green tea, apple and walnut cupcakes

This week's cupcake is delicate and fruity and basically a fluffy pillow of comfort for your taste buds. Like with the green tea cupcakes I made for Mother's Day (You can find them here), I poured a tiny (but strong) amount of tea-infused water into the mixture although this time I used to cranberry instead of mango and lychee. Small chopped up pieces of apple are hidden in the sponge and walnuts were sprinkled on top before baking :-)

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meal for one

I thought I would diverge from baking this week. The reason being is my mum went off for the weekend leaving me alone with nothing but my rabbit Seb, the television and lots of revision to keep me company. Sure watching Jenson Button drive around a race track is nice and David Walliams back in my living room on a Saturday evening is super sweet but I was still predominantly on my own and I have realised that I don't want to grow up and have to live by myself because it's actually quite depressing.

This is really easy to make but I wanted to combine some of my favourite flavours into something that wasn't too time consuming. Therefore all it is is spaghetti with roasted tomatoes and pepper, carrot, and a broccoli and pine nut pesto (Topped with grated cheese and served with homemade garlic bread men) I think Italian restaurants should follow my lead and serve garlic bread men with their dishes because it definitely makes eating all the more enjoyable.

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walnut and cinnamon bread.

All is peaceful and content. Your mind's at ease, taking a hiatus from the hustle and bustle of the week gone by. You step into your kitchen and the irresistible aroma of freshly baked goods hugs your nose, its presence welcoming and delightful. Is this not a way you'd like to spend your weekends? A cup of tea with buttered toasted slices of a walnut and cinnamon loaf is definitely a way I'd like to spend my Saturday mornings and now so can you.

It was whilst my mum and I were in London's Westfield shopping center that I first encountered this. After we kept walking past a stall selling a large variety of freshly made breads, we realised we couldn't leave without buying something and it just so happened to be the walnut, apricot (I think it was) and cinnamon one that was just yelling to be brought. A few weeks later and I decided to have a go making it myself, minus the dried fruit because I forgot to add it. Even though bread is so time consuming to make, there is always something extra satisfying about knowing you've made it yourself and because of that it always tastes nicer.

For this you will need...

• 1/4 pint of milk
• 6 tablespoons of butter
• 7g (1 sachet) easy bake yeast
• 2 eggs
• 40g sugar
• 320g strong wholemeal bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• walnuts
• 40g sugar
• 2 tablespoons of cinnamon 
• a few tablespoons of butter

What to do...

• Melt the butter in a saucepan with the milk and then leave to cool slightly.
• Pour the yeast on top and then stir around before leaving it for 10 minutes
• Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl and then mix in the eggs and sugar
• Pour the mixture from the saucepan into the bowl and form it all into a ball shape
• Take out onto a floured surface and kneed for about 10 minutes
• Pour a little oil into a bowl then place your dough ball into said bowl and cover with a tea towel.
• leave for at least 2 hours.
• Once it has risen, take out of the bowl and place onto a work surface. I then added the walnuts here, kneeding them into the bread. 
• Then roll out the dough into a rectangle shape
• For your cinnamon filling, simply stir together sugar and cinnamon. You will need more than the amount given but I didn't measure it so just go with the flow ;-)
• Melt some butter in a saucepan and then spread over the dough. The sugar and cinnamon then goes on top.
• Roll the dough up tight, folding in the ends, and then (if you like) you can press some more pieces of walnut into it. In the picture below you can see that I tried to add dried fruit. Please ignore that because they only fell out when I took it out of the oven.
• And then, yep you guessed it, pop in the oven at 170 degrees for 40 minutes and your bread is COMPLETE.

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green tea cupcakes

Wishing a happy mother's day to all the wonderful mum's out there! I decided to bake my mum some treats with a selection of all her favourite flavours. It's incredibly simple, takes hardly any time and the results are delicious. So if you feel like your mum's missing an extra little something today, why not have a go at one of these? :-)

The pictures above are for the green tea cupcakes, which definitely went down the best, and their delicate taste is well suited for today's occasion. Please bare in mind that my recipe is for 12 mini ones and I divided the mixture up into three different flavours (coconut and lemon were also included) so you can always modify yours.

You will need...

• 60g butter
• 60g sugar 
• 75g self-raising flour
• 1 egg
• 1 green tea teabag
• pistachio nuts
• (dessicated coconut)
• (lemon food colouring)
• (walnuts)

What to do....

• Boil the kettle, as you would when making a cup of tea, and pour a small amount of water into a jug, cup, whatever. Then pop in your teabag (to be precise, the one I used was a mango and lychee green tea because that's my mummy's favourite) and leave it resting in the water

• Next, cream your butter and sugar then combine the egg and fold in the flour.

• Take out the teabag and then pour the tea into your mixture and give it a nice mix so it's all soaked in.

• Chop up some pistachio nuts (if you had some) as these make a pleasing topping :-D

• Spoon the mixture into cake cases and then sprinkle some of nuts on top of each.

• Bake for about 15 minutes

• If doing any of the other flavours, simply follow the same steps but for the lemon I sprinkled chopped up walnuts on top and for the coconut I used dessicated coconut.

As you can see below, I did not stop there. Nu-uh. I also make some tarts for dessert. Again this could not be easier to make. I added dessicated coconut to the (homemade, of course) pastry and baked for 15 minutes. Then, once cooled, I added a fine layer of jam to the middle and topped with blackberries and pistachio nuts. We are not sure how it tastes yet as we're saving them for after dinner but for the sake of this post and selling these recipes to you... IT WAS FANTASTIC.

Hope you have a good day/ had a good weekend. I'm off to do coursework now. Fun, fun, fun.

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Happy pancake day!

Whoever came up with the idea of pancake day and was able to turn it into a yearly event is a genius. Pancakes are great eaten whenever but a day dedicated to them? YUM. 
How awesome are these delicious jewellery pieces, which can all be found on etsy.com? I thought they suited the occasion rather well, especially the ring which literally looks good enough to eat.

Speaking of eating, how do you like your pancakes? American-style smothered in syrup? Or breakfast style with fresh fruit? I took to the sweet and savoury options because I'm both indecisive and greedy. Dinner consisted of a filling of kale and tomatoes, served with sweet potatoes while dessert was coconut pancakes oozing with ice cream and topped with chocolate and fruit. Am I making you hungry? I hope so.

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Karl et moi et veggie cuisine.

As you are probably aware if you regularly read my blog, it isn't often I post outfit photos of myself. The reason being, my clothes aren't usually pretty or stylish enough to share with you (the woes of having no money) and I am not very photogenic so always look awkward and embarrassing. However, I enjoy walking around with Karl Lagerfeld and I thought you may all finally want to see myself and him together (since the picture I took at Christmas wasn't too clear)

Photo number one was taken in the hustle and bustle of central London during the piercing winter morning sunshine, trying to keep warm in a snugly hooded coat and Burberry scarf. The latter two photos are taken in a park before a university interview I had later that day. Life is so confusing at the moment and I feel as though I'm stranded in an anxious predicament where everything is pressurised and stressful and I just want to escape from it and advance into a life where everything is perfect. There is so much I want to achieve in the future and I feel by making the wrong decision about which university I go to everything will result in disaster.

and breathe. What's one of the many answers to all life's problems? well durh, food and on Thursday my bro took me to Tibits, a vegetarian restaurant just off Regent Street assuring me that I would enjoy it. I am a fussy eater and it doesn't help that I don't eat meat. Therefore meals out usually consist of Italian, Thai or Chinese and, if they don't, it's usually pretty awkward. Tibits on the other hand involves non of the above but is indulgently delicious and perfect for people like me.

Once inside, waiting for food is not a concern (I hate waiting) as its buffet driven meaning I could choose my selection of roasted onion flakes, seeds, seasoned potato wedges, falafels and an assortment of salads including the winter sort and pumpkin almost immediately. And you pay per plateful depending on the weight so the less you have the cheaper it is. Seeing that Chai teas were on the drinks menu, I could not leave without one and was deeply satisfied by the size and frothiness on top. To make matters even better, the restaurant has a cookbook out, meaning their yummy healthy vegetarian food can be made in my kitchen! Intrigued? You can find out more here

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Let's bake! Fruit cake cupcakes

It's the most wonderful time of the year sang Andy Williams and he couldn't have been more correct. Festive food is just one of the pleasures of December and I'm not talking about Turkey and all things meaty (hi, Veggies!) It's only around now that I can snack away on a whole chocolate orange and feel guilt-free, or munch on Ferrero Rochers (especially the coconut ones. yum) because my mother refuses to buy chocolates like that any other time of the year. And, of course, fruit cake! My grandma always used to make the best fruit cake but that was a while ago and since then Lakeland's have always been a pleasant alternative. Right now though I decided to combine the delight of both Christmas cake and cupcakes with these simple-to-bake lovelies. The photos above were taken during the process of making them so I hope you have find the final result (placed next to home-made mince pies) more appetising to the eye. Scroll down for the recipe. Enjoy!! ♥

63g butter,

50g brown sugar,

1tsp grated orange,

1 egg,

250g dried mixed fruit,

50ml orange juice,

38g plain flour,

38g self-raising flour,

1/2 tsp mixed spice,

decoration: regal icing, glace cherries, dried apricot, raisins, green food colouring

• preheat the oven to 170 then begin by beating the butter, sugar and orange peel together in a bowl
• once creamy, add the egg and beat in
• pour in the dried fruit, walnuts and orange juice and then, once mixed, stir in the flour and mixed spice
• divide into cupcake cases and place in the oven for 30 minutes
• When ready and your kitchen is smelling delicious, leave to cool and begin with the decorations.
• Roll out the icing (I brought some ready made) and then cut out circles to place on top
  You can then do whatever you fancy but I attempted holly (using a cherry cut in half and food-coloured icing) and Rudolph (using a cherry cut in half, raisins and dried apricot)
• Then finally and most importantly, take a bite and enjoy the taste of Christmas

Apple and cinnamon popcorn

I came across a recipe like this while perusing the web for various homemade popcorn ideas and the instant I read it I knew it had to be made. It's a delectable combination of flavours made for the most tasteful winter snack (A bowl of this while sat watching Elf? bring on December) and it could not be more simple to prepare! Am I selling this well? Read on for the recipe...

50g of popping corn.
I used a popcorn maker and messily made mine from scratch (there's nothing more fun than trying to catch popcorn in your mouth as it flies out from the machine in all directions) but if you don't have one, you can use brought popcorn- although, it probably won't be as nice.

1tbsp ground cinnamon

25g butter

1/2 cup chopped up dried apple.

• After you've gathered together the ingredients, pour the popping corn into the machine and watch it POP
• melt the butter (I did mine on the machine at the same time)
• mix the apple and butter together in a bowl
• combine the popcorn and the cinnamon
• stir it all around a bit so everything is covered and ready to eat :-)