Sunday 27 November 2011
Sunday 13 November 2011
Sunday 6 November 2011
Thursday 3 November 2011
Yummies from Mummy- Silver Spoon Review
The fabulous people over at the baking accessories heaven that is Silver Spoon sent me an amazing box of goodies to review. I tried to lose no time in getting down to the baking, but first Madam insisted on being ill, this was followed by helping some friends move house then the busy times were topped off with a much needed holiday!
Anyhoo, I finally got on with it and here's what I did;
First up I made some chocolate Whoopie Pies. This was a new one on me, I don't tend to tread outside of my cupcake comfort zone. But they turned out really rather delicious, especially as I topped them with melted chocolate orange. I used the Orange flavour Buttons provided, they melted down fantastically in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. The consistency was smooth, the flavour mouth watering and the colour cheerfully bright.
Next up were the White Chocolate letters;
I loved the way these are packaged, the letters and numbers are on little sheets kept separate from the box by a little cardboard sleeve, so there is no chance of them getting bashed about and ruined. You simply bend the plastic gently to pop out whatever letters/numbers (even punctuation!) you need and pop them onto your cakes. They stick best on a layer of icing, as you can see here on my drool worthy Bailey's cupcakes.
A friend of mine ordered some festive cupcakes for her daughter's Hallowe'en party, one choice of design were adorable pumpkin patches. I coloured the fondant orange and shaped it into little pumpkins, adding a sliver of chocolate button for the stalk. But to me, they needed something a little extra. I hunted through the Silver Spoon box and came up trumps with the Bronze Lustre by Mich Turner.
I pierced the pumpkins onto cocktail sticks and painted a thin layer of lustre on them all. I love it! You need to give the bottle a good shake to make sure the colour is even, but this stuff gives a great shine, and a little goes a loooong way.
Anyhoo, I finally got on with it and here's what I did;
First up I made some chocolate Whoopie Pies. This was a new one on me, I don't tend to tread outside of my cupcake comfort zone. But they turned out really rather delicious, especially as I topped them with melted chocolate orange. I used the Orange flavour Buttons provided, they melted down fantastically in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. The consistency was smooth, the flavour mouth watering and the colour cheerfully bright.
I loved the way these are packaged, the letters and numbers are on little sheets kept separate from the box by a little cardboard sleeve, so there is no chance of them getting bashed about and ruined. You simply bend the plastic gently to pop out whatever letters/numbers (even punctuation!) you need and pop them onto your cakes. They stick best on a layer of icing, as you can see here on my drool worthy Bailey's cupcakes.
A friend of mine ordered some festive cupcakes for her daughter's Hallowe'en party, one choice of design were adorable pumpkin patches. I coloured the fondant orange and shaped it into little pumpkins, adding a sliver of chocolate button for the stalk. But to me, they needed something a little extra. I hunted through the Silver Spoon box and came up trumps with the Bronze Lustre by Mich Turner.
I pierced the pumpkins onto cocktail sticks and painted a thin layer of lustre on them all. I love it! You need to give the bottle a good shake to make sure the colour is even, but this stuff gives a great shine, and a little goes a loooong way.
Finally, I got to try out my new toy and make a GIANT DONUT!! Yes, it did get me slightly excited. I decided to make it a chocolate fest and use the Easy Melt White/Milk Chooclate Flavour Cake Covering.
You simply pop the sachet into a saucepan of half boiling water and half cold water and leave them for about 7-8minutes, or until totally melted. I found it best to keep the saucepan on a very low simmer. Then once it's all melted, carefully remove it from the pan, dry it off, snip the corner and squeeze.
The messy but delicious end result:
I am already a huge fan of Silver Spoon creations, but these were several things I'd never tried before. I will certainly be adding them to my shopping list under the heading 'Essentials- keep in store at all times!'
What about your good selves, lovely readers? Have you tried any of the things I've reviewed? If yes, did you do something different with them? I love to hear all about your baking experiences!
Friday 21 October 2011
Dear So and So
This is my first time joining with this linky, started by 3 Bedroom Bungalow, who has recently been popped onto the number 1 spot with the Tots100 index. I can't compare with my ranking of 380, but hey! A girl can dream, right?
The idea of 'Dear So & So' is to write a letter, or several, on your blog expressing what you may not have been able to in a 'real life' situation (I think...). Here goes;
Dear Daughter's Sleep Habits,
Why have you decided to desert me this week, when I am at my most stressed with the craft fair this evening and getting everything ready for our holiday all next week? I appreciate Madam won't always need you, dear afternoon nap, but I need you now!
Please come back, for a few more months at least.
Yours Beggingly, Mrs B (minus lots of hair)
The idea of 'Dear So & So' is to write a letter, or several, on your blog expressing what you may not have been able to in a 'real life' situation (I think...). Here goes;
Dear Daughter's Sleep Habits,
Why have you decided to desert me this week, when I am at my most stressed with the craft fair this evening and getting everything ready for our holiday all next week? I appreciate Madam won't always need you, dear afternoon nap, but I need you now!
Please come back, for a few more months at least.
Yours Beggingly, Mrs B (minus lots of hair)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Cupcake Posting Pods
I make gooood sized cupcakes, the kind that go nicely with a large mug of tea/coffee/gin/delete as appropriate. Please come in bigger sizes to accommodate this and stop me from having another late night breakdown.
Ta muchly
Hello Cupcake
Dear Shoulder Muscle,
I was having a good day, why did you have to let yourself go and get pulled, just by the simple act of me opening the gate?...
Ouch.
Mrs B
I make gooood sized cupcakes, the kind that go nicely with a large mug of tea/coffee/gin/delete as appropriate. Please come in bigger sizes to accommodate this and stop me from having another late night breakdown.
Ta muchly
Hello Cupcake
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Shoulder Muscle,
I was having a good day, why did you have to let yourself go and get pulled, just by the simple act of me opening the gate?...
Ouch.
Mrs B
Sunday 16 October 2011
Thursday 22 September 2011
Brighton BabyExpo- Ticket Give-away!
In little over eleven weeks, my Madam will be turning TWO! It certainly does not seem two years ago that I was counting down the last few weeks until my maternity leave started and I could get on with the joyous task of washing and ironing all those adorable little babygros. I had visions of comfy cuddles on the sofa with a peacefully snoozing baby, and of Mr B bouncing a red cheeked gurgling beauty on his knee.
What I had not expected was the brick wall we ran into when Madam was only a few days old! Don't get me wrong, I never knew love like it before I held her in my arms, but at the same time no-one (and I do mean no-one) can truly prepare you for life as a mum or dad. A lot of parenting stuff may come naturally to many, but alas- not for me! However, there are many amazing inventions out there designed to help you out, and you can see so very many of them in one spot, I'd like to call it a really rather magical place...
This new life role as ‘parent’ can come with such a steep learning curve, fortunately gaps in the market are swiftly recognised and mums are making that jump from ‘If only someone would invent (insert incredibly cool invention name here)’ to ‘I'm going to invent it!'
What I had not expected was the brick wall we ran into when Madam was only a few days old! Don't get me wrong, I never knew love like it before I held her in my arms, but at the same time no-one (and I do mean no-one) can truly prepare you for life as a mum or dad. A lot of parenting stuff may come naturally to many, but alas- not for me! However, there are many amazing inventions out there designed to help you out, and you can see so very many of them in one spot, I'd like to call it a really rather magical place...
Amazing women like the Cuddledry ladies, Cara from SnoozeShade, Lynda Harding of Easidream fame, Helen from My Wondercube (all BabyExpo exhibitors of course) spring to mind, to name a few, and it’s the development of these amazing products and businesses which leads the organisers to bring a very exciting new area to BabyExpo this year. ‘Innovation Alley’ will include companies such as Snugglebundl- 2011 winners of the Barclays Take One Small Step competition, alongside amazing exhibitors such as NLP Kids, Strider Sports, Cot2Tot, Versatile and many more- offering a fantastic range of products and services to ensure you and your little ones are always that one step ahead and turning heads.
If you'd like to see the full list of exhibitors at this years BabyExpo, please check it out here, and if you are looking for some inspiration, don’t miss the flexible working zone at the show – within you will find expert advice, franchise and employment opportunities and tips to help you get that family friendly work/life balance!
Anyhoo, you may be wondering why I'm babbling on about the Expo.... Well, you lucky readers (gosh, I really am just too good to you!) I have 2 pairs of tickets to give-away!! Yes, you read it right- 2 pairs of tickets to the Brigton BabyExpo on the 13th of November this year for FREE!!
All I ask is that you pop along to Facebook and 'like' the main event's page Brighton BabyExpo, which is a fab idea anyway as you can keep up to date with what's happening (this is not compulsory for the competition but I'd really like you to, pleeeease!), and then simply leave a comment below letting me know if you have done, and with some contact details- email, twitter i.d, etc. The competition will close at midnight on Wednesday the 12th of October, best of luck!
Simples! *funny squeaky noise that meerkat does...*
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