April Glossy Box

It's always a joy to receive exciting post, especially on a dull and rainy day like today!

I'm really happy with the April Glossy Box and thought I'd post a little "show and tell." Obviously having only had the box in my mitts for about an hour or so(!) I've not tried the products yet, but I'm pretty sure the beauty bloggers will be out in force any time soon and they'll do a much better job at reviewing the products than I ever could!

Anarchy!

Source

An epic chocolate cake!

For my husband's birthday it was decided a chocolate cake was the way forward.

When I've made chocolate cakes in the past, I've often been disappointed with the dry and crumbly texture, so I began the search for a moist chocolate cake, something with the texture of a fudge brownie. My research led me to Forkd (fab name!) and the most epic of chocolate cakes was born!
I used three 9" baking tins for my cake and it was HUGE!

The recipe below is the right quantity for two 9" baking tins, I simply multiplied the ingredients to get an extra layer and a larger cake. (Greedy?! Meh!)

I made a simple vanilla butter cream with butter and icing sugar to sandwich the layers. I chose not to make a chocolate butter cream filling because I thought it would be nice to see the contrast in layers when the cake was cut. I was also covering the whole cake with a chocolate ganache and felt there would be plenty of chocolate already going on! (You don't want to overload on chocolate now do you?!?!)

For decoration I added some white and milk chocolate curls.

Make a wish.

Take a slice.

Enjoy!

The recipe

Chocolate sponge

Ingredients

• 250g plain flour
• 1tsp salt
• 2tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1tsp baking powder
• 70g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 400g sugar
• 185ml vegetable oil
• 240ml hot coffee
• 240ml milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1tsp vanilla essence

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 deg.
• Line the bases of two 9" round cake tins with parchment.
• Sift flour, salt, bicarb, baking powder, cocoa and sugar in a large bowl.
• Add the hot coffee, oil and milk. Mix well for several minutes.
• Add the eggs and vanilla. Mix well again. The batter should be very liquid.
• Pour mixture into the baking tins. Bake for approx 40-45 minutes.
• Cool completely before assembly.

*

Butter cream

Ingredients

• 125g butter
• 250g icing sugar
• drop of vanilla essence
• milk (if needed)

Method

• Cream the butter until very soft with no remaining lumps.
• Gradually add the icing sugar and beat together until thick and creamy.
• Add a few drops of vanilla essence.
• If the mixture is too thick add a few drops of milk.

*

Chocolate ganache

Ingredients

• 200g bar of milk chocolate
• 200g bar of plain chocolate
• 300ml fresh double cream

Method

• Break the chocolate bars into small squares and put in a pan over a very low heat.
• Pour over the cream and stir continuously until completely melted and glossy.
• Leave to cool and set slightly.
• Spread all over the cake with a palette knife.

*

This cake is really moist and keeps very well in a sealed container. It is also delicious warmed in the microwave and served with fresh whipped cream! Naughty but nice!

Snapshots #2

Instagram
Snapshots from my collection!

Books by my bedside

A little while ago I was tagged by the lovely Nic of Nics notebook to write about the books I have next to my bed.

These are currently making up my little bedside library:

Top to bottom:

The Hunger Games

I've not started this book yet, and hope I've not just been drawn into the hype with the buzz about the film etc. The premise sounds interesting and I'm quite excited to get it started. 

Generation X

This is one of my all time favourite reads and I still dip in and out of it now and again. I was very excited when it was first published, there was a lot of controversy surrounding this book, due to the description of the twenty something generation at the time being labelled as "Generation X" basically "Underemployed, over educated. Brought up with divorce... scarred by recession, in a world of semi-disposable Swedish furniture....working in no future McJobs...." It's a thought provoking read rather than an adventure, it's certainly has no pace, but it does leave you with a certain, lingering feeling afterwards.

It was published in 1992 and when ever I re-read it, I can't help but think of it's text as being almost prophetic. 

The Winter Ghosts 

I've read two other books by Kate Mosse (not the supermodel!) but this is by far the most beautifully written. It is both moving and haunting in equal measure with a mystery that keeps you hooked until the end! Stunning!

A girl's guide to decorating Abigail Ahern

This is the most recent book I've bought. If you've been watching Channel 4's "Get your house in order" you'll be aware of interior designer Abigail Ahern. This book features lot's of her ideas for transforming your own home in her eclectic and quirky style.
I absolutely love Abigail's use of colour and I lie in bed pawing through the pages and daydreaming of living in a space created by her! Wonderful!

Love bakery
I own many, many baking books, but this book is the only one I keep by my bedside. Not only are the recipes foolproof and delicious, but the book is so lovely to look at! Only problem with reading baking/cookery books in bed though, is it makes me hungry!

I tag anyone who reads this and fancies writing about their own bedside books!

Recent purchases: Hot Cloth Polish

As the owner of particularly, badly behaved and sensitive skin that often seems to have a mind of it's own ..... I'm talking redness some days, flaky eczema on others, the odd, very sore and deep spot (you know the ones that seem right down in your skin and are just so sore!) my skin often stings when I cleanse it and feels tight and dry after exposure to water, you can see how it can be difficult to locate the right products.

You no doubt know all about Liz Earles Cleanse and polish. I've often thought about trying it, but I've read mixed reviews on various blogs about it. Some absolutely swear by it and wouldn't use anything else and some have said it actually irritates their skin, despite it's natural ingredients. You can understand my hesitation then, at purchasing this "wonder" cleanser at £14.25 for 100ml given the description of my skin above. So it was with delight I made the discovery of nspa Hot Cloth Polish for £5 for 150ml while doing my Asda shop online!

I really thought a fiver was quite acceptable for something that would either be potentially good or potentially bad for my over dramatic skin!

I can report after a week of using this lovely smelling, thick cream to cleanse every morning and evening my skin has not reacted badly.... so far. I also love the generous size of muslin cloth that comes with it. Obviously, I need to give it a full month to see how my skin is but if you have sensitive skin like me you'll know it usually reacts badly, very quickly with the wrong products!

There are other products in the same range which I'm now tempted to try such as, the Deep Hydrating facial oil.

If you are looking for a more cost conscious hot cloth cleanser type product, you could do worse than pop into your local Asda and pick up some of the nspa, along with your milk and bread!

Happy Easter!

Hooray for the long Easter weekend!! Isn't it great getting those two extra days?! What are you planning for the extended break?

Here's the lowdown on what I'm going to be up to:

• A naughty, big fat lie in! Oh yes, I'm not going to let the fact that Good Friday is a "freebie" day pass me by. A nice lie in bed, followed by a leisurely brunch at my favourite coffee shop is on the cards.

• Hopefully if the weather is dry(?)we'll be taking lot's of walks with Flossie in our local parks. We're so lucky where we live, there is a beautiful park across the road from our house and lots more within walking distance. One of the parks has just opened a small cafe and it's great to get a take away tea or coffee to walk round with while Flossie plays with her doggie pals! The fact they do bacon butties is also an added bonus!

• As I mentioned in this post, Easter Sunday will involve plenty of cooking for family and friends and I will be baking too. As well as making the cupcakes from my Baking Mad post, I'm going to try my hand at this recipe for tarte au citron, which I'll serve with creme fraiche as dessert on Easter Sunday.

• I will hopefully find some time to catch up with some reading over the holiday, and of course I'll be Smash booking!! I've loved the response I got from you all about Smash, it's been brilliant! I will post some pages once they're finished and I would love to see yours too. Link me in the comments, please.

• And finally, it goes without saying that a lot of the weekend will involve eating chocolate, lots and lots, of lovely chocolate!

Whatever you are doing for Easter, have a wonderful, happy chocolatey (yes, of course it's a real word) time!

In conclusion: March

Mad March
This month has found me immersed in a cloud of icing sugar (due to baking!) stickers, torn out paper, and washi tape (due to Smash booking!) finding great new blogs on Hello Cotton (due to it being so amazing for finding new blogs!) and getting organised with my to do list after downloading a free printable, from A pair of Pears! (due to being unorganised most of the time!)

Smashing purchases!
March was all about Smash for me, I'm really enjoying this new way of journaling/scrapbooking, there are so many new things from the Smash range coming out and I find myself getting far too excited by it all! Some items that are out in the US are not available in the UK yet (this makes me want them even more!) but are apparently expected in April.
My new found love of Smash books has led to many late night purchases online, the latest of which are featured below. I bought my items from Craft Obsessions.

Oops! The result of late night online shopping! 

I particularly love the birdie bookmark. After sticking it to your page it can hold little items under it's wing! How cute is that! The much sought after Smash tape is great too. The other items are pockets to put more precious items in, that you may not want to stick directly to the page, maybe photographs or letters.

It might be worth mentioning also, that all of the above items only came to just over £12 with free postage. I actually think that's really good value for money, and not too much to spend on an enjoyable hobby.

I'd love it if you'd link me to any posts you've written on the subject of Smash books or to any purchases you've made and maybe even pictures of your pages?!

That's entertainment!

I'm waiting with baited breath for the release of Paloma Faiths new album, and I've been consoling myself in March, by rediscovering some of my old favourite music from my CD shelf. Moloko has been keeping me company and the following track has been on repeat!
I can't believe I bought this album 12 years ago and I have a sneaky suspicion the very cute cover had something to do with it?!

Films (and snacks) are always a big feature of my month and this one was no exception. All great films!

And finally ...

A HUGE HELLO to my new friends who hit the "follow" button in March, whether that be from GFC, Hello Cotton, Bloglovin etc *waves* :D

Madame Squirrel 

Everyday is a Holiday

Sweetapolita

P.S I've decided I want to change things up a little on my blog and will no longer be featuring my "Words on Wednesday" I will still post inspiring quotes, but not on a specific day. This will free my days up to post anytime without feeling certain days are only for certain posts! Thanks for understanding!