Mint Marble

So first lets address the elephant in the room, I've been neglecting you. It's been a while since I posted, but I'm creating a schedule for myself which means that hopefully posts on here will be a lot more regular.

Today's offering is a creation of my own, a lovely mint chocolate cake, covered in mint flavoured buttercream and a chocolate ganache, topped with crumbled and quartered Oreos and mint buttercream covered toffee popcorn.

The popcorn was a late but ultimately welcome addition as I was walking through Tescos deciding what to bake and wanting to put a twist on things. I was unsure whether to play it safe with sweet popcorn or it push the boat out a little and combine to seemingly unrelated flavours. The verdict? Perfection...

This little flavour jaunt has inspired me to be a little more adventurous when creating and adapting recipes, so I'm excited (and nervous) for what else I can come up with.


Make sure you listen to this lovely young lady's album, her voice is pure silk:

Until next time!
xx

Cocoa Cuts

Sometimes, words are not always needed.

Sometimes, you just need to get straight to the point, and gawk at pictures of this beautifully rustic-looking carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and thousands of hand grated white chocolate shavings to elegantly decorate.

Sometimes, cake. 

This was slightly trying to make, due to the humid conditions and very viscose cream cheese frosting. As a result, the rustic-looking icing (which the perfectionist in me has embraced) was merely the product of a hurried attempt to get it iced and in the fridge to set before it all melted away!

However, the heat was good for one thing, the chocolate shavings. Top tip: in order to get fuller longer chocolate shavings, leave the chocolate out of the fridge for 30-45 minutes before use so it can soften, then grate. This gives them more of a curl that looks perfect as a garnish or decoration on any cake!


Below is one of those interludes from an album that you wish was a full length song - the delicate piano melody is beautiful - enjoy!

Til' next time...
O xx

Cookie Dough

Everybody loves Oreos. Or at least, all the people that I've ever discussed this delicious, crunchy, dreamy, can-do-no-wrong delight with, have loved it.

So it was inevitable that at some point, I was going to bake something that involved the most majestic biscuit (is it biscuit? or a cookie? or just a fantastic entity that can only be called an Oreo?) that man has ever seen.

NB - Oreo buttercream frosting is certifiably the greatest thing I have ever tasted; and yes, I have tasted  pizza, but this frosting is better. It's the creamy centre of the Oreo mixed with the crushed biscuit, sprinkled with extra biscuit - oh, and there's a lil' slice of Oreo tucked in too.

Enjoy...

Musically, I've been all over the shop, with Adele's glorious return to our ears, and Bieber's epic comeback, there's been a lot of great new music - but there's one song out there, that perfectly described how I feel about these cupcakes, that has to be shared...

Til' next time O xx

Smooth Classics

I like nice things.

When things are organised, tidy, aesthetically pleasing - that kind of thing. Which is why I love a perfectly smooth buttercream finish on a cake. It just looks delicious, and when you cut that slice, and it's faultlessly creamy and...you get my drift. A buttercream finish is everything.

So when my Dad requested a full sized classic chocolate cake (he thought the 6-inch was cute, but politely said he wanted a bigger one) I figured I had the time to get that perfect finish on it, and add a little fun with some sprinkles. Cause who doesn't love sprinkles?

Of course, doing what you know is nice, but switching up the tempo is even more fun, which is why recently I've been switching out the vanilla essence in this cake for peppermint extract, and we all know that mint chocolate is pretty much a match made in taste bud heaven - and I'm pretty sure it's my Dad's new favourite.

Here's a song I  currently can't, and don't want to, get out of my head, enjoy:

Til' next time

Forever & Always

Happy belated Father's Day to all the Dads, Grandads, Father figures, single Mum's, Single Dads, big Brothers and Mentors - and to those without Fathers, stand tall, you possess strength we could only dream of, and we admire you so much.

xx

Old Favourites

There are a lot of things that are my favourite. Like my favourite shoes, or my favourite dinner recipe, or my favourite poem, or my favourite book, or my favourite cupcakes.

I've used this recipe combination for a while, (the cupcake recipe is from here and the icing recipe is from here) but I haven't made it in a looooong time. However recently, with my degree done and hungry housemates, I felt obliged (lol jk I would've made and eaten them all anyway) to make one of my favourite cupcake recipes, with the best icing of all time.

I give you, banana bread cupcakes with peanut butter cream cheese frosting. Yes, that is a thing, and heck yes, it is the best thing since melted cheese (and yes, I'm now making that a thing because the whole sliced bread saying is just not revolutionary anymore). 

Enjoy. 

They are perfect. All the beautiful banana flavour inside, and then a nice healthy dose of peanut butter on top - and even if you truly believe you don't like peanut butter, try the icing, I've had a few converts.



Just like the recipe, here's an old favourite:

Ore xx

Details.

Sometimes, things are better off simple.

...and sometimes, simple means a classic chocolate cake, with a little piping detail. You know, just for fun.

You know how Bisto has 'Ahhhh Bisto' and the people who make Actimel Yogurts have 'Mmm Denon!', what does cake have? We need one of those.


Here's a lil tribute to Stevie, whose birthday is was recently:

Til' next time (which will be very soon cause I totally baked today)

Ore