{Groove on}

I'm linking up again this week with Kate on Thin Ice for her Getting Your Groove Back Blog Hop.  Week #3 already!!

So, what have I done this week to get into the groove...?

I had my most enjoyable breakfast of smoked salmon, scrambled eggs & toasted pitta bread on Wednesday last week and thoroughly loved every bite, despite having to make it myself! I actually had it for brunch rather than breakfast - hope that still counts!? By the time I had been to the supermarket to get the salmon and eggs it was too late for breakfast! I also went to Aberdeen for the weekend to stay with my sister and her boyfriend, and get this - I was made smoked salmon, poached eggs & toast for brunch on Saturday... so I've had my special breakfast twice this week!!

Whilst I was in Aberdeen, my sister took my photograph in her home studio. So, here I am in my size 10, yep you read correctly...size 10 jeans! I can't believe that I was a size 16 just three months ago. I'm uber chuffed with myself. Excuse the pose...I'm not good in front of a camera and didn't know where to look etc!!

I've not been great with the healthy eating this week... I indulged in a bag of Jelly Belly's whilst watching X Factor (they were good!! - the jelly beans, not the X Factor contestants!!). I also had a banoffee pie... oops!! Oh I'm forgetting, I also had a few bits of dark chocolate, on a number of occasions!! I'm dreading my weigh in today (it's at lunchtime!).

I continued with my running though. I didn't make it to running club on Sunday as I was in Aberdeen but my sister and I did a 4.67 mile run on Friday night (I know this because I track my runs using a fancy app on my phone!). I did however get poked in the bum (!!) by a drunk teenager as I ran past him. I suppose that's going to happen when you go running at 9pm on a Friday night! I've also been to Pilates this week and I'm really enjoying it. 

My friend Becky has also kindly booked me onto a flower arranging course. As far as I'm aware it's a one-off 2 hour course at a local florist. I thoroughly enjoyed the cupcake course I went on and due to other commitments these days I can't really attend regular night classes so a one-off course suits me perfectly. So I'm looking forward to learning some much needed flower arranging skills. I'm rubbish when it comes to flowers and end up just plonking them in a vase and they are typically left there until they wither and die!

Another course I would love to do is the Jane Means gift wrapping course...however at £110 it's a bit pricey for a day workshop.

I do really enjoy being creative and so this week I took some time to indulge in my hobby and I made my first free printable to share with my blog readers. It's a Halloween design that could be used for stickers, cupcake toppers or gift tags. I could have spent hours playing about with Illustrator and Photoshop. I wish I had the time to do a digital design course but unfortunately I don't think it's viable.

I'm looking forward to the week ahead...

Let's get grooving ladies :-)

{Cupcakes}

Yesterday I went on a Cupcake Masterclass hosted by Naked Bakes and held at Glasgow's Blythswood Square Hotel. I stumbled across the course whilst browsing online for Naked Bakes as I was looking to get a quote for cupcakes for my son's birthday party. I ended up making the cupcakes myself, but was keen to go on the course to perfect my icing techniques. It also seemed like a very good deal so I asked a few friends if they wanted to join me... we had a glass of bubbly on arrival then a 90min cupcake class followed by lunch of sandwiches, tea/coffee & one of the Naked Bakes cakes. We also took away with us a box of 4 cupcakes that we decorated and a goody bag from Lakeland. All for £35 per person.

My decorated cakes

Our teacher, Pauline, shared some tips for the perfect cake and she also shared her Naked Bakes recipe. I have compared this to the recipe that I currently use (from the Magimix recipe book) - and the ingredients are identical! Here it is:

175g Lurpak butter
175g caster sugar
175g Be-Ro self raising flour, sifted
(I also add a teaspoon of baking powder - thanks to my friend Claire for that tip!)
3 medium eggs
5ml vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 175 deg C.
Mix butter & sugar until well combined.
Add eggs one at a time.
Add flour gradually.
Spoon into cupcake cases half full (no more than 3/4 full).
Place in centre of oven for 17min.

I use a Magimix and put the butter, sugar, eggs, flour & vanilla extract into the mixing bowl together. Process for 7 seconds and then scrap down the sides before mixing for another 3 seconds.

Here are the tips I have taken away from the class:

• Buy the best quality ingredients you can.
• Cream the butter first before starting to add other ingredients - you want as much air in the mixture as possible.
• Sieve the caster sugar.
• Use cupcake cases that are made of greaseproof paper.
• Don't open the oven door when cupcakes are cooking.
• Take the cupcakes out of the tray asap and allow to cool on a wire rack.

For the frosting, I normally use equal quantities of butter & icing sugar (big thanks to my friend Kath for sharing her recipe with me) and I add some vanilla extract and a touch of water. The Naked Bakes recipe is slightly different and has more icing sugar compared to butter. The frosting was a lot stiffer than the frosting I have used for cake decorating and I think depending on which technique you choose a slightly stiffer icing might be preferable (for example the more intricate rose petals).

We were taught how to decorate 4 cupcakes using different techniques and I really learnt a lot. Just need to practice now (and try not to eat all the cakes I make!).

It's my plan to make cupcakes for the neighbours as Christmas gifts. I made some cakes for our friends recently and bought some cute red polka dot boxes from The Cake Decorating Company and I plan to use these for my Christmas cakes. From the same shop I also bought matching red baking cups and some red sugar pearls for decorating.

Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting, red sugar pearls & edible glitter

I think I might get some Santa toppers for my Christmas cupcakes or make my own fondant Christmas trees using a cutter that I bought at the cupcake course.

The next course is Sunday 30th October if anyone local is interested in going along and you will find the details on the Blythswood Square Hotel website.