Pecan Pie Cake with Butterscotch Cream Cheese Icing

I like winter.
Let me qualify that - I like winter in Durban. It doesn't last very long; but it gives you a chance to wear those expensive boots and coats you couldn't resist buying, despite your husbands advice against it. ("When does it get cold enough to wear those?"  See - it got cold enough. For 3 days.)

And it's perfect baking weather.
Especially for something sweet, rich and nutty like this cake.

It has several steps to it, but you can make both the pecan pie filling and butterscotch sauce in advance.
And it's worth it!

 Pecan Pie Cake with Butterscotch Cream Cheese Icing

Pecan Pie Filling
Recipe from Shugary Sweets

(Make in advance)

240g pecan nuts, chopped
200g brown sugar
120g golden syrup *
125ml fresh cream
60g butter
1tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt

*yes, grams - I find it easier to weigh the syrup directly into the saucepan, rather than pouring it into a measuring jug.  Sticky business!

Place the sugar, syrup, cream and butter together in a saucepan.
Heat on medium-high, stirring constantly until it boils.
Allow to boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
Stir in the nuts, salt and vanilla extract.
Cool. Refrigerate until required.
Spread the pecan pie filling between the cooled layers of the cake. Reserve some to spread over the top of the cake after it has been iced. (if the filling has been refrigerated, you may need to warm it slightly to make it easier to spread.) 

Buttermilk Vanilla Cake
Recipe adapted from Sweetapolita

Preheat the oven to 180'C
Grease and line 3x 8 inch round cake pans

360g cake flour
400g caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
4 large eggs + 2 egg yolks
220g butter, cut into cubes
300ml buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract


Sift all the dry ingredients (including the sugar) into the bowl of an electric mixer. Use the paddle attachment on low speed to mix the ingredients together.

Add the butter to the mixer, and beat on low speed until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Mix in 250ml of the buttermilk.
Increase to medium speed and beat for about 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.
While this is mixing, in another bowl, whisk the eggs, yolks and remainder of the buttermilk together.
Add this to the batter in 3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl in between.
Mix until just incorporated.

Divide the batter equally between the 3 cake pans. (You can use 2 cake pans, but your baking time will increase.)

Bake the 3 layers at 180'C for approximately 30min, or until a tester inserted comes out clean.
Leave the cake to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.

Butterscotch Cream Cheese Icing
Recipe by Tea, Cake and Create

Butterscotch Sauce
(make in advance)

85g butter
30ml brown sugar
40ml golden syrup
40ml cream
1tsp vanilla extract ( or 8-10 drops of Vanilla Girl vanilla)

Melt the butter, syrup and sugar together in a saucepan. Stir constantly until all the sugar granules have melted.
Add the cream and vanilla. Mix well.
Boil for 3 minutes.
Stir occasionally.
Cool. Refrigerate until required. 

Cream cheese icing
250g  (1 tub) cream cheese, chilled (Use a dense variety of cream cheese - like Woolworths, Philadelphia or Lancewood)
100g butter at room temp
60g icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract
Butterscotch sauce (from recipe above) 
Beat together icing sugar and butter until smooth.
Add cream cheese and vanilla and beat until mixed.
Beat in the butterscotch. 
Ice the cake with the butterscotch cream cheese icing. 
Heat reserved pecan pie filling and pour over the top of the cake. 

Happy (winter) baking!

xxM

Kirstie Allsopp presents The Handmade Fair

Today I'm excited to be teaming up with the lovely people that help organise Kirstie Allsopp's Handmade Fair to bring you a quick run down of what's on offer this year.  Last year, my Instagram feed was full of workshop makes, unique stalls and flower / pom pom crowns galore [that's all I need to know to be sold].  They've also provided a lovely little discount code for some bargain tickets at the end of the post [not that you'll need any convincing to go]!

So, what can you expect?

Well, this isn’t your average craft market – it’s a long weekend of hands-on workshops [there's a space at the flower crown workshop with my name on it!]:

...Interviews [I'm already fangirling at the possibility of seeing Emma Bridgewater, Jane Means and, well, everybody!]:

....‘make and takes’ [hello 'Epic Garlands', save a seat for me!]:

.....and all the crafty shopping and fabulous food you can manage! 

[cream tea and felt? Add some glitter and I'm moving in!]

 Kirstie will be there every day to host some of the sessions [and take selfies with, I hope]!

[the flower crown envy is strong]

Need I say more?

Here are the details:

The fair takes place over the 18th - 20th September and the setting is the beautiful Hampton Court Palace.  Find out even more on the website.

So, on to the discount!

Grab an entry only ticket for just £12 with the code: THETHINGS12

or a full experience ticket for £27 with: THETHINGS27

The full experience ticket includes:

1 x Super Theatre session – pick from Q&As with creative visionaries like Will Taylor and Fiona Cairns, demos with top crafters including Lisa Comfort and Poppy Chancellor, and the Mollie Makes Mash Ups which will pit leading crafters up against each other as they take on the challenge of transforming bunting, tote bags and wreaths using their not inconsiderable skills!

1 x Skills Workshop – choose from a variety of sessions in each of our 6 skills tents. We’ve got Papercraft, Yarn & Textiles, Wedding with Hobbycraft, Seasonal, Upcycling with Annie Sloan, and Fashion Accessories.

1 x Grand Make – this is crafting on a BIG scale! Sit down to do a quick make and share your skills with 300 other crafters!

Plus access to the boutique shopping village and delicious food and drink from artisan producers.

You just need to quote these when booking and it's as easy as that!  

Grab them whilst you can - you wont regret going and return home full of inspiration, plenty of goodies and some new crafty skills.

Also, there is a Christmas fair on later in the year.  

There.  I said the C word in July.

see you next time [and at the fair!] x

Note: This is not a paid endorsement, however; I was offered the opportunity to provide a discount code to readers of The Things She Makes, so was keen to share! 

Ruffled Heart Box Cake

It's the final week of school holidays, and we're all still alive! 

Although my daughter (5) did decide yesterday that she'd like to go and live with her aunt and "cuzzies". 

I went along with it until she selected her favourite DVD's and started taking piles of her clothes out the cupboard. I put my foot down when she wanted to borrow a suitcase to pack it all up in. 

I may regret the decision when she's 15...!  

(I don't take her attempt to jump ship personally - it's not a reflection on my deficiencies as a parent, just the attractive pull of a household of women and multiple TV's ... love is full of fickle favouritism when you're five!)

 So while I've been dealing with the perfidy of my progeny (and all the other activities holidays demand), it's been tricky to get much else done. So this is a reflection on an earlier project -  another mini-cakes class idea that I have in mind. A little simpler than the teddy bear and suitcase cake, but still a fun cake to make.  

It's a small 4 inch sponge cake, covered in a modelling chocolate / fondant blend.

The wood effect is created by hand with a dresden tool, and then 2 layers of paint are applied afterwards to give it a bit of dimension. The first is a mixture of chocolate brown gel and clear alcohol, and the second coat is ivory gel and clear alcohol.

Wooden box cake before painting...

Wooden box cake after painting...

                                                                                                        Dimension! 

Happy decorating!
xxM

How To Make a Paper Flower Bud

I love a paper flower project [you can find some here] but todays is so, so easy. All you need to do to achieve it is fold.  Let's dive right in.

The size of your flower bud is dependant on 2 factors: the width and length of your chosen paper/card/fabric. The tutorial for today uses an A4 size card, cut in to widths of 2cm.

 

 The main method to start creating your bud is to fold your card back and forth at an angle to
create a line of peaks/triangles:

Once completed, start from one end and roll this to the other:

[hold the card/paper between your thumb and forefinger as you roll to keep the width consistent and create a tighter bud]

...as you reach the opposite end, ensure you leave enough card to fold under the bud and fix in place [I used a glue gun for ease and time], holding all your card together:

...and your bud is complete, ready to use for embellishment and decoration.  Easy peasy.

P.S - Creating a larger bud is just as easy - firstly, cut a wider piece of card and create the bud in the same way.  Once complete, cut a second length of the same or larger width and wrap this around the formed bud to increase the size:

see you next time x

Jungle Animals - Modelling Chocolate

So, I must have been absent the day we learned about Asian lions. I mean, I know that we get African and Asian elephants, obviously. But non-African lions.... I really did not know that!
Those cartoon pictures and children's books where lions and tigers fraternize have always bugged me (just a bit) - but it turns out that they actually can cross paths, not just pages.

 I still couldn't bring myself to include a lion in the line-up for this class, though.
It's a Jungle Animals theme, and lion is still out on safari (where he belongs, in my book!).


Monkey,

 Tiger,

                                               

and Elephant - Asian ... you can tell, 'cause he's smiling.
(No, that's not a political commentary - it's a fact that Asian elephants are friendlier!)

All made with a modeling chocolate / fondant blend.
See here for the modelling chocolate recipe I use.

xxM

Caramelised Cinnamon Seeds

These more-ish munchy seeds have recently become a must-have item in my pantry.

 They're a great addition to both savoury and sweet dishes - think yoghurt, salads, soups, roast vegetables...

They rarely get that far though, because they're also a great snack just on their own!

                            

I started out buying them, but realised that while R12,99 for 35g doesn't seem too expensive; per kilogram, it's three times the price of fillet (that's beef fillet)! 

So, that and the need to have them constantly available in my cupboard, spurred me on to figuring out how to make them instead.  That and because I'm such a bakey-makey person... 

As it turns they are so easy to make!  

Caramelised Cinnamon Seeds

Recipe by Tea, Cake and Create

60ml (1/4 cup) light brown sugar

150ml (2/3 cup) mixed seeds - sunflower seeds, sesame, pumpkin, chia, flaxseeds, etc

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 

Mix the sugar and seeds and cinnamon together, and heat in a heavy based saucepan on medium-high until the sugar has melted and just started to bubble. 

Remove from the heat, and stir to ensure that all the seeds are coated. 

Turn out onto baking parchment to cool. 

Once cooled and crunchy, store in an airtight container at room temperature.   

So easy; so tasty, and (ignoring the sugar) seeds are so good for you, right?! 

Enjoy!

xxM 

My Paris Lolita Adventure!

On Thursday 2nd July, I set off very early in the morning for Paris. It was my first time going there, and I was incredibly excited! The check in process at St. Pancras to catch the Eurostar was a little stressful, as we were in the midst of a ridiculous heatwave. We finally got on the train, and leaned against one another, already exhausted by our early starts!

Two hours and forty minutes later, we were at Gare du Nord! We were staying close to Richard-Lenoir, so after buying a carnet, and being accosted by a woman trying to pull a money laundering scam, we found ourselves on metro line 5, rushing through the city.

A really nice man came to our rescue where we were stood outside the station, staring at our maps in confusion, and he pointed us in the right direction. This was most unexpected, considering how rude people had been thus far (and were for the rest of our trip! I got given so many angry looks when wearing lolita...) We finally made it to the apartment we were renting for the weekend through Airbnb, and it was on the fourth floor of a building with no elevator. Swell. Still, we somehow made it to our room, and were content to sit around drinking water for a while.

The decor was so lovely! It was cosy and yet chic, and the abundance of house plants was very pleasant. Our hosts also had a cat! To be honest, we didn't get along with it very well, and this is coming from two self proclaimed "crazy cat ladies". It was very antisocial (moreso than most cats!) and kept staring off in random directions with its eyes looking very possessed and scary, haha!

I was incredibly sweaty from the journey to Paris, so after freshening myself up and cooling down as best I could in a room without air conditioning (I am not sure how I survived this trip but I am proud of myself for dealing with the extreme temperatures!) I finally got changed for my pilgrimmage to Baby, The Stars Shine Bright!

The apartment had this lovely, old, ornate furniture and I couldn't help posing on a piece of it! I went for a very casual, summery look with a very loose broderie anglaise blouse as I didn't want to boil in the heat! 

We were a mere 20 minute walk from the shop, so set off on foot. It was incredibly hot by mid afternoon, around 35°C, maybe more. I was so relieved when I came round a corner and finally saw the flash of pink that let me know I was in the right place.

I was a little faint by this point but still excited to be there! I loved the designs on the window!

The interior of the shop is pretty basic, and there wasn't exactly a massive amount of stock. I ended up going back to the shop a couple days later, as I wanted to make sure I had a good overview of everything before making a decision. You see, my next stop was the Angelic pretty pop-up shop! On the way there, I saw the Pyramide du Louvre, the Carrousel, the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, and in the distance I spotted the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe! It was like we were in the ideal tourist zone! We didn't linger, and didn't really have the energy to go inside museums as the weather was so hot we wanted to wrap up the day early.

I was pretty annoyed to learn that the AP store opening had been on Tuesday, so I missed out on the true bargains like the lucky packs, and probably a lot of the accessories I might have wanted were already gone by the time I rocked up there. The space was even more bare than Baby. There were a lot of blouses, a handful of very pricey OPs, and an array of incredibly basic accessories. The Drained Cherry OP was super cute up close in real life, but again, it was simply too much for my budget. On the other side of the shop was all the Putumayo stuff, which, whilst interesting, was definitely not my style at all. 

I left feeling a little disappointed. I wondered if I might return home totally empty handed! I tried not to get too down about it, got some rest for the day ahead.

On Friday I got up early so I could get a simple coordinate ready for a morning trip to a Japanese patisserie called Aki Boulanger. I was quite excited, as I was going to finally meet my blogspot friend, Miuko! The café was situated a mere several doors down from the AP pop up shop, so it was very easy remembering how to get there.

We finally arrived, and as well as Miuko, I got to meet her friend Miriam. After introductions, we went to order food, the process of which totally confused me. The people working the tills didn't seem to understand me and I certainly didn't understand them, and as a result, I ended up walking away thinking I had paid for everything, but they informed me I hadn't paid for the drinks. Why they didn't add everything up together at the same time was totally beyond me. A little flustered, I settled myself back down again at our tables out on the street.

My partner and I had blueberry cheesecake. It was absolutely delicious! The texture was perfect!

What occurred next was a few hours of funny conversations about a lot of random topics! The weather that morning was nowhere near as hot as it had been the day before, and for the most part there was a nice breeze so we were able to stay outside comfortably in the shade. I had a really great time getting to know them, and was sad when they had to leave for the tea party they were going to later! Before parting, I made sure to get a photo of us!

I hope we will meet again soon! 

We didn't do much for the rest of the day. We made our second trip to Angelic Pretty where I got a pair of OTK socks. I must say, I kinda regret this purchase. 

I made the silly assumption that they would fit because they were the same length as another pair of OTKs I own that fit well. But when I tried them on back at the apartment, they had pretty much no stretch to them, and barely covered my knee. I may have to sell them, sadly. I really don't want to, though, as they're so cute!

We spent the entire evening talking to our hosts, a French gay couple who were such interesting people! I loved that they took the time to get to know us, and it was definitely one of the more memorable parts of the trip.

On Saturday, I had initially planned on going to the Kawaii International event at Princess Crepe, but I just wasn't feeling well when my alarm went off that morning. I tried to psyche myself up to get dressed and go but I just couldn't do it, and instead allowed myself a lie in. Luckily, I was feeling much better after a few hours, though was rather disappointed that I didn't get to hang out with any lolitas that day.

I wanted to take a final trip to Baby so that I could have another scout around for something to buy. I put together a simple, pop kei inspired coordinate, as I figured this would be the most sensible option in case I wanted to try any dresses on (which I totally ended up doing!)

Ironically enough, I sweated more wearing a t-shirt and short skirt than I did when I wore my lolita jumperskirts layered over blouses! 

Before settling on my purchases, I looked around  the shop feverishly, wanting to come away with something cute, and determined not to leave until I had seen absolutely everything. I came to a headdress display and scanned it carefully.

I ended up finding a really adorable rectangle headdress which I was shocked to find suited me. I then tried on the Dot Ribbon jumsperskirt in pink, but it was unshirred, and I couldn't zip it up because of my damn bust. I then tried on a different pink dress on a whim, and it fitted perfectly! It was another shock moment as it wasn't the type of dress I would normally go for, but I loved how it looked on me. 

It is the Crown Embroidered Sailor School jumperskirt, and I will be sure to make a video about it so I can show all the details properly! It looks so different in real life than in photos!

We had a quiet night in, ready for what was sure to be another exhausting day of travelling ahead.

On Sunday morning, we got ourselves ready nice and early so that we could see the Eiffel Tower. It was on the other side of the city from us, but it only took about a half hour on the metro. There was barely anyone about at that time of morning, so we were able to get seats immediately. On our way from the station, we found out there was some sort of cycling event going on (Tour de France? Who knows. I don't keep up with sports at all), and we had to cross the roads strategically so as not to interrupt it.

Before long, we were stood in front of the famous structure. 

It was just as I imagined it would be, and I couldn't help feeling kind of excited to see it in person. 

Navigating the crowds closer to the tower was pretty unpleasant, what with street vendors shoving selfie sticks in our faces every 5 seconds, and more scammers trying to get us to sign their "petition" and donate to charity (read: their pockets). I was pretty glad when we finally broke away from the crowd and made our way back to the station.

We returned to the apartment to remove our suitcases from the room in time for the next people to come and stay there. 

We finished off our Paris experience with one of our hosts kindly filling us with French fruits,  coffee, croissants, bread and various cheeses while we got into another long conversation! We got so carried away we completely lost track of time, and were so close to being late for checking in at Gare du Nord! It was a really lovely end to our trip!

So overall, I had a good time in Paris. I was underwhelmed by some of the touristy things, as I'm not really into museums (so the things I might be interested in seeing are narrowed down dramatically!) I also hated how hot the weather was, but of course, a random heatwave cannot be helped. Would I go back? Yeah, maybe. I never got round to visiting Princess Crepe or any of the tea parties or events. It would be nice to go back with a bigger budget so I don't have to be a cheapskate about everything next time, and really make the most of the activities on offer.

I hope you enjoyed this travel diary! Have you ever been to Paris? What did you think of it? I look forward to reading your comments! See you next time ❤

How To Make a Sunglasses Storage Tray

The weather this last week has been barely recognisable as to what I'm used to and have felt so many times like I'm on holiday.  How much better is everything when the Sun is out?

Dear England, please keep the weather like this always. Many thanks.

To jinx this spell of beautiful weather, I've a DIY that might help you if, like me, you have a relaxed approach to storing and displaying your sunglasses [and you know I love a frame storage / jewellery display DIY].

What I Used:

Ikea Ribba Frame

2 x A4 Grey Felt Sheet

Cardboard

Pencil / Scissors / Glue

This DIY is really simple in concept and doesn't take more than an hour to make.

Firstly, take an old [or new] frame that is at least the width of your largest pair of glasses and length of your glasses stacked together.  Take the frame apart.  Keep the backboard and frame, removing the stand and any other embellishments [don't worry too much about being neat and tidy and this stage - it's all going to be covered up]:

Cut one sheet of felt to cover one side of the backboard - leave a very small hem [only around 1/2mm]
- and glue this securely in place [I used the glass frame to help guide the size]:

The backboard is going to now be placed in to the frame, felt side showing through the front of the frame.  However; instead of being pushed all the way to the front of the frame, you want this to now sit neatly in line with the back:

[The hem should help keep the backboard in place, flush with the back]

To secure this further, cut a second sheet of felt that is the size of the frame and glue in place to cover the exposed backboard:

...this will also help the tray stop moving about if on a shiny surface.

Completed, the felt should now be taught and sit neatly:

The final stage is creating a rest for the glasses.  With a strip of cardboard, around 3cm wide and the length of the inside of your frame, fold the cardboard in half lengthways and secure in place with tape into a triangle [use a pair of sunglasses to match the nose rest angles]:

With a strip of left over felt, cut to the same length and width of the cardboard and fix this in place over the triangle [the exposed edges will be hidden when in place]:

Once dry, place the triangle down the centre of the frame [add to the frame at an angle to help you at first] - you can either leave this to hold in place, or secure with more glue:

...and your frame holder is ready to be put to work:

Enjoy the Sun! [probably going to rain for the rest of the year now, isn't it?] 

see you next time x

[P.S - you can remove those small black frame holders from the inside of the frame easily with pliers - I have no idea why I didn't do this!]