Lemon Parma Violet Cupcakes

A few weeks ago I was asked if I'd like to try some of the baking range by Betty Crocker. As I've started featuring more recipes on Gingerbread Smiles, I thought it was great timing and agreed knowing it was pot luck what would arrive at my door. When I opened the package I saw that I had received a lemon cake mix and lemon icing. I was a little disappointed as lemon is probably my least favourite of cake flavours, but I got to work thinking of ideas.

I'd recently bought some parma violets on a whim to use in a recipe for the blog and hadn't got round to using them for anything yet. So I decided that the two would go together, and you know what they did and they taste delicious.

So to make these little beauties you will need:

- A box of Betty Crocker Lemon Cake Mix

- A tube of Betty Crocker Lemon Icing

- Jar of Lemon Curd

- About 4/5 packs of Parma Violets

- 2 x Icing bags and a nozzle

First, start by making the cakes as per the box instructions. I cooked my cakes for around 20 minutes and they came out a little browned on top but other than that still lovely and moist. When they'd cooled down I got a teaspoon out and used the other end (i.e not the spoon end) to carefully take out the middle of the cake. If you have a cupcake corer you can use this, but I didn't have one at the time so I carved out a small circle in the middle of the top of the cupcake working my way down making sure not to go too far.

Then I filled up my first icing bag with lemon curd and piped this into the little holes I'd just created. Once these were full up with lemon curd, I got the lemon icing from the tub and transferred this to an icing bag. Now depending on how you decided to ice your cakes, you may find the tub doesn't stretch to the number of cakes you have. I know mine didn't although it said it would on the packet. I'd use it sparingly if you don't want to have to buy more, or make some!

Once you've iced your cakes its time for a little Parma Violet decoration. I emptied a packet at a time into a bowl and crushed them with the back of a spoon. Most of them I crushed into dust, but some I left quite a little bit bigger to add to the decoration. Once I'd sprinkled this dust across my cakes I added a full Parma Violet to each cupcake.

And there you have a Lemon Parma Violet Cupcake with a lemon curd filling!

What do you think? Will you be making these?

Festive Afternoon Tea at the Vermont Hotel

Earlier this month I attended a festive edition of the blogger cake club, kindly organised by Chloe. For the Christmas special she booked us in at The Vermont Hotel in Newcastle. This is a posh hotel hidden away in the centre of Newcastle. I can say this as I got lost trying to find it, it's hidden in plain sight. All I will say is look up and you'll see the sign, don't make the mistake I did and walk down to quayside and back. At least I worked off a bit of cake before I'd eaten it!

We'd all decided before we got there that we'd don our cheesy Christmas jumpers. As I'm known for gingerbread men, that's the jumper I had to go with! The seven of us, all in our festive best, were seated in the Redwood bar which was very cosy and elegant.

Soon after we sat down our food came and there seemed to be loads of it, they even gave us all a glass of mulled wine to accompany it. What was brilliant about this afternoon tea was that they brought us as much tea as we wanted! This is what us bloggers, and I'd have to say us British, love! There were plenty of yummy sandwiches including a festive brie, bacon and cranberry one. Everyone had two scones each and then a plate FULL of desserts. I didn't get the chance to try them all but the ones I had, which included a chocolate mousse and a chocolate truffle, were definitely satisfying.

During our afternoon tea, we exchanged Secret Santa presents. At first, it was very tense to see if the person I'd bought for, Shivani, liked her present then I was nervous to see if I would like mine! Everyone has that feeling, don't they? Just in case they don't like their gift. It's safe to say I LOVED my present from Kayleigh, she got it spot on with my gingerbread themed gifts. She gave me a knitted gingerbread man for the Christmas tree, a gingerbread bath bomb and a ginger-spiced candle! Perfect presents for the gingerbread obsessed. Just in case you are wondering, Shivani seemed to like her gift which was a mug shaped like a camera lense. She likes taking photos so I thought this was a quirky but relevant present. I also got her a chocolate S from Amsterdam.

Overall it was a brilliant afternoon with a superb afternoon tea which I'd recommend to anyone for £14.95 as it was great value for the amount you get. Although this was the festive afternoon tea in sure their normal one would be just as good! I can't wait to see what amazing places Chloe picks for next year's blogger cake club.

Scrub a dub dub - Lush Bubbleroon Review

I'm not really a bath person. I'd much prefer a quick shower then get out and get ready. Sitting in a pool of hot water wasn't really my thing or so I thought. Enter Lush's Candy Mountain bubble bar that we got in a Christmas gift box. I hadn't used any of Lush's bath products but I thought it was time to give it a go. I got the bath water temperature just right so I wasn't coming out like a lobster and the bubble bar made it smell gorgeous. It was lovely. So here starts my liking of baths and my adventures into new exciting bath products!

I went into Lush last week to check out the new Valentine's products they've just launched. To be honest I wasn't overwhelmed by any of them so I ventured around the rest of the shop. I managed to come out with a bubble bar, a bath bomb, a massage bar and this bubbleroon.

According to the Lush website this little bubbleroon, based on the shape of a macaroon, is a bubble bar. So to release the bubbles you have to crumble this under the tap as your bath is running. There were three different types of bubbleroons in the Lush store but I picked up the Yuzu and Cocoa one. This smells sweet and quite strongly of coconut which makes makes you feel like you are in a bounty.

I only used half the bubbleroon as I'd seen people suggesting that half was sufficient but unfortunately I forgot to add it whilst the bath was running. I added it afterwards and swashed my hands around in the water to get the bubbles that you can see in the bath. It was a  lovely bath but the bubbles soon faded although the smell lingered.

At only £3.25 for what can be two lovely soaks in the bath I think these little bubbleroons are worth it. The other two scents are The Green Bubbleroon and Rose Jam.

Have you tried these before? What other Lush bath products do you love?