Campfire Cupcakes | Baking

Happy Monday! Autumn is upon us and I couldn't be happier to see everyone tweeting and instagrammng about their excitement and about the appearance of Autumn leaves ♥ I love the little touches of seasonal change starting to pop up all around me and I can't wait until Autumn is in full swing! I thought I'd kick start October on my blog with a recipe, for cakes that seem perfect for this time of year. I spotted a few variants of these 'campfire' cakes on Pinterest and wanted to give them a go myself. I was really impressed with how they turned out and wanted to share how I made them with you all so you can bake your own! Enjoy :) 

I've had these cupcakes saved on my Pinterest for a while, however a few weeks ago when I was out shopping, I noticed that the chocolates 'Matchmakers' (you know the choc orange or mint flavoured sticks?) were backc in stock in preparation for Christmas and remembered that they were used on these campfire cakes to create the 'firewood'. I bought some ingredients and a box of orange matchmaers right away, ready to try and recreate these adorable little cupcakes! I thought they looked fantastic with their bright orange buttercream icing; they are definitely eye-catching. I loved the look on my nieces and nephews faces when they saw my completed cakes! Keep scrolling to see them for yourself. I'd love to hear your thoughts :) So here's my recipe and method...

 What you'll need to make Campfire Cupcakes

[For the cakes]

100g margarine 

100g caster sugar

2 medium eggs

75g self-raising flour

25g cocoa powder

Brown paper cases/muffin cases 

[For the buttercream- enough for two batches worth]

200g sieved icing sugar

100g butter or margarine

Orange food colouring

Piping bag (mine was only £1 from Wilkos)

[Decoration]

Cocktail sticks

Mini marshmallows

Matchmaker Chocolates

[Equipment]

A big mixing bowl

Kitchen scales

Wooden spoon or electric whisk

Baking Tray

How to make Campfire Cupcakes 

1) Once you have all of your ingredients weighed out, add the 100g of margarine and the 100g of caster sugar into a big bowl and mix/whisk until the mixture is fluffy and light in colour. Set on your oven to 180C (Gas Mark 4) to pre-heat it.

2) Now it's time to add the other cake ingredients. The recipe for the original cupcakes (I use Be-ro recipes whenever I'm making basic cakes) included 100g self-raising flour, but to make chocolate versions you have to replace 25g of the flour with cocoa powder. Mix these two ingredients together to make 100g of powder.

3) Slowly mix this powder and the two medium eggs into the butter-sugar mixture, adding only a little bit at a time and folding the ingredients slowly to make sure that all of the air doesn't escape out of the mixture. 

4) Mix all of this ingredients together until you are left with a smooth paste. Spoon this into your paper cases and place onto a baking tray. 

5) Your cakes will need to go into the oven for approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Mine were ready after 16 minutes. After your cakes have been in the oven for 12 minutes, keep checking to make sure they are baked throughly. You can check this by poking one of the cakkes with a fork or knife, and if the fork/knife comes out clear without any bits of mixture stuck to it, the cakes are ready to come out :)

6) Leave your cakes to cool for 20 to 30 minutes before making your buttercream.

7) To make the 'fire' for your campfire cakes, mix 200g icing sugar with 100g margarine or butter (I just use the same margarine that I used for the cakes). This amount of ingredients actually makes two batches worth of buttercream. Cream the margarine and icing sugar into a paste. 

8) Now that the buttercream is done, you can start to add the orange food colouring. Part the mixture to make a little hole in the centre and drip a few drops of the food colouring there. Stir well until all of the food colouring is throughly mixed in. Repeat this process as many times as is required to produce the shade desired. I did this three times :)

I actually made three batches of buttercream in total because I made a mess trying to figure out how to pipe it, haha! I'm very clumsy and awkward with my hands when it comes to doing fiddly things. Let's just say that more icing ended up on me and the kitchen worktop than into the piping bag! XD

9) Swirl the buttercream on top of your cakes using the piping bag and then you can add the 'firewood' next. Snap up the matchmaers and arrange them on top of your buttercream to resemble a pile of kindling.

10) The final step is to make your mini smores to adorn and complete the 'campfire' look. Push the mini marshmallows onto the cocktail sticks, and pop them wherever you like on your cakes. Ta-da! You know have some very cool looking autumnal-themed cupcakes!  

Here are my finalised cakes guys!

I absolutely adore how my campfire cupcakes looked! Usually I struggle to make the things I bake look as good as they do in the photograph that inspired me, but I am really happy with how these turned out. The orange is a lovely bright, vibrant shade and the little smores are so sweet! I was also impressed with the piping bag I picked up at Wilkos; it's made the 'fire' on top of my cakes look great. I'm not sure if I've arranged the matchmakers very well, but I think my cupcakes are looking fabulous. What do you think guys? 

Have I inspired you to have a go for yourselves? Apart from the messiness of trying to get all of the buttercream into the piping bag (although this probably won't happen to anyone else!) making these cupcakes was actually pretty easy. They tasted so yummy too! I'm a little proud of myself, also considering I've never made chocolate cakes before! I hope you enjoyed reading all about my campfire cupcakes :) I'm going to end today's post by showing you some more photos of my cakes of course! 

Thankyou for reading!

 ♥

What's your favourite Autumnal recipe?

 Have you ever been inspired to bake something after spotting it on Pinterest? 

I'd love to hear all about it! 

I just wanted to say a big thankyou to all of you who wished me Happy Birthday yesterday on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook. You made my day, and you're awesome! I had a wonderful birthday weekend! 
 

My Favourite Autumn Lipsticks

Hi lovelies! Miss me? :) Apologies for my week or so of no posts, after blogging every single day of October, I was definitely in need of a rest. I've had this horrid flu-cold-chest infection thing for over a month now. Oh the joys of spoonie life! Anyone else's body completely rejecting Autumn? It sucks because it's my favourite season and I want to be outside with my camera fully immersing myself in the wonders that this time of year brings. Since I can't enjoy Autumn outdoors right now, I thought I'd embrace Autumn here on my blog! For my first seasonal-themed post of November, I wanted to share with you all my go-to Autumnal lipstick shades. Enjoy!

One of the many many reasons that Autumn is, to me, the best season of the year is the colours associated with it. I love all of the rusts, browns, reds and berry tones, that emulate the shades we see throughout nature right now. Seeing these colours make me instantly think of forests covered in bright leaves, conkers and acorns settled around on the ground, bushes full of wild blackberries and hawthorn berries, the colour of the earth, the soil and the layer of crisp leaves coating it. So much beauty! It's lovely that Autumn fashion and beauty products utilise and honor these colours; I love being able to wear them and show them off with pride.

I have always preferred darker colours and the majority of my wardrobe consists of black clothing, so I like to wear lipstick shades that are not too bold and eye-catching, but that brighten up my look and just give a little colour to my outfit. Basically, all of the popular Autumn shades are my go-to all year round, but I thought this was the perfect time to post about them, to give you some ideas of shades that you might like to wear. I've chosen four lipsticks that are some of my favourite in my collection, but I definitely want to add more so if you have any favourite Autumn shades, please leave your recommendations in the comments :) 

• Rimmel London Lasting Finish Lipstick in 'Starry-Eyed' (128)

• Maybelline Color Sensational Matte Lipstick in 'Divine Wine' (975)

• Maybelline Color Sensational in 'Plum Passion' (365)

• Dose of Colors Liquid Matte Lipstick in 'Berry Me' 

Rimmel London's 'Starry-Eyed' Lipstick 

This gorgeous shade is my second favourite for this time of year. It's a brown tone with a hint of red, making it very similar to maroon. I really like maroon, so it's no surprise that this is my go-to lipstick for Autumn. It's got a great pigment and whenever I wear it for a night out, it stays on for most of the night, which is fabulous. It's creamy texture makes it easy to apply. I think that it's a great colour to wear both during the day and for evenings out, and it goes with almost every Autumn outfit. Here's what it looks like on...

Maybelline's 'Divine Wine' Lipstick

This lipstick is a pretty burgundy shade, a combination of red with undertones of rich browns. It's very similar in colour to my 'Starry-Eyed' lipstick but it's the red hue of it that makes it stand out on it's own. Although I love red lipstick, I am also a person riddled with social anxiety and going out with a bold red lip is still a challenge for me, so having a darker shade of lipstick that's colour is similar to the shades I love to wear but with that red 'pop' to it (if that makes sense, haha) is perfect. I like to wear this shade if I'm wanting something a little more fancy :)

Maybelline's 'Plum Passion' Lipstick

This lipstick is different to my other Autumnal favourites, it's a lot brighter and has a more glamorous feel to it. It's one of those shades that I think is suited for both Summer and Autumn. It's purple with a pink tint, and reminds me of flowers, specifically fuschias. It definitely goes well with black clothing, adding subtle and pretty colour to your overall outfit. It's a shame that it comes off quite easily after a few drinks, however this lipstick has such an awesome scent!

Dose of Colors' 'Berry Me' Lipstick

This is the latest lipstick that I've added to my collection that's perfect for this season! This and two others that I recently purchased were my first ever liquid lipsticks and I really love them. They are so pigmented and long-lasting, and they dry matte and look fantastic. Check out my Dose of Colors haul here. I was after a vibrant berry shade for this Autumn, and this lipstick has ticked all the boxes. It is darker than my other shades, but that just makes me love it more. The colour reminds me of a mix of blackberries, mulberries and cranberries, the perfect fruity cocktail for this time of year. It's quickly become one of my favourite lipsticks and it's definitely my preferred Autumnal shade now (sorry Starry-Eyed!). It also has a fabulous smell to it.

Thankyou for reading!

♥

What's your favourite Autumnal colour? 

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Seasonal Decorations | Blogtober

Hey guys! Today, I'm going to be sharing a pretty short post for Blogtober Day 11, as I'm not feeling too well. I am full of a cold, and I can feel a chest infection or something coming on. Ugh, I feel dreadful! I've tired myself out so much today too; I had my weekly therapy appointment and then struggled to put up all of my Autumn and Halloween decorations. As someone who is only 5'2'', this was seriously so difficult to do, but yay! I did it! I thought I'd show off my decorations :) I was instantly looking forward to Halloween as soon as it hit October 1st, however putting up Halloweeny things in my bedroom today has made me super excited! I still need to get a few more things as I feel like my walls are not quite complete yet, but I couldn't wait to post about them. I hope you enjoy reading!

I have put up a mixture of Autumn-themed decorations.. leaves, owls, squirrels, etc, and adorable & spooky Halloween ones. I got the Halloween decorations from Poundland and PoundWorld, as they are sooo good for Halloweeny things. I can't resist buying something Halloween-themed everytime I go in store! The Autumnal decorations are from Lidl, and they are so lovely! I haven't seen any Autumnal decorations anywhere else but if you have, please let me know :)

I'm so happy that I'm now going to be surrounded by these decorations each day to keep me in a festive mood and looking forward to all of the things that make Autumn my favourite season of the year! I can't wait for the day that I have my own home and can cover it with Halloween decorations every October :) Who else decorates for this holiday? I'd love to hear all about your decorations. 

Thankyou for reading!

 ♥

 Which of my decorations is your favourite? 

Also, I'm curious about which season and holiday is everyone else's favourite, too?  

 Enjoyed this post? Check out some of my other Halloween posts:

| Halloween Costume Ideas | Almost Halloween | Preparing for Halloween |

November Wishlist

(1) Plus Size Burgundy Skater Dress from New Look

(2) Jiminy Cricket Tsum Tsum from Disney

(3) Tokidoki Messanger Bag from Blue Banana

(4) Fairisle Boot Slippers from ASDA

(5) Dark Brown Buckle Strap Ankle Boots from New Look

(6) Reindeer Print Christmas Jumper from Yours Clothing

(7) Fabric Owl Decorations from Paperchase 

(8) Cinders Bath Bomb from Lush Cosmetics

(9) Fleece Bunny Pyjama Set from ASDA

I have seen so many awesome products this month and have experienced a lot of heartache due to  my ever dwindling bank balance in preparation for Christmas. I love the items available this time of year with beautiful winter themed designs and A/W fashion is my favourite. I'm also really happy about all of the adorable animal themed products popping up in the shops. I could have easily made several more wishlists, so it was a challenge to pick out my favourites for this post. I hope you enjoy reading!

I absolutely love this dress! It was brought to my attention in a post by the lovely Georgina at She Might Be Loved. She looked so gorgeous in the dress & I really like the colour burgundy. I NEED this dress and I hope I can get it very soon.   

How could I resist this adorable Jiminy Cricket tsum tsum!? I love his little hat & seeing him on the Disney Store website made me excited that they might make a Pinocchio collection in the future. I'm in need of a new bag to use for when I stay over at my friends houses and the Tokidoki bag on my wishlist this month is perfect in both size & design. It's about time I bought a new pair of slippers and I prefer these boot-style ones. I'm lovin' the Christmas jumper appearance of the fairisle boot slippers!

I've had black boots, grey boots & even lime green boots, but I've never had a pair of brown boots before. Brown boots go so well with the colour schemes of Autumn fashion so I'd love to get my hands on a pair... I really like the design of these ankle boots from New Look.  With Christmas fast approaching, I want to buy a new festive jumper with a cute animal print. There's currently 20% off on this jumper from Yours Clothing, which is fantastic! On the subject of Christmas, I need to start stocking up on decorations. I'm hoping to get a mini tree to put in my bedroom and I would love some of these little owl decorations to put on it. 

There are so many lush bathbombs which I can't wait to try! Cinders is one of them. I'm a fan of citrus scents and I know this bathbomb contains a mixture of orange, cinnamon & almond... it sounds interesting and looks pretty. It also contains popping candy so that's an added bonus. The last item on the November wishlist are these super cute bunny PJ's. I'm definitely obsessed with rabbits.. will probably one day become the bunny equivalent of a crazy cat lady! haha so of course, I want these PJs! I really like this style of PJ bottoms, they are very much like leggings & are so comfy! 

Thanks for reading

♥

What's on your November Wishlist?

Bonfire Night Celebrations

On Saturday 7th November, I went to the bonfire and firework display at my local country park. I was really happy that I got the chance to go to an event this year, because for the last three years at university I went to an event and I was missing uni a lot as I sat at home on bonfire night listening to all the sound of distant fireworks outside. Facebook timehop reminded me of the bonfire event in my hometown by showing me a photo of me & my friends there 4 years ago, so me and my mum decided to go. The event at Witton Country Park in Blackburn, Lancashire (NW England) is great fun! There's a fun fair, lots of yummy fastfood stalls, a great bonfire and a fantastic firework display. This post is going to be rather picture heavy, but I hope you all enjoy it!

When we arrived at the park, the first stop was the fun fair because it's always set up right by the entrance. I love funfairs... all the bright colourful lights, impressive cartoons and illustrations painted all over the rides and the music. They look so much better at night too. I love the sound of laughter and people's excited screams when they are on fast rides. I don't actually like going on rides myself so whenever I went in the past with my friends, I've had to awkwardly stand next to the rides being the designated bag and coat holder, but my mum doesn't like rides either so it was fun to walk around and just enjoy the atmosphere of the fair. At the end of the night after the firework display we revisited the fun fair and I had a go on a hook-a-duck game, only it was hook-a-dalmation as you can see the first photo! oh well, I won a little duck teddy so I suppose that fits in with the tradition :) haha. 

Me and my mum had a go on another game to try and win a great hello kitty. The game sounded easy and we watched other people winning before us, but it was much harder than it looked! We had to throw balls into a giant bucket thing, but they kept hitting the back and bouncing back out. You also weren't allowed to lean forward against the front of the stall when throwing the ball or let the balls hit the silver rim of the buckets. I was sad that I didn't get a giant plushie! 

 I really enjoy standing by a fire feeling the heat as soon as you walk towards it and the warmth on your face. It truly feels like autumn when you go to a bonfire at a park because you are surrounded by trees covered in autumn leaves and they are all over the ground at your feet. I like how bonfire night is a unique British tradition, too so it feels kind of special when so many people come together to watch the bonfire. 30 minutes after the bonfire was lit, it was time for the firework display, and it was amazing! It lasted for about 20 minutes and there were so many different types of firework. I love the kind that rain down and look almost like a willow tree. Who else went to a firework display? 

I left Witton Park feeling very happy, with boots covered in mud (I almost slipped on the grass because I'm ridiculously clumsy) with a cute duck teddy, a bag of blue and pink candyfloss (It's been ages since I last ate some so I couldn't resist!), a mint & chocolate nougat bar and one of those dummies made of rock. I also ate a decilious burger whilst I was there. I think it's a fantastic event that I really recommend attending if you are from the local area, plus all of the entry fees go to local charities. I cannot wait until next year!

♥

I'd love to hear all about everyone else's bonfire night... what did you do? 

Hello November

I can't believe it's already November! This year has gone by so fast for me & before I know it, it will almost be 2016. This post is a few days late, but I just wanted to share with you all what I'm looking forward to this month and what I enjoy most about November. What are you most looking forward to this month? 

12 things I'm looking forward to this November

- Bonfire Night  -

I love how this is day is a traditional British celebration and is unique to our country (even though lots of people worldwide have started celebrating it), it doesn't feel like November without visiting a huge bonfire and watching a firework display!

- Treacle Toffee Sweets -

Another great thing that comes along traditionally with bonfire night is treacle toffee, also known as bonfire toffee. I love its strong, bitter taste.

-  More of Autumn -

Autumn is my favourite season & I'm happy that it's still here for now, so there's plenty of time to enjoy all of it's perks. Read what my favourite things about autumn are here. 

- More Baking -

One of my many goals for this month is to bake more. I used to do a lot more baking and considered it a hobby so I'd like to get back into it and learn to make more desserts and cakes. There's so many autumnal recipes I want to try!

- Visits to the Woods -

Since I've now moved back home after graduating from uni, I now have the opportunity to visit the gorgeous woods in my hometown. I love visiting this time of year and looking for acorns and conkers and taking in the beautiful sights of autumn, like the colourful leaves! I can't wait to take my camera and go on a trip to the woods. 

- Buying things for my filofax -

For my birthday in October, my mum bought me my first ever filofax planner and I've decided that I'm going to start using it in the new year so I'm excited to start buying things to use inside it.

- Another cold month, another excuse to drink a slighty excessive amount of hot chocolate! -

I LOVE HOT CHOCOLATE! & it's the perfect season to drink lots of it. Plus I can't wait for all of the festive drinks at Costa to be available again, as well as the christmas themed cups. 

- It's time to start Christmas shopping -

I like to be organised and start getting everyone's christmas presents in November. I get much more excited buying things for other people than I do for myself so I'm really looking forward to this. 

- Christmas list writing -

Another fun part of christmas shopping for me is all the lists I get to write with ideas for all the family members and friends I need to buy gifts for. I am a big fan of lists and I can start using all the notepaper and sticky notes I got for my birthday. 

- Experimenting with autumn lipsticks -

I prefer darker lipsticks and another of my goals this month is to buy some autumnal shades of lipstick. Any recommendations? 

- My bunnies start to get fluffier! -

 All my bunnies are lionheads (other than one, he's a lionhead X rex) and as winter approaches, their fur gets fuller and more fluffy, and it's colour changes. They look beautiful to me all year round but I think they look even more gorgeous this time of year. 

- & finally, gathering christmas-themed things for snailmail -

This time of year all of the christmas stationary, stickers and washi tape start appearing in the shops and so I like to start stocking up in preparation for writing festive snailmail and postcards. 

 

 Thankyou for reading!

♥

I hope you all have a great November!

Autumn Snail Mail

One of many hobbies is snail mail, which is basically writing letters to penpals. I've been doing it for around 10 years now and it's been a very interesting, educational and fun experience so far. I've had some penpals that I've written to for only a few months, some I've written to about about a year and some that I've writing to now for years and years! Today, I prepared an autumn-themed package for my lovely penpal from Finland (who I started writing to in 2007!) and since I haven't written a post about snail mail yet, I thought this was the perfect opportunity. 

I've always had a huge love for stationary and starting snail mail only heightened this! When I first began writing letters I didn't have a clue where to get cute letter paper so I would use paper from any nice notepads I had and simply cut the edges off where the paper had been attached to the notepad to make it neat. Then I discovered the wonderful world of online shopping and began ordering so much kawaii stationary from China, Taiwan, Korea & Japan. The first online store I used was Janet Store. I now source my snail mail stationary including letter paper, note cards, stickers and washi tape from a variety of places, and there seems to be a lot more pretty stationary available compared to when I started. There's something special about corresponding with someone on paper, especially when nowadays most people communicate using the lastest technologies and social media. Although these modern tools are amazing, it's lovely to participate in letter writing and there's nothing I love more than receiving a beautiful letter, adorned with stickers and filled with stories about someone else's life. It's a great way to make friendships with people all over the world and learn about their everyday lives and cultures ♥

I've spent the last few weeks gathering autumn-themed stationary and was given some animal stickers for my birthday that fit in with the theme well so I was ready to write a reply to my penpal's letter and decorate my letter to reflect the best elements of month of October, with a combination of autumn and halloween inspiration. I've also added a few little gifts because who doesn't love opening a package with surprises inside and I like making my penpals happy! I hope you all enjoy the rest of the photographs showing the contents of the parcel :) 

Thankyou for reading! I'll be mailing this parcel to my penpal tomorrow.

♥

Does anyone else write to penpals? 

If you'd like to see more post about snail mail, 

please let me know or if you want to know where any of the items I've used are from, just ask.