Raisin Cake with Apple Syrup {recipe} *inspired by The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

My life is always torn between books and baking and on occasion they merge.

This is one of those occasions.

The Cruel Prince was released early this year and everyone went mad for it. I love Holly Black, her Curse Worker series being one of my all time favorites, however fairies and the world of the Faerie have never been my first choice in supernatural worlds, genre, or whatever.

The book is clever and deserves all the praise it has received and I will probably read the rest of the series/trilogy but, I will do so in my own time. One thing about the Faerie world that I like best is the food. Note that if you are a human living in Faerie you sprinkle all your food with salt to counter act any spells or enchantments that may have been placed on the food. After that you are free to enjoy the delicious food they provide, the author mentions our heroine or anti-heroine (Holly Black writes a great anti-hero) eating a raisin cake with apple syrup and I literally had a light bulb moment.

Even if you haven't read the book this cake is worth a try. My apple syrup is a little thick and that was due to my timing of taking pictures, life of a blogger. So, the syrup can be made looser or thicker to match your preference.

Raisin Cake:

160g raisins
60ml apple juice
185g self-raising flour
60g plain flour
150g butter, cubed
140g light brown sugar
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
apple syrup to serve (recipe below)

Heat the oven to 180C/350F - Start by soaking the raisins in the apple juice and leave aside for 10 minutes. While they chilling and soaking up all that juice line the base of a deep 7 in (17cm) round cake tin grease the sides of your tin, I always very lightly grease the baking paper too.

Melt the butter and sugar on a low heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. While it's melting sift both of the flours into a large mixing bowl. Once the butter and sugar mixture is done mix with the raisins and then add to the flour. Add the eggs to the mixture and stir with a spatula/wooden spoon until just combined.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, smooth it down as best as you can. Bake for 45-55 minutes, use the skewer test to confirm it's baked through. It will brown quicker then it will cook, so keep the golden brown color you want place a piece of tin foil over the top to help stop it from burning or becoming too dark on the top.

Leave to cool and make the apple syrup.

Apple Syrup:

2 tart apples, cored, peeled, and sliced thin
100g sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp water

Place all of the ingredients in a saucepan over a medium/high heat and bring to a boil before reducing the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes or until the apples are soft and the sauce has thickened.

If you aren't using immediately take off the heat and place in a separate bowl as I left it and it thickened a little more then I would have liked. But it's all a personal preference!

Then pour over a slice of raisin cake and enjoy!

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
synopsis - Of course I want to be like them. They're beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.
And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.
One terrible morning, Jude and her sisters see their parents murdered in front of them. The terrifying assassin abducts all three girls to the world of Faerie, where Jude is installed in the royal court but mocked and tormented by the Faerie royalty for being mortal. 
As Jude grows older, she realises that she will need to take part in the dangerous deceptions of the fey to ever truly belong.
But the stairway to power is fraught with shadows and betrayal. And looming over all is the infuriating, arrogant and charismatic Prince Cardan . . . 

*All opinions are my own, I bought my own copy of The Cruel Prince from amazon for my Kindle. For more information see my contact/policy page above!

Fairy Loot - Monthly Box Subscription - Young Adult Fantasy Books & Stuff {review}

Fairy Loot is a monthly book subscription box that provides a new usually hard back young adult novel along with 5-6 other book related items.

Recently I have been reading a lot more, I still do bake (new post coming soon!) and that lead me to start following more and more book bloggers and instagram accounts and by doing so I was introduced to the monthly subscription book box.

There are so many based in the states and the cost of shipping was half the cost of the box and out of my budget for such a thing. So, I started researching UK based ones. There are so many out there, some come with chocolate and tea or an old out of print book, but Fairy Loot caught my eye.

The boxes always seemed to be full of fun things and the themes were interesting. So, I took the plunge and bought the June box - Rebels in Ballgowns.

Which was a great box that came with a great book. I found the characters interesting and I will be curious to see how the develop in the following books. My only niggle about this book is the big cliff hanger. I don't like cliffhangers in books. Anyway, it's not enough reason to not give the book a read!

Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart

synopsis - In a world where women have no rights, sisters Serina and Nomi face two very different fates: one in the palace, the other on an island prison where women must fight to survive.
Serina has spent her whole life preparing to become a Grace - selected to stand by the heir to the throne as a shining example of the perfect woman.
But her headstrong and rebellious younger sister has a dangerous secret, and one wrong move could cost both sisters everything.
Can Serina fight? And will Nomi win?

It also came with a beautiful masquerade mask necklace, a candle from Geeky Clean inspired by Nevernight by Jay Kristoff, a pillowcase designed by Miss Phi inspired by Stephanie Garber's Legendary, a book journal designed by FictionTea Designs with art work by Stella's Bookish Art, magnetic bookmarks featuring the characters from Shatter Me, and a cool iron on patch with a bookish quote and made by Ink and Wonder.

Then I twiddled my thumbs as debated to by the July box the theme The Power Within. This box had the same quality of products all book themed. However, it's the book I am really after and the extra stuff is exactly that extra.

This one came with a fun magic color changing mug designed by Little Inking Designs with a quote from Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes. Again from Geeky Clean there was a room spray that smells like lavender and books! Then there was a tea towel that had a quote from And I Darken by Kiersten White, there was also a vinyl sticker that says "One Eldr" it comes from Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young and means "breath fire."  And last, but not least a pen that is a broomstick and has a Harry Potter quote.

Then most importantly the book! It has sprayed edges and is signed by the author! I haven't had a chance to read this one, but I am looking forward to it!

Heart of Thorns by Bree Barton

synopsis - In the ancient river kingdom, where touch is a battlefield and bodies the instruments of war, Mia Rose has pledged her life to hunting Gwyrach: women who can manipulate flesh, bones, breath, and blood. The same women who killed her mother without a single scratch.
But when Mia's father announces an alliance with the royal family, she is forced to trade in her knives and trousers for a sumptuous silk gown. Determined to forge her own path forward, Mia plots a daring escape, but could never predict the greatest betrayal of all: her own body. Mia possesses the very magic she has sworn to destroy.
Now, as she untangles the secrets of her past, Mia must learn to trust her heart…even if it kills her.

Now the biggest debate is do I buy the next box? I mean it's Pirate themed!!

Overall I have enjoyed both of these boxes, and even if you haven't heard of some of the books they referenced it's a great way to get introduced to new authors and books!

For more pics of the Rebels in Ballgowns (June 2018 box) click here!

For more pics of The Power Within (July 2018 box) click here! 

Pssst -I made a video of the coloring changing mug for IGTV

For a unboxing video of the June box check out my youtube channel here! 

And if you want to get your very own box check out Fairy Loot here! - Price is £26 - £32.95 including tax and shipping

*All opinions are my own, I was not given any compensation for this review, both boxes were purchased by myself; please see my contact/policy page for more information.

The Body Shop - Reading, England

Growing up I had a huge thing for lip balms. In fact I had a whole caboodle full of them! So, when I think of The Body Shop the first thing that comes to mind is lip balms. 

After my visit to my local branch last week (for a blogger event) there is a lot more to think of when thinking of The Body Shop. 

Firstly of their campaign against animal testing. 

They still need help to reach their goal of 8 million signatures on their petition to ban Animal Testing.  You don't have to visit a branch to sign, you can do it online via their website. 

Secondly, although I will never not think of their lip balms, I now have a bigger range of products to consider when shopping there. 

Starting with their new body yogurts and face mists! I love a body butter, probably the second thing I think of after lip balms when thinking of The Body Shop, but I find them too buttery and thick for the summer. The body yogurts are smooth and go on so easily and smell delicious. Banana is the scent of the season (also limited edition), but it also comes in almond, mango, strawberry, rose, and moringa 'flavors'. 

The face mists come in varying scents and do slightly different things, but in this heat wave they are essential in helping keeping your face cool and collected. They would be good for anytime of the year really; especially if you work in an office where your co-workers are constantly messing with the thermostat, ahem, and one minute you are hot and the next cool.

Both of these products are worth checking out on your next visit to their store or online. There is also a new extended men's range and of course all the products in scents you've come to love are still available. The beloved body butters can now be personalised for yourself or as a great gift! 

Not only do The Body Shop provide some great products you can use them knowing they aren't tested on animals. 

I was particularly drawn to the satsuma scent and bought a few things for my hand bag! It was a fun night with fellow bloggers and friends, it's always nice to be invited somewhere you already love and admire. Also, on the night Wagamama's provided us with food! Full meals that were delicious along with some samples of their starters! 

*I was invited to visit my local branch of The Body Shop as a blogger for the #gobananas launch, I was not asked to write a review nor was I compensated financially, I was provided with a gift bag with a few products to try out. 

Visit The Body Shop - Reading 

The Oracle, Unit 24, Broad St, Reading RG1 2AG

(Wagamama's is also located in the Oracle on the Riverside!)

Peanut Butter Cookies (recipe)

Every thing has a national or international day these days.

Not only is social media a headache to keep up with how are we meant to keep up with all these celebrations of literally everything. I mean today (June 22nd, 2018) alone is National Take your Dog to Work day and National Onion Rings Day and don't forget National Chocolate Eclair Day.  

Now don't get me wrong I have used national days to my advantage. Like the 12th of June is National Peanut Butter Cookie Day so naturally on social media I am that annoying person going 

"Hey Everyone!! It's National Peanut Butter Cookie Day didn't ya know? Why not check out these Peanut Butter Cookies I made and if you want to make them too check the recipe out on my blog now!"

But I forgot all about National Peanut Butter Cookie Day. I was going to share these with you. However that never happened, the day just passed me by. So, here ten days later I am sharing with you some peanut butter cookies.

They are still good cookies even if they weren't eaten nor blogged about on 'their' day. The worst part is I can't shamelessly promote it by claiming its National Peanut Butter Cookie Day. 

Peanut Butter Cookies

160g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

114g unsalted butter, room temp

150g light brown sugar

50g sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

125g peanut butter, smooth/crunchy

50g-75g salted peanuts

50g peanut butter chips (optional)

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside. 

Beat the butter, and both sugars together until creamy and light. Add the egg and vanilla and beat again until combined. Add the peanut butter and beat to combine. Add the dry ingredients in three batches mixing until just combined in-between each addition. Fold the peanuts and peanut butter chips if using into the cookie dough. 

Cover the cookie dough and chill in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours or up to 3 days. 

When ready to bake remove from the fridge while you heat the oven to 170C/350F and line the baking trays with grease proof baking paper. 

Scoop out about 2 tablespoons of cookie dough and roll into a ball and place on the prepared baking tray. Once you've used all the dough, gently press down on each one with a fork in a criss-cross pattern. 

Bake for 10-13 minutes depending on your oven. The less you bake the softer the are and the longer the more crispy they are. Because cookies can look under-baked when they come out trust your timer and oven especially if you want softer cookies. 

Leave to cool and enjoy with a glass of cold milk! 

Living on the Veg: A kid's guide to life without meat by Clive Gifford & Jacqueline Meldrum

Over the last few years I have been cooking a minimum two veggie meals a week to accommodate for my child who doesn't particularly like meat. We have discussed her dislike for meat and what her other options are, but this book has been great for her to understand what exactly it means to be a vegetarian and the global impact of her choices. It has also shown her she isn't alone.

Food is one of those topics everyone has an opinion on as we all need it to survive. It's something we are all too happy to judge people, claiming that a food choice that isn't the one we would make as 'weird' or 'gross.' But if we don't talk about food then how do we know what else is out there?

I feel more empowered after reading this book to be able to explain my choices as well as my defend my daughter's choices to people. Like anything it's about educating people and it's best to educate them young and this book is a great introduction to 'living on the veg!'

Not only does it give us a lot of information it also gives us a few recipes to get started with from Jacqueline Meldrum, vegetarian and food blogger at Tinned Tomatoes. My daughters and I choose to make the Puff Pizza Pies for a treat one day after school. They are super easy and easily topped with your favorite vegetables to make the ultimate veggie pizza!

There were other great recipes like these bean burgers and sweet treats like coconut ice! There are so many more options then you think when you are eating veggie, sometimes it's just thinking a little more creatively! Your taste buds will thank you! 

If my review isn't enough to convince you have a look at these other bloggers who have reviewed Living on the Veg!!

• Tinned Tomatoes - review
• Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary - 10-Minute Vegan Bean Burgers
• A Mummy Too - Quick Green Pasta Sauce
• Tin & Thyme - Puff Pizza Pies
• Utterly Scrummy - Chocolate Mousse

*I was provided a copy of Living on the Veg by by Clive Gifford & Jacqueline Meldrum to review by the publisher, Wayland, retails at £12.99 and available now from your local book retailers or online! All opinions are my own, I was not given any other compensation nor was I asked to give a positive review, please see my contact/policy page for more information.

The Vintage Baker by Jessie Sheehan {book review}

Recipe writing has changed over the years, back in the day when people scribbled down recipes for each other it was with abbreviations and the simplest of instructions. So simple that today we would have trouble understanding exactly what they wanted us to do. Jessie, through her love of vintage cookbooks and pamphlets, has deciphered the ingredient lists and instructions and brought back long forgotten treats. 

In the past when a brand came out with a new appliance or gadget they would alway include a recipe pamphlet to go with it. Which makes sense to me and some brands still do it. I know Nordic Ware and Wiltons provide recipes on the packaging of their baking tins and my Kitchen Aid had instructions on how to send away for a 'free cookbook' which I had every intention of doing, but didn't. I wonder if it's too late? 

Anyhow, it was these books and pamphlets that Jessie collected from antique stores and secondhand shops and developed the recipes to suit us modern folks. With a wide range of recipes that cover everything from Sweet & Savory Morning Treats to Confections and everything in between we are taken back to a simpler time.

The books these recipes are inspired by range from 1800's to 1950's; some of them are familiar and others I have never heard of. But there are a few I am definitely bookmarking to try out myself....

Chai Banna Fritters

Butterscotch Pecan Curls (pictured)

Vanilla Yogurt Coffee Cake

Black-Bottom Banana Dream Bars (pictured)

Fig Pincushions

Lemon Chiffon Pie with Coconut Whipped Cream

Cherry-Almond Slab Pie with Marzipan Crumble (pictured)

Blueberry Angel Food Dream

Coconut Blitz Torte (pictured)

Milk Chocolate Malted Pudding (pictured)

Ice Cream Cake

Hot Fudge Sauce

Curried Candy Cashews

Chocolate-Marshmallow-Walnut Fudge with Sea Salt (pictured)

These are just a few of the recipes in this book, but it gives you an idea of what to expect. Even if you never baked anything from this book, although I don't see how you wouldn't want too, it's an intriguing book to read. Each recipe has a little picture of the book or pamphlet that the recipe was inspired by and even though it's a little thing, it has given it a nice little touch and adds to the atmosphere of the book. 

I think this is a great book, not only for those who love baking, but those who love everything vintage. I love being transported to another place and time through food. If you want to learn more before getting a copy for yourself, check out the author's website here and she shares a link to the recipe for Silver Cake with Pink Frosting to try out! 

The book is essential vintage American bakes, but the recipes give us UK readers weights in grams, which saves us time converting! So, please don't let that put you off!!

*I was provided a copy of The Vintage Baker by Jessie Sheehan (photography by Alice Gao) to review by the publisher, Chronicle Books, retails at £18.99 and available now from your local book retailers or online! All opinions are my own, I was not given any other compensation nor was I asked to give a positive review, please see my contact/policy page for more information.

Lemon Bars - {recipe}

I live on a main road and were I have gotten used to the traffic and the bus that runs all night has almost become a comforting sound as it rolls by before drifting off to sleep or in the mornings when waking up.

It's also the lights of these buses that keep my company as I stay up late baking. I have always preferred to bake at night. I think it's because when I started baking I was a stay at home mom and I liked waiting until the kids were in bed and it was a way of de-stressing. Unless it didn't turn out and then I would stress more.

But generally speaking it was therapeutic weighing out the ingredients and mixing them all together before popping it into the oven and then cleaning up before taking it out of the oven to cool and going to bed. If it was cake it would get frosted in the morning and if it wasn't it would cool ready to be eaten in the morning.

It was my birthday a couple of weeks ago and so I found myself up late baking again, something I haven't done in a while. And as it was my birthday I baked something just for me. A treat that isn't found here in the UK (if it is I have never seen it), a treat that reminded me of home. Lemon Bars. I can't remember the last time I had one.

My extensive baking book collection uncovered several recipes for lemon bars and all of them were pretty much the same. So, here is how I made these buttery tart lemon bars.

Lemon Bars: 

crust:

180g plain flour
80g icing sugar
1/2 tsp salt
114g unsalted butter, cubed*

Grease a 9x9 inch square baking tin with butter, I use the wrapper of the my block of butter, dust gently with flour and tap out the excess. Heat the oven to 170C

Sift all the dry ingredients together and using your finger tips combine the butter into the flour, sugar, and salt until it resembles bread crumbs. Pour into the prepared baking tin and press it down into the corners and try to get it as even as possible. Bake for about 15 minutes. Allow it to bake and cool while get on with the

lemon filling:

3 large eggs
200g sugar
about 125ml lemon juice, freshly squeezed (2-3 lemons)
lemon zest from about 2-3 lemons
35g plain flour
pinch of salt

Beat the eggs until frothy using a hand mixer. Add the sugar little by little, until just combined. Beat in the lemon juice and zest on medium high for a minute or two until combined. Mix in the flour and salt and then poor over the baked crust and bake for 15 more minutes. The edges should be slightly browned and the top should have tiny bubbles. Leave to cool for at least an hour or if you're like me over night. Cut and sprinkle with icing sugar just before serving.

*tip - for the butter in the crust bring it out of the fridge just as you are measuring ingredients. You don't want it to be room temperature or worse melting.

Not only do I stay up late baking, I stay up late blogging too. I wonder why I don't like mornings, but I think it's pretty obvious that I stay up way too late! Wether you are a late night baker or not I hope you enjoy them! 

*inspiration from - Fat Witch Brownies by Patricia Helding, Betty Crocker Red Cookbook, and Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-your-mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich