CHRISTMAS BAKING #4: THE BAKES OF CHRISTMAS PAST

Hello everyone and welcome back to the forth and final "Christmas Baking" post this December! If you haven't seen any of this years baking instalments so far, i will link them at the end of this post for you to catch up on. With that in mind for the final instalment i thought i would switch things up by doing something different, in the form of sharing a selection of the Christmas bakes from last years blogmas.

| gingerbread cupcakes two ways | click to bake |

First up we have probably one of the most traditional flavour when it comes to Christmas and that is gingerbread, last blogmas i shared this gingerbread cupcakes with two different ways in how to decorate/serve them. The first way was to simply bake/buy some little gingerbread men and place over top of the cinnamon flavoured frosting, the second way was to simply crush some gingerbread/gingerbread men up with a rolling pin before sprinkling over top of the same cinnamon flavoured frosting.

| frangipane mince pies | click to bake |

Next up is a twist on the ever so classic mince pie (which is a pretty big deal if you are from the UK at Christmas) and to me at Christmas i eat as many of them as possible, because they are simply so yummy. Usually the "lid" of the mince pie will either be a simple pastry lid or a pastry star, but i wanted to do something different so i added this yummy frangipane topping instead. If you aren't sure what frangipane is, it is basically an almond-like flavoured cake topping and i also share how to make that from start to finish too.

| hot chocolate cupcakes | click to bake |

Finally we have a cool spin with a classic drink that we all tend to indulge in during the Christmas/Winter months and that drink is a steaming cup of hot chocolate. So for last years blogmas post i shared this super simple hot chocolate cupcake recipe, complete with "whipped cream" style frosting, marshmallows and candy cane decorative straw, which really reminds me of the whole frozen hot chocolates you see in movies.

Catch up on this years "Christmas Baking" instalments...

| christmas baking #1: chocolate holly cupcakes | christmas baking #2: mincemeat, pecan and cinnamon crumble bars | christmas baking #3 carrot + gingerbread cupcakes |

Merry Christmas Everyone!

xo.

WHAT I ATE IN A DAY: FESTIVE EDITION

Hello everyone and welcome back to another "what i ate in a day" instalment! Since picking this type of post back up again in September, i have been so proud that i have remembered to do updated versions monthly and in fact last month i did not one but two (which i will link at the end). Before that i thought i would share with you a festive themed "what i ate in a day", which is not an all healthy food post but it is Christmas right?

So for breakfast this particular day i didn't have the most "winter-y" breakfast, like porridge as i usually would but i fancied something different and it is super quick to make. I had some mixed berries which were frozen and i warmed up in the microwave, with some homemade granola (cacao, almonds, oats, mixed nuts, dried fruits) and then also some Rachel's organic greek style honey yogurt and to top it off some more honey on top. As i had not had my coffee first thing when i got up, i had it with my breakfast instead.

Lunch time and i mentioned in a previous what i ate post that i had wanted to try smashed peas on toast for the longest time, then i finally did. Since then i have found another amazing recipe from Jamie Oliver, which is smashes peas and broad beans on toast with chilli the only thing different i did to his recipe is that i didn't add cheese as we didn't have any in ha ha. This is a great alternative to avocado on toast, especially if you are like me and aren't the biggest fan of avocado. 

Dinner time and i was actually at Meadowhall doing some last minute Christmas shopping, so we decided to get some dinner whilst we was there as it would be a little late to be eating dinner once we got back home. There is also finally a GBK (gormet burger kitchen) opened in Meadowhall, so of course we had to give it a go. I opted for burger, skinny fries and a sparkling elderflower drink, which was amazing!

Seeing as it is Christmas (which has been my excuse for the whole of December) i had dessert in the evening and i can never refuse anything mince pie related. With that in mind i had a options (low calorie) salted caramel hot chocolate and a viennese-mince pie, which was so yummy!

Catch up on some previous "what i ate in a day" posts...

| what i ate #1 | what i ate #2 | what i ate #3 | what i ate #4 |

xo.