Cocktails on Perissa

Santorini is all about sitting back and enjoying the easy, slow pace of Greek life. So, embracing this laid back lifestyle we headed to the island's beaches to soak up that Mediterranean sun!

Apple and Cinnamon Muffins

What a beautiful day! Who else is loving this sun!? I'm definitely not ready to put away the shorts just yet so I'm hoping it lasts as long as possible. I need to keep this tan somehow!

Slutty Brownie Cake

Most of the time, I love baking. It's relaxing, you get to eat the end result, and it makes other people happy too. Other times, I completely understand why people cry on the Great British Bake Off. Breaking down over your burnt sponge or collapsed baked Alaska? Totally justified. This cake was one of those moments.

Carrot Cake

As a child, the thought of carrot cake sounded awful to me. As did cheesecake for that matter. Who in their right mind would want vegetables and cheese in a cake? Oh, how young and naive I was...

Now that I've grown up a little, I've come to appreciate the modest carrot cake for what it is: an English classic. So, it was about time I made my own.

Beetroot Brownies

Is there anything more beautiful than a mountain of brownies?

No, I didn't think so.

Pumpkin Brownies

I love brownies. Indulgent triple chocolate brownies are my favourite thing to bake. In my opinion, nothing beats a freshly baked brownie, warm out of the oven, deliciously gooey, chocolate chips melting in the middle. So when I've seen recipes for brownies made with vegetables, from sweet potato to beetroot, I've always been intrigued at how they'd compare to my trusty chocolate brownie. With bags of pumpkin still left in my freezer, I decided to experiment with my favourite bake and try out some pumpkin brownies! Infused with cinnamon and nutmeg, these are brownies with a festive makeover!

Pumpkin Soup

Another pumpkin post! Just to warn you, there will probably be a lot of these...

Pumpkin Pie

Autumn is a time for all things pumpkin. Except for the pumpkin risotto I ate at Prezzo a couple of weeks ago, my experience of eating and baking with pumpkin doesn't extend that far. Halloween seemed to fly past this year, so much so that I didn't even have time to carve my white pumpkin (who else is loving these ghostly pumpkins? I think I may even prefer them to the standard orange ones!). So rather than wasting this beastie, I decided to try some pumpkin bakes for the first time. First up, of course it had to be pumpkin pie!

Spooky Gingerbread Biscuits

Happy Halloween! Okay okay, so I may be a day late, but hey, I've got my excuses! I didn't even have time to carve a pumpkin and my fancy dress was below par. My Halloween game was just not on point this year. I do apologise. Will some spooky gingerbread biscuits make it up to you? Maybe? Well here you go then...

Halloween Pinspiration

It's that time of year again! Time for scary films, scary food and scary costumes. And another Halloween Pinspiration (check out last year's post here)! Unlike the previous three years, I haven't really got any plans for this Halloween, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a Halloween party! It always helps to have a bit of inspiration, so of course I turned to Pinterest to round up a few Halloweeny ideas. If all else fails, I can always just dress up anyway and sit on the sofa watching scary films eating Halloween-themed baked goods on my own. #RAVE

Masala Chai Apple Cake

Last month, as part of my Pinspiration series, I created an Autumn Baking post listing all types of yummy autumn bakes I've been drooling over on Pinterest. I was immediately drawn to this masala chai apple cake, mainly due to the presence of "chai" in the title. In my mind, chai equals chai latte. I love chai latte. Chai in cake form with a subtle presence of apple? I'm sold.

Fun fact, I decided to make this cake right after hot yoga. I literally walked out of the studio and straight into the supermarket for ingredients. Because you always deserve a treat post-exercise, right?

Joe's Kitchen, Borough

I have to be honest, breakfast isn't my favourite meal of the day. Simply, I don't like mornings. I have never been, and probably never will be, a morning person. With my job and tactfully-booked morning yoga sessions, I am gradually getting used to waking up earlier, but I still don't leave enough time to really savour my morning meal. I usually just go for a quick bowl of cereal or a couple of slices of toast, or, if I'm feeling adventurous, some porridge. As a result, I can't handle too much food early in the morning, so any morning feasts are out of the question. But brunch? Well, I'm all over that.

Chocolate, Raspberry and Meringue Cake

What's that? Another birthday cake? Well, if you insist...

Lemon, Elderflower and Mascarpone Cake

My blog's had a make-over! What do you think of Doodles and Daydreams new look? Personally I love it. It's a lot cleaner and hopefully more professional, plus I've organised my posts into different categories so it will be easier to navigate. I've still got some changes to make but we're getting there!

So it's officially autumn. With the pretty poor summer we had this year, I'm not really sure how I feel about the fact that any chance of hot sunny weather has pretty much disappeared now. I'm still yet to get into the autumn frame of mind, so here's a nice summery bake for you!

Chocolate and Honeycomb Checkerboard Cake

Happy September! How did that happen? I swear it just turned July the other day. With September comes a rush of birthdays, so expect a lot of birthday cake posts over the next few weeks! First up, Reiss' birthday! As explained in last year's Birthday Banoffee Cake post, he's not a huge fan of the standard (and my go to) chocolate cake, so I'm always looking for inspiration for something a little bit different.

Summer Baking Pinspiration

Now I have all this time on my hands (there are only so many job applications you can fill out before you begin to lose the will), I'm getting the baking cravings! For me, summer baking is all about light flavours with fresh fruit and berries, even better if they're hand picked! Time to turn to Pinterest for some delicious inspiration...

Gylly Beach Cafe, Falmouth

I may be back in Surrey but I still have plenty of Cornish gems for you all! If you're a regular reader, you may have seen the above photo appear a few times on my blog as well as my Instagram, so I decided it was high time to fill you in on where you can find these delicious hot chocolates with a view!

Halwyn's Tea Garden, Cornwall

It's no secret that I love tea, I love cake and I love the outdoors. Combine all three together and what do you have? My version of heaven!

Malteser Tiffin

Sometimes you need a naughty homemade chocolatey treat that's quick to whip up and requires next to no effort to make. For those moments, I introduce you to tiffin. Essentially a fridge cake combining chocolate and biscuits, it requires no baking, just chopping, crushing, melting and mixing. Even the most inexperienced baking novice will find this a breeze! I followed this recipe for malteser tiffin, which has been my go to recipe for tiffin ever since I first made it during my first year of university; two years later and I'm still loving it!

Cribbs, Falmouth

Last week I finally received my results from university and I am so happy to say I've achieved a 2:1 degree and even happier (and slightly shocked) to say I got a first in my dissertation! It's an amazing feeling to know all that hard work has paid off and to see what you're able to achieve when you put your mind to it. With my brother and sister travelling down to visit me that day, of course we had to go out and celebrate with a fancy meal and a couple of cocktails!