J'adore Paris et j'adore macarons!

On Monday I went to Paris and I loved it! Wow, what an amazing city. I had no agenda, just a day to explore. I walked for miles around the city and visited the key attractions - the Arc De Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, strolling along the banks of the Seine, a wander around the recently renovated Notre Dame cathedral and had lunch at a beautiful cafe called Cafe Marly which has the best view of the Louvre Pyramid, which is situated in the courtyard of the Palais de Louvre.

It was such a lovely stress free day, a day out of the office does the soul good! The sun was also bursting with all of its beautiful glory and there was not a cloud in the sky. It really was a perfect day.

Well when I say I had no 'agenda', there was one place that I did really want to visit and thought about visiting before I travelled to Paris. I didn't need to look at a map and seek this place out however, as I was slow walking along the Avenue des Champs-Elysees, there she was trimmed with gold. Laduree Patisserie, Bakery, Sweet Heaven.  The inventor of the double decker Macaron! And I love Macarons!

Apparently Laduree produce 15,000 of these meringue based delights every single day and on this particular day I had 18 of them ..... when I say 'had' I didn't scoff the lot there and then! I have been enjoying them over the past few days, every-time I open my fridge door I think "oh, I'll just have one macaron". This way I get to really enjoy each one AND I don't feel the slightest bit guilty that I have eaten 13 macarons in 3 days. The fact that are still 5 left after 3 days is a triumph. Yes, I could of shared them but after one mouthful you will appreciate that these beauties were not really made for sharing! Unless you buy more than one box of course. Which I didn't. But now wish I had.

I couldn't decide which flavours, they all looked so pretty. So I asked for a selection and I have not had a bad choice yet. They are A-mazing, like really A-mazing. To the point that I want to leave my job, move to Paris and learn how to make these irresistibly yummy mouthfuls of heaven. They taste just how they should, or as the little menu that comes inside the box describes. Each one crisp, delicate and delicious with individual flavour.

Salted Caramel and Pistachio have been my favourites so far. Like I said, there are 5 left so this opinion may change!

 So my trip to Paris has inspired me and I have decided that whether I leave my job and move to Paris* or not, I am going to become an expert in Macaron making. I have ordered some books and I'm searching out courses in London. I will let you know how I get on!

(*moving to Paris is probably a bad idea, well not a bad idea in theory but I cant speak French, so probably not practical right now).

Marie x

Apple Pie Pops

Pie. Apple Pie. Apple Pie Pops = LOVE on a stick. Who couldn't resist one of these sweet little beauties?! Comforting mouthfuls of sweet pastry and sweet cinnamon apple pie filling .... on a stick!

This recipe easily makes 30 pops.

First, make the sweet pastry. You will need:

• 110g soft unsalted butter
• 140g caster sugar
• 275g strong white flour
• 1/2 tea spoon of baking powder
• 1/4 tea spoon of fine salt
• 125 ml double cream

In a large bowl cream the sugar and the butter together until well combined. In another bowl, sieve together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt). Then add half of this dry mixture to the sugar butter mixture and rub together with a wooden spoon until everything is well combined. 

Add the remaining dry ingredients and then using your hands rub all of the ingredients together. You should end up with a bowl of crumbs. Finally, pour in the double cream into the bowl and mix well, the cream will bind the crumb mixture together into a smooth dough. 

Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for at least one hour. 

For the apple filling:

• One large Bramley apple, peeled, cored and grated
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon of flour (this will soak up the juices that come from the grated apple)

Combine all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. 

Once the pastry dough has chilled, remove from it's cling film and place onto a lightly floured work surface. The recipe makes 30 pops and so take 1/3 of the pastry at a time and prepare the pops in batches of 10. 

Roll out the pastry until it is approx 3mm thick. Using a cookie cutter (max size 2.5 inches, otherwise the pies will become too heavy to stay attached to the pop stick), cut out 20 hearts. 

Place 10 of the hearts onto a lined flat baking sheet and in the centre of each heart place a dollop of the apple mixture. Ensure the mixture stays in the centre and the edges of the heart are kept clear.

Next place a lollipop stick in the centre of each heart and on top of the filling. Wet around the edges of each heart with some water and then place another pastry heart on the top, sandwiching the apple pie filling.

Crimp the edges of each heart. Glaze with egg white and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 160 degrees C (Fan Oven) or 180 degrees in a conventional for 15 minutes.

Once the pies are cool, wrap with a cellophane bag and tie with a ribbon or bakers twine. Add a pretty gift label or message and you have pretty little pie gifts. Or, if you don't feel like spreading the apple pie love, eat hot and enjoy!

'Ready To Pop' Baby Shower

My best friend Helen will soon be giving birth to her second baby and we are so excited that soon we will have a new addition in our gang! To celebrate we organised a baby shower for her that took place last weekend.

The theme of the shower was 'Pop' as Helen literally is Ready to Pop! I arranged a dessert table with sweet treats that were in keeping with the 'Pop' theme :

• Vanilla cake pops ... Yum!
• Mini dessert jars filled with Lemon Posset & Summer Fruits with a sprinkling of popping candy
• Lemon cup cakes with sugar bubbles
• Dotty paper bags filled with sweet and caramel popcorn
• Lots of Lollipops

We also drank Rose Bubbly and Italian Soda Water; I decorated the bottles with labels and chick stickers that matched the rest of the colour scheme.

 

The mini dessert jars and dotty paper bags that featured in this blog are available to purchase on the Sweet Marie's website : www.sweetmaries.co.uk

Cookham Village Street Party for the Queens Diamond Jubilee

On Monday we celebrated the Queens Diamond Jubilee with a Street Party in the village where I live; the whole community joined together and our street turned  into a sea of red, white and blue! Wooden tables and chairs ran down the entire length of the street and lots of home cooked party food was shared bwetween families, friends and visitors. A brass band played throughout the afternoon, the pubs served Hog Roast, the Chinese and Indian restaurants set up street stalls and there was a village Bake Off competition ..... I had to enter of course!!

And guess what?! Out of 50+ entries my cake came first! I won the Cookham village Jubilee bake off and I was so proud!

My winning cake took all of the judges by surprise when they cut into it. I had divided and then tinted my Victoria sponge batter red, white and blue and baked the cake in 6 tins (two layers of each colour) and I then stacked and covered the cake in a white Italian meringue butter cream. From the outside the cake looked quite plain; just a white cake with some homemade paper bunting tied between two stripey straws ... but the crowd gasped when the cake was cut into and the colours of the Jubilee were revealed. Luckily it tasted good too!

My prize for winning the cake competition was dinner for 4 at the Bel & The Dragon restaurant in Cookham. This restaurant is one of my favourites; the food, setting and staff all score very highly! I go there quite a lot with my boyfriend and so for this winning occasion I decided to treat my best girlfriends instead and we had such a fun time enjoying my 'jubilee cake off' prize, tucking into a 5 course meal with champagne and wine. Yum!

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.