Back to baking: Coffee and Walnut Cake

Once upon a time in a couple of posts ago... I wrote that I had been neglecting my hobbies & interests and job hunting had taken over my life, moreover, I was going to make the effort to dabble back into them . I have been out and about capturing pictures on my camera, so that is a tick off the check list, and yesterday I indulge in a bit of cake baking (and cake batter eating). I love to bake and cook and forgot how much enjoyment I get out of it (not as much enjoyment I get out of eating the cake itself of course). Our fridge is Piccadilly Circus for recipes, all pinned up by llama  and smiley face magnets. I picked the coffee and walnut cake and it turned out so scrum, if I do say so myself. Here is the recipe I followed!

For the sponge you will need: 

175g butter (at room temp) 
175g golden caster sugar 
3 large eggs
4 tablespoons of black coffee, cooled 
175g self raising flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
100g halved walnuts, roughly chopped 

And then for the frosting: 

200g butter 
400g icing sugar
4 table spoons of black coffee, cooled

1. Pre- heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease and line with baking paper 2 x 20 cm tins. 
2. Using a whisk, beat the soft butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 
3. Add in the eggs bit by bit, followed by the black coffee. Combine all together. 
4. Sift in the flour and baking powder and gently fold, then add in the chopped walnuts and stir in. 
5. Divide into the 2 tins. 
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes. 
7. Once cooked turn out the cakes on to wire racks to cool. 
8. Meanwhile, make the frosting by beating the butter until pale and soft. After pour in the sugar and coffee and mix until all combined nicely. 
9. Spread on the top of both the sponges. Then place one on top of the other to create a sandwich that has icing as the filling (and on the top). 
10. Decorate with walnuts. 

Yorkshire Pudding: the pièce de résistance of any roast.

For me a roast dinner is not a roast dinner without a Yorkshire pudding. Strictly speaking a Yorky should only be served with roast beef, but this tradition has been long forgotten in my house. They soak up the gravy perfectly and if you have some left over (which happens on the odd occasion), they are great mixed up in a bubble and squeak.

We have one recipe in our house that we use time and time again which makes mammoth sized Yorkshire puddings that are so light and crispy. YUM.

What you will need for this recipe:

3 eggs
300ml full fat milk
150g plain flour
Veg oil 

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees Celsius.
2. Pour a small amount of vegetable oil in to the bottom of each cup of a muffin tray and pop in to the oven to heat up. 
3. Whisk eggs and add milk. 
4. Sieve in the flour and whisk until all combined nicely. 
5. Add a good pinch of salt and stir in. 
6.  Bring out the muffin tray and pour the mixture in to each of the cups of the tray to the half way point. 
7. Put back in to the oven and cook for 5 minutes, and then reduce the heat to 200 degrees Celsius and cook for a further 10 minutes. 
8. Eat as many as you can.

Down At The Bottom Of The Garden

The sun has been glorious today- so trust me not to venture out into my garden until 5pm. Nevertheless, it was lovely to get out in the fresh air whilst the sun was slowly setting. I took the opportunity to whip out my camera and take some shots of the garden. With the dreaded 'J' word (job) constantly on the brain, my days are often consumed with application forms, covering letters, and CV alterations. Unfortunately, this results in my hours fading away fast and before I know it, it has been another day in front of the computer screen. I believe it is important to channel your brain into a variety of activities and interests, and I've blundered by neglecting mine. With the smell of Spring in the air I am going to try and make a valiant effort to turn this around, starting by stepping outside more and practising my photography. Here are the photos I captured today!

Fashion on the Underground

As of late, I have been noticing a lot more cool, lesser known fashion brands from London and I wanted to share some of my favourites. Here are my top four.

Its Not Me Its You     http://www.itsnotmeitsyoulondon.com/

Carrie Fletcher's YouTube vid 'A Few Of My Favourite Things' introduced me to this funky accessory line. It is a creative combination of slogans, bold colours, and edginess with the catch-line;  "leather stuff to carry other stuff." You can find them in the big Topshop on Oxford Street. I treated myself to this coin purse cause it made me chuckle.

Oh My Love     http://www.ohmylovelondon.com/

Born on to the high-street as a result of Anne Lombard's struggle to find trends that took her fancy. Oh My Love is perfect for girls who like to put a twist on femininity. Some of my personal favs are her Kimonos. 

Motel Rocks   http://www.motelrocks.com/   (Technically not a brand from London)

I'm probably one of the last to jump on this bandwagon but Motel Rocks is ace for vintage, quirky pieces. The inspiration behind the brand came from indie vintage shops and various thrift stores dotted along the Californian coastline which then flew over to Britain to fill a niche in the market. I couldn't resist this skirt (pic below), it's so floaty and flattering.   

Shop Dixi     http://www.shopdixi.com/

This nifty jewellery label has a spectrum of bits and pieces to perk up any outfit, ranging from delicate moon rings to bold shell necklaces. Their engraved bracelets personally caught my eye. 

YouTube Culture

For my train journey home today I picked up this month's Company magazine to find 'Zoe Sugg's-(aka Zoella) face on the front (looking stylish as always). I thought to myself, 'my- how far the YouTube community have come'.

As a YouTube super freak fan it pleases me to see people who started as teenagers recording videos in their bedrooms gain this new type of celebrity status (You go Glen Coco!)

Grace Helbig, Hannah Hart, Mamrie Hart, are just a small handful of the women on YouTube who provide hilarity week in week out. Their humour is contagious and I find myself tuning into 'You Deserve a Drink' , 'My Drunk Kitchen', and Grace's daily vlogs like I would for a TV show.

Alternatively, if there is ever an occasion I need to make my face look slightly more presentable than my usual slapdash job with brushes I have no clue where to use, I turn to Tanya Burr to give me a trusty make-up look. She is the godfather of blushers and bronzers.

Then there is 'Fun for Louis'- who never seems to sit still. I can guarantee now, what he has seen and accomplished in his young years is more than I ever will in my whole life. He's definitely taken the meaning 'live each day as your last' on-board.

All in all, we should not under estimate the power of the Tube. Amongst many of it's benefits, I see YouTube as the way forward for advertising, with a noticeably increasing amount of brands eager to piggyback on the success of the YouTubers to promote products to their vast audiences. From funny cat videos to fashion hauls- this social network has it all, and once you hit your first subscribe button there's no turning back.