Recipe: Strawberry sponge cake

I baked this cake a good few weeks ago for my boyfriend's dad's party and although it didn't get eaten there - we completely overdid it with the food - it went down a treat in my household and my mum's office.

As this is a Martha Stewart recipe all the measurements are in cups! Sorry I know how frustrating this can be for Brits.

You will need:
6 tablespoons of unsalted butter plus more to line the cake tin
1 1/2 cups of plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 large egg or 2 medium eggs
1/2 cup of milk
1 teaspoon of Vanilla extract
1 pound of strawberries
1 cup of sugar plus two tablespoons of sugar

1. Line the tin with butter. Try to be generous as you can as you don't want the cake sticking and all your hard work destroyed! I used tiny strawberries but if they're a bit bigger make sure you cut them in half. Don't forget to preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

2. Pop the butter and the cup of  sugar into a bowl and mix together using an electric mixer. If you're hardcore you can always do it by hand! Make sure it nice and fluffy.

003. Mix in the eggs - after they've been wisked together -, milk and vanilla extract. I like to use a wooden spoon for this instead of an electtric mixer but it's up to you!

004. Shift the flour and mix it in with the other mixture.

 005. Add the mixture to the cake and position all the strawberries in the cake batter. Spinkle the remaining two tablespoons of sugar over the strawberries. Pop it in the oven and bake it for around 45 minutes. Keep checking after 30 minutes though as some oven vary with cooking times. My fan oven seems to make it up as it goes along - no time is ever the same!

 Voila! A lovely strawberry sponge cake that you won't be able to stop eating! For something so simple it looks very eye-catching on the table even if I do say so myself. Keep in mind that the strawberries will sink as time goes on.

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F&F A/W preview

 

Last week the ever so wonderful Sarah invited me along to the Autumn Winter preview of F&F at tesco as her plus one. I've been to one  before so knew I would be in for a treat and I wasn't mistaken! I am always impressed by the beautiful clothes and how good the quality is. There were so many things - the tweed jackets in particular - that could have passed for Zara. The touch didn't feel like it was from a supermarket and I have no idea how they can keep the clothes so reasonably priced when they look this good. I'm not complaining though! I completely fell in love the Wednesday Addams - esque dress with the white collar and cuffs and will be keeping my beady eye out for it on the website. The matching cameo necklace and earrings have my name written all over them.

 

I'm considering treating myself to the black sequin pencil skirt to wear on Christmas eve - it's one occasion when you have to be sparkly! I've fallen head over heels for this boucle jacket but alas with Christmas coming up I can't justify it - times are tight with present buying. Suppose i'll just have to start selling more of my life on eBay...

 

How gorgeous does Lily's eyelashes look eh?

 

Aisling, Elodie and I really are just too cool for school. Aisling is completely rocking that beard.

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A snapshot #17

Just looking at this sheer amount of food is making me long to  get back onto weightwatchers tomorrow. I had this week off - you can probably tell! - to try and get back into the right mindset of losing weight. I haven't been doing very well since my nan died in May. I went off track for quite a few months but going to get back on it tomorrow with a vengence! Wish me luck!

I popped along with Hannah, Florrie and Aisling to the Katch Pr press day to ogle at beautiful clothes. We all lusted over the wonderful DB Berdan where it was like being transported back into Alice in Wonderland. The prints on the dresses were so girly and pretty. I wanted to smuggle everything home in my bag! What blogger meet up would be complete without going to Nandos on the way home?

My friend hosted her turn of Come Dine With me - mine is next eeeek! - and her theme for the night was American. We had corn dogs to start, the delicious burgers for main, key lime pie for dessert and an American cheese roll with crackers. Needless to say Mario Kart was very hard to play with all the food in my belly - I don't think I finish a race ha!

There's a place near where I live called Cakes and Shakes with a stirling reputation so we all decided to take a trip there yesterday afternoon. I opted for rolo milkshake and a chocolate chip cheesecake. It was ok - quite overhyped so i'm not sure i'll make it a regular thing.

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Love taught me to lie

Outfit:
Burgandy and black polka dot wiggle dress: Asos
Black faux suede peep toe platforms: New Look
Black tights: Primark
Black beaded statement necklace: New Look
Red lipstick: C/O Clothing at Tesco

I did want to take outfit pictures outside to show this dress off in its full glory but alas the weather elements were against me. I fear this is a sign of things to come. It's been so cold and been raining non stop all day!

It's safe to say that the arrival of this dress on Wednesday made my week. It just screams 'me' and I already have a few of the same style of dress but different patterns. Why fix something that isn't broken? Dresses like this are the sole reason why I sell my life on ebay. I'm off to a family party tonight and then going to brave TOWIE land for my friends birthday after. I'm wearing far too many clothes and am looking rather pale so am going to stand out like a sore thumb. I wouldn't have it any other way...

P.S. You can tell i've got a proper job as my wardrobe is slowly becoming less Primark! I can afford to shop in other shops now!

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Look Scary

Like I mentioned last week, I was lucky enough to be invited to attend Look Scary in conjuction with Blackberry and o2 at London Dungeons on Thursday. As always it was so nice to see all my blogging favourites and of course meet some new ones such as the lovely Ellie. I met up in a nearby pub to get changed into my skeleton outfit - I got quite a few funny looks as I strolled out of the toilet! The lovely Sarah very kindly did my brilliant make up. I may have accidently hung on to Sarah and Lauren as we were walking around - not too keen on having things jump out at me in the pitch black dark! The tour was brilliant as usual and considering it was my third time to the dungeons I still jumped out of my skin a few times - not too keen on the gallows ride to be honest! How amazing does Laura's doll make up look? She was even more freaky in real life!

I managed to go to my first Tarot card reading and i'm quite sure if I believe in it. Some things she said did make sense so I suppose you could make a believer out of me yet. I know she was very good with other people!

Thanks so much to Charlie for the invite and for Lily and Zoe for hosting it.

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Sometimes good things never last

Outfit:
Brown scalloped blouse - Primark
Brown midi pleather skirt - Primark
Gold glitter heels - Primark
Pink and gold statement ring - Primark
China Glaze Adventure Red-y nail varnish - Via beauty drawer at work

So looks like I'm a walking advertisement for Primark! I have worn this outfit before on the blog minus the glitter shoes but in real life we wear things more than once right? I bagged these amazing shoes for just a tenner in the new Tottenham Court Road store a few weeks ago. I had to have them in time for the festive season. I'm a sucker for glitter, sequins and velvet in the lead up to Christmas.  I wore this to a surprise 50th birthday party at the weekend that my sister-in-law organised for their dad which she pulled off very well.

I'm off  out tonight for a night at the London Dungeons in association with O2 and Blackberry. I'm very excited to see some blogging friends and make some new ones. I just hope other people's costumes don't put mine to shame as I've had to come straight from work!

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Thrifty Finds #2

Another installment of some junk i've picked up along my travels. I've cheated a bit as my mum brought me two of the items while I was away in Bulgaria. Lovely woman isn't she?

001. My collection of Kelly bags is slightly getting out of control! But I didn't have a red one and mum kindly picked it up for me when she went on a day trip with her friend. It's not leather but its in pretty good condition and makes a nice addition. I just need to get round to actually using my collection'

002. One of my best memories as a kid - I was and still am a geek - was trawling around boots sales with my mum and picking up 1960's - 1970's Enid Blyton books. I've built up quite a collection over the years and couldn't leave these two behind for just 50p each. I have no idea if I have them as our loft full to the brim and a no go zone!

003. Call me a forward planner as I don't even know if I'll get married but at my wedding I want afternoon tea with mix matched vintage crockery so am collecting tea cups and saucers just in case. Failing that I want a Welsh dresser when I finally move out filled up with vintage crockery. Yep I will have Aladins cave as a house. This cute cup and saucer was something else my mum picked up for me. She's just encouraging me to love junk!

Have you found anything special recently?

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A snapshot #16

001-002. This week involved a lot of baking and a lot of eating by the looks of it. It was my boyfriend's dads 50th birthday so I baked him a carrot cake for his actual birthday and the strawberry cake was baked for his surprise party yesterday. I've come to the conclusion that I love feeding people haha!

003. We went out for a fancy meal for his actual birthday earlier on in the week and i'd forgotten just how tasty lamb shank actually is. I may have accidently consumed three courses that evening making fat club very hard Saturday morning.

004. I was given some preview tickets for Hotel Transylvania from work so my mother and I trotted along to the screening with a cheeky nandos on the way home.

005-006. The highlight of my week was getting to raid the beauty drawer at work and take some goodies home. I made a beeline for the nail varnishes as you can see - a Revlon orange one isn't pictured as I gave that to my mum. I'd never tried China Glaze before but had seen many reviews on different blogs. I love the fact it's so shiny and I haven't managed to chip it within an hour - that seems to be my speciality.

Have you all had a good week?

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Red red wine

 Outfit:
Wine coloured lace skater dress - Next
Black and white tweed boyfriend coat - Next
Black leather giraffe buckle shes - Topshop
Black bayswater - Mulberry
Selection of gold and cream bangles - Allsorted shops

Yes that is my beloved Mulberry you can see. I finally saved up enough money to buy my dream bag and it's safe to say i'm completely in love. I've wanted this bag since I was 15 and it feels amazing that I can finally say I own one. I've already set up another money tin to start saving for yet another bag! I brought this dress with the last of my Next discount and it's become a staple in my wardrobe. It's a great length for work and very comfortable for everyday wear.

I'm slightly suffering today from tiredness after rolling in at 5am this morning. Althought we didn't actually drift off to sleep until about 5.45 thanks to late night drunken talks. My friend moved to North London for Uni a few years ago and we decided to take advantage of her gaff and plan a girls night out in Camden. I had the best time dancing like an idiot and literally didn't stop laughing all night. I've rustled up a carrot cake to help make me feel a bit better. I think tonight might be an early night...

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Leamington Spa

Last Saturday I travelled down ( or up?) to Leamington Spa for a blogger meet up hosted by the lovely Sarah who has the most amazing collection of dresses i've ever seen! Sarah and Char met me at the train station and after we'd waited for Gemma and Kim ,we treked off to the wonderful shop of  Berylune. This little treasure trove consisting of beautiful vintage trickets, wonderful stationary and colourful Zatchels.It's well worth a visit if you're ever in the area. We were treated to a giant slice of Sarah's gorgeous Victoria sponge in the "Bitch and Switch" room above the shop.It was here that Rosie and I bonded over our love (not!) of my home town. It turned out she knew someone from where I live. Small world eh?

After a cheeky cocktail in Wagamamas we took to the travel lodge to make ourselves beautiful for a night on the town. Hannah, Aisling and I may have had a cheeky glass of wine while getting ready... The darling Katy met us for dinner where I stuffed my face with some delicious noodles plus more cocktails. Of course!

After a mini bar crawl and some drunken dancing in Moo we managed to stumble home where the girls spoke of their disgust of me stuffing my face with a kebab. I honestly thought it was a staple after a night out...

With tired eyes we all woke up on Sunday morning ready to stuff our faces with cake and finger sandwiches at an amazing vintage tearoom. Seriously the cake collection was out of this world. It was the hardest decision of the weekend to decide what to have!

Thanks so much to the wonderful Lauren who very kindly dropped me off at the station. It was lovely to meet a fellow Essex girl! 

I had the loveliest of weekends and can't wait to do it all over again! 

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