Mini Milk Bottles

Remember these? 1/3 of a pint - mini milk bottles - filled with cold creamy milk to primary school children at morning break times?! One of my earliest memories of pre-school was the teacher bringing in a crate filled with mini glass milk bottles and as she handed them out to the class, we would all slurp our serving of creamy loveliness through mini paper straws. Yum!


I think these vintage bottles are adorable, children will love them, I also think the nostalgic adults amongst us all would love them too! They are the perfect size for serving milk at children's birthday parties but also wouldn't look out of place at a baby shower or spring soiree!

Here are some ideas for the little darlings ......

Milk and Cookies ... a classic combination and the natural string tied around the necks adds some rustic charm!


Or for something a little prettier .....

ADORABLE!!!!! pastel coloured bakers twine and dotty paper straws .... could these little soldiers get any cuter?! Lined up and perfectly poised waiting to be enjoyed!

Party Milk! Here I tied a Fox's Party Ring tied to each bottle neck ... beautiful?! I think so. The Party Ring pretty pastel colours work so well with the twine and straws and milk ... the cute-o-meter is rising with this one! The melt in the mouth rings of sweet biscuit sugarness are a party staple, charmingly retro! Even the none nostalgic ones amongst us might buckle with this one :)

And here is my personal favourite .... chocolate milk.

Please Sir ... could I have one more?!

Pink Lemonade

Pink Lemonade is gorgeously pretty and is refreshingly easy to make and is perfect for serving at summer parties and weddings, baby showers or childrens birthday parties or for simply packing into a picnic.

This recipe for Pink Lemonade is from BBC Good Food and the syrup you make will keep in the fridge for up to one week.

Ingredients:

• 300g caster sugar
• 1 1/2 lemons, sliced
• 1 orange, sliced
• 3 X 170g / 6oz punnets raspberries
• Ice and fresh mint to serve

Pace all of the ingredients into a large saucepan and pour over 350ml of cold water. Bring to the boil, stirring as you go. Leave to cool. Once cool, pour through a sieve, pressing down with a spoon to extract all of the juices. You should be left with a glossy syrup. It's that simple!

To serve, pour a little into a glass and top up with sparkling or still water, ice and mint.

I skipped the mint and ice and instead I decanted my pink lemonade mix into 'Fentimans Dandelion and Burdock' bottles (drank, washed and labels removed!). Any glass bottle would do, the Starbucks iced coffee bottles would work well here too. 

For the finishing touch I added stripey paper straws, bakers twine to the bottle necks and spring chick labels ... I think my pink lemonade looks rather pretty!

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Sugar Hearts & Happy Valentines

I guess you could say I am slightly obsessed with sugar hearts ... decorating most of my cakes and bakes with them! It's by default that the sugar heart has now become a signature trademark of Sweet Marie's and I'm OK with that ..... I don't believe I will ever grow tired of a beautifully crafted sugar heart.

Here are some past bakes decorated with Sweet Hearts.

Happy St Valentines Lovely People!! x

Earl Grey cupcakes in teacups

Some of the first cake pops I ever made

Like a cake pop but without the stick ... white chocolate dyed pink cake truffles

Chocolate Brownie Pops

Cupcakes

Love Birds perched at the top of their tree

Cake Pops & Hearts

Birthday Cupcakes with hearts and ruby red glitter

Ice Cream Cake

Vanilla sponge truffle balls are dipped into strawberry chocolate and positioned onto mini ice cream cones ..... the finishing touch is a generous drizzle of dark chocolate and a sprinkle of sweet sugar strands ....

Get Cakey Bakey with Betty Bowl, Suzy Spoon and Trinny Tray

My adorable niece Ruby turned 4 this week ... the perfect age to start fostering her interest in baking and so as soon as I spotted the baking equipment from The Kids Cooking Company I knew this would make the perfect birthday present for her.

The wide eyed and bubblegum pink threesome of Suzy Spoon, Betty Bowl and Trinny Tray come packed in a beautiful interactive gift box .... cute, cute, cute ...

Also in the range is Aggie Apron who comes packaged with a real chefs hat, together they will save the cakey mess from getting all over your little ones! 

The kit also comes with wipe clean recipe cards for Raspberry Muffins and Candy Cookies, to help get the Kids Cooking on their cakey bakey way ....

I have my niece staying with me during the half term spring holiday and I will be sure to share her sweet creations here .... Suzy Spoon is going to be busy! However, not sure her smile will be so wide after a hard day's mixing at Sweet Marie's!

For further details on the range visit  www.thekidscookingcompany.co.uk

The Perfect Sunday

The Perfect Sunday? A relaxing morning in bed with a big cup of tea and the Sunday newspapers, cuddles with my cats and then an afternoon with friends and family in one of my local country pubs where we all tuck into a traditional Sunday roast dinner .. roast beef, buttered greens, Yorkshire pudding & all the trimmings .... and a big glass of red wine ... or two ... or three and maybe a sticky toffee pudding for good measure..... heaven.

Today however, I am home alone and so I am making my Sunday perfect in another way .... I'm getting some 'Marie Time'!! I have spent the morning having cuddles with Molly & Oscar (my adorable cats) and drooling over all things cake on my ipad ... and now I am about to lose myself in the glossy pages of Vogue .... for the next few hours I will be transported into a world of beautiful couture and beautiful people, dreaming  up new cake designs that are inspired by the art on the pages .... and there will be tea and there will be cake.

The Perfect Sunday.

Earl Grey Cupcakes in Teacups.

The delicate flavour of Earl Grey can be tasted in every bite of these elegant cupcakes, perfect for a lazy afternoon with big cup of tea and a pile of magazines to drool over!

I used a recipe from the Primrose Bakery which is simple to follow and the cakes taste divine! :

• Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C (Fan) / 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F / Gas Mark 4 and line a 12 hole muffin tray with paper cases
• Gently heat up 125ml of milk (I used Semi Skimmed) in a saucepan over a medium heat until it just begins to boil. Remove from the heat and add 4 Earl grey tea bags. Cover the saucepan with clingfilm and let the flavours from the tea bags infuse the milk for 30 minutes, then discard the teabags.
• Cream together 110g unsalted butter with 225g golden caster sugar until pale and smooth
• Add 1/2 teaspoon of Almond extract and then slowly add 2 lightly whisked large organic eggs, mixing for a few minuted after each addition.
• Mix 125g of sifted Self Raising Flour with 120g sifted Plain Flour in a bowl. Add one-third of the flours to the creamed mixture and beat well. Pour in one-third of the infused milk and beat again. Repeat these steps until all of the milk and flour has been added.
• Carefully spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, filling them to about two-thirds full. Bake in the oven for about 25 minuted until slightly raised and golden brown. To check they are cooked, insert a skewer into the centre of one of the cakes - it should come out clean.
• Remove from the oven and leave the cakes in their tin for about 10 minutes before carefully placing on a wire rack to cool. Once they are completely cool decorate with lilac coloured vanilla butter cream and sprinkle with a little granulated sugar.

Or you could bake and serve your cupcakes in teacup-shaped silicone molds like I have shown here. I received a small box of these cute molds in my Christmas Stocking ... Santa really does know me well and knew I would put them to good use!! I am not sure where he purchased them from but they are made by a company called 'Fred' :)

All you need to do is lightly grease the insides before adding the cake batter, just like with the paper cases you just need to fill to two-thirds full. The cooking temperatures and time to bake stay the same ..... and there you have it.... beautiful Earl Grey cupcakes in teacups .....

I finished mine with a big swirl of lilac - coloured vanilla bean butter cream, a signature Sweet Marie's sugar heart and a sprinkling of vanilla sugar.

How civilised .... adorable, dainty and perfectly poised!!

Birthday Cake Pops

A cute way to say 'Happy Birthday' .... with a mini birthday cake and candle on a stick! ;) Yum.

Sweet Marie's Red Velvet Cake

The 'Red Velvet' cake is the most requested and most appreciated cake that comes from the Sweet Marie's kitchen! It's sooo fluffy, in a melt in the mouth crumbly texture kind of way, it has a light chocolate taste and the sweet cream cheese frosting complements the cake perfectly. It's deliciously addictive and has never been voted anything less than a 10/10 by those that have tried it! :)

Vanilla Bean Rose Collection

Vanilla Bean Layer Cake, Cake Pops and Cup Cakes ..............

The Vanilla Bean Collection, offers a lighter alternative to traditional fruit cake and is ideal for summer weddings. Light Sponge cakes, flavoured with Sweet Madagascan Vanilla Bean, are decorated with pretty handmade pink and cream sugar roses.


The Vanilla Bean Rose Layer Cake - used as the top tier (the cutting cake). A light and fluffy, triple layer organic sponge cake is sandwiched together with fresh crushed raspberries and vanilla cream. The Cake is covered with a sweet Vanilla Bean butter cream and is decorated with roses. Picture perfect and will look sophisticated sat on any wedding table!

Matching Vanilla Bean cupcakes can be served individually to guests ........

 ...... and the Vanilla Bean Cake Pops make beautiful wedding favours. Names of guests can be added to a pretty label, so they can also double up as place settings .............