Valentines Day // Mini Honey Yogurt Cakes

 

So, tomorrow is Valentines Day! I plan on painting my nails tonight with red glitter nail polish in celebration. Apart from that, I don't have too many exciting plans. I have pulled a mini lamb roast out of the freezer though & I think these mini honey yoghurt cakes will be a nice accompaniment for pudding.

 

I got the idea for these from my Mum - I went to visit my family in Dunedin last weekend & Mum had made this amazing lemon yoghurt cake for afternoon tea - it was so tasty!

 

I changed the lemon juice to honey, added some vanilla paste & baked these in baking paper lined ramekins. They came out as cute little moist cakes which I dressed up with rose syrup & chopped pistachios with some yoghurt on the side (middle eastern inspiration is my favourite!)

 

The recipe is so easy, so I hope you give these a go!

 

 

Mini Honey Yogurt Cakes

3/4 C White Sugar

1 Egg

1/2 C Oil (I used extra virgin olive oil but canola is good too)

1/4 t Salt

1/2 C Yoghurt (Greek or plain unsweetened)

1 1/2 T Liquid Honey

1/2 t Vanilla Paste (or 1 t vanilla)

1 C Self Raising Flour

 

Heat oven to 180 degrees celsius & grease & line the sides & bases of 6 small ramekins (or a cheesecake tray with removable bases)

Mix sugar, eggs, oil & salt with an electric beater or whisk until thick.

Mix in yoghurt, honey & vanilla paste.

Fold n flour until just mixed.

Scoop into tins (the mixture is quite runny - I used an ice cream scoop)

Bake for 10 minutes at 180 degrees, then drop the oven temperature to 150 degrees & continue cooking the cakes for approximately 15-20 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre of a cake comes out clean.

Cool for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a cake rack to cool completely.

Serve with rose syrup poured over (or more honey) plain yoghurt & chopped pistachios.

 

Serves 6

 

**To make a lemon version, omit the honey & vanilla paste & add 1 1/2 T lemon juice & the grated rind of 1 lemon. Serve with yoghurt & blueberries.

 

These are so yummy & stay good for 2-3 days (if they last that long!) I really want to go out & find a cheesecake tray now so I can make a whole heap of them...

 

What do you have planned for Valentines Day?

 

Kc



Roadtrip // Exploring Bluff

 

The weather lately has been magnificent. The end of January  and most of February tends to be fairly settled here in New Zealand. The temperatures all week have been in the mid to late 20's which is highly unusual for Invercargill! I decided to FINALLY get off my butt and do some site seeing.

 

 I filled up the car and headed down the coast to  Bluff-a small coastal town at the bottom of New Zealand. I had visited it once, on my 1st day at my current job. I'd glimpsed a cool-looking 2nd hand store which I was keen to check out.

 

 

I stopped across the road from the 2nd hand store and  ventured across the road to take a look.  It's filled with vintage glass, bottles, cigarette tins and boat paintings, plus old rusted tools and books! I found a pretty silver bib necklace for $10 which l decided would look perfect with my many dresses.

 

 

 

After I'd taken in the sites of the main drag (a 5 minute walk) I walked backed to a pub I'd seen earlier, where I ordered mini spring rolls and coffee and sat at a picnic table outside. Unfortunately while I was eating my lunch the Sandflies were eating me! l had to go ask at the bar if they had any bug spray (nope!) then run down to the 4 Square to buy some.

 

 

 

I wanted to have a look in the Maritime museum, but was too itches so headed home. It  was a fun trip though and I enjoyed using my camera after a bit of a break!

  

 

What are your plans for the weekend? How's the weather where you are?

 

Kc

Business Time // Southern Crafters Market

Yes...this post title does sound familiar!! I have just attended another Southern Crafters market here in Invercargill. It wasn't as busy as the first one but it was still pretty good!!

I thought I'd share some photos of my stall. I was really proud of it this time, I put a lot of thought into my display and  think it paid off! I ordered a banner off Vsitaprint and am stoked with how it came out - its huge! I got lots of nice comments so that was cool.

I made 8 flavours of cupcakes (lemon blossom, candy floss, double choc, carrot cake, malty milkshake, rainbow vanilla, peachy bellini and cherry bomb) a chocolate raspberry brownie & gluten free blueberry & lemon friands. Yum!

I made all my business cards myself, as well as the price lists and the cupcake menu's (I'm so pleased with the menu's! They work really well!)

Another exciting thing - my lovely friend Laura made me a website!! So check out Sequin Corner Cakes on the web - www.sequincornercakes.com - she's added all my prices and photos which is pretty cool!

Do you guys have any little businesses on the side? Do you have a stall at a local market?

Outfit Post // City meets the Forest

 Black Blazer - Jay Jays, Grey Denim Shirt - The Warehouse,  

Silver Leaf Necklace - Pagani, Black Jeans - Melbourne,  

Grey  & Black Leather Shoes - No. 1 Shoe Warehouse

Here are some outfit photos I took the other weekend in Te Anau. My boyfriend was playing in a golf tournament up there so I tagged along as I wanted  to have a look around, I haven't been to Te Anau since I was about 10 so it's changed a bit!

I spent the weekend drinking coffee in a local cafe, sitting down by the lake with a magazine in the sunshine (between rain showers!) and driving to Lake Manapouri for a look.

We had dinner at  a cool Italian restaurant called La Toscana - garlic bread, 2 mains and 2 desserts for $45, pretty good deal!! 

I found a little track at Lake Manapouri and took my camera & tripod with me to take some photos. It's so pretty!! Sunlight was filtering through the leaves and a wood pigeon was flying around the tree tops. Plus there was no one else around, it was so nice and quiet.

I tried to pack light for the weekend, I took my mini suitcase with me and a couple of changes of clothes. Although it's Spring here now it was pretty wintry! There were a few snow and hail showers so I was glad I packed jeans, jerseys and my blazer. This black blazer is my new favourite thing! I love wearing it to work and it was perfect for a weekend away as I could layer it up over things (like the dark denim shirt I'm wearing) and it kept everything looking tidy. 

I've been pretty busy lately, every weekend in November I have something on and December is filling up fast too! I can't believe how close to Christmas it is, are any of you guys getting organised yet??

Recipe Post // Blueberry Pancakes

I kind of treat baking as an experiment. I know some people say you should follow the recipe to the letter - but there's so many variables! I quite often change recipes slightly to get a better result, or just make them up from scratch - like this one!

One of my favourite cafes in Dunedin makes amazing pancakes. Like, plate sized pancakes! Filled with chopped fruit (watermelon, apples, bananas, grapes...whatever is available) and yoghurt. Capers was always the first stop for a tasty hungover breakfast on a Sunday morning when I was a student. 

So, I experimented. I had to have a go at making these at home! After multiple attempts (and a few fails!) this is my recipe. They turn out like giant pikelets, kind of cake-like in texture. I hope you'll give them a try on a lazy Sunday morning one weekend!

Blueberry Pancakes

 50g Butter, melted
1 1/2 C Plain Flour
1 Egg
 1/4 C Sugar
1 C Milk
3 t Baking Powder
Blueberries

Melt butter in a bowl in the microwave. 
Add all the other ingredients and whisk/beat with an electric mixer unti all combined. 
Heat a frying pan & grease with a touch of butter.
Scoop 1/3 C lots of batter into the pan and spread out slightly until about 7mm thick. Drop 5 or so blueberries on top of the pancake. 
When the pancake starts to bubble and turn matt, flip it over.

I stack mine up with Greek yoghurt and sliced bananas inbetween, sift over some icing sugar and then douse the whole thing in maple syrup. YUM!!

I hope you enjoy my pancake recipe! What is your favourite weekend breakfast meal to make?

Outfit Post // Going Aztec

 Velvet Blazer - Temt in Melbourne, T-shirt w a tail - Cotton On, Aztec Skirt - Kmart,  

Black Fringe Boots - Butterfly Hospice Shop, Dunedin

It has been a while! I can't even use the excuse of being ridiculously busy, it's been the complete opposite. The last few weekends have been spent lounging on the couch, relaxing by the lake in Cromwell and hanging with my family in Dunedin.

But anyway, I finally have an outfit post for you! I wore this to work about Wednesday last week. Usually I stick to black and white for work. Even though I don't always wear the most office-friendly outfits, I try to stick with this colour scheme to at least keep it a little bit tidy!

The velvet blazer is a well-worn favourite. It makes an appearance at least twice a week in my work outfits! I bought it in Melbourne in May and it's been a great investment. The Aztec patterned skirt was a cheap buy from Kmart last Summer, I can't wait to wear it again during the warmer weather as a comfortable alternative to shorts!

Oh and the boots! These boots caught my eye at the Hospice shop in Dunedin last weekend. They are a size 7 (I'm usually a 5 or 6) so I almost didn't try them on....but I did! And they fitted me perfectly! Plus they were only $5. I can't wait to wear them in Summer, I feel like I need to find a music festival to attend just so I can dance around in the dust with them!

Have you found any amazing items lately? Especially ones you can't wait to wear for the new seasons we're heading into?

Business Time // Southern Crafters Market

A couple of weeks ago I had a stall at one of the biggest markets down South - The Southern Crafters Market. It was held in the Velodrome which was pretty cool! I spent the 2 weeks before the market getting everything ready - planning my cupcake flavours, practising my stall set up and buying all the little bits and pieces I needed for the weekend. 

I was up the Friday night before the market until 4am baking and decorating cupcakes and then 2am the Saturday night! It was well worth it though, I managed to sell everything I made and I ran out of business cards and price lists to give to people. I got some awesome feedback about my stall set up too, so even though I was a bit of a Zombie by the end of it I was feeling pretty happy!!

I'm loving the community feel of the markets down here, everyone is so friendly and helpful (I'm always running out of change and asking people to swap me all their coins!)

I hope you've all been having a good month or so, I'm hoping to be able to fit some outfit posts in soon now that it's almost spring and the days are getting longer!