Friday 14 November 2014

Rocky Road

These things.....oh so beautiful. Delicious. just so......well there are very few words to describe my emotions to these. um mm, so very very good. 
And yes, somehow even though i didn't need it, i convinced myself that, yes, i did need one of the last three, when writing this, because of course it helps me write; who am i kidding. The chocolate is creamy, and the perfect sweetness not too bitter, like all dark chocolate ,and not to sickly sweet as milk chocolate can be when mixed with other incredibly sugary things. Even my mum will eat this, when generally, shes not a rocky road kinda gal, as often it is too sweet.
chocolate bars
Feel free to play up the inside things, to whatever takes your fancy. I like to keep the base the same, with 50/50 of each chocolate, mini marshmallows (because who can be bothered to cut up massive ones, it just saves a whole lot of time) and digestives. The rest is up to you. This time i chopped up almonds, and added sour cherries. In the past, for children my sisters age (around 10,) i didn't use nuts and put in cranberries, as they are sweeter for young children,then filled the rest up with more digestives and marshmallows. i also kept the chocolate mix the same as i think its great for all ages, but feel free to switch is up the chocolate, for whoever your are giving it to.
baking blog
Its super quick, and you probably have all the ingredients already, so is perfect for a last minute, ahhh some one is visiting panic.  Its also super easy to adapt seasonally, such as adding pistachios and cranberries for a Christmassy feel( talking about Christmas is now officially allowed its November now. OK.) or make it your own by adding your favourite chocolate bar ,or totally change the look, by making it a white rocky road,and now i mention it i might try crunchie bar next time. 

baking blog
Dusted with icing sugar, very apt for this time of year, like a dusting of snow.
baking blog

baking blog
Ingredients 

125g butter
150g dark chocolate
150g milk chocolate
3 tbsp golden syrup
100g digestive biscuits
100g of nuts, dried fruit, whatever takes your fancy or fill up with more digestive or marshmallows
100g mini marshmallows

icing sugar, to dust

1. line rectangle tin and grease the paper(i greased the tin this time and i found it was harder to get out, so learn from my mistakes and don't.)
2. melt the chocolate, butter and golden syrup until fully combined, and you just want to gulp it down, right then and there. i don't recommend doing this as it could cause a heart attack, not from how good it is but, sadly from the amount of sugar.
3. stir in the last 4 ingredients(not the icing sugar)
4. spoon into the tin(leaving about 2 tbsp, because a bowl with nothing in, is not worth scraping out, and that is the best part to baking, am i not right.) and flatten as best as you possibly can.
5. chill in fridge for about 2 hrs, or until firm
6. dust with icing sugar and cut into squares
7. demolish, as slowly as you can(because lets be honest its not the most healthy treat you could eat). bet you cant last a week.

let me know what you decide to add. Emma x

Tuesday 11 November 2014

Poppies, The Shard and Borough Market

If you haven't heard about the poppies at tower hill, then you must have been living under a rock!
So with them disappearing soon, we decided to pop over to tower hill to see the poppies. They really are beautiful and if you haven't seen them and can before they get taken down then defiantly do it. I order you to and of course take an abundance Instagram worthy photos, that it makes it difficult to chose which one to post!

The poppies have attracted large crowds so i recommend getting there before 10, otherwise you will be very restricted in viewing them and it will take you a long time to walk all the way along. I think very early morning on a nice with the sunrise would look particularly beautiful similarly at sunset, and night with the lights also looks beautiful.






^ Soldiers laying down poppies for the 888,246 British fallen soldiers of WWW1.
^A sea of red



view from the shard
We then popped up the shard as it was free for children(for my sisters) in half term, and great for me as a student as its cheaper than a usual. its quite pricey for adults, but you can go half way up for free and have a coffee.
view from the shard

^ The magnificent shadow of the shard
view from the shard
Personally I love the unfinished look of the shard, unlike my sister who kept complaining that it wasn't finished, and why weren't they working on it ! 

war ship


view from the shard




^ a hazy Battersea power station.
We then headed over to borough market for a late lunch. It's one of my favourite places, as I love all the hustle and bustle, but sometimes during weekends and holidays there are so many queues (i swear it didn't used to be as popular), let me know of any more food market recommendations. 

Obviously, a trip to borough market wouldn't be complete, without several pictures of the delicious fresh fish stalls, and fruit & veg stalls.



^Giant cookies are always so tempting. And great mounds of chocolate always without a fail get my mouth watering.


How gorgeous do these English muffins and brownies look, I'm glad i live about 1hr away, instead of about 5 minutes  otherwise i would have these every single day.full stop.




There are always new food stalls in borough market, and these gourmet scotch eggs with an incredibly runny yolk served sweet potato fries looked super inviting, and on my ever extending list to have next time.
An old classic of borough market Raclette, with potatoes and pickles.
^A scrummy smelling hog roast.
We decided to have chips from the fish place as they are always so good, we quite often have the fish as well, but we decided to try something that we hadn't before, and fill our tummies up until they couldn't (well i'm sure they could) hold anymore.

We tried the vegetarian option in the market. spiced potatoes, which were incredible.
street food
With a cauliflower and pea curry and served with rice and an optional sauce.
borough market
We also had an onion bhuji each, they were nicely spiced but were disappointing as they were cold and not crisp as we were expecting them to be.
street food
The main part was delicious and perfectly spiced and wasn't heavy or to filling and I would have it again if there weren't so many other things to try first!

Emma x