Book Review: The Stars That Guide You Home

 

I’m beyond excited to be writing and sharing this post today. But I’m also a little anxious as I want to do this incredible book I’m talking about justice. The Stars That Guide You Home is an up and coming 2021 release from one of my best friends Jemma. She has put her heart and soul into this novel and I was honoured when she asked if I’d like an advanced review copy to read and review for you all. 

TSTGYH is a historical romance that follows the love story of Tom and Sophia who live peacefully in a quaint village, tending to their farm until the day Sophia is cruelly snatched from their home by King Edmund. From there she is forced to become Edmund’s Queen; a position she fled the Capital to avoid years prior, yet she doesn’t stop dreaming of being reunited with her sweet, loving Tom. And when James, a Doctor arrives to tend to Sophia, they come up with a plan to reunite her with her beloved but leaves the trio in constant fear of being rumbled and possibly ripping Tom and Sophia apart forever. 

This book is beautiful, simply beautiful. The way Jemma writes has you attached to the characters from the get go, each turn of the page giving you hope that these star crossed lovers will reunite and get their own fairy tale happy ending. However you have to endure the same suffering as the characters as they’re torn apart, tortured, reunited and subsequently torn apart again. There are many times that you wonder if these two will ever get their happy ever after, each additional blockade that stands between them keeps you reading on until it’s gone 1am and you should have gone to bed hours ago. 

And then there’s the plot twist that I did not see coming. Now I was privileged enough to read a few of the chapters as Jemma wrote these along with our friends Sophie and Kim but there was always a bit that a Jemma never shared with us. And after reading it last night and then having to reread it again to make sure I read it right, I’m glad she left us a surprise. It is an incredible plot twist, one you’ll never see coming until you’ve read it and reread it to make sure you’ve read it correctly. It sets up the conclusion perfectly, one that left me emotional, immensely proud and eager for the rest of the world to read it. 

With opulently described settings and well written, fleshed out characters that take your stereotypical, Neanderthal handsome leading man and your fair, whimsical damsel in distress and flip them on their head, Jemma has succeeded in adding her own flair to the historical romance genre. Due to be released in ebook sometime in January and print form later in Spring, The Stars That Guide You Home is one I highly recommend you put on your 2021 TBR lists.  

Recipe: Skeleton Brownies

 

🎶 Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back 🎶 Sorry I couldn’t resist but that particular lyric is perfect for todays recipe. I’m going to hold my hands up and say that these aren’t perfect, they are nothing like the ones on Pinterest that I took my inspiration from but I’m happy that I actually managed to complete this from start to end and have something edible and somewhat cute at the end. This skeleton brownies are a bit of fun, they’re not a serious bake but would look perfect on a Halloween party spread and as I said I’m just happy they turned out edible. 

Ingredient 

For The Brownies

• 200g Dark Chocolate
• 200g Unsalted Butter
• 275g Caster Sugar
• 90g Plain Flour 
• 35g Cocoa Powder
• 3 Eggs
• 33g Dark Choc Chips, 33g Milk Choc Chips and 33g White Choc Chips

For The Decorations

• White Chocolate Pretzels
• White Normal Sized Marshmallows
• White Mini Marshmallows
• Edible Writing Pen
• Toothpicks

Method 

1. Pre heat oven to 180C. Line a 12inch rectangular tin with greaseproof paper.
2. In a Bain Marie melt your unsalted butter and chocolate together. It’ll take a while but it gives a smoother finish to the mixture which essentially gives a fudgier texture to the overall brownie. 
3. Once your chocolate and butter have melted together place to one side to cool. Into a clean bowl place your eggs and sugar and beat until double in size, pale in colour and mousse like in texture. It takes a while to get there but it’s worth it. 
4. By now you’re chocolate mix should be cool and you can now fold it through your egg mixture. You need to fold it through so you don’t beat out the air you’ve just spent time beating in otherwise it’ll give you more of a bread like brownie once it’s cooked. 
5. Fold in your flour, cocoa powder and chocolate chips. This is where you’ll need to scrape the edges and the sides so that everything is incorporated and you don’t have pockets of unmixed flour baking in your brownies. 
6. Spoon your mixture into your waiting tin and cook for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool completely in the tin. 
7. Now it’s time for some marshmallow art. Grab yourself nine normal sized marshmallows and your edible writing pen. Then all you have to do is have fun and let your creative side show. I’m the worst artist but think my marshmallow skulls came out quite well.
8. By the time you’ve finished your marshmallow art your brownies should be cool and you can start creating your skeletons. To start off with gently score your brownies into nine pieces as a guide to place your toothpicks. 
9. Once you’ve placed your toothpicks in the centre of each brownie chunk, place a pretzel on top of the brownie making sure the toothpick goes through one of the holes. Repeat until you have the base of your skeletons rib cage on each brownie chunk. 
10. Then take a mini marshmallow and gently squish and roll it between your fingers until it’s a bit mishaped but still edible. Slide it down the toothpick until it hits the pretzel and then place another pretzel on top of the marshmallow. 
11. When you have your second rib in place, slide another mini marshmallow down the toothpick to create a neck for the head. Slide the head into place, don’t worry if the marshmallow cracks a little it just adds to the effect. 
12. Repeat until you have nine skeletons erupting from their graves. I advise leaving them to cool completely in the tin and then cutting when it’s sufficiently cooled. 
13. Then all that’s left is to enjoy them. I took mine into work and my colleagues loved them. Imperfect but perfect for spooky season. 

Recipe: Ghoulish Marbled Halloween Cupcakes

 

I love baking for Halloween, it allows me to be a bit more adventurous, so many ghouls and monsters that can easily be incorporated into bakes but sometimes its also nice to strip it back and keep it simple. And that’s what I’m sharing with you today. A simple cupcake recipe with a surprise centre all topped off with a graveyard grey buttercream that has just the hint of glitter in it. 

Ingredients 

For The Cupcakes

- 150g Stork

- 150g Caster Sugar

- 150g Self Raising Flour

- 2 Tsps Vanilla Extract

- 3 Eggs

- Orange Food Colouring

- Green Food Colouring

For The Buttercream

- 200g Butter, softened 

- 320g Icing Sugar

- 2 Tsps Vanilla Extract

- Black Food Colouring

- Jam, flavour of your choice

Method

1. Pre heat oven to 180C. Line a twelve hole cupcake tin with paper cases. 
2. Into a bowl place your caster sugar and stork. Cream together either by hand, electric mixer or stand mixer until it’s pale and fluffy in colour. 
3. Add one egg and a tablespoon of flour. Beat until well combined and then repeat with your remaining eggs. 
4. Fold in your flour and vanilla extract, taking time to slowly fold it through and keep all the air you’ve just beat into the mixture. 
5. Now comes the fun part. Divide your mixture between two bowls. Into one bowl add your orange food colouring and mix until you’ve reached your desired colour. I used quite a lot of orange colouring as I wanted it to be quite bright. 
6. In your second bowl add your green food colouring and again mix until you reach your desired colour. I had to mix two different greens for this recipe as the lighter green on it’s own had too much of a yellow undertone that the darker green turned slime coloured when added. 
7. To marble the two together just alternate spooning the mixture into the waiting paper cases and pop in the oven for 20-22 minutes or until the top springs back when pressed. You could take a toothpick and marble them together before cooking but they automatically and organically do it when they bake so I always like to leave it to the oven to create my pattern. 
8. Leave to cool in the tin for five minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. 
9. Now its time to make your buttercream. Pop your softened butter into a clean bowl and beat until soft and pale in colour. I highly advise using a hand mixer or a stand mixer for this part as doing this by hand can be a killer. 
10. Sift in half of your icing sugar and beat until fully incorporated. I tend to start off by folding my icing sugar in so it doesn’t fly out of the bowl and you’re don’t get that dreaded icing sugar cloud. 
11. Sift in the remaining half of your icing sugar and vanilla extract and beat again. Take this time to really scrape the edges and the bottom of the bowl so there aren’t pockets of icing sugar left unmixed in your buttercream. 
12. This is where it gets difficult. Adding food colouring to buttercream isn’t difficult but trying to create that perfect midnight black is. I used the Sugarflair Midnight Black food colouring to start with and it’s what’s given it that lovely metallic sheen but you may need to combine two shades of black to get there or even somewhere close. I also used the Dr Oetker Black Gel Food Colouring to achieve this colour which wasn’t what I was going for but still turned out well in the end. 
13. Once you’ve gotten your desired colour, set your now prepared buttercream to one side. It’s time to add your secret centre. Take your now cooled cupcakes and using a knife or a corer cut out the centre. You could keep them to place on top once you’ve filled them or you could eat them as I did. 
14. Take your jam and spoon a small amount into the middle of your cupcake. Using the back of your spoon gently press down so that your filling lies flat against the top of your cupcake. 
15. Fit a piping bag with a nozzle of your choice and then fill it with your buttercream. Pipe your desired design onto your cupcakes. Don’t worry about your buttercream mixing with your jam, it’s all going to smush together when you bite it anyways.
16. Then all that’s left is to enjoy. I love the metallic sheen these have and when you bit into them you get that delicious sweet vanilla alongside the sharp, tart taste of the jam. Trust me whoever you bake these for is going to love them. 

Recipe: Halloween Shortbread

 

“This is Halloween, This is Halloween” Sorry couldn’t resist it. October is finally here which means Spooky Season is finally upon us. And what a way to kick off the month than with a simple yet punchy recipe that’s absolutely adorable to look at and taste delicious with a cup of coffee. For this recipe I once again played with my flavour combinations, opting for ginger and dark chocolate so it’s got a bit of a kick to it but isn’t too overpowering or bitter. The dark chocolate adds a nice little bit of sweetness whilst not making it overly sweet. 

Ingredients     

- 115g Butter

- 55g Caster Sugar

- 175g Plain Flour

- A Pinch Of Salt

- 100g Dark Chocolate Chips

- 1 Tsp Ground Ginger

Method

1. Pre heat oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. 
2. Into a bowl place the salt, sugar and flour.
3. Add your butter and rub between your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs. 
4. Add your ground ginger and dark chocolate chips. Keep rubbing the mixture together until it starts to come together and form a dough. You may need a little water to help bind it together but it should come together quite easily on it’s own. 
5. Place your dough on a lightly floured surface and roll until about an inch thick. Make sure your flour your rolling pin as well as the chocolate chips are likely to stick to it after a couple of rolls. 
6. Using Halloween shaped cutters of your choice cut out as many shapes as possible, rerolling the dough until you have none left. I got my cutters from Shein and really love the plunger on the top to help get them easily out of the mould. 
7. Place on your prepared baking tray/s and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Don’t worry if the middles still feel a little soft, they firm up as they cool on the tray. 
8. Leave to cool completely on the tray and then all that’s left to do is enjoy them. I recommend them with a good cup of coffee or a nice hot cuppa. 

Recipe: S’mores Cupcakes

I made a s’mores inspired recipe back in 2018 and looking back on it, I’m both embarrassed by and proud of myself. The original recipe looks horrendous compared to these little beauties but it makes me proud to see how far I’ve come as a baker in these last two years. 

Where 2018’s recipe was nothing more than a chocolate sponge topped with a marshmallow buttercream and sprinkled with crushed digestive. Today’s recipe however consists of a buttery biscuit base, moist rich chocolate sponge all topped off with a toasted marshmallow buttercream that when bitten into gives you a delicious mixture of sweet and salty, creating that melt in the mouth s’mores texture. 

Ingredients 

For The Buttery Biscuit Base 

- 45g Melted Butter

- 150g Crushed Digestives 

- 1 1/2 Tbsps Golden Syrup 

For The Cupcakes 

- 100g Caster Sugar 

- 100g Stork

- 100g Self Raising Flour 

- 15g Cocoa Powder

- 2 Eggs 

- 2 Tsps Chocolate Extract 

For The Buttercream 

- 200g Unsalted Butter, softened 

- 320g Sugar And Crumbs Toasted Marshmallow Icing Sugar 

Method 

1- Pre heat oven to 180C. Line a twelve hole cupcake tin with paper cases. 

2- To make your buttery biscuit base you’ll want to mix the crushed digestives with the golden syrup and melted butter. Once combined it should look like wet sand. 

3- Spoon a tablespoon of the biscuit mixture into your paper cases. Using the end of a rolling pin press the mixture down until it evenly covers the bottom of your paper cases. Place to one side. 

4- Into a bowl place your sugar and stork. Cream together until pale and fluffy in texture. 

5- Add one egg and a tablespoon of flour. Beat until well combined. 

6- Repeat with your second egg and a second tablespoon of flour. Beat until combined, taking care to scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl. 

7- Fold in your remaining flour, cocoa powder and chocolate extract. Take your time at this point as you don’t want to knock out any air from the mixture. 

8- Spoon on top of the biscuit mix and bake for 22 minutes or until the sponge springs back when pressed. Leave to cool in the tin for five minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. 

9- Now it’s onto the buttercream. Place the softened unsalted butter into a clean bowl and beat until soft and pale in colour. 

10- Add half your icing sugar and beat until fully incorporated. I advise folding in the icing sugar to start with as it helps stop that horrid icing sugar cloud covering you and all surfaces surronding you. 

11- Beat in the rest of your icing sugar alongside two teaspoons of milk until you have a nice piping consistency. 

12- Spoon your buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a nozzle of your choice and decorate your now cooled cupcakes. 

13- Then all that’s left is to enjoy them and trust me when I say one definitely won’t be enough. 

 

Recipe: Dark Chocolate And Orange Shortbread

                                           

I love shortbread, love cooking shortbread and love thinking of new flavour combinations to try out in my shortbread recipes. And earlier in the year I shared a recipe for triple chocolate shortbread that created my addiction for shortbread with chocolate chips in. So with Autumn upon us and Christmas rapidly approaching, I thought I’d try and incorporate one of my favourite Autumn/Winter flavours into shortbread. So today I’m sharing with you my dark chocolate and orange shortbread thar’s rich, sharp and melt in the mouth delicious. The key to this shortbread is dark chocolate chips, their slightly bitter flavour combines perfectly with the sharpness of the orange and creates a delicious combination in each bite.

Ingredients 

- 115g Butter

- 55g Caster Sugar 

- 175g Plain Flour 

- 100g Dark Chocolate Chips

- Pinch Of Salt

- Zest Of One Orange

- Juice Of Half An Orange 

Method

1. Pre heat oven to 180C. Line a tin of your choosing with greaseproof paper.
2. Into a bowl place your caster sugar, plain flour and salt.
3. Add your butter and then using your fingers or a food processor blitz/rub together until it resembles breadcrumbs. 
4. Add your dark chocolate, orange zest and orange juice. Continue rubbing together until it starts to resembles a dough. Normally I’d add a little bit of water to my mix to help bind it all together but because we’ve added the orange juice, we don’t need that extra help to bind everything together. 
5. Once you have your dough, you can either roll it out on a lightly floured surface and cut out with a cutter of your choice or you can press it into a small tin that’s lined with greaseproof paper like I do. 
6. Once your shortbread is ready, pop it into the oven and let it bake for 10-15 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. 
7. Leave to cool completely in the tin if you’ve cooked it as a whole and then cut and enjoy or if you have shaped shortbread just gently peel it from the greaseproof and enjoy. These work wonderfully with a nice cuppa and one bit won’t be enough. 

Recipe: Pumpkin Spice Shortbread

 

I think it’s safe to say that I’m a little obsessed with pumpkin spice, even though I’m yet to have a PSL so far this year. So today I’ll be sharing with you my recipe for Pumpkin Spice Shortbread. Rich and buttery, this crumbly shortbread embodies all the flavours of Autumn whilst still melting in the mouth and being absolutely delicious. 

Ingredients 

- 115g Butter

- 175g Plain Flour 

- 55g Caster Sugar

- Pinch Of Salt

- 2 Tsps Pumpkin Spice Mix 

Method 

1- Pre heat the oven to 180C. Line a tin of your choosing with greaseproof paper. This can be a round sandwich tin like I used or a flat baking tray so you can roll and cut out your desired shape. 

2- Into a bowl place your plain flour, caster sugar and salt/ 

3- Add your butter and rub together until it resembles breadcrumbs. You can also use a food processor to do this but I don’t have one and find it quite satisfying to do with my fingers. 

4- Add your pumpkin spice mix and continue to rub together with your fingers until the mixture starts coming together to resemble a dough. You may require some water to get the dough to come together but you don’t want to add too much as it’ll make the dough too wet and it will just stick to the sides of the bowl. 

5- Now I planned on using some leave shaped cutters and being all Autumnal and that but my amazon order got lost in the post and I had to just pop my dough into my prepared round tin and bake it. You can use any cutter you like and just need to roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface before using your cutters to create your desired shape. Then it’s just a case of popping them onto your prepared tin and popping them into the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. 

6- Once your shortbread is cooked, leave it to cool in the tin completely. Then once it’s cooled all that’s left to do is cut it if you’ve cooked it in a tin like mine or just peel gently off the greaseproof paper and enjoy with a cup of coffee.