Green Gate Autumn/Winter 2011

This week for my 'shops i love' page I bring you delightful Danish brand, Green Gate. I have featured them many a time here on Torie Jayne. Their new catalogue for Winter 2011 is full of polka dot stoneware, gingham checks and fifties florals. There is the introduction of wicker baskets for water bottles, condiments and cutlery. A new pretty floral flour shaker and polka dot floral trimmed stoneware for the kitchen. Christmas decorations in colours of smoke and cognac in heart, bell and pinecone shapes. There is also a refreshing regal yet rustic collection of stone and blue coloured interior pieces. Like the blue postage stamp print on stone coloured cushions, place mats and aprons.



Have a sweet day!

Mini strawberry meringues

For my "pimp/shrink your picnic" at work, as well as ice cream cake pops, I also made some mini strawberry tarts which were super quick and easy to make as I bought tart cases and meringues.

Strawberry meringue tarts (makes 12)

Ingredients
12 shortcrust pastry cases
Crème patisserie (see below for recipe)
3 small strawberries sliced
12 mini strawberry meringues
Strawberry sugar

Cooking instructions

1. Spoon chilled crème patisserie in tart cases.
2. Place small slice of strawberry on top.
3. Sprinkle with strawberry sugar.
4. Place meringue on top.

Crème patisserie

Ingredients

• 500ml milk
• 9 tbsp caster sugar (superfine)
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 egg
• 4 tbsp cornflour
• 25g butter
• 1 tsp natural vanilla essence

Cooking instructions

1. Place milk and 4 tbsp caster sugar in a saucepan and heat over medium heat until milk mixture begins to boil.
2. Meanwhile in a separate bowl whisk egg yolks and egg together.
3. Gradually whisk in remaining sugar and cornflour to egg mixture until you have a smooth paste.
4. Gradually whisk in half the heated milk to paste.
5. Pour mixture into remaining hot milk and heat until mixture becomes very thick.
6. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.
7. Leave to cool.

I bought my strawberry sugar (sucre faveur fraise) on a trip to Paris.

Have a sweet day!

Crochet Crush

I have had a crush on crochet for a while now. When I saw the ever so cute crochet flower picture frames from Lola Nova in Mollie Makes I knew I had to have a go. I am still getting to grips with it and my stitches look rather uneven! I am determined to continue until I get better. Then I can cover jars and make picture frames to adorn my home with.



To see more inspirational crochet cuteness check out my Crochet Crush board on Pinterest.

• Just say it like it is... by Dottie Angel
• Emma Lamb
• Emma Lamb
• Lola Nova
• Dottie Angel
• Lo and beholdness... by Dottie Angel

Have a sweet day!

What Deliah Did

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you the gorgeous embroidery hoop wal art from What Deliah Did. You can purchase her patterns from her store What Deliah Did. She also has a great blog where you can learn the basics of cross stitching.

I have only started cross stitching and am loving it. I would like to add some embroidery to my hoop wall art as well as pretty fabrics. I especially would like to stitch the deer head to match my silver deer head in my dining room.



Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites (clockwise from top left):

• The striking black and white keys in The Keys
• The cute Snow Bird
• An old favourite The Guardian (Palomino)
• The feature wall in Entomologie Set

Have a sweet day!

Pretty Washi Tape

Today is a teaser post! Why, you ask? Well I have been secretly working on a project that involves washi masking tape which I am hoping to share with you soon! So, for now I am sharing with you my mix of washi tapes that I have picked up along my travels. I first bought washi tape on a work trip to Hong Kong several years asgo just because I loved the way it looked. From there my collection has grown, so when Cath Kidston launched her version I just had to have some. Hers is the pretty multi colour floral and grass green spotty one. I also picked up a multi pack from Liberty's of London in the sale! For a few more interesting patterned ones I ordered some from Washi Tapes. Oh, the creative possibilities are endless! I can't wait to share my news, but for now, mum's the word!



Have a sweet day!

Heather Lewin

Welcome to Friday Feature. This week I am sharing with you the pretty photography of Heather Lewin.



Heather Lewin is a London based photographer who specializes in interiors and still life. I love the faded colours and bright natural lighting.



To see more of her work, check out her portfolio.



Happy Friday, sweets!

Three Red Apples

This week on "Wonderful World of Etsy" I bring you the oh so cute embroidery wall art from Etsy Store, Three Red Apples. I love the quirky style and whimsical colour and print mixes in these freehand embroidery designs from British based textile doodler Annabelle.

• Gypsies at heart - textile wall art freehand embroidery 8" hoop
  
  
• I love my bed - textile wall art in yellow - 6" hoop freehand embroidery and applique
• Off to see the world wall art in green and blue 8 inches
  
  
• Plotting chickens - 8 inches hoop textile wall art freehand embroidery

Have a sweet day!

Cath Kidston

I often feature Cath Kidston here on Torie Jayne but I have never dedicated an entire post to the Cath Kidston label. So, I thought it was about time I did! I am loving that you can now view the catalogue online and, as always, it is full of inspiring ideas from interiors to recipes. They also have some great new knitting and sewing accessories that now include pretty printed cotton ribbons and buttons. I of course am also loving their new spot towels in duck egg blue that would look great in my newly decorated laundry room.



Have a sweet day!

Embroidery hoop wall art

Don't you just love embroidery hoop wall art? So pretty, unique and so many different options. I am desperate to do this in my house but can't decide whether I should do it up the wall of my stairs, in my living room, in my craft room or all three! I have ordered a bunch of hoops in different sizes to play around with some ideas. I love the idea of using some of my bright pops of colour fabrics against my fresh aqua painted wall in my craft room or heavily embellishing some textural neutrals for my lounge. Can't wait to start playing!



To see more inspirational embroidery hoop wall art check out my Embroidery hoop wall art on Pinterest.

• Polli - make it kitch stitch
• Parrots in party hats
• Fabric wall
• Wall art trio small flower
• Mandy Lynne

Have a sweet day!

Hoop wall art

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you some gorgeous hoop wall art with these gorgeous pics. Check back soon for some more of the most inspirational photographers on Flickr.



Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites (clockwise from top left):

• The great mix of prints in crazy patchwork mash ups in hoops by danstina
• The wonderful fabric hoop bulletin board by kelee81
• The fun embroidery in Untitled by Three Red Apples
• The clever Necklace Display 2 by DKM Art

Have a sweet day!

Gluten-free ice cream cake pops

I loved making the leopard print cake pops and the fruit cake pops so when I had to make something for our "pimp/shrink your picnic" at work I knew I wanted to make more cake pops. I have always loved the look of ice cream cake pops so thought I would have a go at making them as they would fit in with the "shrink my picnic" theme. I had lots of coloured cake left over from my gluten-free lemon cake so I used that for the cake part.

Lemon flavoured gluten-free ice cream cake pops (makes 24 cake pops)

Ingredients
560g gluten-free lemon cake (click link for recipe)
160g cream cheese frosting (see below for recipe)
283g colorburst candy melts
50g red candy melts
24 pink M&M's
24 gluten-free waffle style ice cream cones

What you will need
Baking parchment
Wrapping paper

Cooking instructions

1. Crumble fruit cake with your fingers so it is in the small pieces.
2. In a food mixer, mix the cream cheese frosting with the lemon cake crumbles.
3. Whisk until it resembles a dough like mixture.
4. Place mixture into fridge to firm up, making it easier to work with.
5. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
6. Using electric scales, measure out 30g of mixture and roll into a ball.
7. Place on baking sheet.
8. Repeat steps 6 & 7 until all mixture has gone.
9. Leave cake balls in fridge for a few hours or freezer for 15 mins.
10. Using a bread knife, cut cones so they are about 7.5cm (3inches) long.
11. Place candy melts into a microwavable bowl.
12. Heat for 1 min on medium.
13. Stir and continue heating in 30 second intervals until candy is fully melted.
14. Spoon melted candy mixture onto one side of cake ball and place candy covered side in ice cream cone.
15. Place cake pop in fridge whilst you continue to repeat step 14 for each cake pop, placing them in the fridge once they're done.
16. Take cake pops out of fridge one by one and coat in candy by holding cone and swirling cake ball in candy.
17. Place in fridge and leave to dry.
18. Place red candy melts in a disposable icing bag and heat in microwave.
19. Cut tip off end of icing bag and drizzle red candy melts on top of cake pops, immediately placing M&M into middle of drizzle. Leave to dry.

Cream cheese frosting

Ingredients

• 140g full fat soft cream cheese
• 70g sifted icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Cooking instructions

1. Whisk cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla flavouring until light and fluffy.

To make the pretty floral ice cream cone wrappers I cut a 11.5cm wide circle of Cath Kidston wrapping paper. I then cut the circle into equal quarters, rolled into a cone and put a thin strip of double sided tape along one edge to secure it.





Have a sweet day!

Mandy Lynne

Welcome to Friday Feature. This week I am sharing with you the beautiful photography of Mandy Lynne.



Mandy Lynne specializes in a conceptual vintage style of photography. She learned photography to preserve the memories she was creating with her three children. Her work is a glimpse into her dreams and thoughts and is a beautiful exploration of colour and history.



To see more of work check out her cute blog and Etsy shop Skippy Designs where she sells prints of her beautiful photos.



Happy Friday, sweets!

Cocoa Confections

This week on "Wonderful World of Etsy" I bring you the adorable coloured chocolate confections from Etsy Store, Cocoa Confections. I love their use of colour and detail especially in the chocolate owl lollipops.

• Chocolate owl lollipops
• Chocolate chicks
• Pearl pretzel rods
• Cake truffles - blossom

Have a sweet day!

After Noah

This week for my 'shops i love' page I bring you a long time favourite of mine, After Noah. I recently visited their store in Islington and fell in love with the kids section. I had always visited their other store on the Kings Road which is great for interiors. Well, the kids section in Islington is magical! It makes you feel like you are seven again with the vast array of old fashioned toys and games that will make you exclaim "Do you remember that!, I do!".



There is a sweetie counter full of old fashioned classic favourites, like sherbet dib-dabs, sherbet fountains and big colourful swirly lollipops. They have a kids play kitchen area which is where I picked up the adorably cute mini Nutella jar, Fairy washing up liquid bottle and a multi pack of mini packaging boxes amongst the shelves and baskets of treasures. Molly loved them and they now sit on a little shelf in her play kitchen which she constantly re-arranges.



This shop is a must-visit shop as you can't help but leave with a big smile on your face!



Have a sweet day!

Gluten-free lemon cake

Last week I showed you Molly's birthday cake which was a coloured lemon cake shaped into a house. I made four of the cakes, colouring each one differently to make the house. I kept the bits of cake I trimmed off and made cake pops with them (coming later this week!)

As promised here is the recipe:

Gluten free lemon flavoured cake (makes one square cake)

Ingredients
3 large eggs (200g eggs)
200g gluten-free self raising flour
200g unsalted butter
200g caster sugar
2 tbsp milk
1 1/2 tsp lemon flavouring
Food colouring

What you will need
Square cake tin
Non-stick baking paper
Cooling rack

Cooking instructions

1. Heat oven to 190C (fan 170C) or gas mark 5.
2. Butter square tin and line with non-stick baking paper.
3. In a food mixer, beat all of the ingredients, except the food colouring, until you have a smooth soft batter.
4. Gradually add food colouring and whisk until you get the desired colour (please note that colour intensifies with cooking).
5. Pour batter into cake tin and smooth the surface using a spatula.
6. Bake in oven for about 25-30 mins until top is golden and cake springs back when gently pressed.
7. Turn cake out onto cooling rack and leave to completely cool.

Butter cream frosting (500g)

Ingredients

• 100g butter, softened
• 80g sifted icing sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla essence

Cooking instructions

1. Whisk butter and vanilla essence until light and fluffy.
2. Gradually whisk in icing sugar.

Assembling the cake

What you will need
1 pink coloured 7in square lemon cake
1 red coloured 7in square lemon cake
1 green coloured 7in square lemon cake
1 turquoise coloured 7in square lemon cake
500g butter cream frosting
Apricot jam
2 packets of Pink Panther gluten free vanilla wafers
Roll on icing (fondant icing)
Pale blue M&M's
Fondant leaves and flowers

1. Place one cake on a cutting board and trim off top of cake using a cake wire cutter.
2. Turn upside down and trim off bottom of cake so that you remove any browned off parts.
3. Repeat with other three cakes.
4. Spread a thin layer of butter cream on top of red cake and place pink cake on top.
5. Spread a thin layer of butter cream on top of pink cake and place blue cake on top.
6. Spread a thin layer of butter cream on top of blue cake and place green cake on top.
7. Using a bread knife, trim off sides of cake so all browned off cake is removed.
8. Carefully cut green cake layer at a 45 degree angle so you have a triangle of green cake from either side. Turn the triangles of green cake upside down and place on top of cake so you have the roof.
9. Using a spatula cover cake in a thin layer of apricot jam.
10. Knead roll-on icing into a ball.
11. Dust icing sugar onto a hard clean surface and roll out two thirds of the roll-on icing to 3mm thick.
12. Lift up icing using rolling pin.
13. Placing centre of icing at tip of roof, smooth icing down roof and sides of house. Trim off any excess icing at bottom and from the front.
14. Repeat steps 11 and 12 with half the remainder of roll on icing and place on front of house. Smooth down and remove any excess icing from all sides.
15. Repeat step 14 for back of house.
16. Lightly push brick mat into icing to get brick effect.
17. Push pink decorative balls into joins of icing down sides of house.
18. Cut wafers in half and separate.
19. Spread apricot jam on the under side of wafer and stick to iced roof. Repeat until roof is covered. Use wafers for door and windows.
20. Pipe buttercream along top of roof and push M&M's into icing.
21. Secure leaves and flowers to house with small dollop of buttercream icing.

Enjoy!






Have a sweet day!

Oh so pretty ice cream

I have been drooling over gorgeous pretty ice cream pics this past week to give me ideas for my ice cream cake pops I am making for a 'shrink my picnic' party! Above are some of my favourites in a fresh, floral palette of minty greens and rosy pinks. To see more gorgeous ice cream pics check out my Pretty Ice Cream board on Pinterest.

• Summer Days by sweet berry me
• Chocolate malt ice cream
• Vanilla bean ice cream
• Summer Heat
• via Vi.sualize.us

Have a sweet day!

Summer Cookies

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you some bright happy summer cookies with these fun pictures. Check back soon for some more of the most inspirational photographers on Flickr.



Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites (clockwise from top left):

• The pretty Happy hour! by De Koekenbakker
• The sweet ice cream cone cookies by The decorated cookie
• The ever so cute Fruit cookies by De Koekenbakker
• The adorable Luau Cookie Collection by Glorious Treats

Have a sweet day!

Play Ice Cream

The cute play ice cream I got Molly was her favourite play food as she went around asking her party guests if they wanted "I'cream?" The cut and play ice cream set came from Early Learning Centre and consists of nine scoops of ice cream - with velcro tops so you can stack the scoops of ice cream, two waffle cones, two tubs and one wafer cone to serve them in and a sundae spoon and ice cream scoop.



Have a sweet day!

Mollie Makes

Today I wanted to share with you the gorgeous new British magazine, Mollie Makes; a wonderful new craft magazine with the tag line of “Living & Loving Handmade”. It was launched in May of this year and every month is packed full of loveliness. I saw my first copy last week and haven't been able to put it down! Each project is trendy and contemporary and shot in a beautifully inspiring environment.



I have made the iced gem felt biscuits and bought a crochet needle to start crocheting after reading a couple of issues. Not only are there craft projects but also inspiring interior environments of some delightfully creative crafters and lots of resources to search for great craft supplies.



From the editor:

"Today's crafters are creating a whole new aesthetic which is inspired by vintage, love of all things handmade, and showing off their individual style. They are crafting socially in cafés and clubs, and they are sharing their ideas globally, using the internet as a giant poster. This is why Mollie Makes is so much more than a traditional project book - it is a lifestyle magazine for the generation who make up the handmade revolution."



In the UK it is available in Sainsbury's and WH Smith and it has been available in the US and Europe since June 9th.



Have a sweet day!