What I'm listening to this week...

Biggie - Sky's the Limit

Always.

Tiffin (or fridge cake)...

Excuse the rubbish iPhone photo, but this is a lovely lovely tiffin that I made last weekend. The great thing about this recipe is that you can add and take away from it as you like. We just like ours with raisins or sultanas, but you might like yours with glacé cherries or marshmallows, or with a thick layer of dark chocolate on top, or with white chocolate chips or Oreo cookies instead of digestive biscuits. You can add what you want to the basic recipe. It's so easy to make and change and depending on what you put in it, you can make it a brunch time treat or an impressive dessert. 

This recipe has been passed down to me by my mum, who doesn't believe in measurements – just 'a teacup' or 'a heaped tbsp' or 'enough to fill up a mug'... As long as you proportion it right it'll be fine. Here it is:

You will need:

- 3 heaped tbsp of butter or margarine

- 2 heaped tbsp cocoa powder

- 1 heaped tbsp hot chocolate

- 3 tbsp golden syrup 

- A pack of digestive biscuits (or whatever other biscuits you like) 

- Raisins, glacé cherries, chocolate chips, dried fruit, fresh fruit, chocolate, marshmallows, peanuts etc or whatever it is that you want to put in!)

All you need to do is put the butter, cocoa powder, hot chocolate and golden syrup in a microwavable bowl and pop it in the microwave for a few minutes. If you're anti microwaves, do it on the stove but in my humble opinion, you're wasting your time. When it's melted give it a good stir to mix it all together and return it to the microwave for another minute. Voila, you've got the basic 'binding' mixture that will hold all your other delicious goodies together.

Smash up a packet of digestive biscuits (or other biscuits, if you like) with a rolling pin and stir them into your mixture. Add your raisins, cherries, chocolate or whatever and give it all a good mix. 

Press it all in to a loose-bottomed tin, making sure it's all tightly packed. Pop it in the fridge and it'll be ready in a few hours. Enjoy!

A few more from the weekend and The Cosy Club...

Since I moved to Bath, I've heard nothing but good things about The Cosy Club, so we decided to head there last weekend when my family were visiting. It lived up to it's reputation, it was amazing! I was surprised to learn that it's actually a chain and there are a few dotted round the country. I don't usually expect much from chain restaurants, but it's well worth a visit if there's one near by! Check out their website for some more info. 

 

 

 

 

What I'm listening to this week...

Plan B- Deepest Shame

I heard this on Radio One earlier this week and fell in love with it. It reminds me of his older stuff (Charmaine, in particular). Lovely stuff.

Victoria sponge...

I love cake, and of all the fancy cakes in the world, nothing beats a good victoria sponge. My mums is the best, but when she's not around I try to recreate it. I use my basic cake recipe, and I add a good splash of vanilla extract to the batter. 

For the filling, use a good quality jam. I like raspberry but I think strawberry is traditional. I find it tastes so much better if the jam is homemade too! The buttercream is just 100g unsalted butter with 300g icing sugar. Pile on the buttercream and the jam and sandwich the cakes together. Don't worry if it all splurges out – I think that makes it taste even better!

If you like this, you might also like the mini victoria sponges that I made a while back :)

Sophie and Rob's summer to-do list: Roman Baths

Hi guys! What have I been doing? Maybe a better question would be what haven't I done? The past few weeks have been so busy (this has become like a generic introduction to all my posts.)

 We've had loads of lovely visitors, most recently my aunty and my cousin from Scotland. This weekend I wanted to show them all the touristy things in Bath (that I haven't seen either!) so I actually ended up ticking a few things off mine and Rob's summer to-do list! It was such a good weekend and I can't believe it's come to an end already! Anyway, here are some pics of the Roman Baths, the fashion museum, my wonderful family and the beautiful city that I live in:

 

What I'm listening to this week...

Biz Markie- Just a Friend

I can't even write anything about why or how much I love this song.

We all enjoy The Simple Things...

The publishing company that I work for are launching a new lifestyle mag next month and I'm SO excited about it I just had to share it with you all. It's Mollie Makes older sister, need I say more?!

It's called The Simple Things, and this is what the makers have to say about it:

"The Simple Things is a new monthly print magazine celebrating the things that matter most. It’s about knowing the greatest rewards come from the simplest things, that there’s no satisfaction like that at the end of a long muddy walk, no pink so pretty as freshly-cut rhubarb, no perfume to compare with your own home-grown flowers. It’s about making warm inviting homes – big or small – sharing food with friends, growing your own vegetables. It’s about shopping for a coffee table only to find you’re happy with a tea chest. It’s keeping your dad’s old typewriter just because it’s beautiful. It’s an empty beach on a sunday morning. It’s backpedalling."

Are you excited? I know I am! Check out their website for a sneak peak!

The past few weeks in Instagram photos...

The past few weeks have been crazy busy. I've hardly had any time to blog and for that, dear followers, I am sorry! I started sponsoring Dearest Lou this month, which is pretty exciting for me because it means I get to meet you all! If you're a new follower and you've been directed over here from Cecilia's blog, say hello!

I've actually lost my camera lead so that's why you've not seen much of my cakes and bakes lately. Again, I'm sorry! I'm sure I'll get round to ordering a new one soon. 

Anyway, things are good. This is what I've been up to for the past few weeks. As per usual, expect lots of photos of cute pets: 

 

 

 

 

Theo got his fringe trimmed / Theo squashing mama's lavender and smiling about it / Rob and I went to the zoo / Drank way to much Pimms / Pearla being a contortionist / Our neighbours kitty came and sunbathed with me in the garden / Rob looked cute / Went to check out the fishes / Got some new white Converse / Got a new jumper with a sequin stag on it / Tried on dresses for graduation (which one shall I get?!) / My girl Jessie came to stay with us in Bath / Pearla decided she was an Olympic diver / Jess and I chilled at the bar whilst Rob was working / And subsequently got very drunk and thought we could play pool / We went to see a psychic / Then went for brunch.

How was your weekend? What have you been up to?

What I'm listening to this week...

Lucy Rose- Lines

This is another one that I heard on Sunday Brunch. I haven't been able to get it out of my head all week.