Mini Kinder Cupcake Recipe & Jocca Cupcake Maker Review*

A few weeks ago I received a Cupcake Maker* to try from the people at Jocca and I decided to put it to the test and make something I've never made before - Mini Kinder Cupcakes! I had no idea how these would turn out and I'll be the first to admit the photos I got of them are not incredible but they were delicious and I'm so glad I got the chance to try something a bit different. The reason I'm posting this recipe today is because it's actually national Eat What You Want Day so really is there a better reason to make these today and enjoy them? I don't think so. I'm planning on spending the day relaxing with some baked goodies and some chocolate because if there is any day to forget the diet and eat what I want, it's today!

Before I get on with the recipe let me tell you a little bit about Jocca, the company who sent me the cupcake maker to review. Jocca is a homeware and small appliance company based in Spain that sells a whole load of products ranging from health and beauty to storage to home and garden aswell as so many more things. They may be based in Spain but they do ship worldwide meaning everyone can get hold of some of exciting products. You can get free shipping on orders over £40 and if you subscribe to their newsletter you can get £10 of your first order! As soon as I saw the baking products, I knew all of them would be perfect for me but the Cupcake Maker was the best of them all. I'm not brilliant at making cupcakes so anything that can make the process a bit easier and quicker, is a winner for me!

So with the cupcake maker I decided to try something I've never done before, Mini Kinder Cupcakes! I just followed a basic cupcake recipe and then decided to experiment by adding chocolate fudge icing to the top and kinder beunos on top! The only thing that makes them Kinder cupcakes is the Kinder Beuno on top but if they were a bit bigger I'd have added some swirled milk and white chocolate spread to the centre so if not using an appliance like this then thats something you could definitely do! These really aren't very fancy and really quite small but I think they are so cute! Sometimes with a big cupcake it can be hard to finish especially when it has loads of icing on top so I think these are perfect, just one or two is enough for that sweet treat.

Ingredients:
60g butter, softened
60g caster sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
60g self raising flour
Chocolate fudge icing (I use Betty Crocker)
2 Kinder Beunos

Method:
1. Add the butter and sugar to a bowl and mix together until smooth
2. Now add in the egg and mix well
3. Add 1 tsp of vanilla extract and mix
4. Now add in the flour, fold in until everything is combined
5. If using a cupcake maker like me, put in 1 tbsp of the mixture in each hole and then put down the lid, leave to cook for minutes around 5 minutes. I found after 5 mintutes, even though a bit pale on top, they were cooked perfectly and were just like any other cupcakes
6. If using an oven, pre-heat to 180 degrees, fill cupcake cases with the mixture and bake for 20-25 minutes, they should come out golden and springy to touch
7. When the mini cupcakes had cooled, I decided to put some Betty Crocker Chocolate Frosting on top, I was going to make my own buttecream but given how small the cupcakes were, it would have just gone wrong and been almost impossible to do neatly. I spread a little bit on the top and then added part of a kinder beuno to each one

That is literally all their is to it, so simple whether you're using the cupcake maker or not. Very little ingredients but full of flavour and the kinder beuno on top is just so good! Overall I am so impressed with the cupcake maker. They did come out a bit smaller than I expected but actually they looked really cute, tasted just like any other cupcake and are actually something a bit different to make in future now. I think these would be so perfect to make next time I have people round, they're not too big and not as filling as something like a slice of cake so actually the perfect treat! The cupcake maker was so easy to use, it came with an instruction book so everything I needed to know was all in there and before making the cupakes it was as simple as just giving it a clean and spraying some oil/frylight on just to make sure they didn't stick and that was it. These literally took 5 minutes so they would be the perfect thing to make in future if I'm in a rush and need to quickly bake something. I can't wait to use it again and experiment with some more flavours and toppings!

If you want to try out the Cupcake Maker yourself or want to see what else Jocca do then check out their website here.

Have you ever tried making anything with something like this?

*I was sent the cupcake maker to review and feature in a recipe. I only work with brands that are relevant to me and my blog.

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London Haul - Lush, Selfridges and More

Yesterdays post was all about our latest trip to London but I wanted to do a seperate one showing you the things I bought as I just couldn't put it all into one! I didn't end up getting loads but definitely more than I was planning. I never really go with the intention to buy stuff, it's always just about being there for me and seeing everything but when you're on Oxford Street, you've gotta take advantage of some of the shops. 

The first stuff I wanted to show you was a few bits from Lush. As I said in yesterdays post, I asked George to go in for me while I went to another shop as it's just too busy in there and as lovely as the shop assistants are, them constantely trying to help doesn't do my anxiety any good! The only one I knew I wanted because I haven't had it in a while is the Sex Bomb Bath Bomb, apart from that I said just see what else they have, he ended up getting more than I thought he would but I am not complaining! He got me the Yellow Submarine Bath Bomb, Cheer Up Buttercup Bath Bomb and 2 bath melts - Lime Pastille and Double Vitality. I love bath melts as they're a bit cheaper and always make my skin feel amazing. I'm so excited to use all the bath bombs, I'm pretty the sure yellow submarine and cheer up buttercup one are Oxford Street exclusives so I can't wait to see what they are like. I'm sure I'll do a few blog posts on them so look out for those, would love to know your thoughts on any of these as I've never tried any of them.

While George was in Lush, I went to M&S. I wasn't really going in with the intention of buying stuff but their homeware section is SO good at the moment. They had so much pretty summer stuff and a huge amount of candles, I wanted it all. I spent about 20 minutes smelling all of the candles and eventually I chose two because I just couldn't leave them. I got a huge Sweet Apple one which was only £7.50! Does anyone else think thats an incredible price for a candle that big? Yankee Candles are like £20 for that size, and this smells amazing, I can't even put into words how nice it is. I also got a small candle in the scent Vanilla Bean which was £3. I love this one because it almost smells like a cake, it just reminds me of baked stuff! The last thing I had to get was this Patchouli and Clove room spray. It was £5 and one of the more expensive room sprays. I'd never usually pay that for it and I stick to the Primark ones but this is just lovely. It smells a bit like mens aftershave which some might find a bit weird but I love anything that smells like that and I've had candles similar before, so this is perfect. 

We then walked down to Next, I saw someone mention one of their perfumes in a video recently and as mine is almost all gone now I thought I would treat myself to a new one. I got the Just Pink perfume which was £12 for 100ml. This smells gorgeous. It's so sweet and refreshing and just screams summer to me. So lovely. Also how gorgeous is the bottle? As much as a perfume has got to smell nice, for me it's also got to look nice, and I thought this bottle was just so pretty. I love places like Next for perfume, branded ones can be so expensive and I'm just not willing to spend like £40 on a new perfume when they do so many nice ones in shops like this for such a good price. 

After Next we went Selfridges and I picked up a new brush as I was desperate. I got OH K Sweet Peach Detangle Brush which I just love. I think it is so pretty and also it smells like peaches! I love anything that smells of peaches so this instantly won over all the others. It was £9 so a little cheaper than the other tangle teasers but just as good. 

I'm so happy with everything I got! I didn't go with the intention of buying loads, all I really knew I needed was a tangle teaser but apart from that I thought I'd just see if there was anything I liked. I'm so obsessed with the perfume, and even though I probably really didn't need more candles, I couldn't resist the M&S ones. If you go into one soon, smell them because these are just incredible. I think the only thing I've missed of this post that I got was a few more postcards from Paperchase for our photo wall but apart from that I don't think there is anything else.

I think that's it for my London posts now. I'm so sad it's all over but as always I hope it won't be too long til we're back there. I hope you've enjoyed reading about our trip and also seeing what I bought in London, I always love little hauls like this!

Yesterdays post - A Much Needed Break In London!

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A Much Needed Break In London

I knew last week would go quickly and our trip to London would be over before we knew it, but it went so, so fast and I can't quite believe we're home and it's already over. I always feel a bit sad when we get home, I think it's normal after a holiday or a few days away, but this time I feel like it didn't properly hit me we were leaving when we were so once I was home, I just didn't feel right. I don't know if that makes sense but I always sort of have a few minutes to properly think okay we're going now on the last day and I'll take a few last pictures but this time I didn't do that, we were in such a rush Friday morning and so shattered so we didn't have much chance to do anything but rush to the station and I know this sounds super sad but I hate not having a proper goodbye. It's not like it's a person or anything but I always struggle to leave London anyway as I love it so much but this time I felt so emotional at the train station and it really didn't feel right to be leaving.

I know that's a bit of a depressing start to this post, we had such a good time but it's always bittersweet. I adore being there and I'm always so happy at the time but in the back of my mind I'm always aware of how fast it's all going. It's hard to not think like that, because I never want to leave so I feel like I'm always just on a countdown. Luckily on Wednesday we arrived at quite a good time and was checked in quite quickly so by 2pm we were out and had plenty of time to explore and get everything done we had planned. As usual we started off with a walk down the Southbank to Borough Market. Most of my London posts probably sound so repetative but we have our favourites in London and Borough Market is one of them. Of course we had to get our usual mini sugar donuts outside the This Morning Studios and we sat on 'our' bench outside the Tate Museum. Once we were at Borough Market we headed straight for one of the indian stalls which sell the most incredible samosas and onion bhajis. They are so cheap, huge and just taste amazing. We also got a Bread Ahead Doughnut, this time we got the Salted Caramel Honeycomb (I'm pretty sure thats what it was called) some chocolate, a brownie, oh and we tried our first macaron! I've been wanting to try one for so long so when we saw them at one of the stalls for £1.30 we both got a chocolate one to try. OMG they are delicious! They were not what I expected at all, but so good. Chewy and fudgy. I wish we'd got more. We picked up so much food to take back for that night and struggled to get through it all, there was just so much to try!

After that we went to Covent Garden. I had a look in my favourite shop Sass and Belle and a few others but didn't end up getting anything, there wasn't really anything I wanted or needed, it was just a nice walk round, and we stopped for some cheesy bacon fries from Shake Shack. They were so nice, and the chocolate milkshake we had their was just the best. A trip to London for us isn't complete without a stop at Whole Foods so after Covent Garden we went to the Picaddilly one which just has everything. After that we had a relaxing night in the hotel with McDonalds and TOWIE and all the baked stuff we had bought earlier in the day. I wanted to put this selfie we took in this post even though it's not got the best lighting, I love it because we don't have many pictures together and I think it's going to be nice for us to have a picture from each of our trips.

The next day we went straight to Hyde Park. We've been wanting to go each time we've been in London and we've never found the time but this trip was much more chilled as we've already done so much stuff in London so we made it a priority. We didn't get to go round it all, it's huge and we were on a bit of a time limit as we had something planned for lunch but what we did see was lovely. It was all just so green and pretty. I imagine it would look even more beautiful in summer. We stopped for an ice cream at one point and it was so nice, it's been so long since I last had an ice cream like it. After a walk round we went to The Potato Project on Oxford Street for lunch. I did a post all about it yesterday so if you want to know more about it and what I thought, link here. We then did quite a lot of shopping! I ended up sending George to Lush to pick a few bath bombs up, that shop sends my anxiety into overdrive because it's so busy so I didn't even want to attempt it. I'm going to put a haul up tomorrow so I'll show you what he picked in that. I went to M&S and their homeware section is on point at the moment! So many pretty things, I wanted it all. I ended up picking a few candles up, more that I really didn't need but the prices were so good and everything just smelled incredible. We went to quite a few other shops but I'll just tell you about all of that in tomorrows post as this is long enough already!

By Thursday night my body just felt broken. I am so happy with how much we saw, we did so much walking and both days packed so much in, but my feet and legs suffered! I don't think we could have done another full day. We were home by Friday evening and I started on all my London posts for this week pretty much straight away after unpacking! I just love writing about our time away every time and these are always my favourite posts to look back on. I'd love to say that we'll go back to London this year but I doubt it, I think it will be quite a while now unfortunately but you never know, I'm always wanting to book another trip there as soon as we get back! I know some people probably think we'd get bored after going about 4 times over the last few years but there is so much to do there it never gets boring or feels like we're repeating ourselves.

Anyway, this post has gone on for long enough, I just had such a lovely time. Look out tomorrow for my haul, I managed to pick up some really exciting things so if you're interested a post will be up in the afternoon.

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The Potato Project Soho London Review*

So I do have a full post coming tomorrow on our trip to London but before that I wanted to let you all know about The Potato Project, a place we had lunch last Thursday before doing a spot of shopping on Oxford Street. Potatoes are basically my life so I jumped at the chance to go along, try out some of the food and do a review of the place.

The Potato Project is a baked potato company if you hadn't already guessed, who have a big range of exciting potatoes to try, they are all about showing you that potatoes can be exciting and there is more to them than just standard beans and cheese! Every member of staff is passionate about providing fresh and high quality food for their customers, aswell as a homely atmosphere at both of their locations, Soho and Boxpark Croydon.

After a chilled morning in Hyde Park, we got to The Potato Project around 1.45, luckily it wasn't too busy as we were so hungry and ready for food. We were greeted by the general manager Fred, who was so lovely! I was quite nervous before going in because I had never done a blogging thing like this before but he put me at ease straight away and was so polite and friendly to both me and George. When it came to ordering, we were totally taken aback by the menu. Everything sounded so nice and there were so many options. In the end I had the Tuna Mayonnaise, Roasted Corn and Picked Red Onion on a sweet potato which is priced at £5.55. George had the Pulled BBQ Duck, Mozzarella and Sesame Seeds on a Sweet Potato. This was £6.65. I wouldn't usually choose a sweet potato, give me a normal one any day but unfortunately they had ran out. I was still excited to try a sweet potato one out though and I had a feeling I was still going to love it. The tuna went so well with the sweet potato and I already want to go back and order it again. I thought I'd like it but I didn't know just how much, and I really wouldn't say that unless I meant it because sweet potato wouldn't ordinarily be my thing, these just went together so well. I loved how tangy the pickled red onion was aswell and it went perfect with the tuna. Everything about it was just delicious, the potato was so soft and the skin was nice and crispy, just how I like it. George also loved his and was so impressed. His was definitely a bit more fancy than mine, I always tend to go for the standard tuna or cheese on a baked potato and even though mine definitely had a twist, his was a bit more adventurous. I did try a bit of it and we both really liked the sweetness of the bbq duck. It was just something a bit different and nothing like we've ever tried before. The mozzarella was perfect and there was a decent amount which George was quite pleased with! 

I want to mention a few of the other options available here because ours were just two out of many. There is a full menu on their website but the ones that have caught my eye for next time we're in London are, Smoked Ham Hock, Pesto Mayo, Sun-dried tomatoes and melted mozzarella, Borlotti Bean, Tomato and Mature Cheddar Cheese, Black Beans, Lime Guacamole and Corn Salsa, and Autumn Wild Mushrooms, Spinach, Blue Cheese and Truffle Oil. Aswell as potatoes they also do a small range of sides and desserts and there was a full fridge of drinks to choose from and a few snacks near the til. I need to try a dessert next time!

I've mentioned the homely atmosphere briefly, but it really was lovely. It was a really cosy place and I loved how it all looked, it was modern but comfortable and the staff were all so nice. I thought everything was reasonably priced and I was super impressed with how big the portions were. It was just what we needed to set us up for an afternoon of shopping. I coudn't recommend The Potato Project enough, I'm so glad I now know about this place because potatoes are basically my favourite thing and somewhere like this is just perfect to visit for a quick lunch. As I said we went to the Soho one which was literally a 5 minute walk from Oxford Circus tube station, it's perfect to pop into if you work in London and want to quickly pick something up, or like me you want to do some shopping on Oxford Steet. You can order and collect, eat inside or they also offer office delivery which I think is brilliant. I couldn't fault this place honestly.

If you want any more info, check out their website here, you can also find them on Twitter and Instagram!

*We were given a complimentary meal for the purpose of this review. As always all opinions are my own and I only work with people that are relevant to me and my blog.

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