Terry’s Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

Yes, I have in fact become addicted to scrolling through Jane’s Patisserie and trying to perfect her range of cupcakes.

I have always played it safe when it comes to baking and by that I mean: vanilla. I attempted to make the Mr a birthday cake back in November 2016 and the idiot within me thought that using hot chocolate powder would work perfectly fine.

Cue tears and two cracked cakes on the floor.

Recently, I’ve challenged myself to bake every few weeks – not just because they’re insanely delicious but because it seems to be good for my mental health.

All credit goes to Jane for this recipe!

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Wake Up This Summer With Pago

Summer is officially here!

Without fail, the first thing I do when I wake up is making a cup of tea – it’s auto mode for me throughout the past decade or so. But throughout the warm mornings, I’ve also been reaching for a glass of fruit juice just to kick start my morning.

Sourced from natural ingredients, Pago Premium Fruit Juice produce a variety of different flavours that are suitable for every member of the family.

Disclaimer: These products were kindly gifted in exchange for a blog post.

Afternoon Tea At Blackpool Tower

All of the restaurants and cafes seem to offer afternoon tea these days.

It is a lovely treat for Mother’s Day, a calm hen party, a birthday lunch or just because you’re wanting to treat someone and you hope they’ll take you along.

The Mr and I were kindly invited to taste the afternoon tea in the Ballroom at the Blackpool Tower which is just a little over an hour drive away from Liverpool for us. If you are familiar with Strictly, this is exactly where they film for the Blackpool special.

Disclaimer: This afternoon tea was kindly gifted by the PR company.

The Easiest Chocolate Cupcakes

Whether it’s for a charity day we’re hosting in the office, trying out a new recipe or it’s a special birthday, I’ve found that I’m really enjoying baking at the moment.

For a year or so now, I’ve relied heavily on a website called Jane’s Patisserie; from her wide selection of bakes, to flavours to encouraging me to try my hand at icing, it has been the best baking site I have ever come across.

When it was Cupcake Day in association with Alzheimer’s Society, the office collectively decided to host a Bake Off and even though I didn’t win, these easy chocolate cupcakes were a real hit.

Just as a little disclaimer: All create for the ingredients list and method goes to Jane!

Banana Loaf With Chocolate Chips

I’ve been wanting to bake a banana loaf for a few months.

So when the May Bank Holiday came along and I had an hour or so to myself, I decided to use up our over ripe bananas.

Bank Holiday Picnics With Baker Street

I haven’t had a picnic since I was a child.

But when the weather is glorious and you don’t fancy a BBQ, the next best thing is to gather as much delicious food as possible and to enjoy a picnic surrounded by your family and friends.

For me, the main player of a picnic is the sandwiches – especially if you make them yourself rather than trying to decide which one you want from the local shop.

I was very kindly gifted some delicious loaves of bread from Baker Street and after reading up on their rave reviews, I couldn’t say no and quite frankly, I’m glad I didn’t.

The Sweet Breakfast To Kick Start The Weekend

When it comes to breakfast, 99% of the time I will opt for a savoury breakfast – eggs benedict, avocado on toast, a crispy bacon butty.

I’ve never really been the person who will eat pancakes or waffles, but once in a blue moon, I push the boat out and opt for something a little sweeter to begin my weekend on a great note.

When the wonderful team at Baker Street kindly gifted me some of their products, I knew that I was going to eating well for a good few weeks.

A Slice Of St. Pierre Bakery

Pastries are the perfect way to start your day.

I can remember being in Paris at the age of eight, being fascinated by the pastries in the shop window and wondering what they tasted like.

Fast forward twenty years and you can get great pastries from pretty much anywhere in your local town or city, but will they ever be as good as the real ones from France?

I was very kindly gifted a generous box of pastries from St. Pierre and even though I’m currently on a healthy eating bandwagon, I have sampled them for the purpose of my blog. That’s a good enough excuse, right?

The Best Breakfast Spots In Liverpool

Going out for breakfast is a real treat at the moment.

Over the past few months, I’ve been scouting out the best places to eat breakfast whether it’s pre-work, post-meeting success or you’re catching up with friends over the weekend.

There are so many places to eat in Liverpool; ones in which I’ve been loyal to for a number of years, some which I’ve only just discovered and some which I haven’t eaten stumbled across yet.

But I wanted to share a handful of fantastic food spots with you all – for the times you may be visiting Liverpool or for those who are in the area majority of the time like I am.

The Five Ingredient Pasta Dish

I have two fun facts for you.

One. Pasta is my all time favourite food.

Two. One of my aims of this year was to cook more often.

Granted, I’m not the best cook (more of a baker) but I’m twenty-eight, I can’t live on frozen food for the rest of my life and to my utter surprise – cooking is very relaxing (sometimes stressful when things go pear shaped but it’s worth a go).

I’ve relied heavily on BBC Good Food throughout the past month or so as they are incredible when it comes to simple recipes – you can simply type in a word such as shrimp or risotto and within a few seconds, they’ve given you plenty of options.