Recipe - Simple Vanilla Cupcakes

Recipes

Simple Vanilla Cupcakes

This recipe makes 12 large vanilla cupcakes that are moist and have a generous amount of frosting on top!

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• 175g butter
• 175g caster sugar
• 175g self-raising flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the buttercream:

• 100g butter or margarine
• 500g icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 50ml milk 

Method

1.  Pre-heat your oven to 160oc and line a cupcake baking tray with 12 cases.
2. Cream the butter and caster sugar together until smooth.
3. Add each egg one at a time, beating well as you do.
4. Add the vanilla extract and mix again.
5. Gradually add the self-raising flour until all completely combined.
6. Spoon the mixture equally into the cupcakes cases and cook in the oven for 22 minutes or until golden in colour.
7. Whilst the cupcakes are cooling cream the butter/margarine until soft and spreadable.
8. Gradually add the icing sugar and mix with the butter. As this gets harder to do, add a small drop of milk until you have a smooth buttercream that is thick enough to keep its shape but also soft enough to pipe.
9. Add the vanilla extract and give it on last mix.
10. Spoon the buttercream into a piping bag that has a large star nozzle. I've used a Wilton 2D but any open star nozzle will do.

Next I am going to shop you how to pipe a simple classic swirl with the buttercream.

To begin with pipe a small amount onto the very centre of the cupcake. This gives the swirl something to hold up with so you can get better height.

Start to pipe around the edge of the cupcake.

As you reach where you began piping continue on the next level and so forth until you reach the very top. Release pressure from the piping bag and pull it away from the cupcake to create a tip.

You should finish with something like this. 

You can now either leave them as they are or add some sprinkles or toppers to make them look extra special. We used  Dr Oekter Banoffe and Popping Candy sprinkles to top our cupcakes with.

I hope you enjoyed reading my little how-to and if you decide to make some vanilla cupcakes of your own I would love to see how you did in the comments below!

Thanks for reading :)

Review & Giveaway - Beanies Instant Flavour Coffee

Beanies Instant Flavour Coffee Review & Giveaway

Recently I was sent 3 jars of Beanies Instant Flavour Coffee to try. Being a busy household, coffee is something that is a staple with myself and hubby.

Beanies have a large selection of different flavoured instant coffees available to indulge in as well as premium roast. Our top three flavours were Irish Cream, Ameretto Almond and Cinder Toffee.

Each jar is packed full of rich flavour with no need for syrups or chemicals to get such a flavour hit. With only 2 calories per serving these are perfect for having a luxury cuppa that's quick to make and guilt free!

Beanies Flavour Coffee also have an exclusive range available at Sainburys in both instant and premium roast varieties.

For more information and to check out their complete range please visit their website www.beaniesflavourco.co.uk

As part of our giveaway you can enter with the Rafflecopter Below to win a selection of not one but 9 jars of Beanies Instant Flavour Coffee! Wow! Please note that this is only available to UK entrants.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disney Junior VIP Summer Party 2014

Today we attended one of Disney Junior VIP summer parties for 2014. Lot's of people entered a contest to win tickets and we were one of the lucky winners! The prize was for tickets for 1 adult and 2 little ones to attend at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens venue.

I took Wyatt along with me as well as my little niece, Lily-Mai and on arrival we were greeted by some lovely members of the Disney team who gave us all a special wrist band and were shown to the function were everything was being held. 

There was lots of little stations with activities for the kiddies to do.

Wyatt's favourite activity was Jake's treasure game. He had to through juggle balls at several buckets filled with gold dubloons to put them in the team treasure chest. It took some time to get him to move on to the other activity stations ;)

Lily-Mai's favourite activity was making her own special amulet, just like Princess Sofia's. I ended up with 6 of them hung around me neck!

Other activities including building blocks...

Colouring their favourite playhouse characters...

Helping Doc McStuffing diagnose her patients...

and learning about different food groups with the activity plates.

There were also lots of characters to have their photos taken with but unfortunately I couldn't persuade either of my little ones to do this as they aren't a big fan of people in costumes at the moment.

I did however get them to sit still long enough to take their picture on Princess Sofia's throne.

At the end of the party all the little ones were given a lunchbox to take away with them and a goody bag each.

This is the loot in each goody bag. It included a DVD, stickers, Disney magazine, Henry Huggle Monster bag, inflatable sword and lots more. Wyatt and Lily-Mai were very happy with all their goodies ;)

All in all the kids had lots of fun participating all the activities and we are very grateful to Disney Junior for giving us the chance to attend one of this years events x

Stay Play Explore - Family Fun Short Break

Stay Play Explore - Family Fun Short Break

This week we took our little family on our first short break away together and decided to take advantage of the Stay Play Explore offer in Leicestershire.

They offer various types of mini breaks including family adventure, gourmet taste and theme parks but we chose the family fun option. This consisted of tickets for a family of 4 to 3 out of 5 attractions based in Leicestershire and includes an overnight stay at a 4* hotel with breakfast included for just £109!

The attractions to choose from were:

• Conkers
• Twinlakes Theme Park
• Snibston Discovery Museum
• National Space Centre
• Twycross Zoo

We chose Twinlakes, Snibston Discovery Museum and Twycross Zoo and stayed at the Hinckley Island Hotel. We also decided to book an extra night so we wouldn't be rushed to visit all 3 attractions in just 2 days which cost us an extra £70.

Snibston Discover Museum

Snibston Discovery Museum is a hands on kind of museum with many different kinds of interactive exhibits featuring trains, mining, toys and engineering. 

(Adam learning how waves are made)

Outside they have a very large play area that also lots of way to discover and learn whilst having fun.

You can also take a tour of the colliery with an ex-miner, visit the century theatre or take a train ride on "Pitt" the diesel locomotive.

One of the areas outside we particular enjoyed was being able to have our picnic on old train wagon!

Twinlakes Theme Park

Twinlakes is set in 100 acres of countryside and features many family rides, attractions, animals and birds to see. Indoor play areas are great for when the weather isn't so fantastic and there is also a water play area for days when the sun is shinning. 

Our two boys (and their daddy!) had a blast on all the different rides!

Twycross Zoo

Twycross Zoo is set on 80 acres of land and features over 150 different species to see and learn about including many endangered species.

The zoo is a renowned world primate centre with a wide variety of species on show.

Throughout the day there are animal feedings that you can watch. We chose to watch the adorable Humboldt penguins having their lunch which the kids adored seeing. The zoo keepers gave us lots of facts about the penguins and we learnt lots of stuff we'd never known about them befor.

The butterfly house was a favourite and it was lovely walking through and seeing all the different bright and colourful butterflies fluttering around us.

Overall Verdict

We would definitely recommend booking a short break with Stay Play Explore as it'd fantastic value for money and there are lots of options to meet all families needs.

Today is mine and my hubby's 6th wedding anniversary. We've been together for 8 and a half years and still going strong with 2 (plus one on the way!) wonderful little children!