Strawberry Charlotte and Persian Love Cakes

So following on from last week's post about this cake and dessert I made for Eid, here's the result of my efforts. Was pretty stoked with the way it turned out and they were quite well-received. Not too far off from the original pics either, I think! 

Unfortunately my pics were taken in quite a rush on my phone, so they aren't the best. What I liked about both recipes was that they weren't too rich. Both had subtle flavours and although the Strawberry Charlotte looks like it could potentially be an overly sweet creamy nightmare, it was just right. The only thing I'd change, if you're thinking of trying this, is using another recipe for the mousse. Mine was pretty soft which meant that when you cut into the whole thing, it kinda starts collapsing. A firmer mousse that holds its shape a bit would work better, and most of the original recipes used one with gelatine, so that'd work best.
Would love to know what you think, and do let me know how it goes if you try it! :)

Eid ul Fitr - Celebrating the End of Ramadaan

Today was the last day of the fasting for the month of Ramadaan (check out this post for a quick explanation if you don't know what that is), and tomorrow is the day of Eid to celebrate the end of the fasting month. On this day families usually have huge get-togethers and cook up the most delicious yummy stuff they can think of. If you'd like to wish someone for this day, the thing to say would be "Eid Mubarak" (pronounced eed moobaaruk).

I love experimenting with baking and desserts (I'm not much of a cook), but I don't do it much coz I end up eating the entire thing myself. Eid is a good excuse to whip out some recipes I've been wanting to try, so for tomorrow I'm attempting the Persian Love Cake and a Strawberry Charlotte. 

I've actually already prepared the Persian Love Cakes and am quite happy with how they turned out. I made them in little shaped cupcakes instead of a big cake and all that's left to do is the decorating. The texture is amazing and the flavours are really interesting and unusual. It mixes the flavours of cardamom, saffron and rose with a hint of lemon. Here's the recipe I used, and I came across it via good ol' Pinterest. (Follow me if you like!)

The Strawberry Charlotte is half assembled. Not gonna lie, I'm a bit nervous about it holding together, but let's just hope it does. If it doesn't, I'll just have to improvise! When looking at different recipes I saw that pretty much every recipe did it slightly differently, so I made up my own version from that. It's basically layers or vanilla cake, strawberries and strawberry mousse, surrounded by "lady fingers" or Boudoir Biscuits as we know them here in SA. The image is from this recipe, but I used the mousse from this recipe. (I got lazy and used a store bought basic sponge cake :P).

Will share pics if they turn out looking presentable enough, haha! If you're celebrating, Eid Mubarak and have a lovely day, but don't overeat! If you're not celebrating and are in SA, happy Women's Day! And if you're anywhere else, happy Friday and have a lovely weekend :)

Instagram Faves

Today I'm sharing some of my favourite pics from Instagram recently. I find it such a great source of inspiration! 

Awesome illustration, design, stationery and a cool coffee shop. I particularly enjoyed this last one, and her caption with it, haha! Needless to say, these are all awesome people that I enjoy following. Are you on Instagram? This is me if you'd like to follow.

one // two // three // four // five 

Product Update - Hand Painted Monogram Art Pieces & Hand Drawn Frames and Borders for Sale

Just a quick update on some new stuff that was shared on facebook, twitter or instagram but I don't think got mentioned here. In case you missed it, the lovely Megan from The Sun House blog did an interview with me and a giveaway of  a custom monogram illustration. The lucky winner requested a two letter illustration for her and her husband to celebrate their one year (paper!) anniversary - how sweet! She also mentioned that they love nature and the sea and so I incorporated some of those elements into it. 

I absolutely love working on these pieces. They're done using brush pen for the lettering and watercolour paint for the pattern. They're now available for sale on my Hello Pretty store, or you can contact me directly via email. Makes a great personal gift :)

If you're a blogger or use creative programs you might enjoy my products on Creative Market where I sell illustrated graphic elements. They're great for use in blog posts or on birthday cards, labels or anything else you can think of! Most of them are available in vector format as well for you to edit colours and sizes. These are some of them so far, and I'll be adding more soon. Check out the store here. 

If you have any graphic elements in mind that you'd like to see in the store, do let me know!

Vinyl Decor Stickers Designed for Stickaroo!

I'm super excited to announce a new project I've been working on! I've collaborated with Stickaroo to produce a range of vinyl decor stickers! If you haven't heard of Stickaroo before, here's a little bit about them:

“Stickaroo is a small, family-run company based in Pretoria, South Africa. We are all about fun, loving, and creating awesome interior ideas for your home. We have incredible passion for what we do and we hope you can see it in the details of our work. Our decor stickers are top quality, easy to apply and last a lifetime!”

They also have a pretty cool range of colours you can choose from to match your decor. What do you think? Check them out on their store here.