Heart felt biscuits

Waiting to tackle the cake again tomorrow is making me itchy so I threw together some biscuits to help scratch it. I just used butter, sugar and flour, rolled out the mixture and cut it into hearts. I then baked for about 20mins and dotted a bit of pink icing on top.

xXx

A change of heart

Apparently I am a glutton for punishment! After my three failed attempts at making a Japanese Christmas cake, and a little further research this morning, I have come to the conclusion that the recipe I used was either too complicated (or maybe just wrong).

So, in my quest to overcome failure, I have ordered a new hand mixer (My old one fell victim to the battle yesterday), found a new recipe, and I will try one final time tomorrow!

Wish me luck

xXx

Sometimes you just have to admit defeat

Tonight I attempted to bake a cake. When I say tonight, I mean ALL NIGHT! Three attempts and 7 hours later, and all I have to show for it is the failed remains in the bin, and a heap of pots. Perhaps diving in feet first isn't the best option when it comes to baking. I am going to have to learn a little at a time and I have learnt my lesson!

Take home messages:

1. Take a step back and take it slower
2. Start simple and build up to more challenging recipes
3. Learn how cake reacts to my oven and its seemingly wacky temperatures

Worse things have happened :)

xXx

It doesn't need to be fancy to taste good

The theme of today is speedy and scrummy with this mornings cornflake buns. Following suit is this evenings lunch.

I marinated some chicken breast strips (4) in Frank's red hot original sauce. I stuck those in the oven to bake, threw together some cheese dip by microwaving a few spoons of philadelphia soft cheese and a sprinkle of grated cheddar, and served with some cheese covered nacho's and salsa.

It turned out to be a miniature feast with miniature amounts of effort. Perfect.

xXx

Fast and simple cornflake buns

I have the biggest sweet tooth. This morning, I felt it eating at me, so I decided that I would make some chocolate cornflake buns. They are great to take 'the edge'  off, and I find it much more satisfying than just eating a bar of chocolate. The best part (well, the best part if you don't include licking the bowl clean of the leftover, melted chocolate) is they take about 10-15mins to make, then it is just a case of leaving them to set!

I decided that I would use a combination of dairy milk (200g), and (1) terry chocolate orange. The two mixed together made a really smooth chocolate that had just the smallest hint of orange in it, and of course, cornflakes (3 cups).

I broke down the chocolate into my large, glass mixing bowl

And placed over a pan of boiling water to melt it down

Once melted I added the cornflakes a cup at a time, and mixed them until the flakes were coated. Then divided into fairy cases

Easy peasy (even for me!)

xXx

A notice board - with a twist

After I came across a really sweet idea for a workstation on another website via pinterest, it inspired me to do something similar for my room, allowing me to be a little more creative rather than using a plain, boring cork notice board.

I got everything I needed from the range I started with a plain (cheap) cork board. The one I chose came with pins and two small fixing hooks (which I later used to hang the board with).

I began by dismantling the frame of the board into four separate sections. Before I did anything else I used a little leftover paint I had from when I decorated my room to paint the four sections to get rid of the regular wood look.

While that was drying, I covered the cork section with material I had chosen (I was lucky enough to get material with colours that matched my room perfectly) the way you backed an exercise book at school, using super glue to secure the folds on the other reverse side. (Tip: watch out for your fingers, super glue is sticky...I learnt that the hard way!)

After that had been done, I fixed three of the frame pieces back into place (the two sides and the bottom). Before fixing the fourth into place, I halved a 3m ribbon and wrapped each piece around the edge. I then pushed the top edge onto the board, trapping the ribbons in place.

I then fixed the hooks into place and tied the ribbons to hang.

The whole thing took me about 30mins from start to finish and fits into my room a lot better.

xXx

Fairies like cakes too

To celebrating moving into my new home and all the new space I acquired in my kitchen I wanted to bake something my brother and I could enjoy! I opted for fairy cakes!

After a quick internet search I found a  recipe that didn't seem too challenging from baking mad so opted to use that one. I did make one small change though, I decided to add pink food colouring to the butter-cream to make them look that little bit prettier!

They turned out pretty well! Though I did overfill the cases a little too much so they overspilled and joined together, but it was easy enough to separate, and just ended up making bigger buns! (seems like a win to me).

xXx