I love Halloween, I mean what's not to love about fake blood and toffee apples, slaggy cat costumes and cocktails with fake spiders floating in it?? So if you're hosting a party, want to give trick or treaters something different or just want some goodies for pregaming, then here are 3 easy effective cupcake designs to try. You just need to melt down chocolate and pipe the grave stones, hands and knives onto grease proof paper and freeze until solid. To pipe grass, simply dye frosting green and use a multi hole nozzle to pipe. To make edible fake blood, mix together golden syrup and red food colouring. The pumpkins are just moulded from fondant (like edible play-dough). Enjoy! Send me any piccies on @ellie_showed_me if you give them a go!
Your Guide To Rome In A Day
The saying goes that Rome wasn't built in a day, however if you're clever (and able to eat Gelato on the move) there's no reason you can't see Rome's biggest attractions in just one day! This was one of my favourite places and one I'll definitely be heading back to, so if you're heading to the home of Pizza anytime soon then here's everything you can do/see in one day, all within walking distance to each other.
1. THE COLOSSEUM
I mean- duh. There's no denying this place is FULL of tourists but once you see it in real life it really is extraordinary, it's a good place to start your journey as the earlier you reach it, the less crowds you'll have to fight off for the perfect pic. Although if you climb the stairs opposite you'll find a wall which cuts out all tourists for a banging photo.
2. FOOOOOOOOOD
You hear a lot of hype about food in Italy but trust me, it's ALL true. Make sure you don't get swept up in the panic of seeing anything and everything and take some time to just sit outside, drink some wine, eat some pasta and watch the world... and Italian boys, go by. Lauren and myself had the humiliation of two Italian waiters dragging over an extra table because we ordered too much desert. Luckily we were a bottle and a half deep so the shame was numbed.
3.THE TREVI FOUNTAIN
This is another spot full of tourists but how can you say you went all the way to Rome without making a wish here? It's mad to think that all of these amazing things were built thousands of years ago and I can't even make grown up conversation! This is about a 15/20 minute walk from the Colosseum, so gives you the perfect opportunity to see the side streets of the city
4. THE PANTHEON
I honestly hadn't heard of this Church before, but I got chatting to the old man next to me on the plane during our two hour delay and he said it was somewhere we had to see, CHEERS TERRY! He was right, it was so beautiful and despite being surrounded by people, really peaceful inside. Takes around 15 minutes to walk to from the Trevi Fountain
4. THE SPANISH STEPS
You'll feel like Audrey Hepburn in 'A Roman Holiday' once you reach here (a fab film to watch before you visit by the way). It's definitely another one to tick off the bucket list and more importantly is surrounded by dozens of designer shops and of course... a Sephora. The walk from the Pantheon is again only around 20 minutes
5. THE VATICAN
This one we did splash out on a cab for, but I mean it's a different country altogether! As former Catholic school girls, Lauren and me felt right at home in the palace of the Pope! (As you can see) Even if you're not religious, it's a good place to go and see, and I mean if you've got any prayers or dreams you want answering, what better place to voice them?
How To Make Cosy Autumn Cupcakes
I'm the biggest summer baby and when the season starts to turn cold and the leaves fall to the ground there's always two places I know I can turn to for comfort... food and booze (like most things in life). So with this thought in mind I've made these cosy cupcakes, packed with Cointreau, Cinnamon, Currents and comforting calories, which will hopefully make the season transition a little easier because even I can admit sitting indoors with something warm and something sweet when it's cold out is pretty lavelllyyy.
STEP ONE: Preheat the oven to 170oC. Cream together 2oz of sugar, 2oz of caster sugar and then mix in one medium egg.
STEP TWO: Add roughly two tablespoons of golden syrup (I've got the maple flavour) 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, two handfuls of dried fruits and of course a decent glug n a bit of Cointreau
STEP THREE: Add 2oz of self raising flour and a quarter teaspoon of baking powder, mix together and separate into 6 cupcake cases. Cook for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool then decorate with vanilla frosting and if you're feeling fancy make some leaves out of fondant to decorate. Now make yourself a hot chocolate, get into your jammies, put on Breakfast At Tiffany's and enjoy!