Blogger Swap!

I recently took part in a blogger swap organised by Angela Angeline from Chocolate & Lipstick. I passed on my details and she paired me up with the lovely Jess from www.glitterbat.net. I checked out her blog straight away trying to find clues as to what I could buy her. We emailed back and forth for a couple of weeks to get to know each other and I was starting to get some ideas of what to buy. I pretty much stalked every blog post and looked on all social networks for ideas, but at the same time I didn’t really have a clue! Wow, I sound creepy... Anyway...

With a budget of £15, I set myself the task of getting as many things as I could for the value for money, but also buying a couple of things that have a higher value that I hoped Jess would like.

When I received my box I was so excited! It was like receiving a glossybox but even better as I knew that someone had actually put effort into choosing things that I would like It felt like Christmas, my favourite time of the year! And how cute is the address label! 

Jess was spot on with her decisions, I couldn't have picked better items if I was buying the box for myself and it was PACKED with goodies! So.. Onto what I received.

The first thing I saw when I opened the box was these tea bags. To anyone else this may seem really random but me and Jess spent a lot of time talking about different teas and to have a selection from her tea cupboard is simply awesome. In fact, I tried one straight away!

I then saw this bar of Dark Lindt Excellence in Caramel flavour with a touch of sea salt. Yes Salted CARAMEL! For those of you that read my previous review on Lindt will know that the salted caramel bar was my absolute favourite. Topped with the fact that this is also dark, I couldn't think of a better chocolate bar. I can't wait to tuck into this!

I then delved further into the box and the items just kept coming. Jess did amazingly well with picking things that I like, and related them to the conversations we had been having, it was so nice and I could see where the thought had come from. I then picked up these Nail accessories which are glittery white and in the shape of snowflakes. I LOVE these - I am a huge Christmas fan and I can't wait to do some festive nails with these. They're super cute!

I then spotted these 3 little Lindt bears which really got me feeling festive. I can't wait to eat these (sorry little bears).

This Barry M nail varnish in Vintage Purple is a lovely colour and I don't own anything like this! This is the perfect shade for the autumn months and I love Barry M nail varnishes as they always seem to last really well before they start chipping.

I then spotted this little bath bomb called "You can't catch me". The best thing about this is that it has a little gingerbread man on top! Jess must have really listened to me as I have definitely mentioned I love gingerbread (latte's/green tea/men!) but never have I tried a gingerbread bath bomb. This is pretty special, I can't wait to use it!

I told you the items in this box go on forever.. I then found the Barry M Showgirl mascara. This is extra lengthening and I couldn't help but try it straight away. it has immediately replaced my current mascara, it's amazing.

One of my favourite items in the box was this Yankee Candle Votive in "Christmas Treats". Again, I LOVE Christmas and I especially love Christmas Yankee Candles! This smells so good! I don't think I'm going to be able to wait until the festive season to burn it.

I then got this beautiful mirror which is going to be perfect for putting into my handbag. I don't actually have a compact mirror. It seems Jess was psychic and knew I needed one! It's really chunky as well which I love as you know it's not going to break easily!

I then saw these at the bottom and was thrilled! Shimmering Snowflake & Snowmen Sprinkles! Me and Jess always talk about cakes in our emails and so she must have known these would be perfect for some Christmas themed cakes and cake pops I've been planning. I can't even believe you can buy these, I'm so happy!

Last but not least, I got this amazing Barry M Super Chic Shadow and Primer Palette which I love! The shadows are so pigmented and such good quality. The warm copper shade is my favourite for this time of the year and I wore it literally the day I opened this box. I can't wait to create some really nice looks with this.

Overall I was super happy with the swap and the items I received from Jess. She really put a lot of thought and effort into everything and I am very thankful that I was paired with such an awesome partner! Thank you Jess, it's been awesome!

To see what I bought for Jess  – click on her post here!

If you would like to get involved in a blogger swap then check out Angela Angeline’s post here for more information. I really recommend taking part in one of these - I have had the chance to try new products and it's been lovely to speak to someone new and I hope we stay in touch! :)

Rose Cupcakes - Icing Tutorial

One of my favourite things to do on a day off is to make cupcakes! I've had a lot of people ask me recently how I do my rose cupcakes so I thought I would attempt a tutorial on them. I just bought a new icing nozzle and trust me when I say it’s all about the nozzle! The best thing about rose icing is that it takes no time at all, in fact it's probably quicker than regular piped icing, but looks a lot more neat and professional.

I use a standard cupcake recipe which involves weighing out my eggs and then matching the quantities of butter/flour and sugar. I have posted the recipe that I used below, but this can be changed/adapted and by no means am I a cooking expert!

I decided to test my new Wilton 1M Flower nozzle for these cakes. Cupcakes are super easy to make, even for a beginner in the kitchen. I think they look pretty good, I really want to experiment with different nozzles and designs. Suggestions welcome!

Ingredients

2 x Eggs

120g Flour

120g Sugar

120g Butter

For the Icing

75g Butter

150g Icing Sugar

Cocoa Powder (for chocolate icing)

Recipe:

Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth.

Add the eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly.

Slowly add the flour and mix until smooth.

Add Vanilla Essence to taste (for Vanilla Cupcakes of course!)

Add to cake cases and bake in the oven at 180 Degrees for 15-20 Minutes or until Golden

Whilst my cupcakes were in the oven, I mixed my icing ingredients and left the icing in the fridge to chill so that it was easier to pipe.

I have filmed a super quick video below so you can see how easy these are to create, I think the finished product looks yum!

  Thanks to my boyfriend James for helping me take these photos and film my first video! You can check out his photography page on Facebook here (go on, give him a like!).

Stay tuned for a future post where I attempt a giant cupcake with mini roses piped on top. Thanks for reading, and I hope this helps you out.

Pop! goes the cake ball.

I have well and truly caught the baking bug! I’ve seen cake pops everywhere at the moment and couldn’t wait to try them out. I saw recently that Pound Land had cake pop moulds in stock, which is brilliant when other shops are selling them from £7-£10, but  when I went to pick some up, I thought they looked a bit small, so I picked up my cake pop set and recipe book from The Works (here) and got my sticks from Poundland.

These couldn't be simpler to make, and the recipe was exactly the same as if I was baking cupcakes, and I followed the below method. I wanted my cake balls to look like mini watermelons!

 Ingredients

2 x Eggs

120g Flour

120g Sugar

120g Butter
Few Drops of Vanilla Essence
Pink Food Colouring
Chocolate Chips

For the Outside

100g White Chocolate (Melted)
Green Food Colouring

Recipe:

Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth.

Add the eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly.

Slowly add the flour and mix until smooth.

Add Vanilla Essence to taste (for Vanilla Cupcakes of course!)
Stir in choc chips & food colouring!

Add to mould and bake in the oven at 180 Degrees for 15-20 Minutes or until Golden

 

It really is that simple! Or so I thought..

I mixed up my ingredients and placed the cake batter into the first mould. I then put the second mould on top and stuck these in the oven. I was a bit dubious that they wouldn’t work, especially as I wasn’t able to check on them or see how they were rising.

After about 20 minutes, I took them out and let them cool. I removed the mould and to my wonder, I was left with cake balls! They didn't actually look TOO bad.

When the cake balls had cooled off I prepared my coating. For this, I melted white chocolate and added green food colouring as I wanted them to look like mini watermelon balls. I then stuck my cake balls onto the sticks, and dipped them into the chocolate. This is where it all when horribly wrong. The sponge just fell off the sticks. I was left with a big gloopy lumpy mess. It was all going so well too!

Perhaps I should have chilled my balls before I coated them? Perhaps the chocolate didn't melt enough? All I know is that my lovely cake balls were ruined. They look horrible. I wouldn't feed them to my dog (although I can confirm they didn't taste too bad). 
 
These are on the same scale as the time I tried to make a peppa pig cake for my sister's birthday. That also went horribly wrong, but that's a story for another day.

 I will learn from my mistakes, and try again another time! Any tips are welcome!