It has been a long time since I have made a baked cheesecake as I often opt for the simple no bake style. I decided that with all the baking I am doing at the moment it would be good to do a lower fat version and so used reduced fat digestives along with low fat cheese and quark.

You will need:



11 reduced fat digestive biscuits
50g butter
250 light soft cheese
500g Quark
3 eggs
4 tbsp plain flour
Juice of 1 lemon
10 raspberries
150g caster sugar

To decorate: melted white chocolate, raspberries and lemon slices.

Start by making the biscuit base. Rub butter around a 23cm springform tin. Crush the digestives, add the melted butter and push into the base of the tin. Put this in the fridge to cool whilst you make the cheesecake filling.

Combine the soft cheese, quark, caster sugar, lemon juice and eggs. Stir in the raspberries.
Smooth this mixture over the digestive base. Cook at 180C for around 40mins. Allow to cool.

Add the remaining raspberries as decoration using melted white chocolate to stick them in place.

As part of our anniversary weekend away, I asked my husband if we could go out for a nice meal. As we were going to The 99 Club in the evening we opted for the lunch menu at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon.

When I saw that this weeks bake off theme was bread, I was quite pleased as I really love Strombolli and thought I could make variation of that. Then I read that they were no yeast quick breads. After a quick google for ideas I decided to make a no yeast focaccia.

You will need:


1 cup water
2 cups of strong white flour
2tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese grated (and a little extra to sprinkle on top)
2 sprigs of rosemary taken off the stalks.
3 large sundried tomatoes chopped.

Put the oven on at 220C to heat up.
Spray a square pan with olive oil.
Mix all the ingredients together and place in the tin.


Cook for around 20 minutes. Take out and sprinkle a little more Parmesan on top and cook for a further 5 mins.

Allow to cool slightly before eating.



You can find more blogger's bread recipes here.

I was in my element at BritMums as there was a fantastic craft room thanks to Lady Sew and Sew and Make It Coats. I was even happier when I was invited to be an ambassador. I love crafting but use the excuse of not having time. I thought this was a great excuse to make time.

I decided it was probably best to start with a simple project and opted for a cowl. Luckily there are you tube videos and tutorials galore to help you learn to knit.

For this pattern I was sent 3 balls of the Rowan Big Wool Silk and some size 10 needles. You can download this pattern for free by registering and there are 3 different patterns to choose from.



I chose to make the stocking stitch cowl. The pattern was simple.

Cast on 26 stitches
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Purl 2, Knit 22, Purl 2
Repeat until desired length, cast off and sew together. (You will need a large needle for this part.)


I was surprised at how addictive I found it and actually felt I could have done something more complex. With the weather at the moment I fear that I will be wearing this much sooner than I had originally hoped! If you are interested in this or other craft projects then you can find your nearest stockist here. Do you knit? Have you any suggestions for my next project?

This Easter we had a lovely holiday in North Devon. Whilst I love going abroad for the weather, there is nothing better than exploring our own country and all it has to offer. Parkdean currently have a competition running to win a break at one of their sites in Cornwall or Devon. I have had a go myself but really need to scrub up on some of the local views. If you are lucky however, you might like to know what is in store for you if you choose to visit North Devon.

1. Make the most of Devon with the National Trust. If you are off to North Devon, it may well pay to get a National Trust Membership. There are a number of beach car parks which are free if you have membership. We also visited Knighthayes and Arlington Court.



2. There are a number of attractions to choose from. I have friends who have recommended The Milky Way theme park and the Quince Honey Farm. We went to The Big Sheep which is well equipped to entertain you even if the weather isn't its best. There are talks about the animals, rides and a soft play area.


3.Enjoy the beautiful beaches. The weather wasn't the best when we visited Devon, but that didn't stop us from visiting the beaches. The boys loves climbing the sand dunes. Lynmouth had some fantastic rock pools filled with anemones.Whilst we visited Sandymouh when the tide was in and there wasn't a great deal of sand, it was beautiful and kept the boys entertained.


4. Lynton and Lynmouth are joined by a cliff railway. When we visited it was actually celebrating 150 year anniversary and had a visit from Princess Anne. There are lots of little shops to look around and big man was excited to buy clotted cream fudge.



5. You can't go to Devon or Cornwall without having a cream tea. I have to confess I probably ate mine in Devon all wrong. Apparently it's cream first and then jam.


Have you been to North Devon? Where would you recommend?

Last week saw my husband and I celebrating 10 years of marriage. Our wedding cake was an amazing 3 tier white chocolate covered sponge cake with chocolate dipped strawberries on top.


I therefore wanted to make a white chocolate and strawberry cake to celebrate our anniversary. I decided to put my spin on it too.


For the cake:
4oz butter
4oz self raising flour
4oz caster sugar
2 eggs

For the buttercream:
50g white chocolate
75g butter
150g icing sugar

For the cream cheese centre
100ml whipping cream
100g soft cheese
3 tablespoons of icing sugar
1 dessert spoon of grenadine
chopped strawberries

Strawberries
75g of white chocolate
Plus a small amount of grated white chocolate.

I chose to make a 13cm diameter cake. This is quite small but as I was using fresh cream, I felt this was a better size as we would be able to eat it all.

I started by making the 2 layers of sponge cake by mixing the flour, sugar and eggs with melted butter. I cooked these until a skewer came out clean. (Approx 20 mins at 18-C)

I chose the best and biggest strawberries from my punnet and used these to dip in melted white chocolate. I put them on grease proof paper to set.


I then made the filling by whipping the cream and adding the soft cheese, icing sugar and grenadine.
I place this on one sponge, added the strawberries and some more filling. I had made slightly more than required but my boys happily gobbled this up!


Next I made the white chocolate buttercream by adding the melted chocolate to the creamed icing sugar and butter. I started by putting this around the sides of the cake and adding the white chocolate fingers around the cake. I then added the remaining buttercream to the top.


I grated a small amount of white chocolate and put this around the sides of the top and added the dipped strawberries. I then tied red ribbon around the cake.



The boys loved the dipped strawberries and now have an idea of what our wedding cake was like. What kind of wedding cake did you have?

A couple of weekends ago we visited Cliveden National Trust for the afternoon. I had not appreciated how big it was and we could have easily spent longer there, and I would like to go back.

The children's playground is great as it is shaded by trees. It has a theme of fairytales, with carvings of Peter Pan, Captain Hook and Winnie the Pooh.


There is also a maze. I am rubbish with mazes but we eventually found our way to the centre and back out again.

There are stepping stones to cross water and you could see fish in the ponds.


Climbing Trees and walking across logs is always on the agenda!



The grounds were stunning and as I said there is still more for us to explore.



Which is your favourite National Trust?

‘I have received product from Oreo for this post. It is an entry to the Foodies100 Wonderfilled recipe challenge sponsored by Oreo, which marks the launch of two exciting new flavours: Peanut Butter and Golden. The delicious new flavours are available at all major supermarkets at an RRP of £1.08. To find out more, visit www.facebook.com/oreo’



I don't know about you but I love an Oreo or two. I also love all the ideas for recipes on Pinterest. Some are easier than they look, as I found out when making a Mickey Mouse Oreo pop! This recipe however, is super simple and my boys all happily ate them.

This recipe uses the new Golden Oreo. For my British readers, it is pretty much a custard cream. Also out are the limited edition chocolate with peanut butter filling. I think I will have to have a go at a hidden Oreo base cupcake with those lovelies. If you love peanut butter then these Oreo's are for you!



To make 12 of my Carrot and Mango Oreo Lion Cupcakes you will need:

For the cakes:

200g self raising flour
125g fine demerera sugar
150ml sunflour oil
200g carrots
40g finely chopped dried mango
2 eggs
1tsp baking powder
1tsp ground ginger

For the decoration:

100g light cream cheese
100g icing sugar
12 Golden Oreo
Dried mango sliced
12 chocolate buttons cut in half
12 chocolate drops
A chocolate icing pen.

Preheat your oven to 180C

Start by grating your carrot and and finely chopping the dried mango. Combine with all the other cake ingredients.


Spoon the mixture into 12 cupcake cases. Bake for 12-15 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.


Cool on a rack before making the cream cheese frosting.


To make the lions faces add a chocolate drop to the centre of each Golden Oreo with a chocolate writing pen. Then add a mouth and eyes.


Once the cakes have cooled you can make up the frosting. Combine the cream cheese and icing sugar. Add a drop of milk to help it combine. Spread a thin layer on each cake. If the cakes have risen too high you can use a knife to cut the top off so the cake is level with the case. To the centre of the frosted cake, add the Oreo face.


Cut a chocolate button in half to make ears and then finish the cupcake off by adding small pieces of dried mango to make the lions mane.


Nearly too cute to eat, but not quite!

This summer, the holidays have been a bit strange. I hadn't really planned much in advance and thought I'd see what the boys wanted to do. It turns out they don't really want to do much. Not in a bad way. They are just happy at home. I asked them what they would like to do, expecting expensive days out to be on the cards. Middle Man wanted to make gingerbread, little man wanted to make Play Dough and big man justs wants to ride his bike. 

 Whilst I have been feeling a little put out when friends have asked us what we have been doing:

"Ummmm not much."

I have to confess this slower pace life has been pretty nice.  

I have been exhausted just looking at some of my friends Facebook feeds and the amount they have done. Every now and then I have a panic that I should do the same. But when we have gone to the park we have bumped into friends and the boys have played happily. They have splashed in the paddling pool, had Nerf guns target practice and baked sausages on a BBQ. They are happy and that's what is important.  

Having now read back this post, it has all become clear. The boys haven't done nothing this summer. That is my perception not theirs. They have played. A lot. Which I guess is what children like to do. They haven't been over stimulated. I haven't been shouting at them because we are on an expensive day out and should be having fun (which is a ridiculous statement in itself.) They have done what children of 7, 5 and 3 should do. They have enjoyed playing. So it will be much of the same over the next couple of weeks. 

What have you been up to this summer? Have you had some great days out or is it a slow summer like ours?

When I opened the box I was excited to see everything was weighed out to make it as simple as possible. Literally all I need to add was salt and a little bit of oil to cook.

The first recipe we tried was the summer vegetable laska.



This was the hardest of the three dishes, mainly as it was adding lots of vegetables at different times. I even doubted the top chef that devised the recipe as I wasn't convinced that the sugar snaps would cook as quickly as the recipe said. Of course they were right and I was wrong.

My husband isn't one for vegetarian meals and if I had suggested a dish like this he would have turned his nose up at it. He was infact slightly reluctant to eat the tofu but was pleasantly surprised.
The dish was full of flavour and there were more like 3 portions (I kept some for lunch the following day). All in all it took me 45 minutes to cook and that included sorting out the boys food as well, so I was impressed with our first dish.


Next up was the red pesto chicken with spinach and gnocci.


Again not something I would normally opt for as we tend to buy chicken breast. This dish was my favourite as it was simple to cook and very tasty. It is certainly a dish I will make again.


Last of all was the orange and herb pork steaks with cherry tomatoes, tarragon and new potatoes.


Another tasty and easy to prepare meal.

I have always been a fan of Alice in Wonderland and have been wanting to do the Mad Hatter afternoon tea at the Sanderson Hotel for a while now. The thing that put me off was some mixed reviews on Tripadvisor. I know that some of these need taking with a pinch of salt and they certainly did here as it was a fantastic afternoon tea.

From the outside the hotel doesn't look at all special but as you walk in reception you are greeted by funky furniture and a trendy bar.




The afternoon tea is in a garden area and the tables are set beautifully. The menus are contained within old books. An old style jewellery box is full of sugar lumps. We were given some teas to smell before choosing which we would like to have. I opted for the strawberries and cream.







Cakes and sandwiches were bought out together. As there were savoury scones and quiche as part of the platter I thought this worked well, even if there wasn't much room.


The sandwiches all tasted nice and most importantly were soft. (My only gripe when we had afternoon tea at The Ritz was that the finger sandwiches were dry at the edges where they had been made in advance.) My favourite was the curry flavoured bread with egg mayonnaise.

The cake stand was just beautiful. There were meringue "carrots" at the top followed by marshmallow toadstools.


There were cakes, mousse's, scones and best of all a "drink me" bottle which had 3 different flavoured layers.





If you have any room left you can help yourself to flavoured jelly too. If you have cakes left then they will offer to pack them up for you to take home.



We had a lovely time, and whilst children are allowed to go I am pleased we did it without the boys as they wouldn't have appreciated the fantastic flavours. I would certainly recommend this afternoon tea if you are looking for somewhere different to go in London.

On the way out I was worried I may bring the ceiling down with all the cakes I had eaten but all was fine!