Recipes I've 'Pinned' and Tried.

Due to my recent string of success through finding recipes that actually worked on Pintrest, I thought it was about time I shared a few of them. It seems that whatever craving one might have, there is a recipe for it somewhere in the depths of these virtual pin boards. I love having great recipes that I haven't gotten round to writing down anywhere yet all stored in one place where they can't get lost (or covered in cake mixture as usually happens.)

1) My first success of late has been the 'cookie in a cup.' Normally, I'm not a fan of microwaves and hardly ever use them unless i'm quickly reheating a dessert or something, but on this occasion I quite fancied a cookie but didn't have much time to bake one. I found a few pins that would make 2 cookies but then the link below it caught my eye:
Here is the recipe I used.
It turned out surprisingly tasty and was ready in under a minute. I couldn't finish it all because it was actually quite big in the cup so I saved some for later. It tastes best when it's warm though!

Here is my cookie in the cup!

2) Though I do generally swear by The Hummingbird Bakery vanilla cupcake recipe, I found another website that I liked the look of and tried their version. The joy of baking is a great website that has lots of great video tutorials and tips for making great cake! I highly recommend this recipe, though I still think the Hummingbird Bakery's frosting is the best on earth.

3) The next find comes from Martha Stewart, one of my all round heros. I've baked quite a few of her recipes including this one that I added to pintrest. It was such an easy and rather yummy cake, but I didn't add any frosting. 

4) My favourite find has to be 'Sally's Baking Addiction.' Though this American concept of using 'ready made mixture' as a valid ingredient when baking cakes is something completely alien to me - a lot of her recipes look really fun. The first one I've tried has been Dark Chocolate, Banana and Raspberry Bread. This cake disappeared in about the time it took to bake it. I did find that it was really hard to tell if it was baked or not due to all the melty ingredients but thankfully, it wasn't raw in the middle. I took half of it on a trip to see my old University buddy and it went down very well there too. I will be making it again for sure!

Apologies for the bad quality photos! My banana bread!

5) This website also has some great tips, after I saw the sauce drizzling one, I put some of those bottles on my Christmas list and can't wait to use them! Much neater and easier than using piping bags and such like.

6) Of course my board is also full of pins from The Pioneer Woman. She has made some amazing looking Sheet Cakes but before I can start on those, I need to find a cake pan big enough! That is next on my kitchen 'to buy' list.

7) A while ago, I bought a Bundt Cake tin and have been busy collecting recipes to make for that. I'd like that to be my next experiment - i'm thinking blueberry would be a nice place to start so i'm swaying towards this recipe: Blueberry Almond.

If you'd like to see my ever growing 'Cakies and Bakies' board - check it out right here.

Much Love xxx

Read More

In which I cannot stop Pinning.

Hello. I've had Pintrest for ages now. I've used it on and off but lately I haven't stopped searching for pins on there and this is why. To say I am mildly obsessed with Christmas is a gross understatement. There reaches a point in the year (which is so soon) whereby the Christmas switch goes in my head and that.is.it. It consumes my every thought. I just love everything about Christmas. The colours, the smells, the food, the spirit, the family get-togethers, the music, the mulled wine, the cold weather, the snuggly wooly clothes, the sitting by the fire, the dark nights, the snow, snowmen, snow on berry trees, walks in wellies in the snow, the sound of snow crunching under your feet, the desire to hibernate, rubbish TV, carols, Christmas concerts, Michael Bublé, Christmas specials, Christmas Baking, Christmas Jam-Making, Christmas Meals, decorating the house/Church, Christmas cards, crafts, making Christmas cards, wrapping presents in brown paper and nice ribbon, ELF, Christmas movies (the same ones I watch every year are usually ELF about 10-15 times at least, The Santa Clause 1, 2 & 3, Muppet Christmas Carol and Polar Express to name a few), Christmas jumpers - the more ridiculous the better, decorating the Christmas table, Christmas Markets, giving presents, Christmas candles. Are just a few things I LOVE about Christmas. 

At this point last year I was already well in to the Christmas spirit. I think what with knowing I still have one mini-holiday to go on I have sub-consciously stopped myself from being in Christmas mode because I still need to hold on to summer just a little while longer. However, with all these Pintrest boards relating to Christmas I can feel the excitement building. Seeing as though I have no money right now, this year is going to be a thrifty one and I am starting to think about preparing now by stocking up on craft ideas that will make lovely handmade/one off gifts. My board for Christmas is ever growing, you can check it out right here. Some of these ideas are ones I will definitely do. I especially like the ones that involve jars because I can pick those up really cheaply and you can easily make them look really cute. 

Soon you can expect festive recipes and crafts I have done. I tried out an Apple, Sultana and Cinnamon Cobbler with homemade apple sauce the other day and that went down a TREAT so rest assured I'll be making that again! What do you love about Christmas? Are you addicted to Pintrest too?! 

Much Love xxx

Read More