Christmas Science Afternoon tea @ The Ampersand Hotel

So its Christmas time, and its the one time of the year that eating all kinds of unhealthy food and stuffing your face is socially acceptable in all ways. This means one thing and one thing only, especially for a afternoon tea junkie like myself, its time to hit the best themed tea in town. After having seen a friend of mine already try and test this particular afternoon tea, i knew it had to be done. Myself and my Friend Mayumi, booked ourselves a table at the Christmas science afternoon tea at the Ampersand hotel. Normally its just Science themed however this festive time of year means they put on a special Christmas menu. For starters its important to mention how beautiful this hotel is. Its located right next to the South Kensington station, so its super easy to get too. The hotel was decorated with lots of lights and cute Christmas decorations, and when having afternoon tea, you are seated in the Drawing rooms, which has gorgeous decor, A good thing to note is that we booked during the week via, Afternoontea.co.uk which meant we received a glass of Moet on the house. Already things were on the up. After already consuming lots of bubbles we were given a choice of tea. I went for the classic Ampersand Breakfast tea, while May went for the Peppermint tea, both were enjoyed immensely. Stupidly i hadn't eaten that day, so by the time the food turned up i was ravenous, but it really was so scrummy. We were given a three tiered plate stacked full of food. The first tier was savoury followed by a plate of scones, and then a further plate of sweet treats. Not only did it taste amazing, it looked amazing too, and once the waiter had poured the white ice into the the little plate at the top, we had a plate of smoking science goodness. 

* The gorgeous tea station*

We tucked into the first plate which consisted of Smoked salmon blinis, Crayfish and asparagus on toasted bread, Goats cheese and pumpkin quiche and finally a roast beef bagel with horse radish (which really did have a spicy kick). After demolishing it all, me and may were both decided that our favourite were the blinis and crayfish, they were miniature sized so perfect little mouthfuls but so so flavoursome and delicious. 

Next we tucked into our plate full of scones, we had two each, so it was quite a mountain to get through, we ended up only having one each. I went for the plain one, and may had the cranberry and white chocolate selection. Not only were they both still warm, but both super delicious and not dry in the slightest. 

Last but not least we had the sweet tier to get through and this really was a mixture of all sorts. I was already quite full at this point, so i tried to get through as much as possible, but didn't manage to try it all. The plate consisted of a Christmas tree biscuit, Vanilla mousse with cranberry baubles, Spiced apple juice in test tubes, Salted caramel and chocolate tree brownies, and mini Christmas cakes with snowflake toppers. WOW right!! I didn't make it to the end as Christmas fruit cake isn't a favourite of mine anyway, however the show stopper for me on this plate was the salted caramel brownie, it was so yummy, rich and full of flavour. Neither of us were that sure on the mousse, it was quite an odd texture and the added cranberry's just weren't my cup of tea, but all in all what a scrummy little plate of goodness. 

* May fully respecting the tiny test tube of apple goodness *

Its safe to say we were so stuffed at this point we could barely speak, we were however given a little box of Christmas fossils hidden under a blanket of white chocolate snow. May had lots of fun with this, if shes reading she will know what i'm talking about haha! But it was a nice added extra to fit in further with the science theme. We both agreed that the savoury plate was by far our favourite. Every option was gorgeous in its own way in textures and flavours. I'd safely say i would love to return in the new year to do the classic science tea, which I've heard involves Rocket ships and dinosaurs, *squeals in delight*

I hope you have enjoyed this little insight to our Christmas science themed tea, its still available till the 27th of December, however it will be back to the classic tea after that which I've heard is just as good. Head on over to there website and check it out here. 

Thanks for reading my lovelies x 

Chocolate Fudge Mini Bonfire Cupcakes

Bonfire night is soon going to be upon as, and to celebrate the evening of fireworks, sparklers and toasted marshmallows i thought i would share with you a quick, fun and easy way to make mini bonfire cupcakes. These are perfect if you are throwing a little firework party at your own place, or even a good treat with a cuppa for when your return from seeing a display. So lets quit the rambling and get onto the recipe. 

Ingredients you will need:

120g self raising flour

120g caster sugar 

120g Butter 

2 medium sized eggs 

A splash of Vanilla extract

For the icing:

1 tub of Betty Crockers Chocolate fudge icing

45g butter 

90g icing sugar 

Orange food colouring

6 Flakes

Gold sprinkles (optional)

1. First preheat the oven to 180 Degrees. Take the first three ingredients and mix together in a bowl until you have want looks like a crumby texture. Then take the two eggs and slowly add to the mixture being careful not to curdle the mixture. 

2. When all thoroughly mixed add a splash of vanilla extract for some flavour. Once this is evenly spread into the mixture, carefully spoon the mixture in to the cupcake tin as evenly as possible.

3. Pop into the oven for around 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a cooling rack.

4. For the orange fire icing, take both the butter and the icing sugar and mix together until you get a creamy texture, add both a little bit of vanilla extract and some orange Food colouring until you are happy with the shade of orange. 

5. Once the cakes have cooled, take your Chocolate fudge icing and carefully spread onto the top of each cupcake, creating a base for your Flakes (wood). Take the flakes and cut them evenly into four pieces. You will need around three pieces of flake for each bonfire. Balance them onto each other and stick them into the fudge icing to create a mini bonfire effect. Repeat this for each cupcake.

6. You can then take your orange icing and create flames by using a star shaped nozzle and piping bag. Sporadically squeeze small amounts of icing around the flakes to create little flames, and again repeat to each cupcake. Then to finish Sprinkle some gold sprinkles on top. 

And there you have it, little bonfire cupcakes, super quick and easy but really cute at the same time. Oh and not to mention yummy too! Hope you enjoyed this little food post from me and your all having a great week. I am hopefully going to see some fireworks this weekend, wrap up in my jumpers and scarves for a cozy night outside. Whatever your up to this bonfire night, make sure its a great one! 

Thanks for reading my lovelies x 

Autumnal Acorn Biscuits

Now i know what your thinking...its not autumnal enough to be making acorn biscuits, the sun is still shining strong and don't even get me started on the heat. However i disagree, you can never be too autumnal and at the ready for the upcoming months and these are the perfect way to ease you in gently. These little biscuits are so super simple to make and good fun too. Myself and my friend Emily (her blog is here) decided it was time to once again get our baking heads on and create some autumnal treats. With the old favourite the bake off currently flooding our TV screens every Wednesday, i feel even more creative then usual. Who else sits there and once its finished gets that itch to bake!? So lets get into the recipe. 

Ingredients you will need :

150g Plain flour (extra for dusting)

50g Caster sugar

100g softened butter

A few drops of vanilla essence

1 Egg

For decoration:

Milk Chocolate

White Chocolate

chocolate sprinkles

Equipment you will Need

Acorn cookie cutter (link here)

Rolling pin

Recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees, and line a baking tray with grease proof paper.

2. Take the caster sugar and flour and mix together, then add the butter and use your hands to mix it in and form a crumbly mixture. 

3. Lightly beat the egg in a bowl and a few drops of Vanilla essence, then add slowly to your mixture folding it in with a wooden spoon.

4. Once the egg is mixed in you will see a soft dough form, take this and place it on a surface dusted in flour. 

5. Cover your rolling pin in a dusting of flour also and roll out your dough until it is approximately 1 inch think. Take your cookie cutter and gently cut out your acorn shaped biscuits, laying them into the baking tray. You should be able to get about 10 biscuits out of the dough. 

6. Pop in the oven for 10 mins until a little golden and then remove from the oven and leave to cool. 

For the icing:

1. Take your milk chocolate and melt it in a bowl above a hot pan of water on the hob. Take a piping bag and fill it with chocolate, cutting a very small nozzle at the end. 

2. Pipe the chocolate over the entire surface of the biscuit as evenly as possible. Use a spoon to even out and spread if needs be. Repeat this process to all biscuits.

4. Take your chocolate sprinkles and tap on to the top of the acorn wear the little acorn hat would be. Shake off any excess when dry. 

5. For added character, take some melted chocolate, and add a small line to your acorn, to create the image of a re flexion. 

There you have it, cute and yummy acorn shaped biscuits, that any squirrel would be proud of. While engrossed in the baking madness of today, Emily and i also created some cinnamon apple shaped cupcakes. Head over to her blog for the recipe and some more autumnal baking inspiration. Link here. 

Hope you enjoyed reading today's post and have a go at making some yourself.

Thanks for reading my lovelies x

August Roundup

Can we actually believe that august is practically over and we are near enough in September!? I know i can't. This month in the UK has been a weird one we have had super heat and windy weather all in the same week, it's felt like summer for everyone else but to be honest i work in a very air conned work place, so most of the time I've still been in thick tights and a cardigan. Nonetheless i wanted to share with you some of  my favourites this month. Style faves, beauty, food and a couple of randoms thrown in there too. 

Style - let's start with my favourite style pieces of this month. First off my new denim skirt that you would have seen in my last style post. It's a staple piece to anyone's wardrobe and i had honestly been on the hunt for one for ages. They were either too short, or too flared, and with a denim skirt you definitely have to get it right for your shape. The one i purchased was a sale piece from Topshop, it was £18 pounds and because of that i was even more chuffed. You could honestly style this piece with nearly everything, it's perfect all year round and i can't wait to start wearing it in the colder months with chunky knits and ankle boots (not excited for autumn one bit *smirks.*)

The next favourite piece in my wardrobe has to be this white sheer pajama style blouse. I have worn it a couple times and really love it. It is super comfortable, can be dressed up or down and looks great with ripped denim and some little heels. It is from ASOS and comes in black too i believe, which is very tempting for work as this would be perfectly acceptable and still trendy for the workplace.

Beauty - Next up to ramble on about is my favourite beauty products of this month. I haven't got many but the two that i love are definitely winners in my eyes. The first is a new eyeliner. I kept having the same issue with every drugstore eyeliner i was buying, in that it was never truly black and within a couple of hours just looked like a big grey smudge on top of my eyelid. After reading ton's of reviews and a couple of videos, i decided i wanted to try the Guerlain liquid eyeliner. Wow i wasn't disappointed. I generally look forward to putting my eyeliner on each morning with this bad boy in my make up bag. It glides on really easily and the colour is a true black that lasts all day. If you were having the same issue i was then maybe look into this little beauty. 

My other beauty favourite is my MAC Mineralise  skinfinish in soft and gentle. A great highlighter that has been giving my cheekbones the gleam that it needs to get through a 8 hour shift. I just like to swirl my brush into it and whack it on all the places the sun would hit and i am good to go. It is a beautiful colour and a proper MAC cult product. 

Food - Now lets talk food. The one thing i have been obsessing over this month has to be anything kinder! You might have seen my kinder bueno cupcakes that i made a couple of weeks ago ( blogpost here), well since then i cannot get enough of kinder. Kinder chocolate, kinder bueno, Happy hippos. you name it, I've been eating it. If you have had a hard day at work or just craving something a little naughty get your bum down to Tesco and pick up a kinder bueno. I promise you, your day will get that little bit better. 

Random - So even though this month all i feel as if i have done is worked. The time i have had off i have spent it with the right people. I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend off with my friend kit, who visited from Brighton, we did everything girly, and a had a little wiggle on a night out which was greatly needed. I also spent a great day baking and making smoothies with another friend which was super fun and we definitely had a good old giggle while doing so. 

 My last favourite of the month was right at the beginning of the month and feels like a while ago now, but it was my day in London with a great friend. We spent the day exploring London and booked in at the Cutter and Squidge cafe for Hello Kitty afternoon tea. To read all about it i wrote a blog post with loads of pictures so go take a read here.

So there you have it. August is pretty much done and dusted and onto the next month. I wonder what September will have in store, a week off to look forward too and some mini changes that's for sure. 

Hope you enjoyed reading, to follow me on day to day basis please head over to my Instagram page @amyrowleyy to see more. 

Thanks for reading my lovelies x 

Kinder Bueno Cupcakes

So it was that time again, where i was craving cake and decided i needed to get my but in to the kitchen and cook up a storm. This time i had lots of help with my great friend Emily Ferris, (link to her blog is here! check it out for everything travel and food related.) So this time i thought to myself what could be better then your favourite chocolate bar in a cupcake option?!? Nothing i know right. 

So follow these simple steps to make some super yummy Kinder Bueno Cupcakes, and enjoy. 

Ingredients

Batter

100g butter

125g caster sugar

125g self-raising flour

2 large eggs

3 tablespoons milk

 A splash of vanilla extract

4 small bars of kinder chocolate, melted 

Icing

100g butter

200g icing sugar

1 tablespoon Nutella

A tablespoon of milk

3 Kinder bueno bars, for decoration

Splash of vanilla extract

1. First preheat your oven to 160 degrees (fan)

2. Next take the flour, caster sugar and butter and place them into a mixing bowl. Then mix all three ingredients together with an electric whisk or mixer. Do this until the ingredients looked thoroughly mixed. 

3. Then take both eggs and the milk and mix them together in a measuring jug. While the mixer is still spinning add this to the mixture slowly bit by bit, making sure it doesn't curdle. Once this is all added, take a splash of vanilla extract and mix that in too. 

4. Take the kinder chocolate and place it in a bowl on top of a saucepan of boiling water. Stir it till it is all melted and then mix the melted chocolate into the cake mixture slowly till you have a ripple marble effect.

5. Spoon the mixture evenly into a cake or muffin tray until you have used up all the mixture.

6. Place your cakes into the oven and leave for 20 minutes until golden brown

7. Once cooked take out of the oven and place onto a cooling tray, ready for the icing. 

8. Now for the icing, first mix the icing sugar and butter with an electric mixer. Add a teaspoon of milk and a splash of vanilla extract as your mixing it. 

9. When the mixture is a smooth consistency add a tablespoon of Nutella and again mix slowly till you get a slight marbled effect.

10. Spoon the icing into a piping bag and distribute the icing evenly among the cakes.

11. Now just for effect and extra yummyness, we added white chocolate stars and a piece of kinder bueno to each cupcake, just to finish it off.

There you have it, kinder bueno cupcakes, easy and so yummy. I hope you enjoyed this recipe and give it a go yourself. To see any more pictures of sweet treats or fashion or beauty pictures please go and follow my Instagram page @amyrowleyy

Thanks for reading my lovelies x 

Hello kitty Afternoon tea @ cutter and squidge

So clearly it was time again to head to london and stuff our faces full of cake, tea, biscuits and scones. This could only mean one thing, and  after seeing countless youtube videos and bloggers visiting cutter and Squidge (great, great name) for afternoon tea we had to try it for ourselves. Now i say afternoon tea, but it isnt just any afternoon tea no no, a hello kitty themed tea, hosted in a basement that had been transformed into a secret garden, *jaw drops*. It truly was scrumptious. Cutter and Squidge is found in Soho, London and is super sweet and small. When we arrived we were given little Hello Kitty wristbands and taken downstairs into the basement. It was decorated beautifully and dressed with Hello Kitty stickers, false leaves and flowers, and little marble tables. One word...Adorable.

We were each given a pink lemonade and a choice of four teas; Apple pie tea, English Breakfast, Lychee peach tea and Earl grey. My friend Kate was daring and went for apple pie, i did the classic and stuck with what i know best, English breakfast. They were served in little tea pots and did not disappoint, i even tried the apple pie tea, which was really different. It had a slightly spicy cinnamon kick. We were then given the five tiered platter of yummy treats to dive into, and boy was this gonna be a struggle to get through, even on an empty stomach.

We started off with the savouries. Cucumber and cream cheese, hummus and pepper, cheese and red onion, and salmon and chives mini sandwiches. My favourite was by far the cucumber and cream cheese and not because it was shaped like Hello Kitty I promise. Oh and i forgot to mention not only was there enough food to easily satisfy your stomach, everything including the drinks was unlimited, so if something took your fancy there is no need to worry about asking for more. 

Next up were cheese scones, with a cream cheese and red pepper dip. They went down a treat, they were very rich in flavour and the mix of dips were great together. We also had coronation crackers,  something a little oriental.  Personally we weren't overly a fan of these but if you like that flavour then i'm sure they would be lovely.

Now on to the sweet treats, the first little basket included a vanilla cookie, strawberry milkshake biskie and a chocolate brownie. These were all accompanied by both a dark chocolate dip and a matcha latte dip, which was definitely different and very sweet. All were delicious but the Strawberry milkshake biskie was my favourite. Two mini cookies with a creamy textured strawberry mixture sandwiched in the middle. Yummy.

Next up we had lychee Hello Kitty jelly, pink lemonade marshmallow, cake truffle and strawberries. The jelly was a lovely sweet refreshing flavour but quite an odd consistency, but the cake truffle had to be the winner. You know when your baking a cake and decide to cheekily dig into the left over mix. Well imagine that in a truffle form with chocolate, yep..Delicious.

Last but not least and i know we were struggling at this point, we were given a chocolate mud pie and an apple pie mousse with a little bow biscuit. I personally don't like apple flavoured things, however Kate dug into this with a smile on her face and it didn't disappoint. We decided to Box up the last chocolate cake and we dug into this on our way home instead. It again was delicious and very rich in flavour. 

We were offered ice cream at the end but decided we couldn't feed our bellies anymore for at least a little while so opted out. After taking countless pictures we decided it was time for us to waddle out fully satisfied and full. The afternoon tea was £40 and considering it is unlimited and the attention to detail was fantastic it didn't seem unreasonable at all. Cutter and Squidge are holding this limited Hello Kitty themed tea until the end of the month so if you wish to try it yourself go and book in before time runs out. 

I hope your having a lovely Sunday. 

Thanks for reading my lovelies x 

Magic Marshmallow cupcakes

Today i thought i would share with you a little cupcake recipe that i tried recently and they turned out to be really scrummy. Not only were they delicious but they looked pretty too. Perfect for a summer party or barbecue you may have coming up. They were really easy and simple to make and no the title may state magic marshmallow but there is nothing funny going on, just a yummy twist to make them even more addictive. So lets get on to the gooey details!

Ingredients you will need:

For the cake - 

125g Self Raising flour 

125g Caster sugar 

2 Large Eggs

125g Butter

1 Tablespoon of milk

A Splash of Vanilla extract

1 Tub of Fluff

 ( For those of you that are not familiar with Fluff it is a soft gooey marshmallow paste that is made by the gods and is undeniably incredible *chuckles*)

For the Icing and decoration-

1 bag of mini white and pink marshmallows

A handfull of Silver balls

120g butter 

60g Icing sugar 

A splash of vanilla extract 

* Finished Result *

* The ingredients *

1. First take the flour, caster sugar and butter and place them into a mixing bowl. Then mix all three ingredients together with an electric whisk or mixer. Do this until the ingredients looked thoroughly mixed. 

2. Then take both eggs and the milk and mix them together in a measuring jug. While the mixer is still spinning add this to the mixture slowly bit by bit, making sure it doesn't curdle. Once this is all added, take a splash of vanilla extract and mix that in too. 

3. Take a cupcake tray ready with cupcake cases, and spoon equal amounts into each case, until all the mixture is used. 

4. Place the cake tray in a preheated oven at 190C, Gas mark 5, for 20 minutes until they are a light golden colour. 

5. Now the fun part! Take the cupcakes and carefully remove them from the tray one by one. Take a knife and cut a small hole in the top of the cupcake. The hole should be about 3/4 of the way down the cupcake, but not reach the bottom. 

6. Tale the fluff and place it into a piping bag. Slowly pipe the fluff into the whole you have just made until it reaches the top of the cupcake, they should look something like this;

7. Put your cakes to one side, and take the butter and the icing sugar to create the butter icing. Place both in a mixer and mix until smooth. Add the vanilla extract and mix for a further couple of minutes. 

8. Take the mixture and using a blunt knife smooth on to the top of the cupcake. covering the hole in the cupcake and creating a base for the final steps. 

9. Once all the cupcakes are iced. Take the mini marshmallows and some scissors and carefully cut them diagonally in half. This will then create mini petals for your flower marshamallows. Do this until you feel you have enough for all your cupcakes, you can always come back to this step if you run out, (even if it is from eating them as you go.)

10, Take the marshmallow petals and place them next to each other in circles from the outside of the cupcake inwards. Finish off with a couple of silver balls in the middle for the final touch and voila! Your cupcakes are complete. 

So 10 Simple steps to making these beauty's! They are super simple and fun to make and i think the finished result looks a lot more professional then what it really is.  I hope you enjoyed reading this post and if you fancy having a go at making them yourself then please let me know how they turn out.

Hope you all have a lovely Sunday! 

Thanks for reading my lovelies x 

Mad Hatters Afternoon Tea, at the Sanderson Hotel

Me and my best friend turned 22 this year, and we decided that for our birthday treat to each other, we wanted to do something special. We both absolutely love anything Disney themed, and anything that involves a good piece of cake, so put the two together and the afternoon tea at the Sanderson Hotel in london was perfect. It is really easy to find being just behind oxford street, and the hotel itself was beautiful. As we walked towards the restaurant reception, your were able to see the lovely outside courtyard, which on a lovely summers day would have been great. On the day we went it was pouring with rain so we were sat in the main restaurant but this was just as nice.

Now to start off your experience there is a jewellery box and little Alice in wonderland story book left on the table. Inside the book you open it up to see your menu for the day. The jewellery box was full of sugar cubes and sang a little tune everytime it was opened which definitley startled me the first time we opened it. 

Next up were the tea choices. This was definitely one of my favourite parts of the experience. You were given the choice of five types of tea, each one in a gorgeous glass bottle and each one came with a card which told you the name of the tea and the key flavours to it. The choices were; Queen of hearts, Mad hatter, White Rabbit, Fearlessly Alice and Cheshire Cat. The best part to this was that the afternoon tea came with unlimited tea, which meant if you wanted to you could try each individual flavour. Between us we tried each type, but my personal favourite was the 'White Rabbit'.

Queen of hearts - Red rose congu infused with red rose petals. Hint of vanilla and chocolate.

On to the food. To start you are given a plate of savouries to share. This plate was a great mixture of flavours and what was even better is the waiter gave you the choice to have seconds if the first plate wasn't quite enough. Our favourite from the savories was by far the ham and smoked apple-wood croque-monsieur. It was delicious. 

Other choices on the plate were made up of a scotch egg with smoked salmon and quail egg. A scrummy crab and herb eclair, and a refreshing cucumber and cream cheese sandwich on lime bread. All in all it was very much enjoyed by the both of us.

Now for the piece de resistance of the entire experience. The tiered plate of sweet choices on the menu. The choice was incredible and the attention to detail just blew me away. You were given warm scones with clotted cream and jam, red velvet cake, banana bread, marshmallow. You name it, it was on this plate of goodness. 

Amazing!

The top tier of the cake stand was full of fun and light sweets. There was the carrot meringue poking its way through the grass on the teacup top. The magic mushroom strawberry marshmallows that were delicious, and the chocolate caterpillar truffles that i wish you could purchase in box form. 

Moving down to the second tier of sweets, these were slighly more heavy and filling. The white rabbits pocket watch coffee flavoured macaroon, and red velvet ladybirds which were definitely a favourite of mine. A queen of hearts soldier in oreo cookie form and banana bread finished with a butterfly. 

By this point we were definitely starting to get full but we soldiered on determined to finish the last couple of sweets.

The last tier, was piled with beautiful warm scones, accompanied by clotted cream and strawberry jam, because what else?! Last but not least we finished with a 'drink me' potion. A passion fruit cream and coulis drink, which was really refreshing and light. Just what we needed.

After all the food and countless cups of tea, we left feeling rather full and content, with great big smiles on our faces and a great memory to share with friends and family. The Experience as a whole was wonderful and something that i really am so glad we both did together. It was pricey and not an everyday activity, but for a special occasion, it really was something i will treasure forever.

Thanks for reading my lovelies x

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