cupcakes

12 April 2014


vegan cookbooks
If you follow me on Pinterest you will see my obsession for collecting recipes. I thought I would share with you my favourite cookbooks. I lean towards Vegan food because it fits around my diet choices and allergies/intolerances.

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World & Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero 
Ms Cupcakes The Naughtiest Vegan Cakes in Town - Mellissa Morgan
The Oh She Glows Cookbook - Angela Liddon
The Intolerant Gourmet - Pippa Kendrick

31 July 2013


I have been on the hunt for a dairy and egg free "cake in a mug" recipe for ages and I finally found one on Pinterest. I like the idea of a single portion of cake. As much as I love baking it takes time and patience and sometimes you just want cake pronto so that's where a microwave comes in handy. Pictured above was my first attempt at the recipe, made on my birthday hence the candle. I also indulged in Alpro Caramel dessert on the side.

The recipe comes from The Blooming Platter's Vegan Single-Serving Microwave “Brownikins” (My Take on a Microwaved Brownie-in-a-Mug). I do recommend adding an accompaniment as it can be a little dry. I have a 700W (D) microwave and cook it for 1 minute, sometimes it needs a few more seconds. You may need to experiment a little to get the perfect timings. Let me know if you make this.


Sarah x

12 May 2013

The highlight of my weekend has been the arrival of my new cookbook, Ms Cupcake The Naughtiest Vegan Cakes in Town. My one and only Ms Cupcake purchase occurred at last years Allergy & Free From Show.

I spent many years trying to master baking without milk and eggs. So far the cupcakes I have blogged or tweeted are from my bible cookbook, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. I was attracted to Ms Cupcake's book because it contains a nice variety of dessert recipes. Not just cupcakes but muffins, cakes, loaves, easy bakes, no bakes and cookies. 

I can see straight away that ingredients will be easily sourced at the supermarket which is great, no need to trek to specialist stores. This is a glossy cookbook with fabulous pictures, although maybe too many selfies but I'll make allowances for that. One little teeny tiny criticism is I'm not keen on how the ingredients are laid out on the page. They run left to right rather than a list. If you are gluten free then this book has you covered and gives tips on how to adapt recipes.

I spent an evening pouring over this book trying to decide what I could make first, I wanted to make everything. Even my boyfriend was audible cooing over the recipes putting in a request for cakes. In the end I went for the recipe which in fact prompted me to order the book, Bakewell Tart Cupcakes. I have to say these put me into a sugar coma but my goodness they are good. I didn't decorate them exactly to the recipe, I left off flaked almonds and a cherry on top.

What's next on the baking list? It's a toss up between Nanaimo Bars, Blueberry Lemon Loaf Cake or Doughnuts.

Sarah x

11 November 2012

Spirit of Christmas Fair 2012
How is everyone doing? Since getting back from Rome I have not been up to much. Generally I am not someone who gets excited for Christmas but last weekend, thanks to a free ticket from Abahna, I visited the Spirit of Christmas Fair. I had to travel to Kensington Olympia and I met up with one of my cousins.

I was so busy shopping I forgot to put my blogger hat on and take lots of photos. I hope you don't mind but I am not going to show you my shopping. I know the people I brought presents for read my blog so I don't want to spoil any surprises. I have to say I thought this fair was better than the Ideal Home Show at Christmas which I went to last year. It wasn't as overwhelming and the exhibitors were familiar to me. It was nice speaking to brands I love and have reviewed such as Elizabeth's Daughter and Jane Maddern. 

Pictured below was my weekend haul from my local health food store. Most of these are regular favourites. The Vegusto Mediterranean slices were new to me. I used them as a topping on a home made pastry slice. They worked well and I enjoyed the flavour but I do think they were a bit expensive. 
Pictured above is a Vegan banana chocolate chip cake I made. I send thanks to my fellow dairy free friend Nicola as she introduced me to Chef Chloe. Her cookbook is now on my Christmas list. This weekend I am dog sitting. I've been catching up with my friend and indulging in a curry which I picked up from Cook, I had forgotten how much I like their Roasted Vegetable & Chickpea Curry. There isn't a huge choice for Vegans but what I have tried has always been delicious. So that's all folks. Let me know what you have been up to in the comment section below.

Sarah x

26 August 2012

Eco Egg Dr Organic Naturtint

I recently have been lucky enough to win a couple of Twitter RT competitions. I won Ecoegg stain remover, Dr Organic Lavender Lotion and Naturtint shampoo and conditioner.  As you know I am a fan of Dr Organic and I dye my hair with Naturtint. I already have experienced their hair care products because sachets are supplied in the hair dye box. I finally got around to spending my birthday money on a new camera. I have been wanting to up grade for ages. I am heading to Rome in October so a perfect excuse. I was only looking for a point and shoot and after researching the market I chose the Samsung ST66 for £67. Hopefully you will see an improvement with picture quality on my blog.

sugarpuffish vegan cupcakes

Thanks to it being a Bank Holiday weekend I have time on my hands for baking. I tested out another recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. This batch is Lemon, Macadamia and Dairy Free White Chocolate. They taste great as they are so I decided not to overload them with buttercream instead I drizzled some lemon icing over the top.


Sarah x

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