First Attempt at Protein Balls

Warning; I am going to be saying 'balls' a lot in this post, so please refrain from giggling, I am being serious people.

I've been trying to get back to the gym recently, and I've been seeing recipes for protein balls everywhere, so I decided to give one a go. I found a really simple recipe which I tweaked slightly, and luckily I had all of the ingredients. They turned out pretty good

Each ball has just over 8 grams of protein in it, which makes them perfect for eating on the go just before or after a work out.

This recipe below should make 8 protein balls.

Ingredients;

4 tablespoons natural peanut butter

2 scoops (50g) vanilla protein powder

4 tablespoons coconut milk

Sesame seeds

50g dark chocolate

Method;

Mix the peanut butter, protein powder, coconut milk and sesame seeds in a bowl. Once mixed it should form a dough like consistency. I rolled mine out into a snake shape so that I could split the mixture evenly up into 8, then I rolled them into small balls.

Heat the chocolate in a pyrex dish over a pan of boiling water. Once melted dip each of your protein balls in and coat with the chocolate. Place on a plate and pop in the fridge until cool. Et voila! They are done! 

It was such an easy recipe, I'll definitely be using this as a base to try out lots of different variations! Have you got a good recipe for protein balls you'd like to share?

Laura xXx

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Easy Canapes - A Cheats Guide

These canapés could not be easier, which is one of the reasons I love them, but also because they are delicious! I served these at our cocktail party the other week and I think they went down pretty well!

Simply grab some cocktail sticks (I prettied mine up by using wash tape to make little flags), and slide on your ingredients.

For the meat eaters we had half a tomato, a slice of chorizo followed by a rolled up basil leaf.

We also had the option of tomato, feta and basil for those that didn't want to eat meat.

Easy peasy right!?

Laura xXx

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A Hidden Gem - Ice Cream and Video Games

  Today I have a story for you of a delicious Gelato bar with a difference!Chris and I have resumed our weekly dates, where we each organise a surprise outing every Thursday. Last week Chris took me to Chewton Glen in New Milton, for a very posh 3 course dinner. It was delicious (I instagrammed the food if you want to take a look). Weirdly that very same night as we were watching the telly, we noticed Chewton Glen pop up on 'I Wanna Marry Harry' (not that I watch that sort of thing! Winkey smiley). Obviously that's where the fake royals hang out!

Anyway, this week I decided to take Chris out to a Gelato bar in Southampton that my friend had told me about. Apparently the food was great, and it had one even bigger selling point, retro gaming stations at the tables! Whaaaat!?

It was a tough decision which table to sit at, as each one had a different make of console. Luckily it wasn't busy at all, so we managed to have a go on each of them by swapping tables every time we fancied a new one.

I chose a rasberry sorbet smoothie and a lemon and sugar crepe, while chris had a mountain of chocolate ice cream and a coffee. Yummy!

We played Crash Team Racing, Mario Cart, and my favourite, since the Sega Megadrive was my weapon of choice as a youngster, Sonic and Tails! I'd never played it 2 player before though, so that was a treat!

Here I am probably loosing miserably at Mario Cart. I did come 7th once though, so not all bad!

Afterwards we went to see Dawn of The Planet of The Apes, which I think was pretty darn good. Especially the apes, they are amazing, it's crazy how far technology has come to be able to make a film like this!

Weirdly Tooti's don't seem to advertise that they have games on their website, so it is a bit of a hidden gem!  If you're near the Southampton area any time soon I'd definitely suggest popping in.

Are there any hidden gems near you that you know about?

Laura xXx

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Herb 101 - Lemon Balm

Whilst on a trip with my friend to a garden centre recently, I picked up a rather nice pot of herbs for just £9.99, which I thought was a bargain!  Unfortunately most of the herbs in the pot aren't ones I use very often in my cooking. I tend to be a creature of habit, and stick with coriander and basil when using fresh herbs, as they are my favourites. I love a good thai curry or noodle/rice dish with lots of tasty coriander, and I have a weakness for basil in a sandwich with some tomatoes and cheese!

I realised that learning what to do with most of these herbs would require a little bit of research, so research I did!  In the interest of sharing knowledge, I thought I would pass on some of the information I learned with you!

And so, I give you my herb of the week... Lemon Balm!

Lemon Balm is a herb I had heard of (bit of a tongue twister!), but had no idea what it looked like or what to do with it. Of course I knew it would smell lemony, but other than that I was at a loss. It turns out that it is a fantastic herb for attracting bees to your garden, which I am all for! Its latin name 'Melissa', is derived from the Greek name for Bee. When the plant flowers it will apparently attract lots of Bees from far and wide. Hurrah!

It is a herb that is known for its medical properties against stomach ailments and nervous conditions.

But what can we do with it? As it turns out, a whole heap of stuff! ;

• Make a pesto. Great recipe found at The Healthy Green Kitchen. You can use this as a  pasta sauce, as a sandwich spread, or on crackers as an appetiser. I'm looking forward to giving this a go!

• Use it as a substitute to lemon grass. Perfect for Thai dishes when you have forgotten that all important ingredient, or are trying to save your pennies.

• Make candied lemon balm. I gave this a go and I think these would be a fantastic edible garnish for a dessert!  They taste wonderfully sweet and lemony! To make them you just need to dip each leaf in some lightly whisked egg white mixed with a dash of water, then dip in sugar. Lay them on a baking tray and pop in the oven at about 100c and leave for about 20 minutes.

• Flavour cold drinks. You can add the leaves as a garnish, or create a simple syrup from its leaves like I did in this post with mint.

• Add it to a fruit based dessert like apple pie.

• Make a tea. Steep the leaves in boiling water for a few minutes to made a deliciously lemony tea! It is meant to have wonderful calming properties! I've tried this and it's actually really good.

• Make a tasty lemon balm flavoured butter to spread on toast like I did here. This was really easy to do, I just mixed 100g of softened butter with about a teaspoon of finely chopped lemon balm, and a dash of honey. To make the butter presentable I filled an ice cube tray with the mixture and popped them in the freezer to set quickly. I think they look rather good!

• Add to a bath and enjoy its delightful lemony scent. Use a little mesh bag to keep it from straying into your nooks and crannies.

Wow, I think Lemon Balm is my new favourite! What do you like to do with Lemon Balm?

Some of the ideas above were inspired by The Nerdy Farm Wife whose blog is full of wonderful tips on herbs and flowers!

Laura xXx

Take care when using Lemon Balm if you are on hypothyroid medications, are pregnant or have any other medical conditions. Always consult a doctor if you are unsure.

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Fancy Pants Butter - A Cheats Guide

Ever wanted to impress with your culinary skills, but lacked the time or energy to do so? Here is a quick and simple trick you can prepare way ahead of time. Whip it out for dinner parties, or just when your friend pops over for a cuppa and a snack. 

Create your own delicious toast topper by mixing softened butter with a flavour of your choice. If you're going for a sweet sensation you might want to try cinnamon, vanilla or honey. Or if you prefer something savoury try finely chopped herbs. Whatever you like, give it a go, you can always make a few little batches at once before deciding on your favourite.

Scoop your butter mix into silicone ice cube trays and pop in the freezer. Next time you've got guests just take out a few cubes in time for them to defrost, and you will look super prepared!

Laura xXx

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How to Make Mendl's Courtesan Au Chocolat

Raise your hand if you like Wes Anderson! If you don't know what I am on about, run to your nearest cinema and go and watch 'The Grand Budapest Hotel'…. Ok, now you have done that I am sure you are just as in awe of Mr Anderson's wondrous brain as I was. If you liked this film be sure to check out his other films too, they are all awesome.

One of the most magical things in Grand Budapest Hotel is a delicious looking pastry, the 'Courtesan Au Chocolat'. When I discovered that Anderson's team had made a tutorial video on how to make it, I decided we had to give it a go ourselves. Especially since I had a special Wes Anderson fan in mind that this would make the perfect surprise gift for!

It was a fairly detailed recipe, and there were several points where I and my sous-chef Jess thought things were going terribly wrong! But in the end they turned out pretty darn well, even if I do say so myself! And yes, they were delicious, and they disappeared just as quickly as they did in the film!

I also found an Etsy shop that sells downloadable printouts of the boxes, which was the icing on the cake, (as it were) so we were able to present them very authentically indeed! 

If you want to have a go at making a Courtesan Au Chocolat yourself you can watch the tutorial below, and it is super cute! If you do I'd love to see how it turns out!

The exact recipe for the Courtesan au chocolat has never been published or publicly disclosed as per the conditions of Herr Mendl’s will. However, the following has been collated and adapted from a several “pirate” sources in the Nebelsbad archives (including a 1963 recipe from the kitchen of the Grand Budapest Hotel using powdered eggs that was printed in the Lutz Daily Fact).

Laura xXx

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Overnight Oats Breakfast Recipe - Apple, Raisins and Cinnamon

Today I want to introduce you to my new best friend, overnight oats!

This is now officially my favorite breakfast. If you haven't heard of overnight oats, they are basically  porridge without the hassle of cooking the oats. Oh, and it's cold instead of hot!  

You make up your oaty/porridge dry mixture and then soak them in milk (or a lacto-free version of milk. I use coconut milk), then you leave them overnight in the fridge. When you wake up in the morning your oats will be fully soaked and ready gobble down!

There are tons of recipes you can experiment with, but I am hooked on my first creation. Its an absolutely delicious apple crumble inspired recipe! If that sounds good to you, read on to find out the ingredients;

1 cup porridge oats
1 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup raisins
A small hand-full of goji berries
A squeeze of agave nectar
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
3 tablespoons of apple sauce

The secret ingredient is the apple sauce. I made a massive batch of this a little while ago. It was really simple, I just stewed down some apples in boiling water and then strained and mashed them.  I put some of this in the freezer, so now I just take out as much as I need to defrost a few hours before I make my overnight oats. If you don't have any to hand you can substitute a little bit of the milk for apple juice which gives it a bit of an apple tang.

I really like the way that soaking them makes the raisins and goji berries so soft. Usually I find goji berries a little bitter, but you barely notice them in the mixture for this recipe!

Do you make overnight oats at all? If you do what are your favorite recipes?

Laura xXx

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A Healthy Breakfast

I've discovered a delicious and nutritious new breakfast, so I thought I would share with you all. Basically it is raspberries and vanilla yoghurt with honey, along with a special mixture I concocted myself!

Instead of having cereal, which is full of bad sugars, I decided to make a naturally sweet treat.  In a blender I mixed a handful of dried medjool dates (pips removed), cashew nuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, dried goji berries, honey and a little bit of peanut butter. I pulsed until it was all well blended. Then I placed the mixture in a tin and flattened out, then left in the fridge to cool. 

Thats it really! Its all ready for you to scrape some out and pop alongside your yoghurt and fruit. It will probably last in the  fridge for a couple of weeks.

The great thing about it is that it will turn out differently every time, and you can use whatever you have in your cupboard to make it. Rececntly I made another one using dried figs and lemon zest, but you could also use raisins, dried apricots or prunes, or anything else you fancy!

Laura xXx

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Cinnamon and Nutmeg Toasted Butternut Squash Seeds

I am not a fan of waste.  I like to make sure I use as much as possible when cooking, and I get very sad when I find that something has gone past its best before I had a chance to use it.

It wasn't until fairly recently that I discoverd that you could cook up and eat the seeds of a butternut squash. The other day I was cooking a butternut squash and caramelised onion soup, and I decided I would give it a go.

First I washed the seeds thoroughly to get rid of the slimy bits. Then I coated them in olive oil.  Next I sprinkled them (quite heavily) with cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and a little bit of caster sugar. Then I popped them in the oven for about 10 minutes until they seemed crispy. They were actually quite yummy and full of that autumn flavour!

I sprinkled some of them on top of my soup, but they are delicious as a snack on their own

Below is a picture of my soup, it is definitely not Maser Chef worthy to look at, but it tasted fantastic! If you are interested, here is how I made it;

Ingredients
1 Butternut squash, cubed
1 large red onion, sliced
1 litre of Vegetable stock
Knob of butter
1 tsp of Sugar
Garlic
Olive Oil
Sour Cream
Bacon
Peas

Process
Chop up the butternut squash into cubes, coat with olive oil and pop in the oven until they are nicely browned.  Meanwhile, fry the onions in the butter over a low heat and keep stirring and add the sugar.  I cooked mine for a really long time so that they were nice and caramelised.

When that is all cooked combine in a saucepan with the stock, and whizz until smooth with a  hand blender. Pop in your frozen peas and cook for a few more minutes.  Serve with a dollop of soured cream and some frazzled streaky bacon.

Laura xXx

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DIY Chocolate Protein Bar Recipe

Since we moved into the new house we have joined the local gym. I am being very good and have been going regularly 3 times a week. I've really noticed it making a difference, and it has been helpful having one on one sessions with a trainer.

The usual routine is to go at about 11am and then be back in time for a nice lunch full of protein, which  is usually an omelette. Or if not we will sometimes have a protein shake to help repair our muscles.  But, I know that you should really have protein BEFORE you work out too, which I have not been so good at. I normally only have a smoothie for breakfast as I don't get particularly hungry until later, but this can sometimes leave me slightly less energetic than I otherwise would be.

The other day I was speaking with my friend about protein bars and which ones were good. Then she suggested that I could make my own! I thought this was a brilliant idea as Chris has tons of protein powder that I could use as a base. So, the next day I set to work trying out some recipes.

First of all I tried out a sort of protein cake recipe which If found here. The main ingredients in this were chocolate protein powder, oat flour and apple sauce (which I made myself simply by stewing some apples with a dash of water for about 30 minutes.)

It was a little bit of a strange consistency and taste, not quite like anything I had had before. Having said that it was definitely edible and it was one of those things that the more you eat the more you like it! I did have a bit of an issue with it sticking to the cake tin though, which resulted in lots of half portions being served. Whoops!

Next I decided I wanted to make more of a brownie rather than a cake. I found a recipe here that looked really good. The main ingredients in this were black beans and protein powder, lots of protein there! It also had the addition of chocolate chips, which I was really not adversed to!

I have to say this was absolutely delicious! I think it was helped along a lot by the chocolate chips, and I know that they are not particularly healthy, but it is totally worth it. Plus, the rest of the brownie is all goodness, so why not tray yourself a little? Plus, they say dark chocolate is good for you in small amounts! It is really yummy after being heated up too!

I will definitely be making this again! I will probably try to find some tinned black turtle beans though,  rather than the dried ones I had, as that will save me a lot of time and hassle!

What food do you eat to stock up your protein levels before and after exercise?

Laura xXx

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Tri-This; Quinoa

Quinoa is supposed to be pretty much the perfect food. It is super high in protein, low in sugar, and gluten free! It is actually a seed not a grain, did you know that? Quinoa has recently become one of my favourite ingredients. So here are a few experiments I have tried with it that turned out well!

1. Quinoa Crusted Turkey Burgers

This is an adaptation of a recipe I posted about here. But instead of using breadcrumbs to coat the turkey burger, I used Quinoa!  It crisped up really well and is obviously a fantastic healthy substitute for breadcrumbs. I actually added curry powder to the turkey mixture this time, which turned out great! I also put in a little bit less garlic.

Ingredients;

Burger
400g Lean Turkey Mince
1 Clove of Garlic
1 or 2 tsp Ground Cumin (or/and curry powder)
Chopped coriander

Crust
Cooked Quinoa
Pepper and Salt to taste
2 eggs
Olive oil

For the full recipe check out this post, substituting breadcrumbs for quinoa, obviously!

2. Quinoa Flap Jacks

I've seen a few recipes about which use quinoa as an ingredient in a sweet dish, so I thought I would give it a go myself! My idea was to make little snack bars, but I think actually they taste better served with yoghurt, so these are perfect for a breakfast treat! Full of goodness and no naughty ingredients at all!

Ingredients;
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
1 cup oats
2 mashed bananas
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 cup raspberries
sesame seeds
Ground flax seed
Agave nectar to taste

Rinse and cook your quinoa, then put to one side. Mash the bananas and mix with the coconut oil, oats, sesame seeds, ground flax seed and quinoa. Add agave nectar to taste. Add the raspberries last and mix in carefully. Put the mixture in a flat baking tray. It would probably be a good idea to line the baking tray with baking paper, but I didn't think of this at the time! I cooked this in the aga for about 30 minutes, but just keep checking on it until it is brown on top, but not burnt!

3. Quinoa Salad

I like to make all sorts of quinoa salads, it really just depends what is in my cupboards! My favourite is probably salmon with peas, sweetcorn and avocado. This one is really tasty too!

Ingredients;
Quinoa
Broccoli
Onion (Diced)
Chorizo Sausage
Butter

Rinse and boil up your quinoa. Meanwhile fry up some diced onions, small chunks of chorizo sausage, and broccoli with a little butter. Rinse your quinoa then chuck it in the pan with everything else for a minute or two. Finished!

Are you a fan of quinoa? 

Laura xXx

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Cake Decorating with Tala

I had another wonderful post day last week because the lovely people at Tala sent me one of their products to test out! A beautiful, vintage style icing syringe!

I was really excited to give this a go! Although I love cooking I don't often bake, but I would really like to learn a bit more, and if I can make the cakes look pretty all the better!

I was also sent 3 additional types of nozzle, so I have lots of experimenting to do!

First of all I needed to bake some yummy cakes, for which I used this cake recipe. They were delicious, but I always find that my cakes don't rise enough. I don't know if it is because I am not putting enough mixture in, or perhaps it is because I am using an Aga instead of a conventional oven, but either way, they were never going to look as pretty as the pictures of the cakes in the recipe I followed! Perhaps one of you will be able to tell me where I am going wrong?

Next came the challenge of the icing sugar.  Tala have a very helpful guide on how to make your icing and use the syringe, so that was really handy! But, it is still a bit tricky getting the icing the consistency that you want it. In the end I think it might have had a bit too much icing sugar in it, next time I will try it with a little less.

I was excited to get my food colourings out again! I figured I would just have a bit of a play and see what happened. Lets just say I need a little bit of practice. Here is a picture of my best effort...

Ok, I went a little crazy with these ones. We will be consuming a lot of sugar in the coming days! 

I think I will work on my cake baking technique, then once I've got that sorted I can give this another shot. I do really like the icing syringe though, I'm sure it is easier than using a piping bag would be, and it is much prettier!

One thing I will say about icing cakes.. it is super messy! I got myself in a right state. Next time I will be more prepared!

Laura xXx

Disclaimer -Tala sent me this item to test out free of charge, however all opinions stated above are my own.

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Tri-This - Avocado

I've got a bit of a thing about avocados, I could eat them all the time! Hence why I have chosen them to be the subject for todays Tri-This! Aside from delicious guacamole, (which I made in this post), there are soo many things you can make with Avocados, some even rather unexpected! 

1. Avocado and Haloumi Salad

This might look simple, but eating avocado's in a salad is as delicious a way as any! And now that I have discovered Haloumi, I'm sure I will be eating lots more too!

Ingredients;

1 Avocado

Haloumi - Pan fried

Tomatoes

Tinned Sweetcorn

Spinach

I don't think I really need to give you instructions how to make this, it's pretty self explanatory!

2. Avocado and Chocolate Brownies

Ok, so this might sound a bit weird. But I'm sure you are used to me putting avocado in desserts, and if you aren't you can see my last try here. I found the original recipe, which I adapted slightly, here. I'm not going to lie, this isn't the healthiest recipe I have ever done featuring avocados, but it is better for you than a normal brownie, plus it is wheat free and you would never know! These are yummy and I highly recommend you try them!

Ingredients;

1 large avocado (well mashed)

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup agave nectar

2 tablespoons coffee (not coffee grounds, mixed with water)

1 large egg

1/4 a cup melted butter

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup gluten free flour

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Essentially just mix it all together well, then put the mixture in an 8in x 8in baking tin. I baked mine in an aga for about 50 minutes, but you can refer to the original recipe if you are unsure.

3. Avocado and Tuna Sandwich

And last but not least, this is one of our all time favourite lunch go-to recipes. It is so simple and healthy too!

Ingredients;
1 Avocado
1/2 tin of tuna
Bread
Tomatoes (optional)
Mayonaise (optional)

Again, I'm sure you don't need much guidance with this one. The key is to mash the avocado before adding the tuna, then mix it all together well. Sometimes I chop up some baby tomatoes and pop them in the mix. And when I'm feeling naughty, and Chris isn't watching, I PUT MAYONNAISE IN IT! Shh, don't tell Chris.

What are your favourite Avocado recipes?  

Laura xXx

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Tri-This - Blueberry Recipes

I don't mind admitting that I'm having a little bit of a creative slump at the moment. The same thing happened last year after I came back from my holiday too. I like my routine it seems, and whilst my holiday was fantastic and relaxing, it seems to have gotten me out of the swing of things somewhat.

Anyway, to get out of this rut I thought I would challenge myself to a new series of blog posts. Each week I will be picking one of my favourite foods and making 3 (because good things come in threes)  different recipes that use it.  It might be my first ever try, or it could be something I've made before, or maybe even a twist on an old recipe. And I've wittily named it 'Tri-This"! Actually you can thank Chris for that! It does sound a bit like something the candidates on The Apprentice would come up with, not sure if that is necessarily a good thing!

So today I am going to suggest you Tri Blueberries! 

Blueberries are one of my favourite fruits and they are also a superfood, hurrah! Whats not to love?

1. Cooked blueberries with vanilla yoghurt and fried oats.

This is something I have made a couple of times before, you may have even seen it on my Instagram feed, but it is becoming a firm favourite! It would be perfect as a breakfast, although I have been eating it as a healthy dessert!

Ingredients;

Blueberries

Vanilla yoghurt

Oats

Coconut oil

Agave nectar

Heres the deal - Cook your blueberries (I used frozen) in a frying pan until they are nice and juicy, then pop them in a glass, and add your yoghurt. Next use same pan as you had your blueberries in and heat up some coconut oil, pop in some oats and add a little agave syrup. Continue to heat whilst occasionally stirring until they have gone a golden brown colour and soaked up some of the delicious blueberry juices. Then add them to the top of your dessert to finish off.

 2. Blueberry and Banana Smoothie

You may remember that I love a good smoothie, I have one first thing nearly every morning. Whilst I like to change it up and have something different most days, I always keep some blueberries handy in the freezer, and a banana and blueberry smoothie always goes down well!

Ingredients;

Blueberries

Banana

Water

Pretty simple this one, grab a large handful of blueberries and one banana and throw in a blender. Add water until you are happy with the consistency. If you like it a bit sweeter you can always add a dash of agave syrup. Or if you like it super healthy why not pop in a little bit of watercress?

3. Blueberry and Vanilla Yoghurt Ice Lolly

This one was a bit of an experiment but it turned out really great! Since we have been having a bit of a heat wave I thought it was time to try out a new type of ice lolly. I really love the taste of cooked blueberries and I had some vanilla yoghurt hanging around in the fridge, left over from the earlier recipe. The rest is history.

Ingredients;

Blueberries

Vanilla Yoghurt

Agave Nectar

Cook your blueberries in a frying pan until squidgy and juicy, then mix with vanilla yoghurt and a little agave syrup. Then decant into your ice lolly moulds (this is the messy bit) and leave in the freezer over night! Yummy!

I hope you enjoyed my blueberry recipes this week. Are you a blueberry fan? I'd love to hear some of your recipes too! 

Also, any suggestions for future 'Tri-This' posts will be most welcome!

Laura xXx

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Guest Post - {BEST EVER} Carrot Cake

Hello all - it's rather exciting to be introducing myself for the first time over on Laura's lovely blog!

I'm Rachel of OH NO Rachio and I'll be sharing with you the recipe for the world's best carrot cake {bestowed upon me by the lovely Leoni of From Leoni With Love at our Craft Party.}

So whilst Laura is away enjoying herself, here’s a little opportunity for you to enjoy yourself too AND I promise you, there’s little skill required {win!}.

Here’s what you’ll need to make your cake:

* 5 eggs

* 450ml vegetable oil

* 400g self raising flour
* 570g caster sugar

* pinch of salt

* 12g ground cinnamon

* 530g peeled & grated carrots
* 150g walnuts chopped

* {optional} handful sultanas}

AND here’s what you’ll need for the topping:
 * 200g cream cheese

 * 150g sugar

 * 100g butter

The reason it’s a super easy cake is that {despite killing your arms with all of that carrot grating} all you need to do is throw all of the ingredients together into a food processor or mixer and mix for 5 minutes.
That’s it!

Grease your cake tin all over and pour your goopy mixture in {it’s ok for it to seem abnormally thick!}.

Then you pop it into a pre-heated oven at 160° for 45 minutes. Once your timer goes - take him out and insert a skewer into the centre, if when you pull it out it has cake goo on it, it isn’t done yet and pop it back in the oven for another 15 mins. If your skewer comes out clean, your laughing - and you can pop it onto a cooling rack to, well, cool!

Then beat together your three icing ingredients and spread on - I use a cake palette knife to get a level smooth finish, then you can decorate however you like!

I hope you enjoyed drooling over some gratuitous cake shots today! Thanks to Laura for asking me to fill in whilst she’s away - and if you like what you saw then why not pop on over to my blog to see lots of other cake based posts, recipes and craft DIYs here.

xo

Thanks Rachel! This cake looks yum, and with the addition of sprinkles it is perfection!

Check back on wednesday for my final guest post with Erica from Caught on a Whim. She is going to be showing us how to make a DIY necklace!

Laura xXx

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