A Weekend of baking...Terry's Chocolate Orange cupcakes and GU Rocky Road

My last bit of baking earlier this week were Terry's Chocolate Orange cupcakes and Rocky Road to take into work. I used a Rocky Road recipe from the GU Chocolate Cookbook, which is always a hit. 

I think the success of it is mixing a small amount of golden syrup and butter into the chocolate that you mix all of the different ingredients into, then pour melted chocolate on top of everything once it has set in the fridge for four hours. This gives a lovely melting texture, and doesn't feel quite so 

jaw-breaking when you bite into it. I used a mixture of mini marshmallows, digestive biscuits and walnuts to give a selection of different textures.

I have made these cupcakes before, but the last time I used fresh orange juice in the ganache to try and give the orange flavour. unfortunately this made the ganache too runny, so this time I used an orange essence to give the flavour. As I didn't use as much liquid the icing held together much better and I was able to pipe it more successfully. I love the decoration of the Terry's Chocolate orange segments, plus an extra orange and chocolate hit.

A Weekend of Baking...Tipsy orange truffle cake, stage two

Once my macaroons were filled and rested, I took six of the small filled finished cookies and ten of the half shells, and gave them a glamorous spritz with some edible gold lustre. Since using this on another celebration cake, it has become one of my favourite effects.

Gilded macaroons

I left these to dry and removed the three sponges for the cake from the fridge. The bottom layer was filled with a seville orange marmalade mixed with a little Grand Marnier, and the second layer was filled with the chocolate ganache. Once it was assembled, I then crumb coated the outside and left it to set. I did want to try the poured ganache as set out in the recipe, however I am too much of a coward and too scared to waste so much of a lovely ingredient, so I decided to add another textured layer with a palette knife to achieve a nice sharp edge.

I did have a little bit of a problem of my ganache setting too hard before I could pipe lovely neat rosettes on the top to hold the macaroons, and I went through a couple of split piping bags to eventually stick the macaroons to the top, but I was really pleased with the final result. I stuck the filled macaroons into their individual ganache nests on the top, and then pressed the macaroon halves around the bottom to neaten the edges. I love the smooth and beautiful finish of the design in the book, but I also love putting my own spin on things, and I think this was a much more 'Me' birthday cake.

The inside of the cake - I love the dramatic contrast of the sponge against the ganache and the orange zest gave the sponges a beautiful deep golden colour

A Weekend of Baking...Chocolate orange macaroons and tipsy orange truffle cake, stage one

As I have a few days off over my birthday, I have really been looking forward to getting into the kitchen to do some baking! As has been the tradition over the last few years I have picked a new recipe to try for my Birthday cake, and this year I have chosen Peggy Porschen's Tipsy Orange Truffle Cake from her Boutique Baking book. Alongside this I also wanted to try macaroons again, after my slightly failed attempt before, so I decided to try chocolate orange macaroons to compliment the flavour of my cake, and to also use them for decoration.

After the last attempt at macaroons, I used the most basic recipe from my Laudree recipe book, and kept the colour completely natural. I used a mixture of drawn guides, hand piping and a Lakeland macaroon mould to try all of the options, and I have to say the Lakeland mould came up trumps for size, uniformity and shape, I may be taking a trip to go and get another one! I also cooked the shells for slightly longer than it suggested in the recipe, and this seemed to work perfectly.

Sieving, whisking, folding, resting and cooling, it's all go when making macaroons!

Whilst they were drying out, I made the sponges for the tipsy orange truffle cake and when they were baked, I brushed the tops with a sugar syrup mixture of orange juice, Grand Marnier (one of my new favourite ingredients, delicious!) and caster sugar. There was so much left, I think I may use it in a cupcake recipe I have planned for Tuesday.

Once the macaroon shells were dry, I made a chocolate ganache and flavoured it with orange oil. I piped the mixture onto half of the macaroon shells, and then sandwiched the other half on top. I was surprised how much filling they held as they look so small and delicate, but after a night resting in the fridge I hope they all taste equally delicious. I have saved some empty shells for decoration around the edge of my cake, and I hope these will add to my planned design.

For a second attempt I am really chuffed with the macaroons. There were a mixture of sizes, and some were a little off perfectly round, but they did taste rather good! I'm looking forward to experimenting with different colours and flavours now I feel more confident.

Vintage & Craft Fair - Abington Park Museum

This weekend I went to go and visit the Abington Park Museum in Northampton for their Vintage & Craft fair. I had been doing some research on Stallfinder.com to find some ideas for our next craft fair to attend, and it immediately interested me as a possible venue. I used to go to the park a lot when I was little with my grandparents, but I couldn't remember the last time I had been into the museum.

It is a lovely venue full of interesting architecture, interiors and exhibits, but on Saturday it had been transformed into a great venue for a fair. There were no large spaces for all of the stalls to be grouped together, but it was really intriguing to work your way through the museum and stumble across a lovely stall in an unexpected location. Every bit of space had been used to great effect, including staircases, corridors and cubby holes and I loved the quirkiness of not knowing what you might find around the next corner.

I picked up some lovely things whilst I was there, including these gorgeous vintage sewing fat quarters from The Craft Cotton Co. (view their website here)

I was also drawn in by a card stall that made amazing pop-up cards. I remember making a beak for an easter chick when I was at school, but these took the art of pop-up to a whole new level!

I can't wait to give these as prezzies, I think people will love them. They are so intricate and unusual that they can't fail to impress.

Another stall I loved was that by Ria Rich (you can find her website here) Her natural prints have a very fresh and modern appearance, and when the prints are mixed with other materials, such as sheet music, they look lovely made into stylish lampshades and cushion covers with pompom trim. If you look on her website, I love the creeping leaves that have been turned into a wall sticker.

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Towcester Food Festival - 11th and 12th June 2016

The Towcester Food Festival is an event I have always wanted to go to, and this year we set a date and went! It was held at the great venue of Towcester Racecourse, so coupled with lovely views, it was a fantastic festival.

There were long rows of covered stalls, all manned by talented local food producers, ranging from organic vegetable boxes, cheese, gin and cider (of which there was much tasting, hic!) gourmet marshmallows, couture cakes and everything in between. There was also a fantastic mix of food vans covering many different types of cuisines from award winning Cornish seafood to south african and Jamaican. We were completely spoilt for choice and it was lovely to see so many people supporting local businesses, despite the fact it was a little grey and overcast.

A range of marquees and food tents were set against the butter yellow of Towcester Racecourse

Colourful chalkboards were all the rage, with some fantastic artwork to go alongside the delicious sounding dishes

Stylish industrial lighting sat against vintage props for an inviting stall

Award winners from all over the country were serving their food

We came away with a delicious flagon of cider and a selection of scrummy pies, perfect for a relaxed Sunday dinner

Sweet and shopping: Gourmet marshmallows and decorated cakes, plus a leaflet for the Heart of the Shires shopping village, another place I have added to my list of places to visit

Alcohol, savouries and crafts: I loved the artwork from The Wiltshire Liqueur Company, but my favourite had to be the taste of Warner Edwards delicious sloe gin

Supported by South Northamptonshire Council, it was great to read about and see in evidence the small businesses and producers that are flourishing in our region

Castle Ashby events - Fete and Fun Dog Show

Today we went back to Castle Ashby for their second event in as many weeks, and what a difference a week makes. The sun was shining and it was lovely and warm, perfect for the annual Church Fete and Fun Dog Show!

Not only was the weather lovely but it was held in the stunning formal gardens, so it was filled with as many cute and fluffy critters as their owners. I fell in love with a gorgeous Cockapoo puppy and a cute as pie Corgi, but sadly was not allowed to bring them home!

Here's a few pictures from our lovely sunny afternoon...

One of the many doggy competitions throughout the day, this was most handsome dog! First prize was an indian head massage, we weren't sure if it was for the owner or the dog...

Dog agility course!

A few of the stalls with Castle Ashby church in the background

The stunning setting of Castle Ashby gardens

A dance showcase from a local group

The Orangery serving tea and cakes looking out onto the lawns

Castle Ashby House in all its sunny glory

Little Bunting Logo Design - First design ideas

Over the last couple of weeks I have been working on a range of ideas for my new logo and also for icons for my blog. I have drawn up a range of ideas, and now I'm ready to start narrowing them down into a second range to hopefully get closer to my perfect new logo. My next step is to start experimenting with the watercolour element, so this will be developed over the coming days. In the second set of designs I will be able to play with the different texts and elements that I have used and combine them in different ways to create the perfect logo. 

Page 1: Favourite logo and text - Bottom right. I don't think the others, text or the circle elements, work well at all

Page 2: I like all of these designs, however I think all of them could do with a little development

Page 3: I would like to include the bunting flags in my logo, however I think the bottom right design is a little childish and needs to be matured. I also love the text of the 'Little' in this logo, so may develop this for my future designs

Castle Ashby Events - Art and Craft Fair

Last weekend we went to the Castle Ashby Craft and Art show, a yearly event that attracts a big crowd to see all of the skilled craftspeople, some selling on stalls and others creating as you watch. The show was held in the Italian walled gardens, a large open green space that was the perfect size to contain a huge variety of stalls and attractions, from plants, cakes and crafts, to archery, croquet and bird of prey demonstrations! Unfortunately it was quite a chilly grey day, but that didn't stop us from having a great time. 

Above you can see some of the business cards that I picked up from the event. There were some fantastic vendors there but one of my favourites was BackThenBags (find their website here) who make vintage silk scarves into handbags and other accessories. I think this is a fantastic way to repurpose an item that has perhaps fallen out of favour in modern fashion into something equally beautiful and useful. 

A little grey but still majestic!

Along with the entrance to the fair, entrance to the gardens was included, and we couldn't leave without a visit to the Menagerie, which included a range of animals including a huge family of Meerkats, Giant Californian rabbits, pygmy goats and splotchy pigs. There were also Marmoset monkeys in their night house and chipmunks in their wooden hut, but they were all keeping snug and warm inside, I didn't blame them!