Author: Katie

October 12, 2015

If you go down to the woods today…

This weekend saw the baby shower of a rather lovely lady by the name of Anna. You may (but probably won’t) remember us celebrating Anna’s hen party a while back, well now she’s about to pop a sprog would you believe?

Anna is a rather large fan of gnomes. Yeah, that was my reaction too, but you learn to embrace it after a while…she’s very endearing that way. Well, our friend Taylor (party planner extraordinaire and all round kindred spirit when it comes to carrying things out to obsessive levels of detail) decided to throw Anna a woodland themed shower. I know right? Cute. I totally took my camera and promptly forgot to take photos of all the lovely things; gingerbread fawns, woodland creature bunting, sausage roll snails and toadstool cupcakes to name just a few.

Anyway, other than baking some little flowerpot grassy gnome type cupcakes, I decided my contribution would be to carry the theme into my present and make a small selection of woodland characters to entertain baby upon her arrival into the world.

So here’s how to make your very own arsenal of woodland animal finger puppets, with a downloadable template of course.

You will need

Felt (for the patterns I have provided you need brown, beige, white, black, grey and orange)

Thread in corresponding colours

A needle

This free downloadable template

Step one

This is entirely optional. If you want to draw your own characters (or expand on the set I’ve provided) You will need to draw out a few designs. I used a deodorant can lid and a ruler to keep basic shape of my characters consistent.

If you want to cheat you could just trace the shape off the printable and add your own features to it.

Step two

Cut out all the shapes in the relevant coloured felt.

Step three

Sew on the faces, I just used simple stitches overlapping them for the noses and just a little line of backstitch for the mouths. No fancy embroidery techniques here.

Step four

Edge all the remaining features/bits of fur with blanket stitch (see below). You will notice that for the fox I sewed the tummy fur straight onto the puppet but left the cheeks separate to glue on later. With the badger I sewed his cheeks straight on because they followed the shape of his face and I just found it less logistically challenging somehow.

Step five

Blanket stitch the back and front of the puppet together. Utilising the memory bank of primary school sewing club for me, thanks Mrs Gothard, nailed it.

You basically need to put the needle through the felt at the height you want your stitching, and as you pull the thread through catch the loop so that it is held at the top. I’m sure the youtube can furnish you with a useful tutorial if my description and photos fail to do the job.

You need to include the ears as you go round, I just came back through at the top of the first stitch so my loop was on top of the felt to keep the effect going. I know, I wouldn’t understand that explanation either.

Step six

By this point if you’ve managed to follow any of my hapless instructions you will have yourself a blind little fox. On second thoughts, maybe we should have just started with the hedgehog.

Step seven

It’s ok to cheat. Just glue his eyes and fluff on, pop him over a fork or something just to make sure the glue doesn’t soak through and seal him shut.

Step eight

Make your fox some furry little friends.

October 5, 2015

Save it for a drizzly day

This is a recipe for a cake you might have spotted in my wrap up post for Vicky’s hen party. I made some vague comment about getting round to it at some point. So here it is.

Lemon drizzle is one of my go-to bakes when I’m in a rush or don’t have the energy to figure out something new. It’s super handy because often you will have the ingredients and just need to grab a lemon. It’s always a crowd pleaser and really quick and easy to make and transport. I prefer to make it in a brownie tin as a tray bake, I’m of the opinion that it bakes quicker and serves more people this way. Plus I often find loaf cakes get a bit of a dry crust while you’re waiting for the inside to cook. No such problem here.

I present to you the lemon drizzle tray bake.

Disclaimer: I usually use ounces to weigh this one out because I was brought up on ounces and gas marks (thanks mum), I’m still getting my head round grams and celsius since flying the nest. The UK will forever be trapped between the imperial and metric systems…

You will need

For the cake:

6 oz/170g self raising flour

6 oz/170g softened butter or margarine (I use stork)

6 oz/170g caster sugar (golden if you have it)

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 lemon zest

For the drizzle:

3 oz/85g caster sugar

The juice of your zested lemon

(Makes 15)

Step one

I like to sort my lemon out first and get it out of the way.

Grate the lemon on a fine setting on your grater. Place in the microwave for 10-15 seconds and roll around on the surface to release the juices. Cut in half and use a fork or a juicing thingy to squeeze as much juice as you can out of each bit.

Set the zest and juice aside.

Step two

Beat together the margarine and sugar. I like to use an electric hand whisk for most cakes to keep them light and fluffy, but you can do this with a wooden spoon too.

Add the vanilla and eggs and beat again until combined. Don’t worry if the mix looks a bit split/curdled, the flour will bring it back together.

Step three

Add the flour and lemon zest and stir with your whisk (leaving the power off). Once the flour is about half combined you can turn your whisk back on to finish it. If you turn the whisk on to start with you will be wearing more flour than is in the bowl.

Step four

Grease and line a brownie tray. Drop the mixture into the tin and spread out gently with a wooden spoon or silicon spatula until even.

Place in a pre heated oven on gas mark 4/350F/180C for 30-35 minutes. It will go a light golden brown on top and a sharp knife poked into the middle will remove clean when it is cooked.

Step five

About 5 minutes before your cake is cooked, mix the 3oz/85g caster sugar with the lemon juice you squeezed earlier. You will probably need to give it another quick little stir before you pour it.

Step six

As soon as you take the cake out of the oven pour the drizzle evenly over the surface of the cake. Sometimes I take a spoon to the corners to collect the bits that have run down and redistribute them elsewhere.

Allow to cool and cut into squares.

September 28, 2015

Choco-mania

It has been too long without a post featuring chocolate, hasn’t it? That question was rhetorical.

In case you hadn’t noticed from perusing this blog, I’m a pretty big fan of the stuff. If you bake these then you will be too, or a bigger fan at the end of it. They are gooey, rich and wonderful even if I do say so myself.

Welcome, friend, to death by chocolate brownie meringue cupcakes.

You will need

For the brownie:

250g/9 oz unsalted butter

250g/9 oz soft brown sugar (either light or dark is fine)

200g/7 oz dark chocolate

150g/5.5 oz milk chocolate

85g/3 oz plain flour

3 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

For the meringue

300g/10.5 oz golden caster sugar

100g/3.5 oz cocoa powder

6 egg whites

1-2 tsp cornflour

(makes 16-18)

Step one

Place a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water and add the dark and milk chocolate along with the butter. Remove from the heat once fully melted.

Step two

Whisk the eggs with an electric whisk, adding the sugar as you go in thirds. Keep whisking until the mix starts to thicken and goes glossy. Thin ribbons of the mixture should remain visible on the surface when you remove the beaters.

Step three

Pour the melted chocolate mixture into the eggs and stir gently with a metal spoon or a spatula until well combined.

Step three and a half

A careful reader spotted I missed out this step, thanks Gill!

Gently fold in the flour and baking powder.

Step four

Using a jug, fill the cupcake cases between two-thirds and three quarters full.

Bake in a preheated oven on 180C/gas mark 4/350F for 25 minutes.

Step five

With about 5 minutes to go on the baking of the brownies, make the meringues.

Add a third of the golden caster sugar to the egg whites and start to whisk them until they are stiff. Basically, when you can turn the bowl upside down without anything falling out you’re good to go.

Step six

Beat in the rest of the sugar for another minute or two.

Step seven

Fold in the cocoa and cornflour. Do this as if you are stirring a bowl of kittens. Try not to hurt your meringue.

Step eight

Remove the brownies from the oven. Don’t worry, they sink, one day I might bother to adjust the recipe accordingly to stop that happening but they are so tasty the way they are.

Scoop the meringue onto the cupcakes, you can pipe them if you’re feeling fancy/getting to the piping nozzles wouldn’t involve the contents of your cupboard falling on your head.

Step nine

Return to the oven and turn it down to 140C/gas mark 1/275F. Bake for a further 30 minutes. Then turn the oven off but leave the door closed and allow to cool inside the oven for as long as you can resist them.

Step ten

You probably bought your chocolate in 200g bars, meaning that if you haven’t scoffed it already you will have 50g milk chocolate left over. Melt this down and drizzle on top.

If you’ve eaten it already, there’s no shame in that, and your cakes will still be delicious.

I thought the gif this week should benefit me. So for the sake of the blog I just HAD to eat one.

See you next week pals.

September 21, 2015

Crisp autumn pie

I realise it’s been a while since I did something quite fancy, and while people seem to prefer to make the easy ones, there’s definitely some love for the posts with lots of steps too.

With the return of my favourite season (I’m really fair-skinned, so shoot me if I don’t adore summer like the rest of you) and a little dinner party this weekend, I figured the only way to round off my housemate’s uh-mazing main course was with a little homage to the apple.

Without further ado here’s a recipe for a rather yummy apple and frangipane tart.

You will need

For the pastry:

300g/10.5 oz plain flour

170g/6 oz unsalted butter

30g/1 oz golden caster sugar

50ml/1.75 fl oz milk

1 egg yolk

A pinch of salt

For the frangipane:

70g/2.5 oz ground almonds

60g/2 oz unsalted butter

50g/1.75 oz golden caster sugar

40g/1.5 oz plain flour

1 egg

1-2 tsp almond extract (optional, but apple will likely overpower the almond a bit)

For the apple filling:

3 bramley cooking apples

100g/3.5 oz golden caster sugar

10g/0.5 oz unsalted butter

50ml/1.75 oz water

2-3 tbsp clear honey

For the topping:

4-5 braeburn apples (probably any eating apples would work)

2-3 tbsp apricot jam (for the glaze)

(My dish was 25cm and for quiches/pies, but there would be enough pastry and filling to do a slightly larger, shallower tart, perhaps up to 29cm or so).

Step one

Start by making the sweet shortcrust pastry.

First cube the butter and pop that into the plain flour. Using your fingers, rub the butter and flour together to get a crumb-like texture.

The colder your butter the better and the smaller the crumbs you will be able to get. My house is waaaaaaarm, so as you can see, mine was a tad lumpy at this stage.

If you have a food processor I am led to believe you can do this bit in that very quickly and easily. But we can’t all be posh like you so (clean) fingers are just fine too.

Step two

Stir in the caster sugar.

Step three

Make a well in the middle for the milk and egg yolk. Fairly sure you can guess what’s next…put yolk and milk in said well.

Bring the mixture together with your hands. It may be a bit crumbly so you can tip it onto a worktop and knead it together slightly to combine, but be careful not to over work it.

Wrap it in clingfilm and put it in the fridge for at least an hour.

Step four

Frangipane making time. Using an electric whisk (or a wooden spoon and some strong arms) beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy.

Step five

Add the egg and beat again with the whisk.

Stir in the almonds, almond extract and the flour.

Voila. Set aside.

Step six

Prepare the stewed apple filling. Being by peeling and chopping the three bramley apples. If you have a bit of lemon juice handy a quick squeeze will keep the chopped ones pale while you see to the rest.

Step seven

Put the chopped apples in a saucepan with the butter, honey, water and sugar. Bring to a medium-low heat and stir occasionally until the apples are mostly broken down. You want a pulp really (an appetising thought, I know).

Step eight

Remove the pastry from the fridge (providing an hour has passed). Place onto a lightly floured surface (you don’t want to add much more flour to the mix if you can help it).

Roll the pastry out as evenly as you can, until your chosen dish can sit in the middle with an inch or two on all sides. You don’t really want your pastry to be thicker than 5mm.

Step nine

Transfer your pastry by rolling it at least half of it up onto your rolling pin and unrolling it over the top of your dish.

I then needed to lift the edges back up and place them back in to tease them better into the corners. Do this gently so as not to tear it. Having said that, I was a bit heavy handed and tears can be fixed quit easily by sticking a bit of excess pastry on top.

Step ten

Rip a bit of pastry off the overlap and use it to press the crust further into the crevices.

Use a fork to pierce the base of the pie, this will help the pastry stay flat in the oven.

Pop him back in the fridge for another 20-30 minutes.

Step eleven

While the pastry is chilling again, peel and slice the braeburns/eating apples. You need to do this carefully as it will be the making or breaking of how your pie looks (no pressure). Try to peel nice and evenly and cut the apples as thinly as you can.

Have a large tupperware filled with cold water nearby to put your cut slices into, which will stop them from browning, again, if you have any lemon juice a few drops wouldn’t go amiss but not essential.

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4/350F

Step eleven

Remove the pie from the fridge and trim some of the excess pastry off the sides but still leave an overlap.

Place some baking paper in the pie and fill with baking beans. If you don’t have any then rice works too, and most dried lentils/pulses really.

Place on a baking tray and bake for 15 minutes.

Step twelve

Using a grater remove the excess pastry at this stage. Doing it this way helps to avoid your pastry shrinking in the oven.

Step thirteen

FILL.

First spoon in the frangipane and spread out, followed by the stewed apple puree mixture.

Finally add your eating apples. Start with the outside and work inwards. Make sure your apples overlap each other quite a bit; the cooking process reduces the water so they will shrink and flatten out.

Bake for another hour on 180C/350F/gas mark 4. I advise checking in at regular intervals after 30 minutes as every oven is different.

Step fourteen

Pop a few tablespoons of apricot jam in the microwave for 10-20 seconds (keep your eye on it as it’s sugary and will heat up quickly). Brush over the surface of the tart, being careful not to move the apples around, spoiling your lovely design.

Step fifteen

Get a scoop of vanilla ice-cream on that guy.

You can reheat your pie in the oven or individual slices in the microwave if you aren’t eating it straight away.

Until next time. x

September 14, 2015

Carved from stone

Now then, let me tell you about an ongoing battle between two of my favourite people. Beth is a responsible and considered little person who takes a great deal of care over her things. As a result, everything she owns looks brand new and nothing ever gets broken. Amy, whilst she’s not exactly going round throwing her stuff at walls, is the type to put her fingers on your computer screen and is totally incapable of keeping a case on her iPhone. It won’t surprise you to learn this drives Beth to distraction.

A few months ago, Amy, to our disbelief, actually bought a case for her phone. However, when it came to unpacking it unfortunately she found it didn’t fit. Unsurprisingly, it has not been replaced, but I felt quite sorry for her; she’d finally done what she was told and was not rewarded for her efforts.

Meanwhile I was being berated by another friend (David) for choosing a practical, but admittedly rather ugly case for my own phone. I had also been admiring the various uses of the nail varnish marbling effect on Pinterest. All this to tell you that today I made myself and Amy phone cases.

You will need

A white phone case to fit your phone (easily found on the internet for less than £5)

A tray or tub that’s disposable

Nail varnish (try to avoid quick drying brands – I only had quick drying ones so it is possible without but you have less control over the look as it sets quicker)

Cocktail sticks

Warm water

Acetone (only if you have serious perfectionism problems like me)

Step one

Fill your tray with warm water and de-cap your nail varnishes. You need to work quite quickly so have everything ready to go.

Step two

Drop a couple of drops of your chosen colours on the surface of the water. I used small quantities of nail varnish because I like the translucent effect. If you want a more opaque look and more time to play with your pattern use more varnish.

It will spread out quite nicely on its own, but I had a little swirl with a cocktail stick but it dried fairly quickly.

Step three

Dip your phone case face first into the water. be sure to completely submerge it so that the sides are coated too.

If you don’t like your design you can remove it with acetone and a make up wipe. I didn’t like the original colours I chose to put together, so I started again.

You will also notice that the one in the gif wasn’t my final design, forgive me, there was a gap in it I didn’t like. I later learned this is easy to cover with another thin layer using the same technique, making sure you line it up over the gap.

DISCLAIMER: this may only work with certain cases. The one I bought for my phone (above) was very forgiving, I am fairly sure I could do this limitlessly. However, Amy’s was a hard case (mine was flexible) and it was already coated in some white varnish, which the acetone was not kind to.

If you love your design, you might consider some mod podge or spray adhesive to seal it. I’m going to leave mine and redo it when I get bored.

Until next time friends. xx

September 7, 2015

Smelling of roses

Friends, I am sorry. I have definitely become a little lax on the blogging front. Too busy having fun recovering from the craziness of the last few weeks and, of course, the joys of job hunting.

So back to business as usual on fabrefaction this week, no more cupcakes for a while, and as far as I know, no more hen parties. I’m sure I will find something else to do a little series on soon though.

I actually did make this rose and vanilla sugar scrub from the left over flowers from Vicky’s hen party, so it’s not entirely true that we are leaving it behind. My advice is not to make this too far in advance if you’re gifting it as the petals did discolour a little.

You will need

500g/1lb 2 oz granulated sugar (3 cups)

120ml/4 fl oz baby oil (1/2 cup)

4 roses

1-2 vanilla pods

1tsp rose extract

Step one

Remove the petals from the roses and spread them out over a surface you won’t need to use for a couple of days, maybe a tray or something so you can move them about with ease.

Step two

Allow the petals to dry for at least two days until the moisture has gone.

Step three

Using a sharp knife, chop the petals into small pieces.

Step four

Chop the vanilla pods up. Mine had hardened as they were fairly old so I just did it this way to add to the exfoliating feel and make it easier for myself. If yours are still soft you could slice them down the middle and scrape the beans out instead.

Step five

Stir together the sugar, petals and vanilla.

Step six

Add the rose extract/essence and the baby oil. Stir together until fully combined.

Step seven

Fill whatever pot you’re using and you’re ready to go!

August 17, 2015

Cluck cluck #4

Allo again.

Wrapping up Vicky’s Hen Do this week with the finishing touches. You will have to excuse the fact I just scrunched up crepe paper. The plan was to make flowers, but, you know, it was 2am by the time I got to them.

In case you need a recap of the recipes in this series:

Tangy orange sherbet and lolly dip

Raspberry and caramel marshmallows

White chocolate, coconut and lime popcorn

You will need

Cellophane card bags

Balloons

These labels (it’s quite possible your bride’s name isn’t Vicky. I used American Typewriter for the font for the sign)

Step one

Fill the card bags with your favours.

Step two

Print enough of the labels for the number of favours you have. These templates will fit a DL card bag.

Cut them out and score on the back down the centre. Fold in half.

Fold the top of the bag down and staple the label over the top, ensuring the staple secures the bag shut. This is especially important with the sherbet.

Step three

Cut the letters out of for the sign.

Step four

Using blu-tac stick the letters to the wall.

Step five

Assemble. You’ll notice I baked a few treats and got some flowers too. The cookie dough brownie recipe has appeared on the blog before, and I’ll get to the lemon drizzle soon.

There you go. All set to throw a lovely hen party/bridal shower of your own.

August 10, 2015

Cluck cluck #3

It seems a bit strange to be writing this. Not least because the last few weeks were crazy and I got out of the habit of blogging, but mainly because the hen in question is now a WIFE.

What’s that? You wanna see? Oh ok then, here she is…

As you can see from the size of that smile, we all had a ball. It was an amazing day.

But let’s step back a month or three and finish off her favours. This was without a doubt the guests’ fave recipe so, ladies, all of you who asked me for it, sorry it took so long! Without further ado here is the recipe for white chocolate, lime and coconut popcorn.

Remember to downscale the below if you’re making for a smaller group/movie night.

You will need

450g/1lb plain popcorn kernels

600g/1lb 5oz white chocolate

Coconut oil

2 limes (zest)

Step one

You’re going to want to get a biiiiiig pan (one with a lid unless you want to be finding popcorn in corners for years). You also need several bowls to decant the popcorn into and definitely don’t try to pop it all in one go, I think i did three or four batches.

So. Pop the pan on a med-low heat, and drop a tablespoon of coconut oil in the pan. Add three kernels or so and wait patiently for them to pop.

Don’t put all the kernels in straight away otherwise you will burn some.

Step two

Once the three test kernels have popped pour a load more in to cover the bottom of the pan and replace the lid.

As the kernels start to pop I generally shake the pan a intermittently and hover it above the heat. If the popping slows down, place it fully back on the heat for a few seconds.

When the pan is filling up and there’s a couple of seconds between pops remove it from the heat and pour the popcorn into a bowl.

Step three

Repeat repeat repeat until you’ve used alla that popping corn.

Step four

Zest the limes on the smallest ‘setting’ on your grater.

Step five

Melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl. As there’s quite a lot of it, it’s really probably better to do this over a pan of boiling water. Otherwise you risk leaving some foil in there, almost blowing up your microwave and burning 600g of chocolate. There might be a small rage blackout to follow.

While the chocolate is still warm stir in a heaped tablespoon of coconut oil.

Step six

This is the tricky bit, you sort of need to distribute the chocolate and lime evenly amongst your batches of popcorn.

Step seven

Stir in the chocolate as well as you can and spread out on baking trays to set. The chocolate won’t fully harden because of the oil but it’s nice that way, I promise.

That’s all folks.

Final instalment next week – the bringing of everything together.

July 27, 2015

Cluck cluck #2

SO. I have been remiss. Friends, stalkers, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to leave you sans blog for two whole weeks. Finishing off my graphic design portfolio kind of consumed my health, social life, eating habits and ability to hold a conversation.

But that’s done now, and I’m back. Picking up where I left off with Vicky’s hen do favours. This week it’s raspberry and white chocolate, and chocolate caramel marshmallows. Not exactly the first time I have made marshmallows on this blog. I really want you to make marshmallows guys.

You will need

For the white chocolate and raspberry marshmallows:

9 gelatine sheets

350g/12 oz granulated sugar

2 egg whites

1 tbsp liquid glucose (you can find this in a squeezy toothpaste type tube in the baking section)

150g/5 oz raspberries

150g/5 oz white chocolate

Freeze dried raspberries (optional)

For the caramel and chocolate marshmallows:

9 gelatine sheets

300g/10.5 oz granulated sugar

2 egg whites

1 tbsp liquid glucose

2-3 tsp caramel extract (I got buttery caramel from natural professional flavours at Lakeland)

150g/5 oz milk chocolate

Cellophane card bags x 30

(makes enough for 30 favours, 150+ marshmallows)

I’ll go ahead and walk you through the process for the caramel ones then pop the changes for the raspberry below.

Step one

In a cereal bowl, soak the gelatine in 150ml/5 fl oz cold water. Set aside.

Step two

Combine the sugar, 150ml/5 fl oz water (different to the gelatine water) and the liquid glucose in a smallish saucepan.

Allow the sugar to dissolve on a low heat, and then turn it up to medium-high. Watch yourself buddy, you’re boiling sugar right now, don’t hurt it or yourself.

The temperature you want this to get to is 118 C. It will feel like it will never get there, but stay strong.

Step three

While the sugar is bubbling you can take a moment to dust your brownie tray with icing sugar. Add a small amount of olive oil first so it sticks.

Step four

When the sugar gets to somewhere around 112-115C whisk the egg whites into stiff peaks. Take care not to use a ceramic bowl else you will get grey marks like I did. Glass or metal though and you’ll be golden.

Step five

When the sugar reaches 118C take it off the heat.

Squeeze the gelatine out a bit and add it to the sugar mix. It will bubble right up so don’t panic. It should settle pretty quickly.

Step six

Pour the hot sugar into the eggs, but make sure you’re whisking continually to avoid a big lump of sugar at the bottom of the bowl.

Whisk until the mixture holds its shape well and is quite thick. This can take up to ten minutes.

Somewhere during the whisking (probably when you need to give your arm a rest) add the flavouring. I used buttery caramel (as mentioned in the ingredients) but they will take basically anything you fancy.

Step seven

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth out as much as possible.

Dust with icing sugar and leave to set for about an hour.

For the raspberry and white chocolate marshmallows

Step eight

Before starting the marshmallow mix make a puree by adding the raspberries, 50g of the granulated sugar and half a tablespoon of water to a small saucepan.

Heat on a low heat until bubbling away happily. Stir while the mixture reduces (looses water) for about 5 minutes.

Step nine

Strain though a sieve to remove the pips. It may need a little stirring for encouragement. Don’t forget to scrape the excess off from the underside of the sieve before throwing away the pips.

Step ten

Follow the same steps at the caramel recipe, but instead of adding the extract, stir in the puree. I saved this to near the end to keep a bit of a ripple effect.

Step eleven

Pour into a second dusted brownie tray and leave to set.

Step twelve

Once the marshmallows have set (at least an hour, preferably more) turn them out onto a surface dusted with icing sugar.

Cut them into cubes, and dust all the sides. Don’t worry if they are a little sticky, they will dry out a bit more.

Try not to eat them all just yet.

Step thirteen

Lay the caramel marshmallows out in rows on greaseproof paper or cellophane and melt the milk chocolate. I used a piping bag to drizzle the chocolate over the marshmallows, you could use a sandwich bag and snip the corner.

Step fourteen

Repeat with the raspberry and white chocolate marshmallows.

Step fifteen

Once the chocolate has set place 5 in each bag, 2 of one flavour, 3 of the other, alternating as you go so you don’t run out of one.

As I mentioned last post I’ll be doing a wrap up post with all the finishing touches, so stay tuned for that. For now, here’s our lovely hen chowing down:

June 30, 2015

Cluck cluck #1

Hi there. First off, apologies are in order. I missed my Monday night slot this week. I am deeply entrenched in finishing my portfolio and got really, really, involved in designing a book cover, more on that another time.

ANYWAY. My lovely housemate Vicky had her Hen Party a few weekends ago. Sadly I had something I had booked up a year in advance to go to so I couldn’t make it. Sad face. Instead I thought I would leave Vicky a little surprise on the dining table so she’d know I was thinking of her while she partied on down with her hens.

This is a little four part series, showing you how to make three different little hen/bachelorette party favours at home; the final post will detail all the finishing touches. You might prefer to use them as wedding favours or for childrens’ parties instead.

Heads up: I made 30 of each recipe, so if you’re looking to make a sweet treat for an evening in, divide, divide, divide the quantities of the recipe, don’t send me the bill for your fillings.

We’re kicking off this week with a recipe for orange sherbet. I just need to clarify for the sake of my US (and possibly Canadian?) readership, we mean something different when we say sherbet. You mean sorbet. We mean sherbet.

You will need

300g/10.5 oz Icing sugar

300g/10.5 oz Granulated sugar

175g/6 oz Caster sugar

125g/4.5 oz Orange jelly powder (again, America, you mean jelly when you say jello)

1-2 tsp Yellow food colouring

1 tsp Orange extract

60 small, or 30 regular sized lollipops

Cellophane DL card bags

(makes 30)

Step one

Mix together the granulated and caster sugars with the orange extract and colouring. If you want it to be a really bright colour, go for 2 tsp, I wanted a more subtle yellowy-orange so went for one.

Just in case you think I’ve lost it…the colour dilutes when you add the other ingredients.

Step two

Add the jelly powder and stir again until fully combined. Give it a little taste at this point. For a stronger flavour add more jelly or more flavouring, but for the record, I think you’ll be set.

Step three

Add the icing sugar and mix again thoroughly. See, now you you know what I mean about the colour? Nice and subtle isn’t it?

Step four

Weigh 30g portions and pour into the card bags.

That’s where I’m leaving you for today I’m afraid folks, the finishing off will be in my round up post in a few weeks. The suspense is killing you I know.

In the meantime, just when you thought you weren’t even getting a gif this week. Here’s a tinker in her dungarees:

Have a fabulous day whatever you’re up to!