Cinnamon Apple Bundt Cake

I was looking for inspiration for our Boxing Day bundt. With it being the festive period, I had done my fair share of 'lolling about' (this means being a bit of a slob - this was not intended to be some 'down with the kids/street' way of saying I've been laughing a lot). This also means that we've watched a lot of Vine Comp of the Week. And there it was. Inspiration.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Vine Comp of the week, it is basically a collection of short videos made by normal folk like you and I. Granted, they are mainly of people twerking (at least the first ten), a few horrible fights, cats doing funny stuff or people being ridiculous. I love and hate it in equal measure. One of my favourite videos from said compilation is the cinnamon apple Vine. And there we have a cake. I also suggest you watch the clip.

Anyway, the cake. This was one that had to be suitable three ways, on it's own, with cream or covered in custard. As if you put cream on cake... I'm all about the custard. It was really nice served slightly warm too.


Ingredients:

• 225g butter
• 450g golden caster sugar
• 4 medium eggs
• 1 tsp lemon extract
• 350g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tsp cinnamon
• 200ml low fat plain yoghurt 
• 50g apple compote, puree or sauce - something sweet.
• 300g icing sugar
• Apple juice

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to gas 3/160 c
2. Prepare a regular sized bundt tin - 2.4l, 10 cup, 10 inch with Cake Release spray and dust with flour.
3. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
5. Add the extract.
6. In a separate bowl, measure out the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cinnamon.
7. Pour the yoghurt and apple compote into a jug.
8. Sift in a third of the flour mix followed by half the yoghurt. Repeat this until everything is combined. 
9. Give everything a quick mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds.
10. Pour the mix into your prepared tin. 
11. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. 
12. Leave the cake to cool for ten minutes before removing from the tin.
13. When the cake is fully cooled mix the icing sugar with enough apple juice to make a pretty runny icing.
14. Tip it over the cake and let it run down the sides.
15. I also added a few sugar lumps and a bit of glittery icing sugar.

Bloggers: Please respect the fact I am sharing my own ideas and basic recipe. Blood, sweat and many tears have gone into getting this right, so you may enjoy a perfect bundt. If you wish to re-blog a recipe from these variations, please credit my blog and link to this original post rather than pasting the recipe on your own page.

Christmas Tree Bundt Cake

Can you believe I've had this tin for two years and done sod all with it? Whilst I was in full 'festive baking mania' this week, I decided to have a bash. It was ridiculously easy to pop out of the tin and a splash of garish icing later and I had a wonderfully kitsch Christmas cake! 

You don't have to make it neon green, but I found it helped to get me in the Christmas spirit. Christmas was never a tasteful affair when I was a kid... Still isn't to be honest. My mother has a pink tree with some of the most evil decorations you've ever even seen.

This one's a lemon and ginger flavoured cake, but you can really use any bundt recipe you like. 

Ingredients:

• 225g butter
• 450g golden caster sugar
• 4 medium eggs
• 1/2 tsp lemon extract
• 350g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 tsp ground ginger
• 250ml low fat lemon yoghurt 
• Zest of 1 medium lemon
• 300g icing sugar
• Sprinkles and food colouring gel

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to gas 3/160 c
2. This recipe is for a regular sized bundt tin - 2.4l, 10 cup, 10 inch. The tin I used is a Nordic Ware one and is about 6 cups, so I put the excess batter into bundtlettes. Prepare with Cake Release spray and dust with flour.
3. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
5. Add the extract.
6. In a separate bowl, measure out the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and spice.
7. Pour the yoghurt and zest into a jug.
8. Sift in a third of the flour mix followed by half the yoghurt. Repeat this until everything is combined. 
9. Give everything a quick mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds.
10. Pour the mix into your prepared tin. 
11. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. 
12. Leave the cake to cool for ten minutes before removing from the tin.
13. When the cake is fully cooled mix the icing sugar with enough water to make a pretty runny icing - dye it green. 
14. Tip it over the cake and let it run down the sides.
15. Decorate with sprinkles and icing pens to get the same effect that I did.

Bloggers: Please respect the fact I am sharing my own ideas and basic recipe. Blood, sweat and many tears have gone into getting this right, so you may enjoy a perfect bundt. If you wish to re-blog a recipe from these variations, please credit my blog and link to this original post rather than pasting the recipe on your own page.

Spiced Clementine Bundt Cake

It's Nordic Ware's signature Christmas tin - the Holiday Tree Bundt. Thrust to fame by Nigella, it was my first (of many) festive tins, which have to make an appearance every year.

This cake was for one of our work buffets because it's perfect for feeding a crowd. It fills the room with the aroma of Christmas and is great for those who have a mortal fear of dried fruit - of which there appears to be an increasing amount. It's also an ideal recipe for releasing from a detailed tin with no worries about losing the pretty design.

Ingredients:

• 225g butter
• 450g golden caster sugar
• 4 medium eggs
• 1/2 tsp orange extract
• 350g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 tsp ground ginger
• 3 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 250ml plain low fat yoghurt 
• Zest of two medium clementines
• Juice of 1 medium clementine
• 300g icing sugar
• Sprinkles and ridiculous kitsch items (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to gas 3/160 c
2. Prepare a regular sized bundt tin - 2.4l, 10 cup, 10 inch with Cake Release spray and dust with flour.
3. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
5. Add the extract.
6. In a separate bowl, measure out the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and spices.
7. Pour the yoghurt, zest and juice into a jug.
8. Sift in a third of the flour mix followed by half the yoghurt. Repeat this until everything is combined. 
9. Give everything a quick mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds.
10. Pour the mix into your prepared tin. 
11. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. 
12. Leave the cake to cool for ten minutes before removing from the tin.
13. When completely cool, mix the icing sugar with enough water to make a thick icing and tip over the cake. If you've used a tree tin like me, make it look a bit like snow! 
14. Sprinkle with 'snow' (dry icing sugar).

Bloggers: Please respect the fact I am sharing my own ideas and basic recipe. Blood, sweat and many tears have gone into getting this right, so you may enjoy a perfect bundt. If you wish to re-blog a recipe from these variations, please credit my blog and link to this original post rather than pasting the recipe on your own page.

Chocolate Orange Bundt Cake

This was a bit special. Anyone who follows my bundt escapades will know I'm not mad keen on chocolate cakes. I find them a bit boring to be honest, and often a bit stodgy or dry. Not this one. No my friend. This recipe has been doing the rounds in my head for a wee while, so I decided to get it out there. Even I loved this cake. I caned two pieces within about 15 minutes!

I didn't want to overdo the chocolate orange flavour, so stuck with an orange flavoured sponge, marbled it with chocolate and then tipped a load of melted stuff over the top. I added individual segments to decorate, which also had pleasing little slogans on them like 'You're gorgeous' (cue Baby Bird being stuck in your head).

What's even better, is that this cake is mega easy to make and everyone will think you are well clever... It smells pretty special too.

Ingredients:

• 225g butter
• 350g golden caster sugar
• 100g light muscovado sugar
• 4 medium eggs
• 350g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 250ml orange yoghurt (I used Muller Light orange and dark chocolate)
• 1 jar of chocolate orange spread (or Nutella)
• Chocolate orange segments

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to gas 3/160 c
2. Prepare a regular sized bundt tin - 2.4l, 10 cup, 10 inch with Cake Release spray and dust with flour.
3. Cream the butter and sugars until pale and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
5. In a separate bowl, measure out the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt. 
6. Pour the yoghurt into a jug.
7. Sift in a third of the flour mix followed by half the yoghurt. Repeat this until everything is combined. 
8. Give everything a quick mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds.
9. Pour 3/4 of the mix into your prepared tin. 
10. Dollop 5 tbsp of the chocolate spread over the mix and smooth out - avoid the edges. Because this is smooth, it will sink - this is ok!
11. Cover with the rest of the mix.
12. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. 
13. Leave the cake to cool for ten minutes before removing from the tin.
14. When the cake is fully cooled, warm the rest of the chocolate spread in the microwave until runny, and tip over the cake like a Christmas elf high on candy canes. 
15. Pop your chocolate segments on top.

Bloggers: Please respect the fact I am sharing my own ideas and basic recipe. Blood, sweat and many tears have gone into getting this right, so you may enjoy a perfect bundt. If you wish to re-blog a recipe from these variations, please credit my blog and link to this original post rather than pasting the recipe on your own page.

Christmas Ale Loaf Cake

How cute is this tin!? This cake was inspired by a random bottle of Christmas ale that I found in the cupboard. I feared that it would never get drunk, so I emancipated it and turned it into something wonderful. I used a cocktail of festive spices to liven it up a bit, which made the house smell utterly heavenly! 

Ingredients

• 100g sultanas
• 1 spicy tea bag - I used Betty's Christmas tea, but a nice Assam or Chai would work.
• 110g unsalted butter
• 50g of vegetable fat 
• 325g golden caster sugar
• 3 medium eggs
• 225g plain flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp lemon extract
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• Pinch of ground nutmeg
• 125ml Christmas ale (any beer really - although I must insist you stay from cacky yellow fizzy stuff)

Method

1. Grease and flour a large loaf pan (minimum 2lb) - I used the Nordic Ware Gingerbread Loaf tin. Only fill 3/4 full.
2. Brew a strong cup of tea and discard the bag - do not add milk.
3. Tip in the sultanas, cover with cling film and leave to soak. Leave these as long as you can.
4. Soften the butter and vegetable fat and then cream in the sugar in stages.
5. Add the eggs one at a time on a slow setting.
6. Add all the remaining dry ingredients to a large bowl.
7. Add the extracts to the beer.
8. Sift in 1/3 of the dry ingredients, followed by 1/2 of the liquid. Repeat until all the flour and liquid is used up. Fold it in gently...
9. Note: This will look a right curdled mess, however a bit of festive magic will rectify this... 
10. Give the whole thing a quick whizz for about 10 seconds or until well combined. It will no longer look terrible.
11. Drain the sultanas and pat dry with some kitchen roll. Dust with a little flour.
12. Spoon 3/4 of the mix into the prepared tin then layer on the sultanas. 
13. Spoon over the rest of the mix - this will stop all the sultanas sinking to the bottom! 
14. Bake at gas 3/160 C for about an hour and fifteen minutes. Just turn it after about an hour.
15. It should be shrinking from the sides and a skewer should come out clean.
16. Let it cool in the tin for ten minutes then turn it out. 
17. Allow to cool fully before decorating. I just used piped royal icing with a few sprinkles to accentuate the pretty design.

Bloggers: Please respect the fact I am sharing my own ideas and basic recipe. Blood, sweat and many tears have gone into getting this right, so you may enjoy a perfect bundt. If you wish to re-blog a recipe from these variations, please credit my blog and link to this original post rather than pasting the recipe on your own page.

Veggie Options vs. Cheeseburger Spring Rolls - Solita, Manchester

I feel like Solita was one of my first loves. I remember when a trip to Manchester was bleak in terms of decent lunchtime haunts, which usually meant grabbing something on the way home. Now look at it. It's bursting at the seams with enough restaurants to keep me fearing the onset of gout for at least another 20 years.

Solita was the game-changer. Franco and his team launched with a bang, and brought the pulled pork sundae, Big Manc and deep fried coke to the City centre, and for this I will always be eternally grateful.

Last week we went to sample some of the new goodies on offer, and left flabbergasted for two reasons...

1. Cheeseburger spring rolls - I could eat my own bodyweight in these. They are the future.
2. Veggie options - Paddy decided to put the veggie options through their paces. They were so good that he declared this food the best he has ever had at Solita. Coming from a carnivore who likes his steak blue, this is high praise indeed for somewhere that is famous for a meat-fest of a burger. 

Deep fried spinach and artichoke money bags: I would never have ordered these (my preferred option is below...), but I did steal some of Paddy's. Loved them. Crispy little parcels of wonder made even better by that red pepper dip!

Cheeseburger spring rolls: I will dream of these forevermore. If they ever stop doing them, I will find the person responsible and make them listen to Steps on repeat until they promise to bring them back. They genuinely taste like a cheeseburger with a crispy coating! The addition of little cubes of pickle inside was just genius. Bravo!

Roasted veg and halloumi skerwes: Halloumi cooked in an Inka grill - good god. Delicious! I would happily order this as a main in future (minus my mortal enemy beetroot of course). You really don't miss meat when you get that barbecued flavour from the Inka.

Drop it like it's hot burger - pepperjack cheese, roast garlic and tomato mayo, blue corn tortilla chips, Roquito peppers: Gloppy and wonderful with a hearty crunch from those blue corn tortilla chips (of Breaking Bad burger fame) and a satisfying burn from those red Roquito peppers. Team it up with sweet potato fries...

Molten individual chocolate cake: It's a bundt! I'm not a chocolate cake kind of girl because I often find it a bit hard work, however I couldn't leave without ordering this. I was pleasantly surprised by how light this was, but have to confess to only eating about half due to previous levels of gluttony.

I've already seen the Twiter chitter-chatter about some of these dishes - the Solita team have done it again. Take a bow folks.

Festive Gingerbread Bundt

How ace is Christmas baking?! I'm not a fan of the standard mince pies and rum laced fruit cake combo, but I do love something spicy, scented with all things festive. Last week's cake club theme was 'Winter Wonderland', and was the perfect opportunity for me to crack open the Christmas sprinkles!

This simple bundt cake is living proof that you don't need to go all 'sugar-paste mental' to make something which is as pretty as it is tasty. I got these cute little gingerbread man sprinkles from the Cake Decorating Store. I resisted using one of my seasonal tins (for now) in favour of my trusted Anniversary tin so I could show off the decoration.

Ingredients:

• 225g butter
• 450g golden caster sugar
• 4 medium eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp lemon extract
• 350g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 7 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 100g finely chopped crystallised ginger
• 250ml ginger yoghurt (I used Rachel's Organic)
• 300g icing sugar
• Lemon juice
• Sprinkles (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to gas 3/160 c
2. Prepare a regular sized bundt tin - 2.4l, 10 cup, 10 inch with Cake Release spray and dust with flour.
3. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
5. Add the extracts.
6. In a separate bowl, measure out the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, spices and crystallised ginger. 
7. Pour the yoghurt into a jug.
8. Sift in a third of the flour mix followed by half the yoghurt. Repeat this until everything is combined. The crystallised ginger will be trapped in your sieve but covered in flour - this helps to stop it from sinking.
9. Stir the ginger chunks into the cake mix.
10. Give everything a quick mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds.
11. Pour the mix into your prepared tin. 
12. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. 
13. Leave the cake to cool for ten minutes before removing from the tin.
14. When completely cool, mix the icing sugar with enough lemon juice to make a runny icing and tip over the cake with enough festive giddiness to do the trick. 
15. Sprinkle with little ginger men.

Bloggers: Please respect the fact I am sharing my own ideas and basic recipe. Blood, sweat and many tears have gone into getting this right, so you may enjoy a perfect bundt. If you wish to re-blog a recipe from these variations, please credit my blog and link to this original post rather than pasting the recipe on your own page.

The Christmas Burger - All Star Lanes, Manchester

Ho ho ho! Last week we went to discover one of the true meanings of Christmas... FOOD. Let's face it, we all love to feel like a stuffed turkey by New Year's Eve, and it's a quintessential tradition to curse your own gluttony and vow to become a teetotal powerhouse of physical fitness on 1st January. Just run with it - you do it every year. 

So, let's start as we mean to go on, mainly in the form of a towering burger packed with all things festive! The current All Star Lanes special is the Turkey Burger, which actually sounds quite healthy! This pile of festive fayre includes a breaded fried turkey breast, sage and onion pork stuffing, Monterey Jack cheese, Porter cured bacon, cranberry sauce and mayo. 

It's the kind of burger that you have to do a firm squashing manoeuvre on before you can fit it in your mouth and rue the day you didn't put your napkin on your lap. I loved the fact that the stuffing forms part of the breaded burger too. Because it's turkey, it didn't seem to kill me off either; it genuinely seemed like a bit of a lighter option (I'd been to Solita earlier in the week...)!

As if that wasn't enough to give us a mild case of gout, we also ordered some skinny and sweet potato fries and the seasonal smoked salmon mac and cheese. I'd highly recommend that you sample such goodies with a few cocktails too - the Aloha Jar is a bit of a belter, although it tastes like pop so frequently leads to me being a bit giddier than usual when I leave...

I'm fast becoming All Star Lanes' biggest fan. I love the decor, the food, the cocktails and the people. We always have a great time and they are constantly coming up with a fun new twist to the menu. Go here with friends for a great night out and some lovely food to boot. If you do decide to go bowling, you will not see our scores on the leaderboard - some say it's because we're crap, but that's just an elaborate cover story concocted by the staff so other bowlers don't feel intimidated.

Revolucion de Cuba, Manchester

I'm lucky enough to get invited to lots of exciting food related events. Every so often, one blows my little socks off. A bit of a dark horse. Revolucion de Cuba was like bloody Black Beauty.

I'd often seen folk queuing on a Saturday night in the rain and wondered what all the fuss was about. It looked nice inside, but was it really worth queuing round the corner for? A couple of weeks ago my friend Lee and I were asking ourselves that very question as we wandered off for posh tequila at Mr Coopers Bar like a pair of old lushes. Then, like fate intervened, I had a lovely invite from Revolucion de Cuba to sample their new menu. I had to take Lee.

We picked the wettest day since records began (only a slight exaggeration), and turned up with soaked kecks and cold feet. We were welcomed in and seated in a spacious booth by the window. We sat and defrosted as the lovely front of house staff started to bring dish after dish of deliciousness to our table.

Crispy tortilla chips with guacamole: The best guacamole I have ever tasted. Fresh and zesty with a chilli kick. Devoured in about two minutes flat.

(Clockwise) Patatas bravas, cajun chicken quesadilla and cajun cream mushrooms: I fear fungus at the best of times. I was feeling brave and plunged into the cajun mushrooms first. Amazing. This is my perfect kind of food; lots of things to pick at with big flavours. Perfect for sharing.  

Chimichurri rump steak: Served beautifully rare with a drizzle of chimichurri sauce and more of those crispy patatas bravas. Heavenly.

Paella de Cuba: I never order paella so was really pleased when this rocked up. The rice was beautifully sticky and there were big chunks of prawn, chicken and chorizo hiding underneath.

Churros and Columbian chocolate brownie: I've got that thing again where I get angry because I was too full to polish these off, but could just eat them now. This is the curse of the food blogger. Churros are one of my favourite things in the whole wide world. I could have kissed their faces when these arrived. They came with the most delirious chocolate and rum caramel dips too. The brownie was as light as a feather and went perfectly with that vanilla ice cream, which was strangely soothing in our gluttonous state.

We ordered some hot drinks in an attempt to revive our sorry-selves. Hot chocolate possibly wasn't the best option for someone semi-comatosed by food. Perfect for those with a sweet tooth like me though! Lee sampled one of the new coffees which seemed to do the trick!

Now then. Cocktails. This is where it got interesting. It started all sophisticated-like and ended in getting papped by a group of rowdy Norwegians. Actual truth. I recall having a Zombie and an Apple and Cinnamon Sour. That's about the measure of it. I remember them being sensational though!

Then this happened. 'Would you like to come and learn how to make cocktails?' Yes. We were then introduced to the wonderfully charming Eamonn. He said we could make something off the menu or pick anything else we liked. I went off piste and insisted on making a Drumstick Lolly (my absolute fave) and Lee opted for a Nuclear Daiquiri. As you can see from the photos below, we are clearly naturals and folk in there should fear for their jobs... 

We then went on a tour of the private bar area downstairs with the manager Ronnie - what a lovely bloke! I really should have taken some photos, but I was far too giddy. Eamonn showed us how to make the most magical gingerbread concoctions I have ever tasted. I remember talk of £200 shots of rum, Cuban drinking games and stories which will never be repeated. We also met Manchester's most fragrant doorman. That was nice.  
I can't even tell you what a great time we had. We left rabbitting on about how Eamonn and Ronnie were our new besties and plotting our return with our other pals. Not only was the food outstanding, but we sampled a gorgeous array of rum based goodies and had a really good laugh with the guys who worked there. Today I found myself recommending it to a lovely lady who works in Dunelm Mill...

I urge you to go. It's the perfect place to go as a group and have a giggle with friends. We spent all afternoon there and laughed all the way home. Perfect.

Disclaimer: I was invited to sample the new menu at Revolucion de Cuba with my friend Lee. I'm not sure if the PR company ordered those lovely men to charm us, or whether they did that of their own accord. Either way I was under no obligation to write a nice review or drink so many cocktails. I'd also like to apologise to Eamonn for being a pair of drunken buffoons and insisting we will be attending his recital. We still plan on doing. 

All Star Lanes, Manchester - New Menu

I bloody love All Star Lanes. I've been to a couple of them now, but the Manchester one at The Great Northern has to be my favourite. We had my friend Lucie's retro bowling party there when she turned 30, we've been for Cake Club 'Meat Up', and I go regularly with my friends for the most amazing cocktails.

Imagine the level of giddiness when I got invited to sample their new menu?! I could have kissed their zombified faces! (I'm not being offensive, it was Halloween). Even better, my pal and I took the afternoon off work and started the weekend early.

Their lovely events manager Natasha greeted us and ran through some of the changes to the menu. Most people associate All Star Lanes purely with bowling, but they also have a fantastic restaurant serving some great diner style food, and a pretty swanky bar.

King prawn taco in a hard shell with guacamole, sour cream, jalapeños and salsa: Not a fan of prawns myself (I find them untrustworthy), but this looked and smelled amazing! I'm assured by Phil that it was beautiful, and they were 'proper prawns, not little ones'!

Nachos to share - nacho cheese, guacamole, jalapeños and salsa: I'm a total nutter for nachos at the moment. Some may say I have become a little obsessed with melted cheese... These were unreal. A good ratio of topping to nacho too. I'm fairly confident I could graze on these all afternoon. 

Chicken parmigiana burger - grilled chicken breast, marinara sauce, buffalo mozzarella and fresh basil: A nice alternative to your standard burger. The only thing that could have made this better would be a toasted bun for a bit of added texture. 

Nacho cheeseburger - ground chuck and rib patty, taco shards, nacho cheese, guacamole and jalapeños: I stayed with my nacho-obsessed theme. Not for the faint-hearted, or those who like to look at all graceful when they eat. A gloppy pile of wonder. I managed half - what a lightweight! 

Monterey Jack corn grit chips and truffled mac and cheese: We had to sample sides... Corn grit chips are a bit like cheesy polenta with a crunchy exterior; unusual but very pleasant! The truffled mac and cheese is likely to induce a heart attack in any decent quantity, which makes it an instant winner!

Drinks: I'm going to be honest with you. There were more than the photos below. These are the ones I remembered to take pictures of! I seem to recall sampling...

• Aloha Jar (left) Finlandia vodka, pineapple juice, passion fruit, lime juices and orgeat.
• Sidecar - H by Hine Cognac is the driving force in this Parisian classic from Harry’s American Bar in Paris, shaken with Cointreau and fresh lemon.
• Roller Girl - Finlandia vodka, Crème de Peche, pomegranate and lemon juice and bubblegum syrup.
• Gin and Elderflower Julep Jar - Bombay Sapphire, elderflower, mint, lemon and apple juice. Churned over crushed ice and served in a jar.
• Bramble - Bombay Sapphire shaken with lemon juice and sugar, with a splash of Chambord black raspberry liqueur.
• Blue Moon - Iconic American wheat beer, Belgian style, notes of coriander and zesty orange.
• Pacifico - Corona’s big brother, rich pale lager with mild hops.
• Pinot Grigio - Matrai from Hungary. Classic dry style with nice acidity, fuller flavour than your average Pinot Grigio, 2012.

Warm cherry pie with vanilla cream and toasted almonds: Sing with me... 'She's my cherry pie!'...No? Oh bugger you then. Very sweet but perfectly sized. I think a dollop of ice cream would assist here rather than cream.

Choc chip cookie ice cream sandwich with maple syrup: Not too sickly and a good ratio of cookie to ice cream.

After suffering from a bit of food overload, we braved a spot of bowling, which was the perfect way to get our backsides into gear after being such horrific gluttons! I'd like to tell you that we both ruled the lanes, Kingpin stylee. Fact of the matter was I got thrashed and we were both equally as terrible as each other. Children at the side of us were practically pros in comparison. However, we didn't damage anything (or anyone) and didn't send the ball hurtling down the gutter too often...

We had a great time at All Star Lanes. The new menu is fantastic, the service was attentive and the drinks were pretty special too. I don't think either of us will be topping the bowling leader board any time soon though...

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Disclaimer: I was invited to sample the new menu by All Star Lanes. In return they wanted our honest feedback on the food. I was under no obligation to write a review, be nice or get drunk on cocktails whilst I was there. I did that of my own accord.

National Bundt Day Nordic Ware Giveaway!

It's the most wonderful time of the year... Forget Christmas, it's nearly National Bundt Day dammit!

It's getting a bit out of hand in our house. I stopped counting the Nordic Ware at 50 items, and if my husband asks - no, I've had that one for ages. They're in the kitchen, under the stairs, in the study, on the walls and even in the loft.

I have tins I haven't had chance to use yet (the occasion has to match the tin, naturally) and ideas popping out of my head left, right and centre. Basically my life is getting in the way of my bundt baking.

I've been baking bundts for nearly four years now, and I can't see me stopping any time soon. Since that fateful Christmas where I battled with bundt perfection I've been spreading the word, baking a bundt a month for cake club, guiding others and generally eating lots of cake too.

The cakes displayed on this post are just a few of the bundts that I have made this year, which show some of the beautiful designs Nordic Ware have to offer and highlights the versatility of what is the ultimate sharing cake.

If you fancy having a go, perfecting your skills or trying a new recipe, there are lots of hints and tips on my Bundts on the Brain page, including my Build-a-Bundt recipe creator.

There's a bundt for every occasion, and once you've cracked it, you really won't need an excuse to make one. I've been known to bake them just to celebrate Thursdays being Friday eve... whatever works for you really...

So then, fancy winning the lovely goodies above? It's really easy...

How to Enter 

• Simply follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget below.
• To be in with a chance of winning you must complete ALL the mandatory fields, and then can move onto the additional entries if you want to increase your chances of winning.
• All entries will be checked and verified before a winner is announced.
• Rafflecopter will pick a random winner.
• The competition runs until midnight on 15th November 2014.
• Please see the Terms and Conditions on the Rafflecopter widget for the rules and more information.

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a Rafflecopter giveaway