Wild! Science Cake Soap Factory

Posted on March 18, 2017 by Fiona Martin

With British Science Week upon us, the sets from Wild! Science are perfect for children to experiment with various things and come up with some fun creations. We’ve been trying out the Wild! Science Cake Soap Factory and I’m amazed at some of the fun edible looking soaps Miss M has come up with. If you do try out one of the Wild! Science kits then be sure to keep your receipt as there is a chance to win a fabulous competition to Orlando Florida!

The set includes everything you need to make the soaps from transparent soap blocks, pigment soap blocks, colours, stirring sticks, glitter, 2 plastic measuring beakers, piping bag & nozzles and of course a cake shaped mould tray.

9yr old Miss M was eager to get started and we found the instructions simple to follow and carry out. You simply put various amounts of blocks of glycerine soap and pigment into a beaker and melt it in the microwave. Once in liquid form you can add drops of colouring and stir in, then before it turns to a solid again, quickly pour it into the moulds to set. We repeated this process several times making different colours and multiple cake pieces.

Miss M’s favourite part was whisking up some water with liquid soap to form a foamy soap which can be piped between or on top of cakes to represent cream. This was great fun but you have to work quickly before it sets.

Aren’t the finished soaps beautiful? In fact we think they look good enough to eat although of course they won’t be very tasty!

The Wild! Science Cake Soap Factory is a fantastic educational set in which you can experiment with liquids and solids. It is fun to use and has been thoroughly enjoyed by my 9yr old who can’t wait to use her new soaps in the bath and shower.

It’s well worth getting a Wild! Science play set at the moment as they have an amazing competition running at the moment. The Wild! Science Global Challenge is giving families (2 adults and 2 children) a chance to win:

A trip to Orlando Florida
Entry to Disney World
Accomodation to a 5 star resort for 7 days
Car hire for 7 days
A full set of Wild! Science products
Entry to the Kennedy Space Centre to meet a real astronaut

How to enter:

Buy a Wild! Science Kit and send a receipt copy with your online application
Design and create an awesome new Wild! Science Kit
Write and illustrate a basic instruction book to show other kids how to use your awesome Wild! Science Kit

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.

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Valentine’s Cupcakes topped with Devon Fudge

Posted on February 10, 2017 by Fiona Martin

Valentine’s cupcakes topped with Double Chocolate Fudge from The Devon Fudge Company are the perfect indulgence for this time of year. Enjoyed by couples, families and kids alike, it doesn’t matter who you make them for, you know they have a versatile appeal and if you have kids they can be part of your Valentine’s celebrations.

For simplicity I just used the basic sponge recipe my mum taught me many years ago when I first started baking, 2 ounces of butter, sugar and flour to each egg. This is a simple one for kids to follow too and my two love mixing it up in a bowl for me with a wooden spoon (whereas it’d be straight in my stand mixer if I was doing it!).

So here goes to make a batch of 10 generously sized cupcakes:

2 eggs
4 oz caster sugar
4 oz butter
3 oz self raising flour
1 oz cocoa powder

Simply cream the butter and sugar together before slowly adding the beaten eggs, then fold the flour in to make a rich, chocolately batter.

Bake for approx 20mins in a 180c oven (test with a sharp knife to ensure cooked through in centre)

Then for the frosting I used a simple buttercream:

80g unsalted butter
160g icing sugar
a tablespoon of milk
small blob of red gel food colouring

Simply beat all the ingredients together, pipe on top of each cake and then decorate as you like, obviously here we have added small chunks of the utterly delicious Double Chocolate Fudge from The Devon Fudge Company along with some small pink chocolate hearts to add to the feel of upcoming Valentine’s Day.

The Devon Fudge tastes utterly delicious. We did taste test it before adding it to the cakes and didn’t want to lose the flavour in the cakes so put the pieces on top. As you bite down into the cake you really taste the fudge in the icing and it makes a delicous addition to what otherwise would be a standard chocolate cake.

For a quick a simple homemade treat this Valentine’s why not make a batch of these cupcakes and don’t forget to add some Devon Fudge for that extra special touch and flavour!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.

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Savisto Retro Food Stand Mixer

Posted on October 27, 2016 by Fiona Martin

I think one kitchen gadget that most people would love to own if they don’t already is a stand mixer. They look great and are fantastic for a multitude of baking scenarios from beating, whisking and kneading dough. Savisto is not a brand I’d heard much about before but am excited to try out their Retro Food Stand Mixer which retails for under £100 which is an amazing price for what you get.

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The Stand Mixer comes with three attachments, a transparent lid and a silicone spatula. The large stainless steel bowl has an impressive capacity of 5.5 litres, is ultra light to carry and has a chunky handle that’s easy to grab hold off. It looks fantastic and I know I will fit whatever quantity of mixture I want to make up in it. The whole stand mixer has a stylish look and a smooth, curvy structure which is easy to wipe down after use.

savisto It may look impressive and stylish, but the big question is how easy is it to use and how well does it work? So with my little boy Mister B’s 6th birthday party on it’s way I got started on a basic cake batter. Being a little unsure on how the mixer would perform, I made my first batch with just four eggs but having done that you could easily fit a batter double the size in the huge bowl!

Each of the three blades simply fits on with a push and twist. It’s so easy that you can chop and change if required. Also if you want the lid on you need to click that into place before the blade attachment. Below you can see me creaming the butter and sugar together, the finished chocolate cake batter, and mixing up a minion yellow coloured buttercream to top the baked sponges with.

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Once your attachment is in place simply turn the lever to release it back down into the bowl and add your ingredients. Mixing was an absolute dream, just turn the dial to the required number (you have six speed options) and off it goes. It works really efficiently and is a total pleasure to use.

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I split my first batch of cake batter into two tins for two layers of the main birthday cake. Later I made a third layer and multiple cupcakes in various sizes.

savisto-3 I ended up making several batches of cake batter plus a couple of batches of buttercream which I couldn’t have done in the time without the ease of the Savisto Stand Mixer. It’s quick, efficient and the bowl is so easy to scoop the mixture out of and wash up! A huge bonus from the clunky, 16yr old food processor I have been using to do my baking up to now. The bowl is large and smooth making it so simple to clean, if you are changing what you are mixing, you can easily wash it out in a couple of minutes and use again.

bba56b32-d5b5-4c0c-bd6b-62bf27142848 With a multitude of cakes made it was time to decorate which took me way into the late hours but fortunately the birthday boy was thrilled with the results just like I was thrilled with the pleasure of using the Savisto Retro Food Stand Mixer. 1ed18c4c-6600-4e18-a6d0-7781510d1532-1 When a gadget is easy to use it always makes life simpler and means it’s something that you will use again and again. I can’t emphasise how simple this stand mixer is, you just click the bowl and required attachment into place, then turn it on to one of six speed settings. Et Voilà! A cake is made! wp_20161015_08_35_18_pro

I’m very impressed with Savisto, for the both the price and style. They sell a range of kitchen gadgets so do check them out and see what they have. There’s probably something on there that would make a great Christmas gift and I can certainly say that I recommend the stand mixer for any keen bakers out there.

I fancy trying a meringue based recipe next with my new Savisto Stand Mixer to try out the whisk attachment, so keep your eyes peeled as I’ll share my results in a future blog post!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.

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Real Baking for Kids with the Great Baking Set & Cake Pops

Posted on October 21, 2016 by Fiona Martin

With The Great Bristish Bake Off on our tv screens at the moment, it gives us all encouragement and motivation to head to the kitchen to bake up our own creations. My children both love this programme and it really inspires them to bake themselves and these children’s Real Baking kits have come just at the right time from Vivid Toys. We tried the Cookie Kit and Chocolate Pen a few weeks ago, but today we are sharing with you how we got on with the Great Baking Set and the Cake Pops sets.

wp_20161002_15_51_11_pro The Great Baking Set contains all the basic equipment needed to make some mini cupcakes. You get a couple of bowls, one with a suction base to help it stick to the worktop, a 4 hole silicone baking tray, spoon measurers, an egg cracker, cake cases, icing nozzle and bags.

Miss M started off my creaming the eggs and sugar together to make a basic cake batter.

real-baking-cakes Mister B being younger has not had much experience in cracking eggs so was keen to try the egg cracker. I think this is great for really young ones as it ensures a clean break with no eggshell to remove. Miss M being older and already used to breaking an egg prefered to do it on the side of the bowl as usual.

real-baking-cakes-2 They then added some flour and cocoa powder before filling the cake cases as well as the cake pop and donut moulds from the Cake Pops set. real-baking-cakes-3 The donut style moulds looked great when the cakes where turned out and the children really loved these as they looked different and fun. Miss M was then eager to have a go with the piping bag, so she mixed up some butter and icing sugar, then added a bit of blue colouring to make her icing. She found the icing bag easy to squeeze out of and the nozzle was a good size for icing her cakes. real-baking-cakes-4

I love her finished creations, they look so delicious and yummy, and although I did get a little taste the children couldn’t wait to tuck in. The cakes are actually a really good size for children and make a good treat or reward for them. real-baking-cakes-5 We then moved on to complete our cake pops. The set contains cake pop moulds along with the donut shaped moulds, some chocolate cone shaped moulds and sticks. wp_20161002_15_47_37_pro We’d already made the cake pop ball shapes along with our cakes above, so the next step was to pour some melted Divine chocolate into the cone shaped moulds. We put a stick in the centre and carefully balanced these in the freezer. After about 15 minutes we took them out and I helped carefully remove the chocolate which I think looked really effective.

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We then pushed the cake balls onto the top of the sticks, dipped them in some melted Divine chocolate and covered them in sprinkles. I think they look absolutely fantastic and really effective. It’s a shame you can only make four at one time as we would love to have made a few more at the same time.

real-baking-cakes-6 Overall we’ve had fun with the children’s Real Baking kits and the kids have been inspired to want to bake even more. They’ve had a go at different techniques and created various things and it’s great to get them involved in the kitchen although I have to say my two are always keen when it comes to making something food orientated. wp_20161002_18_12_27_pro All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.

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Kinetic Sand Bakery Boutique Patisserie – Review

Posted on June 10, 2016 by Fiona Martin

Kinetic Sand Bakery Boutique Patisserie from Spin Master is a sand making delight where you can create your own bakery items out of moulded sand and display them in the cleverly designed box that opens out into a bakery window display.

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The kit contains everything you need, including two bags of brightly coloured sand, a selection of moulds and some cardboard pieces to add to the lid of your box and create your bakery display. The box is simple to assemble providing shelves to put your creations on and a centrepiece in the middle for a showstopper cake!

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The children couldn’t wait to get stuck into the sand as the texture is really quite therapeutic between your fingers, and being non sticky it’s a pleasure to work with. The moulds are quite easy to operate, you just need to pack them tightly, give them a few taps and they do produce some really precisely moulded shapes. There are also two press out cutters which work really well once you get used to them. You need to hold the plunger up as you press down and then lift the shape out.

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As you can see below, the children’s creations kept coming and they quite quickly filled the shelves with their cakes. They enjoyed trying to make each one different and see what different combinations they could come up with. The cakes held together quite well and as long as you don’t touch them too much they will stay as they are until you break them up again.

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I think the finished bakery display looks great and the children were certainly proud of their efforts. I think having a backdrop to put their items on really made a difference and added to the play value.

kinetic sand bakery 5 What’s great about this kinetic sand is that once you made something, you can break it up again and start again, which makes this playset great value for money as I know it is something my children will come back to again and again!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.

Sugar and Crumbs – Review

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Fiona Martin

Sugar and Crumbs sell an amazing range of naturally flavoured icing sugars and cocoa powders with intense bursts of flavour from using 100% natural fruit.

My first thoughts on the ready flavoured sugars was how fantastic, no messing around trying to flavour the icing yourself, it’s all done for you. I did wonder how they’d taste so couldn’t wait to try them out.

I was sent a Chocolate Orange cocoa powder and icing sugars in Tropical, Lemon Drizzle and Velvet Vanilla. The packets were a delightful hot pink colourful with resealable tops which I think are a great idea, really convenient and easy to use.

Eager to try out the different flavours I decided to make some mini cupcakes in both plain and using the chocolate orange cocoa powder so that I could add the different flavoured icing sugars to the top and try various combinations.

Sugar and Crumbs kindly sent me a basic sponge recipe to use the cocoa powder with and an instruction sheet as to how to use their icing sugars. They have cleverly made their icing sugars with really intense flavours allowing you to adjust them by diluting with plain icing sugar to reach a level that suits you. Also each packet will last longer if you don’t use them to their full intensity.

The flavoured products from Sugar and Crumbs are so simple to use, simply exchange them for your plain ingredients and you have flavoured cakes with no effort at all. So what did we think of the taste? The Chocolate Orange cocoa powder was very intense but a true, fresh orangey flavour burst came through the chocolate. This is definitely one that can be used at a lower strength which I would next time.

The Velvet Vanilla icing sugar was sweet and full of vanilla flavour as I would expect it to taste. My children enjoyed this one and it was their favourite of the flavours we tried. My first choice would go to the Lemon Drizzle with it’s rich lemon flavours, which tasted fresh and citrusy. Knowing my husband enjoys tropical flavours I gave him a cake covered in Tropical flavoured icing – he didn’t know what he was about to taste and thought I had just made plain cakes. I didn’t expect such a strong reaction from him, but after his first bite he said “Oh wow, that is lush!!” and then proceeded to ask me when I was going to make some more. I think that in itself speaks volumes about the rich intensity and deliciousness of these ingredients and the flavours that they bring to baking.

We’ve enjoyed baking with flavoured products from the Sugar and Crumbs range and would definitely recommend them to anyone looking to bring some flavour to their cakes. Sugar and Crumbs have a wide variety of flavours available and one that has caught my eye is Chocolate Lime while my husband has his eye on the Turkish flavoured icing. Why don’t you take a look and see what flavours you would enjoy?