Gold Dust Chocolate Brownies...with no butter

You can't go wrong with chocolate brownies but adding edible gold dust and sprinkles makes them even more magical! This recipe uses apple sauce instead of butter (slightly more healthy) so you can feel less guilty about indulging. They are still moist and delicious so give the recipe a go.

 Ingredients:

(Makes 9)

100g wholewheat flour

25g cocoa powder

100g brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg

130g apple sauce

1 tsp vanilla essence

Pinch of salt

150g chocolate chips

50g milk chocolate 

Gold edible glitter dust (available from supermarkets)

Sprinkles

Method:

1.Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Grease a 20cm dish (or tray) with a little butter

2. Sift the flour and add the cocoa powder into a bowl. Place the rest of the ingredients in the bowl and mix well. 

3. Place the mixture into the dish or tray and spread out evenly. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes.

4. Leave to cool. Melt the chocolate in a microwave for 20 seconds and drizzle over the brownies. Sprinkle some magic edible gold dust and bright sprinkles over the chocolate. Place in the fridge and wait for the chocolate to set. 

Enjoy!

My Nostalgic Thing

Discovering treasure in your garden is like unwrapping a Christmas present. On golden afternoons my brother and I used to dig in our back garden. Mud gathered under our fingernails turning them black and my dress would have a smudged grass stain on it. Dads tools, kitchen spoons and jugs spread out on the grass. We'd pretend to be pirates and find little bits of porcelain from a lost teacup, crystal embedded rocks and smooth pebbles. They are now kept in the little treasure chest (above) on the mantle piece. Why hold on to the treasure? The bits we found are worth nothing, but memories are hidden in them too. 

Did you ever dig for treasure as a child?

Nuts & Seeds Granola

No longer the knitted jumper of the food world, granola is now a chic, booming growth sector. It's one of those foods you pick at after you come home from work and watch TV, can sprinkle into your yogurt and munch on the bus for breakfast. It always comes in handy and the golden, crunchy clusters tickle your taste-buds too. Join in with the granola renaissance and bake some for yourself:

Ingredients:

(Serves 4) 

50g dried dates

 100g rolled oats

86g seed mix

20g almonds 

2 tbsp honey

3 tbsp olive oil

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees. Then, soak the dates in warm water until soft. Blend until smooth to make a paste. 

2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the date paste and stir well. 

3. Spread the mixture onto a baking tray (baking sheet) and bake for 15 minutes until golden, then reduce the temperature to 110 degrees and bake for a further 30 minutes until the mixture is crisp.

4. Leave to cool and store in an air-tight container or enjoy straight away!

Easy Elderflower Cordial

It's that time of year where long summer nights prevail and friendly gatherings take place. That means, drinks are in order! Elderflower is in season until the end of July and as I was riding my bike I thought it was about time I pick some and make my own cordial. What a sight it is to see the frothy, sweet white blossoms along almost every hedgerow near my home. A bit of afternoon nostalgia when picking them seemed to go a long way. My boyfriend and I went to a hamlet in Dartmoor called North Bovey to hunt for fresh elderflower lurking among the hedges.

We picked about 65 heads which is enough for 4 or more wine bottles full. Here is our recipe for 2 bottles:

Ingredients:

1k sugar  
1.5 litres boiling water 
4 medium lemons, washed 
30 large Elderflower heads 
55g citric acid (available from a chemist)

Method:

1. Put the sugar into a pan and pour on the hot water, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Leave to cool.
2. Meanwhile, grate the rind of the lemons with a fine grater, then cut the lemons into slices. 
3. Shake off the flower heads to remove any insects and swish them in cool water. Strain until semi-dry. 
4. Push the flowers down into the warm sugar syrup and add the citric acid. Stir. Then, place the lemons and rind into the pan and stir. 
5. Cover with a lid and leave in a cool place to steep for 24 hours.
6. Strain through muslin into a clean pan, then use a funnel to fill up a sterilized bottle with cordial.
7. Store in a cool, dark place for a couple of weeks. You can also freeze small plastic bottles to keep for longer.

Enjoy!

Selvedge Fashion Fair

With only one seminar left before finishing year two, I have been somewhat overwhelmed by the fact I will be out in the big, wide world soon. Living in Bath may not be for forever, so I'm making an effort to go and see things before I go to Devon for the summer. Selvedge Fashion Fair took over The Octagon last weekend and I treated myself to some discounted past copies of the magazine to read snuggled up in bed with a hot chocolate. The clothes featured were slightly above my budget but was good to have a browse. Designers and artizan clothes fitted in perfectly against the historic rooms of The Octagon.
Selvedge is all about the textiles, cloth and materials used so many unique, hand-crafted designs were on show. There were delicate embroidered dresses by Jan Knibbs which looked as though they were fairy dresses from Fairie-ality (one of my favourite books from childhood.) Other stalls included a selection of silk and dreamy lace cream dresses, hand-dyed silk scarves, woolen shawls, and printed luxe caftans from Gallery 196. 

My friend and I were about to leave Milsom place when we discovered a crazy-looking caravan parked in the courtyard. As I took a photo a woman's voice called out, 'Come on in,' from inside. We were transported to another little world. Handmade hats hung from the ceiling, vintage postcards and magazine pages covered every little space. Re-upholstered seats, ribbon, and pattern seemed to be a recurring thing. The lovely owner of the vehicle was, Mary Jane Baxter, a hat lover and maker who wrote the craft books we flicked through whilst discussing all-things millinery. She encouraged us to try on her handmade hats (from cereal boxes - can you believe it) and told us how to make our own...

Have you been to a fashion fair recently?