Wishlist Wednesday #4

Origins High-Potency Night-A-Mins (Oil free): I've already harped on about my love for Origins on this blog but that won't stop me from doing it again! There are a lot of products I want to try from this brand and this one is quite high on my list. I don't actually own a night cream (serious beauty sin?) and would like to add one into my routine. I loved the look of this one as it is oil-free and is meant to aid radiance, something that my skin could benefit from.

Women's Institute Complete Christmas: Whenever I do these posts I always seem to slip a random anomaly into them! This isn't that random though because I've heard the Women's Institute have some great cooking secrets and tips and I love baking and Christmas so all 3 in one book is something I would like :) This would be great to purchase before Christmas so in the festive period I can cook up a storm!

REN ClearCalm 3 Clarity Restoring Mask: Ren have had such a lot of praise recently and are a brand I am keen to delve into. At the moment I am sampling a lot of different masks to find the best ones for me and my skin 'issues' and this looks like a great one to try. It tackles excess sebum so would help with oiliness, the build up of dead skin cells which would aid radiance and also tackles blemish-causing bacteria to help with breakouts. All in all it sounds like a dream and would love to try it!

Rouge Dior Lipstick in shades 435, 638 & 757: Who am I kidding, I want them all! But if I had to choose these would be my favourites. I spent a good while dragging Matt around the beauty counters and swatching away which I think is a much better way to gague the true colour of products like this as the photos never capture exactly the same shade as in person. I'm obsessed with lipsticks/lip products at the moment and would love a few more high end shades to add to my growing collection.

The Body Shop Seaweed Mattifying Cream: I recently just purchased the scrub in this range but have also heard good things about other products from it too. This would be a great day cream to wear to control excess sebum that I suffer from. Since browsing in their new shop in the Bullring the other day I have fallen in love with the Body Shop again and have added lots more to my wishlist!

That's it for this week's Wishlist, what do you think? Have you tried any of these products before? xxx

Oreo Overload Cupcakes

Another month, another birthday! This time it was one of my best friend's 20th. Every time a birthday comes around it has become somewhat of a tradition that I make a little something to take along to the party. For this occasion I decided on something I'd never made before and was a bit indulgent and settled on Oreo cupcakes. Oreos + chocolate + cake = delish! I will apologise in advance for the quality of the 'after' pictures once they were made, as I only had the opportunity to try and picture them at the party! I also normally always include a picture of all the ingredients at the beginning but it seems to have got lost somewhere :\

Ingredients

* 150g margarine 

* 150g caster sugar

* 3 eggs

* 125g of self-raising flour

* 25g of cocoa powder

* 3 packs of Oreos

* 1 tub of Betty Crocker chocolate fudge icing (I don't normally like using this and like to make my own icing but my dad bought it on offer and so had to use it up!)

Method

* Preheat the oven to 190 degrees and line your cupcake tins with paper cases. Place an Oreo at the bottom of each case.

* Cream together the caster sugar and margarine until pale and fluffy.

* Beat in the eggs one at a time until fully mixed. Be careful not to over do it and curdle the mixture.

* Sieve the cocoa powder and self-raising flour together. Fold into the mixture a bit at a time.

* Using a food processor blitz a packet of Oreos until fine and crumbly. Fold all of it into the mixture until evenly distributed.

* Spoon even amounts of the mixture over each cookie and then place in the oven for 15-20 minutes until springy to the touch.

* Once cooked, leave to cool for a few minutes in the tin then transfer to a wire cooling rack until completely cooled.

* Once cooled you can now ice them. You can do this by pipeing or with a palette knife, your choice :) top the icing with another Oreo.

 Can you spot the ginger bread stars from my recent recipe post?

And here is some pictures of my friends tucking in!

These went down a treat with my family too, so would be great to make for chocolate lovers or for something a bit more special than chocolate fairy cakes. Let me know if you make them and remember to tweet me a picture! @LilMisLifestyle xxx

Gingerbread Stars

Gingerbread Stars might be considered more suitable for the Winter season around Christmas, but we didn't have any biscuits to have with a cuppa and I fancied making something a little different that I had never made before. These are super easy to make and would be great to make with kids too as they are fun to make and decorate. You can cut them into any shape you like such as men or hearts but I chose stars. 

Ingredients

* 350g plain flour + extra for rolling out.

* 1tsp bicarbonate of soda.

* 2 tsp ground ginger.

*1 tsp ground cinnamon.

* 125g butter/margarine.

* 175g light soft brown sugar.

* 1 free range egg.

* 4 tbsp golden syrup.

To decorate:

* 1 pack of ready to roll royal icing.

* Glitter, balls, writing icing - anything you want!

Method

* Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon into a bowl so they are evenly mixed.

* Add the butter and blend in a food processor (I used a K beater) until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.

* Mix in the sugar.

* Beat the egg and golden syrup together with a fork then add to the mixture. Pulse the food processor until the mixture binds together then turn out and gently knead until smooth.

Mmm yummy...

*Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for around 15 minutes.

* Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line two baking trays with greaseproof paper.

* Lightly flour your surface then roll out the dough so it is about half a cm thick. Use which ever cutters you have chosen to cut out your gingerbread shapes. Place them on the baking tray, remembering to leave spaces between them as they will spread a little during baking.

* Bake for 12-15 minutes until lightly golden. Leave on the tray to cool for a while then transfer onto a wire rack to complete cooling.

* To decorate you will probably only need half of your pack of icing. Sprinkle your surface with icing sugar then roll out the icing to the thickness you would like.

* Cut out the icing with the same cutters you used for the ginger bread. 

* Wet the back of the icing with a little water using a pastry brush then transfer onto the gingerbread.

* Decorate with any other things you would like.

As always, if you chose to have a go at this recipe yourself let me know how it goes and tweet me a picture! @LilMisLifestyle xxx

Based on this recipe.

Blueberry & Lime Muffins

Summer seems to have finally arrived in England yay! Therefore, when my mum had some blueberries she needed using up I suggested whipping up some classic blueberry muffins with a summer twist to them. The recipe I will be sharing with you today is based on various recipes I found online. The hint of lime gives a different refreshing spin to these muffins and makes them perfect for warmer days. Next time I try this recipe I would like to add a bit more mixture to each case to make them giant muffins which rise a little over the cases. This recipe makes 10 muffins.

Ingredients

* 110g self raising flour

* 110g margarine 

* 65g caster sugar

* 2 eggs

* Punnet of fresh blueberries (or equivalent of frozen)

* Zest of 2 limes

* 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
* Brown sugar 

Method

* Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and either grease your muffin tin or line with paper cases.

* Zest the limes, being careful to not zest off the white pith. Add the zest to the sugar and rub together with clean fingers until it starts to resemble the texture of wet sand.

* Cream together the zesty sugar and margarine until pale. 

* Slowly add the eggs, beating after each addition.

* Mix together the flour and cinnamon then beat in slowly to the mixture.

* Stir in the blueberries until evenly distributed through the mixture.

* Using a spoon, carefully distribute the mixture into your tin or cases in equal amounts and top with a sprinkling of brown sugar.

* Cook for 20 minutes until risen and golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes to keep their shape, then transfer to a wire rack.

My family and I ate them fresh out the oven as cakes and muffins are always so yummy when just baked and warm. As always, let me know how you get on if you try this recipe and remember to tweet me a picture! @LilMisLifestyle xxx

Two recipes used found here and here.

Simple Breakfast Muffins

This may not seem like a proper 'recipe' as such, but it is a delicious and simple combination of a few ingredients which make a great alternative to your average bowl of cereal. It looks like a simple breakfast bap but not many people have tasted the wonder of the English breakfast muffin combined with lovely gooey egg. Adding some rocket also adds a special something, to jazz up a normal bacon butty. This recipe serves 2 and you can add whatever your favourite sauce is.

Ingredients

* 2 rashers of your bacon of choice

* 2 eggs

* 2 handfuls of rocket

* 2 English breakfast muffins

* A little oil for cooking

* Aromat to season

Method

* Heat the oil in the pan and fry the bacon until crispy. When done, take out the pan and rest on some kitchen roll to soak up any excess fat. 

* Cut the muffin in half and toast, then fry the eggs in the left over oil and bacon fat.

* Butter the muffin resist urge to quote mean girls and layer with the bacon first, then the egg, sprinkle with aromat, and then add the rocket.

* Spread the sauce of your choice on the other half of the muffin and place on top of the ensemble.

And that's it - I told you it was easy! I would suggest eating this in bed with a nice cup of tea :) Let me know what you think and tweet me a picture of yours! @LilMisLifestyle xxx

Chocolate Nemesis

I have wanted to make this recipe for a really long time now and finally got the opportunity yesterday. It comes from a  book by the owner of the renowned chocolate shop Rococo so I knew it would be a good quality recipe and totally scrummy. I am a big fan of this book as both the pictures and the recipes are divine, although many of the recipes seem to cater for a higher standard of cooking, so if you are a bit of a beginner I wouldn't recommend it. Some of the best things about this recipe is that it is one of the simple ones and requires no flour so it is quite light, although it is very rich, so only a little bit at a time is recommended - preferably with creme fraiche, or my personal favourite, clotted cream :) Before we go onto the method, just a quick note - I didn't have the right size tin (note to self: go to john lewis!!) so had to split it into two different tins which I wouldn't recommend and so didn't turn out as thick in height as I would like. It did however still taste yummy!

Ingredients

* 100g Icing sugar

* 250g Real dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids), roughly chopped

* 150g butter, cut into small pieces + more for greasing

* 4 eggs, separated

* pinch of salt

*1 tsp cider vinegar

* creme fraiche/clotted cream to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/Gas 4 and line the base of a 20cm round cake tin (not springform) about 5cm deep with greaseproof paper, then butter that.

Put 2/3 of the sugar in a heavy-based pan with 5 table spoons of water. Heat until the sugar has completely dissolved then, over a low heat, add the chocolate and stir until it has melted. Finally, stir in the butter. You should have a thick, glossy mixture. Remove from the heat.

Heating the sugar

 
 
 

Whisk the remaining sugar with the egg white and salt and vinegar (this helps to thicken them) until they have reached meringue/soft peak consistency. Beat the egg yolks into the lukewarm chocolate mixture and add this mixture to your meringue bit by bit, folding it in gently to not let any air out.

Bring a large kettleful of water to the boil and pour in a baking tray large enough to hold the cake tin to make a bain-marie. Pour the batter into the prepared mould and place it in the baking tray filled with hot water. It is important that the water comes up to the rim of the tin.

Bake for 30 mins, or until set, which you can test with your hand or with a skewer - it should be set like a firm jelly.

Allow to cool out of the water bath before unmoulding. Serve cold with whatever you fancy! Let me know if you tried the recipe and how it went - you could even tweet me a picture of yours! @LilMisLifestyle xxx

White Chocolate Valentine's Gateau

Hey guys,

Today I baked a cake for one of my best friend's leaving party to celebrate her going away to Australia to study abroad for a year :'( Because I knew this was a special occasion, I wanted to make something I hadn't baked before but also something that wasn't too difficult or time consuming, as I had less than a day to make it! I looked through a few of my recipe books and decided on a White Chocolate Valentine's Gateau from a  book I received in my Christmas stocking a few years ago called 1 Mix, 50 Cakes because its more special than a bog standard round vanilla sponge. Of course I had to decorate it with edible glitter as I'm glitter obsessed, which made it even more special! You can buy the book here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/50-Mix-Cakes-Love-Food/dp/1407564374/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339234095&sr=1-1

I made a few changes to the recipe by adding double the amount of white grated chocolate to the mixture to make it extra chocolatey, used stork margarine instead of unsalted butter and substituted the plain white flour and baking powder for the same amount of self-raising. A good tip is also to take your fridge ingredients out an hour or so before i.e. eggs, butter etc so they can warm up to room temperature.

Ingredients
* oil or butter for greasing
* 175g/6 oz plain white flour
* 1 tbsp baking powder
* 175g/ 6oz unsalted butter, softened
* 175g/ 6oz caster sugar
* 3 eggs, beaten
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 55g/2 oz white chocolate, grated
* 2 tbsp white rum (optional) I used:

Frosting
* 200g/7 oz white chocolate, broken into pieces
* 2 tbsp milk
* 200ml/7 fl oz double cream

Method
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees/325 Fahrenheit/Gas Mark 3. I would recommend using the fan setting on the oven to circulate the warm air and ensure the cake is cooked evenly.

The book says to sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl (or just the self-raising) and add the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth, then stir in the grated chocolate. I did this in a different order as my method for this differs. First I cream the margerine (butter) and sugar together until pale.

Then I beat the eggs in one at a time.

Lastly, I stir in the flour a bit at a time with the vanilla extract. This way you will make sure all the ingredients are well combined and have a light, fluffy cake.

The little lumps are pieces of chocolate :)

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the surface with a palette knife or back of your spoon. I used a silicone mold from John Lewis, which you can buy here.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45-55 mins, or until risen, firm and golden brown. Mine was done in 45 mins, so make sure you check through the oven door (don't open the door too many times as the cake will deflate). You can also put a skewer through the middle - if it comes out clean the cake is ready and it should feel springy to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin for around 10 mins so that it doesn't lose it's shape and break, then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling. You can take this time to lick your utensils before washing them up like I did :p

Meanwhile for the frosting, melt the chocolate with the milk in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Remove from the heat and stir until smooth, then leave for 10 minutes.

Whip the cream until it holds soft peaks, then fold into the cooled chocolate mixture. It is essential that you let the chocolate cool enough otherwise it will become sloppy and maybe curdle. If your mixture isn't the texture you would like, try adding more whipped cream or leaving it to chill in the fridge to stiffen up.

Sprinkle the cake with the rum, if using then spread the frosting over the top and sides of the cake with a palette knife. Leave plain or decorate as you wish.

I got some really good feedback and everyone had seconds - success!!

Me at the party with my (partly squished) cake!

Loving her cake!

Let me know what you think of the recipe and how your cake turns out! xxx

P.S. my friend has just set up her very own fashion website - check it out! www.prettylittlewardrobe.com