Recently, I was approached by Motel Rocks and asked if I'd like to contribute to their awesome blog by writing some nail tutorials for them.
Not being one to turn down a great opportunity like that, I set about creating a tutorial inspired by their gorgeous Winter Bloom print. If only I had the figure for that lovely Heidi Fit and Flare dress! *sigh*
If you'd like to view the full tutorial, please visit my post over there! I hope you like it :)
Colin bought me an awesome Whoopie Pie recipe book for Christmas, and since then they've rapidly become my favourite thing to bake. They are frigging DELICIOUS and I love how the book gives you recipes for dozens of different types of cake/cookie/whatever you wanna call them and then different fillings, then encourages you to get creative with mixing and matching them! My absolute favourite combo has to be the Classic Chocolate whoopie, with cream cheese frosting in the middle. OM NOM NOM.
Sometimes following American recipes in the UK can be a bit of a pain, since we don't measure in cups, and it's also a pain trying to convert from cups to grams since pretty much every ingredient will convert differently. I gave it a good go, though, using a cup measuring jug I bought in the States last year and weighing each ingredient as I went along so I could give you UK measurements, too! This is a bit of an adaptation of the recipe in the book, I tweaked it around to fit what I had (and also shortening is pretty hard to come by over here).
You Will Need...
1 and 2/3 cup plain flour (210g)
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (95g)
1 and 1/2 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
8 tbsp unsalted butter (115g)*
1/4 tsp salt**
1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar (210g)
1 large free range egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 and 1/4 cup milk (300ml/half pint)
*The recipe actually calls for half butter, half shortening but I just doubled up on the butter. Also, I didn't actually have any unsalted butter to hand, so I used salted. It won't hurt.
**Omit the salt if you use salted butter as opposed to unsalted.
For the filling
4 ounces cream cheese (110g)
4 tbsp unsalted butter (60g)
Lots of icing sugar!
1 tsp vanilla extract
What to do
Preheat the oven to 375f/190c (180 for fan ovens). Measure the butter and sugar into a large mixing bowl. It turned out that I didn't quite have one cup of dark brown sugar this time, so I just made up the rest with plain old caster sugar. It didn't really affect the taste at all, I think the recipe just calls for dark brown sugar to add a deeper colour and slightly more depth of flavour.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt (remember to omit the salt if you used salted butter). Now, cream together the butter and sugar. Whilst it is entirely possible to do this by hand (I usually do all my mixing by hand when I bake, except for these), it's much easier to use a hand mixer - or even a stand mixer if you have one. Make sure you go at it for a good couple of minutes until all the little lumps of sugar are gone.
Crack the egg into the bowl, and add in your vanilla extract too (I used vanilla bean paste 'cause that's what I have). Mix until just incorporated.
Now, add half the flour mixture and half the milk to the bowl and mix. Once that's all incorporated, add the remaining milk and flour and mix again. Even once it's all mixed in, continue to beat it for another couple of minutes to help achieve the whoopie's signature fluffy texture.
By this point, you should have something along these lines! Now, start dropping spoonfuls of the mixture onto baking trays lined with greaseproof paper. The size of the spoon you use here will depend on how big you want them. The recipe book suggests dropping 'a tablespoon' of mixture onto the tray. I did this the first time I made them, and they came out FRIGGING HUGE. The tray I did here was dessert spoon size, and they still came out pretty huge so I moved onto teaspoons and that was much more ideal. But hey, if you want monster size whoopie pies then go right ahead and use a bigger spoon!
Baking time will also slightly vary depending on sizes. For tablespoon and dessert spoon sizes, I baked them for 11 minutes. For the teaspoon size ones I was making towards the end, I only gave them 9 minutes. The whoopies are cooked when they spring back after lightly pressing them with your finger. Don't be fooled, they will feel much softer than your average cake at this point, so don't overcook them. They firm up just slightly as they cool.
As you can see, you need to try not to drop your balls of mixture too close together! Continue this process until all the mixture is gone, just keep track of the number you've done to make sure you finish with an even number (since you're going to sandwich them). Give them a couple of minutes cooling on the baking tray before moving them to a rack to cool completely. I find they become completely cool more quickly if you put them upside down on the rack.
During the baking, you can make a start on the filling. Again, by hand is fine, but beating for a good few minutes with an electric mixer will create a lighter, more airy texture. Beat together the cream cheese and butter first, then incorporate the vanilla. Add the icing sugar gradually until you achieve your desired consistency - I NEVER measure icing sugar when I make buttercreams or anything, I just keep chucking it in until it looks right! I guess I start with about 200g of it and add another 100g each time. Just keep going until it's the texture that you want it! Bear in mind it needs to be spread onto the bottom of whoopies to sandwich them together.
The sandwiching part is self explanatory. Just spread some of the filling on the back of a whoopie with the back of a spoon or a spatula, and stick another whoopie on top. Done! It's actually quite fun to search through all your cooled whoopies trying to match up pairs to stick together according to their size and shape.
Now sit back, admire your (admittedly 'rustic' looking) handiwork, and make sure you hide a couple somewhere for yourself because I guarantee that whoever you live with will EAT THEM. Quickly.
A note on storage: They will keep just fine for a few days in a cool dark place, but if you're going to stack them please put a sheet of greaseproof paper between each layer because they WILL stick to each other!
Enjoy!
Lovely holographic goodness! This is fantastic, I love this. It's one I got in my swap with Amanda Cheyenne, and isn't just beautiful?
When I swatched this on my nail wheel, it took about 4 coats to reach optimum opacity and I couldn't really be bothered to do 4 coats on my nails, so for this manicure I applied one coat of Prize over one coat of Illamasqua's Vice. Despite having a different base colour underneath, it still looks exactly as it does in the bottle which is good.
OMG! What is this? Sunlight?! In January?
Sadly, I am not blessed with the ability to accurately describe colours. I have no idea where to start with it! This is the closest thing to a red holo that I own, but it's definitely not red by any stretch of the imagination. These photos (particularly the top one) are all fairly colour accurate, though, so you can decide for yourself what it is because I just don't know! What I do know, though, is that it's bloody LOVELY.
Just the obligatory flash photo to show the sparkles.
I've decided that NuBar is a brand whose polishes I need to build more of a collection of. I really like all the ones I have, and the brush is one of my favourites across all the different brands I've tried. I think it's a pattern with NuBar glitters, though, to dry to a slightly flat and gritty finish. I've experienced that with the three that I have - this one, one from the same collection called Essence, and Violet Sparkle. Nothing a good glossy topcoat can't fix!
Are you a fan of NuBar? What do you think of this one?
How we can use so many products in an effort to not look too done up?!
Would like to take this opportunity to point out that I was in in the middle of my second sinus infection in 6 months when this was taken... leave me alone
I like to think that my everyday makeup isn't overdone. I don't think it looks like I'm wearing an awful lot at all, but it occurred to me as I was going through my everyday routine one morning that I was using quite a lot of products... Pictured below are products I use every day (although naturally stuff like blush and lip colour are interchangeable, but this is what I used that day).
BeneFit Boi-ing Concealer
Liz Earle Sheer Skin Tint
BeneFit Eye Bright
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Urban Decay Naked Palette
Kat von D True Love Palette (I use either Peanut or Missy from this palette on the inner corners of my eyes)
Sleek MakeUP and ELF Studio Eyebrow Kits - yes, both!
Bourjois black kohl pencil
CoverGirl All-in-one Mascara
Illamasqua Rumour blush (contour)
FashionistA Butterscoth Blush
No7 Grace lipstick
Now that's a pretty long list of products... but I've got to say I don't think it looks too much on the face. Does it?
Apologies for the rogue strands of hair there..
I don't think any of us (well, the majority at least) in the beauty blogging community overdo our makeup, because we know what we're doing! But I challenge you, when you next put your makeup on (I'm talking day-to-day face here, not going out face!), count how many products you're using. I BET it will be more than you'd have imagined!
By the way, I'm not trying to prove any sort of point with this post. I'm not horrified at myself or anything, I just thought it was kinda funny how I use so many products in an effort to look like I haven't really made an effort. Do you know what I mean? I know I'm not the only one!
PET HATE ALERT! I get a bit irritated over brands that don't name their products and just number them instead. I know the names of EVERY polish in my collection (I shit you not) just by glancing at the bottle - except the ones that just have numbers instead of names! Maybe I'm just lazy but it bugs me that if I want to blog about one, since all my pictures are normally taken in advance, I then have to go and hunt out the bottle and find its stupid number. Hmph. Well, ranting aside... have a look at this!
Who doesn't love a good holo? I know I do, so I was very excited when I spotted this very imaginatively named bottle (okay okay sorry) in the Kiko store at Westfield Stratford. A rich, deep purple chock full of small holo glitters - that amazingly aren't difficult to remove!
This was a right pain in the arse to try and photograph. Particularly with the stupid weather we were having the day I took these - it couldn't decide whether to be overcast or not, so every time there was a sliver of sunlight peeking through the clouds I was running to the window like a madwoman, camera in hand, but I still couldn't accurately capture it. I mean this is pretty close, the holographic loveliness is just more prevalent in person.
It's perfectly opaque in two coats, but it does leave an ever so slightly bumpy finish thanks to the glitter particles. A good thick topcoat will sort that out. Now, don't quote me on this because I swear the prices of all the products are different every time I go in there, but I'm pretty sure it was £4.90. Not bad for a nice purple holo!
