MAPLE GLAZED CINNAMON BUNS | ALICE GRACE

OH. MY. GOODNESS. If you don't like these Cinnamon Buns then I may have to rethink our friendship. Aha I'm just kidding, but seriously, they are AMAZING!!

No these aren't a quick easy fix to that cinnamon bun craving as the main ingredient in these buns is a whooole lot of patience but the result is worth it. Cinnamon Buns come in all shapes and sizes and these ones particularly delicious so set aside a couple of hours and bake up a batch of two!!

Ingredients

For the DOUGH

2 Cups Whole Milk

1 Cup Vegetable Oil

1 Cup Granulated Sugar

2 Sachets Active Dry Yeast

9 Cups Flour

1 and a half Teaspoons Baking Powder

 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1 Tablespoon Salt

For the FILLING

2 Cups Unsalted Butter

1/4 Cup Ground Cinnamon

2 Cups Granulated Sugar

For the MAPLE GLAZE ICING

2 Cups Icing Sugar

1/4 Cup Whole Milk

6 Tablespoons Butter - melted

Tablespoon Strong Brewed Coffee

1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup

Lets get baking...

Free heat the oven to 180C (370F).

Prebutter or line 2 baking trays.

For the dough, heat the milk, vegetable oil and sugar over a medium heat. Do not boil!

Set aside to cool to lukewarm and sprinkle over the top with the yeast and allow to sit on the top of the milk for 1 minute.

Add 8 cups of the flour to the milky mix and stir until just combined. Cover with a clean tea towel and set aside in a warm place for an hour.

When ready, remove the towel and add the baking powder, baking soda and remaining flour and combine. 

Using half the dough, on a floured surface roll out the dough to a rectangle about 10 by 30 inches in size with the long edge closest to you.

Generously cover the rolled out dough with half the melted butter making sure to spread it to the edges. Sprinkle over the sugar and cinnamon, again, being generous. No need to do things by halves.

Starting with the edge furthest away from you, roll the sugared dough keeping it fairly tight until you have a long sausage shape. Pinch the edge to seal.

As you can see from the picture, I didn't cut mine very evenly, however, the  size that seemed to bake best were those that were roughly 1 and a half inches wide. 

Cut you dough into evenly sized 1 and half inch pieces then, in a butter baking tray, lay out the swirls so there is a 1 cm gap between each one.

Bake for 11-15 minutes.

Whilst these a gently baking and turning a delicous golden brown, make the icing/glaze.

Simply mix up all the ingredients in a bowl adding extra icing sugar or milk depending on the consistency. 

ADVICE: Put the milk in last. I got a little excited and put it all together really quickly and made it so thin I nearly ran out of icing sugar to thicken it.

Once the buns have turned a golden brown colour, remove them from the over but leave them in the tray. Pour over a small amount of the glaze whilst the buns are hot to allow them to soak up the flavours. Generously drizzle on the rest of the glaze once cooled.

Now ENJOY!

Let me know how you get on and whether you add any extra flavours such a raisins, currents or chocolate chips. AI enjoyed mine with clotted cream ice cream and an extra drizzle of glaze.

Happy baking guys.

Love, 

ALICE GRACE

ME, YOU AND OPI | ALICE GRACE

For me, the best thing about OPI polishes is that I find them to always be true to their bottle colours. It’s difficult enough to try to choose a colour when you have all shades under the sun and no true nail polish swatch. So, when you find a brand you know to be reliable with their pigments it makes first world problems much easier to solve.

My three current favourites are ‘Tiramisu for Two’, Dulce de Leche’ and ‘Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Meteorite’. They all fall into that pinky, rose petal, blush nudes which is why I love them so much! I’m not obsessed with everything pink but rose shades are just so beautiful I can’t help myself sometimes. I’m also far to lazy to change my polish too often so neutral versatile shades are ideal.

Tiramisu for Two is a pastel pink tone with a creamy grey undertone. It looks really lovely and subtle with whites and camels and pinks but, in my opinion, I think it looks incredible when your wearing shades of grey and khaki greens. This polish was also gifted to me by my chummy Kat, so massive shout out to her for making a bloody great choice!

Dulce de Leche is a slightly deeper toned dusty pink, almost a warm pinky-brown. I love wearing this quite specifically with my Zara mid-grey jumper, white leather strapped Newlook watch and rose gold jewelry. Yes, I know that’s detailed but it just looks awesome together and, what can I say? I’m high maintenance #sorrynotsorry.

Lastly, I have Two Wrongs Don’t make a Meteorite which is one of OPIs foil glitters (I’m not sure if that’s the correct term but it’s what I’m running with). Essentially, it’s a clear polish with a mix of dusty rose, chocolate brown and rose gold foil flecks in tiny dots and mini geometric cuts…and breath! Long description! However, It’s AMAZING!! The foil flecks are slightly larger than normal which makes it much easier to apply an even coat. As they are metalic, they pick up other colours really well and look beautiful layered over the top of either Tiramisu for Two OR Two Wrongs Don’t make a Meteorite.

So, there you have it. These are my current favourites although I’m sure my mood will change very soon.

Let me know your favourites in the comments and any recommendations you have!

Love,

ALICE GRACE

HOARDER LINE OBSESSIVE | ALICE GRACE

WHAT'S ACTUALLY IN YOUR MAKEUP BAG?

Is it just me or is anyone else guilty of rotating the same makeup products despite owning a fairly impressive makeup collection? 
One of the things that I find myself questioning quite often is whether or not other bloggers, Youtuber's and general social media influencer's  really use EVERYTHING. Don't get me wrong my dressing table isn't Pintrest goals and I don't own any Kylie Lip Kits but I'd say I have more make up than the average person. This all started the other day when I was clearing out my vanity and started finding products I had genuinely forgotten I owned. Worse still...I found things that I haven't even taken out the packaging which is absolutely insane! This firstly got me thinking of how wasteful this is. YES, I love cosmetics. YES, I love make up. YES, I love feeling girly and acting like a bit of a princess sometimes...But I only have one face and I can't say I go out enough or go to enough events to warrant owning so much makeup that I either rarely use or NEVER EVEN OPEN. I watch a lot of Youtuber's doing make up collection videos and PO Box opening videos and I just don't know how they do it. I could have every item laid out in front of me but, chances are, unless it's a new item I'm really excited about (probably because it costs so much bloody money), I reckon I'd still use my favourite go to products I.E...my makeup bag. Like a comfort blanket, it's safe. It's reliable, it's predictable, it'll never let me down. I'll admit I've got myself stuck in a bit of a rut and will be changing some things and adding new products. When I say new, I mean stuff I've found that I already own!

I'd love to find out what's in other peoples REALISTIC everyday makeup collection. Things that really do get used and not just reached for when getting ready for the special tinder date.

So here's what my REALISTIC collection now contains...

MAKEUP
REVLON Colorstay Foundation - Normal/Dry - 150 BUFF
BOURJOIS Radiance Reveal Concealer - 01 IVORY
MAYBELLINE Fit Me Pressed Powder - 120 CLASSIC IVORY
COLLECTION Eyebrow Kit - BLONDE
MILANI Baked Powder Blush - 05 LUMINOSO
BENEFIT Hoola Bronzer (contour) - (MATTE)
RIMMEL Scandaleyes Precision Micro Eyeliner - BLACK
MAYBELLINE The Colosal Go Extreme Mascara - VERY BLACK
REVOLUTION Baked Highlighter - GOLDEN LIGHTS
RIMMEL Lasting Finish By Kate Lipstick - 56 BOHO NUDE
BOURJOIS Rouge Edition Velvet Liquid Lipstick - 15 RED-VOLUTION

BRUSHES
ALL REAL TECHNIQUES
Miracle Complexion Sponge x 2 (1xfoundation, 1xconcealer)
Large Powder Brush (setting powder)
Accent Brush (brows)
Sculpting Brush (blush)
Contour Brush (contour...obvs)
Base Shadow Brush (eyeshadow...sometimes I use Hoola for a litter colour)
Setting Brush (highlight)


Love,

ALICE GRACE

TANYA BAKES REVIEW & SALTED CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES | ALICE GRACE

HI EVERYBODY!

On June 30th, blogger and YouTube extraordinaire, Tanya Burr, released her first baking book. For all those who aren't aware of who she is, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! Basically, quick catch up, she started doing celebrity inspired make up tutorials on YouTube in 2009, released her own cosmetic line in 2014 and has now wrote two books. #bosslady

I managed to get my hands on a copy of her baking book, Tanya Bakes, on the day it was released which was pretty lucky as it was only one of three left on the shelf. Part of Tanya's job includes taking amazing photographs which is why it didn't surprise me to find tones of beautiful shots in her book. In her introduction, Tanya explains how her recipe collection has been building up for years and includes recipes handed down to her and inspired by other great bakers. The book is split into several sections from Breads to Pastries to Cakes and Brunch with recipes that are friendly for beginners and some harder challenges. Unfortunately, my oven is slightly broken. I have a gas oven and currently it's either so low there's barely no flame or full whack...there's no in between which is why it's so difficult to try bake anything. For this reason, I narrowed down my choice to recipes that required 'chill time' instead. And that brings me onto my Salted Chocolate Truffles! The recipe was super simple and follows below (note: this is in my own words, Tanya's exact recipe my read slightly different).

THE MIX
To start with, break up 300g of quality dark chocolate into a glass bowl (I recommend using a glass bowl has it helps with the chilling).
In a medium sized pan, heat 300ml of double until it bubbles at the edges but not quite boiling. When the cream is at this point, stir in a nob of butter.
Pour the heated cream and butter mixture over the chocolate pieces and stir to mix and melt the chocolate. Sprinkle in 1 heaped teaspoon of sea salt, mix through and lave in the fridge to set for a minimum of 2 hours.

THE DECOR
At this point I found it easiest to put each of my toppings into separate, deep bowls. I used chopped  pistachios, desiccated coconut, chopped hazelnuts, hundreds and thousands, green sugar and freeze dried strawberry pieces. If you're wondering 'did I over do it on topping options?' YES. But if you do want a large variety of flavours, make fewer of each...I tried to do 8 of each and took forever.
Okay, get the mixture out of the ridge and spoon out (I used a melon baller) enough to roll between your hands and make a 2cm ball.
Drop the chocolate ball into one of the bowls of toppings and toss around until it's fully coated.
TAH-DA! You have your first truffle!
Repeat until you have none left and lick to bowl clean (Why not?).

As I somehow made so many, I boxed some up and gave them as a home warming gift to a friend of mine. Decadent and bite-sized, they'd be perfect treats for a dinner party with a tipple of Elysium Dessert wine.

Soon I will make some more of Tanya's wonderful recipes but until then I hope you enjoy these truffles.

Love,

ALICE GRACE

Summer day in green park, London | ALICE GRACE

HI EVERYBODY! 

Back in spring I took a little trip to London all on my lonesome. I like to go and be free to do whatever it is I want without being on someone else's time. Whilst there I starting to write. Not about anything in particular but just what I observed in that moment of time. I'm not sure how you'll read and review this but it is original and untouched. 

Twenty degrees - lovely. It's amazing what some sunshine does to people. 'Lazy Sunday' is the perfect term to describe the way Green Park feels right now. Sadly, when sunshine arises, the English feel as though they need to jet away to golden sands and turquoise seas instead of truly appreciating the weather at hand; Mother Nature really can't win. It would seem however, today is different. Today people are here and now and living within the moment. I guarantee not a single person sat around me would change their location. Everything's just right. Although, yes, there is an audio reminder that can be heard in the back ground but I doubt anybody is offended by the sounds of the red buses and black cabs that line the streets and remind us that just a stones throw from our normal schedule we are now sat in Eden. To be honest I quite enjoy it, it's London's very own live orchestra.Within the gates of the park are my ever changing neighbors. There's a pretty good chance I'll never see any of these people again yet I could waste away the day chit-chatting about nonsense and feel warm and welcome into their lives. I don't know everyone's stories, in fact I know no ones stories. All I do know is that they seem content. Families gather under the shade of the trees with picnic baskets full of sandwiches and cakes and other English treats. Small children in dungarees are running around and chasing pigeons as the parents take a deep breath and soak up the well earned rest. A group of students have dragged their oversize book bags out of the stuffy classrooms as not to miss out on the only day of summer. Some are practicing French conversation with imaginary friends as others recite words far to long for me to quote on here. 

There's a true sense of relief that comes in times like these. Londoners have such a fast pace way of life with the bustling streets and overflowing tube stations, it's satisfying to know there is balance in the world. It's nice to find the time to just stop and take a look around.

Love,

ALICE GRACE