Marks And Spencer Beauty Advent Calendar Days Seventeen, Eighteen and Nineteen

Welcome back to Days Seventeen, Eighteen andd Nineteen in my 25 Days of Beauty Series where I show you what I get in my Marks and Spencers Advent Calender. Let me just quickly apologise for not posting as reguarly with these, work and life has been ultra hectic so these extra unboxings have sort of been pushed aside in favour of working on my main posts. 

In Day Seventeen's box I recieved a tube of the Balance Me Wonder Eye Cream. I'm looking forward to trying this out. It claims to help with dark circles and puffiness, two things my eyes are struggling with at the moment. You'll know if I like this as I'll probably feature it in my favourites at some point. 

In Day Eighteen's box I recieved a tube of the Formula Absolute Ultimate Night Cream. Again this is something that we've recieved before and it's not a bad products, it just doesn't work with my skin. It's a little too fragranced for my skin to handle but if your skin doesn't react to scented lotions then this is perfect for you. 

And in Day Nineteen I recieved a miniature Autograph Blusher Brush. I don't wear blusher or even use brushes anymore when I get ready so this is a bit of a waste on me. I'll probably add it to my to donate pile as it seems like it's really nice soft brush, it's just not for me.

Recipe: Chocolate Orange Bundt Cake

I've always loved the look of a bundt cake. Growing up I always wondered how they made them round and as an adult I've spent years saying I need to invest in a bundt tin. And a few months ago I did just that. However it wasn't until recently that I actually used it. I based this bundt cake around one of my favourite Christmas confectionaries, the classic Terry's Chocolate Orange. A delicious orange flavour, in a light moist sponge, topped with milk chocolate which could be subsituted by a Terry's Chocolate Orange in fact.

Ingredients
250g Unsalted Butter
250g Plain Flour
225g Caster Sugar
30g Cocoa Powder 
4 Eggs
3 Tsp Orange Extract
1 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/4 Tsp Salt
75g Milk Chocolate, melted

Method 
1- Pre heat your oven to 180C. Generously grease the inside of the bundt tin with butter.
2- Into your bowl place the unsalted butter, sugar and orange extract. Beat until pale in colour and fluffy in texture.
3- Add your eggs one at a time, beating well between. This is the time where I take a silicone spatula around the edges of the bowl so nothing is left sitting on the side.
4- Into your mixture sift the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder. Gently fold the dry ingredients in as to not knock the air you've just built up out of the mixture. If you're using a stand mixer I advise using the slowest of settings so you don't over mix the mixture.
5- Spoon the mixture into your prepared tin and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Don't worry if your cake doesn't look picture perfect when you take it out, it's only going to be the bottom of the cake once you've turned it out and nobody's looking at that much.
6- Leave to cool in the tin and then turn out onto a wire cooling rack, ready for decoration.
7- To decorate your cake, melt your milk chocolate over a bain marie or in short bursts in the microwave. I usually use a bain marie but I was feeling lazy so melted mine in the microwave but somehow managed to burn it slightly. However I still had enough unburnt melted chocolate to decorate.
8- For my decorations I just used a teaspoon dipped in chocolate to create a drizzle style pattern. You can create any pattern you want but as I made this late at night, a simple drizzle worked best for me.
9- Once you're happy with your decoration, leave to set, then cut into slices and enjoy.

Recipe: Christmas Tree Cupcakes

Happy Tuesday. It's crazy to think that this time next week, we'll all be getting up to open our presents, stuff our faces and spend some quality time with our loved ones. As Christmas is only a week away, I thought I'd share my take on a Christmas Tree Cupcakes with you all. The icing doesn't resemble a Christmas Tree much but I'm still working on my icing which can sometimes look a bit lacklustre. However if you can create a tree with your icing then brilliant, you'll have some spectacular looking cupcakes. 

Ingredients
For The Cupcakes 
110g Caster Sugar
110g Plain Flour
110g Stork, softened
2 Eggs
1 Tsp Baking Powder
30g Cocoa Powder
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

For The Buttercream 
200g Butter, softened
320g Icing Sugar
2 Tsp Peppermint Extract
1 Tsp Holiday Green Food Colouring
1 Tsp Milk

Method
1- Pre heat your oven to 180c. Line a twelve hole muffin tin with paper cases.
2- Place the sugar and stork into a large bowl. Beat until creamy, pale and fluffy in texture. Depending on how soft your stork is, depends on how long this will take. It can take a while but patience is key when it comes to this part.
3- Sift your dry ingredients together and add to the mix.
4- Beat your eggs in a seperate bowl then add to the mix. Beat until everything is combined, taking time to scrape the sides of your bowl so nothing left unbeaten or gathering on the edges of the mix.
5- Spoon your mixture into the paper cases and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
6- Leave to cool in the tin for five minutes then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
7- For the buttercream place your softened butter into a large bowl and beat until creamy and smooth in consistency. This bit is the bit that takes forever but it's worth the work at the end.
8- Once your butter has reached the right consistency, sift in half your icing sugar and beat again. This can take a while as you want to make sure that your buttercream is smooth and there are not pockets of icing sugar.
9- Once smooth, add the other half of your icing sugar. Beat again until fully incorporated and smooth.
10- Now it's time to add your colouring and flavouring. Once you've added both, beat until fully incorporated, adding more colouring if necessary. This is also a great time to add your milk so that your mixture is pipeable.
11- Once you're happy with your buttercream, spoon into a piping bag and pipe onto your now cooled cakes. I used a waved edge nozzle for this but you can use any style of nozzle you prefer.
12- When all your cakes are iced, leave them to set. Then all that's left to do is enjoy them.

Marks And Spencer Beauty Advent Calendar Days Fifteen And Sixteen

Welcome back to Days Fifteen and Sixteen in my 25 Days of Beauty Series where I show you what I get in my Marks and Spencers Advent Calender. 

In Day Fifteen's box I recieved a Studio 10 Lip Gloss. I don't plan on using this product. I'm not a fan of lip glosses and from trying it on the back of my hand, it's one of those horrid, hair stuck to your mouth kind of gloss. I'm definitely going to be putting this into my donate pile as I won't be getting any use out of it. 

 And in Day Sixteen's box I got the Diego Dalla Palma Eye Pencil in 01. Again this is a product I won't get any use out of as I don't use eye liners or eye pencils. I'll probably give this to a friend rather than donate it purely because of hygiene reasons. These two days have been a little disappointing for me but I'm sure we've still got tons of goodies to come in the last week of the calendar.

Recipe: Ferrero Roche Brownies

If there is one thing I enjoy eating the most at Christmas it's Ferrero Roche. I know they're available all year round but there's something about eating them during the Festive period that I can't get enough of. And that's when I thought to do a Ferrero Roche Brownie. These didn't turn out as perfectly as I hoped as they caught slightly when baking but apart from that, I now have a tin of rich, gooey, Ferrero Roche topped brownies to enjoy.

Ingredients 
200g Dark Chocolate
200g Unsalted Butter
275g Caster Sugar
90g Plain Flour
35g Cocoa Powder
3 Eggs
100g Dark Chocolate Chips
9 Ferrero Roche

Method
1- Pre heat the oven to 180C. Grease a 9 Inch square brownie tin with greaseproof paper.
2- Into a bain marie place the dark chocolate and butter. Over a low heat, melt the two together, taking care to keep the heat down low so the chocolate doesn't catch and burn. I also melt my chocolate in a bain marie as melting it in the microwave always burns it and renders it useless.
3- Once everything is melted together, place it to one side to cool down. I always used to make the mistake of not letting cool properly and adding it before it was ready which resulted in a bread like brownie instead of the beauties I get now.
4- Into a seperate bowl place the sugar and the eggs. Whisk together until the mixture is pale, double in size and leaves a trail when you pull the whisk out. This is the only part of the recipe where you can use a higher speed on your electric mixer, everything else has to be slow or you'll end up knocking out the air you've just created.
5- Take your now cooled chocolate mix and pour into the sugar mix. Fold gently to keep the air into the mixture but remembering to scrape the side of the bowl so everything gets fully incoporated and nothing is left sitting on the side of the bowl.
6- Add the flour and the cocoa powder and fold gently into the mixture. Again this part requires slow, gentle folding actions to keep the air in the mixture. However you will need to scrape the sides of the bowl as the flour and the cocoa powder will stick to it and you don't want to end up with pockets of flour in your brownies.
7- Pour in your chocolate chips. You can use any type of chocolate chip you like but I prefer to use dark chocolate chips to give them a richer taste. Again fold everything in whether with your mixer or a silicone spatula.
8- Spoon the mixture into your prepared tin. Smooth the top over with a palette knife and then gently press your Ferrero Roche into the mixture. You should still be able to see them slightly but you don't want them just sitting on top of your mixture. Pop in the oven and bake for 30-40mins or until a skewer comes out clean.
9- Leave to cool completely in the tin. This helps it keep it's shape and gives them a chunkiness that a lot of brownies lack.
10- Once cool, cut into squares or chunks. Then all that's left to do is enjoy a piece or two. 

Recipe: Jaffa Cake Cupcakes

Who doesn't love a Jaffa Cake or two? I for one adore Jaffa Cakes and can easily devour a packet without realising. And even though they aren't Christmassy in the slightest, they were something I just had to bake this month. It's a pretty simple recipe and essentially doesn't take long to make. These are perfect for coffee mornings, afternoon teas or just as a treat for family and friends.

Ingredients
100g Caster Sugar
100g Self Raising Flour
100g Stork
2 Eggs
2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Packet Of Orange Jelly
1 Tub Of Betty Crocker Ready To Use Chocolate Icing

Method 
1- Pre heat your oven to 180C. Line a twelve hole muffin tin with paper cases.
2- Into a bowl place the caster sugar and stork. Cream the two together until it's pale in colour and fluffy in texture.
3- Add one egg followed by a tablespoon of flour. Beat until combined and then repeat with the second egg.
4- Beat until everything is combined, taking time to scrape the sides of the bowl so nothing is left out.
5- Gently fold in the rest of the flour and the vanilla extract, taking care not to knock all the air out of your mixture. Spoon your mixture into the paper cases and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
6- Leave to cool in the tin for five minutes then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
7- Whilst they're cooling make your jelly. I just followed the instructions on the packet as I have absolutely no idea how to make jelly from scratch. I wanted it to only be a thin layer of jelly so I poured mine onto a thin cling filmed baking tray before letting set. Once your happy with your jelly, pop in the fridge and leave to set.
8- Once your jelly is set, cut out twelve circles of jelly and place on top of your now cooled cupcakes.
9- Now you could make your own buttercream but I didn't have time so I cheated and used a tub of the Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge Buttercream. Place your icing into a piping bag and pipe as roughtly or as neatly as you'd like on top of the jelly.
10- Leave to set on the wire cooling, then enjoy. 

Marks And Spencer Beauty Advent Calendar Days Thirteen And Fourteen

Welcome back to Days Thirteen and Fourteen in my 25 Days of Beauty Series where I show you what I get in my Marks and Spencers Advent Calender. 

In Day Thirteen's box I recieved a generous sized tube of The Hero Project HyaSoft Instant Moisture Boost Gel. I don't actually know a great deal about this product but from the way the instructions read, it's some sort of moisture boost that can be applied alone or underneath your moisturiser. I actually don't anything about this product but I have tried it and it's amazing. I applied this alone to freshly cleansed and it made my skin feel so soft and hydrated. I'm definitely going to get some use out of this.

And in Day Fourteen's box I recieved a miniature Leighton Denny Glass Nail File. Now I'm not saying this isn't a nice product to recieve but you recieve a nail file in every year's calendar and glass nail files don't break or wear like a normal nail file does. I'm not being ungrateful, I'm just saying that they could have chosen another product to go in this particular box and rotated the kind of products we recieve.