wishful thinking!

so amongst the fifty or so junk emails i cleared out of my inbox today was one delcaring that the blue cross sale at debenhams has started. i felt a little weak at the knees (as did my computer as i proceeded to open up about a million tabs). i started with the clothes section, drooling over some dresses by henry holland and julien mcdonald (which i managed to filter down to one summer dress by the former that i may indulge in!). then i had a brief look through the beauty section (daisy by marc jacobs is reduced, so tempted!) before looking at the home section. after a cursory glance for items for our student house next year i entered 'cake' into the search bar.

bad move.

i am now seriously lusting over these two cakestands. both by wedgwood (such a housewife) they are absolutely gorgeous (and reduced from £60 to £45 each - bargain right?!)

the first has a really classic look. although i have to say it's hard to judge how big they are - the handle looks a little out of proportion?! but still, it's so charming!

the second i think is really exquisite. the design is really beautiful and different from other cake stands i have seen. well a girl can dream!

here are the links:
stand one
stand two

as consolation another of the emails from bhs was to say my order had been dispatched - an order of three cake stands! (what they were £6 each - that really is a bargain!). so pictures will be up when they arrive. for now i think i might destroy my attempt at healthy eating by making a lemon drizzle cake (that counts as one of your five a day - right?!)

love,
nen
x nens nen's bakery bakery blog

i need dollar, dollar.

so i went to town the other day with my brother so he could pick up his prom shoes and shirt (so cute!). i can't believe it's his prom already and three years since mine - it's crazy how fast time flies!

after prom duties had been fulfilled we popped into 'the works' which is a weakness of mine. they do a variety of baking bits (like stands, shaped tins, cupcake boxes and more!). thankfully this time i managed to restrict myself to one purchase (a major achievement for me!). a set of three cardboard individual cake stands. these seem to be one the rise at the moment, i've seen them in paperchase too. this set was only £1.99 which seemed really good value and they would add interest to a cake display.

now back to filling out more job forms - desperation is increasing as my bank account is decreasing!

love,
nen
x nens nen's bakery bakery blog

mediocre muffins?

so for lunch today i set about following a recipe for ham, pea and feta muffins which sounded like a nice change to the monotony of lunch! however i'm not entirely convinced they have worked very well. first of all i was surprised that the recipe called for the use of an electric whisk - normally i make muffins by hand (which is why they are good to make with small children). it did say to use the slow setting however my whisk seems to be turbo powered so i think that might have altered the batter.

i also had a bit of a moment with the microwave (a new addition to our kitchen, hello twenty-first century!) i thought i would melt the butter in the microwave to save washing up a pan, however it proceeded to explode! note to self - watch it very carefully next time!

but back to the batter - it seemed a little strange and really clung to the whisk (literally all the batter was wrapped around the two whisks!). but i put them mixture in the oven anyway (possibly for slightly too long as the tops are a bit hard - but again this could be the batter?) i tried to eat one - not sure if it was still too hot as the centre peeled away from the outside! but my mum had one later after they had cooled more and she liked it? so perhaps i was just being a bit eager! i'll brave trying one again tomorrow. if not i think next time i will hand whisk the batter and perhaps use a little more liquid?

love,
nen
x nen nen's bakery bakery blog

strawberries and cream.

in the last couple of days we have finally seen a hint of summer (although that hint is made in comparison to the torrential downpour of the last week!). for me there are few things that summarise a british summer like strawberries and cream. this is such a refreshing yet indulgent treat (there's a reason for the expression 'like the cat who got the cream'!) so as my first foray into baking since returning home from university was a strawberries and cream cheesecake (a hummingbird recipe). this was a really simple recipe to make (only problem was that my spring form tin is larger than most recipes call for - i think because it's european - so my cheesecake doesn't quite have the height of most!)

my favourite part was making the strawberry sauce that runs through the cheesecake. this was really easy - just sugar, water and strawberries but boy did it taste good! i think i might have eaten more than i put in the cheesecake!

the only note i would add is that this took a while to set, 2-3 hours for the cheesecake and then it was recommended to leave it overnight once you had put the topping on. i did this (nothing like building up the anticipation and getting the taste buds tingling!) here is the finished result:

i like the contrast with the black tin - i think it would look super stylish served up on black dishes.

i had a slice after dinner and it is really scrummy - but what could be expected from such a classic flavour combination?! unsurprisingly it also appeals to cats as we discovered as i left my mum's slice unattended in the kitchen!

tomorrow i'm planning on taking a more savoury route: ham, pea and feta muffins which sound like a great lunch option to me! until then...

love,
nen
x nen nen's bakery bakery blog

retail therapy

so the other day i went to town for lunch with a friend and after we'd shaken off the chili heat of our meal, we hit the shops. our intention was to buy the reduced jubilee memorabilia (classy students) however the sainsburys in town had already taken their stuff away (sad times!). however just that morning whittard of chelsea had launched their 50% off sale. naturally it was downhill from there! although exercising some self control i managed to restrict myself to one purchase, this beautiful cake stand.

it's absolutely gorgeous and i think it would look great with a classic victoria sponge on top! and it provides me with another item for the spectacular tea party i am planning to host in our student house next year (although perhaps i should ask all my housemates first!)

however the retail therapy did not stop there (hey exams were stressful okay?!) the other day we donned our tourist caps and visited exeter's underground passages (which are amazing and well worth a visit!). on the way back to halls we walked a different way through town and my eagle eyes spotted a display of cupcake cases in a shop window. upon closer inspection i discovered that they were only £1 a pack - which is incredible value! there were so many different sizes and designs that i could have easily bought the entire display stand. however i limited myself to five (yes that was limited!) and here they are:

so my collection of cases is now very considerable (i will show you the full collection once i get home) - but hey they are still cheaper than shoes!

love,
nen
x

purrfect procrastination!

just a quick post - i forgot to share this with you. my friend linked it to me the other night and i have been going on it constantly since. possibly the most perfect little pick em up ever! baker cat!

closing cupcake

so my first year at university is already drawing to a close - a scary feeling indeed! however it appears i am already well on my way to becoming a BNOC (big name on campus). naturally this is an exaggeration of epic proportions but i do seem to have a fan! at our halls ball on friday i was drunkenly accosted my two people from the block next door and informed by one that the other checked my blog every single day. now while the vast amounts of alcohol coursing through their systems may have tampered with the veracity of this statement i am not one to turn down an ego boost! so thank you to those of you who are following this blog - it really means a lot to me!

on to more cake-related matters, the other day i was lucky enough to experience some serious cupcake indulgence. a close friend had been visited by her mum who had baked some cakes - following the hummingbird marshmallow cupcake recipe! it was absolutely gorgeous! it was so sweet and moist and - words cannot describe! i will definitely be trying out the recipe for myself sometime - but for now here are a couple of photos!

next time i'll show you some cake related purchases i made in town the other day!
love,
nen
x

brownies & brilliant news!

first and foremost - apologies for the silence, it has been a crazy few days! as this title suggests i've got some really good news, but let us begin with the brownies. tuesday afternoon i got on the train back home and attended a job registration wednesday (fingers crossed for that!). following the interview i went to sainsburys and raided the chocolate and baking departments in order to bake some of my famous brownies. (to the extent that one message in my birthday card this year simply read, "bake more brownies"!). unfortunately because i was on a tight time schedule i had to take them back on the train whilst they were still warm so they did end up a bit crumbled, however they still tasted as good as usual. although i hate to give away the secret for my primary form of bribery in life, here is the recipe i use: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1223/bestever-brownies. i think the trick is being really gentle when folding the ingredients together, which is very therapeutic but not good if you are in a hurry! but i did have time to take a few photos along the way (left my camera at uni so they are phone quality, sorry).

these two show the chocolate and butter being melted together over a saucepan of hot water (known as a bain-marie). i love how indulgent this looks!

this shows the brownie mixture after it has all been folded together - it is some of the best raw cake mix ever!

so now onto the main purpose of these brownies: bribery! as i mentioned a new society is being started at university - BakeSoc! the elections were friday and i used these as leverage to get my friends to come along and vote (thanks again guys!). it seemed to pay off as i won! so i am now events co-ordinator for BakeSoc - i am so excited and we're just starting to throw around ideas for freshers week. i cannot wait to see this thing to take off! i passed around the brownies to the other people attending the election and they seemed to enjoy them to. the leftovers i took to saturday's great british pre-lash (we're such a classy group of students!). they are pictured below on the table (ahem, ironing board) with some of the other nibbles. i received great (and slightly drunken) reviews for them - it is so great to hear people appreciate your baking! and they were all gone by the end of the night so i can't ask for better than that!

 well i think that brings you up to date, i'm off to fill in countless more job forms (yay).

love,
nen
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