4 down, 1 to go...

Awright. Let's talk...

Let's talk about stress.

Ohmygod brain, please, let's not.

No. Stop it. We've got to.

Okay.

SO, as all of you know right now, the exam period has come thick and fast.
Literally fast.
Thick in the sense that most exams are meaty, 2 hour long nerve-filled tension-fests where you write and write like you've never written before.

The handwriting in these essays is slack, my friends. Slack.

But the stress? You can literally smell it. It smells like fear. And invigilator perfume.
Nice.

Oh, and did I mention the hand cramp? 

Me: Must... keep... writing... about... Frankenstein...

Hand Muscles: ARE YOU FREAKING CRAZY. Drop the pen. Drop it.

My talking hands don't help my stress levels.

Did I seriously just start talking to you about talking hands?

Yeah... um can we gloss over that? Together? That would be fabulous.

As you can tell. Stress gets to me a number of different ways. And sometimes kind of seriously.

1) I get headaches

2) I cry

3) I eat

4) I cry some more

5) my stomach goes into a crazy spasm thing.. (overshare? Okay. Sorry. We're just such good friends.)

I know it's stupid. But hand cramps haunt me. 

So, how do I combat this terrifying beast? Well, I tackle number 3 off my list.

I feed myself. Feed my soul.

Cinnamon and chocolate flapjack? Check and check.

If I can give any of you a teeny bit of advice this exam season. Don't you dare starve yo'self.
Whatever you do.

2 reasons :

1) Your stomach will rumble. And in a silent exam room where everyone's trying to secure their futures? Kinda embarrassing.

2) Life's too flapjackin' short. You'll work it off later. Did you know thinking burns calories? Looks like I'm going to have 2.

Chocolate Flapjack with a splash o'Cinnamon
Makes about 30 pieces (depends how famished you are.)

Ingredients
85g granulated sugar
175g unsalted butter
3tbsp golden syrup
340g porridge oats
100g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
Cinnamon

Method
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees and line a 20x30cm baking tin
Gently melt the sugar, butter and syrup together, stir until combined
Once melted, remove from heat, add the oats and stir well until the oats are completely coated
Stir in the chocolate (it'll melt. total yumville)
Stir in generous amounts of cinnamon to your taste
Tip the mixture into the prepared tin, and press in evenly and firmly with the back of a spoon
Bake for about 18 minutes until is smells divine and has turned golden brown
Leave in the tin, to cool

P.S.
My brother was also having a nerve-wrecking time doing his final clarinet recital to end his course at The Royal Academy of Music yesterday.
Joe, these are for you. I bet you were amazeballs. Enjoy! xx

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The 'Meltiest' Melting Moments with White Chocolate Buttercream!

So...
I had a dilemma yesterday.
Yes. A dilemma. A big, fat one. One that could've destroyed the very fabric of the space time continuum and shroud the world in darkness forever.

Okay. I totally over-exaggerated on the last one.
BUT HEY, DATS ME. If there was a Queen of hyperboleland. That would be moi.
And I'd have a massive tiara... And all the Louboutins I could want... Ever...

AHEM.
This dilemma doesn't sound so bad now, does it?
Well it was. And it was this...
Cast your minds back to Saturday morning. What were you doing?
Something exciting, I'll bet.
Me? Not so much. I'd been suffering from a STUPID COLD. So I slept in... like, really, really in.
I practically BECAME my bed.

So, to cut a long story short. I missed my Saturday morning gym session.
I slept through my spinning class and everything.
Runny noses ruin lives.
Which left me with said 'dilemma'...

Do I make up for lost time and go for a cycle in the only good weather we've had for months?
Or do I stay in and bake away my sorrows until the boyfriend arrives?

I think we all know what I did.
But hey, you can't blame me for it.
If I didn't do what I did, I wouldn't be here doing what I do now. Comprende?
I JUST LOVE BAKING.

Looking back on it. My dilemma was a bit wubbish.
It was a win win really wasn't it?
I love it when life is like that.

So here's what I made!
Simple. Delish. Melty. Yum.

And with my brother home from his hectic life in London, it was kind of an unwritten rule that I make something that uses insane amounts of buttery goodness.

Aaaaand then Harry arrived and got his mitts on them..
"STOP!" I was yelling, "THEY'RE NOT SANDWICHED YET!"
Boys...

TAH DAH! Oh, look at Harry and Mumma in the background.
Out-of-focus and mesmerized beyond belief.

Don't they look adorable! Expertly sandwiched by Harry.
Oh gawwd... I want another one...
But I'll refrain, and save them for you - (and Joe, and Harry, and Dad, and Mum.)

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend! Without any earth-shattering dilemmas.

Ingredients
For the biscuits
250g unsalted butter, softened
60g caster sugar
225g plain flour
85g cornflour

For the White Chocolate Buttercream
60g unsalted butter
125g icing sugar, sifted
50g white chocolate

Methods
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees and line two large baking trays with baking paper.
Cream the butter and sugar together until creamy.
Sift together the flour and cornflour, then add this to the mixture and beat well.
Using floured hands, take tablespoons of the mixture (it's a kind of doughy consistency) and roll into balls.
Put them on the baking sheet and flatten slightly with a floured fork.
Baking in the oven for 15-18 minutes, or until the biscuits start to turn golden.
Leave to cool on a wire rack.
While they're cooling, make your buttercream!
Beat the butter and sugar until completely smooth.
Melt the white chocolate and add this to the mixture, tablespoon by tablespoon and beat well after each addition until your buttercream is the right consistency to be spread.
Sandwich Time!
I found the best way to do this, was to pair up your biscuits beforehand (I got Harry to do that for me - it's nice having a slave) so you're not scrabbling around to find biscuits of similar sizes while your icing is starting to dry - we hate unnecessary stress!
Scoop a generous tablespoon of your delish buttercream and plop it on one biccy, and put the other on top, moving it in a circular motion to warm the icing and flatten it.

LET'S EAT.

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Christmas Bake : Peanut Butter Fudge Style.

Bonsoir everyone! Are you all feeling festive my lovely candy canes!? I hope you all are, seeing as it's only 2 SLEEPS UNTIL CHRISTMAS! In fact, I think I can feel the elves getting frantic. It's in the air...
And so, with not long now until the big day, it's been pretty crazy and hectic in the Shiner household, hence my silence. :)
However, baking has been one of my main priorities over the past weeks. I've been commandeering the kitchen for hours crafting gifts to hopefully make people as excited as I am about Christmas this year!
This evening I'm going to post my past activity, so stay tuned for a couple of posts winging your way!
My first post for this evening is a Peanut Butter Fudge recipe from this years Christmas ASDA Magazine. It's a small, modest recipe that's a complete piece of cake but tastes absolutely delicious!
I stumbled across it when I needed to whip up something quick and easy for a charity fair at school, and I have to say, I thought ASDA were trying to deceive me. So many of my friends have tried and failed to make the perfect fudgey pieces, but ooooooohhhh nooo, not me! This recipe is foolproof, and when placed in a pretty jam jar with ribbon, it makes the perfect tasty gift!
Go on, give it a try. Next time, I might substitute the peanut butter for Nutella... now there's an idea. ;)

Ingredients
125g butter
500g soft brown sugar
120ml milk
250g crunchy peanut butter
1/2tsp vanilla extract
300g icing sugar

Method
Grease a 20cm x 20cm shallow cake tin and line it with baking paper.
Melt the butter in a large pan.
Add the brown sugar and milk and stir over a really low heat until the sugar dissolves - do not let it boil.
Scrape down any mixture that has splashed up onto the sides an boil for 2-3 minutes - do not stir.
Remove this from the heat and stir in the peanut butter and vanilla.
Put the icing sugar in a large bowl and pour the hot mixture on top - beat until smooth.
Spoon the mixture into a tin and leave to cool.
Cut into squares, these yummy bites can be stored in the fridge for up to a week!

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