Wednesday Wish List oo5 The CHRISTMAS Special!

This was scheduled to run yesterday but for some reason it didn't work! Nevermind, check out Wish List #5!

Anyone else think that October lasted about five seconds? Now that Halloween and Bonfire Night are over, we can think about Christmas! 

I'm getting really excited for Christmas this year. It's been a horrible few months and I just can't wait for roasted potatoes, Badger dressed as a reindeer and 'A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector' on repeat! And of course, it wouldn't be Christmas without hearing our favourite racoon eyed rock princess, Cindy Lou Who in The Grinch!

Here is my Christmas Wish List and I hope everyone is getting into the festive spirit!

It's no secret that The Whitepepper have become my favourite brand this year! They have the most beautiful oversized smock dresses and this gingham one is on sale at the moment! The angel cuff smocks are also adorable (if anyone wants to buy me one, I like the pink and check dresses :) These boots are amazing - heavy duty, black, chunky sole, everything I am looking for in a winter boot this year!

Because my outfits have become quite monochrome recently, I tend to reserve colour for accessories. These watches from The Watch Hut and are such festive colours - perfect for winter! Forever a Marc Jacobs girl, I am in love with this berry toned chronograph! The gold detail is subtle and the face is beautiful! 

Obviously, you can't get away from Michael Kors these days and whilst I do love the rose gold MK watch, I think this Felicity watch is a bit more special. Emerald green is not a common colour for a watch face but it works! I would be happy to be sporting either of these this A/W (or maybe both!)

Yes, it's another chunky boot, but I couldn't get over the price of these Topshop Annys! I always assume all the boots in Topshop are a minimum of £70 and therefore never really buy anything.. These are only £42 and I love the style! Next are these Martie T-bar shoes in the sweetest holographic silver colour! These would look cute with a smock or some rolled up black jeans!

Has everyone noticed how amazing the clothes in ASOS are at the moment? Keeping with my smock obsession, how cute is this tartan cut off dress? I think the allure is the fact that you can each as much as you like under these dresses (perfect for Christmas day!) I love the sleeves on this floral smock too!

I can never have too many bags.. They are Badger's favourite chew toy and my two month old satchel has become her latest victim. This massive Shopper bag from H&M is perfect for cramming things into!

Speaking of H&M does anyone ever remember that they sell homeware as well as clothes? After a quick browsing section I came away loving these items and the cost is amazing! 

I seem to be collecting cookie cutters at the moment but I don't have any lip, moustache or dog shaped ones yet! This set is so sweet! And of course, when baking you need an apron to keep your self flour-less and a cake stand to present your beautiful goods!

My own wish list aside, I need to start Christmas shopping! I love buying gifts but can't stand how busy it gets in town. I think online shopping will be a must this year!

What are you wishing for this Christmas? I hope you're as excited as me!

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All images come from the noted shop.

Halloween Inspired Chocolate Orange Batternberg

This week's #britishbloggerselection theme is Halloween so, here is a little throwback to Halloween 2010 at my friend, Rosie's birthday party! To this day, I still don't know what I was dressed up as...

 I didn't really do much this year, besides dressing Badger up, but I did make this cake!

A few weeks ago I made the most delicious batternberg using Rachel Allen's recipe. Her recipe is for one big cake but I made mine into mini ones, similar to the Mr Kipling cakes. 

A few days later I was in Costa Coffee and noticed their cake selection had a new addition - a chocolate orange batternberg. It was so yummy but I couldn't find a similar one in any supermarket. 

After a few weeks of practising, I came up with my own recipe. The cake is perfectly moist the orange is so fragrant! It's also a lot easier to make than you might think.

A few notes for this recipe: I added ground almonds to my cake but you can leave this out and make up the difference with more flour. This will make 2/3 big cakes depending on the size of your tray or 10/12 mini ones.

Also, you might be wondering - where is the Halloween inspiration in this cake? Well, it's orange...

Servings: 2/3 big cakes (8 slices each) or 10/12 mini cakes

Ingredients: 

250g unsalted butter

250g caster sugar

6 eggs

250g self-raising flour

90g almonds

4tbsp cocoa powder

Zest of one orange

Juice of half an orange

1 tsp orange food colouring

50g chocolate (I used chunks and melt just before step 3!)

3tbsp apricot jam (warm this up just before step 6!)

500g marzipan

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180°c and line two cake tins with greaseproof paper.

2. Beat the butter and sugar together in a bowl until light and fluffy ( I used my new mixer!) Slowly add the eggs and continue beating until smooth (it won't go completely smooth but try as hard as you can!)

3. Divide the batter into two bowls. For the chocolate layers, add 110g flour (sifted), 50g almonds, the melted chocolate and the cocoa powder and mix well. For the orange layer add the remaining flour (140g) and almonds (50g), the food colouring and the orange zest and juice. Mix well until completely combined and then pour each batter into a cake tin. Bake for 25 mins until spongy to touch.

4. Once removed from the oven, leave to stand for 15 minutes before you transfer them to a wire rack. Leave until cold and then transfer to the fridge for an hour or two to firm up.

5. When you cakes are nice and cold, it's time to get trimming. Using a bread knife, level your cakes on the top and sides until they're all even. 

6. Coat one layer of sponge in jam and sit the other layer on top. Then cut the cake into three rectangles for large cakes or 10/12 for mini ones.

7. Then take your rectangles and slices lengthways through the brown and then orange (or the other way round!) Brush with jam and lay the colours in the opposite direction to get the batternberg pattern. Repeat for all other layers of sponge.
8. Roll out your marzipan divide into three or 10/12 pieces to fit around the cakes (dust with icing sugar if it's really sticky!) Spread each piece of marzipan with a little jam and roll around the cake. Press firmly, trim away the excess and dust with more icing sugar. Voila!

Such a simple cake to make and it's so tasty! I'm sure there are thousands of other combinations - if you have any ideas, leave them in the comments!

Also, if you make this cake, let me know what you think!

x

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#britishbloggerselection

Yesterday, I was having a little peak through Abi Prentice's blog and noticed a little group she had joined called The British Blogger Selection, where every week, members write a post based on a set theme.

Intrigued, I followed the link to Ellie's page - Little Vintage Camera, where almost 100 people had signed up to be part of this little blogging community.

I thought this was a really sweet way to get British Bloggers talking to each other, either though the comments box or on Twitter ##britishbloggerselection and a theme is always great for a bit of inspiration!

To join, click on the button above and send Ellie your details!

x

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