Christmas Baking - Nutcraker 'Land Of Sweets' Inspired Cake

Hello lovelies! 

I can't believe Christmas is so close! I love seeing the beautiful fairy lights surrounding houses and all the festive cheer around. It's starting to feel extra magical, the more we approach the special day! 

One of my favourite things is festive baking, last year I saw Sophie from 'The Frosting Fairy' do her own interpretation of a Nutcracker style cake, which inspired me to make my own. 

Here is how I made my 'Nutcracker- Land of Sweets' inspired cake.

 Sponge Cake Ingredients - 

4 Free range eggs

225g/8oz Caster sugar

225g/8oz Self raising flour

2 Teaspoons of baking powder

225g/8oz Butter at room temperature 

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

2 teaspoons of strawberry flavouring

Frosting Ingredients - 

600g Icing Sugar

300g Unsalted softened butter

2 Teaspoons of strawberry flavouring

3 teaspoons of pink colouring

Step 1- Line your cake tins with greaseproof paper and pre heat your oven to gas mark 5.

Step 2 - Put your caster sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl and cream together, once creamed add eggs, flour, baking power, vanilla and strawberry flavouring and mix together.

Step 3 - Place an even amount of mixture into each cake tin and pop in the oven for 25-30 mins, at this point, take a knife and place a tiny slit in your cake, if your knife comes out of the cake clean, it's ready to come out of the oven.

Step 4 - Place you cakes on a cooling rack and leave to cool.

Step 5 - Whilst your cakes are cooling it's time to prep the buttercream icing! Cream together your butter and icing sugar, once combined add pink food colouring and strawberry flavouring.

Step 6 - Once you cake has completely cooled down, it's time for the best part, decorating! I put a thick buttercream layer inbetween both cakes and a thick layer on top. To decorate I used mini meringues, mini mint flavoured candy canes, teeny, tiny snowflakes and three sugar mice in white and pink to finish off my 'Land of Sweets'.

Here are a couple more photos of my creation...

I hope you enjoyed this Nutcracker/baking crossover, I had so much fun creating this!

What are you most excited for this Christmas?

Follow me on my Twitter and Instagram @KellieSaunders1, I'd love to nosey at all your Christmas, magical feeds!!

Kellie Jo

xxx

Pink Wonderland - Christmas Decorations Haul and Tour

Hello lovelies and happy December 1st!!!

I can't believe it's a month until Christmas, the most magical time of year. Full of whimsical decorations adorning trees, shops windows and houses. Hearing The Nutcracker being played softly in the background of every home. I have very nearly completed my Christmas shopping, so I thought, it's time to get my 'Pink Wonderland' tree underway...

This is my second year of having a 6ft Christmas tree in my bedroom and I wanted to continue purchasing more pretty and special decorations for my tree and getting the perfect tree topper.

I was lucky enough to find my perfect tree topper, this beautiful pink fairy from Gisela Graham, her Christmas pieces are always some of my favourites, they're so dreamy.

As you'll see in some other pictures, I already own the most glamorous 'Nutcraker', dressed in white and champagne colours, but I needed my 'Sugar Plum Fairy'. I purchased both from Matalan, but the Nutcraker is two years old now, they have had some of the prettiest pieces for Christmas this year.

The most girly bauble I have ever seen, shiny, millennial pink and fluffy...Another pretty Matalan find.

I love having my tree filled with ballet themed ornaments, this one took my eye as it reminded me of a dancing snowflake. There were only a few when I purchased this one and every time I visited afterwards, they didn't have anymore, so I feel this was meant to be. This was once again from Matalan.

My favourite Disney princess, Aurora. I was keeping a close eye on the Disney website when they started releasing the ornaments, I was upset when I could see every princess but Aurora, I knew her pink dress would match my tree theme so well. I looked in store multiple times and still no luck...Then they started having one of their offers with a discount on baubles, I walked in store and done a little squeal, I saw Aurora for the first time and with an offer! I purchased her straight away and popped her in my Disney's 'The Nutcracker and the Four Realms' tote bag from the Disney store.

I couldn't believe my eyes at this beautiful decoration, Cinderella's carriage, full of sparkles, I couldn't leave Matalan without it. This is a perfect addition to my tree.

I was in B&Q taking a look at the Christmas section and like usual, anything pink and sparkly always catches my eye. I thought this was a cute, glittery unicorn and very matching to my theme.

I am obsessed with fawn's, anything Bambi-like and vintage deers. This pretty little deer is from The Range and I couldn't believe this was only 90p!!! Sparkly bargains are my favourite...

To add a final touch to my Christmas tree I wanted to add a tree skirt. In every Christmas/holiday movie I see they have tree skirts to make them look even more beautiful and festive. The Range had a lovely selection. My Mum and Dad got the traditional, cute Santa one, whilst I purchased this beautiful white and silver, sparkly snowflake one. This matches my white tree and finishes the tree perfectly!

Just when I thought I'd finished my bauble buying for the year, I visited my local garden centre and I walked through a winter wonderland. Through that I found a pink wonderland, within that magical place was the prettiest bauble you ever did see. Embellished with pearls and sparkles...

Here are some photos of my 'Pink Wonderland'...

Have you put your tree and decorations up? What theme have you gone for this year?

I'd love to see your own personal 'wonderlands'...Tweet me yours @KellieSaunders1 

Have the most wonderful, festive week filled with mint flavoured hot chocolates, presents wrapped in pretty ribbons and sparkles at every corner...

Happy December!!!

Kellie Jo

xxx

Halloween Baking - Pink and White Pumpkin Cupcakes

Happy Halloween lovelies! 

The huge change in weather to the chilly, cold and rainy days is certainly making me feel in the halloween spirit! I hope you're spending the lead up to Halloween and the day itself in the most festive way, full of pumpkin carving, sweeties, snuggled under a cosy blanket, watching halloween movies.

I am so excited to be showing you this post, ever since I saw Catherine Bakes do these last year I knew I wanted to re-create them myself.

Cupcake Ingredients - 

4 Free range eggs

225g/8oz Caster sugar

225g/8oz Self raising flour

2 Teaspoons of baking powder

225g/8oz Butter at room temperature 

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Frosting Ingredients - 

600g Icing Sugar

300g Unsalted softened butter

2 Teaspoons of vanilla extract

1 Packet of pink fondant icing

1 packet of white fondant icing

1 - Preheat the oven to 180c/160c fan/gas mark 4 and line your muffin tin with the muffin cases of your choice, I chose plain white ones.

2- Break eggs into a large mixing bowl, then add sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, vanilla extract and butter. Mix together until it's well combined, you can do this with an electric whisk or by hand with a wooden spoon, but be careful not to over mix.

3- Place your mixture into each cupcake case and place into the pre-heated oven for 25-30 minutes. Once they are cooked, place them onto a cooling rack before icing them.

4- Sift your icing sugar into a large bowl, place your butter into the bowl and add your vanilla extract too. Gradually beat together until you have them as fluffy as a cosy dressing gown. I always leave the icing in the fridge to set a bit before piping, I left this for about 40 minutes.

5- Once the icing is more pliable, place some into your pre prepared piping bag and swirl the frosting on as the first layer. This is the best piping I have achieved to date, so I was proud of myself!

6- I made 12 white pumpkins and 12 pink pumpkins, one of each per cupcake. I rolled them into medium sized balls, made a small hole at the top for the stem and gave them their pumpkin look by using a sharp knife to create their lines around.

7- Use some of the leftover fondant to make the stem, by rolling a piece between your fingers and twirl them at the top.

8- Now to make 12 fondant circle discs to separate the icing and pumpkins.

Roll out the leftover fondant with icing sugar, I placed a circle cutter on top and made 6 pink circles and 6 white ones.

9- Now the best bit, putting it all together, you have your cake, icing, now place 1 coloured fondant circle on each cake, then place a pink pumpkin and a white pumpkin on each one.

You will now have completed your girly halloween cupcakes!

Have a wonderful and safe halloween my lovelies!

Kellie Jo

xxx

Follow me on my social media platforms...

Twitter - @KellieSaunders1

Instagram - @KellieSaunders1

♡

23rd Birthday Haul

Hello lovelies! 

I hope you've been having a wonderful October so far, how quickly is this month going? I can't believe how fast Halloween and Bonfire night is approaching!

Last week it was my birthday and I turned 23!! I had a lovely day with my family and fiance, we went for a long beach walk with my doggie, Bonnie, we went on the pier and around a few shops.

I can't believe how well and truly spoilt I was. 

(Just a quick disclaimer: I am in no way trying to brag about what gifts I was lucky enough to receive. I have done a 'What I Got For my Birthday' post for the past 4-5 years and they seem to be popular and I enjoy writing them.)

Being the Disney lover I am, I loved the tableware and birthday cake I had this year. A beautiful Cinderella cake, the top half was made with white chocolate and her gown was a sponge cake with vanilla icing, delicious! 

I was extremely lucky to have so many lovely gifts, I have some photos below of all sorts of things I got. 

My fiance bought us tickets to go see The Nutcracker ballet in December, I am so excited to experience a winter wonderland of dancing snowflakes with my love.

A baby pink, pearly jumper, perfect for a girly girl through Winter to stay warm.

                                   
I love this cosy, eskimo cape for the chilly, no make up, lazy days, it has a cute little hood and pom poms for an added touch.

It wouldn't be a birthday without a new pair of slippers and a nightie! My parents got me these cute Disney ones, a Bambi nightie and Marie slippers. Marie is my spirit animal, if I was a Disney character, that would be me!

 My sister and brother in law to be got me the cutest pink badge and a Mac gift card ready for me to shop the Christmas collection, I can't wait to make my choices.

This year I have got back into reading a lot, so I was lucky enough to get three books for my birthday, 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens, 'Peter Pan' by J.M. Barrie and a beautiful version of 'Vanity Fair' by William Makepeace Thackeray (pictured further down).

As you have all seen from my blog, I love baking, so I now have some baby pink measuring cups, to make American recipes easier to recreate and an adorable strawberry cupcake timer.

I love having pamper evenings, with different bath products and all sorts of scents, so I have a huge mixture from bath fizzers, salts and bubble bath's, ready for a warm, luxury, winter, evening bath.

I had started running out of my perfumes on the lead up to my birthday and I didn't really know which ones I wanted, so my Mum and Dad picked a few different ones and I am so grateful for their choices, they all smell beautiful. 

I have the medium Thumper plush from the Disney store and I really wanted Miss Bunny to reunite with him, so my mother and father in law to be bought me her, she also matches my room perfectly. Now Thumper and Miss Bunny sit happily together on my bed.

I have mentioned a few times how I collect Disney Traditions to display in a cabinet in the future, this year I was so lucky to get three!!! A beautiful figure of  Peter Pan and Wendy, with a jealous Tinkerbell, the wonderfully pink Cheshire Cat and sweet Eeyore in a heart filled snowglobe. 

I hope you enjoyed this post and this gave you some ideas for your Christmas wishlist!

Kellie Jo 

xxx

Collective Autumn Haul

                                                           Good evening lovelies!
I hope you've had the most magical autumnal week, what beautiful weather we've been lucky to have, it seems to be chillier, the mornings and nights are getting darker and it's getting incredibly cosy. I've been gradually picking up a few pieces for autumn, as it's my birthday next week, I've held off buying too much, but I thought I'd show you what I've picked up for beginning of the season.

I've been hooked on ITV's 'Vanity Fair' so far this season, I love the actors portrayal of each character and personally feel ITV have done a wonderful job with this version. 

I didn't realise Essie (one of my favourite nail polish brands) had their own polish named 'Vanity Fairest', a beautiful pale pink shade, with hints of sparkle running through it. I had to get this, it's so subtly beautiful! 

Halloween is this month and I've always loved this holiday, even though I'm too old for 'Trick or Treating' I like to make a hot chocolate, get some yummy Halloween themed snacks in and have a horror movie marathon! I went to B&M to have a look at what they had new in, I couldn't resist this sweet little candle 'Bugs and Kisses', the scent is like a crackling fire, with cinnamon swirls. How could I resist at £1?

I really enjoyed watching 'Freddy My Love's 'Autumn Edit' on YouTube, where she showed her favourite pieces for the season. I completely fell in love with this coat, this was the perfect coat I never knew I needed! It's a perfect girly shade of pink, the fit and quality is beautiful and I think this will compliment my outfits all through Winter too!

If you know me well, you'll know I adore the Netflix show 'Stranger Things', I've re-watched it about 3 times this year and plan to do the same again soon! My fiance was very sweet and bought me this baby pink hoodie with the logo on the front. It's so warm and cosy, perfect for the chillier days!

Every year I always get these Primark boots, they're £8 and last so well! I find they don't rub or hurt my feet at all, they clean up well just with a baby wipe and come in a variety of colours, I saw black, beige, grey and this creamy/pinky coloured pair! I do also have a black pair, but I wanted this pale colour, as most of my outfits are light coloured clothing.

Primark are absolutely amazing for Disney merchandise or anything Disney really! I usually pick up something Disney whenever I go to Primark and on this occasion, it was this pack of Thumper socks! How adorable are these? I love the pink, white, grey and cream colour scheme. I can't believe it was only £2.50 for 3 pairs...I hope Primark have more like these for the winter months.

I recently went to the McArthur Glen designer outlet in Ashford to make the most of the sales! The French Connection store that is there always have such brilliant bargains, I love their jumpers. 

I thought this white one would be a good layering piece for a/w outfits. It was originally £35, but I actually got this for...£5, yes, £5!! For a great quality jumper, I still can't believe it.

For the longest time I have really wanted to purchase a Ralph Lauren Polo jumper. I just think they will never go out of fashion, so classic and chic, so I chose to treat myself! I decided to purchase the jumper in white, because it reminded me of snow and I also don't own much white clothing at all! I do love a white and red combination at Christmas time.

What else should I pick up on my shopping travels?

Have a wonderful week filled with cupcakes and pumpkin spice!

Kellie Jo

xxx