I have found THE most amazing sweets, there from japan and are called Puccho and I think i'm going to have to set up some kind of "Pucchos Anonymous"as these are addictive. I found them on the cutest website called ironically, Tofu Cute. 

They are one of the nicest, oddest sweets I have ever eaten. There kinda creamy on the outside then inside are these little jewels of chewy fruit flavouring in the centre. I bought the cherry, grape, blueberry and peach ones. I thought if I buy all the flavours then I'm getting the best knowledge of the product...haha, I know, I didn't believe it either... We'll after much chewy, munchy, fudgy analysis I've decided that I like the grape ones best, the man, he likes the blueberry ones. I urge you to go to Tofu Cute and buy some, stat. To be fair, I just urge you to go to tofu cute, they have some really great kawaii bits. I especially love the Rilakkuma Bento box and the Tofu phone holder.

visit tofu cute here...

xoxox

Raspberry Clouds

Well, if you have been reading my blog then you know about my lemonade cake challenge. My offering is a raspberry&cloudy lemonade cupcake. I've named it Raspberry Cloud not just because of the fact that it has raspberries and cloudy lemonade in it, its because the batter is so light and fluffy its like having a lump of cloud in your mouth. Sooo yum! I'm so pleased with how they turned out and they are just the ultimate girly looking cupcake, so much so that I just had to stick a My Little Pony in the pictures; just had to...

makes approximately 26 cupcakes:

for the sponge:

• 2 cups of cloudy lemonade
• 3 cups of plain flour
• 1tbsp baking powder
• 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/3 tsp salt
• zest of 1 lemon
• 100g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 cup of fresh raspberries
• 1 1/4 cups of caster sugar
• 3 medium eggs
• 3/4 cup of butter milk

for the frosting

• 500g of cream cheese
• 3 tbsp of butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups of icing sugar
• zest of 1 lemon

optional extras

• lemon rings
• raspberries to decorate

1. first off, get you oven warming to 190'c and then line your cupcake tray with cupcake cases
2. next you need to start reducing your cloudy lemonade. put 2 cups of lemonade in a small pan and heat it till its bubbling. you want to keep it bubbling away slowly for around 20 minutes until it has more or less reduced by half and looks the tiniest bit thicker, it seams to ever so slightly coat the back of a spoon. when the syrups reduced, grate in the zest of 1 lemon and pop it to a side to cool off
3. while your lemonade is reducing you can be making your batter. take your butter and sugar and cream them together
4. sift together (twice please!) the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt
5. in a separate bowl or jug whisk together your eggs and milk and then your cooled lemonade syrup
6. in thirds, combine your egg mix and your dry flour mix into the butter. doing it in little stages helps to stop the milk and butter and eggs splitting
7. now take your cup of raspberries and pass them through a sieve into your batter. the easiest way of doing this i think, is to press them into the sieve with a spatular and this catches all the seeds in the sieve 
8. give the batter another mix to combine the raspberry puree and divide it between your cupcake cases. bake them for between 18-22 minutes depending on your oven. when they are finished baking, remove them from the oven and leave in the pan to cool for 10 minutes, after this remove them to a wire rack to cool fully
9. to make the frosting, cream your butter till it is as soft as you can get it and then mix this into your cream cheese and lemonade
10. sift in your icing sugar (at low level to reduce a mass cloud of icing dust) and then zest in your lemon. give it all a good stir together and you have your frosting
11. when the cupcakes are completely cool, serve them up with a dollop of frosting and a decorative little raspberry to top it off

xoxox

later on that night:

Ooohh my days!! I wasn't particularly optimistic about my lemonade cupcakes and was definitely  thinking that they were going to err towards the side of brick in a case BUT they are amazing. They are the lightest cakes I have ever made... here's a little pic to bide you over till I can type it up tomorrow...

xoxox

Yesterday I started up a twitter account. I thought it may be a good way to get some exposure and then someone would most definitely write to me saying "we want to give you a cookbook deal. Now, go forth and bake buns..." and whilst it hasn't happened yet, Im sure it is an impending message which I shall receive any day now. Already I have reached the giddy heights of 8, yes thats right, count them, 8!! followers. It has however, in this short amount of time produced me a task. Myself and one of my followers, the very lovely @KissedBySweets have decided to come up with "The Great Lemonade Cupcake Challenge". Yes it is as simple as it sounds and if your reading this I'm encouraging you to join in! Basically, we have to make a cupcake with a Lemonade batter. I have heard mixed reviews on the whole lemonade cake, either that they are moist and delicious or can be used in substitute as house bricks or hocky pucks. The man is on route to the shop now to purchase my ingredients so I will let you know how it goes! Cross your fingers (and eyes please) for me! 

xoxox

just because this is very, very excellent...

you can't see the dress properly in this picture but trust me it is beyond excellent! I will get some more shots of her in it, though i do have to say I think I love her a little more in it then she does.

xoxox

The Selleck Effect...

I think, after careful analysis, that it was my absolute unadulterated, unequivocal and undying love of Tom Selleck that did it. After watching him in Three Men and a Little Lady I was hooked and vowed that this man was the man for me. Of course I was about five at the time; I lived in England, he lived in America. He liked cigars and fine bourbons and I liked a good cold glass of milk and a bourbon biscuit, but non the less these were trifling matters and we would surely marry soon. It was this man that has tainted me for life. It is this man that has made me "one of them". It is this man who made me..... a moustache lover. 

I cannot look at a man now and not be instantly transported back to around 1991 when my eyes first grappled with the Selleck's manly features. So in a kind of tribute, but mainly, just cos i blummin' well love them; I've had a shop for all things moustache.

all items can be found at Etsy

xoxox

espresso cupcakes

With my tea and milk cakes going swimmingly I thought I would tackle something were all a bit more familiar with. I like coffee cake as much as the next person but if I'm honest I can't eat a great big cakey wodge of it. So a cupcake is the perfect portion for me, plus I got to use my amazing tea cup and saucer moulds again. If I'm going to do a coffee cake, I want full on punchy flavour, hence my use of espresso. I used my batter from the Tea&Milk cupcakes and adapted it a little. Since it had produced such a wonderful batter I thought it gave me a little licence to play with it and see what else I could get for my moneys worth. 

For the cupcakes:

• 200ml whole milk
• 20g instant espresso powder
• 80g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 280g caster sugar
• 240g plain flour
• 3 tbsp creme fraiche
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 large, free range or organic eggs
• 2 tsp good quality almond extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

for the frosting:

• 50ml whole milk
• 15g instant espresso powder
• 500g of icing sugar
• 160g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 chocolate covered espresso beans per cupcake

1. warm the oven to 190'c and line the muffin tin with cases and set them aside
2. warm the milk, I do this gently in a microwave at half power. it takes around 2 1/2 minutes in mine but check every 30 seconds or so. you want it hot, but not boiling. when the milks warm, dissolve the espresso powder into it. put this to one side to allow to cool
3. cream together your butter and sugar to a nice and fluffy consistency
4. in another bowl, combine all your dry ingredients, the flour, baking powder and salt by sifting them twice and then set them aside
5. into your now cooled milk, whisk your eggs, vanilla and almond extracts
6. in stages combine your milk mixture and your dry flour mixture into the butter. do each a third at a time, it gives you the best combined mixture and avoids and splitting butter/eggs situation
7. when your batter is fully combined, add the creme fraiche and give it another stir
8. fill your cases around 2/3 rds of the way up and stick it in the oven for 18-22 minutes depending on your oven and remove when cooked. leave them in the pan for 5 minutes to cool slightly before moving to a wire rack to cool thoroughly
9. to make the frosting, as you did before, warm the milk and add the espresso powder and vanilla extract to it. make sure that the milk is cold before you add it to the butter or you will just end up with a sloppy mess- no frosting = sadface...
10. cream the butter until very light and very fluffy then add the icing sugar and milky espresso a little at a time to create a smooth and creamy frosting
11. when the cakes are fully cooled, ice them and decorate the tops with a few chocolate covered espresso beans 

xoxox