rose shaped macarons: inspired by portmeirion botanic garden.

Inspired by nature, the Portmeirion Botanic Garden collection is full of floral flourishes from foxgloves to fuchsias and poppies to peonies. Founder Susan Williams-Ellis created the Botanic Garden range which has been synonymous with the brand since its inception, preferring the delicate pottery pieces to be mixed and matched rather like a British garden would. A quaint hydrangea print teapot can sit alongside sweet pea teacups and a stack of cakes on a iris print plate; each colour, shade and design harmonising against one another.

To celebrate what would have been her 100th birthday (June 6th 2018), I've teamed up with Portmeirion to create some botanical inspired creations of my own. These rose inspired macarons are made with a two tone petal effect, given a fondant green leaf and filled with vanilla and strawberry buttercream. An ode to Susan, I'd like to hope she would have been happy to have them at her afternoon tea party.

almond butter quinoa granola with indigo herbs (vegan and dairy free).

A vegan, dairy free and gluten free granola for all. It's certainly not taste free either; Indigo Herbs stock some delicious products that are perfect for shaking up your own homemade granola. Featuring puffed quinoa, cacoa nibs, chia powder and raw almond butter, the vegan and sugar free granola is packed with protein and lots of good stuff to take you through the morning. Fellow fans of nuts will love it too, as the almond and toasted flavour of quinoa really comes through. I enjoy it served up with almond or hazelnut milk but the rest is up to you.

minion macarons.

A fun Minion macaron recipe for my Minion mad nephew. I created these little bite sized blue and yellow treats for his 4th birthday. I'd already got him into macarons a few months earlier (could be due to the Nutella filling...) and now it's really cute that he requests them from me. His wish was my command when I conjured up these Despicable Me delicacies alongside the rest of the spread.

I always swear by Sugarflair when it comes to coloured macarons - they're a little pricy but a tiny pot lasts me ages and can be adjusted to different colour strengths. Simply halve the mix and pipe a mix of yellow and blue. Lemon or blueberry buttercream could work well here but I thought I'd stick to the chocolate...

chocolate pancakes with jersey salted caramel sauce.

There are just so many good foodie things happening soon. Pancake Day, Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day, which of course is an excuse to eat fancy food to make pink cocktails. Win win! Today's post is all about Pancake Day, which of course is an excuse to eat pancakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Not just any old pancakes though, this recipe calls for indulgent chocolate pancakes with a hefty drizzle of salted caramel sauce. Giving up chocolate for lent? This is the recipe for you!