Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

I absolutely love chocolate so naturally when I bake, 9 times out of 10 I will choose to make chocolate cakes, cookies, brownies etc… Anything that’s chocolate with more chocolate! The more chocolate the better I think! 😀 Today I decided I should branch out (slightly… not too far haha) from my usual chocolatey cakes and add something different into the mix. Orange! These chocolate orange cupcakes turned out delicious and I would definitely make them again 😀

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Banana Berry Smoothie

Over the past couple of months I have really been loving smoothies. They are great for breakfast or as a snack, and really fill you up. Plus it’s a great way to make sure I’m getting more of those healthy fruits and veg in me! I’ve tired many different concoctions but this banana and berry smoothie is my go-to favourite…. for now! 🙂 

Lemon Drizzle Muffins

A couple of days ago it was lovely and sunny and warm for the first time this year and it felt like spring, or even summer, was finally on its way! (I can’t wait! Summer is my favourite season. I love the warmth, and the sun, and going to the beach….). Walking around in the sunshine put me in the mood to deviate from my usual favourite chocolatey bakes, and bake something light and summery, like fresh lemon drizzle muffins 🙂 The nice weather was however, short lived, and it’s miserable and raining again so chocolate bakes will be back next week 😀 I have an idea in mind for some chocolate orange muffins… Yum. The recipe below makes 12 deliciously lemony muffins.

Easter at Gaston Farm

With Easter nearly here my friend (and fellow blogger Romi) and I decided to take a trip down to Gaston Farm in Slindon. This is a small local farm, which around spring time, open to the public for their open lambing season. There’s a large pen full of sheep who could give birth any time during your visit. Whilst we were there two new lamb were born… typically we missed both! 

Easter Mini Egg Cake

I love baking at Easter time, with all the chocolate and cute decorations. This year I wasn’t sure what I wanted to bake, besides a chocolate cake, because who doesn’t want chocolate at Easter…. or any time for that matter! My idea for this years Easter cake came to me while I was watching The Great British Bake Off

DIY Home Décor

We recently redecorated our living room and thought it would be nice to do a little gallery wall with a few nice family pictures. Of course I went straight to Pinterest to gather inspiration for the layout! 😀 Whilst scrolling through I saw a few gallery walls that had used other small objects and things, rather than just photos, which I thought looked really nice. After searching in a few shops and not finding much that went with our theme, I decided to have a go at making something myself. I love how they turned out and they were so easy to make. They finish off the gallery wall perfectly 🙂

Christmas Brownies

I made these Christmas tree brownies a couple of weeks ago and I think they are just great for any Christmas parties or celebrations around this time of year. I first saw the idea in a food magazine and thought they were cute so I just had to give them a try for myself. I also thought it would be nice to decorate some square brownies to look like presents  to go with the trees 🙂 I will definitely be serving these at my Christmas Eve get together!

(I used chocolate fingers for the tree trunks and white chocolate to decorate)

 

 

DIY Merry Christmas Bunting

In my house on birthday celebrations we always hang colourful bunting somewhere and it always looks nice and adds a special touch, so this year I thought we should do the same but for Christmas. I decided it would be fun to make my own and choose the colours, fabric and length that I want. I’m really pleased with how it turned out and I think it makes a nice addition to our Christmas decorations 🙂

Christmas Gingerbread Men

I love baking around Christmas, there’s so many fun things to make! For my first Christmas bake this year I made these cute little gingerbread men. I’d seen a picture somewhere of gingerbread men holding candy canes which I thought was a great idea. I decided to make my own version and do gingerbread men holding little presents and Christmas puddings. I love how these turned out and I’m going to have fun thinking of different things to make for them to hold.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

With October here it’s time for pumpkins, Halloween and all things autumn. One of my favourite traditions I’ve given myself for this time of the year is going pumpkin picking at the farm. This year I made my first trip to the farm on the 1^st of October, too early to carve the pumpkin but certainly not too early to start cooking with them!

I picked what I thought was the perfect sized pumpkin to make my favourite… pumpkin soup. Turns out when I got home the pumpkin looked absolutely massive and I realised I may have underestimated the size of it. After making my delicious soup I still had a bowl of pumpkin left so I decided cupcakes were a must. Nothing says autumn like pumpkin spiced cupcakes!

I love how these cupcakes turned out, they’re the perfect way to start the autumn 🙂 This recipe makes about 24 cupcakes. As for the icing on top… me and my family don’t like too much icing, so if you love icing I would recommend doubling the recipe as mine only makes enough for a little on each.