Happy 1st Birthday In Her Own Little World

I can't quite believe that I am writing this blog post but today my blog is celebrating it's first birthday so I thought I would write a short post to celebrate this special occasion. I remember previously enjoying reading blog posts on fashion, beauty and lifestyle and it is something that I continue to do to this day. Blogging was a world I discovered about two years ago during my summer holidays yet it only took me a year to take the plunge and start my own. I started my blog after finishing Sixth Form College along with my best friend as we thought it would be another good way of keeping in contact and to be honest just a bit of fun to do over the summer holidays. So on Saturday the 30th of August my blog was born. What my blog shows me is that a lot can happen in a year. Within a year I finished my A-levels, passed my driving test, started my blog, took a gap year, started employment, moved to Sussex and I have now enrolled at University to start studying to work my way towards becoming a Primary School teacher.

When I finished Sixth Form College I was unsure what I wanted to do carer wise and I knew I was moving to a new county so my blog was a good hobby for me and it has been one that I have kept up ever since. Hence the name of the blog 'In Her Own Little World' as that is how I would describe myself the majority of the time. I find it very therapeutic to sit down at my laptop and allow my thoughts to spill out onto the screen. I often talk a lot of rubbish and ramble on and on yet theres something vey relaxing and calming about it. If you are stressed I would recommend just sitting down and letting your thoughts flood out onto paper or the screen.

I have loved creating, designing and developing my blog whilst watching it grow. It started off very basic and it still is at that yet it has grown to 14 followers which isn't many to most bloggers but going from 0 to 14 is a lot for me. I have also had over 13,000 page views and my Instagram account has almost reached 1,000 followers which provides a huge sense of achievement to me. For months when I first started my blog I would often wonder whether anyone would ever start reading or following my blog yet to see it grow provides me with a lot of pride and it is something I want to continue to achieve as it gives me the ambition to see it continue to grow further. It started off purely as a make-up/beauty blog yet it has now grown into more of a lifestyle blog. I remember how basic it used to be and I hope that the quality of the posts has improved and developed along with the blog and myself.

So I just wanted to take a few moments to say a massive thank you to all my loyal followers it honestly means a lot to me. Long may this blog continue, big hugs and squeezes all round.

xxx

Chocolate Brownies

Hello my lovelies, I have some friends coming to stay with me for a long weekend so I thought what could be more welcoming then the comforting smell of freshly baked chocolate brownies steaming throughout the house. This is a classic recipe in our household, it was one that my Mum discovered in a Mary Berry AGA cookbook that we have slightly adapted. In one of our old houses we had an AGA as a cooker and being new to this we brought quite a few recipe books designed especially for AGAs as we weren't sure how different food cooked/baked in these. Even though this is an AGA recipe it works just as well in a normal oven and these are now a family classic and known as a staple by my Mum as people often ask for our classic chocolate brownies. If we have friends or family visiting and if in doubt of what to bake them as a treat we will always turn to these. For me they are the perfect chocolate brownie as they are rich, chocolaty, and highly indulgent. They have a crisp top and are really gooey and chocolate inside. I always say that these are best eaten when warm and freshly baked. I don't think these will last long this weekend. These can simply be enjoyed on their own or you could serve these with vanilla ice-cream, raspberries and a warm chocolate sauce - heaven.

Ingredients 

Makes around 32 pieces but this will vary depending on how big a chocolate fix you need

275g margarine
375g caster sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
75g cocoa powder
100g plain flour
200g milk chocolate - this could be any chocolate you fancy milk, white, dark or a combination. It could be simply chocolate baking chips or you could go fancy with some Cadburys or Galaxy. Let me know if you discover any amazing combinations. The recipe is originally only 100g of chocolate but you just can't beat that intense chocolaty flavour.

Method

1) Line a small roasting/tray bake baking tin with foil and grease. This will prevent the brownies sticking to the tray. You need to pre-heat your oven to 190  C/ 170  Fan/ Gas mark 5

2) This is a really easy recipe to make, all you have to do is add all of the ingredients into a large mixing bowl except for the chocolate pieces and simply whisk until all the mixture is smooth and fully combined

3) Finally stir in the chocolate

4) Pur the brownie mixture into the tin making sure it's level and bake for 40 - 45 minutes.

As all ovens are different I would start checking it from after half an hour onwards as these will vary depending on the size of the tray you use. If you feel that the brownies are burning on top yet not fully cooked all the way through simply turn the oven down to a lower temperature. You know the brownies are finished once a skewer comes out clean once inserted into the centre of the brownies.

Once baked, allow the brownies to cool in the tin and then remove the brownies from the tin and cut into squares to serve.

Thank you for reading this blog post my lovelies and I hope you enjoy the brownie recipe. Let me know in the comments if you attempt making these and feel free to send a picture of the finished result. These are a crowd pleaser and definitely worth the wait of that slow bake which feels like three thousand hours.

My Everyday Summer Make-Up Routine 2015

Good afternoon my lovelies and a Happy Thursday to you all. I am currently sat at my dining room table staring out of the window witnessing the pouring rain and thinking how nice it is to be in the warm in my comfy leggings whilst accompanied by my cat and a bucket's worth of chocolate orange hot chocolate. The fact that I'm drinking hot chocolate at the end of August is a sure sign that Autumn is on it's way. So why I am writing a summer blog post I have no idea but what the heck, technically it's still summer. I'm looking forward to writing a make-up blog post again as I have written so many baking posts recently I'm worried you will get bored of them. A new season means a new everyday make-up tutorial. It honestly seems like months ago I list wrote one of these. Having said that it will be the fourth one that I have written for this blog which makes sense seeing as my blog is coming up towards it's first birthday. I will leave links at the end of this blog post so you can see the make-up tutorial posts that I have written for the previous seasons this year. In terms of make-up, summer to me says bronzed cheeks and bright colour lips which is the theme I have gone for on todays post. 

Baby Skin Primer by Maybelline

Ok so I will say this once now at the start but a lot of products I have used I will have already used in previous tutorials and this first product being one so I'm sorry if this post appears a little repetitive. Before foundation I always apply a face primer and my current favourite one is this one by Maybelline. It is a silicon based primer which I feel suits my oily skin completion. I apply a small amount of primer all over my face and gently blend it in using my fingers. Primers help to reduce the appearance of pores giving you a cleaner and more natural finish to your make-up whilst helping your make-up last longer at the same time. I notice a huge difference when I don't use a primer as my foundation then almost emphasises pores and black heads rather then conceal them when I don't use a primer. 

Dream Matte Mouse Foundation By Maybelline

There will be no surprises that this little gem is featured in today's post as when ever I write a make-up tutorial it will be 100% guaranteed that I will have used this foundation. My trusty mouse foundation is my holy grail foundation and I will only stop using it if God forbid it is ever discontinued. This was my first foundation that I think I started wearing in year 9 or 10 and I have stuck to it ever since. I have tried many a different foundation yet only stuck with this one. I am always paranoid about looking sweaty or greasy with foundation due to my oily skin hense the choice of a matte foundation. I find powder foundations don't provide enough coverage yet liquid foundations leave me looking cakey and sweaty yet this is the perfect combination. I can have a full coverage foundation without looking too clown like hopefully or sweaty. I blend this foundation into my skin using my fingers and it is really easy to build up depending on the coverage that you are after. I find this gives me more flexibility and a natural finish compared to using a brush. I use the foundation in the shade 21 Nude for those of you who are interested. 

Lasting Perfection Concealer By Collection

No surprises on the concealer that I plumped for. This concealer has won many a beauty award and it was from reading other beauty blogger blog posts that I discovered this concealer. It was and continues to be a classic and firm favourite of mine and with make-up users across the UK. I find this concealer provides a really full coverage which is what I'm personally looking for in a concealer as if you want to conceal something, theres no point doing it half heartedly you might as well go all out and conceal it properly. I apply this concealer under my eyes as I have always been one who is prone to dark circles. I also apply it over any spots and blemishes and simply blend it into my skin gently dabbing with my ring finger as this causes the least amount of stretching to the skin. Depending on my skin tone/the time of year I alternate between the shades 1 and 2.

Stay Matte Powder By Rimmel

Again another cult classic amongst beauty bloggers, so far this post has mentioned the exact same products in my Spring tutorial. If anyone asks for a good face powder to help keep their make-up in place and reduce oily-ness then I will always without any doubt or thought mention this powder. Forget spending twenty odd quid on a high end expensive powder as this one will do the job at a fraction of the price. I use this in the shade 3 Peach Glow but similar to the concealer I also own some lighter and darker shades which I alternate between depending on the time of the year. To apply the powder I use a Real Techniques powder brush and give it a good swirl in the pressed powder and lightly blend it over my foundation. Powder helps your make-up last longer whilst reducing oil and shine which isn't the best of looks. 

Solar Powder Bronzer By Soap And Glory 

I love this bronzer, I just think it's perfect for that sun kissed glow summer look. I use this for contouring by applying the darker matte shade underneath my cheekbones using a bronzing brush by The Body Shop. This helps to emphasise your cheekbones and give some shape and definition to your face. I don't know why but this is my favourite part of applying make-up as I love seeing the transformation bronzer can make to the shape of your face. I also apply a small amount under the chin and on the temples which is where the sun would naturally fall on your face. Using a blusher brush I apply the lighter shade which has some shimmer to it above the cheekbones, across the forehead and down the bridge of the nose as a highlighter. This is a go to summer bronzer and highlighter duo for me as I find the shades suit my skin tone when I'm a little more tanned. You could also simply swirl the colours together for a bit of all over shimmer and bronzer but I personally just love a bit of contouring. 

Rose Gold Blusher By Sleek

Sleek do the most amazingly pigmented blushers yet they are so affordable no other brand can compete. This is my favourite blusher by Sleek if not my all time favourite blusher. If I could only own two blushers it would be this one for Spring/Summer and Rockateur by Benefit for the Autumn/Winter months. As the name suggests it is a rose gold shade and as you all know I do love my rose gold. It is a pretty peachy pink shade with gold shimmer to it. Once applied it looks really pretty and natural on the cheeks just giving you that little pop of colour for a healthy glow. With the shimmer in the blusher you wouldn't need to worry about highlighter. I personally like the gold glitter in it as I find that it suits my skin tone which has a slight yellow undertone towards it. I use my blusher brush and lightly apply a small amount to the apples of my cheeks but not too much as I'm not a fan of the heavy blusher look. 

I don't fill in my eyebrows. I know the majority of people do and will probably be either gasping, speechless or in pure shock for me to say that I don't but hands up I'm lazy. Not only that but I have tried this before and ended up scaring myself as my eyebrows were so in your face it was too much and I looked quite sinister. I naturally have dark brown hair and my eyebrows are quite full and filling them in was just too much. I prefer a more natural brow look myself. Especially as I know my brows aren't perfect I don't have them waxed, threaded or shaped I just pluck them myself so I don't want to emphasise any dodgy looking eyebrows. Yet remember your eyebrows are sisters not twins so they shouldn't be identical. All I do is use an eyebrow brush and brush through my eyebrows to remove any powder leaving them looking brown again rather then an off grey shade. It also maintains tidiness amongst them giving them a natural look. 

On And On Bronze 24 Hour Colour Tattoo Cream Eyeshadow By Maybelline

I am a huge fan of cream eyeshadows and gold eyeshadows so this is the perfect combination for me. This has to be one of my all time favourite eyeshadows as gold is so versatile you can do so much with it. For quick and easy make-up I love applying a cream eyeshadow as a base and applying some powder eyeshadow shades on top for contouring and definition. Gold eyeshadow is a good choice all year round yet I personally think it looks nice in summer with a bronzed look and bright lip colour. All I do is blend a small amount over my naked eyelid in 10 seconds and bobs your uncle, done. 

Nude Eyeshadow Palette By Collection 

There was a huge hype over these when they came out and I still love mine just as much since. Nude eyeshadow is my favourite to use as I find working with brighter statement colours challenging. I don't think I have the confidence in myself to pull off a bright colour such as green or purple. The names of the different shadows all have a sweet tooth theme going on which makes me love this palette even more. I apply the highlighting shade called white chocolate under my waterline, the inner corner of my eye and under my brow bone. Similar to what I mentioned earlier this is a form of contouring and helps to give you that bamby bright eyed look. Basically it helps to make your eyes look bigger and more awake which I could certainly do with at the moment. It is a matte white shade and perfect for a bit of natural brightness to your face. I then blended buttercream from the inner corner of my eye outwards to around the centre of the lid to emphasise the lighter colour near the inner corner. Buttercream is another pale cream shade yet it has a hint of shimmer again helping to brighten your eyes. I blended a matte darker brown shade called chocolate milk at the outer corner of my eye and through the crease. This is a form of contouring for your eyes, by applying the lighter shades and working outwards to darker shades it helps to emphasise, widen and brighten your eyes whilst giving you a pretty eye make-up look. I use a blending eyeshadow brush by The Body Shop to blend all of the shades together leaving you with a natural eye make-up look. 

Ditsy Lipstick By Topshop

First of all can we take a moment to appreciate how cute the name of this lipstick is. Ditsy is a bright red shade with orange/pink undertones to it. I personally think that it is a statement summer lip colour as summer to me screams bright summer colours especially with white clothing. Since getting ombre put into my hair I have found red shades easier to wear which is funny as I thought it might be the opposite yet before when I was dark I would stick to dark pink shades yet I find the blonde in my hair helps compliment the red which somehow softens the lipstick. To be honest I don't have a clue why I prefer it now, I just do. Before applying lipstick I always apply lip balm as this softens and smoothes your lips which helps you to apply the lipstick smoothly without your lips looking cracked and wrinkly. It allows your lipstick to simply glide onto your lips. My current choice of lip balm is a cherry scented one by Carmex, nothing fancy. If you asked me to recommend a summer lipstick then hands down it would be this one. Topshop do an amazing and ever expanding range of lipsticks so it is definitely worth checking them out. 

Thank you for reading this blog post my lovelies and I hope it has given you some summer inspiration for your make-up. When I first started my blog one goal was to complete a make-up tutorial for each season so I'm chuffed that I have kept my blog going and have been able to fulfil that. Let me know in the comments any favourite make-up items you have that you love to use over summer. 

My Everyday Autumn Make-up Routine 2014

My Everyday Winter Make-up Routine 2014

My Everyday Spring Make-up routine 2015

The Great Blogging Bake Off: Sun Dried Tomato And Basil Soda Bread

Hello my lovelies and welcome to week three of my Great British Bake Off Blogging adventure. I won't lie to you all but bread week has been the week that I was dreading from the start. As I mentioned in my Biscotti post I don't have the patience of a saint, in fact I have very little patience at all. I have never been one for making bread as to be frank I can't be bothered to spend hours waiting for my bread to prove and rise only to 'knock it' back down and repeat the whole processes again if not several times over. When it comes to baking bread I have no knowledge over things such as gluten and what would make a tight dough structure at the end of the day bread is bread to me and what I do know is that a lot of supermarkets and bakeries sell delicious fresh bread. I am a complete novice this week on new territory so you'll have to bare with me. I was a little apprehensive before watching the bread episode yet I was so relieved to find out that this weeks signature challenge was for quick breads. For those of you who don't know and that included me by the way, quick breads don't involve yeast which means no proving - Hallelujah.

Quick breads were the perfect bread for me to start off with as it is what I would call bread for beginners. This meant that I could bake this bread quickly and it wouldn't take all day and I wouldn't have to fath about with rising and proving. I opted like many of the other bakers to bake a soda bread, with my variation including basil and sun-dried tomatoes. A very Mediterranean theme as I love Mediterranean flavours. I could quite easily live off an Italian, Greek or Spanish diet. I actually found it quite difficult to decide on a flavour as I had so many different ideas such as goats cheese and red onion, red leicester and red onion, rosemary or feta and black olive. They call themselves quick breads and oh my they aren't lying, it took me less than an hour to prepare and bake the bread. It was a lot quicker then baking the previous weeks challenges. I hate to say this but it was also quite easy so it has opened my eyes to bread making and it has definitely inspired me to try baking soda bread again. Perhaps I could try some of the other ideas I had for flavours who knows. I'm not one for blowing my own trumpet but I'm actually really proud of this bread it turned out a lot better then I ever could have expected so if like me you fancy a new challenge I would recommend you give this a go.

Ingredients

- 170g self-raising wholemeal flour
- 170g plain flour
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 290ml buttermilk
- 70g sun-dried tomatoes
- 1 tbsp basil (although I prefer the taste of fresh basil, I used dried basil flakes to avoid stringy bits of mushed basil)

Method

1) Preheat the oven to 200°C/ 180°Fan/ Gas mark 6

2) Add both types of the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda into a large mixing bowl

3) Cut the tomatoes into chunks of your desired thickness (approximately 1 - 2 cm in thickness) and add along with the basil to the mixing bowl and mix the ingredients together

4) Form a well in the centre of the bowl and add the buttermilk. Once the buttermilk has been added quickly mix with a fork to form a dough

5) Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and briefly knead the dough but don't over work it

6) Lightly shape the dough into a round and slightly flatten the top to get a smooth even surface

7) Cut a cross at the top of the bread in the centre and place on a lightly floured baking sheet and bake for approximately 30 minutes. You will know that the bread is baked once it sounds hollow when tapped at the base

8) Allow to cool on a wire wrack and enjoy - I would recommend enjoying this with a comforting and warming bowl of soup or lightly toasted with mozzarella and fresh basil on top for an authentic Italian feel

Thank you for reading this blog post my lovelies and a massive celebration all around as I think we may have just possibly made it through bread week. Small secret for you all here but this was my first attempt at baking bread ever so if you're prepared to trust me then I would recommend you give this ago. I would also recommend you enjoy this fresh as you can't beat freshly baked bread. It has a nice crisp crust and a warming gooey centre filled with Mediterranean summer flavours. Let me know if you attempt this or know of any good quick bread recipes to try. Next week for desert week we'll be attempting creme brûlée's so I'll have to get my thinking cap on for some flavours for that one. See you next week lovelies.

Week One: Cakes: Raspberry And Almond Madera Cake
Week Two: Biscuits: Coconut And White Chocolate Biscotti 

August Glossybox 2015

Good afternoon my lovelies and a Happy Thursday to you all. This week saw the arrival of the August Glossybox so I thought it would only be right that I typed up a blog post for you all. This month Glossybox celebrated their fourth birthday so a big Happy Birthday to Glossybox and this months box features favourites from the Glossie subscribers from across the world. The box therefore includes products ranging from the UK, US, Spain and Sweden. It has a very continental feel towards it. Last months French addition was one of my all time favourite Glossyboxes and highlights definitely included the lip balm, make-up bag and face serum.

Calming Face Toner By Naobay
We had previously seen the peeling mask from Naobay in the March addition and this month features a face toner. Naobay is a luxury Spanish brand which emphasises the fact the it is pure, natural and organic perfect for those of you with sensitive skin. Having sensitive skin myself I only stick to Simple skin care products yet I would still branch out and step outside of my comfort zone to give this one a go. These products are the sort of products you could see looking very luxurious on your bathroom shelf next to a green pot plant of some sort next to a fresh linen candle and freshly washed cream towels. All looking very fresh. One of these will cost you £10.65 so a little more pricy then Simple yet if you are prepared to pay more for your skin care it is still reasonable especially when you compare it to luxurious brands such as Liz Earle.

Purifying Cleanser By SASS
Us fellow Glossies received a previous SASS product in our May edition boxes which was a concentrated moisturising serum that you apply after shaving. This months product is a cleansing cream that you apply two pumps worth to your body whilst in the shower. You moisturise the product into your skin and then wash off the product before leaving the shower. The product claims to balance your skins pH levels whatever that means. How your skin can have different pH levels confuses me but I'm assuming it will even out differences leaving your skin with a neutral pH level. It also claims to cleanse and energise your skin which sounds more like English in my terms so that seems to make more sense and all good stuff really. One of these will cost you £7 which isn't bad for an in-shower body cleanser, more well known brands in the UK such as Soap and Glory would cost you more.

Powder Blusher By Emite
We are now adventuring over to Sweden which has delivered a blusher to our door steps this month. I would describe this as a deep coral shade of blusher, perfect for Autumn which is handy as that seems to be creeping up on us very quickly at the moment. Has anyone else felt as if Summer has finished? I've noticed it's a lot darker in the early mornings and evenings and there are a lot of dead leaves on the floor, it's also raining and cold which is a little depressing. Sorry side tracked. This blusher reminds me of a good dupe for a blusher by Sleek in the shade Coral. These coral like shades could be used as either a blusher or a bronzer depending on your skin tone and the time of the year. I think I will use this as a blusher first but once we are well on through Autumn I may just use it as a hybrid and for generic contouring. Especially as I am planning on dying my hair dark brown again for Autumn I feel that this blusher would look really nice against dark hair. One of these blushers would cost you £20.59 so I am expecting good things from this as it is a lot more pricy then all of your highstreet brands such as Sleek who may I add also do amazing blushers yet at a quarter of the price.

Lip Glide Lip Crayon By MeMeMe
I love lip crayons I find them really easy to apply. I went a little on the crazy side buying lip crayons last year yet I have been very well restrained and this is the first new addition to my collection for this year so I don't think that's too bad. This beautiful matte peach shade is called playful peach. Usually I would associate peach lip colours for Spring yet I think this will look really pretty and subtle for the end of Summer going towards September. As soon as Autumn is here though I am all for my darker pinks and reds. I would say that this peach shade will look really pretty with the blusher so well planned Glossybox. Using the two products together could give you that slightly flushed early morning appearance you get in Autumn with glowing cheeks as you get inside after being outside in the cold. One of these will cost you £6.95 which I think is pretty good value to be honest with you.

Lash Primer By Manna Kadar
We are finishing our world tour in the US with this new lash primer. I think that mascara is one of the make-up products that I have never totally obsessed over. I think that it's because I naturally have quite long, dark lashes and have never spent hours coating my lashes or comparing different brush shapes for the best effect. I was given a free Barry M showstopper mascara with extra volume last Autumn and it has lasted me nearly a year, granted it's nearly finished but it takes me years to get through mascaras so I definitely get my moneys worth. I'm still waiting to try m Benefit They're Real mascara. Whether the applicator of the mascara is plastic or not has never bothered me yet to some people it is a major dilemma. Seeing as I am laid back about mascara you can probably guess that I have never used a mascara primer before. There are so many primers out there such as for you foundation, eye lids, eyebrows and even mascara everyone will soon end up almost applying their make-up twice as they coat their face in primer followed by their actual make-up. I know I sound like scrooge now and to be fair I use a face primer and it does make a huge difference. Primers hide pores, smooth your skin and they help your make-up apply with a smarter finish and to last longer. This mascara has a cream to gel like formula which appears white in colour but this will be hidden by your mascara which you apply on top of the primer.  The primer includes the vitamin B12 which claims to leave your lashes conditioned, moisturised and voluminous which to me sounds as if they will grown stronger and longer which can't be a bad thing. If you apply it under mascara it will help to emphasise your lashes more whilst helping to maintain your mascara for longer. I am excited to give this primer a go and to see whether all of the lash hype is worth it or not. Let's hope so as it will cost you £14.55 for this little baby.

I hope you enjoyed this blog post my lovelies. Let me know in the comments if you have tried any of the products and what you thought of them. I am looking forward to trying each and everyone of these products so Glossybox definitely did good this month.

The Great Blogging Bake Off: Coconut And White Chocolate Biscotti

Good evening my lovelies, let's get straight into this and hands up who is excited for the return of the Great British Bake Off tonight - me, yes please thank you kindly as I immediately jump into the air. As I mentioned in a previous blog post this is the second episode in my baking series which is inspired by The Great British Bake Off which I have inspirationally named "The Great Blogging Bake Off. Each week I will be attempting the signature challenge from each episode. It's bread week next week so God help me with that one. I've never been one for bread making and I believe that there are two main reasons for this. One - I have more of a sweet tooth and two - I literally have no patience so waiting hours and hours for bread to prove is just simply boring for me, yes I know how bad that sounds. So when it comes to bread week I don't have high expectations for the finished result, instead it will be more of a light hearted attempt where I won't take myself too seriously. Last week was biscuit week which featured the bakers attempting biscotti. I was really pleased with this weeks bake as I have never made biscotti before so I was keen for a challenge and to try something new. It also gave me and my Mum an excuse to go to Costa and buy some almond biscotti to try accompanied with some caramel cappuccinos. Not that we need an excuse mind as I'm pretty sure I go to Costa at least two or three times a week but hey ho, you only live once. Also, I had never eaten biscotti before so at least now I know what it's supposed to taste like anyway.

Biscotti is an Italian biscuit which has a crispy, hard appearance and texture yet it still manages to crumble and melt in the mouth. I would also throughly recommend a biscotti with a large mug or bowl of coffee as they are great for dunking, biscuits and coffee puts a whole new spin on tea and biscuits. The biscotti are also twice baked which gives them their firmer texture. After watching the programme I came up with so many different ideas for different recipes and flavour combinations that I found it challenging to narrow it down to one. So difficult I ended up baking two different yet similar types of biscotti. The base mix was coconut and white chocolate yet one batch contains cherries added and the other have lime. Biscotti is traditionally flavoured by almonds or many dried fruit and nut combinations such as pistachio and cranberry so I thought I would stick to this by choosing a fruit and nut to form the core ingredients. The white chocolate was a spontaneous addition as I was inspired by the way the bakers dipped their biscotti in chocolate and seeing as white chocolate is my favourite type of chocolate it just gives me an excuse for some further indulgence.

Ingredients

250g plain flour
220g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
100g desiccated coconut
200g white chocolate

Coconut, White Chocolate and Lime: zest of 1 lime (if a whole batch then the zest of 2 limes)
Coconut, White Chocolate and Cherry: 70g glacier cherries, I used French Morello cherries as I prefer the sweeter flavour of these and I find them less artificial (if a whole batch then use 125g)

Method

1) Preheat the oven to 160°C/ Gas mark 3 and line two baking trays

2) Mix together the flour, sugar and baking powder in a bowl

3) Beat your eggs together and gradually add the eggs to your flour mixture to form a dough

4) Stir in the coconut and divide your mixtures in half for the two separate flavours. If only baking one of the recipes then you won't need to divide your mixture in half

5) For the cherry biscotti, cut up the cherries finely for your chosen texture. To be honest I just randomly chopped the cherries into chunks I wasn't the least bit precise. Once you have chopped your cherries add them to one of the doughs and mix into the dough

6) For the lime biscotti, grate the zest of one lime into the other dough and mix, working the lime into the dough

7) Place the dough on a baking tray leaving you with two 'logs'. If you are only making one variation you will need to split the dough in half at this point so you will also be left with two logs

8) Bake in the oven for 25 minutes until golden brown

9) Remove the biscotti and allow to cool for just under 5 minutes before slicing the biscotti into 'sticks' which are roughly 1 - 2cm in thickness

10) Turn the biscotti on their sides and return to the oven to bake for a further 5 minutes

11) Remove the biscotti and turn the biscuits onto their over side so they are still sideways on and bake for a final 5 minutes. This will firm the biscotti giving them their crunchy texture

12) Remove the biscotti from the oven and allow to cool by transferring to a wire wrack

13) Once completely cooled, break up your white chocolate into a heat proof bowl and melt the chocolate. I did this by heating a pan of water without boiling it and placing the bowl containing the white chocolate on top of the pan

14) Dip your biscotti into the chocolate, I did this on the longest, bottom side of the biscuits but another way you could do this is by dipping one of the ends into the chocolate. What ever floats your boat to be honest with you

15) Return the biscotti to the wire wrack to set the chocolate in place

16) Boil the kettle and make yourself a strong cup of coffee, sit back and relax with a biscotti or two or three. Perhaps you could read a book or do what I'm going to do and stick the Bake Off on at 8pm tonight for bread week

I hope you enjoyed this blog post my lovelies. Let me know in the comments if you attempted either of these recipes and how it went. I would also love to know if you have any good recipes that you would recommend for biscotti. Although biscotti are quite dry they are still really light making them a joy to eat and I would throughly recommend that you give these a go. I was pleasantly suprosed by these and they are very addictive which isn't a bad thing in my opinion. I shall see you next week for bread week 'gulps loudly' wish me luck. I will soon be tucking into one or maybe two of these with a strong coffee to enjoy tonights episode, less then an hour to go 'hyperventilates a little'.

Week one: Cakes: Raspberry And Almond Madeira Cake

Banana Pancakes

Good Morning my lovelies and a Happy Sunday to you all! I was feeling very spontaneous this morning and decided for a Sunday morning treat to cook some pancakes with my lovely Mum for breakfast. These are a little different to your usual pancakes as they are banana pancakes and contain very few ingredients. It's nice as during the week I don't have time to make something like pancakes for breakfast and it just seems like a classic Sunday breakfast. Now I may be the world's worst drawer but it was still nice to let my inner artistic side out which is buried deep, very deep at that, pop out. These are really easy to make and taste delicious, bananas are one of my current fruit obsessions. I served these with some blueberries, honey and greek yoghurt. I usually have fruit and greek yoghurt with honey for breakfast pretty much everyday yet I still managed to incorporate that into my breakfast.

Ingredients (makes 6 pancakes)

200g ripe bananas (approximately 2 large bananas)
2 eggs
1/8 tsp baking powder (pathetic quantity I know but just go with me on this one)
vegetable oil to cook

Serve with:
blueberries
honey
natural Greek yoghurt

Method

1) Whisk the egg and baking powder together to create air bubble in the egg. The more you whisk the lighter and fluffier your pancakes will be

2) Mash the banana with a fork. You don't need to spend a long time doing this as you want some coarse chunks of banana remaining to help emphasise the banana flavour and it will also make your pancakes fluffier. Don't be scared that the mixture looks lumpy thats what you want

3) Whisk the bananas into the egg mixture and you've got your pancake batter

4) Simply fry the pancakes in a frying pan. To do this heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan and once heated apply approximately two table spoons of mixture to the centre of the pan. I would recommend that you fry the pancakes on a medium to low heat. This way you can achieve that golden outer coating whilst making sure the pancakes are cooked all the way through as these are similar to scotch pancakes not crepes in the fact they are smaller and thicker compared to those with a large circumference and paper thin.

You could serve these with any toppings you fancied to be honest; whether its the classic lemon and sugar, Nutella (I mean chocolate and banana who can say no to that magical combination), varieties of fruits such as strawberries or raspberries, ice cream or cream. I haven't tried this but you could try cooking the pancakes in coconut oil and serve with pineapple and coconut yoghurt or ice-cream for a Hawaiian/tropical theme.

Let me know in the comments if you attempt these and let me know what flavour combinations you tried I would love to hear your ideas for these as it is an excuse to make these again and again. They are really quick and easy to make, a healthy alternative and you need very few ingredients so it's a win, win recipe all round. The perfect way to start a Sunday and I think it has become a family favourite treat breakfast in our household now.

The Great Blogging Bake Off: Raspberry And Almond Madera Cake

Good afternoon my lovelies and a Happy Tuesday to you all. Today’s post features the first addition to a new series that I am creating on my blog that I am calling ‘The Great Blogging Bake Off’. At this point if you have already guessed what this series will be related to and inspired by then ten brownie points for you and a whopping great big gold star.  A few clues for you: it involves baking once a week with a different theme each week inspired by two celebrity bakers. Yes you guessed it – The Great British Bake Off has returned to our screens for series six which fills me with so much excitement I feel as if I could burst. I have been waiting for the return of this show since the last series ended for my baking fix. I have religiously watched every series and it is always on repeat in our household. It’s the show that everybody and their mother and their mother’s dog have been talking about and it seems to take over the nation with a toxic baking wave.  Luckily the baking god’s have honoured us with another series sill featuring Mary, Paul, Mel and Sue, which is a magical combination.

As I have mentioned on my blog previously I have a very strong passion for baking of which I bake at least once a week to satisfy my baking craving.  I don’t publish all my bakes but I don’t want to swamp you all to death with cake. Each week after each episode I thought I would put my spin on the show by having a go at each weeks signature challenge and what better way to start off then with week 1 – cakes. Cakes are my favourite things to bake and this week’s signature challenge involved baking a madeira cake. Ever since I was little I have loved eating madeira cake as when I was little as in 3 – 4 I didn’t like icing and I only really liked plain sponges so madeira cake was perfect to feed me and shut me up as my Mum raced round doing the Tesco food shop. Having said that I have never attempted baking one so I was really chuffed with week ones challenge. I always thought Madeira cakes were supposed to just simply be a plain vanilla loaf sponge so the fact that these were all different flavours and shapes boggled me. I’ve always thought that Raspberries and almonds is an amazing combination and always a personal favourite of mine so I thought why not throw them in for my spin on the classic madeira cake. I baked this cake with my mum which was really nice as we never normally get a chance to do baking together any more but when I was younger we always did cooking and baking together so it was really nice and just like taking a trip down memory lane.

Ingredients

- 175g butter

- 175g caster sugar

- 2 tsp almond extract

- 3 eggs

- 50g flaked almonds

- 100g plain flour

- 100g self-raising flour

- 2 tbsp milk

- 200g fresh raspberries

Method

1) Grease your loaf tin and line it with grease proof paper. We cut the paper leaving you with two ‘handles which in theory should help you to take the cake out of the loaf tin once baked

2) Preheat the oven to 160°C/ 140°Fan/ gas mark 3

3) Cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl, you want to do this until you are left with a light, fluffy and pale mixture

4) Beat in the almond extract which oh my it smells so good, you need to spend a good five minutes just appreciating the smell

5) Add all but a small handful of the flaked almonds to your batter and lightly fold these in

6) In a separate bowl, beat your eggs together with a fork lightly

7) Add half of the beaten eggs to your cake mixture and beat in, don’t worry if the mixture curdles this will be resolved once you add the flour

8) Sift in both types of the flour together followed by the remaining egg mixture and fold all of the mixture together. It may look lumpy at first but don’t worry if you continue to lightly fold all of the ingredients together it will resemble cake mixture. To fold you don’t want to violently and heavily beat the mixture, you lightly fold the ingredients together incorporating the ingredients around the edge and through the middle which will combine the mixture whilst leaving air bubbles to help the cake rise and it will also leave you with a light textured sponge

9) Fold in the milk followed by all of the raspberries minus a small handful. Again you want to be gentle whilst folding the fruit in so you don’t crush the raspberries, which would leave you with a pink, speckled like sponge. The aim is to keep the raspberries whole

10) Pour the mixture into your loaf tin and decorate with the remaining almonds and raspberries on top

11) Bake in the oven for an hour and a half, this slow bake ensures the cake is fully cooked without burning

12) Once baked and a skewer once inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.

You could serve this cake served with a vanilla cream or ice-cream and fresh raspberries or just simply on it’s own. I can’t express how good the almond smell is once you remove the cake from the oven.  It’s a really easy recipie and the cake is so worth the wait so I can strongly suggest that you have a go at this one, it’s a gooden.

Thank you for reading my blog post my lovelies. Let me know in the comments if you attempt baking the madeira cake and feel free to send me some pictures. Also let me know if you join me in my ‘Great Blogging Bake Off’, I would love to know what you attempt each week for your signature challenge. It might give me some more inspiration and ideas as there is so much potential out there for different flavour combinations. I shall see you at some point next week for week two which is going to be biscuit week. After the next episode which I hope you all have marked and underlined in your diaries for 8pm tomorrow night I shall have to put my thinking cap on once we know what this week’s signature bake will be.