A festive round-up!

Well, that's it. After weeks of planning and going a little crazy; Christmas is all over. I've had a lovely few days spent with the family, eating, drinking, eating some more and laughing a whole lot. I also managed to squeeze in a little bit of baking so I thought I food round-up would be a good idea. 

Christmas Pudding! 

You may remember a couple of months ago myself and my mum rallied together and made our pudding. Well, we dug it out from under the bed, steamed it for a couple more hours and then set it alight! I have to say, it was bloody good pud. I also whipped up some brandy butter to go with it. Very easy: 4oz butter, 4oz icing sugar and a healthy splash of brandy. Whisk it up, pop in the fridge to chill and tuck in when needed. 


 

Before and during. After was just an empty plate. 








Boxing Day Buns. 

Christmas pudding and mince pies get a little rich after a while, so for those of you who want something sweet but light; whip up a batch of cake mix, make some buns and enjoy! (It was just your standard 4 & 2, eggs, butter, sugar, flour and cocoa powder). 

I did actually help me Aunty out and make some gooey, chocolate pots. They're amazing. Light, chocolatey and melt in the mouth. I don't actually know the recipe, but when I find it I'll upload it. 

Well my dears, I hope you all had a marvellous Christmas and I hope you're not suffering nearly as much as I am. 

I shall be back in the kitchen very soon, trying out all my new utensils! TTFN x

Merry Christmas!

To everyone that's casts glance at this little blog, I thank you and wish you a very merry Christmas!
I hope you all get lots of lovely things, drink plenty, eat more and have a wonderful time!

X

Pince Mies!

Or to the normal people out there; Mince Pies!

Okay, so they may not be very original but every year we the British public consume something like 70million of the little buggers. Going by that judgement, I think it's fair to say we like Mince pies. 
The past two-three years I've made most of mine; it's fun, easy and you come away with the sense of achievement! Last year I actually made my own mincemeat, however due to a lack of time, this year I flaked out and went with the shop brought stuff. Still tasty though. (I thought I'd made a post about it, I didn't, but I will). 

Anyways! Time to get baking. This mix makes 12 reasonably sized pies. 

Ingredients:
-8oz plain flour
-4oz butter
-3oz caster sugar
-1 egg
-optional flavourings (I've used a tsp of vanilla essence). 

The Making Of:
-Pre-heat the oven to 160c
-In a large bowl, crumb together the flour and butter. Then mix in the sugar
-Crack the egg in and knead into a soft dough. Whilst kneading, add the flavouring. 
Just an FYI; if you're mixing by hand, the feeling when you burst the egg yolk isn't pleasant. 
-Once the dough is formed, wrap it up in cling film and pop in the fridge for around 10mins. 
-Whilst your dough is in the fridge, line your baking tray (a bun tin will do nicely) with butter and flour. 
-After 10mins, get your dough out, unwrap it and roll it out on a floured surface. You'll want to split the dough 60/40; the larger lump for the base of the pies, the smaller lump for the lids. Using a suitable cutter (I used two different sized glasses), cut the bottom circles out and pop into the tin. 
-Fill it up with a healthy tsp of mincemeat, brush the edges with milk and pop the lids on. 
-Brush each pie with milk, poke a couple of holes in and pop them in the oven! 
-Bake for approx. 20mins; you want the pastry to be firm and golden brown. 

Enjoy hot with cream, brandy butter, custard or on their own with a dusting of icing sugar!

Giving the gift of food; part two!

So, with a week left until Christmas it seemed only right to actually start baking some presents! Although, unfortunately I've still got a way to go! 

First up; Shortbread biscuits. It was a bit of a cop out really, but when you're posting them to friends and family, it makes a lot more sense. I've just used the same recipe as the Halloween ones, so head over there and you'll be sorted. But of course, use Christmas cutters, not Halloween ones! 

Secondly (and a lot more fiddly), miniature Christmas Puds! 
I'll come clean and admit that I've pinched the idea from a certain Mrs Lawson, but when I saw them I thought, "ugh, amazeballs!". So they were added to the list of baked presents. 
It's actually quite a simple recipe, but it requires a little bit of patience. 

What you'll need:
-350g of Christmas Pud (last years left over, or one from the shop)
-125g dark chocolate
-60ml of sherry
-2 large tbsp of golden syrup
-100g of white chocolate
-green + red icing/glacier cherries 


And....GO!
-First up, the pudding. If you've brought one you'll need to cook it and then let it cool completely. If not, crumble it up into a bowl. 
-Melt the dark chocolate ban-marie style.
-In the bowl: mix the pudding, syrup, sherry and chocolate together. Mix until it's all gloopy and folded into each other. 
-Now comes the fiddly part. Scoop up little handfuls of the mixture, and roll into neat balls. Neat being the operative word, as you'll see, mine aren't. But then, at least you can tell they're handmade! ha!
-Once they're all rolled, pop them on a plate, cover in cling film and whack in the fridge for about 15mins to harden up. 
-Whilst they're toughening up, you can melt the white chocolate and then let that sit for about 10mins. Makes it a little easier to play with. 
-Get your puds out, put a dollop of white chocolate on each and then decorate with either the icing or cherries. Nigella seemed to make it harder for herself but cutting out tiny holly and ivies; I went for the easier route and used the little tubes of piping icing. Personally, I think they look pretty darn cute!

I'm not giving these away until the end of the week, so to make sure they're truly set, I'm leaving them in the fridge. Nigella doesn't say how long to leave them in the fridge, but I'm guessing, if you're planning on the distributing them sooner than myself; leave them at least a day. You don't want to risk them falling apart!


Now, go share your baking wonders! 

Santa's Buns!

This really is my favourite time of the year as far as baking's concerned. There's just so much fun you can have with it!
On today's menu: edible Santa hats! I actually made these last year, they were such a success that I thought I may as well make them again.

Ingredients: (it's just a basic cake mix, so this is super easy)
Makes 12 little buns
-2 eggs
-4oz butter
-4oz caster sugar
-4oz SR flour
-1tsp vanilla essence
-Double/whipped cream
-Fresh strawberries

The fun part:
-Pre-heat the oven to 150c
-Cream together the butter and sugar
-Mix in the eggs (making sure not to curdle)
-Add the flour and vanilla; mix together until it's light and creamy
-Spoon the cake mix into individual bun cases, and then pop in the oven. Bake for approx. 30-40mins, or until golden brown on top and firm in the middle.

The topping:
-If you're using double cream, you'll need to whip it up until it's firm and peaky.
-Wash your strawberries, and chop in half
-Once the buns are cool you can add a dollop of cream to each bun, pop on a strawberry and finish off with a bit of cream on top. Repeat until they're all done.

As it's fresh cream and fruit, you'll want to store them in the fridge. But of course, you can always eat them quickly before ruining the cream! Would be rude not to!

Enjoy!

Give the gift of food!

This year for Christmas I've decided to make things a lot more personal. Instead of just thought out shop presents, I'm adding some homemade goodies to the mix as well. It's a fun, personal and slightly cheaper option. 

I'm making up a couple of hampers for family (a mix of baked goods and shop goods), I'm also sending boxes of Gingerbread Men and other Christmassy biscuits to friends and family who live further away from me. I digress...first of my list of things to make is; jam! You can make a variety of jams/preserves/pickles - neither of which will go to waste over Christmas, especially with all the leftovers! 

This is my first jam attempt, so I actually used a recipe from the internet. But it's tasty and so easy! 

What you'll need:

- Two-four jars (is your jars are small, you'll be able to spread the mix out more)

- 5 Bananas, chopped

- 100g of dark chocolate (70% cocoa)

- 200ml of water (room temp)

- 50ml of Ameretto

- 420g caster sugar (the online recipe actually said to use organic, cane sugar - but caster works just as well)

Let the fun begin:

*First off you'll need to sterilise the jars, so: Pre-heat your oven to 130o/gas mark 1, take the lids off, place them on a baking tray and pop in the oven for 15mins. Once they're out of the oven make sure you don't put your hands inside the jar. *

-In a large saucepan and on a low heat, pop in the water, sugar and bananas. Bring to a rolling boil and stir constantly. 

-Once the mix is clear and the bananas are pretty soft, add in the roughly chopped chocolate. Keep stirring until all the chocolate is melted.

-When it's all mixed in together and gooey, take the pan off the heat and stir in the ameretto. 

-Using a jug/funnel pour the hot mixture into your jars. Close the lids and let it cool. If you have some left over, keep it in a jar and save it for yourself. You can then store the jam in a cool, dry place. I've made mine up early so the alcohol can ferment a little. 

Now, the jars on their own are pretty boring so I suggest you get some festive paper, wrap the lids and use some cute tags to label it. 

Your jam is now ready for Christmas! 

IT'S CHRISSTMAAAASSS!!

It may only be the first of December, but as far as I'm concerned, Christmas has arrived! 
Admittedly I've not been this keen for Christmas since I was about 12, so it's good to feel in the spirit of things. A little tidbit for you; there's a good chance I'll be making things (decorations, presents etc) and not just food, so they'll be posted on here too :)

Right. Now, then....Christmas baking; let's begin!

First on the list is: Gingerbread biscuits. 

Ingredients:
- 1 cup of plain/SR flour (I used SR so they're all big and fluffy)
- 50g of butter
- half a cup of brown sugar
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1tsp of bicarbonate soda
- 1tsp of ginger
- half tsp of ground cloves - if you don't like cloves, use nutmeg/cinnamon. 
- pinch of salt

The baking part:
- pre-heat the oven to 190c
- In a bowl (I finally christened my Cath Kidston one!!): mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices together
- Rub in the butter so that the mix becomes like breadcrumbs, then add the sugar. Mix together.
- Add the egg to your mix, this is where it gets messy. You want it to form a dough, but it's so sticky that you'll want to have some extra flour on hand to form the dough a little easier. 
- Once you've managed to peel the goo off your hands, on a floured surface roll out the dough to approx. 3mm. Keep your rolling pin and surface floured - otherwise you wont be a happy baker!
- Pop in the oven on a greased tray and bake for approx. 15mins - or until golden brown. 

Decorating:
I used Dr Oetkers's little tubes of piping icing; you can buy packs of 5 in various colours. 
Before you start making them look pretty though, make sure you wait for them to cool down. Then, get arty! 

These will also make great little extra presents; personalised things always go down so well. Especially when they taste good!

Winter Warmer

As you may of gathered by now, I mainly bake sweet things, but today I thought I'd share something savoury. It's really bloody cold right now, so I'm eating quite a bit of soup...instead of buying it this week I thought I'd make some. I had a huge bag of sweet potatoes and I know they taste good, so making them into a soup seemed like a pretty good idea. 

I must admit, I did find a recipe for Sweet Potato soup online, however I modified it slightly and it tastes good!

What you'll need:
-600g sweet potatoes
-1 onion; roughly chopped
-2 cloves of garlic: finely chopped
-knob of butter
-500ml vegetable stock 
-Small handful of cherry tomatoes; roughly chopped
-Ground spices: chilli, coriander, rosemary & paprika - you'll want a healthy pinch of each. 

The Making Of:
-On a medium heat, in a large saucepan, melt the butter and add: onions, garlic and spices. Cook for about 8mins, until soft
-Add the sweet potato and tomatoes. Allow to soften for a few mins and then add the stock.
-Turn down to a low heat, stir, and simmer until the potatoes are soft. 

If you like a chunky soup, take it off the heat and tuck in straight away. But if you prefer a smooth soup; take it off the heat, let it cool and blend/mash. 

Best enjoyed with a huge lump of warm of bread! 

Flour-less Chocolate & PB Brownies.

There are many things you probably should't do whilst down with a cold; one of which is baking. But whilst sat in my woolies, sneezing and feeling sorry for myself, the only thing I could think of to boost my mood was bake! 

Today I opted for a little challenge...brownies. Yep, a simple recipe, but my first ever attempt at them. And to make it a little more fun, they're flour-less and peanut buttery! 

What you'll need:

-4oz dark chocolate

-4oz butter

-2tsp vanilla extract

-2tbsp crunchy peanut butter

-3oz caster sugar

-2 eggs

The Baking:

-Pre-heat your oven to gas mark 3 / 170c

-In a heavy saucepan and on a low heat, melt down the chocolate, butter and PB

-Once melted, take it off the heat and add the sugar and vanilla extract. Then let it cool down for a wee bit.

-Beat in the eggs and then pour the mix into a suitably sized square tray. I didn't have such a tray, so mine came out far too thin. 

-Pop in the oven and bake for 25-30mins. You want the top to be a little crispy and the inside gooey. 

Best eaten warm, with either: ice-cream, custard, yogurt, cream or just on their own. 

*I made these at lunch, they're now all gone. A clear success*

Fan Girlin'

Okay, so as an aspiring baker I thought it would be a good idea to get some career advice from people in the know. Being a Tweeter, I took to Twitter, asked a couple of ladies and low and behold I got replies. These weren't just any old ladies, no it was the beautiful Gizzi Erskine and Rachel Khoo!!!

They've both been cooking for a long time, they make food fun and they're pretty much who I aspire to be. Getting advice from them has just made my...life! I'm so happy right now. I also now on the look out for a decent place to train/get work experience! 

GAHHH!!

Back to business: I've been ill, and cooking with a cold is just asking for trouble. So in a few days I'll have something new up! 

AHHHHHHHH!!!! and calm. 

Birthday pt.2

Can we just take a second to look at how awesome my best friend's cake skills are?!

Basically, I have the biggest love for Starbucks - I'm addicted AND I work there. So, for Jordan it was pretty obvious what cake she was going to make me. It's a victoria sponge with butter and royal icing. My god it tastes good. 

Oh, I got some more baking goods so now I'm really excited to get back in the kitchen! 

Birthday, pt.1

This is a loosely based baking post. Tomorrow I leave the 22's and become a 23. Yes, it's birthday time! 

So, I don't live with my Mum anymore therefore today was spent with her. A pre-birthday if you like. Of course, the little kid in me just couldn't resist opening my presents; and oh my, am I glad I didn't wait! I have the biggest crush on Cath Kidston products (one day my kitchen will be all CK!), and being the best possible mother, I got a lot of Cath stuff. 

I've never been so happy to unwrap a bowl in my life. But it's just so beautiful! 

Over the next few days I'm going to be pretty busy, but I really can't wait to start cooking recipes from the Vintage Tea Party book. There's also some amazing make-up/hair styling tips which will come in handy. 

My best friend has just snuck off to "cook something" (my cake), I'm excited for cake. 

Presidential Pecan Pie

Alright, so this may not be President worthy, but after the success of Obama's re-election (yes, I'm a Brit with more interest in the US government than her own) I figured I'd tip my hat to the Americans. 

I've never actually had Pecan Pie before, so this is all completely new to me. But it's pretty easy to make. 

Just a pre-warning; this will get your sweet tooth going! 

What you'll need:

The Middle: 
-4oz butter

-4oz golden syrup

-1tsp vanilla extract

-8oz brown sugar

-3 beaten eggs

-A healthy handful of pecan nuts

Pastry: You can always cheat (I wont judge) and get shortcrust from the shops, or like me, bake your own. I left a "How To" in a previous post. 

The making of:

-Pre-heat the oven to 180c / gas mark 4 / 350f

Ideally, you want to get the pastry made first so you can let it set for a while before rolling it out. You'll find the method in the said previous post. 

-Okay, so once thats done: pop the butter, sugar, syrup and vanilla into a sturdy saucepan and melt down on a low heat. 

-Once it's all melted down to a sweet, gloopy mess; take it off the heat and let it cool for 5-10mins.

-Whilst cooling, you can add a few of the pecan nuts into the mix. You can also roll out the pastry and whack it in the dish. I had a little trouble with my pastry - it wasn't co-operating. Hopefully you'll have better luck. You may want to blind-bake it, but as you will know, I never do. 

-Anyway...once the mix has cooled, you then mix in the eggs and pour your mix into the pastry.

-Pop it in the oven for approx. 40-50mins. Ideally you want the middle to be a little soft and golden brown. 

-Decorate the top with your remaining pecans and leave to cool. 

Now, in honour of Mr President; hold you hand on your heart, send him congratulatory thoughts and tuck in!

• 
  

Here today, Scone tomorrow

When you think of England you think of; tea, strawberries and Scones. Well, I do anyway. Usually this would be a Summer combination but I could eat scones all year round. Especially when they're doused in clotted cream! So on that premise, Winter or not, scones are acceptable! 

This was my second attempt at making the little beauts (my first was a terrible shame), and I have to say I was most impressed!

It's not an exciting recipe, but you can obviously jazz it up if you wish. 

What you'll need:

-225g self-raising flour

-pinch of salt

-55g of butter

-25g caster sugar

-150ml milk

-1 beaten egg

The baking:

-Pre-heat the oven to 220c / 425f / gas mark 7 & grease a baking tray

-Mix the flour sand salt together, add the butter and rub together

-Stir in the sugar and add the milk; mix into a soft dough

-On a floured surface (don't want anything sticking) roll out the dough so it's still pretty thick, and use a small cutter to cut out the rounds. Repeat until it's all gone. 

-Smother the tops with the egg, then pop them in the oven

-Bake for approx.15mins; or until golden brown and risen. 

They're best enjoyed when still warm with lashings of cream and jam. 

Anyone for Squash?

Okay, so the next couple of recipes aren't "fresh from the oven", I actually made them a few months ago but for some reason they didn't make the site. 
The first, and one of my most popular, recipes is a modified version of Jamie Oliver's Butternut Squash cupcakes. But I'm sure they're equally as good. 

What you'll need:
-"technically" 400g, but I'm lazy and just use half a butternut squash.
-350g light brown sugar
-4 eggs
-300g plain flour
-2 tsps baking powder
-Jamie says to use 175ml of olive oil, but for some reason I've always used 90ml and that works perfectly. So your choice!
-1 tsp cinnamon/a spice of your choice. 
- A handful of your chosen nuts. Jamie says to use walnuts, but I go for almonds. 

The making of:
-Pre-heat the oven to 180c / 350f / gas mark 4
- Peel, then chop the squash roughly and pop into a blender. (My first attempt at making these I didn't have a blender, so I was left with a grater. Not a fun task!)
-Mix the squash, sugar and eggs in a bowl
-Add flour, oil, nuts and flavourings, and mix together. 
-Fill up your cupcake cases with the gloopy mess and then pop into the oven. 
-Leave in to rise and get firm for 20-25mins

Now, for the icing Jamie gets all fancy and uses lemon and lavender and other stuff I didn't have at the time. So, I stuck with a simple glacier icing (method found on pack) with the tiniest splash of vanilla essence. 
When the cupcakes are cooked, cooled and ready; you just want to drizzle the icing on. No need for artsy stuff. 

Now tuck in! 

OoOoOh spooky!

Okay, not spooky, but tasty.

IT'S HALLOWEEN!!

Unfortunately my imagination this year could only stretch to my costume, so instead of baking something CRAZY I've stuck to what I know; shortbread cookies. However, this time I've made them look cooool.

The recipe can be found in an earlier post, so all you need now is some icing! Easy peasy! 

Now, go get bloodied up and have some fun! 

Cake Coma!!

I've not baked anything for a few days but my friend and her Nan have been on a major baking spree...I'm suffering real bad! I feel like, you know in cartoons when someone gets knocked out and they can see stars; well, I can see cakes circling my head. 
Don't get me wrong, I love cake but when you've been back on a diet for just a week and been feeling so good about yourself; tucking in to four slices is one hell of a coma. 

Oh cake, you will be the death of me.

And on that note; I will be baking something this week. 

I Made Pumpkin Pie!!

For a very long time I've been planning on spending my Autumn months making typically American food. Every year I get a pumpkin, but not once have I made the choice to actually make something with it. I just carve a stupid face and watch it burn. (FYI, the smell of burnt pumpkin is not nice).
So, anyway, this year I thought I would actually do something productive with it. Of course, the only thing that sprung to mind was Pumpkin Pie. So, without further a due, here it is!

What you'll need:

Pastry (yes, I did make mine. You can always cheat though and buy it) :
-170g Plain flour
-100g softened butter
-pinch of salt

Filling:
-625g chopped & peeled pumpkin
-2 eggs
-60g light, brown sugar
-3 tbsp golden syrup (or maple if you can afford it!)
-1/2 tsp cinnamon 
-1/2 tsp nutmeg (you can use other spices if you prefer)
-200ml single/double cream - depending on how indulgent you're feeling.

The doing:

- Pre-heat the oven to 190c/375f/gas mark 5


Pastry: Rub the butter and flour together into crumbs; add one or two tbsp's of water to help bind it together. Knead gently, then pop into the fridge to chill for approx. one hour. 
Filling: Chop & peel the pumpkin; boil until soft, blend into a puree and leave to completely chill. 
Once all is chilled; roll out the pasty and lay it into a baking dish. Make sure you grease it well enough, don't want to leave the bottom behind! Mix all of the above ingredients together and pour into the pastry dish. 
I'm aware that I didn't blind bake, which is what you're supposed to do, but I never have done and my pastry has always turned out just fine. 
You can now pop the dish into the oven for approx. 40-50mins; you want the pastry golden brown, and the centre to be set but a little wobbly in the middle still. 

Once it's done, bring it out and let it chill on a wire rack then pop it in the fridge for about an hour before serving. You're best to keep it in the fridge afterwards as well. 

Now, take a step back, marvel at your work and be proud. I was! 

Hangover cure

I went out Tuesday night (it's now Thursday) and suffice to say, I still feel rather icky. Seeing as I could barely stand yesterday, today seemed like a good day to bake something. Something simple, sweet and comforting. And nothing says "CURE ME" better than m&m cookies. 
My plan was to make proper cookies, but I forgot the eggs so I reverted back to a shortbread recipe. Just as tasty. 

Ingredients:
-4oz butter
-2oz caster sugar
-6oz flour (SR or plain)
-Pinch of salt
-tsp of almond/vanilla extract
-M&M's for decorating (i've got peanut ones)

Method:
-Pre-heat oven to 170c / gas mark 3
-Cream the sugar and butte together
-Add flour, salt and extract
-Knead it into a doughy consistency 
-Leave to sit for approx. 15mins
-Once you're bored of waiting, roll it out on a flat surface to about 1/4inch in thickness. Take your cutter of choosing and cut away! I thought i'd give one of my new Halloween ones a go. 
-Decorate with the m&m's
-Pop in the oven; they cook pretty quickly, so just keep an eye on them and take them out when they're a little firm and golden brown.

Now, if like me you're not feeling too good: take a biscuit (warm), find a dark corner and veg out. 

It has to be said, that whenever I think of Autumn I think of what food I can be cooking. Nine times out of 10, it'll be crumble. Possibly the easiest dish ever, but it's a classic belly warmer. 

My constant go-to is Blackberry and Apple. 

I had some blackberries in my fridge which I had no other use for, so it made sense to knock up a crumble. Now, brace yourself for the challenge! Hah!

Ingredients:
-Whatever you want in your crumble!
-I used two cooking apples and a handful of blackberries
-The crumble will need roughly; 4oz butter, 4oz flour and a sprinkling of brown sugar on top. But depending on how crumbly you like, just keep adding. 
I also like to add oats or nuts to the crumble, but I didn't have any. They add an extra crunch!

Cooking:
-Pre-heat the oven to 180c
-Chop you fruit up roughly, and chuck into an oven proof dish (needs to be a deep one)
-Rub the flour and butter together in separate bowl
-Cover the fruit with the mix, sprinkle some sugar over the top and pop in the oven. 
-Cook for approx.30mins; or until fruit is soft and crumble is crispy. 


Pour on lashings of custard (or ice cream), eat hot and feel all good inside. 

Trick or Treat?!

I'm definitely a Treat girl. 

I've got the Halloween bug pretty bad, me and my friend have been stocking up on goodies already. One of which being these awesome little things. I think for the next month (possibly forever actually), I'm just going to be making Halloween shaped cookies. I also picked up some Halloween styled cupcake cases (there's pumpkin muffin recipe I've got up my sleeves), and they're perfect. 

I will of course be uploading any recipes as soon as I start baking. I'm not feeling too great at the moment, but hopefully next week I'll be mostly in the kitchen. 

Prepping for Christmas (part-1)

Traditional (ish) Christmas Pudding. 

I know it's only just October, but as a rule of thumb, it's about time to get your Christmas puds on the go. 
I'm currently at my mums house in the country, and of course I had the baking bug. But unfortunately she doesn't have an oven, just a hob. So the only option was to steam something; Christmas puds were the perfect option. It's just a shame I can't taste it for another 2.5 months. 
This recipe is for a traditional pudding; there really isn't much point in making it fancy, seeing as there's only two of us that will eat it. I suppose you can argue though, that there are a few differences, but it's much of a muchness. 

Ingredients:

-2oz self-raising flour
-4oz shredded suet
-4oz breadcrumbs
-2 large eggs
-8oz soft, brown sugar
-10oz mixed, dried fruit
-8oz dried cranberries
-2oz chopped, mixed nuts
-1tsp cinnamon
-1tsp nutmeg/ginger
-75ml of stout
-A glug of brandy

You will also need a bowl for the mix, a pan to steam it in, a plate,tin foil and string. 

This is part is simple: Measure out all your ingredients and mix them together in a large bowl/pan, making sure to make a wish when you stir. This is not to be done on heat.

You then need to pop the mix into your bowl of choice, place a plate over it to keep it air tight, cover in tin foil and wrap tightly with the string. Then, you need to bain-marie the pudding for 4hours. Make sure you keep topping up the water, as you don't want it burn! Once your 4hrs are up, take it off the heat, take the plate and foil off and let it cool down. Once cool, re-seal it and store it away until Christmas. You will then need to steam it again for a further 4hrs on the day of use. 

When it's all done, you can then enjoy with brandy butter, brandy ice-cream or whatever else you fancy! 

A little taste of heaven

It might be a little presumptuous to say that these taste like a little bit of heaven, but well, they do. And yes, I am indeed blowing my own trumpet. 

This is a "Faye's Own", but it's also dead easy. 

What you'll need:

Cake mix:
 -4oz butter
-4oz caster sugar
-2 eggs
-4oz self raising flour
-cocoa powder

Icing:             
-Peanut butter
-butter
-icing sugar
-vanilla essence  
(there are no measurements for these, as I feel you should make it to your own preference).

What to do:

-Pre-heat the oven to 180o (I think thats gas mark 6)
-Mix butter and sugar until creamy 
-Add eggs and beat together
-Fold in the flour
-Add the cocoa powder (once again, to your own preference)
-Pour mix into cupcake cases and pop into the oven for about 30mins, or until done.
-Clean up, sit down, and wait. 

Once they've cooled down you can add the icing and decorate with added nuts if you wish. 

P.s yes, I do have a great fondness of peanut butter. 

Peanut Butter cookies

          Before & After

Okay, so I actually stole this from Hello Giggles, but it's just so good not to share it. Plus, it's gluten and dairy free; so like, aside from the sugar, they're totally healthy ;) aha. 

There's not really much point me repeating the recipe, so...if you love peanut butter (and who doesn't?), go get yourself the ingredients and add these to your new favourite things. 

New beginnings

I know technically Spring is the season for new beginnings, but it's Autumn and I feel like giving this another reboot. This time around though, I'm planning on using the blog purely for my kitchen ventures. It kinda makes sense seeing as I've already uploaded a couple of recipes.

Okay so...if you happen to stumble across my concoctions, please feel free to enjoy.

x

Cookie monster!

My baking repertoire is getting pretty big right now. I've always made stuff, mainly cakes, but since moving up north I've baked a whole lot more. Due to the fact there's nothing else for me to do. I'm surprised I haven't ballooned up to be honest...

But anyways, today I turned my hand to cookies, of the M+M variety. The recipe isn't my own, and instead of using shortening (because I didn't know what it was) I used butter, but all in all they turned out really bloody good! Like, seriously good. I actually found the recipe from a cool tumblr blog called Girl-Guts, so if you fancy making them, check it out. I highly recommend you do.

The finished product!

Until next time....

x

Boys? Psshh!

It's Tuesday the 14th. For girls that have a special someone they're most likely spending their day frolicking around in an overly romantic manor. Me on the other hand, I'm single, have been for the majority of my life and I've never had a Valentine. Cards from parents do not count.

So on this day of overspending ridicule, my date was not a boy, it was a white chocolate muffin. 12 in fact. All home made and crazy delicious.

I mentioned yesterday that I would be making them and posting the recipe, so here it is:

What you'll need:

- 2 large eggs

- 2 cups of self-rasing flour

- 1/2 cup of caster sugar

- 2 tsps of baking powder

- 1 1/3 cup of milk

- 1/3 cup of oil

- 1 tsp of vanilla essence

- 1/2 tsp of salt

They're your basic ingredients, you can obviously add ay extra flavourings of your liking. Add as much or as little as you like! I added a large bar of white chocolate-broken up of course, and another tsp of vanilla.

Step one: Turn on oven and pre-heat at 200c/400f/gas 6

Step two: Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, vanilla and any additional flavours.

Step three: Beat the eggs, milk and oil in a separate bowl, then add to the dry mix.

Step four: Pour the mix into muffin cases and then pop into the oven. Leave for approx. 20mins. Until spongey and golden brown.

Step five: TUCK IN!

Before going in the oven

Out of the oven

I don't have a muffin tin, so they're a little flat, but they're fat and yummy so I can't really complain.

Seriously, who needs boys when you have cake?!

x

Round up, round up!

To be perfectly honest there isn't much for me to round up on, but I figure it's been a few days since I last posted on here and instead of ignoring it, I may as well post something!

The past few days have been pretty non-descript, what with living in the middle of nowhere and preparing for my trip, there isn't really much room for exciting stuff. However, I have been baking, I've found a new band to love, I treated myself to some new jeans and...um...yeah, I think that's it. See, riveting stuff.

My baking was a success though...chocolate muffins with additional chocolate digestive biscuits. I'm going to be making white chocolate and vanilla ones tomorrow, so I shall type up the recipe/how to.

Oh, as far as the new band crush goes, it's an American group called Fort Lean. Five rather attractive Brooklynites, selling their rather gorgeous surf/indie sound. They've got an EP out, Sunsick, you should definitely go check it out!

What with a rather dull week, it was really sad to finish it off with the death of Whitney Houston. A true 80's legend.

Onto this week; I'm heading back down south on sunday to spend my last week in the UK at my brothers, so I need to get cracking with packing (god, i'm rhyming now)! Not only do I need to pack for a minimum of 3months in NZ, I also need to pack up my entire room as I wont be returning to the north when I get back to the UK. So it's going to be a rather frantic week I think.

That's about it for now!

x

So it would seem that Festival Season is rapidly creeping up on me. Every year I'm met with the same predicament; which one do I go to?! In an ideal world I'd go to all of them, but this isn't an ideal world, it's shit one. So...with that in mind, and the festivals already announcing line-ups I have to start making some choices.

The only thing with this year is that, there's still a good chance that I might stay in New Zealand. If I do that, it could make things a lot easier.

Isle of Wight, Bestival and Download already have a decent amount of bands on their line-up, and I'm pretty much in love with all three of them! Then of course there's still the announcements from Reading/Leeds, Latitude and Sonisphere.

Seriously, there should just be one HUGE festival, which is free so everyone can go...kind of like a giant house party, but in a field. You can eat, drink, enjoy the bands/comedians and have the best time of your life. I might have to trademark that idea and put the wheels into motion.

For now though, I shall just have to lust over the line-ups and hope that I win the lottery!

x

Velvet crush continued.

One of my earlier posts states my growing crush on velvet; my crush has now developed into a certified love. I love the way it feels, the way it looks and the haphazard creases it makes when you move.

Recently I added to my collection, hanging on a New Look rack was the following pair of black velvet leggings. At first I was a little dubious, but after trying them on and reeling in their comfort, all doubt was lost. They're thicker than your regular leggings so I cant get away with wearing them as trousers and not look like I'm missing something over my arse! They just generally look good with everything...well...almost everything.

My search continues for more velvet...one day I may actually piece together a full out velvet outfit. Although sitting here and picturing it, it doesn't really look all that good!

Oh, and yes, I have the most amazing carpet ever. It's so old lady chic!

x

I've had a serious love affair with Ray Bans for quite some time now- actually that goes for sunglasses of all brands. I'm a sucker when it comes to eyewear, I have something like six pairs at the moment. That's probably nothing compared to some people, but it's still five pairs than I actually need.

I have big vintage ones, round Mickey Mouse ones (the lenses flip up), two pairs of fake Wayfarer's and one pair of the Ray Ban Clubmasters. I love them all. I'll do my best at wearing them all - not at the same time of course. But after a little googling, I found this pair. And I most definitely just fell in love.

I can't actually afford a new pair right now, but there's no harm in looking right?

However, if there is someone out there that wants to loan a lovely, young girl some money, I would be eternally grateful. I'll repay you in love and cakes! I mean it.

x

Failing resolutions

Like everyone else on the strike of midnight January 2012, I made some resolutions. Three in fact:

-Drop a couple of dress sizes

-Really start living my life

-Find a boyfriend

Well, I have New Zealand in 3 weeks, so that's the second one covered. Still no closer to even finding a decent boy, let alone a boyfriend. And the weight loss is in progress. Although it's a slow burner. I know it's one of the most common resolutions made by women and men, but it also seems to be the hardest one to keep. Well, for me at least.

I'm naturally a bigger girl - I come from a line of chunky people, so I'm fully aware that I'll never be skinny. In actual fact I don't want to be skinny, just slimmer and less wobbly. But finding the motivation to actually stick to a regular routine is proving difficult.

I dont count calories, nor do I binge; I just watch what I eat, when I eat it and make sure I don't go overboard on the sweet stuff. For 3 weeks solid I was getting up, doing 200 sit-ups, walking my dog and doing an hour of aerobic/muscle work outs on the Wii. This was a good routine, I actually quite enjoyed it for a while. Then the motivation started to flag and day-by-day I stopped doing things. I even tried the whole Maple Syrup detox thing. I say tried, I did it for one day, felt sick and gave up. Clearly what's good for Beyonce isn't always good for me as well-hah!

Anyway. After a couple of crappy weeks, I think I'm finally turning a corner. Even if I am going at a snails pace around it. However I'm determined to make this resolution work...with three weeks (and counting) until I leave the country, I'm hoping to loose a little more.

From now on, I'm going to my best to record my progress. I can't guarantee a regular update, seeing as I can't see a lot changing...but one can hope!

x

A little catch-up.

OK...so 3months ago me and the mother made a bold choice and moved up north to the depths of the Yorkshire Dales. Leaving the hustle of city life behind and freezing in a soulless house, I started to forget how to make myself feel good. Living in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by farmers and isolated Northerners it's been hard keeping up with fashionable people. I'm not saying I'm particularly fashionable, but I do my best to follow trends. So after months of drab hair and lusting after dip-died locks, I finally brought some Alpine Green La Riche hair colour, put on the marigolds and dipped my hair! I'm in love with it and have a sense of one with the rest of fashion world.

And on another note-one less focused on my hair, I should probably mention that in three weeks time I'll be on my way to New Zealand! 27hours of non-stop fun! (My trip will be well documented on here).

This acknowledgement makes living in the Dales somewhat easier. It's like my carrot, the light at the end of my very dark tunnel.

Now that I've covered the important things (my hair might feature on here quite a bit, I'm a bit OCD with it), I think it's time to get the show on the road.

x

Wakey, wakey!

I'm really bloody useless at keeping this thing up to date. After using Tumblr for so long, I just automatically retreat back to it. However I've come to realise that I don't really voice my opinions/emotions on there, I just use it to post pictures of things I love; usually Ryan Gosling, things I've baked or Topshop clothes that I'm lusting over. Not that I'm complaining, I mean, I love Ryan Gosling.

So anyway, I think it's about time I started being honest. Blogging honestly. I know I've said this many a time on here, but then I stop using the site. Sooo...here goes nothing. From now on I shall use this site on a regular basis; upload my pictures, speak the truth, share recipes and anything else that seems good enough to share.

If you happen to stumble upon this blog then 'hello and welcome'. If you don't, oh well, I'll find you instead. Sit tight and fingers crossed something good will happen.

x