lemon and white chocolate cupcakes

For a while now I have been feeling very homesick, i miss the long sunny days, the lightening storms and of course my family. So as a little pick-me-up, I decided to make something that would be as bright and refreshing as home with an English tradition I am particularly fond of, afternoon tea. 

What you will need:

• 225g self-raising flour
• 175g caster sugar
• the zest of 2 lemons
• 3 eggs
• 100g natural yogurt
• 175g melted, unsalted butter
• good quality slab of white chocolate
• An oven preheated at 180

 icing:

• 220g of softened butter
• 400g of icing sugar
• juice of 1 lemon
• yellow food coloring
• decorations (optional) - I used bought daisy cake decorations from Dr. Oetker

(recipe makes 12) 

un. Combine the flour, sugar, eggs, zest, yoghurt and butter. If you want you can beat the eggs and yoghurt before mixing it in with these rest. I'm more of a through-it-all-together-and-see-how-it-goes kinda person when it comes to cooking and baking, so I generally just chuck it all in at once. I did squeeze some extra lemon juice into the mixture, just to give it some extra flavour. 

deux. Break the chocolate up into squares, leaving them fairly large and chunky. At this point you'll want to slip a few squares in you're mouth. the creaminess test is an important part of this recipe, so don't skip it!

trois. Then place cupcake liners in the cupcake tray, and then spoon the mixture evenly amongst the 12 cups (or till each cup is 3/4 full). Then put them in the oven for 20 minutes or until they are this brown colour you see below.

quatre. Sift the icing sugar, and add the butter, lemon juice (or extract) and a couple of drops of food colouring. Mix that all up and then roughly ice cooled cupcakes. If you are feeling particularly lazy (which I often am), you can use ready made vanilla icing and just add lemon juice and colouring.

cinq. Enjoy with some tea, in the sun (if you are lucky enough to have any).

Moonchild

I came across this beautiful label, Moonchild, and I wish I could get my hands on some of their stuff. This little French label is inspired by Peruvian and Parisian culture - this mash up is so evident in their clothes - earthy but still totally sophisticated! And all their items are hand made. Here's a look at some of their collection.

existentialism and a little Marni

I am fairly new to blogging, and to reading blogs for that matter, so it comes as no surprise that I am finding it a lot trickier than it looks. I would like to take this moment to thank my single bloglovin' follower for bearing with me: Thank you. Blogging seems to have brought about an existential crisis for me: if no one is following your blog, are you relevant enough to exist in the world of blogging? But I, forever the optimist, shall persevere into day 2 of blogging. I have been thinking about the possibility of blogging for about 6 months now, and for that entire period my head was filled with ideas for outfits, posts and delicious recipes. However, under the pressure of having to think of what my single bloglovin' follower would like to read, I have caved, and seem to have run out of things to say.

Please don't despair single reader, as today I have a few of the new little things from the Marni for H&M range. And even though you will have to wait until 8 March to actually be able to buy any of it, its always nice to get a sneak peak. I was really impressed, as last season's Versace for H&M just didn't really do it for me. All the pieces are perfect to slip into your existing wardrobe as a seasonal update. And really, a Marni collection for H&M couldn't come at a better time, just when we are preparing for a summer of pattern clashes and theatrics. 

go check out the entire collection here

the week in favourites

A Sunday evening is always a good time to look back over a week. It's also a really good time for a glass of wine and a naughty twix bar, or is that just me? Anyway I have decided I will summaries each week, time permitting, in a little blog with my current favorite things. 

1. Armstrongs Vintage in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a vintage and second hand store which has a few branches around Edinburgh. They have everything from secondhand high street labels to genuine vintage articles and fabulous period pieces for dress-up parties. Unfortunately, due to my eagerness to touch absolutely everything and lack of time, I am embarrassed to say, I have no photos. You shall have to go and see it for yourself!

2. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks which I only recently begun and to which I am already addicted. 

3. British Fashion magazines... 

4. Mojitos, preferably served with plenty of mint and salacious conversation.