Archive

Author Archive

Recipe: White and milk chocolate muffins

November 5, 2012 2 comments

My sweet tooth has definitely been alerted after reading this BBC article on sweets. It questions the nostalgia/novelty surrounding our most loved sweets and I for one, have a strong craving for sour boiled sweets now!

Therefore for all you chocolate lovers, I thought I would share a recipe that I have perfected. It is really simple and takes about 20 minutes preparation time and 30 minutes cooking in the oven (total time = 50 minutes). Perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon or mid-week treat.

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 130g plain flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 50g cocoa powder
  • 160ml whole milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 160g unsalted butter
  • 70g white chocolate
  • 50g milk chocolate (or I use Galaxy Counters)
  • 12 hole-muffin tray with paper cases
  1. Preheat the oven to 170°C
  2. Mix the egg and sugar until well combined and pale in colour. You can use either a handheld or electric whisk.
  3. In a different bowl sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and add the pinch of salt.
  4. In another bowl combine the milk and vanilla extract.
  5. Gradually add the two mixtures to the egg mixture. Beat until all the ingredients are fully mixed together.
  6. Stir in the melted butter.
  7. Chop the white chocolate into small chunks and half the Galaxy Counters (or chop milk chocolate). Then add all the chocolate to the mixture.
  8. Using an ice cream scoop, add one scoop to each case and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes. Tip: Ice cream scoops are ideal for ensuring each paper case contains a similar amount of cake/muffin mix. It saves using two or three spoons to scrape the mixture. Simple and easy giving a professional finish to your end baking results.
  9. After 30 minutes check to see if the sponge bounces back when touched and use a skewer to see if all the mixture is cooked.
  10. Leave to cool before turning out onto a wire rack.
  11. Enjoy your sweet, moist muffins avec a cup of tea!

 

Categories: Blog, Reviews Tags: , , , , ,

Halloween costume ideas and terrifying party games!

October 31, 2012 Leave a comment

Surprisingly it is that time of year again, All Hallows’ Eve. So get your pumpkins carved, sweets and toffee apples at the ready and oh wait hang on… I haven’t got an outfit!

Simply Fancy Dress is an easy to use website offering a wide selection of fancy dress costumes. They have a section dedicated to Halloween fancy dress, including, but not limited to; zombie costumes, vampire costumes, devil costumes, ghost costumes, witch costumes and skeleton costumes. They offer a range of accessories, wigs and make up. All of their products are reasonably priced and they offer free 5 day delivery. So get yours in good time for next year!

Halloween games

  • Stuck for ideas for the children? See this blog from Netmums on games to keep your littles ones entertained. These games are cheap to fund and easy to organise.
  • Are you having a get together? Well organise some adult friendly games for you and your friends.
  • If you are after a quiet night, with the curtains drawn and candles lit, this is a scary film list ideal for Halloween. So pick four of these films, stock up on nibbles and invite your friends round for a terrific evening. You could even suggest all guests must come in fancy dress.

Policy Mic have published an interesting article discussing 13 strange facts about Halloween and why we celebrate it, so have a read!

 

 

Categories: Blog, Opinion Tags: , , , ,

Twit-twoo, calling all Twitter novelists!

October 21, 2012 6 comments

Do you love digital media? Do you love social media websites? Do you love the beauty of writing and being completely submersed in your creative world? Then you have to enter this fantastic festival that I stumbled across: Twitter Fiction Festival. If you want to be part of the Twitter Fiction Festival then submit your ideas online now. The competition closes on the 15th November 2012, so get your twitterific ideas submitted as soon as possible.

The Twitter Fiction Festival runs for five days from 28th November 2012. The festival will be running online and has been born out of the Twitter hashtag #twitterfiction. This is a fantastic opportunity for writers to push the boundaries of publishing and storytelling. A great way for writers to test their writing skills in the online universe and platform, Twitter. Five days of stories and tales from all corners of the world.

Have you ever had to reduce the word count, or delete a few words here and there? Do you like the idea of a story limited by characters? Some writers may feel restricted by the small box on Twitter. However some authors have already made their mark using Twitter; Jennifer Egan is a perfect example. Egan used Twitter to post her short story, “Black Box”. She posted a tweet a minute for one hour each day, over an eleven day period. 8,500 words separated by the limitations of Twitter. Was this a good way to tell a story? Well, her story was carefully crafted and polished but received mixed opinions.

In my opinion, Twitter opens up new and exciting possibilities to a story while the 160 character tweet limit ensures structure and format. Discipline for the writer. It also offers the possibility for photographs to be added alongside the text, bringing a more visual and realistic element to the storytelling. The audience is also unrestricted and this is great news for authors of all genres. The real-time broadcasting will also make the festival vibrant, fun and engaging. We can all absorb the same story, at the same time. Who said the internet can’t bring us together?

Could it even be targeted at younger readers? Gather the children, the slippers and huddle around the warm fire, oh and your laptop!

@PrincessFi Once upon a time in Twitter land…

@HandsomePrince Tell us a new story o’ PrincessFi #snoringboring

Categories: Blog, Opinion Tags: , , , , ,