Raspberry and Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients

200g Softened Butter

275g Caster Sugar

200g Dark Chocolate

100g Plain Flour
1tsp Baking Powder

75g Cocoa Powder

100g Milk Chocolate 

3 Large Eggs

100g Raspberries

Method

• Fill a medium sized saucepan 1/3 way up with water and put the butter and dark chocolate into a large heatproof bowl and place on top of the saucepan and begin to melt on a low heat. 
• Once melted, remove the bowl from the saucepan and wait to cool.
• Turn on your oven to 180 degrees and line a shallow rectangle baking tin with baking paper
• Sieve the flour and cocoa powder into a medium bowl before adding the baking power. 
• Chop the milk chocolate into rough pieces 
• Crack the eggs into a separate bowl and mix in the sugar until combined using an electric whisk. 
• When the eggs are smooth, pour in the cooled chocolate mixture and gently fold until both mixtures are combined this may take a while so be patient! 
• Add the flour, baking power and cocoa power to the mixture and gently fold again.
• Stir in the milk chocolate pieces and raspberries before spooning the mixture into the baking tin.
• Place in the oven and cook for 25 minutes 
• Once done, leave to cool for a further 25 minutes and then cut into squares.

Enjoy!

An Afternoon Adventure

Today my friend and I went on a little adventure to the countryside, with Kripsy Kreme doughnuts and Orange & Carrot Juice in hand! The weather started off being dull with showers which was disappointing, however it quickly turned around and became rather warm and sunny! Near where I live is a long country road leading to various farms, country homes and Riding Schools, it also comes to a beautiful, quiet forest area with a stream flowing through the centre. After a long hour walk we decided to take a rest on the bridge overlooking the stream, fields, eating our doughnuts, taking pictures and talking about life. 

Last Minute Purchases

Hello Everyone! Yesterday my friend and I went on a spontaneous trip to Chester which is a traditional Tudor City with black and white buildings, dozens of independent shops and of course, Primark! By the time we arrived it was already 4:30 pm so we did a quick dash around New Look, Lush, Superdrug and lastly Primark. I actually prefer going later in the day because the shops are quieter, especially seeing as it's the summer holidays in England. I picked up some cute items for my holiday at the start of September.I also purchased 3 books online from Amazon as they were having a ' 3 books for £10' deal, perfect for Summer reading. My favourite item of clothing was the Suede A Line skirt featured below, as I feel the skirt can be dressed for any occasion and is a good transition piece from Summer too Autumn. 

Primark| Cut Out Block Heeled Boots| £16

Primark| Burnt Orange Suede Aline Skirt| £8

Amazon 3 books for £10 deal
I Was Here By Gayle Forman
Just One Day By Gayle Forman
Dream a Little Dream By Giovanna Fletcher

New Look| BoHo Daisy Print Sleeveless Top| £12.99

Primark| 3 strap way Bikini in B&W Stripes| £6

Hope you enjoyed!

Amy

July Favourites

Happy Saturday everyone! Today's post is my July Favourites as it is that time of year again, how fast has this year gone? As I am off on my Summer break I have been loving a lot of pretty, cute items, so enjoy!

Polaroid Camera- Birthday/ London Polariods

I received a Polaroid camera for my birthday in June and this past month I have seized many chances of snapping some old fashioned and hipster photo's from my birthday party to London. If you wish to read about my time in London, drinking and dining in The Savoy,Click Here. 

Flowers are a new love of mine, I love picking out fresh flowers from the florists or even from my garden. My mum very kindly brought me my favourite flower, a sunflower plant, the other day! I love sun flowers as they are bright and remind me of happiness! My grandma also brought me the lovely bunch of pink flowers, up above, for getting an A in my first year at college! 

Soap & Glory| Hand Food| Body Mist| Scrub

As the weather has warmed up, very slightly in the UK, you need to keep you body moisturiser! I have been a HUGE fan of Soap & Glory for many years now, I adore their packaging, products and their scent. The body mist, featured in the centre, is a spray on moisturiser which is perfect after showers as it's not sticky in the slightest! 

Summer Reads| Take a Look at Me Now- Miranda Dickinson
Katy Carter Wants a Hero- Ruth Saberton 

Reading a good girly book in summer is my favourite thing to do, whether it's on the beach or just chilling in the garden. The two books I've put in this post are two of my favourite summer reads, they are inexpensive, easy and quick to read. 

Blue Quote Notebook| TKMAXX
Parisian Notebook| Paperchase

Having fun and pretty notebooks are my all time favourite thing, I love making lists, keeping a diary and writing new ideas for blog posts. 

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Floral Cupcake Recipe

Ingredients 

200g Caster Sugar

200g Softened Butter

200g Self Raising flour

1 Large Egg

1tsp Vanilla Extract 

A Dash of Milk

Decoration

12 Cup cake cases

200g Icing Power

75g Softened Butter

A Splash of Milk 

Few Drops of Red Food Colouring

Sprinkle of Pink Edible Glitter

Sugar Paper Daisies 

Method

• Pre- heat your oven to 180 degrees and line 12 cup cake tray with pretty floral or spotty cup cake cases.
• Cream together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl, until the mixture forms a smooth paste.
• Crack in one already whisked egg and mix in until there are no lumps in the mixture.
• Add in the self raising flour a bit at a time and fold into the mixture, gently ensuring no air is knocked out. Add a splash of milk if the mixture appears dry, the batter should be just about falling off your spoon and smooth in consistency. 
• Add the vanilla extract and stir in gently.
• Using a tsp spoon the batter into the cake cases, filling them 3/4 of the way up before placing into the oven.
• Bake for 10- 15 minutes.
• When the cakes are golden brown, turn off the oven and place cakes on a cooling track to cool for 30 minutes
• Cream together the butter and icing in a small mixing bowl, adding a dash of milk to combine the icing. 
• Add a few drops of red food colouring, or leave without if you want a white icing, and stir into the butter icing.
• Using a large nossel piping bag, spoon in the butter icing and begin icing the cakes creating a swirl from the outside- in.
• Put one sugar paper daisy/ flower on each cake and sprinkle some edible glitter.
• Place in the fridge for 15 minutes for the icing to set.

Enjoy. x

The Savoy| London

The Savoy| Tea & Sweet Shop

The Savoy

The Savoy

The Savoy Grill| Savoy Hotel

Last Sunday, my brother and I ventured to London to meet our Uncle for a day trip out. When we were younger, my uncle jokingly said ' One day I'll take you to a really posh hotel to wine and dine'. He kept to his word, as we defiantly wined and dined and the beautiful and famous Savoy Hotel. The Savoy Hotel as seen numerous celebrities including Marilyn Monroe and is one of the top hotels to stay/ visit to many.

We had lunch in The Savoy Grill, which is an Art Deco themed restaurant inside the Savoy Hotel. The interior was very dark and musky, large chandeliers and silver cutlery, really made the lunch extra special. For lunch I had a Beetroot Tart with Goats Cheese Curd for starter and for main I had Pork Tenderloin with Cabbage and a due with a glass of Rose wine. It was delicious. 

After having a further mooch around the hotel, eyeing up the lovely cakes and gaping at dozens of model- like ladies wearing beautiful gowns for a wedding hosted at the hotel, we took a brisk stroll to the National Gallery. The Gallery is the biggest Art Gallery in the UK, dozens of tourists approached the many marvellous artwork. Once we finished admiring the artwork and wishing I was better at painting, we headed for a pub on the River Thames. 

The National Gallery| London

London

View from Boat Pub on the River Thames| London Eye

It was rather warm outside so I was eager to have a cool lemonade, although there were no seats outside on the balcony of the boat, we sat inside for a quick drink. The view was amazing, across the river was the London Eye along with many other incredible buildings. Before i knew it it was time to depart from London and head home. 

Hope you enjoyed this post,

Thanks- Amy x

Berry Cupcakes

Ingredients

200g Caster Sugar

200g Softened Butter

1 Large Eggs

200g Self Raising Flour

A Handful of Raspberries

A Handful of Blueberries

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Splash of Milk

Decoration

200g Iicing Sugar

75g Softened Butter

A Handful of Raspberries and Blueberries

A Sprinkle of Pink Edible Glitter

1tsp Raspberry Jam

- You will need a piping bag and nossel 

Method

• Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees and line cupcake tray with 12 cupcakes cases of your choice.
• Cream together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until the mixture is smooth and combined.
• Crack in 1 egg and stir into the butter and sugar mixture, make sure all the egg is broken up until you have a smooth, runny consistency. 
• Sift in the flour and add a dash of milk, begin to fold in the mixture carefully to make sure no air is taken out. Use your spoon to circle around the bowl before drawing a line in the centre, repeat this until the mixture is smooth. Add more milk if the mixture still looks a tad dry. 
• Add in your raspberries and blueberries and stir again gently
• Once done, place a tsp of the mixture in your cupcake cases in the cup cake tray before placing in the oven for 10-15 minutes. 
• Once golden brown, place cupcakes on a wire tray and leave to cool for 30 minutes
• In the mean time, put your icing power and butter in a small mixing bowl and begin to cream together until smooth. Add a dash of milk to combine the mixture add 1 tsp of raspberry jam and stir briefly until the icing has pink swirls. 
• Get your piping bag with a wide zig-zag nossel and spoon in the icing before pushing it down towards the nossel.
• Get your cupcakes and pipe a swirl,starting from the outside- in. Add 2 raspberries and blueberries on top and a sprinkle of glitter for decoration. 

Enjoy.
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Picnic look book

Top| GENUINE-PEOPLE| £6.50
Skirt| Miss Selfridge| £32
Sandals| Zara| £23
Flower Crown| Charlotte Russe| £5
Picnic Basket| Amazon| £16

Top| H&M| £12
Shorts| Topshop| £33
Shoes| Shein.com| £17
Bag| Dorothy Perkins| £28
Flower Crown| Carole| £9.99

Jacket| Stylemoi.com| £11
Playsuit| Allyfashion.com| £14
Pumps| Wetseal.com| £13
Bag| Amazon| £19

Dress| H&M| £13
Jacket| Maurices.com| £25
Shoes| Wetseal.com| £9.99
Bag| Lastcall.com| £40
Necklace| CC Skye| £76

Top| New Look| £9.99
Jacket| Tradesy.com| £56
Jeans| Forevernew.com| £43
Trainers| Nike| £77
Sunglasses| Freyrs.com| £7

Afternoon Tea

 

This afternoon my Mum and I went out for a treat after I finished my first year at college with high marks, when she asked me last week where I wanted to go, I instantly said for Afternoon Tea! I have never had Afternoon Tea until now and I can assure you, it is well worth the money!

 

 

We went to a place called 'Ginger & Pickles', which is a rather strange name for a tea room, however inside is cute with cottage- like furniture and cups of tea wall paper. Fresh flowers were dotted around, it gradually got busier and busier throughout the day. We chose to have the three layered Afternoon Tea which came with a selection of sandwiches (Tuna and sweetcorn, Goats Cheese and tomato and lastly Ham and tomato chutney). Next were large scones with fresh cottage cream and home made strawberry jam and lastly was the cake. Oh My Lord. The cake was to die for! We could choose from either Lemon, carrot, chocolate or coffee cake, we both chose Lemon and it was light and fluffy! Of course there was a large pot of tea with tea and saucers in a china print, the atmosphere was quiet and peaceful, just like a tea room should be! Not bad for £14.99 pp!

 

 

Once we finished we went for a mooch around the shops, in the area there are quirky and pretty shops with tonnes of room decorations, hanging ornaments, florists, more tea rooms and independent clothing shops. I brought this cute mug, ft below, with a very inspiring quote on, only for £4!

 



Get The Wimbledon Look

Black and White

Dress| Dorothy Perkins| £28

Blazer| Mango| £32

Sandals| Laredoute| £49

Bag| Michael Kors| £160

Necklace| Kenneth Cole| £27

Neutrals

Shirt| Zara| £23

Skirt| Nordstrom| £89

Ballet Pumps| Top Shop| £25

Bag| Dune| £75

Necklace| Vince Camuto| £37

Navy Dotty

Dress| Romwe| £11

Cardigan| Vila| £30

Heeled Shoes| Monsoon| £25

Bag| Bead and Reel| £95

Necklace| Wanderlust& Co| £18

Blue Floral's

Top| John Lewis| £15

Shorts| Boohoo.com| £10

Shoes| Gilt.com| £31

Bag| ShopBop.com| £125