Images Cocktail Cupcakes: TGI Fridays's Barnamint Baileys

Today I had my first day off work since the New Year (not counting being of sick!) and having nothing to do I decided to bake! Woohoo!

I don't have much in the house in the way of fancy ingredients at the minute but I had most of the basics so figured I could make something work. I have had an idea in my head for the longest time about making a range of cupcakes based on cocktails and, though I have no eggs, was determined to start today. I know some of the more everyday cocktails have been tackled in this way already but what I aim to do over the next couple of weeks (or months or however long it takes) is make a much wider range. The having no eggs and being to lazy to go to the shops part was my only stumbling block so I set about finding an eggless cake recipe. I'll be honest, I didn't look for long because I really couldn't be bothered. I mean, I really wanted to make the cupcakes but I'm damned if I'm going to spend all morning researching then spend all afternoon experimenting then spend all evening icing and typing. Like I said, first day off this year people!

I love the Barnamint Baileys Cocktail served at TGI's and practially drink it like a milkshake whenever I get one (drink responsibly!). It seemed like the obvious place to start. This is the recipe I used and slightly adapted to make the cupcakes. Whilst they are delicious I will definitely be making this again using an adapted version of my regular vanilla cake recipe. There was just something...lacking. They were moist, fluffy and tasty but...they lacked punch. This recipe has vanilla, peppermint and Baileys but I don't think the eggless cake mix had enough 'grab' to really let the flavours 'do their thing'. It's still tasty, don't get me wrong. I'm fasting today (Intermittent Fast) and I've eaten two (and nothing else, promise!) so they can't be all that bad. But I think the right vanilla cake base will take these from a 7 to a 10.

So without further ado, food porn!

Recipe adapted from Madhuram's Eggless Cooking

The Ingredients

For those of you not very good at guessing, or too damn lazy to make up your own recipe, this was:

2 Cups Plain Flour
2 & 1/4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Cup Caster Sugar
1 Can Condensed Milk
3/4 Cup Baileys
1/4 Cup Water
2 Tablespoons Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Vanilla
1 Teaspoon Peppermint
1/2 Cup Melted Butter (or Margarine)
5 Crushed Oreos

I know most people have a method, but I'm just not that type of lady. If I can do this quickly and still have it be tasty, that's how it's going down.

First you need to preheat the oven to 230. This is one area you really shouldn't cut corners when baking. You'll get crappy cakes. I don't know why, you just will. Now take all of the ingredients up to, and including,  the sugar and put them into the bowl of your mixer. Or just a mixing bowl, whatever! Mix for two or three minutes on low to medium. Once combined add all of the wet ingredients and mix again, starting on low then increasing to medium and then high once there is no chance of you getting a face full of cake mix.

Finally, the Oreos. I like mine quite chunky and, again, I was feeling lazy, so I just used my hands and crumbled them roughly into the mix. You could beat them, chop them or even blend them. I honestly don't care. Once in the mix beat again on high for approximately 5 minutes or until everything is combined.

Then either divide into cupcake cases or pour into you cake pan. This made me 18 cupcakes and I have no idea what size cake pan should be used. Just experiment like I did, it's fun. 

I cooked these on the middle shelf at 230 for approximately 15- 20 minutes. You should really be checking your own oven though since, I'm assuming, you're a responsible adult that doesn't wish to burn his/her house down or eat undercooked cupcakes. A pack of toothpicks are relatively cheap, poke the cakes in the centre when they look brown and if it comes out clean and dry (albeit with crumbs), you got yourself a good ol' time.

Once out of the oven, set aside to cool and crack on with making your icing. Now this was a lot more guessing than the actual cupcake mix as I knew a large part of the "Barnamint Baileys" taste would come from here. It was basically a case of tasting and adding and mixing until I thought it tasted right.

I used:

1 Block of Butter (NOT Margarine) slightly melted but not pourable. You'll get more icing this way!

Icing Sugar

Baileys

Peppermint 

Vanilla

Oreos

Add the butter to the bowl and beat for a couple of seconds. Next add the icing sugar and beat til combined.  The amount of icing sugar you add will depend upon two things. Firstly how much of the above liquids you add. The more liquid, the more icing sugar you will need. Secondly comes how you plan on using your icing. If you will be piping you will need to make sure it's firm enough to stand so may need slightly more icing sugar. This brings me onto my next point, how to add the Oreos. If you are planning on piping you will need to make sure the crumbs are small enough to pass through your nozzle. I threw mine in the blender to be on the safe side.

And finally, garnish and serve!

Images What's In A Name...?

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...Other than a follow perhaps? I have changed my blog back to it's old name as I felt there was too much noise surrounding the new name. It was getting lost. Please follow here!

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Images Lost...

I have finally calmed down. Losing all of my pictures after only just getting my camera working seemed, during my moment of high drama yesterday, like some sort of sick joke. I wailed like a child. Anyone that knows me will testify that crying is not really my thing, it's not what I do. But yesterday I sat on my bed, held my laptop, stared at the "no images found" message for the 100th time and cried like I had actually lost the people contained within those shots. How could such a thing happen to me? What had I done to deserve that. The humour of losing the shots I'd just taken, shots that had taken around an hour to pose, was lost on me. And losing shots like this...

 ...a perfect moment of playfulness and defiance? Not even slightly funny. "So why didn't you back them up?", chorused all the smug, smart arsed, obvious people. I did. I did back them up. Everyone has that one area where they seem to be jinxed. Mine is electrical equipment. I can work it just fine, better than just fine in fact. I'm a graduate in the school of thought that manuals are for wimps. I dive straight in, making laptops, phones and all their gadget mates my hardwired bitches. Take that Quick Start Guide! Suck on these you overly long manual in languages I don't understand. I'm in charge and today you are nought but my gadgety minions. But inevitably it all goes wrong. I don't suddenly forget how to use them or anything. They strangely just...stop working. Perfectly good bits of technology, well within their guarantee period, just refusing to even turn on. If the rise of the machines came about it would start in my house. A couple of weeks before my camera got wiped I turned on my laptop and saw the Blue Screen of Death. I lost it all. And I do mean I lost it ALL because a couple of weeks before that I plugged in my external hard drive only to see a message that may as well have just said "Fuck off, you bore me!". So when the camera got wiped, when last line of defence fell to the machines inexplicable rise to domination, I cried. Like a bitch. Mainly, because of him...

My nephew. I took these pictures at least a year ago. Or possibly almost exactly a year. I seem to remember him blowing out candles. I thought these were lost forever and I can't find the words to describe how angry that made me. I mean, look at that cheeky face. I don't think anyone can understand how much I cried.

How can you not shed a tear for that pose? A child clearly in a hurry to play on what I think was a brand new bike, but still finding the time to stop and give me a smile.

I wont lie, I think he's looking at sweets here. You don't think he just posed for the hell of it do you? Please, he's far too busy riding bikes for all these picture taking shenanigans!

So how did I get the pictures back? Well I was telling someone all about my lost weekend and he said the magic word, Facebook. Now, I deactivated my Facebook a couple of months back. Did you ever watch that film "A Series Of Unfortunate Events"? This is starting to sound a bit like that isn't it? Well it's not all bad because the ever wise, all knowing Facebook don't make it easy to find that delete button. So, though the countless status updates of "I can't believe you did that and NO this isn't about YOU" had driven me away, it was easy enough to come back. I simply logged in again and, Voila, there he was. Along with a couple of other cuties I'd banished...

Another happy birthday boy

A puppy that grew into a much loved dog. A dog that had to be re-homed because the new landlord wouldn't accept her..

The cake I made that was so delicious looking it makes me question why I'm fasting today.

There they all were. I saved every single one to my computer then DELETED my Facebook. I live on the edge like that. There were countless images I lost, loads that I had taken after I deactivated Facebook. My trip to Spain, the snow outside my old house and countless pictures of cakes, cookies, chocolates and other tasty things. All gone. But, if I'm honest, I managed to salvage the best ones. I mean, I can and will bake more cakes and you can be damn sure I'll be taking pictures of them. But I bruised my ankles jumping in front of a speeding child on a three wheel for this shot.

I'm not doing that again any time soon...

Images Check Me out!

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I've been trying to update today with varying levels of success. I'm not even embarrassed to say that I even cried at one point. It's been very emotional. But I am making progress, albeit very, very slowly.

I am now signed up to Bloglovin and will soon have all my Social Media buttons back up and running. For now, a chocolate break...

Images A Wise Man Once Said...

I've been online looking for inspiration tonight. I've been very tired and sluggish and while I have come up with a few things none of them were really what I was looking for. I began to get frustrated. So I decided to remove myself from the situation for a while and spend some time on YouTube. I subscribe to a few channels about food, fashion, hair, make up, exercise and various other things so I felt sure I would find something in all of that to help me unwind.

Now for those of you that don't know Google owns Youtube. They also own Blogger and Gmail. I have all of these things but somehow, don't ask me how, somehow I managed to sign up for Blogger, Gmail and Google itself with one email address and Youtbe with another. Well, not so much with another as with two different email addresses. So I have two accounts. But my main account, the one where I am subscribed to most of my channels, is different from all the others. Google also does automatic sign in. So you sign in to one of your Google apps and you're signed into the rest. Now for anyone that's still following (or vaguely interested!) this meant that when I went on to Youtube I was in the wrong channel, the one that had no subscriptions. No Problem. I signed out and signed into the correct account and spent a lovely couple of hours relaxing and enjoying some videos.

Finally I felt like I could try writing something again. I decided to come back on to Blogger. Only I wasn't signed in to this account anymore. I wasn't signed out either. I was signed into an old account, an old blog no less, I had forgotten even existed. Its the strangest feeling when you find something you'd forgotten about, when you experience words you'd completely forgotten you said. It's the strangest feeling when you look back on things you said and don't even recognise the person that said them. The blog only had two posts and dated all the way back to May 2009. My first foray into blogging. When I think of how much has happened since I started that blog my head spins. And when I think of how little progress I've made...my heart breaks. Especially considering the nature of the Blog. It was meant to track the progress of, what I hoped, was a new phase in my life. It's full of positivity and hope and plans and, whilst I don't remember every detail of who I was or whet I felt when I wrote it, the determination is clearly there.

Below is part of one of only two published posts on the entire blog.

"I've decided that this Blog will be a window into everything good and bad about my life. Once i've sorted through it all I plan on taking the good parts and making something more of them. My goal is to go away. T o see the world...or at least a very small part of it for at least 3 months.
So here goes.

Wish me luck"

I never did it. Granted, I had some issues arise, but still. It seems such a shame, feels like I let that person down. So since I didn't travel the world, did I fail?

The great man

Somebody tweeted a quote by Bruce Lee earlier this evening and I feel like it fits beautifully with this post.

“A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.”

How may of us have started something only to give up and forget all about it? This comforts me, It gives me back my hope and lets me keep trying. The very fact that I didn't recognise either the blog or the post shows how much I've changed. And that's clearly what I was looking for in the post.

Though it never pays to dwell or regret, sometimes it does pay to stop and look back. Think about all the plans you made and goals you set. Think about all the projects you started and never finished. Think about where you thought you'd be right now. Are you there? And if not do you care? Sometimes when the world throws us off track it sets us on a much harder path. This, upon first inspection, seems to suck! Not only do you not know where you're going, getting to this unknown destination is hard!! This is when you need to adjust your aim, you need to shift your focus and push through and just keeping trying. You never know. Maybe, like me, you'll go full circle. You'll end up with a blog that isn't about trying to be positive. It's about spreading positivity.

Images Energy and Inspiration

Frustration can be...frustrating I guess. It's like anger but different. Anger has a cause and often a purpose. Whilst it isn't necessarily productive it's something, a solid outpouring and manifestation of emotions suppressed or built up. But Frustration is just...fog! It's that feeling of being hungry but not knowing what you  want to eat. It's flicking through the channels and not wanting to watch a single thing, turning on the stereo and skipping every song. It's not knowing whats wrong or how to fix it.

A friend of mine showed me something she had been given today. It was Autobiography in Five Short Chapters by Portia Nelson.

Chapter 1

I walk down the street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I fall in.

I am lost ... I am helpless.

It isn't my fault.

It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter 2

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I pretend I don't see it.

I fall in again.

I can't believe I am in the same place.

But it isn't my fault.

It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter 3

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I see it is there.

I still fall in ... it's a habit.

My eyes are open.

I know where I am.

It is my fault.

I get out immediately.

Chapter 4

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I walk around it.

Chapter 5

I walk down another street.

~ Portia Nelson ~

(There's a Hole in My Sidewalk)

This could be written by so many of us. I hope it helps someone.

Images I Smell Summer...

It's amazing how a sunny day can put you in an instant good mood. Today was bitterly cold but beautifully sunny and bright. I was beyond chirpy. It's the sort of weather that makes you start formulating plans. I declared that "I need to start crafting more again!". Where I struggle for inspiration in the Winter, ideas are so abundant on days like today that I find it hard to focus on what I need to do. My mind wanders..."I'll make a giant cookie, iced like a letter and send it to someone", "I'll make a sculpture/Installation, I wonder if there are any open art competitions currently?!", "I'm going to work out extra hard tonight"...and so on. I love it! But the thing I thought of most was a summer holiday.

Last year I went away for a week to Spain in September. My mother and I decided to go to Madrid at the last minute and I spent a couple of hours today looking at some of the pictures. The best ones are on my camera (I ordered a new charger tonight) so I could only flick through the ones on my phone. They bought back some amazing memories, mainly of how hot it was. I mean, seriously, I woke up one morning to a picture on my phone of what looked like the sun on fire. I didn't know such a weather status existed. It was HOT!

We would rise early (partly because it was too bright/hot to sleep and partly to make the most of our day) and head straight down to breakfast. Once we had eaten, which was difficult to do in the 23 degree, 9am heat, I would head to the sanctuary of the air conditioned gym for an hour whilst my mum got ready to go out for the day. Once I was dressed it was off into town. It's a stunning place...

We were staying close to the airport which meant away from the town.This meat we had to take the bus in everyday so no stopping for pictures! The bus drivers in Spain are...It's an adventure! They DO NOT STOP! I watched one driver shut a woman in his doors twice as she tried to get on because she questioned him about being late (at least I think she was, my Spanish is bad). There was much shouting.

Another driver let an old lady on only to take off at full speed before she had a chance to sit down. She dropped her change and banged her ankle. I asked her if she was o.k and if she would like my seat which prompted her telling me how annoyed she was with him and showing me the damage he had done to her leg. Again, I speak no Spanish so this is all assumption. I sympathised as best I could considering the language barrier and, seemingly placated she wandered (stumbled, he was still driving pretty fast) towards the designated elderly seats towards the middle of the bus. My mother and I exchanged glances. Apart from the old lady's pain it was hilariously absurd.

The final contestant for "How did you get this job" decided that he would take a detour. Apparently there was an accident and it was quicker. He told nobody. Locals and people familiar with the journey (and correct route) toppled towards the front to ask him where he was going. He explained to them what was happening in a sort of  "Are you stupid/Don't make me punch you" kind of way. I enjoyed the new views and took more pictures. My mother enjoyed the free comedy and laughed into her handbag while pretending to look for something.

Once we'd gotten into the town we did what any normal people would do, shopped. Madrid has some amazing fashion and, maybe I had a poor grasp of exchange rates, but it seemed much more affordable than the UK. I purchased more modestly than my mother, who had to buy another bag to take on the plane since she'd run out of space (SPOILER: She still couldn't fit it all in!). In terms of dining the back roads seemed to be the best for authentic Spanish food (and Starbucks...!).

Unfortunately we didn't realise this until the last day and had spent most of our time complaining about the lack of authentic Spanish cuisine whilst eating fast food...oops!

We did however take in some culture in the form of a gallery. It was yet another hot day and the walk from the bus stop was a tad too long in heels for my liking, but once we got there? Well worth it.

We had lunch up on the stunning roof terrace and enjoyed the heat before it became unbearable.

Then it was back to the hotel by mid afternoon before we burst into flames. On a couple of lucky days we were able to nap, shower and head back out for supplies when it had cooled down. Other than that, despite the lack of a pool, we just enjoyed the hotel facilities. It really was stunning and the staff were extremely helpful in suggesting where we should go each day.

By the time we were leaving I was definitely well roasted and ready to go. But now, with that little bit of sunshine we had today...I can't wait for this years summer holiday. Maybe not Madrid, since I like to see new places and don't get to travel much, but the sun is definitely calling my name and I think I may have to spend tomorrow lunch looking at bargain flights.

Images Say Cheese!

Or don't say it, but still smile!

Yesterday was a bad day. It started well and it ended well, but there was a bit in the middle where I completely lost my footing.

At the end of last year, due to no fault of my own, a debt arose with my energy company at the time. I was paying every month by Direct Debit and as far as I knew they were taking the amount they needed. However they claim they had come out to the property and carried out a reading which showed the amount they were charging me was much lower than it should have been. Now you would think that at this stage they would have increased the Direct Debit (since the ability to take what one needs each month is what sets it apart from a Standing Order). They did not. Instead they made plans to leave my bill as it was for the remainder of the year (three months) and then increase the direct debit. Companies such as this claim various reasons for doing this. From my viewpoint this was done for one main reason only, to make their prices look better.

How?

Most of these companies advertise an average price that their customers pay per year. Lets say for example my Direct Debit each month was for £35. The first advisor I spoke to in their customer service team advised me that they did readings every three months. This was then refuted by further advisors and the collections team and they advised they were actually only obliged to carry them out every nine months. So for nine months I pay £35. Now lets say that the 'new amount' they will be taking is £65. A nine month delay in inspection, followed by a three month delay in increasing your Direct Debit means that after a year you have paid £420. Only it doesn't end there. Because by their calculations you were paying the wrong amount for 12 months, or not paying enough shall we say. You now owe them £360. But you owe them this AFTER 12 months, so the figure they take for their yearly average that customers pay is £420, NOT £780. This makes them look like a much better deal than they actually are. Also the money tacked onto the following year is technically 'debt', so does it count towards the new years advised figures of how much customers pay...?

In my case I couldn't carry the debt over and increase the next years Direct Debit as I moved house. It was actually only due to me moving that the whole situation was revealed. I simply called to advise them I was moving and they cheerily told me my final check out figure was in the hundreds! They asked me how I would like to pay, I advised them I wouldn't. This is still ongoing and I will detail how this unfolds in another post.

Back to Last Night...

I walked in the house and saw what I thought was a letter I had been waiting for. Upon opening it I discovered it was actually from a debt collection agency of sorts (formatted to look like a solicitors letter but clearly wasn't) and they were contacting me regarding a debt I had allegedly been previously advised they were obtaining. Needless to say this was not the case and what had been a pleasant enough day began to unravel. The company I owed money to was a company I had paid with some money I had come into approximately two years before. I called the company I originally had business with three times. On the first call I was told they could find no account in my name under any previous postcode and then I was cut of. This also happened on the second call. On the third call I asked for a call back before I lost my temper. The gentleman called back and managed to find my account but said it had been referred to an external agency and I had to deal with them. I declined to do this as I had no 'debt' and asked him to investigate. He declined to do this approximately 10 times. I asked for his manager, he said there was no point. I finally managed to get through to a person I can only describe as the poster girl for bad customer service. Melanie was rude, aggressive, ill informed, blase, unremorseful and unhelpful. Hailing from the collections team she told me I did owe, I needed to learn to listen and that she basically didn't care if I made a complaint about her. I'm ashamed to say I then lost my temper. I refused to speak to her any further and her manager will now be calling me back in approximately 7 days...I will post more as it unfolds.

The calm after the storm.

After an hour and 30 minutes of dealing with one of the rudest, most unhelpful companies I have come across in recent years I returned to normality. A colleague of mine is going on leave for a while and has a penchant for cheese. All things cheese. So I set to making her a cake shaped like a wheel of cheese along with 24 cupcakes. This was daunting since my comfort zone is cupcakes and I have only done extremely minimal cake decorating since leaving school. It took me until 1.30am to bake, carve, cool, crumb coat, ice and decorate it all. But all in all I am very happy with the results and, though extremely tired today, I am much more relaxed and the smile on the recipients face made any rude customer service executives seem irrelevant. The pictures aren't great as I need a camera charger so took them on my phone, but I love this cake and it put the shine back in my day!