It's my birthday!

Without getting the lyrics into your head, I did indeed turn 22 last week! I don't want to think about it too much because I still have no clue what I want in life, career wise that is, but I had a fabulous birthday and was truly spoilt by my loved ones. 

My dream certainly came true this year when I recieved a beautiful baby pink Kitchen Aid mixer, a bakers dream. I am so excited to use it and was actually too scared to use it so just whisked up these cupcakes using my hand mixer ha. 

Lots and lots of love,

Kathryn x 

Pretty Spring Cupcakes

Hello beauties :) 

I received my first proper cupcake order this week and have just delivered the batch so I hope the birthday girl loves them. It was for an 18th birthday but due to the rush and bad timing I didn't have time to get any number cutters, never mind I still think they look uber pretty! 

Have a lovely weekend! 

Signed, Kathryn x

Eton Mess Inspired Cupcakes

"Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you" Oprah Winfrey 

Today's post is all about these beautiful Strawberry & Meringue cupcakes, I suppose we could call them Eton Mess?

These have a strawberry sponge with a hint of pink food colouring then a sprinkling of mini marshmallows in the mixture to add a chewy meringue feel to the cakes. Yum.


Strawberry & Marshmallow Sponge
What you will need:

• 3 Eggs
• 180 g of Caster Sugar 
• 180 g Pure Margarine 
• 180 g of Self Raising Flour
• 100 g of Mini Marshmallows
• Cap full of Strawberry Essence
• Dash of Vanilla Essence
• Pink food colouring 

1. Pre Heat oven at 180 degrees and line 12 cupcakes 
2. Cream in the margarine and sugar until smooth
3. Once well mixed add an egg one by one and whisk, add drops of strawberry & vanilla essence
4. Sift in the flour and beat with a wooden until smooth
5. Add the marshmallows and a very small amount of food colouring and gently mix (but not too much)
6. Place in cupcake cases 
7. Cook for 20-22 minutes or until the top is spongy or golden brown & leave to cool

Strawberry  Buttercream

What you will need:

• 250g Stork Butter Block
• 250-350g Icing Sugar 
• Few drops of Strawberry Essence and Vanilla
• Pink Gel Food Colouring
• Pipping Bags
• Piping nozzle
• Dr Oetker Eton Mess Sprinkles

1. To decorate, cut the butter into small cubes and whisk until soft and pale. Gradually beat in the icing sugar using a wooden spoon until creamy and soft.
2. Add the strawberry and vanilla essence.
3. Add a tiny amount of Pink Gel Food Colour and mix until a pastel pink shade.
4. Fill a pipping bag with a 2D Wilton Flower Nozzle (or whichever you wish to use) and pipe a rose or swirl.
5. Decorate with Eton Mess Sprinkles!

If you really wanted to push the boat out why not cut out the center of the cupcake and fill with your favourite strawberry jam! 

P.s. This song deserves a place here as I listened to it on repeat writing this! Years and Years hands up to you guys!

Signed, Kathryn x

Bye Bye University!

Omgomgomg I am still finding hard to believe that I have actually earned myself a degree in Environmental Science. Considering I hated science at school and didn't even have a science A-Level, I have managed to complete a whole 3 years learning the wonders of the subject... 

Now like a lot of people, university for me wasn't just about getting a degree, it was more than that. I went for the experience, to learn life skills and to learn how to live independently whilst having the opportunity to do things out of my comfort zone. 

This year has been my all time favourite year at university. Working at the university bar has been a huge influence and have meet some amazing people (and gained a boyfriend) that actually made me look forward to going to work.
In addition I have the best house living with my two best friends and I have had so many great experiences. For example: taking part in the naked calender, recording a Christmas music video and single for the student radio, running the race for life with the Bar girls, meeting Greg James, being part of the Environmental Science Committee, seeing so many live performances i.e The 1975 x2, Bastille, Gabriel Aplin.. ah the list could go on and on! 

Anyways I was asked to bake some cupcakes for today (whilst hungover from celebrating last night) for a girls birthday. I really appreciate it when people ask if its okay to make an order, its so lovely! I made some lovely vanilla pink and yellow cupcakes :) I hope she liked them! 

Gosh I can not contain my excitement, although I am extremely shocked and a bit lost ha. 

Kathryn x

Race For Life Cupcakes

Okay.. so two weeks from now I would have completed my degree and hopefully of started organizing myself for Thailand.. ekk! I am currently unmotivated to revise for this last exam and have been collecting thoughts on what the hell I am going to be doing once this degree is over (scary times). 

These last few weeks have reminded me that I am going to miss university and the people around me a hell lot more than I once thought. One lovely day was last Saturday where I ran the Race For Life with some of the bar girls. Of course I baked some cupcakes too for the bake sale which went down a treat and we raised over £1000 for the charity in total! 

It seems like only yesterday that I wrote a post on my Race For Life cupcakes in 2013 which I must say were much more adventurous but there is only so much you can do in such a tiny student kitchen and with very little money. 

Hope you like :)

Kathryn xx

Statement Necklace for Spring/Summer

I've never really been into my necklaces but decided that if I bought one that I adored I would hopefully wear it with everything!
I went into Outfit the other day and found this lovely statement necklace, with hints of bright pinks, corals and grays I find it the perfect spring time necklace and have worn it with almost every outfit this week! 

I think I found it in Dorothy Perkins... but I can't find it on the website so maybe it wasn't. 

  

Kathryn x

Sleek Blush By 3: Pink Lemonade

Seeing as the ever popular Nars One Night Stand palette sold out instantly I was eager to find another blush palette.I have always loved Sleek products as they are highly pigmented, cheap and have a fab lasting power, especially there eyeshadow palettes! 

Pink Lemonade is the new Blush By 3 palette by Sleek costing £9.99 and includes 3 blushes; 2 powders and 1 cream blush.

Icing Sugar is the first, a medium pinky plum shade with a silver sparkle. Overall this blush is okay. I had to layer is quite a bit to get the pigment I wanted which is slightly disappointing but I do love the colour once it is on.

The middle shade is Macaroon, a cream blush! I had never tried a cream blush before so I was a bit unsure how to apply it HOWEVER I love it and have had so many compliments saying my skin looks like its glowing! It is a medium pink that left me with a luminous finish and was very easy to blend on the skin.  

The third and final shade is Pink Mint, another powder based blush. It is a medium-dark muted orange shade with a frosty finish. The colour is very well pigmented unlike Icing Sugar with a soft texture. However this is my least favourite shade as it felt to dark on my complexion and I didn't find it that easy to work with. 

 

Overall I am glad I bought Pink Lemonade Blush By 3 even though I sound negative. It's nice to try a range of blush colours without hurting the bank account and I am glad I have tried a cream blush finally. The packaging it lovely as per usual however having a cream blush in the middle of two powders was not thought through logically was it? 

Kathryn x

All about Spring.. Saint Germain MAC

Aww, todays weather in the UK was glorious and I can feel Spring coming!! As per usual the weekend consisted of more shopping. One thing led to another and I ended up in Mac (Shock!). 

I wanted a highly pigmented, yet wearable pink lipstick ready for what spring has to offer and decided to buy the Amplified Creme Lipstick in the colour Saint Germain. As with any lipstick I am always weary whether I will pull it off, but I have learnt that I just need to wear the right colours with the right makeup look for the day and just feel confident in myself!

As soon as I put this on I loved it! Its a gorgeous strong pink and the amplified creme formula makes its opaque and creamy. I admit, it is a little streaky and you must apply it in the correct way and maybe a couple of times for it to even out but that may be down to the pastel shade talking. 

I wore it for the first time today to work and immediately got a compliment from it!
 Overall it lasted pretty well though my lips are fairly dry at the moment so I probably should of used some lip balm and exfoliated my lips before hand to make it last and not go into the cracks. One thing I dislike however is that I find it hard to cover my entire lips if that makes sense... With many lipsticks I don't need a lip liner and if I go slightly over then it doesn't matter but I think I'll have to buy a light shade lipliner for this little one!

Overall I am happy with the Saint Germain Mac lipstick and know it'll be a lovely shade for Spring, however like many lipsticks I do think certain skin tones will pull this off better than others, mainly the palest of the bunch! 

Happy Sundays xx

Cath Kidston Cupcakes!

Hey all! It's my best friend birthday todayyy and she loves all things Cath Kidston. With that in mind I have tried my best to put that theme into these cupcakes. 

Hope you like them!

The Great Pink Bake Off Part 2.

Success! 

I am finished! So it was a bit of a rush this morning and a little disaster may of happened (sad face ) but it's okay  because life goes on and mistakes happen. 

Whilst transporting the cakes to the venue my friend sadly dropped 2 batches :(. At the time we both didn't really know what to do as they were pretty ruined. After setting up the table and watching cakes sell one after the other she suggested going back home to try and fix the cakes and at least make a bit more money. I took on the advice, ran home to quickly fix the mess by just spreading the icing over the squished cakes and hoping no one would notice! Luckily all 96 cupcakes sold :D 

I raised *drum roll*.... £130!!! 

Thank you to everyone who came along! I am so so happy with the result and hope everyone enjoyed their cupcake, sorry if I didn't get to see any of you! 

Lots of Love,

Kathryn xx 

The Great Pink Bake Off Pack

'This October, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we’re asking you to put your pinny on, roll up your sleeves and show breast cancer what you’re made of in the Great Pink Bake Off.' 

What better reason to bake than to bake for charity! I have previously baked cakes for Break Through Breast Cancer by running the Race for Life earlier this year but I didn't bake them to raised any money instead just to hand out to my friends who supported me at the race!
Include in the pack are some stickers, a little box for collecting money, some recipes, voting banners, posters and other little goodies and also some bunting that can be printed off and made at home!!

I haven't ever done a bake sale on my own so I hope I have time to complete it all. It will be tough and I hope people will actually come and buy a cupcake or two, I now just need to sort out a time & date, buy some ingredients and start baking! 

Wish me luck :)!

Kathryn xx 

The Last's off!

Its the last day at home, my last day at work yesterday and the last night out with the girls before we all go our separate ways for our final year at uni, where on earth has the time gone?!

To begin, I had my last shift at my job yesterday where I've been working behind the bar at a local Golf Club. Last Summer I worked in a restaurant as a waitress and the stress behind that was ridiculous, so much so that I used to be scared to go behind the bar to pour drinks. So due to the fact that I managed to get myself a job at the bar at University (yay) I thought I better get a bar job to make sure I can pour the perfect pint (not that drunken lads will even notice). I have also been asked back to work over Christmas so I'm not sure this really count's as my last shift but never mind (: 

Last night we celebrated my friends 21st birthday. I can not believe how old our group is getting ha, considering I have literally just turned 20 it feels odd now celebrating peoples 21st birthdays! I would of got some photos of my outfit but I was in such a hurry that I didn't have time so here's a little collage of what I wore. 

P.s I got it all in the sales! 

Now it is my last day at home, Summer has gone way too fast but in a way I feel like its time to go back! I can not wait, new house, new modules, new job! Ekk bring on the final year of university!! 

Good luck everyone!

Kathryn xxx

First Paid Batch!

Ekkk!! Soo as the title suggests I have been baking my first ever batch of cupcakes that someone ordered... well I say that, its actually my friend who I baked the giant cupcake for, but still! It's actually quite exciting having someone asking you to bake some cupcakes for them and with the added bonus of being paid to do so! Now with that excitement out of the way here are some photos... 

They are just my standard vanilla recipe but I ran out of vanilla essence so the icing is lemon butter cream! I actually love them, I'm not sure what I did different but the butter cream was so smooth when icing and am extremely happy with the outcome! 

I will dedicate this post to my lovely girl Zara and hope she had a wonderful birthday and loves all the cake! I'am also going to include a few photos of the night out and hope the girls loved the makeup I done for them (if I am not a weather girl or own a cupcake shop when I am older, a nail salon and makeup parlor will have to do!) 

Love you all x

Race for Life

Race for Life time tomorrow and for some silly reason that I know I'll regret in the morning I have not trained at all! Luckily its only a 5K run but I'll probably still feel like death afterwards! 

I baked some cute girly cupcakes for the event that have a pink sponge with some handmade flowers and vanilla butter cream :) 

Wish me luck xxx