Scent | Paco Rabanne '1 Million'

Hi lovelies! It probably is no surprise, but I am not the girliest of girls. Recently I have been on the hunt for a new perfume, and disappointed by the floral, sugary offerings in the ladies' section I turned to the colognes. 

Recipe | Summer Sweet Tea

 Hi lovelies! With the hot weather well and truly upon us in Brisbane my obsession with tea has been slightly abated. I am a big tea drinker, but in the middle of summer I find it can often be a little bit much. I haven't shared a recipe on the blog before, Erin is definitely more of a cook, but I thought I would run you through how I have been making my iced tea. 

Makes 1 jug
Ingredients
Your choice of teas
Honey to taste
Variety of fruit 
Plenty of ice
Fresh mint

This isn't so much a recipe as it is some inspiration for the coming summer months. The recipe can be adapted to whatever tea and fruit combination you desire, today I'm just showing you my personal favourite combination. 

For the tea I brewed a mixture of peppermint and green tea. I like my tea quite strong so I allowed it to steep for quite a while. I also added a little honey just to counter the acidity of the citrus fruit. The amount of honey is completely down to personal preference, but it is best to add to the tea whilst it is hot. Once you're happy with your tea strain it into a jug and set it aside to cool. 

Once your tea has cooled it's time to chop up your fruit. I opted for the cooling and refreshing combination of lemon, lime, orange and cucumber. But I can also confirm that peppermint tea with mixed berries is delicious. 

Add the fruit, mint leaves and plenty of ice to a large pitcher and pour the tea over the top. Serve immediately. 

This makes for a great refreshing drink with a lot less sugar than store bought iced teas. If you're looking for a more adult version I highly recommend adding some ginger beer and rum. Delish!

What are your favourite summer drinks?

Jess xx

Citrus Twist Melting Moments

All of my grandparents have (and had) a particular love for Melting Moments. However, I have never attempted making these delicate little biscuits so I thought I would give it a go. I find a lot of the store bought versions rather plain and thought I'd put a little twist on these with some orange. I used orange because it was guaranteed to work but I think next time I'll use lime. If you try this recipe with lime, let me know how it goes.

Makes about 20

Ingredients

250g butter, cubed

1/3 cup icing sugar, sifted

1 tsp vanilla essence 

1 1/4 cups plain flour

1/3 cup cornflour

Cream filling

60g butter (at room temperature)

1 tsp vanilla essence 

1 orange rind, finely grated (you can substitute your favourite citrus fruit - if its a small piece of fruit, use 2)

2/3 cup icing sugar (sifted)

To prepare, preheat your oven to 160°C and line a baking tray with non-stick paper.

Using an electric beater, beat your butter, icing sugar and vanilla essence in a bowl until pale and creamy. The mixture should have drastically changed consistency since you started beating. Sift the flour and cornflour together into the creamy mixture and beat on the slowest speed until a soft dough forms.

Lightly flour your hands and a clean, dry workspace. Work the dough for no more than a minute just to insure the right consistency that the beaters cannot achieve. Use a teaspoon to roll identical sized balls (consistency in this part is essential) of the dough and place them on the prepared baking tray - placing each one about 5cm apart. Make an even amount as you will need to pair them together. Use a fork (lightly dusted in flour) to press into each piece of dough - flattening each to about 3cm in diameter and 1cm thick. 

Bake in your preheated oven for about 15 minutes. Oven temperatures vary though so keeping an eye on them and taking them out before they start to turn golden is the easiest way to do it.  

To make the filling, beat (with electric beaters again) the butter, vanilla essence and citrus rind in a bowl until pale and creamy. Add the sifted icing sugar and beat until combined - think of what you would expect when biting into a biscuit and mix to that consistency. 

Once your biscuit halves have cooled, you are ready to assemble. Spread the flat side of one biscuit with your preferred quantity of icing. I used a butter knife and you can see how much filling I used in the pictures on this post (about 0.5cm). Join each biscuit half to another without icing on it as you go. You may end up with left over icing but that all depends on how much you use. 

And thats all folks. These go down a treat with a cup of tea or coffee when you have people over (or if you have grandparents with a sweet tooth). They also make a really easy gift idea. 

So, what are you waiting for? Get cooking!

Erin xx