Life is short, eat dessert first!

So I have been trying to master the famous french delight the tasty little morsel that is the macaron for what seems like forever!

Since being in france and eating way to many I decided it was time to learn once and for all.

A French Pastry Chef showed me the method using Italian Merigune which I had not tried before, and the secret that I feel also solved a lot of my issues, using powdered food coloring!

These little tips have seen success each time I have made them since!

I went to Paris for the weekend attending a 2hr class even to master these.

While in Paris I learnt about the history of the Macaron and Pierre Herme, The Macaron Master!

He has created some many delicious and crazy flavour combonations

I set about searching for one of his stores to get my hands on the savoury samples,

My favourtie would have to be the truffle blanc, as it was just amazing.

I ate them so quickly that I completely forgot to take a picture before i devoured them!!

I did manage though to get a few snaps of my own creations!

In the Class we choose some bright and dramatic colors!

We made a Chocolate Ganache and Lemon curd as the fillings.

They were truly delicious, especially the next day for breakfast!

The Best Recipe that I have found yet is one I discovered on another blog called The Baker Chick. The inspiration for the paris weekend and class I owe to this blog.

So hopefully if your attempting to master these tasty treats, these little tit bits will help you achieve success!

Happy Baking.

Cupcake x

 

  Chia Pudding/ breakfast.

I’m going to be honest and say that a few years ago if you mentioned Chia Pudding to me I would have said, Nah not into that crazy weird shit!

My oh my how times have changed…kinda like my view on yoga also!

That another post though!

I recently over a Weekend watch did a Course with Matthew Kenny Culinary in Raw food express.

This Chia pudding came from that course, and then I added my own twist to make a tasty breakfast for my crew.

 

Basically you take 1 cup of almond milk and blend in 1 banana.

Then mix through 1/4 cup of Chia seeds and place in the fridge to soak, for 3-4 hours or overnight.

I left this overnight to sit and soak, then mixed it up again and divided it up into jars adding fresh fruit, mango puree some chopped up pecans, blueberry puree mixed with natural yogurt and some fresh mint as a garnish!

“Chia seeds are among the healthiest foods on the planet”

For someone that didn’t know what a chia seed was a few years ago, i’ve been converted and this is now one of my favs!

 

Enjoy.

Cupcake xx

 

 

 

 

This is a bit of a trick post….as there is no recipe for this cake!

This is one of the photos I took while on a food photography course in London.

I didn’t realise there was so much to taking decent food photos!

So hopefully from now on my pics will continue to improve.

As I live in a small space I don’t have too many props, but i’ll be playing around with whatever I can find in my travels!

If your interested in Food Photography Courses yourself, I would suggest you check out

http://www.williamreavell.com great classes in a fabulous fun studio.

Happy Snapping.

Cupcake xx

 

I LOVE Barcelona from the very first time I arrived!

seriously delicious food and so much to see and do!

I have some amazing friends that now call this city home so I’m very lucky to be able to visit for weekends and explore new and exciting places!

The last time i went we visited a place called “eat street”

basically a food truck stall…thing in a big old warehouse area!

I was pretty much living the foodie dream! once we got some tokens and through the line!

there was sunshine, beer, amazing food and fabulous company.

I had been shopping earlier and brought a 50mm lens for my camera so was super excited to take photos!

you’ll see some here in this post.

 

What I love most about Barcelona is the vibe and the food, tapas are so my style, i love sharing and trying it all! unless i love it then i wont share and you can order your own!!

small plates shared in the middle of the table are my kinda eating, talking, enjoying all together.

I hope you get to visit one and can see for yourself the magic that Barcelona has.

Husta luego

Cupcake x

As I follow some trends on pintrest and just generally love to upcycle if i can,

I have started making my crew some breakfast options in old jam jars.

Some days its  a fruit smoothie, other days its Quinoa with fruit and yogurt.

Others it may be Bulghar and fruit and smoothie, the options are endless!