one of my favourite elements and was inspired by a cake I
found online. It was made purely of flower paste and I painted the
background of the picture first and then sketched the family
afterwards. I thought that this was a endearing addition to the
cake, especially because I drew it like I thought a three year old
would and ensured that it was a representation of the family the cake
was for.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLBrJoBK5LafT3DWYnpTaDbA9CSuO4i9OJlBWDwFg0_wNTL9RwZ4qzMXAblBh82bONg2xUfYTWcGzZsURH6vSrolaXrOLA6_q2Mrdse-AHyaiBNGh1gJcwqBZBWGQivYqND3V9xu1lI6E/s1600/IMG_4264.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLBrJoBK5LafT3DWYnpTaDbA9CSuO4i9OJlBWDwFg0_wNTL9RwZ4qzMXAblBh82bONg2xUfYTWcGzZsURH6vSrolaXrOLA6_q2Mrdse-AHyaiBNGh1gJcwqBZBWGQivYqND3V9xu1lI6E/s320/IMG_4264.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I marbled some of the
sugar paste decorations to give it a swirled look, rather than a
block colour. I used a swirly embossing sheet and a quilt affect
embossing tool to create some the decorations. I loved how they
looked once placed on the cake. I think it added just enough texture
and creative edge for it to be both girly and arty.
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFA-mB77bBE4ckizo0l7QuRSnaCDIvKxbeSbYD7NO5TpsphbKEf19Do21pDbD_dhKdWr9YZXmXLJWBabGZ2mKFXnR8NOr75hJWv0fVLbaN4WNN5w8kBuIN9rlwWd8Ao3ovvDogggIej6c/s1600/IMG_4257.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFA-mB77bBE4ckizo0l7QuRSnaCDIvKxbeSbYD7NO5TpsphbKEf19Do21pDbD_dhKdWr9YZXmXLJWBabGZ2mKFXnR8NOr75hJWv0fVLbaN4WNN5w8kBuIN9rlwWd8Ao3ovvDogggIej6c/s200/IMG_4257.JPG" width="220" /></a></div>
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<br />
I loved how the paint
tubes and leakages looked on the cake. This was the epitome of messy
and fun art to me! I was so impressed with how amazing the royal
icing leakages looked. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-68778528795651257162012-11-15T14:33:00.000-08:002012-11-15T14:35:57.361-08:00 Peanut Butter Squares <div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This recipe is taken from Lorraine Pascale’s <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lorraine-Pascales-Fast-Fresh-Easy/dp/0007489668/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353017867&sr=8-1" target="_blank">new book</a>.
It’s a lovely book and I’ve made three things<i> </i>so far. Two
main meals and this beautiful sweet treat. I could say
many superlatives regarding these morsels of sheer genius, however I just need to stress that if you are a peanut butter
fanatic like I am (as you know!) then you must make them.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhFLMu9LK3DWy-YZf_ii6xauIAZIrDHbyTGWWEWUIxVJrQYgadlo1K7BuV7fVWq-zxytw6ZaalXArFim_l0M6NbV-MDwRzoqfRa5KJ4Ai1xX3Z1A-uc_yWsGPJzBH4G6Gpjve27ft23TU/s1600/IMG_4217.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhFLMu9LK3DWy-YZf_ii6xauIAZIrDHbyTGWWEWUIxVJrQYgadlo1K7BuV7fVWq-zxytw6ZaalXArFim_l0M6NbV-MDwRzoqfRa5KJ4Ai1xX3Z1A-uc_yWsGPJzBH4G6Gpjve27ft23TU/s320/IMG_4217.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It’s
a brilliantly easy recipe and takes very little preparation –
peanut butter, digestive biscuits, melted butter, brown sugar, chocolate, vanilla and chilled in the fridge when all combined. Easy
peasy. It’s extremely indulgent, calling for most of a jar of peanut
butter, however it does make 16 squares.
They are quite large squares too so you could down size even more if
you wish. I didn’t want to because they were so moreish and I do have
quite a high threshold for sweet things. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The next time I
make these, I am going to cover them in white chocolate instead of milk
chocolate. The recipe calls for dark chocolate but I went for milk,
simply because I prefer the saltiness
from the peanuts against the smooth, sweet milk chocolate – yum! </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I would say that these squares are a hybrid between a biscuit and a Reese’s peanut butter cup. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Simply fabulous! </i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-3390461806395456892012-10-21T14:28:00.000-07:002012-10-22T02:05:33.580-07:00 Banana and Date Loaf Cake <div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I made this classic
beauty on Tuesday to celebrate the final of The Great British Bake
off (I already miss it and it's not 8pm on Tuesday yet!). Whilst I'm
on topic, what did everyone think of the final? I was so elated with
the outcome and I think all three gentlemen did amazingly well. As
James said, it didn't feel as though there were any losers or runners
up.</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
This is essentially Mary
Berry's banana loaf recipe (which can be found in her Baking Bible),
but I made a few tweaks to be more tailored to my
taste buds. I have made the loaf around three times, sticking
strictly to Mary's instructions – I can't argue with her now can I?
She is a legend and just such a lovely lady. She would be my number
one dinner party guest or afternoon tea partner – I think she'd be
fascinating.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I added one more banana than the recipe states and around 100g of dates as I believed they
could evoke a lovely, toffee like edge in the cake. It tasted as I'd
hoped and gave it a different texture, richness and depth. I was
ridiculously pleased that the dates baked consistently throughout the
cake and didn't sink. I embraced the classic technique of rolling them in flour
first and it must really work. This method was truly a baking myth for me,
as it had never worked in the past with some fruits, but worked beautifully in this instance.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEPXVo1wxUQ1ldysz43EarzBhlfox0TXzTCNTWSLR0rxplVcPr3iXpCCPhOne4rcfcLVXrk92PpQUOKyNFsy07fxXAAqEx5AgWSisWpki_9PXFL1u6dLpP5ubWPtYPFaXXuvnEmTe2H2o/s1600/good+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEPXVo1wxUQ1ldysz43EarzBhlfox0TXzTCNTWSLR0rxplVcPr3iXpCCPhOne4rcfcLVXrk92PpQUOKyNFsy07fxXAAqEx5AgWSisWpki_9PXFL1u6dLpP5ubWPtYPFaXXuvnEmTe2H2o/s320/good+3.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I added a honey glaze and
walnuts to the top of the loaf, as although the cake isn't dry in any
way, I simply wanted more decadence. Additionally, I know that dates and walnuts work in harmony just like
mascara enhances our eyelashes for example. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGS7KuMwZeZ688YD3huimFoQ6TACqg-d1SjSF05zaRbGfJKxZIrGUSRRqGgU_eO7EXwDaAgxsZtlUwi5XS4mMFsJLd4ppz3my1ovYalWjn0z59fQqthTSPHKje237xzI2aRqffQ0fNg8/s1600/good+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGS7KuMwZeZ688YD3huimFoQ6TACqg-d1SjSF05zaRbGfJKxZIrGUSRRqGgU_eO7EXwDaAgxsZtlUwi5XS4mMFsJLd4ppz3my1ovYalWjn0z59fQqthTSPHKje237xzI2aRqffQ0fNg8/s320/good+1.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I made the glaze with
around 4-5 tablespoons of Acacia honey and 60g of butter. All you
have to do is melt the two together and it soon becomes thick and
cloudy. Once you visibly see this sticky matter changing like this,
take it off the heat and leave it set for about two minutes and
drizzle accordingly. Add as many walnuts as you like, I think the nuttier the better! </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>I could have easily devoured this all by myself, but I took most of it to work to share with my friends. It received excellent reviews and certainly perked them all up at 3pm!</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-80341695532785230202012-10-14T15:07:00.001-07:002012-10-14T15:07:55.479-07:00 Welcome back Autumn <div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
What does autumn mean to you? Me as a
child says chestnut picking and walks in the woods with my family.
Me as an adult here and now says, leaves on the ground, jumper
dresses and dark lipsticks.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
I seem to remember as a child having an
unlimited supply of these wonderful nuts. Or a shopping bag full at
least! Walks were an integral part of my childhood and I most
definitely romanticise chestnuts. They make me gleam with happiness
and nostalgia, but they aren't as they used to be. They appear to
fall off the trees too early and haven't had the opportunity to
become the huge tear drop esque nuggets that I remember fondly. Or were they ever that big? You
know how things seem huge in your tiny child hands? Creme Eggs
included! </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
I wanted to bake something that both
looks like autumn and has autumn in the ingredients (chestnut of
course!). I decided to bake something new to me, a torte. After
flicking through a few baking books and searching the internet, I
settled on Edd Kimber's Chocolate and Chestnut Torte. He describes
it as basically a cooked mousse. I have been attracted to tortes in
the past due to the lack of flour, but always picked something else
as the ones I had seen on television always dipped in the middle.
But then you see some fabulous tortes in Paris for example! </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh4aHK4Yi1QjbCJvwjK_5NWlDiQFGotgGccjlRV5Gxt8UtKWJEPq8ljqHNduSMMmhsv9Xy8XPfOK6k10teqYtAJrt1WLGum-92tKZ4M48Gv5WLQDf-QdrdO3jK8SPKTi_ia13DRO3aDcQ/s1600/good+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh4aHK4Yi1QjbCJvwjK_5NWlDiQFGotgGccjlRV5Gxt8UtKWJEPq8ljqHNduSMMmhsv9Xy8XPfOK6k10teqYtAJrt1WLGum-92tKZ4M48Gv5WLQDf-QdrdO3jK8SPKTi_ia13DRO3aDcQ/s320/good+1.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnmhu9LLedgouUlw0l3V80yQ6FH3_05gsI-I8lxGkOGauWIAn0nYPmkRdu8c4SXY3bixKtbvm1a0ev526UJ7G3Xh9PTzvzPPkCHdZovGtMLMcfF040T4eYOF4BlWnnfCVGxs9Z7e1UnzY/s1600/good+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnmhu9LLedgouUlw0l3V80yQ6FH3_05gsI-I8lxGkOGauWIAn0nYPmkRdu8c4SXY3bixKtbvm1a0ev526UJ7G3Xh9PTzvzPPkCHdZovGtMLMcfF040T4eYOF4BlWnnfCVGxs9Z7e1UnzY/s320/good+2.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>I decided to show what's inside on
the outside. So me and Joe took to our park, which luckily we
have just a few minutes away from our flat, to find leaves from
chestnut tree</i>s <i>to showcase on top of the torte. We also
picked various leaves to set the scene and mood of this autumn
inspired blog.</i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
This was a lovely after dinner dessert.
Not too heavy, very rich and satisfying, so second helpings were not on the cards
for me. It contains 70% cocoa Green and Blacks chocolate so I knew
when I had had enough (my waistline was thankful for that for once!).
The chestnut created depth to the torte in my opinion, similar to
how coffee is with chocolate cake for example. You cannot
necessarily taste it, but there is enough to create more depth and
intensity. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihIWSSwT5sLWvhd0qRPk5oQ8N2j2rpNw8SQHhjR7anwh58MS8jd3iI4TxCCdOVKWlnUwhH0B_-G8FQmwDO4m5P4-IX7Tnd2Np_l5jd59G9t2gzRuwY-9N3je-r_SYuZp9jA6zwyo60auI/s1600/good+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihIWSSwT5sLWvhd0qRPk5oQ8N2j2rpNw8SQHhjR7anwh58MS8jd3iI4TxCCdOVKWlnUwhH0B_-G8FQmwDO4m5P4-IX7Tnd2Np_l5jd59G9t2gzRuwY-9N3je-r_SYuZp9jA6zwyo60auI/s320/good+4.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
I bought a tin of chestnut purée from Waitrose, it
wasn't sweetened like the recipe called for though, which I was a
little apprehensive about. So I just added milk and icing sugar to
the purée (which was stiff in and out of the tin, so needed to be
loosened up) to hopefully make it sweeter. I did exactly the same to
make the soft peaked cream.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Both cream and torte were delicious.</i></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-21929927287127697422012-10-08T15:35:00.000-07:002012-10-17T08:28:45.196-07:00 Grasshopper Pie, Hummingbird Style <div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
A few weekends ago, Joe trotted off to London for the weekend to see his friends. As a result, I was at home with lots of relaxing to do. This meant three things - Americas's Next Top Model, Breakfast at Tiffany's and baking. I had to make something Joe really wanted - he needed rewarding since he did lots of washing up during the week when I couldn't be bothered or was too tired. What a star!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Grasshopper Pie was the obvious choice to me. Always a fan of mint chocolate, whether it's my mint choc chip cupcakes or After Eights. I made it the Hummingbird Bakery way set out in <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Hummingbird-Bakery-Cake-Days/dp/0007374798/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349732450&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Cake Days</a> minus the huge dollops of whipped cream on top. He's a lover of the cream, but I had a bit of a kitchen nightmare when my Kmix overwhipped the first 300ml of the cream, meaning I only had 300ml left for the filling! I got distracted with colouring my milky marshmallow mixture a perfect mint green. Mint is the main event and I thought that the extra whipped cream could have muted it. This was my convenient reasoning at overwhipping the cream anyway!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
I made the biscuit base with humble bourbons (or you could use Oreos if you prefer). I'm so used to ginger or digestive biscuit bases and using bourbons is much better in many ways! For example, the melted butter in the processed bourbons made it look like soil (and I'd rather be in the kitchen with my 'soil' than in the garden!). I was a mucky mess by the time I had pushed the crumbs into the flan tin.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTGv-D5eAEx36Ux4LMLloPHHuOAe4CFeuJlBFchhFIgHbQeykYuvp9lNEn9SNtsTwpKTBE2i68rpa45dyW9lu_hYON4MO_uzjNUbJmD3PYANSu_GcsDMPh_JL1RcX5wjdwz3JN3cb2y0/s1600/IMG_4152.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTGv-D5eAEx36Ux4LMLloPHHuOAe4CFeuJlBFchhFIgHbQeykYuvp9lNEn9SNtsTwpKTBE2i68rpa45dyW9lu_hYON4MO_uzjNUbJmD3PYANSu_GcsDMPh_JL1RcX5wjdwz3JN3cb2y0/s320/IMG_4152.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Melting the marshmallows into the milk was incredibly relaxing. I love seeing food melt, or change consistency right before me. This became a luscious velvety mixture after around five minutes of consistent stirring. The recipe tells you to fold in the cream to this minty mixture, but I had real trouble with this. I had to abandon this technique by just whisking it in. It seemed to work better for me than trying to fold it in. This green mass of matter was then dolloped into and completely filled my perfectly set soil case.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOSyQYMP0GTt3PaTiFvPhWMeYnP5xr0lNDn9TdfOVhfk7ZtBUkzuEqIZ9ZA5LhRAj5mUsBPXfEGbJMlPlXLYVj8P9vKdSAzUlJJk5h25pWPg0E2a3iXKzUR4YwHZRH9jCQ_2RCuwQWFOQ/s1600/IMG_4150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOSyQYMP0GTt3PaTiFvPhWMeYnP5xr0lNDn9TdfOVhfk7ZtBUkzuEqIZ9ZA5LhRAj5mUsBPXfEGbJMlPlXLYVj8P9vKdSAzUlJJk5h25pWPg0E2a3iXKzUR4YwHZRH9jCQ_2RCuwQWFOQ/s320/IMG_4150.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<i>I loved the pie and so did Joe. The filling was light and the only thing I could compare it to is mousse, but it was a lot denser than mousse. The marshmallows must have given it the light texture. It had a wobble to it, like a baked cheesecake would. The bourbon base was addictive - I couldn't get enough of it! I would sit next to Joe, putting on my best eyes (like a cat would when they want something you have, almost stalking you until you give in) waiting for a morsel of the base. </i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b><i> I urge anyone who loves mint chocolate to make this. </i></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-69566057689395047212012-09-30T10:36:00.000-07:002012-09-30T10:37:20.605-07:00 Browned Butter and Cinnamon Teacakes <div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
This is the second time I have made
these beautiful cinnamon morsels. How does everyone feel about
cinnamon? It is my favourite spice and has been for many years now.
There is nothing more inviting than walking into a bakery, a
supermarket, or your own kitchen, that smells of warm cinnamon. Some
say it's purely a Christmas spice. I think this is horribly
restrictive and my taste buds couldn't cope without it for long! So
it lives with me all year long. I love it in cakes, biscuits,
porridge. It's the spice that just keeps on giving.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
I made these from one of my favourite
baking books, <i><b>Homestyle Cookies, Muffins and Cakes</b></i>. It can be bought
<a href="http://www.thebookpeople.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/qs_product_tbp?storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&langId=100&productId=226822" target="_blank">here</a> from The Book People for anyone who would like to buy it. It's
a fabulous book with lots of choice. It's a go to book for me as I
have made three or four things out of it which have been a success. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
The picture in the book is a little
deceiving compared with my results though. They look like they have
a lot of depth and mine look about half the size of them.
I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, if at all, as I
know pictures in books can be misleading. Sometimes I could do with a
50p for scale so I can compare!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Despite the discrepancy in size, they
are absolutely gorgeous. They taste like cinnamon brownies to me.
Very rich, dense and soft. I like that they wouldn't win the competition for the prettiest cakes, as sometimes you really don't want to slave away crumb coating on a Sunday! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-7204228176049075352012-09-30T04:54:00.000-07:002012-09-30T04:57:58.884-07:00 1st birthday cake and 90th birthday cake <div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
I wanted to show you a few pictures of
the cakes I've made recently. One for Elizabeth's daughter's first birthday (Elizabeth is my boyfriend's cousin) and the other for my Grandma's 90<sup>th</sup>.
I did think that the ages couldn't be more at the opposite end of
the spectrum!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Elizabeth wanted a lovely pink cake
with polka dots for Mya. I suggested the baby blocks as I have seen
it on so many Christening and 1<sup>st</sup> birthday cakes. I feel
that on big cakes, it's a very tasteful and dainty way to incorporate
their name and show their age in such a way that isn't obvious.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
You will have to forgive me on the
photos, I didn't have time to stage a lovely backdrop sadly. So the
humble worktop scenery it is! </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
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<b><i>I thought that just the one butterfly was enough for this cake to remain simple and classy.</i></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><i> </i> </b><i><b>The birthday girl had her first taste of cake at her party and she loved it. </b></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><b>A child's first taste of sugar or cake is one to remember! If I had it my way, it would go down as one of the firsts - first tooth, first word, first taste of sugar... </b></i></div>
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</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
Moving onto the other cake. I made this for my Grandma and I
had a brief from my mum - a vanilla sponge, almond filling and
bunting style. So that is exactly what I did and my Grandma loved it! I feel like it's a
nice September cake, almost marking the end of summer, as I don't
think this bunting style can be used into autumn and winter (unless
someone asked for it) as it's just too summery! It's a bit like
wearing shorts in winter, I just wouldn't go there!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I covered the cake in almond flavoured buttercream first, then marzipan to enhance the almond experience, then sugarpaste. I textured the bunting with a vintage vine embossing sheet. I cut out sugarpaste letters to say 'Happy Birthday Grandma' around
the circumference of the cake. Those cutters are amazing. I got
them from Ebay for approximately £1.80 and the postage about the same and
they're wonderful value for money. If you are interested and have been looking for a while for something like this just
like I was, you can buy them <a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Alphabet-Birthday-Cookie-Cutter-Fondant-Cutters-Sugarcraft-/180981202889?pt=UK_Home_Baking_Accessories&hash=item2a2351ffc9" target="_blank">here</a>. </div>
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I used tappits for the 90 on the bunting. Tappits are brilliant and I urge anyone to use them. I had given them a wide birth for months thinking they'd be too hard to use... turns out I was wrong! You need to know that 1) you will need to use flower paste and roll it out very thin 2) dust a little cornflour on the tappit and 3) you'll need to air dry the flower paste on both sides for a few minutes before cutting out. If you stick to these rules, you can't go wrong. The best part of all is tapping them out. A few of my numbers went flying across the room as I've been too heavy handed! All part of the fun. I got my tappits and embossing sheet from Purple Cupcakes if anyone is interested in them.</div>
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Thanks for reading as always! <a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Alphabet-Birthday-Cookie-Cutter-Fondant-Cutters-Sugarcraft-/180981202889?pt=UK_Home_Baking_Accessories&hash=item2a2351ffc9" target="_blank"> </a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-16730770454933179122012-08-15T13:58:00.000-07:002012-08-15T13:58:37.903-07:00 J'adore Paris: Part Deux <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><b>Enjoying the most amazing dessert I've ever had - it was fresh, sweet and delicate. Joe loved it too and he isn't a fruit fan at all.</b></i></div>
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<i><b>The interior of </b></i><span dir="auto"><i><b>Ladurée oozed heritage and style. Eating here was a wonderful experience and I feel so lucky to have visited. </b></i></span></div>
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<i><b> The view from the top level of the </b></i><span dir="auto"><i><b>Musée d'Orsay, with the sculptures below. You aren't allowed to take photos of the art work as you may fade the paintings (hence I have no record of anything else in there) and I was shocked to see people disobeying this rule. Some of the works of Monet and Vincent van Gogh are featured here.</b></i></span></div>
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<i><b> This restaurant was something else entirely. The nicest, strangest and most sytlish restaurant I've been in! It has an amazing centrepeice - the clock face at the back wall there.</b></i> </div>
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<i><b>The above two photos are taken from the top of the </b></i><span dir="auto"><i><b>Musée d'Orsay.</b></i></span></div>
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<i><b>The </b></i><span dir="auto"><i><b>Musée d'Orsay's exterior, a former rail station.</b></i></span></div>
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<i><b>A lovely view of the Seine near the </b></i><span dir="auto"><i><b>Musée d'Orsay.</b></i></span></div>
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<i><b> Situated on the Rue de Rivoli, La Cure Gourmande had wonderful biscuits, nougat and caramel. I could have spent a lot more euros than I did in there! </b></i></div>
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<i><b> Again, Angelina's is nestled on the Rue de Rivoli and I wish I'd had more time and the hunger for it! We stumbled across this beautiful patisserie after reading about it on the internet, known to be one of the greatest places to eat in Paris. I had just eaten when we found it and couldn't have possibly stomached more delectable delights. To be visited next time!</b></i></div>
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<i><b>You can tell how much I spent in </b></i><span dir="auto"><i><b>Ladurée (I bought a day bag, notebook, a box of their speciality tea and a key ring). I wish I had an unlimited supply of </b></i></span><span dir="auto"><i><b>Ladurée in my life, their macarons are a delight that you just couldn't get bored of. Don't you think </b></i></span><span dir="auto"><i><b>that even the bags are chic?</b></i></span></div>
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<i><b> A typically Parisian street next to our hotel - tightly packed cars and filigree-esque balconies on the buildings.</b></i></div>
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<i><b> We returned to the </b></i><span dir="auto"><i><b>Avenue Montaigne on the last day to get pictures in better light (we went there at dusk before). Carrie Bradshaw fell in this Dior!</b></i></span></div>
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<span dir="auto"><i><b> </b></i> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEittSRyrPvx-AwejxFJTxqQTIGncEpQOtp8eMkIzY-bthW3NZbB_eUniXAgnWFcISUAhKtDbdchmEi5v092b1RpmbzeXQQPBcFTmWXznK7a9yjRO3gTu95dqiA6NYfWyFSBKLvaQVDYCTc/s1600/IMG_4080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEittSRyrPvx-AwejxFJTxqQTIGncEpQOtp8eMkIzY-bthW3NZbB_eUniXAgnWFcISUAhKtDbdchmEi5v092b1RpmbzeXQQPBcFTmWXznK7a9yjRO3gTu95dqiA6NYfWyFSBKLvaQVDYCTc/s320/IMG_4080.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><b> One of Dior's windows - high end designers have the coolest visual merchandising. </b></i></div>
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<i><b>Oh Chanel! I will have money for some of you one day!</b></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Ayz3rXv88MdQpXeGO7xS2FL_nVPANaAh8zYhmY-IwNqRis2fQVir9FjLp1PIqQ3RQa4z1_nesNWtWKrX2HsSaMVRM9dHF3Q5SOCXxZWFJar-vJUI9Ghiova1DTcSryGqgJhXB1e2QNw/s1600/IMG_4094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Ayz3rXv88MdQpXeGO7xS2FL_nVPANaAh8zYhmY-IwNqRis2fQVir9FjLp1PIqQ3RQa4z1_nesNWtWKrX2HsSaMVRM9dHF3Q5SOCXxZWFJar-vJUI9Ghiova1DTcSryGqgJhXB1e2QNw/s320/IMG_4094.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><b>Can you spot me? This roundabout is so picturesque. Why can't ours look like this?</b></i></div>
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<i><b>My macarons are in this box. How lovely, tasteful and stylish is it? </b></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUAOpvPTMC4ancZqRO5fG9mSdKq47J7li8KNs1nTS5zbhKCOSWECGrWqC1EPj3rviGf30o2N1qO8m_LC9R9KQhWpi6DAOXQCdIvo0xZPqDbdNVW5UQqeMEyIvehetp7iDmod44Jz4VqWE/s1600/IMG_4103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUAOpvPTMC4ancZqRO5fG9mSdKq47J7li8KNs1nTS5zbhKCOSWECGrWqC1EPj3rviGf30o2N1qO8m_LC9R9KQhWpi6DAOXQCdIvo0xZPqDbdNVW5UQqeMEyIvehetp7iDmod44Jz4VqWE/s320/IMG_4103.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><b>Finally took to a garden and shared the macarons.</b></i> </div>
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<i><b> Perfect macarons in my opinion, very different to Pierre </b><b><span dir="auto">Hermé, more chewy and gracefully bursting with flavour.</span></b></i></div>
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<i><b> My favourite was the purple macaron, which was violet flavour. My Second favourite was the bold yellow, citron flavour. </b></i></div>
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<i><b> </b></i> </div>
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<i><b> What flavour of macaron to devour next?</b></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihCzuRHIYCLLio6DCBFIeA1V_aUfdWyWGF3hLx5bvi2764Ypb9ASdHmEEAnT-Kl2qsdRzTKrev06cZDRzsmVrmFmQyXXPIScxDPv-lcknem18c7iGDKSN-24hWTsJbpT44uKgwKiHVthM/s1600/IMG_4125.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihCzuRHIYCLLio6DCBFIeA1V_aUfdWyWGF3hLx5bvi2764Ypb9ASdHmEEAnT-Kl2qsdRzTKrev06cZDRzsmVrmFmQyXXPIScxDPv-lcknem18c7iGDKSN-24hWTsJbpT44uKgwKiHVthM/s320/IMG_4125.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><b>Enjoying a glass of champagne in the</b></i><span dir="auto"><i><b> café across the road from our hotel, on our last day. Champagne has never tasted so good. The</b></i></span><span dir="auto"><i><b> café</b></i></span><span dir="auto"> <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">experience in Paris is so special. You have to be seated, waited on and you pay later. I wish all places were like this because everything would feel like an occasion. The staff are also extremely respectful. They take their job very seriously.</span></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-32851838524765176702012-08-15T12:38:00.000-07:002012-08-15T14:02:35.210-07:00 J'adore Paris: Part Une <div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Well it’s been quiet on my blog again! I have no
other excuse other than I haven’t been baking ‘just because I want to’,
as I need to cut down on cake. My waist line has been increasing of
late and I’ve had to make some cut backs (much
to my horror!). I miss baking cakes just for fun to try a new recipe. I should fatten up my friends and family instead so I still get to bake. </div>
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So I thought I would give you a little insight into my trip to Paris instead of a baking post. Me and my boyfriend went on 30th July - 3rd August and travelled via train to London and then the Eurostar. We stayed in a four star hotel just off the <span dir="auto">Champs-Élysées, with a bedroom view of the Eiffel Tower, which was perfection! Most sights were about three Metro stops away, so I felt really in heart of Paris.</span></div>
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I felt incredibly privileged to have
the Arc De Triomphe so close to us too, which is located on the
Champs-Élysées and was around a ten minute walk away from our
hotel. I wanted to scream when we casually walked down the road we
stayed on, onto the Champs-Élysées and to my left was the Arc De
Triomphe in the distance! <span dir="auto"></span></div>
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<span dir="auto"><br /></span></div>
<div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span dir="auto">I would also like to make a point of the fact that me and Joe didn't have to pay for any of the sights we saw. It was free for us as we are under 26 years of age and are from the EU! </span></div>
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<b>Here are some photos of the beautiful city </b>
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<b><i> This is the view of the <span dir="auto">Champs-Élysées and Eiffel Tower at the top of the Arc De Triomphe</span></i></b></div>
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<i><b> This shows the amazing work and detail inside the Arc</b></i></div>
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<b><i> The stunning, goregous, creepy, awe inspiring, gothic treasure, Notre-Dame</i></b>. <i><b> </b></i></div>
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<i><b> I was incredibly moved by this Parisian gem, the interior is just as stunning as the exterior.</b></i></div>
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<i><b> I saw Pierre <span dir="auto">Hermé on one of Lorraine Pascale's food shows months ago and knew that I had to go when I was in Paris. She waxed some serious lyrical about them. The shop was small, but stunning, with a lot of choice. The flavours were lovely, some were dusted in lustre and some were speckled, which gave them character. The texture was more like cake than what I'm used to with macarons - I expected more chewiness. But some had more chewiness than others!</span></b></i></div>
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<i><b> I thought this looked very French and was down the <span dir="auto">extremely affluent Avenue Montaigne (if you're a Sex and the City fan, Carrie spent a lot of time shopping down this street!)</span></b></i></div>
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<i><b> I really tried to look chic while I was in Paris. Ray Bans and dark lips every day.</b></i></div>
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<i><b> The breathtaking Eiffel Tower of course! I couldn't get enough of it - taking masses of pictures and trying to lap up the atmosphere and ambience.</b></i></div>
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<i><b> The two photos above are of </b></i><span dir="auto"><i><b>Les Invalides and the gardens next to it, close to the Eiffel Tower as you can see! A lot of Parisian buildings similar to this have gold on them. Very regal. </b></i></span></div>
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<i><b> Now, this was something else and nothing I've seen compares to this. The light show was magical. And I never say 'magical' because it's just too cheesy and Disney for me and I don't use it lighly... but it really was! Lots of people gather at </b></i><span dir="auto"><i><b>Trocadéro to catch this for five minutes on the hour when it gets dark. The atmosphere here was lovely and there's lots of people offering to take your picture and wishing you a brilliant trip. The picture doesn't really do the light show justice sadly. </b></i></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-44663384806470152332012-07-22T16:18:00.000-07:002012-07-22T16:18:45.636-07:00 Vintage Cupcakes <div style="text-align: justify;">
I made a batch of cupcakes for my good friend Tara this weekend. She
didn’t give me a direction or briefing into what she wanted. We settled
on vanilla sponge and buttercream and pretty decorations. I’m usually
not a fan of decorating cupcakes without direction or preferences, but
knowing Tara, I felt that keeping it gorgeously simple, elegant and chic
was the way to go. I used pastel shades of yellow, peach and pink. </div>
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<br /><br />I
used the domed cupcake tutorial from Carina’s Cupcakes, which is
brilliantly simple and I think it gives cupcakes another dimension.
Especially when finished with lustre spray, as it highlights the shape,
much like a good shimmer powder does to our cheekbones! The white
flower was achieved with the help of a Purple Cupcakes tutorial,
demonstrating how to jazz up pretty flowers with non pareils. Both
tutorials can be found on their Facebook pages.<br /><br />My favourite is
the bunting cupcake… I’ve become a lover of it since the Jubilee! I even
have some pink cupcake bunting hanging up in my bedroom. My other love
at the moment is embossing and how beautiful and delicate it looks. It
adds a little vintage seduction, perfect for these cupcakes. </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-90911298902291937412012-06-10T15:21:00.001-07:002012-06-10T16:32:55.857-07:00 My whereabouts and bunting cake <div style="text-align: justify;">
Wow, I haven’t blogged in a while! I have missed it. Since I last blogged I’ve turned 25, visited Liverpool for my birthday weekend, been to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park (I love animals – the meerkats and squirrel monkeys were my favourite) and attended my friend’s beautiful wedding in Essex. With a lot of baking in between! <br />
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I’m a huge Beatles fan so our weekend in Liverpool was inspired by them. We went to the Beatles Story Exhibition in the day and to the Cavern Club at night. Two incredible experiences. Liverpool is a very cool and friendly city. People were interested in why we were there and it had a buzzing atmosphere, day and night. Our hotel was fantastic, so if anyone is thinking about visiting Liverpool, check out Hotel Indigo. Very fashionable and well located (two minute walk from the Albert Docks and ten minute walk away from the Cavern Club). </div>
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As you can imagine, I baked treats in aid of my birthday (which is also my Dad’s birthday so double the reason for treats!) I made a Maltesers cake and mini Snickers cheesecakes from Iced Jems. You can find the recipe <a href="http://www.icedjems.com/2012/05/mini-snickers-cheesecakes/" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://www.icedjems.com/2012/05/mini-snickers-cheesecakes/" target="_blank">here.</a><br />
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Over the Jubilee celebrations I made my very first sugarpaste covered cake. I tried to use skills I’d learned in my cake decoration class and applied the tips I’ve read about in all my books. I think it went well for my first attempt, apart from a mishaps with small holes in the sugarpaste where it had maybe become too dry and ripped. However, armed with damage control knowledge (sometimes demonstrated on Ace of Cakes) you can cover up the mishaps by placing articles over them!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivddD1Gh3IuKQ47utCns1PxXBPF67vv_ptXPmj7b41dbVQ4PKlshxEBh3sdTnTO9bsUuhF2-EtHWfX_wvIR2JeW6eqS0WsfHn7MkVXAv9hpAlR9km8EbGwgOvMSOkQpRs_kBBw4OlIW2g/s1600/Good+7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivddD1Gh3IuKQ47utCns1PxXBPF67vv_ptXPmj7b41dbVQ4PKlshxEBh3sdTnTO9bsUuhF2-EtHWfX_wvIR2JeW6eqS0WsfHn7MkVXAv9hpAlR9km8EbGwgOvMSOkQpRs_kBBw4OlIW2g/s320/Good+7.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
The main inspiration for the cake was the cute cake bunting I bought from Ebay. It was £5.95 from a brilliant and efficient seller. You can find this gorgeous bunting <a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Unique-Handmade-Cake-Bunting-for-Cake-Decoration-/130702664966?pt=Uk_Crafts_Cake_Decorating_MJ&hash=item1e6e7c6506" target="_blank">here.</a><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I used Mary Berry’s madeira cake recipe from her Baking Bible and substituted lemon zest for vanilla extract. It had a layer of marzipan underneath the sugarpaste. A very rich flavour, yet so satisfying.</i></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-61759516731615601282012-05-13T12:08:00.001-07:002012-05-13T12:08:44.181-07:00 Peanut butter obsession continued... including banana loaf cake<br />
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So the obsession continues! Peanut
Butter Cup cakes... the richest cupcake I've ever tasted and I have a
very high threshold for sugar. These cupcakes are the updated and
variation on the Mr Hershey cupcakes that I blogged about last year.
They are a moist chocolate sponge topped with a gooey peanut butter icing. I used around equal
parts of icing sugar to peanut butter. Ina Garten used this method
for her peanut butter muffins. I added about three or four
tablespoons of whole milk to smooth the icing out. Then topped with
miniature Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. The first time I made them I used crunchy peanut butter in the cake mix. They smelled absolutely divine as they baked, however was a hindrance to the cake once baked as it seemed to dry it out.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFUEVEvnKYS_crWhBvtw_xRYvhXh30auR1lPRTVjiVJgQZRoGJOcfX_7ykOfQwP9cSQPHiUT6BBo1f2Ox0emNPBtoF8L2C_uCPl6iQxDo9GWl44Huo-nPgT7CNLI9KrEDGz2yBcY8GSwQ/s1600/IMG_3578.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFUEVEvnKYS_crWhBvtw_xRYvhXh30auR1lPRTVjiVJgQZRoGJOcfX_7ykOfQwP9cSQPHiUT6BBo1f2Ox0emNPBtoF8L2C_uCPl6iQxDo9GWl44Huo-nPgT7CNLI9KrEDGz2yBcY8GSwQ/s320/IMG_3578.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<i>That being said, they were beautiful. Rich but
delicious. Definitely not for the faint hearted! My friend Gemma
said that they tasted and had texture like a Snickers bar. I
can definitely tell what she means. </i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih1kIA8Cae_Zgg11DKBp9RB_oEc5Wt85Jgt_YKz98At0kEuUyGJVU5B88fu9KBq0IMG8yyly64mAs1NsSEZ4tofiVf2eCJDRN4mBEyOLB4Dgqnd5rn0NFKZWXmpEnrFrHpzt_30laiNL0/s1600/IMG_3589.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih1kIA8Cae_Zgg11DKBp9RB_oEc5Wt85Jgt_YKz98At0kEuUyGJVU5B88fu9KBq0IMG8yyly64mAs1NsSEZ4tofiVf2eCJDRN4mBEyOLB4Dgqnd5rn0NFKZWXmpEnrFrHpzt_30laiNL0/s320/IMG_3589.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>These are the Peanut Butter Cup cakes I
made for my amazing sister. She got a new job after a long time
trying to better herself. Karma finally was on her side! Aside from
the fact that she deserved a break and was perfect for the role.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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I made a banana loaf cake today Mary Berry style and look what I did... piled on the peanut butter! I think I need to be sponsored by the stuff!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHC9QZQeOLzH6R5xoyHPeJRK3yXOye9XfUleoVkOqaNBu-aGBHA2gqxg2_KQljW43N4QWx1XHfTGLBaQmJMsAEMR_0tQjv88gTpG20RMNzlk4kRXFZcSa3D0atcALUudcodIfxpaPQUBI/s1600/IMG_3624.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHC9QZQeOLzH6R5xoyHPeJRK3yXOye9XfUleoVkOqaNBu-aGBHA2gqxg2_KQljW43N4QWx1XHfTGLBaQmJMsAEMR_0tQjv88gTpG20RMNzlk4kRXFZcSa3D0atcALUudcodIfxpaPQUBI/s320/IMG_3624.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmtsNYHndyxjDTfqikRUVkzX1XTucKg2wuzkxRifjc2BS2Wa4Oo0SdYENRd2pMYXQRmOis-BwZ5-WCEvevJfCJNB1pLsJn0qLjHOsKA3pA8XyrAdJnbSpKoNM9I9JGg_hDub97xj-wynA/s1600/IMG_3623.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmtsNYHndyxjDTfqikRUVkzX1XTucKg2wuzkxRifjc2BS2Wa4Oo0SdYENRd2pMYXQRmOis-BwZ5-WCEvevJfCJNB1pLsJn0qLjHOsKA3pA8XyrAdJnbSpKoNM9I9JGg_hDub97xj-wynA/s320/IMG_3623.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Finally, here's a topical picture for this blog post. I bought this last year in Selfridge's in Birmingham. It was like I'd struck gold, I just had to have it! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqJJ05LuStluDI7WZtiESQO1FPxF2K3C-FPRyOMlnRYXxBPVimBZMsnqZLmInPnCXVoDeZj0cgyL_eE2uzHOWTPdUb6Uu8G_eukhhN6Is0jFrNTUQAyGDUV-VBXg9w8znRfceQRfOSX0c/s1600/IMG_3631.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqJJ05LuStluDI7WZtiESQO1FPxF2K3C-FPRyOMlnRYXxBPVimBZMsnqZLmInPnCXVoDeZj0cgyL_eE2uzHOWTPdUb6Uu8G_eukhhN6Is0jFrNTUQAyGDUV-VBXg9w8znRfceQRfOSX0c/s320/IMG_3631.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-70227129662958446542012-05-12T14:51:00.000-07:002012-05-12T14:51:01.394-07:00 Awards <br />
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I have been nominated for
two awards! Wowzers is all I can say! Thank you very much to Jo at <a href="http://whatdoyoumakeofmycake.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">what do you make of my cake?</a> for nominating me. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcZT6ek2nO3W-VnjYciCN2IqZgvS-tbfJOYkxgl7OAn47hqX10RmomIaOQ3BkBoohnlDRuoytLoWuuwHnLyG7xyBEF1dLEfvbUS4PKOa54XPvTWz6nBP9JFDNnIu52G7khyphenhyphenoT8cakV_ZI/s1600/sunshine+award.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcZT6ek2nO3W-VnjYciCN2IqZgvS-tbfJOYkxgl7OAn47hqX10RmomIaOQ3BkBoohnlDRuoytLoWuuwHnLyG7xyBEF1dLEfvbUS4PKOa54XPvTWz6nBP9JFDNnIu52G7khyphenhyphenoT8cakV_ZI/s200/sunshine+award.png" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZN9KSxKnooxkVvGJ1tc8sP_TJvLyjY1MSeiov7Jky73gPnSZ6Ya5X6xVdZN05W0kuEWOT82zmNVXHvPpASvLxr6qBqdjCqmBXFzpOf2bKzQmr3h-Wav5eKqm-pZbuLIW03eocOGKdSUc/s1600/versatile+blogger.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZN9KSxKnooxkVvGJ1tc8sP_TJvLyjY1MSeiov7Jky73gPnSZ6Ya5X6xVdZN05W0kuEWOT82zmNVXHvPpASvLxr6qBqdjCqmBXFzpOf2bKzQmr3h-Wav5eKqm-pZbuLIW03eocOGKdSUc/s200/versatile+blogger.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b>Rules for both the awards
are</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
1. Thank the person who
nominated you for this award and link back to them.</div>
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2. Share five random facts
about yourself</div>
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3. Spread the joy by
nominating other bloggers</div>
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4. Convey the blogger
about the nomination.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b>So here are the five facts about me</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
1. My first name is Heather.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
2. I own 133 pieces of make up (a
large proportion dominated by my eye shadow palettes containing 59
colours in total) and 11 make up brushes. Make up is a massive love
of my life as you can probably tell!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
3. I've always wished that I could
sing and act for as long as I can remember. I think I'd be on stage
if I could.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
4. I've finally come to terms with
truly being who I am. If anyone doesn't particularly like this or
me, I won't dwell, because I'll never compromise who I am for anybody else. As Dr Seuss said: “Be who you are and say what you
feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't
mind”.</div>
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<br /></div>
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5. I took ballet lessons for six
years as a teenager. I loved it and still have my pointe shoes as a
souvenir. </div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b>The people I'm passing the awards onto
are</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
1. <a href="http://needlecraftcorner.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Needlecraft Corner </a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
2. <a href="http://lauralovescakes.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Laura Loves Cake</a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
3. <a href="http://themorethanoccasionalbaker.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">The More Than Occasional Baker</a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
4. <a href="http://student-culinary-conquests.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Culinary Conquests</a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
5. <a href="http://butterheartssugar.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Butter Hearts Sugar</a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
I hope people reading this check out the above bloggers. Their blogs are a delight to read and are baking and crafting some amazing things!</div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-7539560920000729332012-05-08T13:37:00.000-07:002012-05-08T13:38:03.780-07:00 Peanut Butter Obsession <br />
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My love affair with peanut butter has
been the longest relationship of my life. Longer than my
relationship with my boyfriend! However, it's not always been plain
sailing... we've had some tough times. My mum made some peanut
butter cookies when I was around six or seven years old and they were
a delight to eat. I subsequently ate too many of them and they made
me sick after a day out at Bradford's Museum of Film and TV. I don't
think I touched peanut butter as a sweet treat for around twelve
years after that. Thankfully I got over this and we made up because
it's now my favourite treat.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
I decided to bake peanut butter cookies Paul Hollywood style, but with a slight twist. You can find the recipe <a href="http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/514474" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRjecesxyIhX3jXjvE3aZ1zNwR57xxeYTLZ6RDJ6-cq1opHkX_pl9IGoKlS6cEq-W8qu0UKfpVhWSXv57omOOu-K1zY8aSBcFCvltvglFM2f0_-8jNc3uduPcnBAak0m2dsHi5-g2EXzA/s1600/IMG_3509.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRjecesxyIhX3jXjvE3aZ1zNwR57xxeYTLZ6RDJ6-cq1opHkX_pl9IGoKlS6cEq-W8qu0UKfpVhWSXv57omOOu-K1zY8aSBcFCvltvglFM2f0_-8jNc3uduPcnBAak0m2dsHi5-g2EXzA/s320/IMG_3509.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK4nRrdwG_EZKJjrIoQH6rvXOdHuadNYb41K-vcBD6Tv5oE7Vjb_Xo4QlbA_PjxAJYQuXGv4-TbWGCVFeqSOQ5ROeylcKIOh6Bxh9oyqb8i_N1IxcYJx9Mo2__WZSQYjvDVKZRHkyYGwY/s1600/IMG_3517.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK4nRrdwG_EZKJjrIoQH6rvXOdHuadNYb41K-vcBD6Tv5oE7Vjb_Xo4QlbA_PjxAJYQuXGv4-TbWGCVFeqSOQ5ROeylcKIOh6Bxh9oyqb8i_N1IxcYJx9Mo2__WZSQYjvDVKZRHkyYGwY/s320/IMG_3517.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I substituted the peanuts for chocolate
chips and used crunchy peanut butter instead of smooth. It made up
for my decision to omit the peanuts in favour of chocolate. The orange zest
was a stealth ingredient though, as I couldn't taste it that much, but
could smell it as they were baking. They aren't the prettiest
cookies out there, but that's the appeal. They're what I'd
call a 'homely bake' and delicious dunked in a cold glass of milk.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-90912175453453605902012-04-17T13:29:00.000-07:002012-04-17T13:33:35.785-07:00Hummingbird Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmO1rma4w-Odc6F6mzWKVxTwn58ZNgvijIdLt9L1vXm1eVlOLQlWBRJqNb_nNKxq9_xUI07yNpzZzXRKaL_LzsRPAfROixaWu0U7IZM7PblnyZOQ2b758RIeRoRBdX6z96qeHBfiotMwY/s1600/good2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmO1rma4w-Odc6F6mzWKVxTwn58ZNgvijIdLt9L1vXm1eVlOLQlWBRJqNb_nNKxq9_xUI07yNpzZzXRKaL_LzsRPAfROixaWu0U7IZM7PblnyZOQ2b758RIeRoRBdX6z96qeHBfiotMwY/s320/good2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
On Saturday night, I baked a
Hummingbird cake. I've been meaning to bake it since I tried it in a
wonderful tea room in York called Georgina's Café. Theirs was in
tray bake style and rather rustic in appearance. That was the charm
for me. I choose it due to it's appearance, looking like the ugly
duckling amongst all the other layered cakes and because I'd seen it
in my Magnolia Bakery cookbook. I've been itching to bake something
that I'd consider to be proper 'home baking'.<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
I was so excited to make this and in
true OCD (obsessive cake disorder) style, had to frost it immediately
after it cooled. I wouldn't have been able to sleep knowing there
was an unfrosted, gorgeous cake in my kitchen! Maybe I need help?!
But that's how much I'm passionate about cake and the finished item.
I had to see it in all it's glory before I crept to bed at 1am. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRM6vW1js2PaDpxnJqBqejZiQrgPXF-RaVpkXtjLBYgPcO3HJ5f6gjosNhFrqEK5PP0s3frO-KzViuMNNRE4EKUN2GejW705e7j77Jxf6GjliBspgaCuy0va8y1XHIvDCBCU1LFzGrSMU/s1600/good3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRM6vW1js2PaDpxnJqBqejZiQrgPXF-RaVpkXtjLBYgPcO3HJ5f6gjosNhFrqEK5PP0s3frO-KzViuMNNRE4EKUN2GejW705e7j77Jxf6GjliBspgaCuy0va8y1XHIvDCBCU1LFzGrSMU/s320/good3.JPG" width="210" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_x1j4K1XriJ5Hyz9WoQkaATXhW8QkyA5byRJIycX40FfXEBsJ8IuYLooB4rfS5UN9gL0CaCXEnPp3V1K5ReIZIH87AY-DpOPvv_2ylYTjqfn8xfy8h6PhLTD-tMQ62Ajqh3Sxswa6yOc/s1600/good1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_x1j4K1XriJ5Hyz9WoQkaATXhW8QkyA5byRJIycX40FfXEBsJ8IuYLooB4rfS5UN9gL0CaCXEnPp3V1K5ReIZIH87AY-DpOPvv_2ylYTjqfn8xfy8h6PhLTD-tMQ62Ajqh3Sxswa6yOc/s320/good1.JPG" width="210" /></a> </div>
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<b>I used this recipe from <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/tropical_fruit_cake_01471" target="_blank">BBC Food</a></b></div>
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It's similar to carrot cake due to the
nuts and cinnamon and using oil instead of butter. However, this has
more depth and scope than carrot cake. The bananas and pineapple
transforms it into something really special and is utterly delicious. I didn't use mango as stated in the
recipe, however used more pineapple and cinnamon to compensate. I
love cinnamon and recipes could always use a bit more for my palette!
I sprinkled toasted desiccated coconut on top, which ignited all the
flavours. The cake is finished with a smooth cream cheese (full fat
Philadelphia) frosting. </div>
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<b>Verdict</b>: <i>Hummingbird cake is now my
favourite cake. It has everything for me - fruit, nuts, spice and a
rich centre and topping. The texture of it is perfect, dense and yet
still so moist.</i><b><i> </i></b>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-85329606963413522202012-03-24T14:26:00.000-07:002012-03-24T14:30:32.468-07:00 Easter Cupcakes <br />
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Luckily for me, I've been off work this
week so I've had time to relax and do things I love that I
may not have time to do normally. This isn't at all cake related
(and I like to gush about things I love in general) but I have watched four cycles of America's Next Top Model and loved
it. It always raises my spirits and I like the process of witnessing the
models improve and blossom. It's interesting to watch if you
have a love of fashion photography as you see how to move/place your body and play
with the light to achieve the best results. I do have the biggest
girl crush on Tyra Banks though, she's inspirational and absolutely
stunning and I think it's important to have positive role models.
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Anyway, back to cake... ! I've had time
to really sit down and play with the cake toys I've accumulated and
found it very therapeutic. I have OCD (obsessive cupcake disorder!)
so I typically buy a lot of cake tools, some of which will take a lot
of practise to master, but I like to aim high! My confidence has
grown since starting the cake decorating and sugar craft course, so I
dip my toe in the water that bit more as it grows. America's Next
Top Model and Bruce Springsteen's new album Wrecking Ball have been
my soundtrack this week whilst baking and creating my Easter cupcakes. I think
it's made me more creative! I ended up making three different
designs.</div>
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<b><i>Design 1:</i></b></div>
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<b><i>The rabbit family </i></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgExPlxWFwFIL5xqSiu4xgOo3Vk0J_RbIlbcx6MwA-P1oj1akoBDHnFXSM4rm1sigJ15H1v3VKCS8JARWITxVOlwN_vydyyTvn-3qfdoj5rL_G6bQgB74BUWNwtMo5uEz2kA4N6B_MukJQ/s1600/Good8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgExPlxWFwFIL5xqSiu4xgOo3Vk0J_RbIlbcx6MwA-P1oj1akoBDHnFXSM4rm1sigJ15H1v3VKCS8JARWITxVOlwN_vydyyTvn-3qfdoj5rL_G6bQgB74BUWNwtMo5uEz2kA4N6B_MukJQ/s320/Good8.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>I think these are incredibly sweet and capture the essence of how I characterise Easter - spring time, flowers, Easter bunnies, family.</i></div>
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<i>I embossed the letters with the typewriter effect set from Pretty Witty Cakes. </i></div>
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<b><i>Design 2: </i></b></div>
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<b><i> Chocolate nests</i></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHRCJcrbyUS1_tJk6hbL6P5EXbvN95ocqosmkRwaNmly7ZY1ryY4pyPQQk0OQ29l7XIFjsAFY0DetEpvlbPQO5Vzgi1T_cAcE11lGtIJoeKOEbyka2Df00kyoLIQ2Bj7DTi2EZs5q4JmY/s1600/Good3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHRCJcrbyUS1_tJk6hbL6P5EXbvN95ocqosmkRwaNmly7ZY1ryY4pyPQQk0OQ29l7XIFjsAFY0DetEpvlbPQO5Vzgi1T_cAcE11lGtIJoeKOEbyka2Df00kyoLIQ2Bj7DTi2EZs5q4JmY/s320/Good3.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj1_ghE6sRMYENHlM4Pki09Jh7bXUNQBqr0PF1noMs50pMDcyHHcN_lABz59genalkSz4XcCVKdZJW7l-48l1bwkfbDLuX7M3STK0sUJX2aac2BbH0goG0oZLJkXs_7rOpKe45yH9Al40/s1600/IMG_3414.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj1_ghE6sRMYENHlM4Pki09Jh7bXUNQBqr0PF1noMs50pMDcyHHcN_lABz59genalkSz4XcCVKdZJW7l-48l1bwkfbDLuX7M3STK0sUJX2aac2BbH0goG0oZLJkXs_7rOpKe45yH9Al40/s320/IMG_3414.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<i>The humble Shredded Wheat nest! - a staple to all Easter baking. </i><i> </i></div>
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<i>Nestled on top of a french swirl achieved by the Wilton 8B nozzle</i></div>
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<b><i> Design 3:</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Easter egg hunt</i></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxMa-tOt144bTQwQ7EPfG1H4K4v46N2HD-lB0VGKGUGhCEwnjq0EMJklm0o3-iAg5R-BcPKKwcCtLkXQZByONz4yi2vdXtkGLFrSYH9PFErpTxQ18UtXARkGSLPulakjIcOqIHFmrZJu4/s1600/Good5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxMa-tOt144bTQwQ7EPfG1H4K4v46N2HD-lB0VGKGUGhCEwnjq0EMJklm0o3-iAg5R-BcPKKwcCtLkXQZByONz4yi2vdXtkGLFrSYH9PFErpTxQ18UtXARkGSLPulakjIcOqIHFmrZJu4/s320/Good5.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzWgqVnYvL_7u0_KjEcFJJeXVejDMrjmhbZ_L20452eW5-ioEuRrsdSM2gulFnZVeEd_WCVRQHa-sr44nZ1MnaP8nhZUUJNIukply96_FT756EipKYSk9BO-s8vOugDiZQSEOBwJ6lbRk/s1600/good+9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzWgqVnYvL_7u0_KjEcFJJeXVejDMrjmhbZ_L20452eW5-ioEuRrsdSM2gulFnZVeEd_WCVRQHa-sr44nZ1MnaP8nhZUUJNIukply96_FT756EipKYSk9BO-s8vOugDiZQSEOBwJ6lbRk/s320/good+9.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<i>I adore the idea of an Easter egg hunt out in the country and the eternal child in me would love to take part in one - I tried to embody this by creating a garden, with a mystical toadstool, daisies and the beautifully domineering petunias.</i></div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-22250835744850024692012-03-13T16:12:00.000-07:002012-03-14T10:52:06.988-07:00 Cake decorating and sugar craft course <div style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">Anyone else find that the weeks are just absolutely flying by now? Only feels like yesterday since Valentines Day. It’s been my boyfriend’s birthday since then, I’ve seen Harry Potter’s Hogwarts Express at the Railway Museum in York, had hummingbird cake (which was a taste sensation and I can’t believe I haven’t had it before now!) been to a casino for the first time and the nights and mornings are getting a lot lighter. Which means getting to the gym in a morning and burning off my cupcakes is easier! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVC3Yy1MW_h_cuSroVqV0u3zhTuoiebcOuMDpOfAWTE3h2al6XK55MgPjLz86kyQTZdNFdAdGOfdlJCv6E6WUr7oE8OE8bcAZBUJ_Q2qUIvvYPEtvNoDAYd1o7y0mI_0mdjdXsUFOaUhg/s1600/Hogwarts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVC3Yy1MW_h_cuSroVqV0u3zhTuoiebcOuMDpOfAWTE3h2al6XK55MgPjLz86kyQTZdNFdAdGOfdlJCv6E6WUr7oE8OE8bcAZBUJ_Q2qUIvvYPEtvNoDAYd1o7y0mI_0mdjdXsUFOaUhg/s320/Hogwarts.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>That's me posing with the Hogwart's Express</i></span> </div>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;">Joe's birthday lemon cupcakes</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I thought I'd give you an update on what I've been doing in my cake decorating and sugar craft class. I’ve completed four classes thus far and I’m really enjoying it! The first week we made this basic tortoise which was very cute (the body was already provided ready to be iced) and covered in sugar paste. I've never covered a cake with sugar paste before and found it rather hard as you have to tease the icing down, rather than pull it down and then smooth it out, whereas I can be quite heavy handed. We also made his feet, head and the hat which was easy enough for me luckily! The main skill acquired from that week was how to make frills in flower paste, which you can see as the other layer to his shell. I was impressed with how simple it was – unfortunately I’m not sure I can explain how we did it, but it involved a cocktail stick, both index fingers with a small rubbing motion on the cocktail stick – sorry, that's really vague isn't it? It’s a very DIY and self sufficient technique as Bridget (my teacher) would often prefer to use little things around the home to create effects, rather than buying the specific cake tool. I'm sure you can buy a tool exclusively for frilling from PME though. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Here is the finished tortoise</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In week two and three we focussed on piping with royal icing, making small roses out of royal icing and piping leaves. I wasn’t sold on this type of icing at first as it seemed old fashioned, not to mention really hard to pipe tiny rose petals on the tip of a cocktail stick out of it! I felt very disheartened to see my big ‘rose’ blobs on the top of a tiny stick, but I'm sure I would get better with practise, especially since I'm a big believer in having the correct tools, e.g. a flower nail! </span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So, the royal icing was piped onto a stencil to make the sides of the cradle, then flower paste to make the bottom. Once dried in an open, damp free environment we stuck the bottom to the sides with, you guessed it, more royal icing! We then placed a blob of sugar paste to sit in the cradle and made a little duvet and blanket to cover the cradle. Finally, we piped leaves (with a proper leaf nozzle) and attached the rose blobs on. </span><span style="font-size: small;">We made this cradle over two weeks and is great for a traditional christening cake, after many more attempts to perfect of course...! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Here is the finished cradle</i> </span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In week four we made this lovely Mother's Day inspired small cake. Like the tortoise, the ball cake was already provided. Bridget said she uses a Wilton tin and you just buttercream two 'half balls' together. We covered it in basic sugar paste and smoothed it out. I used two layers as the first layer looked too bumpy and brain like on the cake - not a great look! We then cut out flowers, the white set made out of flower paste and the pink flowers out of mexican paste (I had no idea what mexican paste was and Bridget clarified that it's a mixture of sugar paste and flower paste). We made the centre of the flowers with tiny blobs of sugar paste and flattened them out with a small sieve. You achieve a small criss cross effect on the blobs, which I think gave them a child like, funky and surreal quality. Then we simply let the flowers dry and stuck them to the cake with royal icing along with the bow. </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">Here is the finished cake</span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnoaCPudhUuM7UNdP2MZMOfXbRiNOeR8ITxdYW2QA7qdfDYsC28SZBQI4LXw3Vk7N4sHJJbaTCbZ_biacKflDrC5thh4LXzdUjZZ5XvNk-y4TwX-WHxuZl4zI9fYfxmZDER-CE5q2-Z1A/s1600/cake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnoaCPudhUuM7UNdP2MZMOfXbRiNOeR8ITxdYW2QA7qdfDYsC28SZBQI4LXw3Vk7N4sHJJbaTCbZ_biacKflDrC5thh4LXzdUjZZ5XvNk-y4TwX-WHxuZl4zI9fYfxmZDER-CE5q2-Z1A/s320/cake.jpg" width="191" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-PRatsWaVuZCPOttlAiPnw5yGYx-nxKMLwXnIhzGyZ-6y3QxLiyEpzBymxmfRDNhkh49YKhN4agGSBqvPNc-y-6j95rpOmpysG8rSzKGOG_84a0C9UhOXa4FbuDs5HSVEN3Mzat03LI/s1600/cake+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-PRatsWaVuZCPOttlAiPnw5yGYx-nxKMLwXnIhzGyZ-6y3QxLiyEpzBymxmfRDNhkh49YKhN4agGSBqvPNc-y-6j95rpOmpysG8rSzKGOG_84a0C9UhOXa4FbuDs5HSVEN3Mzat03LI/s320/cake+2.jpg" width="191" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Flower making next week and I'm already nervous! </span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960219136586644365.post-71443727519714949472012-02-16T14:08:00.000-08:002012-02-16T14:10:36.853-08:00 Valentines Goodies <br />
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Last weekend was manic as I had my
Valentines Day stall on the 13<sup>th</sup>. I spent the best part
of two days baking cupcakes and cutting out pretty sugarpaste shapes. It was
definitely the right time to test the array of cutters I'd bought
over the last few months. The amount of cupcake goodies available is immense. Everything I've bought recently has been
online – Pretty Witty Cakes and Purple Cupcakes. Brilliant
products, service and delivery. Got the odd goody from TK Maxx
though as you can imagine! (that place is a treasure trove) The best product from TK are the
PME dove cutters. They're so beautiful and elegant. However, my
favourite buy of all has to be the silicone button
mould. Extremely easy to use and you can just pop the buttons out and they're perfectly formed. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvxMBazqUVw7kUS84FXZE-haSNBPfBtD8O092m9EksW6K4TSMKT-pH9_z9vlw_J07A-Gr8V0ra0-uin7Kc1WgDuMO_T913OugQ2o43ltRH7mb9_rWLlYGnkLcRSh4DMqe0uEQ8sE2YW5M/s1600/buttons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvxMBazqUVw7kUS84FXZE-haSNBPfBtD8O092m9EksW6K4TSMKT-pH9_z9vlw_J07A-Gr8V0ra0-uin7Kc1WgDuMO_T913OugQ2o43ltRH7mb9_rWLlYGnkLcRSh4DMqe0uEQ8sE2YW5M/s320/buttons.jpg" width="191" /></a></div>
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This is the end product - the buttons are made
out of white chocolate and so tempting to nibble on! </div>
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So here is a sample picture of the
cupcakes made for the Valentines stall.</div>
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Starting at the top left – Chocolate
Orange, The Malt Teaser, Vanilla and Strawberry, Almond, Lemon,
Chocolate and Vanilla and finally Raspberry Fluff and White Chocolate
in the middle.</div>
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I love the contrast of the white dove against the purple buttercream. </div>
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And then the stall set up</div>
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As you can see, I don't have many lemon cupcakes remaining in this picture! I wish I'd made more as they were the fastest seller. It's
beneficial to hold these stalls regularly as you start to recognise
what sells and what to do next time.</div>
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It was a fabulous event again and I'm very proud of myself. Especially considering that this was the first time I've ever used sugarpaste too. I will continue to use sugarpaste decorations in this way because of the lovely comments from my customers. It definitely adds the wow factor.</div>
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P.S. I'm starting a cake decorating and sugarcraft course on Monday! I'm really looking forward to learning more and spending time with fellow cake lovers. </div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271030181477336939noreply@blogger.com9