You sweet little....er...tart

So last month I blogged about an amazing local strawberry and fresh produce farm and how delish there ice creams were!

I also promised to blog about a strawberry tart with the berries that they sold.

Unfortunately for me I left it a little late and they no longer were in season :-(
BUT! I fished around and managed to get two punnets from a supermarket to make my delish Nectarine, Vanilla Strawberry Tart.

So what brought the idea on was my fave cake makers (City Cake Co.) had this exquisite strawberry tart that wanted, but again I was too late to order it.
So using what initiative I had I decided to make one and here's my little outcome which I'm sure will activate some cravings :-)

The colours really POP!

Added some cachous in the middle to make the tart look almost like a flower :-)

This is extremely easy to make as well.
All you need is:

Shortcrust pastry
1 egg for smoothing over the pastry
baking paper

Vanilla Creme:
4 egg yolks
100g Caster Sugar
25g plain sifted flour
1tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup of butter milk
x2 cups of dry rice or cooking beans

Method:

Preheat oven to 180degrees, line the tin with butter and then lay the shortcrust pastry in line with the tin but not so the pastry is sticking out over the edge.

Brush the egg over the pastry and then lay the baking paper down and pour the two cups of rice or beans as so it bakes evenly.

Bake for 6-10mins then allow to cool.

While that is taking place to make the vanilla creme, beat egg yolks, sugar and flour until smooth in a bowl.

Then place vanilla and milk in a pan, heat gently until almost boiling then pour  into the egg yolk mix whisking as you go.

Return the mix back into the pan and stir over medium heat until it starts to simmer then beat mix well to remove lumps then simmer for a further 2mins.

If you can, remove the shortcrust form the tin and place on a plate.

Remove from heat and cover with cooking paper so it doesn't form a film and allow creme to fully cool.

Once cooled, fold in 2tablespoons of buttermilk then spoon mix onto the pastry.

Arrange berries or other fruits on top and serve with a side of ice cream/cream and devour!

Piece of cake!

Well in this case, tart :P

I had to stop myself from eating it, it was so delicious!

It's even nice just eating it on it's lonesome :-)

So do you have any new treats that you've baked up lately that you absolutely swear by?

I'd love to hear it!

Cheers for reading :-)

XOXOX

A touch of Gold

Via my last post I promised some good things were coming.

 If you happened to see some gold booties in there, you weren't dreaming :P


I got these beauties with my staff discount as I work in a fabulous shoe store!
They weren't my first choice but I couldn't resist the gold sparkles and rustic look to them!
They go pretty much with anything and will keep my feet quite warm in winter as they are leather upper and lined - quality over quantity I always say!



For Valentines Day, Andrei (knowing me too well) got me a M.A.C voucher, and I knew exactly what I wanted :-)
I'm loving gold e/s at the mo and this shade is perfect!
It has a kind of green undertone which works well with my hazel eyes.
As you can see the pic I mixed with density's with and without water.
I ended up dong a FOTN with it plus a mix with my other e/s, here is the outcome...

My full makeup application is pretty much applied the same as it was in my last makeup post, with the exemption of adding my M.A.C Black Track e/l to this application obviously to line my upper and smudging into my lower lashline; plus using my other new M.A.C e/s 3/4 of the upper lid and using The Body Shops Starlight e/s in crease and 1/2 of the lid.

This pic shows the technique used quite nicely :-) Please excuse my unplucked eyebrows, I'm trying to grow them thicker I.E. Lily Collins, Anne Hathaway etc.

This photo, as nice as it is, does the graduating shades no justice!

My next little splurge was for Andrei's Birthday, and I knew exactly what to get him :-)

These gorgeous men's shoes are also from the store I work in. They are definitely Andrei's style, quite casual but quite dressy as well and can be worn all year round! They also have unique patch working detail with a nubuck toe puff and leather based around the rest of the shoe and a nice little detail to the sole :-)
So if you're stuck looking for a great gift for you're man, shoe's never go amiss as they're always needing a new pair!
My company, Overland Footwear, ships free around NZ and I think they do a bit of shipping overseas too :-)



And last but not least :)
I wanted this oversized shirt ever since it came out! But it way to expensive at the time, I'm so glad I waited for to go on sale!
NZD$29 from NZD$150 is quite a sale price, I snapped it up straight away. Added bonus, it's 100% pure silk and goes with anything - wardrobe staple for sure!
And Pinterest has been no help with flashing all these gorge statement necklaces. While shopping around yesterday I wasn't really looking for anything in particular; I walked into the Portmans store and saw plenty I wanted (as you do) but couldn't afford. And just as I was leaving empty handed I glanced over and saw they had 'Nothing Over $20 necklaces" and snapped up this gorge Mint Statement Necklace which was reduced from NZD$45!
I couldn't believe my luck that day, I've always been a great bargain hunter and this was no exception - def pays to look around :-)

So that is me for the day everyone, I hope you enjoyed reading and my lastest gave you some inspiration for the next time you go shopping :-)

I'll definately be following up with some outfits and faces of the day and night soon.

Until next time!

XOXOX

Watch this space...

So I haven't been posting in a while due to having nil internet; but that doesn't mean I don't have much to say!

Here's a little preview of whats to come very soon...
(not my photo's, but they're quite similar)

Nice pair of half gold booties to keep me warm in the chilly winter months that are due soon

Delish strawberry tart!

M.A.C's 'Old Gold' Pigment

yummy French macarons!

So that's it for now, I'll keep you posted :-)
These photo's were collected from my Pinterest page, feel free to follow I pin almost everything :P

Oh and here's a lovely quote I came across to end this little taster :-)

XOXOX

Birthday Celebrations

 

 

pretty balloons I hung up to get into the 'birthday' mood

So my 22nd Birthday was at least a month ago, I can hardly believe it!
I've left it a bit late to post about what I got up to; but I guess it's never too late :P

So on January 17th I made very low key plans to celebrate which was to stay home, clean the house, bake a caramel chocolate torte I saw on James Martin's "Just Desserts" iPhone app and to go to my favourite diner 'Ollies' with my family :-)


My yummy caramel chocolate torte! Didn't turn out as I expected, it became a frozen dessert and I added in 'coffee' - well I actually burnt the chocolate :P

 

 Makeup I wore for the evening. Black eyeliner and red lips

 

Ollie's Burgers and Ice Cream! I'll do a review on this later

Dinner with family consisted of Hawaiian burger combos!

 

 

 

And dessert consisted of banana split sundaes!


Outfit I wore to my get together with friends a few days later! swapped my leather pumps for my Overland Wedges :-)

Went to a local pub a few days after to do some belated celebrating with friends

I swear I only had the one cider!

Me and my gorgeous man Andrei

Still looking semi-normal at the end of the night!

The outfit :-)

So that was my birthday this year :-)

Quite an intimate celebration with those closest, it was more than I could ask for!

 

Can't wait for next year!!!

 

XOXOX