Sunday, 23 September 2012

Baking!

Hi everyone! As promised, here is my post on baking! Whilst over at my aunty's flat, we managed to spend the whole day in the kitchen making this coffee and walnut layer cake.

Let me start by saying: I am by no means an established baker. In fact, I have been known to burn toaster waffles, so that is just an indication of how badly I am lacking in the kitchen department. Alas, my lack of culinary prowess has not deterred me as I am a massive fan of all cookery programmes. My usual favourite TV chefs include: Raymond Blanc, Nigella Lawson, Rachel Koo, Michel Roux, Nigel Slater, Lorraine Pascale and Jamie Oliver. Other favourite shows include The Great British Bake-Off, Masterchef, Ace of Cakes and basically anything else on the Food Network channel.

After steering clear of the kitchen for a very long time after my many mishaps, I decided to step back in with the help of my sister and aunty. After a hard day's work (despite the fact that I remember the recipe claiming that this should take no more than a couple of hours...), we managed to conjure up something which was pretty amazing, in my humble opinion. I would've settled with "edible", but seriously. This was yummy.

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So there it is: Coffee and Walnut Layer Cake à la Nigella's Kitchen recipe book. I'm not going to bother posting the ingredients or recipe as it is all on her website, so please click here to find the full recipe for this cake.

Also, as a little side note, I would recommend everyone get a little cake stand - even if you're not a seasoned baker. They're a little bit pointless if you're just gonna take the cake straight back off again, but they're so pretty!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed something a little different for this little old blog. I feel like I have been seriously neglecting it lately, so it was nice to write about something which wasn't just the same-old, same-old. School has been busy busy busy and I haven't had much time to do anything other than schoolwork and getting involved in extra-curricular things like Amnesty, etc. Anyway, I'll definitely try and write again soon. Bear with me! Hope you're all well and happy blogging!

Chloe xxx

Sunday, 9 September 2012

Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key

Hi! I started back at school on Monday and it feels like I've been back for five weeks, not five days! It's insane how tiring this past week was, although I guess I am enjoying studying only a few subjects instead of 13 subjects like I was in Year 11! So yeah, Sixth Form has been quite good so far and I'm studying: Maths, Further Maths, Economics, Chemistry and Latin this year! I'm pretty worried about the onslaught of work that I will undoubtedly get, but I'm hoping that I can keep on top of it all and manage to get some good grades at the end of it. It's really scary to think that I'll be applying for unis in just a year's time!

Anyway, here are a couple of photos from a few weeks ago:

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1. Topshop dress, Bill Amberg bag, Ray Ban sunglasses
2. Pretty pink sky on the drive back home

I love that second photo with the summer night sky and the unexpected bokeh effect in the background. It reminds me of summer, relaxing, sing-alongs in the car and just being happy. The weather has been uncharacteristically lovely for early September, but of course it would be sunny for when we have to go back to school..!

Anyway, I should be back with a recipe in my next post. It's not something I've ever done on this blog before, but just thought I'd let you know beforehand. I love food, but I'm not exactly the best baker / cook... Haha, anyway, hope you're all well! Happy blogging :-D

Chloe xxx

P.S. Love Billy Bragg.

P.P.S. Please check out my friend, Sarah's new blog: Freckled Fennell! She is one talented girl and is off to Bath to study textile design! Her blog will be a documentation of her journey at university and I can already see that her blog will become one of my daily reads. So please please please check it out! :-)