Monday, 28 January 2013

B-B-B-BROWNIES!

Alright, I'll admit, I have been terrible at updating this little corner of internet space. But with good reason! I'm sure you will understand when you see the fantastic grades and superb social life I will have by the end of my degree...ahem.

But more to the point! I managed to sneak in some time in the kitchen over the weekend, the product of which was a batch of seriously gooey and chocolatey brownies. If I'm honest, I'm usually a bit iffy on brownies. I often find them sickly and I-can't-have-more-than-two-bites-esque. However, the light and airy sponge of these ones makes sure that that's not the case! The little chunks of white and milk chocolate dotted around them also give you a break from the richness of the sponge.

Not only that, but they're actually super easy and quick to bake. Apart from the excessive whisking required to mix the sugar and eggs, everything else is simple, and all the ingredients can be found in your Sainsbury's Local (or whatever the equivalent is where you are...apologies...). So click below for some more photos and the full recipe. Enjoy!

I'll be back soon, I promise.

From Cupcakes, With Love x

Wednesday, 26 December 2012

Christmas Cake Poppin'


It's CHRISTMAAAS!! Well, it was yesterday anyway. Merry Christmas y'all! I hope you had a lovely day filled with cake, presents and more cake. I thought I'd share my Christmas creations this year, because I went a bit all out and decided to try my hand at Cake Poppin'!

After hours spent in the kitchen, I can confirm that Cake Poppin' is a super fun but still pretty difficult process! Maybe it's because it was my first time trying them out, but a few of my creations did, sadly, not make it to the end.

I decided to make Vanilla flavoured ones and used Vanilla icing in the mixture too, making them extra sweet! I covered them using melted milk chocolate and white/red Candy Melts. I know using melted chocolate isn't advisable for Cake Pops because they are more likely to break, but I didn't have any brown Candy Melts...and what baking shop is open on Christmas Eve?! Turns out the chocolate worked just fine.

For now I will leave you with photos of the final products, but I promise to give you the recipe soon soon soon. So click below to indulge in my snowman, baubal, Christmas Pudding, snowball and Santa themed Cake Pops and let me know what you think!

I hope you all have a great New Year too :)

From Cupcakes, With Love x

Monday, 17 December 2012

Tea&Cake: Cocomaya, London

It's been a while since I did a real tea&cake review, so I thought I'd dedicate this one to one of my favourite finds whilst living in central London: Cocomaya in Knightsbridge.

I stumbled across Cocomaya whilst my mum and I were on a wintery trip to Harrods, as it's just a short walk down the road. From the outside it looks like any other bakery, but when you go inside you realise it's one of the most beautiful, vintage-inspired places to take tea! Not only do they offer a huge range of amazing pastries and cakes, there is also a savoury lunch menu with some seriously mouth-watering stone-baked pizzas! What makes it a hundred times cooler is that they cook the pizza right in front of you too.

With the views of Old Brompton Road and their great range of tea, I can safely say that Cocomaya will quickly become one of my new favourite places. However, it can also be found in several other London locations that I am yet to check out! If you happen to stop by any of them, let me know what they're like.

Exciting news! I've also been told that they are planning on opening up a chocolate shop soon - I'll be sure to dedicate a post to that once it's up and running. Considering the fact that the Knightsbridge one offered some amazing skull and crown shaped chocolates (and even chocolate letters spelling out 'Marry Me'...aww!), I'm sure it won't disappoint. In fact, I can't wait to check it out!

This is definitely my top pick for a tea break when on a shopping trip in Knightsbridge, or maybe even if you're visiting the museums in the area! I've got a feeling I'm going to be visiting quite a lot... Click below for more photos.

From Cupcakes, With Love x

Sunday, 4 November 2012

Happy Pills - Barcelona, Spain

HELLO OLD FRIENDS! I'm back! I promise! Life has been super hectic busy these past few months and the ol' blog posts have been neglected but they are back with a bang. I thought I'd do a great big comeback with a review of one of my favourite finds on my travels around Spain over the summer: Happy Pills, Barcelona.

When you first walk past it, you may mistake this gem for a pharmacy...but oh no! It's a sweet shop! Clamber down the little stairs and past the glass wall looking through to the 'oh man I want a job here' head office, and you'll soon realise you are literally in for a treat. You have to go through a few stages to finally get your sweets, but it makes the experience ten times more fun. 

Firstly, choose what size bottle you want to put your sweets into. They come in a variety of sizes, or you could just go for a paper bag if you're in for a quickie. You can then leisurely browse the hundreds of sweets in their little boxes around the shop and start filling up your container! Tip - fill the bottles up to the brim to get your money's worth.

Once you're satisfied with your selection, you have to pick a sticker to go onto your bottle. They all have cute little slogans on them like 'A Universal Remedy for Everything' or 'Happy Bird Day', or if you go for the biggest sized bottle (which yes, I did) you get a massive sticker with 'Happiness Overdose' written on it. You then take it to the counter, pay for your goods and whenever you are down, stressed, or lacking sugar, delve into your jar of Happy Pills and all will be right as rain. Tried and tested - it really works.

There are quite a few of these shops around Barcelona so if you are in the city, be sure to visit one. Trust me, you'll be glad you did! Click 'read more' below to indulge in some more photos.

'Gracias por intentar hacer la vida un poco más dulce.'

From Cupcakes, With Love x

Monday, 10 September 2012

Lemon & Poppyseed Loaf...Nice & Simple!

Lemon & Poppyseed is one of my favourite cakes. It's so versatile. It can work as a cupcake, a muffin, a cake or a loaf! It also has just the right level of sweetness. This time I've baked a Lemon & Poppyseed loaf, because the lack of icing makes it the perfect afternoon treat and doesn't make you feel incredibly bad for eating it. The only problem is, it's so light that you kinda end up wanting to eat the whole thing...

Another great thing about Lemon & Poppyseed (the list goes on forever...) is that it's so quick and easy to make. I'll be honest, I whipped this one up as a last minute emergency 'Oh dear we have guests coming over!' on Sunday type thing. Everyone goes through it....right?

So, if you're ever in need of an emergency, reliable and seriously tasty recipe, I suggest you use this one. Once you've made one, you'll never stop.

Find the recipe and step by step instructions below :)

From Cupcakes, With Love x

Monday, 3 September 2012

TEA & CAKE: Mad Hatter's Tea @ The Sanderson

Say hello to another 'Tea & Cake' post! This one is dedicated to the incredible Mad Hatter's Tea Party at the Sanderson Hotel in London. Hands down, the most incredible afternoon tea experience you will find in the big city. It quite literally transports you to another world, and back to your childhood. Based, of course, on the story of Alice in Wonderland, this is not your average afternoon tea. I'm surprised there were even scones in the mix!

Each layer gives you something different to explore, and the waitresses recommended that we eat everything in a certain order! We were offered a glass of champagne or cocktail at the start, and we chose a cool and refreshing Lychee Lemonade. We then decided to get the not-so-boring sandwiches out of the way: Salmon on Spinach Bread, Cucumber on Beetroot Bread & Egg and Cress on Brown Bread. They were so good we even asked for more.

We then finally got cracking with the fun stuff! Starting with the Hazelnut Ice Cream Lollipop, which was heaven in a ball, our expectations were kept high. The chocolate ball filled with Ice Cream  explodes and melts as soon as it hits your tongue. This was then followed by the Blueberry Lollipop which, weirdly, had two different sides to it...one side is intended to create a cold sensation on your tongue, whilst the other is warm. It's super freaky!

Then, as afternoon tea standard expects, there were two choices of scones - raisin and plain. In my opinion, you can never go wrong with scones. As long as there is a generous dollop of clotted cream and some strawberry jam, which there was, I am sold. These scones did just the job and more. The perfect way to break up the other layers.

Next, and sadly finally, came the most exciting layer. The Raspberry 'Eat Me' Mousse Shortcake was seriously like nothing I have ever tasted before. It was just the right level of sweetness and was so refreshing, which, considering I'm usually not the biggest fan of mousses, is saying something. I also managed to eat the whole Chocolate Pastry which was reminiscent of the Rabbit's watch. And last but most definitely not least, in fact, my personal favourite of the whole event, the 'Drink Me' bottle. If I'm honest, I can't for the life of me remember exactly what was in that bottle...but it was divine. If it helps, there was definitely some pineapple and some coconut involved!

To top the experience off, it was one of the hottest days London has seen this year which meant we got to sit in the Courtyard of the hotel. It was so relaxing, and the peace and quiet made it feel like a little haven away from the crazy bustle of the big city. I hope that if you ever get the chance to visit London, or indeed if you already live here, that you have the opportunity to go and try this out! You won't regret it. To see more photos of the afternoon click below :)

From Cupcakes, With Love x

Tuesday, 28 August 2012

Marshmallow Cupcakes & Sponsor Spotlight

A few weekends ago I decided to experiment and create a new recipe...The Marshmallow Cupcake!

I've seen different recipes incorporating marshmallows into cake, but none of them have really worked well for me so I decided to make my own. Instead of simply having marshmallows in the frosting or hollowing out a section of the cake and pouring in melted marshmallow, I decided to put them straight into the cake batter and bake them in the oven. The cupcakes came out really well, and with the marshmallows mixed with the cake batter they were just the right level of sweetness.

However, this particular post is not only dedicated to my new recipe, but also to one of my lovely sponsors, LaDawn Elaine. LaDawn has been really supportive of the blog and was the first to purchase a paying ad on here too! I was so glad she did when I went over to her Etsy shop and saw that she makes the most beautiful cake and cupcake toppers, as well as other pretty vintage inspired decorations. She started her little business when she was preparing for her own wedding, and she'll happily create custom decorations for yours too!

The personalised cupcake toppers you can see in these photos are thanks to LaDawn! She also sent me some cake bunting, which is AMAZING. Those of you who know me personally will know I have a serious obsession with bunting...so the cake version is ten times more awesome. Seriously, you'd better head on over to her shop now and splash out! Big thank you LaDawn! :)

For the Marshmallow Cupcake recipe and lots more photos, just click below. I'm off travelling around Spain for the next month or so, but I plan to schedule in lots of exciting blog posts to feast your eyes on, so do keep checking back.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

From Cupcakes, With Love x


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