THE PANCAKE DAY POST.

 It is finally Pancake Day and quite easily one of my favourite days of the year. I personally indulge in pancakes all year round but I like to go that extra mile on Pancake Day and today is no exception. The pancakes you are looking at are actually the ones I had for breakfast this morning and I have to tell you, this is possibly my favourite topping combination yet! 

THE ULTIMATE ROCKY ROAD BITES.

In true Ladylike Len form I am back with another self indulgent treat right at the beginning of January, just when everyone else is forcing green smoothie bowls and workout DVDs in your face. In my defence though the whole point of this bake was to use up the rest of the naughty Christmas food that was still hanging around in my cupboards.  

THE CLASSIC LEMON MERINGUE PIE.

I feel like this post deserves some sort of round of applause. Not only did I actually manage to take the time to get creative this week and crack out the paintbrush (more on that soon), I even got the time to whip up one of the boyfriends favourite bakes and earn some serious girlfriend points whilst I'm at it - winner. 

ICED VANILLA COFFEE WITH NESPRESSO.

As time goes by I seem to be getting more and more obsessed with coffee. A few years ago I was a typical Brit and consumed a vast amount of tea on a regular basis, fast forward to 2015 and I genuinely cannot remember the last time I even had a cup of tea. That's not to say that I don't still enjoy the odd cup of tea but coffee has full on stole my heart.

HOMEMADE PEACH LEMONADE.

Today I am taking a walk down memory lane with an old favourite recipe. I was quite literally obsessed with this drink last summer and whipped it up on any occasion possible, I am talking BBQs, picnics, birthdays and even the odd lazy afternoon. As the sun is finally starting to show its face around these parts I thought it was about time I got my trusty delicious summer beverage out and shared it with you guys too! 

TOP FOUR FOR FOOD.

Food glorious food. Whether you're a dab hand in the kitchen or a complete cooking novice we all need to eat to survive therefore we should all be cooking in our kitchens. I for one am a huge advocate of cooking food from scratch and saying no to pre-made meals and added preservatives.

DOUBLE LAYER SMOOTHIE.

The sun has started to make an appearance around the parts recently, meaning that I have found myself really craving juices and smoothies first thing in the morning. You see, I am one of those weird people that doesn't really like to eat food first thing in the morning so breakfast tends to be ignored unless it's the weekend and we're making an epic brunch. 

SUMMER VICTORIA SPONGE.

You might have thought, 'girl, are you mad?' when you first saw the title of this blog post but trust me, it is all about the summer fruits not the current season with this one. I recently gifted a friend a great recipe book which included a Victoria sponge that looked like something straight out of a French patisserie. So thought I would try my hand at recreating something similar as I have been on the hunt for a way of tarting up a classic Victoria sponge for a while now and this what I came up with. 

FLUFFY BLUEBERRY PANCAKES.

Today is one of my favourite non-holiday holidays,  Shrove Tuesday aka pancake day! To mark this tremendous occasion I have decided to share my all time favourite pancake recipe with you. I am sure that most Brits will be used to the thin crepe style pancakes on pancake day and however much I do love those this is just my go-to pancake recipe all year round whether that is for breakfast or as a naughty treat. 

WHITE CHOCOLATE & PEANUT BUTTER BLONDIES.

After sharing my salted caramel brownies with you all at the beginning of the month I have been on a bit of a baking hype and have been trying out lots of new recipes. My favourite of which are these delicious white chocolate and peanut butter blondies. I have never actually tried blondies before let alone baked them, I'm not even really a fan of peanut butter (unless it's coated in chocolate and goes by the name of a Reece's Cup) so I have no idea why I decided to make these but seriously, they are oh so good!

SALTED CARAMEL BROWNIES.

You know the drill by now, it is January and everyone is on the "new year, new me" hype. Chances are you are looking to make some changes in your life whether that be to give more or to work harder and you're probably hating the fact that I have put a photo of some seriously delicious salted caramel brownies right before you. 

GINGERBREAD TREE DECORATIONS.

I don't think that the run up to Christmas is complete without some gingerbread in your life. With that in mind I wanted to create a super festive centrepiece perfect for any upcoming Christmas parties. To do this I decided to create my own decorations out of gingerbread to adorn my twig tree from Hobbycraft. 

COFFEE & WALNUT CAKE.

What is going on with me lately? Every cake that I appear to be baking recently is super old school and nothing new to the party but a firm favourite in my eyes none the less. Last up on the blog we had Carrot Cupcakes and now I am back with another traditional recipe in the form of this delectable Coffee and Walnut cake.

RECIPE: CARROT CUPCAKES.

Today I am sharing with you one of my old favourite cupcake recipes that has been in my recipe folder for years now. I don't think I have ever came across a single person who does not like carrot cake and as they make great alternative to buttercream laden cupcakes I always find myself coming back to this classic recipe time after time.

RECIPE: BLUEBERRY MUFFINS.

I seriously cannot believe that I have been blogging for over a year and a half now and I have never shared a muffin recipe with you! Probably not that shocking on the surface but if you could see how many blueberry muffins I have eaten in my time it would definitely make you think differently. 

RECIPE: MOCHA FRAPPUCCINO.

Despite the wet climate we are currently experiencing here in the UK I refuse to give into the umbrellas and continue to indulge in some of my favourites summer activities no mater what the weather man says! One of my guilty pleasures in the summer is iced coffees and I would happily drink them daily if they weren't usually so high in price and full to the brim with calories. With a large mocha frappuccino from your high street coffee company coming in at a whopping 500 calories I took it upon myself to find an at home alternative and I think I may well have cracked it with this recipe that comes in at under 300 calories.

RECIPE: BLUEBERRY JAM JAR CHEESECAKE.

I truly love cooking but one thing I hate in regards to recipes is that they are usually for a family of 4 or enough cake to feed the five thousand. As I currently live with my boyfriend and our 2 cats recipes for large numbers are hardly ever required in my household and having to half things constantly is just darn right annoying. This is where this little recipe comes into its own, 2 jam jar blueberry cheesecakes, meaning that I can rustle these up for desert without the guilt of knowing i'll be living off it all week and it means less expense on ingredients at the supermarket check out. 

RECIPE: VINTAGE COOKIES.

Today I have a very exciting post for you! Well, maybe more for me than for you as this is far from the most mind blowing creation but none the less I am ridiculously excited to let you all know that I have purchased an Artisan KitchenAid Stand Mixer and literally haven't stopped baking since its arrival. Believe me when I say lots more recipes are going to be coming your way! 

DIY: VALENTINES CHOCOLATE BARK HEARTS.

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and whether you are in a relationship or not it is always a nice excuse to treat someone special in your life. This year will be the fifth Valentine's Day that I have spent with my boyfriend and after previous years of mini breaks to Amsterdam and expensive meals out this year we have decided to do Valentines on a budget. 

RECIPE: VANILLA SNOWFLAKE CUPCAKES.

This weekend I had a friend over to have a bit of a catch up and chin wag and couldn't pass up the opportunity to whip up some cupcakes. I didn't have a huge selections of ingredients in the cupboards so decided to stick with good old faithful vanilla cupcakes and get a little festive with the decorating. All you need for the recipe is some large cupcake cases, a baking tray, baking paper, a piping bag and a snowflake cutter that you can pick up from most craft shops or online for a couple of pounds.