Revision playlist

As half term is upon us, and although there's a lot of relaxing to be done there's also revision and homework to also be done. I thought I'd share a few tracks that are on my playlist, that I've been loving at the moment to get me through the boring revision.

Howl at the moon- The Script 

(There is not an official video yet so here is a lyric video)

Shake it off- Taylor Swift

Youth- Foxes

Gold Rush- Ed Sheeran 

(Again, there isn't an official video so here is a lyric video) 

Waste of time- MØ

I want you- Saint Raymond

I hope you enjoy these few songs that I am enjoying at the moment :P 

iTunes festival and Ed Sheeran!

Earlier last month I got the opportunity to go to the iTunes Festival at the Camden Roundhouse in London, to see The Script (Squeel!). For those of you who don't know what the iTunes Festival is, it is 30 days of music throughout September each year, where current popular artists play each night. However, all the tickets are free so obviously they are in very high demand, which makes it super hard to get any...however many times you enter all your family members :P. Anyway I was told about an app, called YPlan, which provided tickets as well as iTunes, where they released a few up to two days before the event, and I was lucky enough/quick enough to grab a pair for the 15th September! :D (after all my efforts entering multiple competitions). The gig was (of course) amazing, and probably the best i've ever been to, not only because The Script are my favourite band but because of the small, intimate atmosphere, and how close to the front I was, which I think will be hard to beat. As well as seeing my favourite band, I also got a chance to see an artist that I'd never heard of, Foxes, who were also great. I thought I'd share a few pictures I took. Enjoy!

 

In February a friend and I managed to get tickets to see Ed Sheeran on the 14th of October at the O2 arena London, where he was playing four consecutive nights. Obviously, Ed Sheeran is a hugely popular artist, and considering this was his first UK arena tour the tickets were in very high demand to say the least! I had also planned to see The Vamps on the Wednesday evening however, on the 13th I recieved an email from Octopus Books publishing company saying I'd won their competition to win two Ed Sheeran tickets for the 15th (which I had forgotten I'd entered) and of course I accepted. Which meant that I couldn't see The Vamps, but who would pass up the opportunity to see Ed Sheeran two days in a row...I certainly wouldn't/didn't. This was pretty lucky as I'd been looking for tickets for a friend for weeks, without luck because all four shows were sold out, and the only tickets available were ridiculously overpriced! Of course I was extremely excited to tell her I'd won tickets and that I was taking her to see him. Both nights were absolutely amazing and Ed Sheeran did not disappoint at all. His stage presence, with only him and his guitar is truly captivating, and I would defiantly recommend seeing him live. 

Where to find The Script - Website

YouTube channel

Vevo YouTube channel

Twitter

Where to find Ed Sheeran - Website

YouTube Channel

Twitter

Where to find Foxes - Website

Vevo YouTube channel

YouTube channel

Twitter

Thanks for reading! :P

The Cake and Bake show 2014

Last weekend my dad and I took a trip up to London to visit The Cake and Bake show. This is an exhibition that happens every year, in which there are hundreds of stalls, and also demonstrations by celebrity chefs. As I am an avid baker this was a very exciting and fun afternoon! There were many amazing cake designs, of all different themes as well as tasters (yum!) at many of the food stalls, ranging from bread to fudge.

We also got a chance to watch Rosmary Shrager's demonstration, which was to say the least hilarious because of her fun, bossy nature, as well as Rachel Khoo, Frances Quinn and Jo Wheatley. Although, to my disappointment this years contestants of The Great British Bake off attended the show the day after.

To top it all off this year there was a stand dedicated to the TV show Cake Boss, which I absolutely love. If you have never seen the show (you should!), it's about a bakery in New York owned by an Italian American man called Buddy Valastro. At this bakery they produce some of the most amazing cake designs, such as a mechanical bull cake, which is what inspired me to have a go at challenging my cake decorating skills earlier this year.

Thank you for reading! :) 

Home baking

As Autumn is officially here what better way to spend a Saturday afternoon doing a bit of baking. The evenings are getting darker and the mornings are becoming colder, so what more do you want than some good old comfort food!  

I've always had a love, hate relationship with macarons, with them going wrong more times than right but, as always I'm determined to get them perfect. Last weekend (27th) I was searching through the cupboards trying to pull odd ingredients together, but in the end I decided to try a classic chocolate macaron with a chocolate ganache filling.

Ingredients: 

• 125g icing sugar
• 125g ground almonds
• 50g cocoa powder
• 90g free-range egg whites
• 2 tbsp water
• 110g caster sugar
• food colouring (optional)
• 50g milk/dark chocolate 
• 2 tsp milk

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170/C/325F/Gas 3 and line a large baking tray with baking paper, or lay your macaron sheet onto a baking tray. 
2. Put the icing sugar, ground almonds, cocoa powder and 40g/1½oz egg whites together in a large bowl and mix to a paste.
3. Put the water and caster sugar in a small pan and heat gently to melt the sugar, then turn up the heat and boil until the mixture starts to go syrupy and thickens.
4. Whisk the remaining 50g/2oz egg whites in a small bowl until medium-stiff peaks form (when the whisk is removed from the bowl), then pour in the sugar syrup, whisking until the mixture becomes stiff and shiny. For coloured macaroons, add a few drops of food colouring (Note: use gel colouring as liquid changes the consistency of the mixture). Tip this meringue mixture into the almond paste mixture and whisk gently until it becomes stiff and shiny again.
5. Spoon into a piping bag.  With the bag held vertically, pipe 4cm/1½in flat circles onto the lined tray, about 2cm/¾in apart, twisting the bag after each one, or pipe into the indents on the macaron sheet. The mixture should be quite loose to give a smooth finish. The piping will leave a small ‘tip’ on each circle so, when they’re all piped, give the tray 2–3 slams on a flat surface to flatten them. At this stage, sprinkle with desiccated coconut if you want.
6. Leave to stand for 30 minutes to form a skin then bake in the oven for 12–15 minutes with the door slightly ajar until firm. Remove from the oven, lift the paper off the baking tray and leave the macaroons to cool on the paper/mat. (Note: The macarons will not peel off a macaron mat easily until cooled).
7. To make the filling, put chocolate into a heatproof bowl and gently melt over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir in the warm milk until smooth. Leave to cool and thicken a little, then use to sandwich the macaroons together

As well as these delicious Macarons I made some indulgent chocolate chip cookies. I've been making these cookies for about a year now and haven't looked back. Their crumbly buttery texture is divine, along with the gooey chocolate chunks throughout. 

Ingredients:

• 125g butter
• 100g light brown sugar
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 225g self-raising flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 200g chocolate

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4
2. Cream butter and sugars, once creamed, combine in the egg and vanilla.
3. Sift in the flour and salt, then the chocolate chips.
4. Roll into walnut size balls, for a more homemade look, or roll into a long, thick sausage shape and slice to make neater looking cookies.
5. Place on ungreased baking paper. Bake for 7-10 minutes until they have reached your desired colour. The longer they are left in the oven the crunchier they will be.
6. Take out of the oven and leave to harden for a minute before transferring to a wire cooling rack. 

Thanks for reading, happy baking! :P