Tag Archives: Baking

Get creative this party season with these amazing #baking products from @passion4cakes @hobbycraft @therangeuk #cakes #baking

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So party season is not too far away, and all you budding bakers out there may need a bit of inspiration if you’re trying to impress with your culinary skills this Autumn. Well fear not, if it’s a ghoulish delight that you’re after for the perfect Halloween party next month, its time to invest! We’ve found this devilishly brilliant bakers airbrush kit from Shesto that may just put you into the highest rankings when it comes to sweet treats!  Screen Shot 2013-09-17 at 18.44.52

Using  the Cassie Brown Cake Craft Airbrush Kit, this special cake decoration technique gives beautiful, professional-looking results every time, and you don’t have to be an experienced chef or baker to use it (phew!) . The airbrush kit is quick and simple to set up, use and clean, and comes with three mixable colours, so it’s ready to go – straight out of the box.Screen Shot 2013-09-17 at 18.45.01

Why all the fuss about airbrushing?! 

Airbrushing is a relatively new cake decorating technique and is one of the quickest and easiest ways of adding colour to a cake, eliminating the need to work with multiple pieces of coloured sugar paste or royal icing, and at the same time reducing waste and mess. The liquid cake colours are sprayed smoothly through the tip of the precisely-designed airbrush using compressed air, giving the user complete control over the design and finish.

So if you fancy yourself as an ‘artisan artiste’ this winter, we would highly recommend that you give this a go!

Where can I buy this amazing contraption?! 

The Cassie Brown Cake Craft Airbrush Kit is available directly fromwww.shesto.com, or from leading craft and kitchenware retailers including Hobbycraft, The Range and craft and cake decorating shops nationwide, at a suggested retail price of £99.99.Screen Shot 2013-09-17 at 18.45.19

What? There’s more?! 

And just in time for some ‘spooktacular’ spell binding cake decorating, Cassie Brown has also brought out a “How-To Christmas and Halloween DVD (£14.95) featuring top tips from the award-winning sugar craft expert on how to make stunning seasonal cakes.

So what are you waiting for… get baking and share with us your creative creations!

 

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Put on a Hunger Games Party in 3 steps and may the odds be ever in your favour! #hungergames

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Well if you weren’t already super excited about the next installment of The Hunger Games hitting cinema screens in November, you can get the reaping started with your very own Hunger Games themed party!

We attended a very special Hunger Games event day last week which gave us all the inspiration we needed to bring a little bit of Capitol into our lives for the end of the Summer. So forget the BBQ’s and go all out with stupendous style and the odds will ever be in your favour!

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Step 1: Bake the Book!

No not literally, but we absolutely LOVED the Hunger Games cup cakes at the event day, and felt that no Hunger Games party would be complete without them. So here’s a really helpful video from across the pond, which will inevitably get your mouth watering for what is an essential party piece… the Mockingjay cupcake!

 

Step 2: Get the Look! 

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Who would have thought the Capitol would have been so on trend in the real world. Well, as we found out there are two major fashion go-go’s coming out of The Hunger Games and one is Capitol party style and the other is Tribute tracksuits!

For the Capitol party style you can look no further than your local fashion retailer for some fantastic bits. It doesn’t have to cost your district to get Captiol fashion and there’s so much out there…

Screen Shot 2013-08-19 at 17.37.30We found this Rare Fringe Bandeau Dress at ASOS.com reduced from £45.00 down to £22.00 you too could be the girl on fire in this little number!Screen Shot 2013-08-19 at 18.14.17

And if you want to shuffle along like Effie Trinket, then how about these Chinese Laundry China Doll Heeled Shoes… you’ll need to splash out a little bit more, but once again they’re on sale at ASOS.com for £62.00 (RRP £120.00)

 But if you’re feeling more in tune with one of the Tributes, then you might want to spend your cash on the futuristic exercise range from Lucas Hugh London. Having never provided products for movies before, its Creative Director Anjhe Mule was sought out and hand picked by Catching Fire Costume Designer Trish Summerville to help provide some of the amazing outfits for the films key stars.

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Step 3: Top up Trinket Style

No party look would be complete without an Effie Trinket make over and the amazing make up artist who took care of Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth at the UK premiere told us that the key to Effie Trinket’s looks is clashing colours, blended together on the eyes and hyper real pale skin! Think Alexander McQueen with strong bold eyes and Geisha lips.Screen Shot 2013-08-19 at 18.29.30

She also mentioned that since The Hunger Games hit our cinema screens, people have really realized that make up can be much more fun, and that there really aren’t any rules, so maybe there’s a little bit of Capitol in this capital city after all!

So what are you waiting for, you have the food, the clothes and the make up to make a very Happy Hunger Games! Enjoy!!

A celebration of food review at the @realfoodfestival #Food #Freshfood #market

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Deep in the heart of London’s Southbank, you’ll find a gem of a food festival which takes place on a weekly basis and on special occasions (like Easter weekend) extends to the banks of the Thames itself. Its called the Real Food Festival and is one of the best ongoing food festivals in London at the moment.

Bringing together a fusion of food from around the world, the Real Food Festival is starting to establish itself as the affordable, fresh, go-to food market for foodies and those who just fancy something different for lunch.  What we really liked about it is that there is so much variety available. This is probably our third trip and every time we go there is something new. On this occasion we went for the full three course meal, starter, main and desert, and were not disappointed!

Unconventionally our starter was a cup of yummy Jasmine Tea from Bunta which is a Vietnamese inspired street food stall which is as colourful in colour as it is in flavour…From prawn skewers to sweet potato crisps and noodle salads, this was the perfect starting place to get an education in worldwide food.

Vietnamese Street Food stall Bunta

Vietnamese Street Food stall Bunta

Next up was a pit-stop via the Community Kitchen Project which uses fresh food produce to create North African inspired food… this stall was always busy and very helpful to explain where the food comes from, definitely worth checking out… We absolutely loved its philosophy being based on the old idea of having a central kitchen space where everyone from the village comes to cook, chat and share recipes and resources – its a commercial business with a social purpose – so really does have people at the heart of what it does.

Cheese and freshly baked cakes all on show at the Real Food Festival

Cheese and freshly baked cakes all on show at the Real Food Festival

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We also wondered around the stalls and settled on a tasty Paella cooked in a stall aptly named Paella! As the stall holder said, whilst battling the gigantic paella pans “its worth the wait” and it really was, a generous portion of healthy seafood paella cooked to perfection, absolutely divine… its just a shame that they haven’t developed their online marketing strategy just yet otherwise we’d be more than happy to point all you lovely people straight in its direction!

Finally, continuing the Spanish theme, (we just couldn’t resist) it was Churros! Churros! Churros! and if you didn’t have a chance to sample any there, here’s a fantastic video showing you how to make it at home!

Remember its not just these few stalls that are on show at the Real Food Festival. Some of our other recommendations are:

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 Craft Beer Rising which is traditionally a festival at its brewery in Brick Lane but hosted a number of yummy beers at this festival too…well worth a sample or seven!

Battersea Pie  which is great British pies using traditional pastry and free range meat – British street food dining at its finest with food sourced from our fair Isles.

Grays and Feather a delightful taster of some fantastic world wines sold in quirky bottles and fantastic additions to any dinner table… all you winos out there will relish in this treat!

So there you have it an action packed food festival full of tasters from worldwide cuisine ready to get your mouth watering!

The Real Food Festival runs every Friday – Sunday right next to the Royal Festival Hall on London’s Southbank, so make sure you check it out!

Food Court: The Best Easter Eggs and The WORST Easter Bunnies! #food #easterbunnies #eastereggs

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Its Easter weekend everyone which means not only do you get two extra lie-ins but you also get to eat a shed load of Chocolates. Now who do we need to be thankful to for our choccy treats this weekend? Well, the ancient Egyptians, Persians, Phoenicians all believed the world started as one giant egg, so the egg is a symbol for new life…and 500 years ago a North African tribe which turned Christian began painting eggs, and so the tradition began and evolved into what we have for ourselves now, this weekend.

Enough of the history lesson though, Easter Eggs have become serious business for retailers. They range from the cheap cheap 50p eggs to $10,000 for the world’s most expensive Easter Egg.

William Curley's worlds most expensive Easter Egg

So what are the favourite Easter Eggs we’ve found this weekend? Here’s our top 3…

Number 3 – JAMES CHOCOLATES – Cupcake Easter Egg (£10-12).

Our very own Willy Wonka – The fantastic chocolatiers at James Chocolates have managed to build a blend of two very hot food items. The cupcakeScreen Shot 2013-03-30 at 14.03.10 and the Easter Egg

The one we really like the look of is the -Milk Honeycomb Cupcake Egg

A hollow milk chocolate egg topped with whipped chocolate and honeycomb pieces. We make this egg by swirling honeycomb crumbs into the molten chocolate, then we crown it with set whipped white chocolate and chunks of honeycomb.

YUMMY SCRUMMY!

 

 

Number 2 – Pierre Marcolini’s Avant Guarde Easter Egg design – (£22)

 

Screen Shot 2013-03-30 at 14.09.22This one is probably for all you forward thinkers, artistes, and fashionistas….who said Easter can’t be stylish?

Marcolini’s design wont break the bank but will provide a fitting alternative for those who think they may be just a tad too cool for a bog standard Easter Egg. Why we really like it? Well, its certainly different, but it also looks like you might get more chocolate per square inch – satisfying any chocoholic out there!

SOOO DELISH DARRRLLIING!!!

 

 

 

Number 1 – Cadbury Creme Egg – (50p – £1)

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Who says the best things can’t be the cheapest.We love Cadbury’s classic treat that is easy to find, cheap to buy and for years has been impressing chocolate lovers everywhere! No its not covered in gold leaf, no its not expensive, but yes it can fit in your pocket (just remember that it’s in there so not to melt it) – These little beauties have stolen our hearts and now even the Huffington Post is showing us more innovative ways to create fun recipes with them.

SO MUCH CHOCOLATE, SO LITTLE TIME…MMMMMMM

 

 

 

So there you have it, our recommendations that should get your mouths watering this weekend, but there’s always a dark side to anything good, and unfortunately we’ve found it – the scariest Easter Bunny photos ever – click here if you dare, (the irony is that it comes from a site called http://www.happyplace.com!)

yeah we know...this is sooo not cool....

yeah we know…this is sooo not cool….

Happy Easter everyone!