Two Looks, One London

That last picture is of the beautiful bandstand in Battersea Park, had to include it. I actually wore this to a meeting/interview with a recruitment agency. I find normal smart interview clothes soo boring, so I try and jazz it up by adding bright colours and bold patterns. I also find that when I wear an outfit I really like, it makes me feel more confident and less nervous in interviews, and wearing bright colours may help you to stand out in an interviewer's mind.

How amazing is this fur cape?!? It instantly makes any coat more fabulous and glamorous, dahhling. Lol. And you can snuggle up inside it against the wind. Snuggliness is very important when you live in Britain (it's cold lol).

 A couple of weeks ago it was the most beautiful blogger babe's (I'm biased lol) 21st birthday!! My cousin and blogging partner, Saffron! *pops party popper* Since it was a big birthday, you know I had to go hard for my girrl, so I made her a big chocolate fudge cake, (a la Matilda lol).

The recipe is from the Cadbury's website, which is why it tells you to use Cadbury's cocoa and chocolate, but obviously you can use any brand. I wanted to link it, (give credit where credit is due, y'all), but my Mum saved it so long ago it's no longer there! I'm sure they won't mind me sharing it anyway lol.



FOR THE CAKE

· 125 g (4 oz) butter
· 225 g (8 oz) dark soft brown sugar
· 2 eggs
· 142 ml (¼ pint) soured cream
· 175 g (6 oz) plain flour
· 5 ml (1 tsp) baking powder
· 2.5 ml (½ tsp) bicarbonate of soda
· 50 g (2 oz) Cadbury Bournville cocoa 
· Two 20 cm (8-inch), shallow cake tins, greased and base-lined

FOR THE FILLING

· 40 ml (2 Tbs) Cadbury Bournville cocoa
· 125 g (4 oz) butter
· 150 g (5 oz) icing sugar, sieved
· Vanilla extract

FOR THE FROSTING

· 200 g bar of Cadbury Bournville chocolate
· 40 ml (2 Tbs) Cadbury Bournville cocoa
· 142 ml (¼ pint) double cream 


For the cake, cream together the butter and sugar until the mixture is light in colour and texture. Gradually beat in the eggs, then the soured cream (the mixture looks curdled at this stage). Sieve together the dry ingredients and fold them into the mixture. Divide the mixture equally between the tins. Bake at Gas Mark 5/190ºC:/375ºF for 30 – 35 minutes, until cooked. Turn out on to a wire tray to cool.

Make the filling by mixing the cocoa with 40 ml (2 Tbs) of boiling water to a smooth paste, and allow to cool. Beat together the butter, sieved icing sugar and vanilla extract, until light and fluffy. Beat in the cocoa and then sandwich the layers together with the filling.

For the frosting, melt the chocolate carefully. Make the cocoa into a paste with boiling water as before and mix with the chocolate. Slowly whisk the cream into the chocolate until smooth and thickened. Spread the frosting evenly over the cake with a palette knife.

Serve in slices, with whipped cream or ice-cream. If possible warm each slice in a microwave or oven, if you have made the cake in advance; it can also be served cold but is definitely more interesting hot, with the contrast of ice cream.


Just a few notes: I doubled the measurements for the cake batter to make a four layer cake (pretty straightforward), but I kept the measurements for the filling and frosting the same, because I don't like too much frosting. The 21 is made of white chocolate, using a chocolate lollipop mould my Mum got from Lakeland, which comes with the sticks. The dots you can see are gold pearls. If I could choose anyway to go, this would be it! Lol.

Happy Baking!