Friday, 25 December 2009
Mission:Cookies!
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Thank You Nigella!
I HAD to make these when I saw them on Nigella's Christmas program last week.
Anything miniature ay?
So incase you have loads of left over Christmas pudding, I thought I'd post how I made mine. They're really simple to make, and scrumdiddlyumptious!
You will need -
400grams of cooked and cooled Christmas pudding
275grams of milk chocolate
A splash of alcohol of your choice (optional)
Two tablespoons of golden syrup
150grams of white chocolate
Holly and berry sprinkles, or dried fruit
-So first things first, crumble up your pudding.
-Next, melt the chocolate and add it to the cake. Ugh how good is melted chocolate - yuuuuummmmm...
- Now add two tablespoons of golden syrup. Also add your alcohol now if you want to make these adult truffles. (Brandy is ideal, I used Cointreau and it was yummy)
- Now mash it all together. It's a sticky, chocolatey job, but someone's got to do it. It's tempting to stick your whole face in the bowl at this point, but try to refrain.
- You'll need some rubber gloves for the next stage, or be prepared to rinse your hands between each truffle. I used a melon baller to get equal sized truffles, but you can just use a teaspoon. Take out a small amount of the mixture and roll it into a ball. Yes, I know. It looks like reindeer poop. Festive ay?
-I like to chill them at this stage to allow the chocolate to stiffen up. I usually stick them in the fridge for about half an hour, until their firmer yet still sticky to touch. While they're in the fridge, melt your white chocolate. Again, try not to eat it all (I can vouch that this bit is very difficult).
-Take the truffles out of the fridge and spoon a little chocolate onto each. You could dip them, but I think it looks too neat, and having some dripping down the side looks more authentic.
-Decorate as you wish. I used berry and holly sprinkles, but I realise you're not all as sad as I am.
-Enjoy!
Love,Colene
xxx
Things I Like Thursday December 24th 2009
-Getting my dream dress! I'm SOOOO happy! I've wanted this dress for a while now - it was one of those walk into the shop moments and - BOOM there is the dress that won't leave your mind until you get it. And luckily I got mine for 40% off! Thanks Donna!
-That you can cycle naked in New Zealand, as long as you wear a helmet! Haha! Only in NZ!
-Speaking of which - this is one of my favourite photos of Coco - wot-choo-lookin-at????
-Hearing Last Christmas by Wham while walking through a couple feet of snow to work - definitely cheered me up! Also seeing a man with a reindeer hat on!
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Snow is falling...all around me
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Things I Like Thursday 17/12/2009
So I present, a slightly overdue but bursting with goodness TILT!
- Yes, I know I've posted about it before but it was A M A ZING! Part of me had always wished I was a little girl in 1939 when the Wizard of Oz was first released - how amazing would it have been witnessing the change from black and white to Technicolour for the first time? Anyhoo I had the BEST time watching it in the cinema! There was the sweetest little girl across the aisle from us who kept giggling at the Lion -normally this would annoy me but she had the cutest chuckle! What was also fun was that I took a WOOz virgin with me (don't get me started - how can you get to 22 without seeing it?!?!?) - and she loved it too!!!
-My Christmas night out! We had a fairly low key night, but the company was fantastic. I also found this throne which I think I should drag into work to sit at my desk on, oui?
-French Bulldogs. Do I need an explanation? They're so ugly that they're cute and they have so much attitude on their mug.
This ad was the paper this week and I had to remind the Kiwi that a) I don't have £850 to spend on a dog and b) Coco would hate us forever
-Crazy nails! I used to be really into nail art (sheep in a field? Union Jack? My name??), but haven't had the time or patience to do anything wacky recently. These started off as candy cane stripes, but I was tired and had a shaky hand, so they were changed to polka dots. Not sure if they're cute or too much like measles.
-How awesome is my mum for making me this? She's a dab hand on the computer, but leave her alone with it for a while and it can be dangerous. Thankfully this time she focussed her efforts into making me a 'guilty pleasures' list featuring some of my favourite rugby players. Bless. It now takes pride of place on my desk at work.
-I stupidly, and lazily, left my fleecy hoody in the living room last week. I only got it back yesterday. You see, Mika hijacked it. For just about 24 hours a day, he has been attached to it. To be fair, if I was a pyuss, I'd like a fleece covered cushion too. I love the fact he's hogging all the remotes in this pic too!
-Hic, drool, blabja;lhfuioa;hfj;. I'm sorry, let me regain my composure. Seriously, how perrrrrffffeeeccccttttt are these shoes??? Red? Sparkly? Bow? heel? Non slutty despite all of the above? I WANT, no, MUST OWN these shoes. Size 6 1/2, 7 thank very much.
-Coco is very much like me in the mornings - she will do ANYTHING to avoid having to actually get up. Usually when I get up she follows me around, rubs herself against my hairbrush, chews my blusher brush and gives herself a moustache with my eyebrow pencil. But one morning this week there was no sign of her. I looked around and saw this. Touche Coco. I feel like burying my head back under the duvet most mornings too.
Ginger Goodness, and Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Also it was my boss's last week at work, as she's off to have her first sprog, so I thought I'd do something fun for that.
How cool is that?!?!? I love how you can see all the layers and they didn't blend! These were simple vanilla sponges, topped with fondant, a cherry and edible glitter. I wanted to something more amazing on top but I was short on time. Also, I can't believe I only took these two awful pics of them!!! Rubbbbbbish!
Anyhoo, more baking is planned this week will keep you posted...
Good Things Come in Small Packages...
Ok so the question I get most from people is 'how do you make those cute little mini-cakes?'.
The cakes in question are Cake Bites - look to the right of this page and you'll see some red velvet ones I made a while back.
The Queen of all things Cake Bites is the fantabulous Bakerella - she created Cake Bites, and Cake Pops (Oh yeah, you can pop them on sticks - cuuuuuuute)
So I thought I'd post a quick guide on how to make these.
First things first, you do need some special equipment for these. Unless you decide to go for the Cake pops, you will need a chocolate tray. You can pick these up in specialty stores or on the internet.
Secondly, if you want to make funky coloured cakes, you'll need Candy Melts. These are small coloured chocolate buttons. They are delish! Again, you can get these on the internet, along with flavouring oils (peppermint chocolate anyone??)
So first things first make a cake. Any cake. Your favourite cake. Pretty much any cake will work with this, although my fave is my favourite chocolate cake. As long as you like it as a big cake, you'll love it as a cake bite.
Let the cake cool, and then wreck it. Seriously. This bit is good fun - crumble the cake into teeny crumbs. It feels wrong, but believe me it's worth it.
Next stir in some cream cheese frosting. I've also tried shop bought tubs of icing, and though a little sugary for me, it works well too. How much you use will depend on how big your cake was, but it should blend into a sticky dough.
Once you're sure you've got a mouldable consistency, do just that - mould it. For cake bites, take some of your mixture and roll it into a 1in ball. I advise wearing gloves, or being prepared to wash you hands a lot between each ball (ruuuuuuude). I also use a melon baller to scoop up mixture so I end up with equal sized balls (ruuuuuuuder!)
Next, melt some of your favourite chocolate. I know there are a lot of high percentage cocoa lovers out there, but I'm a Cadbury's girl through and through. Take your chocolate tray, and spoon a teaspoon and a half of chocolate into each dip. Each hollow should be around half filled with chocolate, but no more, as when you place the cake ball in, the chocolate will rise up around it.
Place all of the balls into the chocolate, and put the tray into the fridge to allow them to set.
Once they're set, pop them out and keep them on a cool plate.
Melt some candy melts in a dish that is deep enough to dip the uncovered portion of the cake in. Also it makes sense to get any toppings you want to use ready at this point.
Hold your cake bite by the chocolate end, and dip it into the cake bite so that all of the cake is covered. If there are any uncovered patches, tidy them up with a cocktail stick. I always flick my wrist as I take them out to get a neat top.
Then you can sprinkle, dip, or decorate your cake bites however you like! These make great presents, and taste awesome.
You can also get VERY creative with them, as you can see....
Come back later this week, for a Christmas spin on cake bites...
Love,
Colene
xxx








































