A Jolly Good Party - Review

If you follow my blog you'll know that I love to decorate our dining room for special occasions, this year with the help of the lovely folk over at Jolly Good Party my birthday was no different.

Jolly Good Party have some of the most beautiful ranges of party decorations and accessories that you could ever wish to see. With an easy to navigate website it is a really lovely place to plan your party, whether for a wedding, birthday or baby shower.

I opted for items from their mint & gold ombre range, the box arrived with everything I needed for a party tea with my family. Plates, napkins, banners, table cloths, straws, balloons, garlands and cutlery, all colour coordinated, it was my idea of party heaven.

My daughter helped me lay the table and it looked absolutely fabulous and the perfect setting for some fabulous birthday fun.

With the addition of a beautiful cake from Oozee Boozee Bakes, courtesy of my lovely partner, my party table looked heavenly and I think you'll agree the whole look is perfect for a more mature party theme.

With items starting as little as £1.59 Jolly Good Party don't break the bank either, so if you are throwing a party soon why not pop on over and see what they have to offer.

I was sent these fab party goodies to form this review, all words, opinions and pictures are my own.

Marlenka Honey Cakes Review

Imagine a cake that you can buy and keep in your cupboard for a few months, that emergency pudding or cake for friends or family who pop over unannounced, well with Marlenka cakes you can do just that.

These cakes can keep for up to 90 days, I say can because as my son said to me 'we should have these more often' so I don't think they'd be in our cupboard long.

We were sent some of the honey cocoa nuggets, honey lemon nuggets, honey cake, honey cocoa cake and a couple of the snack bars, which are all great in their own way.

The nuggets were the perfect treat to have with a cup of tea, they were also ideal for me to pop into my Yumbox for work, in fact it was like they were made for the little pot I popped one in. I offered them to all my family that visited and they all thoroughly enjoyed them.

The nuggets themselves look a little like scotch eggs both on the outside and on the inside, they were the ideal bite sized treat and being made of all natural ingredients you are sure to be eating something that isn't too sweet.

The mini cakes are great for one hungry mouth or two not so hungry mouths, we split them into four pieces so we could each try a piece, they are really light though and so easy to eat and don't leave you feeling full. We enjoyed both but surprisingly, we all really liked the plain honey rather than the cocoa honey, no particular reason but considering we all like chocolate it was a bit of a shocker.

These cakes are really tasty, they contain NO Preservatives, Artificial or GM ingredients, Alcohol or Animal Fat, making them a wonderful treat for many people. You can buy them in some cafes around the country, if you fancy giving them a try in your own home then you can order them online. I have a special discount code for you, you can 10% off with code 'themummydiary'.

My only real issue with them is the cost, I think for most they will come in too expensive. If the price could come down a bit then I think these would be the perfect treat for people looking for a cake that isn't filled with preservatives, something a little bit different and more natural.

NB: I was sent these cakes to form a review, all opinions are my own.

Black & White Photo Project Week 42

Christmas Cake Decorating with Sweet Success

For the last few years, I have baked my own Christmas cake, but for one reason for another they haven't turned out great. So, when I was approached by Sweet Success to try one of their Christmas cake bundles, I jumped at the chance.

Arriving with everything you need to create the perfect Christmas cake, the bundle includes, a 4" rich fruit cake, cake board with box, marzipan and sugarpaste to cover your cake and some decorations and ribbons for you to add to your finished masterpiece

It comes with thorough step by step instructions, so even if you are a cake decorating novice you are able to go through the steps with ease. Other than the jam, everything you need is in the bundle and you really don't need anything other than a rolling pin and pastry brush.

I absolutely loved putting together this cake, I didn't have to worry about baking the fruit cake which really isn't my forte and instead could concentrate on the icing task at hand.

The decorations are super cute and have a vintage feel to them, I love how the cake turned out and will be back to buy another one before the big day, as I feel this one may have all gone in no time.

Although not a huge cake it is the perfect size to have as a centre piece on Christmas day.

I think this bundle is the perfect way for those short on time to make a Christmas cake, a little piece of homemade for just £10 (available in store only). Sweet Success are a lovely little bakery and cake supplies shop in Nottingham, they have a great selection of pre baked cakes that can be delivered to your door.

So why not have a look over on their website, they are also on Twitter and Facebook too.

NB: I was sent the bundle to create my own cake, all words, opinions and pictures are my own.

Bakewell Tart Cupcakes

I love anything almond flavoured, my gran used to make the most beautiful almond buttercream when I was younger.  It is this that inspired my Victoria Sponge with a Bakewell Tart twist, something that is a regular amongst my cake repertoire.

So I decided to adapt the recipe into cupcake form for National Cupcake Week and as my entry into the Betta Living #bettabakeoff.

Ingredients (Makes 9-12 depending on cupcake case size. I used baking cups which are a bit bigger so only got 9 you can always double up the cake recipe):

For the cakes:
100g Self Raising Flour
100g Golden Caster Sugar
100g Margarine
2 Eggs
1/2 teaspoon almond extract.

For the icing:
500g Icing Sugar sieved
160g Unsalted Butter softened
1-1 ½ teaspoons of Almond Extract, add more/less depending on your taste
1-5 tablespoons milk

To decorate:
100g Raspberry Jam
25g Flaked almonds

Cake method:

1. Heat the oven to 180c/160c fan

2. Line a muffin tray with 12 cases or baking cups.

3. Place all of the ingredients (SR Flour, Sugar, Margaine, Eggs & Almond Extract) in an electric mixer and mix until smooth, alternatively if you don't have one then cream the sugar and margarine together until smooth, add in the egg a bit at a time and mix well, add in the almond extract and then add the flour and mix until is smooth and everything is combined.

2. Fill each of the baking cups or cases to about half way with the mixture, be careful not to overfill.

3. Place the tray on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes or until cooked. To check if the cakes are cooked place a skewer in the middle of one of the cakes and it should come out clean.

4. Once cooked remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack.

For the Icing:

1. Mix the icing sugar and butter until combined, add in the almond extract and then a tablespoon of milk at a time until smooth and is the consistency of meringue (you should be able to make peaks).

2. Once mixed, place the mixture in a piping bag with your nozzle of choice, I am using a round nozzle but you could use a star if you prefer.

To build the cakes:

1. Once the cakes are cooled using a knife carefully cut a circle from your cake, should be about the size of a 10p piece and about 1-1.5cm deep. (NB leave a good edge between the edge of the circle and the edge of the cupcake, you can either eat the left overs or use in cake pops)

2. Place a teaspoon of jam into the whole and then pipe a swirl of butter cream on top.

3. If using sprinkle some flaked almonds on top of the swirl, if you have children who aren't keen on them then just leave the flaked almonds off.

Pour yourself a cuppa and enjoy, these are so light and would make the perfect accompaniment to an afternoon tea or picnic.

This is my entry into the Betta Living #bettabakeoff, more details can be found here.

Peanut Butter and Choc Chip Cookie Bar

Now this recipe isn't mine but I needed to share it with you, i've baked it three times since Liana at My Sugarcoated Life posted the recipe last week and each time it has gone down a storm. Just ask Jaime at The Oliver's Madhouse.

If you like peanut butter, chocolate, cookies and cake this certainly hits every spot, it's moist, tasty and gives the best sugar fix known to man...well maybe thats a little OTT but its darn close.

Here is the cake in all it's glory and the recipe can be found here..

It is the perfect accompaniment to a cuppa and I have made it for my husband as his birthday treat to take to work.

Princess Fairy Cakes - Toddler Fun

My daughter loves helping me to bake cakes, so when I spotted these princess cake cases and icing cake toppers I knew they would make it all the more enjoyable.

For this you'll need a basic Victoria sponge recipe, I use my old faithful Be-Ro recipe which I pop everything in the mixer and it never fails.

Once mixed, pop in to the cake cases and the once cooked we made pink icing, placed some super snazzy pink sprinkles on and then the cake toppers.

And voila, easy peasy pretty cakes that take about just the right amount of time for the attention span of a small child. They taste pretty nice too ;)

I love the time me and her spend baking, it is a great way to spend time together and always means we get to enjoy something afterwards.

Naniamo Bars - Tried and Tested

I was recently approached by the people at Baking Mad to see if I’d be interested in trying one of their recipes in return for some baking goodies, not one to turn anything baking related away and loving a challenge I agreed.

I had a look through their massive collection of recipes, including cake recipes, traybakes, and sweets and chose something I had seen before but never tried.

The recipe sounded yummy and not too simple, meaning I could challenge my baking skills.

You can find the instructions over on the Baking Mad website but here is my take on the ingredients, as a few of my family don’t like walnuts, it still worked well though.

Ingredients:

For the Base
75g Unsalted Butter 
100g Dark chocolate 
75g Digestive biscuits finely crushed 
75g Dessicated Coconut 
75g Flaked Almonds

For the Filling
1 Egg yolk
1tbsp Whole Milk 
1tsp Custard powder 
100g Unsalted Butter
Vanilla extract a few drops (I use Nielsen-Massey) 
150g Icing sugar (I use Silver Spoon) 

For the Topping

125g Dark chocolate

There is a really useful Enter Bake Mode on the Baking Mad website, which allows you to view the instructions whilst displaying the ingredients needed for that step.

Melting the butter and whizzing up the digestive biscuits...

Making the base...

Making the filling...

Adding the top...

Naniamo Bars are a Canadian treat and well quite frankly a resounding success, we all enjoyed it and anyone who saw them wanted to know what the recipe was. The perfect treat to have with a nice cup of tea.

 NB: I was sent some baking goodies by Baking Mad, the rest of the ingredients were paid for by myself and I have received no other compensation for doing this..

Basilia in Langley Mill

I have worked in Langley Mill for 7 years now so imagine my delight when a new deli style cafe opened but two minutes away.

Basilia offers a huge selection or gorgeous homemade food and cakes you can either eat in the welcoming cafe or take out, perfect if you are driving by on your way to Shipley Country Park.

I have tried several different items from the menu from the wonderful ploughmans with homemade ham and local cheeses to the rather delicious paninis and cheese and broccoli quiche.

Cakes are in plenty supply with my favourite being the chewy choccie slice, this is quite frankly the most amazing thing I have ever tasted, but they have so much more including a selection of gluten free.

They also offer a large selection of gourmet goodies to make into a hamper for a gift and lots of cheeses and cooked meats to take away too.

If you are over that way and fancy something a little different for lunch I can highly recommend Basilia.

The staff are helpful and knowledgeable about the food and everything is freshly cooked on the premises.

Lemon and Chia Seed Loaf

Chia seed has fast become a nutritious addition to salads, breakfasts and smoothies and I see it being used all the time over on my Instagram feed..

So with that in mind and with the fact I had some lemons that needed using in the fruit bowl I decided to try replacing poppy seeds with chia seeds in this super easy and tasty Lemon and Chia Seed Loaf.

Ingredients:

2 lemons
225g Unsalted Butter, Softened or Stork Margerine
225g Caster Sugar
275g Self Raising Flour
2 Level Teaspoon Baking Powder
4 Eggs
4 Tablespoons Milk
25 g Chia Seeds you could use Poppy if you don't have Chia

For the topping:

Approx 3 tbsp Lemon Juice but possibly a little more.
225g Icing Sugar, Sieved

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/160Fan/Gas 4. Grease and line a loaf tin mine is about 22cm x 11cm.

2. If you have one use a zester to remove the zest from one lemon and set aside to use as garnish. Finely grate the zest from the other lemon, if you only have a greater then just finely grate both lemons just set some aside to garnish with. 

3. Place all of the ingredients including the grated lemon zest into a mixer (alternatively place in a bowl and mix by hand with a wooden spoon or hand mixer) and blend until smooth,  use a spatula to get any bits from around the edge and mix again for a few seconds.

4. Bake in the oven for about 45-55 minutes or until the cake is cooked. You can usually tell this as it starts to come away from the sides of the tin and if you press in the middle it should spring back.  if you'd prefer you can use a cake tester or as I do to be 100% sure it is cooked through a skewer poked in the middle that comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin, once cooled remove carefully from the tin and place on a serving plate.


5. For the icing, mix together the lemon juice a bit at a time to the sieved icing sugar, until it is a smooth spreadable consistency. Should coat the back of a spoon without running off too much. Spread out evenly over the cake sprinkle with reserved lemon zest and leave to set.

And voila a really tasty cake that both hubby and the kids love.

Beautiful Beetroot Brownies

One sure fire way of getting everyone to eat fruit or veg in this house is to hide it and make it taste like something else.

So when I saw some gorgeous local beetroot the other day I knew I had to get some and make some yummy beetroot brownies.

Ingredients:

250g Dark Chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)
250g Unsalted Butter
250g Caster Sugar
3 Eggs
150g Self Raising Flour
250g Beetroot, boiled until tender, peeled and grated ( I use a food processor with the grater attachment)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Grease a baking tin of approximately 20 x 30 x 3cm and line the bottom with baking paper.

2. Break up the chocolate into pieces, cut the butter into cubes then place them in a heatproof bowl. Melt over a pan of hot water (bain marie) stirring occasionally until completely melted.

Love melted chocolate and butter so pretty

3. Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a bowl until mixed, you can use a handheld whisk but I tend to use a balloon whisk, then beat in the melted chocolate and butter until smooth. 

4. Gently fold in the flour and beetroot -don't overmix or it will make the brownies tough.

Beetroot is just a gorgeous colour

5. Pour the mixture into tin and smooth over the top with a spatula. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. A knife or skewer pushed into the middle should come out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Don't be tempted to overcook them! Remove the tin from the oven and leave on wire rack to cool before cutting into squares.

Best served warm with cream

This recipe is a winner and the children and my husband always ask for more plus it turns the cream a pretty purple colour so whats not to like, dare you try it on your family?

Linking up to recipe of the week over on A Mummy Too blog

Dolly's Vintage Tearoom Nottingham

With half an hour to spare, I decided to take my daughter to Dolly's Vintage Tearoom in the Woodthorpe area of Nottingham.

This little place is a diamond in the rough, in what I am sure would have once been a thriving shopping strip this gorgeous little tearoom sits amongst the now sadly empty shops, but I am so glad it does.

I love going to Cafes, if I want to treat my son I take him somewhere for tea and cake and this I think will be my new haunt.

With toys, drawing stuff and a play kitchen there is plenty to occupy the children, whilst I enjoy a lovely traditional cup of 'real' tea! You know the kind you have to strain and comes in a teapot and china cup and saucer.

I opted for a teacake with a nice cup of tea, the perfect early morning treat and in a gorgeously vintage setting made the perfect early morning stop off.

If you are local to Nottingham I can highly recommend Dolly's Vintage Tearoom

Homemade Lemon Curd

I am always on the look out for ways of using up things that are almost or past their best, so when some lemons in the fruit bowl were looking a little worse for wear I decided to make them into lemon curd.

I have used this recipe before so knew it was good and with it being a microwave recipe it is super simple too.

All you need are a couple of lemons, sugar, eggs and butter et voila simple lemon curd.

You can spread it on toast or like me sandwich between two Victoria sponges and add a lemon glacé icing to the top for a gorgeous lemon drizzle cake.

Would love to hear any other left over or use up recipes you may have.

My Pretty Spring Themed Cake

At the weekend I decided I needed cake and after seeing a couple of rainbow cakes around I decided to give one ago.

I didn't have time to pop to the cake shop to get some proper gel colours so had to use the silver spoon ones I had already.

The colours didn't come out too wishy washy and it looks really good, covered in a vanilla buttercream against the colours looks so effective.

All you need to do is add some food colouring until you get the colour you want, only problem with some food colourings is they do have a slight taste so you can't use too much, which is why the dark gels are better.

Searching on the internet the ones with proper gel food colours from the cakes shops look really good so I might get some next time I am in.

I really enjoyed making this and even got to use the new icing turntable I found in a charity shop, it works so well and makes icing super easy.

Happy times, and with spring getting ever better I will be dusting out the yellows and flower plungers to make some spring inspired cupcakes.

Baker Days Review and Giveaway

Last week I was sent a special mothers day cake through the post from Baker Days, my husband thinks this is a way of him getting out of doing the whole mothers day thing but it's another couple of weeks away so I had to tell him otherwise ;)

Anyway on to the subject of cake, I am a fan of cake and am usually the baker so imagine my delight when I was offered the chance to review a cake that would be delivered direct to my door.

In a rather unassuming box, was delivered a little bit of happiness, a pretty tin containing a gorgeous cake accompanied by a little card and a packet of love hearts.

Imagine, you live far away from a loved one and it's their birthday, well how about sending them a cake in a box, personalised and containing everything they'll need to add a little sparkle to their day.

And it's not just birthdays there are mothers day, valentines day, get well soon and thank you cakes and many more. You can even upload your own image to be included on the cake, how about your child's drawing for mum, dad or grandparents.

You can also choose from different types of cake including gluten and wheat free cake, they really have thought of everything. And best of all the letterbox gift cake means there is no need to worry  the recipient won't be in and it can be waiting for them on the door mat when they get home.

I was sent a Madeira cake and it was moist, soft and very tasty and as I am a bit of a icing fiend the butter cream and icing encasing the cake was also very tasty and meets my high standards. To say this cake was delivered to the door by a postman and pushed through the letterbox I was most impressed that not only was it still intact but still tasted so lovely.

At only £14.99 for the basic cake including delivery I think this is very reasonable and will definitely be using them next time I need a cake delivering to someone.

So now on to the really exciting bit, the lovely people at Baker Days have kindly offered me one of their Letterbox Cakes to give away, just enter via the rafflecopter form below and one winner will be picked at random next week. Leaving just enough time to order a mothers day design if you want, however the winner can choose any design and it is fully personalisable.

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

*I was sent the cake to review, all words and opinions are my own.