Strawberry Dream Cake

Long time no blog! I've been a poorly thing this week, and I feel as if I'm not 100% here so all my commitments have gone out the window while I try and get myself back to normal. Before I began to feel a million miles away, however, I made this cake which I wanted to tell you about because it was one of my favourite creations ever (with the help of my sister, Sarah).

It's pretty simple, and only lovers of the strawberry creams in Quality Street will fully appreciate a cake like this, but I am most definitely one of them, and my friend Drew is too. It was his birthday a couple of weeks ago so I decided to make him a cake version of his favourite sweet - the strawberry dream.

I baked a chocolate cake from a recipe in a Sainsbury's book I have – can someone please tell me why it's so difficult to find a simple recipe for a chocolate cake online?!

Once cooled, I sandwiched the two sponges together with a thick layer of strawberry jam. I got this jam from Aldi and it's really good – it has lots of strawberries and seeds in it and because it's 50% fruit it's not too sweet or jelly-like.

For the icing I made a simple ganache (cream, brown sugar and dark chocolate) and spread it all over the top of the cake. If I was any good at presentation, I would have covered the sides of the cake, too.

To finish, I topped the cake with all the strawberry creams in one of the boxes of fruit cremes I bought - they're two for £4 in Tesco which is bad news for me as I'm addicted to them. Except for the lemon ones of course (who thought they would be a good idea?)

You see, pretty easy and pretty cool. I think chocolate and fruit work so well together, especially berries. Will you have a go at making a strawberry dream cake? Quality Street fruit cremes are back but only for Christmas! I'm gonna have to stock up...

A Christmassy Snuggle Sunday

It's Sunday. It's 1st December. It is officially Christmas. I AM SO EXCITED. This evening I am watching my first Christmas film of the season - The Holiday.

I love this film. I watch it all year round but always on 1st December. Whoever cast The Holiday did it so right; Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jack Black and Jude Law make the perfect combination of characters for this loved up Christmas film. It never gets old. I don't care much for the actual story; but the pretty people, scenes and music. Yeah, I said it. But if you've seen this film I'm sure you'll agree that Hans Zimmer, Christmas scenes in English countryside and Jude Law are just... yeah. I am content.

I had to work for part of the day but as soon as I got home, had some tea and took part in the #lbloggers chat on Twitter, I got straight into my onesie and settled down with a tub of Quality Street and my favourite Christmas film. What better way to get into the festive spirit?

I like to paint my nails when watching films, and after rummaging through my nail polish collection I found these Christmas coloured ones from nails inc. I don't have the steadiest hand, and despite my love for all things creative, art is not my strong point, as you can see...

Not my best effort. I was overwhelmed at the opaqueness of the gold glitter polish. It is absolutely stunning, but perhaps not over the green (I had imagined it would gloss over like tinsel on a Christmas tree, sadly not). Next time I'll stick to one colour.

I bought the Quality Street about a week ago in Tesco for £4(!) and hid them from myself until last night when I couldn't resist them any longer. I could eat the strawberry and orange creams ALL DAY.

Also, what would 1st December be without an advent calendar? I had mine waiting for me at the breakfast table this morning.

December is one of my favourite months of the year and I am so happy it is finally here. I love everything about winter - the clothes, the home comforts, the food, the weather, Christmas, the anticipation, spending time with family on Christmas day, and of course these Christmas Snuggle Sundays. My sister is eight months pregnant too, so we will have a new addition to the family very soon which is so exciting, and I will be an Aunty for the first time.

What did you do today? Are you as hyped up about the Christmas season as I am? My sister said my excitement is premature and I should wait a couple more weeks, but after three years at University where my friends and I started celebrating at this time each year, I just can't go back to my family's way of doing things. So, I say, let the fun begin!