Neapolitan Cake

This cake is SO. MUCH. FUN. Chocolate! Strawberry! Vanilla! Rosettes! Sprinkles!!

The nights are getting longer and colder, so I think we all need a little more cake in our lives in these dire times.

Neapolitan combines my favourite simple and sweet flavours, and I think the colours are absolutely classic together. I have been trying to up my cake decoration game lately, but I’m still quite cack-handed and impatient.  So I needed something which looked nice but was relatively simple. Enter, the buttercream rosette!

To make this, you just need buttercream icing, piping bag with star shaped nozzle, and a little bit of effort. To make the rosette, start in the centre with a blob of icing and then move the tip around the centre part, piping the entire time. I quickly youtubed it before having a go the first time.

You will have noted that this is a Neapolitan cake which is quite heavy on the chocolate. But I think that it looks quite impressive (if I do say so myself) and by decorating it all in chocolate on the outside, the inside becomes a complete surprise. I put some chocolate sprinkles on it because this is a lighthearted little cake, and I wanted to hint at the insides. Feel free to decorate however you like, but this was easy peasy!

Shortbread- Mary Berry Style

Oh, it's autumn you say? TIME TO SPEND THE LONG DARK NIGHTS BAKING!

Oh my goodness, shortbread is my nemesis. There are just some things I can’t get my head around cooking, stuff that just NEVER comes out how I want it to:

-The first is the most shameful: mashed potatoes. Mine are all at once thin AND lumpy.  It’s not hard. And I am Irish. But still, no dice.

-The second is more of a group of things I fail at: toffee/caramel/fudge. Can’t do it. I follow the instructions to. the. letter and still I just can’t make it do what it needs to. There have been some super disasters in this, to the point where I just buy the pre-made banoffee toffee stuff when I need to. DON’T LOOK AT ME!

-And finally: shortbread. My paternal grandmother makes the most perfect, melt in your mouth, flavourful, crisp shortbread that the world has ever seen. My mother makes shortbread that is close to perfection. And I just can’t measure up to it..

Until Mary effing Berry came into my life. This shortbread is rather different from the ones I’ve known before, it’s thicker and softer, but still just delightful. If you’re keeping track of my ideal afternoon tea tray, add these bad boys to it.

Risgrynsgröt

The shiny-ness is sugar. Delicious melted-in sugar.

Or, Swedish festive rice pudding.

Do you like cinnamon, vanilla sugar and milky creamy dessert rice?

..ME TOO!

As well as desperately clinging to the festive season, this is really delicious, and one of my boyfriend’s favourites. It’s best for breakfast, loaded up with cinnamon and sugar and extra milk on top. Although I didn’t leave him enough room in his bowl for milk, first world problems. Speaking of FWP, my camera battery was dead this morning, so these are phone quality pics I'm bringing to the world.