Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo

I love birthdays. I love thinking of the perfect present. I love baking and/or eating the cake. But most of all, I love it when there's a theme.

This week, it was my housemate's 21st birthday. Which meant it had to be amazing. And being who she is, she chose to have a Disney themed birthday.

It took her almost a month to choose who she was going as (seriously, I'm not kidding, she's terrible at making decisions), but eventually she decided to go as Cinderella. And because out of the four of us, I'm the only other baker, it was up to me to make her birthday cake.

Immediately I was thinking of ideas, and we both got a bit too excited. It actually got to the stage, while we were writing dissertations and essays, that she would look at pictures of cake during her breaks and send me said pictures. It soon became a daily thing for her to do.

So finally, after weeks of making costumes, organising presents and buying last minute cake decorations, her birthday arrived, and I was able to make the cake.

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find sugar mice? I looked in all of the sweet shops in Nottingham, and they didn't have a single one! Fortunately, I found some chocolate mice, but I really had my heart set on sugar mice. They gave me such joy as a child :)

For this cake I used a large cupcake mold, and decided to decorate with some blue and marshmallow icing (recipe below). I then made some pumpkins out of fondant icing, as well as cutting out some shoes and a clock.

Overall, I'm so happy with it, when my housemate saw it she was so happy, it made all of the effort put into it worth it.

Marshmallow Icing:

Ingredients:

1 Jar of Marshmallow Fluff

100g Unsalted Butter

200g Icing Sugar

2tbsp Milk

Method:

Cream together the butter and icing sugar, until the mixture is pale. Add the marshmallow fluff a bit at a time, until the mixture is white throughout. Taste between each addition, in case you don't like your icing too sweet. The mixture can get a bit thick, so adding milk helps to make it a bit easier to stir.

Down the Rabbit Hole...

I realise I am not doing very well with this blogging thing. Seriously, just over three weeks since my last post, what am I doing? I sincerely apologise to the blogging gods. And to you of course.

Honestly, I do have valid reasons for being so rubbish. 

You don't realise until you get there that your final year of university is basically a bubble of work, food and sleep, and nothing else really exists outside of this bubble. 

But everything is (nearly) ok again, as I have handed in my dissertation, and am no longer committed to such a huge piece of coursework. (Read this as 'I have a life again!')

But then I remind myself that all I have left of my degree is four final exams, and then I'm finished with my education. And then I get a bit upset, because this part of my life is coming to a close.

Time flies by...

So now that my schedule is a bit more empty, I'm able to leave the house again, and treat myself to shopping trips. My housemate and I have found a new love for visiting tea rooms, and we

decided to go and visit our favourite place here in Nottingham:

The White Rabbit Teahouse.

Originally they started off with one tea room, a small, old fashioned place, full of charm and beautiful vintage accessories. And let's not forget the little old ladies sipping at their cups of tea. As soon as I saw the place, I just fell in love, it was beautiful. 

However, they recently opened a second one, which I knew I had to visit. 

And if it's possible, I love it even more than the first.

It's a more modern version of the original, but still has the vintage accessories, and the same colour scheme. And the same rabbit salt and pepper pots (seriously, they are just adorable). And because it's down an alleyway, it's a lot more quieter, giving it a more calming atmosphere.

And then there's the food. Every time I go, I keep wanting to try something different, but I always end up ordering the same scones with jam and cream, with a pot of tea. Because their scones are delicious. Served slightly warm, with clotted cream and jam, and they just melt in the mouth. Honestly, they are close to perfection for me.

If you are ever in Nottingham, try to visit either of these teahouses, and you will not be disappointed :)

I almost don't want to graduate just so I don't have to leave Nottingham, and this little tea house. 

What am I going to do without it?

I'm Loving... Everything Mint

I thought it was about time I wrote a post, don't you think?

I've been thinking of things that I could make into a series, and seeing as I browse the internet quite a lot, I thought I would do some posts about things I find, or just generally love.

So, the reason everything in this post is Mint Green, well, I actually have no idea.

I've just been buying, or looking at, a lot of items recently that have been this colour.

I think it's because it's so fresh and clean, and it counts as a pastel colour, which everyone is loving at the moment.

Every time I see this colour, it always reminds me of those Mint Milkshakes from Cafe Nero. I had a phase where every time I went to Cafe Nero, it was all I wanted to drink. This was obviously before I got into coffee.

So here are the things I've found:

1. Green Split Back Knitted Jumper 2. Debutant Shoulder Dress 3. Eos Organic Lip Balm 4. Jo Totes Camera Bag 5. Converse All Star Ox Trainers

I think I've fallen in love with the dress, I'm seriously considering buying it for my 21st later this year...

Aaah I don't know what to do!

What colour are you really loving at the moment?

London Town

So this Tuesday was a really exciting day, I went to London with my mum and cousin! 

In total, I have been to London twice, and even then, the last time I went it was a school trip to the O2 arena, meaning I wasn't actually able to see much of the city.

So this time, I was able to act kind of like a tourist, and see the sights, take photos of everything, and generally have a good time. We even went on a bus tour around the city, seeing all of the attractions, like Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben, Piccadilly Circus, Covent Garden and Tower Bridge.

 Big Ben

 Admiralty Arch

Trafalgar Square

Nelson's Column

Tower Bridge

It was a strange experience being in London, as I felt like I had lived there for most of my life. I don't know if it was because I'm used to living in Nottingham for university, so big cities don't really scare me like they would others, or if it's because I have a good sense of direction, as my mum was constantly noting how I was able to get myself around London easily.
That, or London is just very easy to navigate round :)

Now we weren't randomly visiting London for the fun of it, we did have a reason to be there. We actually went to see Viva Forever at the Piccadilly Theatre.

It was one of the best musicals I've ever seen, everyone was constantly laughing, and as my mum pointed out, you could see Jennifer Saunder's humour everywhere.

And it was refreshing to hear the Spice Girls songs being sung in a different context than originally intended. I grew up with these songs, and the Spice Girls were a major part of my childhood (I still have a towel from when I was six that has all of the Spice Girls on it), so having a night full of their best songs was like a dream come true.

Honestly, if any of you get the chance to see it, do it!

You will not regret it!

All in all, I can say that I have fallen in love with London, it is an amazing city, and it's easy to see why people flock there.

And as the great Vivienne Westwood said:

'There's nowhere else like London. Nothing at all, anywhere.'

Hot Cross Buns

Easter means only one thing to me, and surprisingly enough, it's not chocolate. After all, I can get that any time of the year. No, Easter means Hot Cross Buns!!

I've only liked them for the past few years, as I didn't actually like dried fruit. It was only until I was randomly craving these yummy buns that I actually started to like them. It taught me to not ignore my cravings for new things/things I didn't normally like, as these cravings normally lead me to loving something new.

I know it's super easy to just go to the supermarket and buy some ready made, but I find that they don't always have a decent amount of flavour, so I decided to make some of my own, with great results :)

Now I got the basics of this recipe from my all time favourite baker, Paul Hollywood. This man is an utter genius when it comes to bread.

Ingredients:

500g Strong White Bread Flour

1x 7g Packet of Fast Action Dried Yeast

75g Caster Sugar

1tsp Salt

1 Egg

75g Sultanas

50g Mixed Cut Peel

300ml Milk

50g Butter

1tsp Ground Cinnamon

1tsp Ground Nutmeg

1/2tsp Ground Ginger

In my second batch, I also made some Chocolate Hot Cross Buns. I saw some on the M&S advert a few days ago, and decided to have a go at those as well.

Ingredients:

500g Strong White Bread Flour
25g Cocoa Powder
1x 7g Packet of Fast Action Dried Yeast
75g Caster Sugar
1tsp Salt
1 Egg
50g Sultanas
75g Mixed Cut Peel
300ml Milk
50g Butter
1tsp Ground Cinnamon
1tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/2tsp Ground Ginger
50g Chocolate Chips
Honey for the glaze

Method:
Pour the milk into a saucepan, and bring to the boil, before removing from the heat, and leaving to cool until it reaches hand temperature.
Mix the flour, sugar, salt, yeast, butter and egg together in a large bowl, and then slowly add the warmed milk until it forms a soft, sticky dough.
Add the sultanas and mixed peel, then tip out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough for five minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with oiled cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for approximately one hour, or until doubled in size.
Divide the dough into 12 even pieces, and roll each piece into a smooth ball on a lightly floured surface. Arrange the buns on a baking tray lined with parchment, leaving enough space so that the buns just touch when they rise and expand. Leave the dough to rise for another 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5.
For the cross decoration, mix 3tbsp flour with about five tbsp of water in a small bowl, adding the water one tablespoon at a time, mixing together to form a thick paste. Spoon into a piping bag with a small nozzle, and pipe a line along each row of buns, then repeat in the other direction to create crosses.
Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes on the middle shelf of the oven, or until golden-brown.
As soon as the buns are cooked, brush honey over the top of the buns, and leave to cool.

These are perfect when slightly cooled, and served with butter.

So delicious when the butter starts to melt, my mouth is watering at the thought :)