Hen Party Afternoon Tea!!!!

Ok, so i'm going to warn you now, this is going to be a bit of a long one! So you might want to grab a cup of tea first... So - UNBELIEVABLY exciting - one of my best friends is getting married today!! Just too exciting for words, especially as I get to be a bridesmaid! As a bridesmaid, one of the main duties is to send the bride out into married life with a bang in the form of an awesome hen party. I think me and the other bridesmaid, Sarah, managed that one!!


It was all a surprise to Gen (the bride to be) which made it super fun for us to see all of her reactions. The day started off at her house with an afternoon tea. There were cupcakes (vanilla with vanilla frosting and chocolate with a chocolate ganache. The vanilla recipe is here) with initials and hearts on...

... and mousses; one chocolate (the recipe's here, although I didn't do a ganache layer. Instead, I covered the top in simple chocolate curls - a whole lot easier!) and the one below is a strawberry, white chocolate and rhubarb layered mousse. Oh it's good. It's so so good. The kind of thing that you eat in total disbelief that you made it! I still dream about the light, creamy and smooth fruity mousse layers. Ahem, drooling slightly but moving on!

We also decorated her front room - the theme was black and pink, so we had these swags of tissue paper heart chains. Just too pretty!
I think my favorite decoration were these woven hearts. I originally thought of making bunting but I just couldn't figure out how it would work with the slightly more 'modern' feel of the pink and black theme. So when I found the tutorial for these hearts on Once Wed, I just knew they'd be perfect! It took me a while to get the paper right (plain doesn't really work - both papers ideally need to be patterned) but once you've settled on two papers, the making of these is a sinch. But they look so effective, don't you think?

We also asked all the girls who attended the hen do to write notes to the bride to be, wishing her well in married life. We're opening the notes this morning over breakfast! That's the main reason I couldn't post about the hen do sooner - Gen doesn't know about this surprise either! I'm expecting some tears over brekkie... Good tears though!

And then there were the supplies for the evening festivities - the sash...

Very easy to make with some satin, black felt and paper backed iron on webbing. Much better than the normal tacky affair!

...and the fascinator - Gen had mentioned she'd seen some girls on a hen night wearing little birdcage veils so I whipped up this cute little number!

I really should have taken some photos as I went along as it's not really from a tutorial, but there's a great one on Once Wed that this is very loosely based on. Fascinators are very easy and so effective! A fun, short project for a rainy sunday - I'm not good at long craft projects as I tend to lose focus...

I wish I could give you all the details of the evening, but what happens on a hen night stay on a hen night I'm afraid! And the photos just aren't appropriate for public viewing... ;-) Needless to say, a good time was had by all!!

The next day, after a slow start, the mother of the bride, the bride and us two bridesmaids went for a leisurely lunch and to listen to some jazz at Thackerays. The perfect end to the perfect weekend!

So good luck to G and J today!!!! I could not imagine a more perfect couple and I'm so SO lucky to have such fabulous friends. Lots of love and wedding wishes guys!

Rosy xx

SMS - Fallen Chocolate Souffle Cake

My love affair with chocolate goes back as long as I can remember. I put it down to my Belgian routes... So many of my great food memories revolve around chocolate - eating Fauchon chocolate cake on the corner of a Parisian street, discovering Pierre Marcolini chocolates in Belgium (they stock them in London as well - AMAZING!!!!!), eating the largest piece of chocolate cake ever in Gail's in Hampstead with JJ after a long walk over the Heath... Oh how I love chocolate! And so of course I was utterly delighted when this week's Sweet Melissa Sunday, chosen by Sarah from Blue Ridge Baker, turned out to be a chocolate cake. And not just a simple chocolate: a fallen chocolate souffle cake! So I had high hopes for this baby. And I was so not disappointed - the best thing about this gorgeous cakey dessert how light it is. The photos make the centre look incredibly rich but in fact its light, smooth and just delicious. I didn't use good enough quality chocolate and that's something that I would change next time. I also didn't use the orange flavourings as I totally forgot to pick up an orange, but I switched it for a tablespoon of espresso which worked a treat. I only used a tablespoon of powder, dilluted with a tablespoon of boiling water, and I'm going to up that next time as they coffee didn't really come through enough for my liking. But seriously, a definite winner. Also worth noting that it's gluten free for those who are intolerant.

Do grab yourself a cup of tea and check out the other bakers' posts!

Rosy xx

Introductions...

We went back to my folks' house this past weekend. I'll blog a bit more about that another time - a longish post and for reasons that will become clear in a week or so I don't have the time right now. But I have to introduce my favorite girl - this is Saffy...

I got her for Christmas in 1996 so she's 13 years old now, but shows no signs of slowing up! Probably because if she slowed up any more she'd be stationary anyway... Definitely has the show cat gene, although her fur is too uneven in colour to be a show cat. I think she's just gorgeous and it'll break my heart when I have to say goodbye. She lives at my parents house now as she'd be run over in a second in London.

SMS - Fresh Peach Muffins

I managed it this week! A Sweet Melissa Sundays post on a Sunday – yaaaayyy! Wonders will never cease…

So this Sunday it’s Fresh Peach Muffins and it’s hosted by Mrs G of The Givens Chronicles. Do spend some time looking at all the other awesome posts on the blogroll.

I was so excited when she chose this recipe – this is just the kind of recipe which makes me so pleased I joined SMS. It’s not something that I would normally pick to bake from a cookbook – don’t get me wrong, I love peaches but it’s the muffin part. I’ve just never had that much success with them. I guess I put it down to the UK flour (we can’t get cake flour over here. After much research, it turns out there’s something in the bleaching agents used that means it can’t be sold in the UK. Boooo!) or the inconsistencies associated with cup measurements*, but I always ended up with large, dense cupcakes rather than light, fluffy muffins with the characteristic muffin tops.

But not here! I did fear for their success at one point as the one thing you shouldn’t do with cakes is overmix and I gather that’s especially true of muffins. Of course, I did these at 9pm and so messed up the method entirely – I totally forgot to add the fruit to the flour mix, something which stops the fruit from all sinking to the bottom, and I had started filling the cases before I remembered they needed cinnamon. So the small amount of mixing went out the window and these were fairly thoroughly mixed!

While I wouldn’t recommend overmixing (and I certainly wouldn’t recommend late night baking in a rush) they turned out perfectly! A touch too much orange zest for my liking so I’m going to ease up on that next time, or maybe use lemon or use orange juice instead of milk. Just needs a slightly more subtle orange flavour in my opinion but maybe my zesting was a little too zealous! Although all my testers disagree with me on that one and thought the orange added a freshness to the muffin so I might be wrong...

The one thing that’s a unanimous yes is the addition of raspberries – something I just had to add as soon as I’d seen this week’s recipe. Is there a more perfect pairing than peaches and raspberries? I used the 1 cup of chopped peaches specified in the recipe (2 regular sized peaches, peeled** and chopped) but also threw in a cup or so of raspberries. The raspberries add a gorgeous tartness as well as pretty pink streaks to the muffins.

All in all, a definite addition to my recipe collection! Perfect for a lazy breakfast. Next week it’s fallen chocolate soufflé cake. I’m dreaming about it already…



Rosy x

*so much so that I actually never measure anything but liquid in cups. I normally go though a recipe and convert everything to grams first using this website – it’s the scientist in me! I crave precise measures! Seriously, it nearly killed me measuring out a cup of chopped peaches but there’s no conversion for that. Although now I know! 2 peaches.

**I find that the easiest way to peel a peach is using the tomato method – slice a cross in the skin on the bottom of the fruit without cutting too deep. Then cover in boiling water until you see the cuts expand down the fruit (normally a minute or so). Plunge into cold water and the skins should peel away like a dream!

Whoop Whoop it's the Weekend!

It's all very thrilling as it's a bank holiday weekend her in the UK so a lie in on Monday!!! Oh so exciting. That's what happens when you have a job - an extra day off becomes just about the most thrilling prospect in the world! I do miss the carefree days of uni sometimes...

I thought that I'd leave you with a pic from a very special post I'm working on for next week (or when I actually get around to finishing it!).

Have a lovely weekend and I hope the sun shines all weekend long!

Rosy xx

Marshmallows

I was pondering what to blog about next and I got to thinking about what appealed to me about blogs in the first place. I've always loved baking - my Mum's a fantastic baker - and whenever I was on school holidays I used to spend days in the kitchen baking up treats. I'm sure it was a nightmare for my Mum to clear up after the whim took me to make fudge! Something I still have yet to master. Anyway, when I moved into my own house, I cooked more and more. Not just baking but savory too which I'd never been that strong on before.

Wanting to develop beyond Victoria sponges and cupcakes, I wanted to find out how the pros did it. How were those patisseries created? How did they make the super thin jelly layer atop the elegant layers of mousse and sponge? How was the sponge made that thin without drying out? What made the perfect chocolate chip cookie? In search of answers, I researched cookery courses but there was a dramatic gap between the courses teaching you how to bake a sponge or make a tart and the year long diplomas that covered the trickier techniques. But nothing in between! And then I discovered blogs. Professional pastry chefs describing how to recreate some of those signature dishes in a domestic kitchen! Admittedly, sometimes the instructions are all too brief to fully cover the method for achieving the professional look (I'm guessing some things need to remain a secret!) but they get you a good 90% of the way there. So far, I've been really chuffed with some of the things I've produced. Yes, I can't yet master macarons but I blame that on my rubbish oven and lack of a decent food processor! But some things, such as mousses, have been a great success. Through such experimenting, it's also possible to identify what the basis of the recipe is and how it can be modified to your own ends, then allowing ultimate freedom to experiment.

One of the things I've longed to make for a while now (since investing in a sugar thermometer) is marshmallows. When homemade, they're a far cry from the synthetic foam available in the shops. They're more like fluffy, sugary vanilla clouds. Totally addictive!

So here's how to make them. They really are very straightforward - people often get scared when it comes to boiling sugar but use a thermometer and it's easy as anything. Have a go and see! So many things can be created from a base of sugar syrup. Now that I've gotten the hang of the basic recipe, my mind is whirring with possible flavour combinations! Marshmallows

320g sugar
12g glucose syrup
130g water

40g powdered gelatine (3 sachets)
130g water

45g egg whites (1 large egg’s white)
pinch of cream of tartar
20g sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence

Line a square tin (I used a 10” square loose bottom tin) with clingfilm and lightly grease with flavourless oil (such as vegetable or sunflower).

In a small saucepan with tall sides, combine the sugar, glucose syrup and 130g water. Cook to 126C.

In the meantime, whisk the powdered gelatine and 130 grams of water together and let the gelatine bloom.

Place the egg whites and the cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric mixer and start whipping in medium speed. When the egg whites are almost fully whipped, add the 20 grams sugar and continue whipping in slow to medium speed depending on how far the sugar syrup is from reaching the desired temperature.

When the sugar syrup reaches 126C, turn the heat off and add the bloomed gelatine (will be a solid mass) to the saucepan. It will bubble up so be careful. Whisk until the gelatine dissolves completely in the syrup.

Add the syrup with the gelatine into the whipped egg whites while whipping in low speed. When all has been added, turn the speed up to high and let it whip until ribbons start to form. Add any flavouring and/or food colouring at this point. We don't want the marshmallow to cool completely because we want to be able to spread it. Remove from mixer and pour into the lined tin. Let it set at room temperature (a couple of hours).

Mix together half icing sugar and half cornflour (about 50-75g of each is sufficient). Sift onto a chopping board and turn out the marshmallows onto the board. Peel off the clingfilm and sift over more icing sugar/cornflour mix. Cut into squares, or whatever shape floats your boat, using a sharp, wet knife and toss in the icing sugar/cornflour mix.

These will keep well in a ziplock bag and freeze beautifully.

Rosy x

Sweet Melissa Sundays - Mom's Banana Apple Bread

Ok, so this is technically a Sunday post but due to a rather busy weekend I only got around to making the recipe last night - I shall do better next weekend, I promise!!

This is my first SMS posts which is rather exciting! And I'm really pleased to be involved in such a fun group. The idea is that a group of food bloggers all bake the same recipe (modifications allowed) from the 'Sweet Melissa' recipe book. This Sunday Joy from Hot Oven, Warm Heart chose Mom's Banana Apple Bread. Check out the other bakers on the blogroll!

I'm a huge fan of banana bread - not a huge fan of bananas, but when turned into a tea loaf they create a luscious, sweet, dense cakey bread. This was no exception. Not being in possession of a large loaf tin, I made a small loaf and 4 little cakes with my super cute individual springform cake tins. The loaf was exactly as per the recipe. In two of the small cakes, I threw in some sultanas...In the last two, I placed a layer of sliced caramelised apples on the bottom. Just for kicks. I'm that kinda gal. That, and who doesn't like a layer of caramelised apples?

I did love the plain loaf but felt I'd gone to so much extra effort caramelising the apples that leaving it plain was just a waste, so on the little plain cakes, I iced them with a simple cream cheese icing.

And that was good! Of all the modifications I messed around with, the addition of the icing was the best. It's actually the same icing I use on my go-to banana bread and so I guess it's no surprise that it worked like a charm on this one. And there's the only issue I have with this recipe - it's just too fiddly.

Banana breads for me are a quick bake - something I can whip up with some left over almost dead bananas, a cake that keeps well and goes perfectly with a cup of tea. This recipe called for dicing and caramelising apples which, whilst helping the texture, added a chunk of time onto the prep. So yes, this is undoubtedly delicious and I'm thinking of incorporating the spice mix into my banana bread recipe, but I'm still on the fence as to whether the frying of the apples is necessary... I might try it again but not actually cook the apples first - I'll keep you posted!

Rosy x