Sunday, May 31, 2015

Unicorn & Mermaid Cupcakes ♥

 It's official, I've been bitten by the baking bug again! I've been browsing on Pinterest and pinning things like a mad woman to make at sometime in the future - it's a long list at this stage! I came across some unicorn cupcakes and thought they looked amazing, but as always I wanted to put my own spin on them, making my own Unicorn & Mermaid Cupcakes. These cupcakes are a swirl of colours with a five colour sponge and five colour icing on top too with a hidden surprise in the middle. 

 They're called Unicorn & Mermaid Cupcakes because half the swirls came out light and pretty like unicorns and the others came out in a mixture of colours which reminded me of mermaids - it really is as simple as that! Plus, who doesn't like unicorns and mermaids?! It's funny because they came out like this exactly half and half - just like magic! Plus the swirls are like the swirls of the sea and the swirls of a unicorn horn - okay now I really am thinking about this too much!

 To make these glittering, magical, rainbow inspired cupcakes of gorgeousness you will need -

282g self raising flour
113g of softened butter
2 egg whites
2 eggs
1/2 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
Nerds - Rainbow drops would be amazing too! 
Any food colours you want, I used pink, blue, violet, leaf green and golden yellow.
Edible glitter, I used gold and pink for the unicorn cupcakes and silver and blue for the mermaid cupcakes.
Gold and silver ball sprinkles.

How to make these colourful, swirly unicorn & mermaid cupcakes -

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees and line cupcake tins with cases, this recipe makes 16 cupcakes.
2. Sieve the flour, baking soda and salt into a bowl.
3. Cream the butter and sugar together in another bowl, an electric mixer would have been so handy for this but as I don't have one I had to use my hands and then a spoon to mix it all together.
4. Add the vanilla extract to the butter and sugar mixture.
5. Add the egg whites to the butter, sugar and vanilla mixture one at a time, beating with a whisk.
6. Add in the eggs to this mixture one at a time, beat again.
7. Gradually add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter, sugar, egg and vanilla mixture, alternating the two as you add to get the best texture from your batter.
8. Divide your batter into five bowls (or however many bowls of colours you want).
9. Add in a tiny drop of each food colouring if you want a pastel look and a bit more if you want a more vivid look that I went for with the sponge.
10. Spoon your batter into the cupcake cases, adding each colour where you want it in the case. I put pink on the bottom, purple and blue on the sides and then green and yellow on top of each other and I love how they turned out.
11. When fully baked (around 20 minutes later) leave your cupcakes to cool on a wire rack. Top tip: Cover with a tea-towel to keep your cupcakes moist.
12. When completely cool use a cupcake scooper (I have just invested in one of these!) and fill the hole with the Nerds, Rainbow Drops or whatever other sweets you'd like. (Try to resist eating the Nerds, I couldn't!).

 For the delicious, creamy, swirly icing -

227g of unsalted, softened butter
404g of icing sugar
4 tbls of double cream
The food colourings you used for the sponge

1. Cream the butter until it's light and fluffy in texture.
2. Add the icing sugar and continue to beat the mixture until it becomes creamy in texture.
3. Add in the double cream and continue to beat.
4. Place your icing into five bowls.
5. Add the tiniest hint of food colouring (I wanted my icing to be pastel coloured so I used the smallest drop I could).
6. Add a spoon of each colour icing to a piping bag and push down with a spoon.
7. Ice your cupcakes in swirly, pastel coloured loveliness.
8. Sprinkle generously with glitter (or magic unicorn dust as I told my toddler it was!).
9. Add a gold and silver ball to the top of the cupcakes. I added the gold to my lighter/unicorn cupcakes and the silver to the blue/green/purple/mermaid cupcakes.

These were most definitely the yummiest cupcakes I've made and tasted in ages. The sponge was perfect, the icing was just right and creamy and the Nerds really do give the best addition to the taste. I need to make more magical food, it really is the most amazing you could eat and the various colours just add to the illusion of magic.

 To do list: Play with fairies, ride a unicorn, swim with mermaids, fly to the moon...

Share:

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Things Only Bloggers Will Understand ♥

Why Captcha is the bane of our lives and the importance of turning it off.

Why this sentence means you'll delete an email immediately after reading - "Our social team will be sharing their favourites on our social media"... cue disappointment.

Why you always need to have a pen and paper or your phone near you when you're drifting off to sleep - damn you fabulous post ideas which only come in the state of half awake/half asleep!

How HTML can mess up your whole life and wreck your head completely just from the slip of a mouse or a key.

Why white interiors are all the rage.

Why a good wi-fi connection is an essential, everywhere.

What Bloglovin and GFC actually do.

Why bloggers shouldn't be expected to work for free.

Why it's important to have a gazillion social media sites to promote your posts.

How you can spend 10 hours working on your blog and still feel like you could write more.

What bloggers block actually is and how annoying it is too.

The hindrance of not being able open or use anything without taking a picture first.

How much work blogging actually is.

That PR samples are not freebies, they're tools to grow our blogs, we actually have to do a lot of work to promote them, duh...

Why it's so annoying when you see people beginning blogs simply to try and get free things.

The joy of seeing the '(insert amount here) comment(s) awaiting moderation' line on your blog dashboard.

Why pyjamas really are the best work wear you could ever have.

The awkwardness of receiving a letter/parcel addressed to your blog name, what must the poor postman think we are?!

How you can get addicted to checking your emails.

Just how much fun blogging conferences are - yes we're all internet addictions, and that's a problem why?!

What a Twitter party is.

That if you don't blog something it's as if it never even happened.

The horror of going out to take pictures for your blog and realising that you left your cameras memory card at home (it's happened, more than once... *sigh*).

That there's no such thing as a day off - blog mode is constantly on people, there is no off switch!

How impossible it is not to compare yourself to other bloggers.

How you can live a champagne lifestyle of a lemonade budget. 

Why Pinterest is the best site ever, so many inspirations, so little time...

That it doesn't matter how tired you are, you just have to get that post finished.

The joy of receiving lovely comments on your blog/social media posts.

The excitement of amazing opportunity emails and how hard it is not to tell everyone about them immdediately.

How insulting it is when people don't realise just how much effort you put into your blog.

Why every picture on your blog has to be 'Pinterest worthy'.

What it's like to have a hallway full of PR sample deliveries and having nowhere to put them.

Why comments like this are so infuriating and why they get deleted immediately - "Nice! I really love your blog. Would you like to follow each other? Here is my blog (insert token blog link here), follow me and I'll follow you back xxx". Eh, how about no. If you really liked my blog you'd just follow it anyway.

What DA, PA, PR and Alexa mean and why they're important.

Why link-ups/blog hops are no good if everyone just link drops.

How amazing it is to see your stats and follower numbers growing.

Just how lovely it is when someone shares your posts on their own social media.

Why automated DMs on Twitter make you immediately want to unfollow the person whose account they came from... ain't nobody got time for that kind of crappy social media spam.

The pain of not winning a blogging award, especially when you made the shortlist *le sob*.

How disappointing it is when you click on a 'how to' post and it's full of generic information you already knew, what was the point?!

How annoying it is when people review a beauty product but don't show swatches or what it actually looks like on - once again, what was the bloody point?!

Why 'join my mailing list' pop-ups will make you want to stop reading a blog, *forever*...

How annoying people who ask for PR contacts in Facebook groups are... just buy it your bloody self!

How amazing some of your fellow bloggers can be and how great it is when you actually strike up a friendship with them.

The feeling of having the support of people you haven't even met, especially if you've connected over an emotional post you wrote.

That the 'Liebster Award' isn't an actual award... oh how we laugh now but when we were newbies we were all dying to be nominated for one (you're lying if you say you weren't). 

The joy of seeing your blog reaching milestones you never even thought you could achieve.

Share:

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Rosey Posey Cupcakes ♥

I was so inspired to make these Rosey Posey Cupcakes after reading the lovely Louise's post yesterday over on Tattooed Lady With A Baby. She had made delicious looking rose cupcakes, with rose flavouring and a jam centre (seriously, can you say yum!), and having not ever experimented with flavourings in my cupcakes before (apart from the go-to vanilla extract) I decided to take a leaf out of Louise's book and make some pretty and delicious with a hint of rose. Now I didn't want to copy Louise to the 'T' so I've put my own twist on these cupcakes, making a chocolate sponge, leaving out the jam and adding pink icing, rose decorations and pink glitter as the decoration.

  I wanted to have a go at making my own roses and even bought some candy pink fondant icing to have a whirl at it but it'll have to go on the 'to-do' list, but you can be sure to expect more rosey/floral loveliness in food form sometime in the near future. Thank you once again to Louise for the inspiration - I really am being honest when I say that other bloggers are the best source of inspiration ever. I really love how these cupcakes turned out, they're so pretty!

 To make these Rosey Posey Cupcakes you will need -

50g butter
115g soft dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
115g plain white flour
1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda
25g cocoa powder
125ml soured cream
Rose flavouring (I used Nielsen-Massey Rose Water)
Dr. Oetker Pink Icing (I'd recommend buying two if you have a large batch)
Pink edible glitter
Rose decorations, you can always make your own if you fancy it!


How to make these pretty cupcakes -

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake cases.
2. Place the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa powder in a large bowl and beat together until smooth. Fold in the soured cream and mix well. Add half a teaspoon of rose flavouring and mix (the rose smell was amazing!). Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases.
3. Bake for 20 minutes or until a knife comes out clear when inserted into the middle of the cupcakes.
4. Take out of oven and leave to cool completely on a wire rack. Top tip - I cover my cupcakes with a tea towel to keep in the moisture.
5. When cool apply icing of you choice. I used Dr. Oetker Pink Icing as I was short on time (I was making these while my son was at playschool!) and I really love the taste of this particular icing. Plus, the pretty pink shade is perfect for the rose design.
6. Decorate with the rose decoration of your choice, I used Cake Angels Flower Power pack.
7. Sprinkle with pink glitter, I gave generous amounts on each cupcake as I really can't get enough of the edible glitter!
8. I added extra decoration to my cupcakes by placing blue butterfly cases around them, I thought these were really pretty, they matched my cake stand and it just makes them all the more special I think.
9. Serve, share will friends and family and enjoy!

Thank you once again to Louise for the inspiration, she's a gem, please do stop by her blog Tattooed Lady With A Baby and share the love. I hope you like the look of my Rosey Posey Cupcakes. Now to have a mini tea party with the family!


Share:

Six Simple Money Saving Tips Everyone Should Follow ♥

 As I get older saving money becomes more and more of a priority for me. My other half is so great with his money, he manages it well and invests it wisely so that he gains interest and other benefits for saving his money, rather than spending it on impulse, just like I have been prone to do in the past... I have never been much of a saver, money always seems to burn a hole in my pocket if it's there too long but I really want to begin saving money, investing in mine and my families future.

 I have already made some changes to how I spend my money and have put plans into effect to help me be a better saver. I have learnt to be thrifty rather than wasting money on unnecessary items or bills and my other half has been teaching me about the importance and rewards of letting your money lay untouched and grow for awhile. Below are six simple money saving tips which I am following in order to save my money and set myself and my family up for the future.
 
Have a month-long spending ban / Use reward schemes
This is such a great way to save money and one which is quite popular amongst the beauty blogger community. Are you like me and have multiple boxes and baskets full of makeup and beauty products which you have yet to use? If so why not challenge yourself to a month long spending ban and resist buying products which you really don't need. I've made a vow not to spend anymore money on makeup or beauty products until I've used up my current stash and so far I've stuck to it and have saved loads in the process. If I do feel the need to try something new I have been using reward schemes such as Back To MAC, Boots advantage points or Lush's reward of a free fresh face mask if you return six empty pots - which I have plenty of!

Be more energy efficient
We are probably overly conscious of how much electricity we use in our house due to Jacek having a bit of a thing about having too many things on at once. You can save a lot of money on my monthly electricity bills by simply taking more care about what appliances and lights you're using at one time. I no longer use the big lights in our house unless I really have to, the table lamp gives sufficient light. I unplug and switch off sockets when I am done using something and I try not to have the television on whilst I'm on the laptop because I know I can't focus on both at once. These simple changes have really helped keep our energy bills down and it's great to know we're being energy efficient too.

Sell items you no longer need
If you're like me and have boxes full of things you no longer use or need but have very little space in your house why not think about selling these items? At the end of last year I cleared out our attic of all my sons baby things and sold them at a local baby market. From doing this I was able to pay off a lot of bills and have some money to spend on Christmas gifts. I now need to have another clear out of things we haven't even used and I think Ebay and Etsy are the best places for these. The money I make from these sales will go towards this Christmas - every little helps for the season of good cheer!

Manage your money sensibly
This is something my other half is great at doing and it allows him to save his money as well as reaping the reward of interest from it. He is able to have a savings account and add into it each week - a fantastic thing if you can do it and it also looks great on a mortgage application form. Keep your current account for your outgoings but set up an account for savings that you don't want to touch for awhile, think of it as a little nest egg for a rainy day.
   
Follow a saving money plan and stick to it
This year I am doing the 52-week money saving challenge (or at least I'm trying to!) and although it can be hard to stick to it when I have so many outgoings, I am determined to put away money each week to save up for something special for my sons 3rd birthday next February. Having a plan to follow has really helped me in focusing on what I need to save every week and it's great to tick off the weeks as they go buy and see your saving stash getting larger each week. If the 52-week money saving challenge isn't for you there are other templates which you could follow to be found on Pinterest.

Make a weekly meal plan before going grocery shopping
Making a weekly meal plan is such a great thing to do as not only will it help you become more organised when it comes to preparing meals but it will also help you save money whilst doing the weekly shop. I always have a list of dinners that we're going to have during the week with me when I go food shopping, this helps me focus on what I actually need to pick up instead of buying things we probably won't end up eating and therefore saving us money. We also stay away from brand name products when we can which really helps to keep the weekly food shop cost down.
  
Do you follow any of these money saving tips? Have you found the results to be rewarding on your purse?
Share:

Monday, May 25, 2015

No-Bake White Chocolate, Raspberry & Oreo Cheesecake ♥

This no-bake white chocolate, raspberry and Oreo cheesecake is such a simple dessert to make and it really doesn't take much time to prepare either, in fact, the hardest part is waiting for it to set in the fridge, especially when you're dying for a bite! I've made different variations of this recipe over the years and the Oreo base was a new twist on the classic (this recipe actually started out with blueberries and a digestive biscuit base!). What's great about this particular recipe is that you can substitute the ingredients for whatever you may like, you can add in different berries, have a different base and even decorate the top as you please, it really can be made unique to suit whatever your taste buds fancy.

 To make this delicious cheesecake you'll need -

14oz of white chocolate (roughly two large bars)
9oz of marscapone cheese (roughly one large tub)
9oz of cream cheese (roughly one and half tubs)
81/2 fluid oz of double cream (1 250ml carton should do)
2 punnets of raspberries
2 packets of Oreo biscuits
41/2 oz of butter
White chocolate chips
Spring-form baking tin

 How to make this yummy cheesecake -

1. Weigh out your ingredients and place the marscapone cheese, cream cheese and double cream in a mixing bowl. Mix together, I recommend using a mixer. I used a vintage Kenwood mixer and it did the job really quickly and made the ingredients perfectly smooth too.

2. Melt the white chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan, I actually tried melting mine in the microwave and it didn't turn out great at all so in future I'll be using the trusty bowl and saucepan method. Mix the chocolate in with the marscapone cheese, cream cheese and double cream mixture until smooth.

3. Fold in the raspberries, making sure they are evenly placed within the mixture.

4. Melt the butter and crush the Oreo biscuits with a rolling pin, place into a bowl and mix the melted butter through to form the base of the cheese cake. Spread the base evenly at the bottom of you spring-form baking tin.

5. Top the base with the cheesecake mixture, spread out evenly with the back of a spoon. Add on your topping decoration and place in the fridge to set.

6. I left my cheesecake setting overnight but 4 hours should be okay too. Serve up your cheesecake and enjoy!

As you can see it really is so simple to make and this white chocolate, raspberry and Oreo cheesecake really does make the perfect and quick no-bake treat, it literally took me only twenty-five minutes to make. It's especially perfect for having for Sunday dessert - which I shall be having it for. I also added some flowers from the garden for some extra decoration, because I really can't do anything without some sort of flowers or a floral pattern being involved!

Will you be making my cheesecake recipe for yourself? If you do, enjoy your sweet treat!

Share:

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Loneliness... ♥

 It finally hit me last night just how lonely I still feel, one and a half years on since I wrote my post about the unexpected loneliness of becoming a mother. During this past year and a half I've had to concern myself with trying to over my depression and crippling anxiety, looking back now I realise how terribly bad I was and I had no one to help me through but myself, whilst also looking after my son almost single-handedly. I had to get better not only for myself but for my son too, he needs a happy, healthy mother... but these feelings of loneliness just won't go away and they have eaten into my heart and spirit with such force that I can't pretend that I'm not craving the company and attention of someone, anyone, anymore.

I now make the effort to get out of the house everyday, occupying my time with my budding passion for photography and trying to capture the beauty of the world around me, however, there is always a sadness in my heart when I return home, all I have for company is the computer and all the people in the virtual world on the other side of its screen.

I have my son, of course, but he cannot yet talk and there are days when I just lust after some adult conversation, some laughs and banter, a chance to actually be listened to and feel that I at least have a friend in this world... sadly, this doesn't happen often. I have three friends who are all very busy ladies and if I'm honest I don't like to bother them when I know just how busy they are. I've lost my two best friends since I had my son and even if I say that 'it doesn't matter, it's just what happens when people get older', it still bloody hurts, a lot.

Today my mother said to me that she knows I'm not happy - funny how a mothers instinct is always right. I'm not happy no, I feel like a single mother day in, day out even though that's not supposed to be the case. I feel like all I have in the world is my little son and funnily (or not so in this case) enough I prophesied this when I was pregnant with him, I knew it'd just be him and I each and every day. Even when my other half is around I feel as though I may as well be invisible, I feel so abandoned. To combat the loneliness I began reading again and when I read about the way the author describes his main character loving his wife I realised that I don't even have an ounce of that in my life, love should never be lonely or lazy, sadly in my house though it is... no words, protests or efforts by me to fix this seem to mend what's broken either, I don't know where to go from here...

I'm twenty-five and I'm lonely and sadly, I think I'm far too old to go out and try to meet new friends - there are no people in the places I go, the meadows, fields and beaches of my island and surrounding areas aren't exactly jam-packed with potential friends, and I guess I do like the solitude but sometimes it all becomes too much, like today. My phone never rings, I don't get any texts, no one calls to my house except my stepdad when he's in need of a chat... I'm always there for people to speak to when they need to, but who's there for me? 

As I sat today amongst the daisies, making daisy chains like I did during my schooldays and admiring the beauty around me, the sun shining warmly on my face, I had to think back and wonder where it all went wrong for me. I used to be such an outgoing child, one who loved to speak to people and make new friends but that girl is no more, instead she is lost in solitude and has only her own, cheerful son to pass the days by with.

Loneliness is one of the worst feelings in the world and I'd never wish it upon anyone...



Share:

Friday, May 22, 2015

Urban Decay | Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Blush Obsessed, Sheer Revolution Lipstick Obsessed & Fireball Eye Shadow ♥

Urban Decay is one of my favourite makeup brands, I especially love their eye shadows and when I saw their summer 2015 collection I just knew that I'd have to add at least one of the shades to my collection. I also got the chance to try out one of their new Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Blushes in the shade Obsessed, whose name matches that of the Sheer Revolution lipstick I picked up back in February.

The newest Urban Decay eye shadow to my collection is Fireball*, a beautiful duochrome shade, peach with a pink shift and if I'm honest, the shade is quite similar to X, one of my favourite Urban Decay eye shadow shades ever. I just love the peachy tone Fireball has to offer and the shade looks absolutely beautiful when the light catches it and the pink shift just shines through.

The shade has quite a metallic finish to it when on the lids and it really is stunning - I just love the duochrome finish! The colour payoff is fantastic and the result in the swatch above is from just one stroke. I really do love this eye shadow and have been wearing if daily ever since I got it. Although it isn't as standout as some of the other shades Urban Decay has to off it's really pretty and very wearable which makes it perfect for me.

The Afterglow 8-Hour Blush has the traditional gunmetal packaging that most Urban Decay products have, it's super sleek and I really love how it looks. Obsessed* is a matte blush in a beautiful mid-tone pink shade that really pops when on the cheeks.

I was so happy to receive Obsessed to review because I had been wanting to add a new mid-tone pink shade to my blush collection and although I usually go for shimmer finishes, I really love the matte effect that this blush has to offer and I think it really does give a healthy 'glow' to the cheeks. 

I really like that Urban Decay have been honest about the wear of this blush in the fact that they've only given it '8-hours' of wear time. The above picture was taken after four hours of wear already and as you can see it was still going strong. It does fade over the day though and have topped it up on occasion, other than that I love it and like the Fireball eye shadow I've been wearing it daily.

I first saw the Sheer Revolution lipsticks back in February when I attended the Cork Blog Meet and I decided to treat myself to the shade Obsessed, always being a fan of pink lipsticks of course. At €19 a pop these lipsticks are in the range of my favourite MAC lipsticks so I was expecting big things from such a big pricetag.

 The pink shade is beautiful and the glossy effect is has is really moisturising on the lips and easy to wear but that's where the positive points stop for me I'm afraid. This lipstick just doesn't have any lasting power at all. If I wear it I have to keep reapplying it and it just isn't worth the hassle. I'm seriously disappointed by it and for €19 - not cheap at all when it comes to a lipstick, I really was expecting great things that it just doesn't deliver and it hasn't left me wanting to buy anymore of the Sheer Revolution lipsticks. I'll stick to the Urban Decay eye shadows and blushes from now on.

Have you tried any of the above Urban Decay shades?

Share:
© Dolly Dowsie | All rights reserved.
Blog Layout Created by pipdig