I am dedicating this post to my friend lg…I thought she might like some red cake more than a mug, it’s a private joke
This is a recipe from the internet for a ‘Valentine’s Day Cake’ with a LOT of red food colouring in it…gotta say I shuddered when I saw recipes for some of these red cakes with the amount of colouring in them…
I haven’t included it here because, to be honest, I think my Go To Victoria Sponge recipe that I have fiddled with until I got right is much easier and much nicer than how this turned out…I am not a huge cake eater, though I do like a piece with my afternoon tea, but I have a hubby who eats cake like it’s going out of fashion and likes it with a beer…we both agreed that this is somehow greasy…and though spongy a bit…dense…the food colouring? would that do that? who knows, but I won’t be trying again…
Yes I let the Beach Cottage Kiddos eat this.
I used the IKEA silicone mould and it was great…I love these ‘pans’ in my baking life…they really have helped it along…just so easy and the best thing, no sticking and worrying about lining things with baking paper…as I am sure you have gathered by now, I always go the easy route…these are that for me …I am slowly adding to my collection, and in my hunt for all things silicone IKEA is definitely the most economical if you are on a budget …next time I go to IKEA (coming up soon I need a little shot of my personal Nordic boutique) I will be adding these to my collection, I mean with a name like that and the colour in my kitchen I couldn’t really not huh?
Catch ya next time Beach Cottage lovelies
We are going out for a very casual lunch for Valentine’s Day, I don’t like doing anything fancy….umm did I mention we might have to pass this shop that just happens to have THE MOST GORGEOUS leather tote in my fave netural? ;-) ….if I am lucky enough to wing it I am SO blogging it….
What are you doing for Valentine’s Day today??? I have put sweet lunch notes in with my kiddos lunch and they have simple little gifts to open later after school
Sarah
p.s. if you use silicone bakeware, let me know where you buy it, I am running out of shapes and sizes xo
Oh wow that is really red! Very festive! I made my first ever red velvet cupcakes at the weekend, they are more of a chocolatey-red, very moist and delicious though. If you ever want to give them a try I have the recipe on my blog. Even hubby likes them and he’s not much of a cake person Happy V-Day to you and your hubby xo K
Very pretty…. Do you know how they get the red in food colouring? Once you find out (like me) you may never want anything remotely related to the colour red…Lets just say it has something to do with a certain (I think if memory serves me right) mexican bug…Completely harmless ofcourse but still makes me uneasy…lol I’m in two minds with silicon bake wear….I tend to line my cake tins with aluminium foil and then peel it off once it has cooled a little (thanks Nigella Lawson)… Happy Valentines day everyone!
Hey Sarah, I’m just over the border…back down under…and loving it…may struggle to go back ‘home’ to England…anyway…love the look of that cake…although the moving picture did my head in…would have to have a warning in U.K…..’frequent very red moving images’….Have a great Valentine’s Day and I hope you get your handbag. Robx
Love the pan! Would pass on the cake. I need to get a pan like this. I have little mini patty pans in a heart shape that I love. But I would love to have a bigger pan. This is great!
We don’t really do anything fancy for V day, but today I am so in the mood! We might action a dinner out, or I may get some seafood and organize something at home with (as I am on a no sugar mantra) a faux Creme brûlée, made with that new truvia stuff in the shops( it is really good, I did baseless baked mini cheesecakes last week and they were so fab!
hey Sarah
I am making heart shaped pancakes tomorrow colored red with some sprinkles for my kids i too am making a heart shaped cake after i drop them at school it will be a red velvet heart with cream cheese frosting!! maybe some nutella choc covered strawberries if i wrangle some berries up!i dont know if you have these dollar stores in the lucky country but dollar tree has the best silicone cupcake cups and only 1 buck for 6 of them i bought them on a wimb for some cupcake ornaments i was making and decided to give it a try and bake in them they were better then the wilton ones i have!!! they sometimes have larger silicone baking moulds too!! just thought i would pass that on!!!
share the love xoxoxo
Kim
cool cake, sarah!!!love your recipies, how about a BC cookbook with your gorgeous pics??
i buy silicone bakeware from kmart…the butterfly muffin tray is my daughter’s fav….i love the mini muffin tray…great for lunchboxes!!!
Pretty! Nothing fancy shmancy here too but a cozy dinner after work. Happy Valentines day to you and have a great day. By the way, Im a sucker for cakes you know. I have them with my drinks too…I can also have them as appetizers
Whoa – that’s one amazing coloured cake! Our family St. Valentines tradition is to place a few small heart chocolates on my babies (20 & 14) bedside tables so that they can wake up and of course start the day with chocolate – is there a better way? Also the special cute cupcakes for everyone’s lunch boxes….B:)
We’re going out to a casual place for our favorite…fish tacos! Very inexpensive and beach-y decor. Afterward, home for angel food cake and strawberries…another easy fave. I love that cake pan, but that’s quite a wild wild red! Another stop at Ikea’s this week, I’m afraid! We have a tradition of cards, not so much gifts, and I mailed already since my daughter lives 150 miles away.
Happy Valentine’s Day for yesterday, Valentine’s Day is all about a little girl in our house- who happened to be born on Valentine’s Day 5 years ago! We did a lovely heart cake (chocolate) and I practiced an icing technique on it ready for her garden tea party on Saturday.
Hubby did manage to get me some beautiful red roses though!
G'day! I'm Sarah, I live in a tatty old cottage, near the sea in Australia with a battered old deck & a big old fig tree out the back...stripped wooden floors, old sash windows & a jumble of vintage furniture. [Read More …]
Well G’day Beach Cottage ladies. Of course some of you guessed correctly, no flies on Beach Cottage gals are there? A Summer House window dressing, beach vintage style. One that I got very wrong. I’ll keep this short and sweet The vintage crochet patchwork curtain? Love. Pure love. But, put it this [...]
G'day ladies, let's have a Too Easy Beach Cottage recipe yeah? The original place for Too Easy Recipes on the web ;-)
So, after my last salad went down a storm in my inbox, that's here if you missed it, I had to do this one seeing as I make it most weeks.
There is a problem with this salad and kiddos though...it looks, well, it looks, kinda yucky...but once they try it, they'll ask if and when they are next having it....at least that's what happens in this ratty old cottage...but I must interject here that my kiddos are 'good eaters'? ...they didn't get a choice in that ;-)
Now, stop, don't start running and hitting that next on your blog reading list, pulses are your best friend in the Too Easy Dump & Go kitchen for the busy mum, or busy anyone for that matter...that reminds me I must blog the garlic canneloni Go To for when you forgot to do dinner, feel like a bath but have three ravenous young Beach Cottage Kiddos on your hands...another day.
I am almost embarrassed to tell you how easy this is, we have it so much that I always have a couple, make that six, cans of lentils around and a jar of goat's cheese in the fridge...the great thing about this is that it's all too easy to get ready in just a few minutes, but it looks, tastes and seems like you did oh so very much more than that.
You can obviously too change it up a bit depending on what you have to hand in your kitchen, and I must say that is how I settled on this version...because one day when I made it I didn't have enough Parsley in the garden and so I chucked in some basil too, and liked the Summer feel it added.
I think of this as being a rather posh salad, not sure why, because it couldn't really be further from the truth...the great thing is that it works so well for an average run of the mill day, (when I did this for this blog post, it was a hot Sydney Sunday and I did it just simply to go with Rosemary & Garlic stuffed pork, you can see that pork here),
...but just as easily it works on a regular old Wednesday night when you have lost all enthusiasm for rustling up yet another meal, or indeed on Saturday night, when your friends are on their way over for dinner and you my friend, are in your new vintage inspired clawfoot bathtub (that's me in a few weeks time, k?) without any clothes on, a tipple and no idea what to cook for dinner...
I have a complicated and ever-changing relationship with goat's cheese...it never fails me in its performance and it never fails to impress me (you can find out a bit more on what I like in food here if you like) and I kinda collect it...because it's very easy to collect and has a fairly long fridge-life, I love trying out different ones and there's not many things I love more than goat's cheese on sourdough...but I think the best thing about it is not thinking about it exclusively in the toast/salad department...I've stuffed it in chicken and all sorts of things as a last minute and it's been fab.
But let's get down to the nitty gritty of this super salad that makes you look like an angel who has been on her knees all day scrubbing the front step when really you are in the digital world and spent most of ...
G'day Beach Cottage ladies, howdy, howdy howdy today for a Beach Cottage Too Easy recipe.
If you like cake, cream, sugar and chocolate, make this.
This is, rather than a recipe, a putting it together...as you know I am no dessert maker, but, I do make quite a few sweet things, because, somehow I have ended up with kiddos, who in their roles as offspring, believe that part of the deal, is that not only do I feed them a home-cooked meal with a few homegrown ingredients in there, yes, they also believe that dessert and not the kind that comes out of a packet is included too in this All-Inclusive Deal they call Parenthood.
So, this, for sure, is no culinary masterpiece, but if you are looking for something that is so very easy, dump-able, uses everyday ingredients and at the same time makes you look like you spent hours pulling things together plus tastes good....well, then this is for you.
Best though, you don't make this for yourself, if you have spent the most part of your week sitting on your derriere reading blogs...this my friend ain't low in the calories department...if, however, you are treating yourself to a delight in a mason jar, this is so for you.
I first had a version of this when at dinner back in Old Blighty with a girl, I once, in another life, caught the train up from our village to London with...she was a funny thing really...I am not quite sure how we got on...she was kinda prissy and a bit bothered by too much...I would run to the train flustered, having got up late, and she would have a spreadsheet on the train times, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, a few years later when we both had bambinos, I bumped into her again and we met up for playdates and dinner sometimes....this particular night, after a lovely meal she served up little bowls of creamy, cakey fruity stuff topped off with chocolate flake...it was delicious!
She didn't serve hers in little jars like this, hers were in a champagne glass and not quite so layered as these ones, plus she used tinned fruit not fresh or frozen.
Years later when said offspring kept requesting dessert, one day I wangled together somehow these from what was around in the fridge and they've been with us ever since.
Most likely, if you ever come here for dinner, and shock horror, you dont' bring the dessert with you, this, if you are lucky, will be what you will get.
Throw it all together, sprinkle a lil bit of chocolate on the top and the blog reading past-time you so rudely left in order to make this, is my friend, your oyster.
Beach Cottage Too Easy Layered Raspberry, Cream & Sponge Dessert
1 small maderia or butter cake or a pack of cupcakes (or of course make your own)
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
8 tbsp fruit
1 x chocolate Flake or chocolate bar for grating
1. beat the cream cheese until it is soft
2. whip the cream until soft peaks form
3. combine & add the sugar through
4. cut your cake into portions
& layer into the bottom of your jar
5. add a tablespoon of fruit
6. layer on top the cream combo
7. repeat
8. grate chocolate or Flake on top
*Beach Cottage Recipe Notes : this is just a guide really, you can use any cream that you have on hand...I have made this with clotted cream (don't even go there unless you want to seriously get these babies on your thighs), with double cream and I have even, in desperate times squirted in that, ...
G'day Beach Cottage ladies, well I thought it was time for some blogging tips here today, alongside a few nice flowers and shells ;-)
I was recently part of a blogger discussion group over at Kidspot and a couple of hours later had a few questions from girls who couldn't make it to the live chat, one was on my Facebook page and one via email, the Facebook one I will deal with in another Real Girl Blogging Tips post...the email one asked me what essentials do I think every blog needs?
Well I have been around here for a while now doing the blogging thing, so I should know this, yeah and I mused this on my walk by the sea this morning I thought well what do you only need?
...I think it is really very easy when blogging, whether or not you are blogging up there in the lofty heights of the Super Bloggers or you are just dipping your toe in the water, to get side-tracked by 101 million different things that are 'essential' to your blog and if you are someone like me who actually gets a thrill from reading blogging tips then you are in an even worse place because you will find yourself literally buzzing with these essential things to add/do/implement on your blog.
However, walking along, gulping down that brisk sea air today (no sunshine & clouds) I thought you actually don't need any of that professional blogging stuff to be successful...but there are a few things that are pretty much crucial ...and once I started to think about it I got it down to about 5 - these are the only things that you need to concentrate on...once you have read through take a look at some of the big girl's blogs...you'll see that actually they don't have bundles of stuff on their blogs...but they do have all of these...
So here are my top things that your blog must have
1. About Page
There are all sorts of About Pages out there, and if you search on it there are many different tips and ideas for what to have on yours
Whatever blogging platform you use, adding an About Me Page is easy, quick and simple and will do everything to grow your blog.
I like a long-ish About Page, I am inherently nosy and I like to know a bit more about the person but at the least you should have on it your name and where you are located. I also think a photo is good too...over the last year or so I think this has become more important in blogging - if you are hesitant about that as I was, you can try using sunglasses or a behind shot until you get comfortable.
There is nothing worse than stumbling upon a new blog and going to find out more to only be faced with a piddly little one liner About Me Page...well there is something worse, not having one at all!
2. Contact Page
The chances are someone, somewhere will want to contact you and you will be surprised what lands in your inbox once you put yourself out there on the world wide web with a blog.
Many bloggers also use this page to include details for PR's/brands that may want to contact them and some bloggers put their stats on there too.
A short, to the point and simple Contact Page works really well...whenever I have wanted to contact another blogger I am often very busy and have limited time so I don't want to hang around sifting through information looking for an email address, so concise and clear ...
G'day lovely Beach Cottage lovelies.
So, yeah, so on a roll people, so on a roll.
I feel kinda home accessory wired right now.
I am always telling people, if anyone ever listens, that blogging is all about passion, not that sort of passion, but about passion that makes one tick.
Things like this make me tick tick boom.
I love finding things that suit my budget and let me treat my home but look amazing too.
So without further adieu I introduce you, ladies of the beach, to the blue vintage glasses that I have been stroking for about a week or two now...
These glasses are from a little boutique I sometimes happen upon, this boutique sells also pet accessories, carpet cleaner, bras and compost...it's quite unique though.
And, thanks to my friend Marnie (she blogs over here, go take a look at her praying position, interesting), who just so happens to be one day having me over for a lil' Greek dinner, has let me in on the fact that we call Kmart....The KMart...with an accent ....as in 'I love The KMart'...just like her MIL does. Oh yeah. Love that.
So I have had my eye on reproduction vintage glass blue wine glasses and being trying to find real true vintage blue glasses for like ever.
Oh yes I have spied them in Frenchy boutiques, I have lusted after them in stores that I shouldn't even enter and I have put them back pretty quickly in those shops with the hand-written price tags. C'mon, you know the ones.
And, though all of the above have tempted me, muchly, really, even with my wardrobe stashing skills I just thought that, actually, I'd rather be saving that casherooni for our next trip overseas..
Hello The KMart.
Tick Tick Boom
Vintage style blue wine glasses.
Do not come to my old place and think you might pick up one of these and smile with pleasure at their handblown quality, their weight, and be secretly jealous that my wine glasses cost more than your car...friend, that would not happen...these do not feel like that...indeed these in a funny way reminded me of my baby girl, she was a tiny little thing, with stick legs, the tinsssssssiest ankles and wrists you ever did see, she slept sideways in her cot wedged in between rolled up blankets and would only settle attached to Mr Beach Cottage or I or a (dirty) pj top of mine scrunched up under her nose...the first few times I picked her up to cuddle, being used to Honeymoon Baby who weighed in at 9lbs at birth and has never really stopped growing, I nearly threw her little bird-cum-rat down covered body over my shoulder.
These glasses are like that...be careful or you might lose your wine down the front of your shirt.
But oh baby, we are not talking picking up here, we are not talking quality, we are not talking house accessory snobbery.
Beach Cottage ladies, we are talking aesthetics.
And this is what I need in my cottage.
Blue vintage style glass, paired with coastal / nautical / beach stuff on my deck.
It's The KMart.
Tune in tomorrow, tomorrow, I have more budget foofing for your home, or maybe it will be the dress that wraps me up in supermarket-chic and makes me feel like me again.
Good Day to you my friends, wanna come hang out on my deck, talk house accessories, The KMart and drink some wine from blue glasses?
Sarah
Love the mould, not sure about the cake colour tho!!
Oh wow that is really red! Very festive! I made my first ever red velvet cupcakes at the weekend, they are more of a chocolatey-red, very moist and delicious though. If you ever want to give them a try I have the recipe on my blog. Even hubby likes them and he’s not much of a cake person
Happy V-Day to you and your hubby xo K
<3
xxx
Very pretty…. Do you know how they get the red in food colouring? Once you find out (like me) you may never want anything remotely related to the colour red…Lets just say it has something to do with a certain (I think if memory serves me right) mexican bug…Completely harmless ofcourse but still makes me uneasy…lol I’m in two minds with silicon bake wear….I tend to line my cake tins with aluminium foil and then peel it off once it has cooled a little (thanks Nigella Lawson)… Happy Valentines day everyone!
Happy Valentine’s Day, Sarah! Sending lots of Love from the Pacific Northwest!
Happy Valentine’s Day – that cake looks awfully red
– I think I’d just be happy with chocolate cake with maybe a little pink frosting 
Hey Sarah, I’m just over the border…back down under…and loving it…may struggle to go back ‘home’ to England…anyway…love the look of that cake…although the moving picture did my head in…would have to have a warning in U.K…..’frequent very red moving images’….Have a great Valentine’s Day and I hope you get your handbag. Robx
Happy Valentine’s Day , Sarah!
Even though the color is too red , the baking of the cake must have been fun
That sure is RED!!!! Thank you lovely – don’t forget to drop a slice off to me – although you know I do prefer purple. lg xxx
Loving the silicone mould and I must get me some of them as i’m still lining with baking paper!!!!!
Wow that is one red cake but I couldn’t bring myself to use that colouring I’d have to use raspberries for my shade of red.
Hope you enjoy your lunch and snag that tote
Love the pan! Would pass on the cake. I need to get a pan like this. I have little mini patty pans in a heart shape that I love. But I would love to have a bigger pan. This is great!
We don’t really do anything fancy for V day, but today I am so in the mood! We might action a dinner out, or I may get some seafood and organize something at home with (as I am on a no sugar mantra) a faux Creme brûlée, made with that new truvia stuff in the shops( it is really good, I did baseless baked mini cheesecakes last week and they were so fab!
hey Sarah
I am making heart shaped pancakes tomorrow colored red with some sprinkles for my kids i too am making a heart shaped cake after i drop them at school it will be a red velvet heart with cream cheese frosting!! maybe some nutella choc covered strawberries if i wrangle some berries up!i dont know if you have these dollar stores in the lucky country but dollar tree has the best silicone cupcake cups and only 1 buck for 6 of them i bought them on a wimb for some cupcake ornaments i was making and decided to give it a try and bake in them they were better then the wilton ones i have!!! they sometimes have larger silicone baking moulds too!! just thought i would pass that on!!!
share the love xoxoxo
Kim
Oh nooooooo… you’ve sent me to the IKEA website. There goes the rest of my morning
Loving silicone bakeware – I have none, and now I need some!
Hi sarah
wowzers that’s red.
Mind you I love the blue and red combo (one of my favourites in the nautical file of mine)
Last time I had to make a red icing (as I am loathing against food colourings and additives)
I used beetroot powder – worked perfect.
I think you might just happen to get that bag and I want a peek please.
Have a wonderful day,
loulou, hereiamloulou blog
x
Love the name of those baking pans you linked to.
That is a very red cake. Sorry to hear it wasn’t all that you had hoped. Happy Valentine’s Day!
cool cake, sarah!!!love your recipies, how about a BC cookbook with your gorgeous pics??
i buy silicone bakeware from kmart…the butterfly muffin tray is my daughter’s fav….i love the mini muffin tray…great for lunchboxes!!!
Pretty! Nothing fancy shmancy here too but a cozy dinner after work. Happy Valentines day to you and have a great day. By the way, Im a sucker for cakes you know. I have them with my drinks too…I can also have them as appetizers
I saw a heap of silicone in Kmart the other day. Love the colour, glad it is your kids eating it and not mine.
Whoa – that’s one amazing coloured cake! Our family St. Valentines tradition is to place a few small heart chocolates on my babies (20 & 14) bedside tables so that they can wake up and of course start the day with chocolate – is there a better way? Also the special cute cupcakes for everyone’s lunch boxes….B:)
We’re going out to a casual place for our favorite…fish tacos! Very inexpensive and beach-y decor. Afterward, home for angel food cake and strawberries…another easy fave. I love that cake pan, but that’s quite a wild wild red! Another stop at Ikea’s this week, I’m afraid! We have a tradition of cards, not so much gifts, and I mailed already since my daughter lives 150 miles away.
Happy Valentine’s Day from the West Coast/USA.
Happy Valentine’s Day Sarah! I am a freak for anything heart-shaped, so loving your cake mould. Maybe sponge with some buttercream topping and a few strawberries on top as an alternative? It would look super on one of the White Company’s heart-shaped plates: http://www.thewhitecompany.com/the-little-white-company/great-ormond-street-charity/stoneware-heart-plates/
Not sure if you have this store down under?
Love the pink tulips next to the turquoise cushion looks beautiful!
Happy Valentine Day x
Oh , my, that cake looks amazing!!! We’ll have chocolate cake and champagne…., maybe I’ll think of something red to add, hmmm. Happy V day!!
I get mine from http://www.lakeland.co.uk – do you remember them from your uk days? Jules
Happy Valentine’s Day for yesterday, Valentine’s Day is all about a little girl in our house- who happened to be born on Valentine’s Day 5 years ago! We did a lovely heart cake (chocolate) and I practiced an icing technique on it ready for her garden tea party on Saturday.
Hubby did manage to get me some beautiful red roses though!
I feel like baking some red velvet cupcakes now! Great post
Yup, me too! Makes me want to bake something special for my hubby!
The cake looks evil Sarah lol !!!!!!!!