Sheer Bows

It is no secret that I adore legwear in all of it's quirky, multi-hued glory. And it is as if these bow tights were custom made for me and my little blog. I am now the proud owner of, not just the little bow socks in this post, but also the full tights version in both black and beige. Definite favourites.

Tabio black & beige bow tights ❖ Top Shop beige platform shoes ❖ H&M black velvet & gold wedges

On a side note, I would just like to thank you for your lovely comments, words and suggestions in my last post. I know everyone gets sad days, you get over them, move on and nice things seem to happen again. Thank you for listening.

Feeling Sad

Today I have had a sad day, do you ever have those? I had a wander on my lunch hour and found this little vase in a charity shop and then popped to the market for some flowers. Flowers are always a good cheer-up I think.

So after all of your marvellous perfume suggestions in my last post, I thought now would be a good time to ask what you would like to see more of in the blog. What you like, what you don't like... your input is so very important, I would love to hear what you think.

Top 5 - Perfume

Annick Gouttal

Chanel

Diptyque

Jo Malone

YSL

What is your favourite perfume?

Spring Palette

ASOS coat ❖ Covert Candy vintage dress ❖ Tabio purple 110 dernier tights ❖ Top Shop lilac strappy shoes ❖ Luella lilac bag ❖ RJ Charms at Etsy Eiffel Tower necklace ❖ Cartier watch

As much as I love reading style magazines, blogs and looking for inspiration from pretty much anywhere I can find it, still I am not one for taking another's look. However, when I saw this coat on Betty, it screamed my name.

The style of this coat is so to my taste. Not only have I been looking for a blue coat for what seems like an age, but the voluminous style, simple buttons and length, made it exactly what I had been looking for. And at a great price.

I would probably style it in much the same way as Betty too but I also thought the coat complimented the pastel shades in this vintage dress.

Alice

Despite the Alice in Wonderland hype now drawing to a close, it hasn't deterred me from remembering with fond memories, my enjoyment of the books Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass in my childhood. So when I visited my parents for the Easter weekend, I dug out the books and had a browse through some of the pages again.

She & Him - Volume 2

I finally got around to downloading the second volume from She & Him. I'm so pleased it lived up to my high expectations from Volume 1. Listening to each track over and over evoked many thoughts and emotions...

Summertime. Floaty vintage dresses in pastel shades. Tip-toeing barefoot. Fields of flowers. Roadtrips. A bygone era. Traditional lemonade. Open air movies. Thrift shopping. Hair ribbons. Open windows with a gentle breeze. Picnics. Kisses. Capturing the moment.

Polka Dots & Bows

Charity Shop silk polka dot blouse ❖ H&M skirt ❖ Ragtrader at Etsy cameo ring ❖ Black ribbon found in my ribbon box

This is what I wore one day last week. Sometimes the favourite pieces in my wardrobe can be the most unexpected. I found this blouse in a charity shop near my work for £3.50, 100% silk and in the most immaculate condition.

White Chocolate & Raspberry Cupcakes

When I heard the lawnmowers in my street cutting the grass last weekend, I knew that spring had finally arrived. Time in fact, for the first installment of seasonal recipes from new bakery book Eat Me, gifted to me by my dear blogger friend, Kat.

The book is split into seasons, so it being Spring, I chose White Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes from the Spring section.

For the cakes:

140g/5oz plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

110g/4oz unsalted butter, room temperature

110g/4oz light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond essence (optional)

120ml/4 fl oz milk

110g/4 oz raspberries

For the filling:

140g/5oz good quality white chocolate

60ml/2 fl oz double cream

For the icing:

200g/7oz raspberries

6 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp water

170g/6oz unsalted butter, room temperature

340g/12oz icing sugar

raspberries or sprinkles, to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F/Gas 4. Line a 12-hole non-stick muffin tin with paper cases.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and set aside. Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract and almond essence, if using. Begin to add the flour, alternating with the milk, until all is mixed in.

Finally, fold in the raspberries. Spoon the mixture into the paper cases so that they are three-quarters full. Bake the cakes in the centre of the preheated oven for about 20 minutes. Check with a skewer - if the cakes are cooked, the skewer should come out clean. Remove from the oven and place the cakes on a wire rack to cool.

To make the filling, melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water or place in a microwave over for 1 minute. If you use a microwave, stir the chocolate every 20 seconds so it doesn't burn. Once the chocolate has melted, stir in the cream and leave to cool slightly.

To make the icing, put the raspberries, sugar and water into a small saucepan and gently bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 3 or 4 minutes. Stir occasionally and take care tht it doesn't burn. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly. Beat the cutter in a bowl and then add the icing sugar, a third at a time, beating it in well. Then mix in the raspberry 'jam' you have just made - you may not need it all. Keep any leftover jam - it's delicious spread on bread.

Remove a section from the centre of each cake with an apple corer or a small knife, taking care not to go all the way through to the bottom. Fill the cavity with the white chocolate filling.

Using a piping bag, add the raspberry icing in swirls, working from the outside in. Decorate with raspberries or sprinkles.

I have to admit that I found this quite a labour intensive recipe (or perhaps that was due to my own lack of sleep from the night before). There were three parts to it, so they are by no means the most simple cupcakes to make.

Also, the other point to look out for is in the final stage of adding the raspberry 'jam' mixture to form the icing, be very careful how much of this you add. Try to pour slowly, a little at a time as I found my icing a little runny and didn't hold well.

As well as the soft icing, the raspberries within the cake mixture made the cake a little too moist. So I ended up eating mine with some of the leftover double cream as mini triffles.

That said, these are some of the most delicious tasting cupcakes I have eaten. I would thoroughly recommend them if you have a sweet tooth like me.