Fudge Tart - Super Secret Official School Recipe

Now I have to be honest, I don't remember ever eating this at school. I did spend some of my school years in Norway so I don't know if that was the fudge tart window, but I missed it. I was asked by a friend recently to make them one as I love a bit of baking but I really didn't know where to start. There's lots of recipes on the internet so I tried some and all failed. Then I remembered I knew someone who worked in a school so I asked them and they sent me the official recipe. Now I can't say where I got this from as it feels like it's a super secret recipe that shouldn't be shared, but I am of course going to share it anyway but not give away my source. 

I will admit that I bought the pastry, I can make all kinds of pastry easily apart from shortcrust. No idea why, I'm just a bit rubbish at it and if Mary Berry buys hers, then I'm gonna be doing that too, thanks. This is the only element that needs baking, the rest is just on the hob, whisking and setting so it's really easy. The whisking part takes a long time so it's best if you have a stand mixer but if you don't just prepare to stand there for 10-15 minutes.

Let's get into it. 

Now this says it makes 20 school portions, I just used a tart dish and another time I used a medium baking tray with sides about an inch high and that worked fine. But you could always make double the mix and freeze it for a quick dessert. 

This is the tart in a baking tray compared to an official tart dish

Ingredients:

• Pack of shortcrust pastry or make some if you're fancy.
• 40g semi-skimmed milk powder, this was very important apparently and to not use standard milk. I found this in the long life milk aisle and was really cheap and will also be a good back up as we're always running out of milk. 
• 500ml water.
• 200g butter, it did say margarine but I just couldn't do it... I'm a butter all the way girl.
• 100g plain flour.
• 150g caster sugar.
• 10ml vanilla extract.
• 1 square chocolate for grating. 

Method:

1. Line the dish/baking tray with the pastry and crimp edges, I used baking paper for the baking tray but not for the tart dish. Prick all over with a fork and bake blind in the oven at gas mark 4/180°c degrees/350f until golden. Leave to cool.
2. Reconstitute the milk powder with some of the water, I used about half and heat it in a saucepan with the butter until almost boiling. 
3. Add the flour to the rest of the water and milk until thick and smooth. 
4. Add the sugar to the milk and butter and dissolve.
5. Now add the flour mix slowly whilst whisking continuously. You want it to be almost spreadable before setting.
6. Flavour with the vanilla extract. 
7. Pour this mix into your mixing bowl and whisk on a high speed until cool. This took as I said about 10-15minutes as I had a glass bowl it took a while for the bowl to cool completely. 
8. This will get thick and delicious quite quickly so it will be hard to not pour this directly into your mouth. 
   
   
9. Chuck the mix into your cooled pastry and smooth out with a silicon spatula. 
10. Grate the chocolate over the top and chill for 30 minutes. 
11. Devour and go back to childhood. 

look at it... 

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Halloween Is Coming...Make Sure You're Ready!

Who doesn't love Halloween? OK, some people. But I do, a lot. I would wear this stuff every,single, day. And I do to be honest, so I've rounded up a few of my faves to show you. I do sometimes find it hard to find great novelty seasonal wear in my size but the fashion industry is nailing it at the moment. What else have you seen that you love? Comment and let me know or tag me on Instagram (@victoryrollsandmixingbowls). All of the links are in the titles.

1. Boohoo Plus Emma 'Bite Me' Bodycon dress £12.00

If you want to salute Halloween without drawing too much attention to yourself (although, hello? You want people to be looking at this dress!) then this dress might be a good option. It's fairly plain but you'll look killer in it, black is always a winner in my book and I often wish I could tell those around me to 'bite me', so it's win-win right?

2. Boohoo Plus Tia Skeleton Hand Halloween Tee £10.00

Another beaut from Boohoo,  they do subtle Halloween really well at the moment, although to be fair I would use these both all year round. This one is probably more office friendly and you could wear it out for the evening as well. Again it's not too full on, some of you may prefer something a bit more out there but I love how this one is a bit more casual, it has a bit ole scooped neck which means you could probably team it with a nice little choker for some 90s vibes, I like it how they've styled it with some wet look/leather trousers I would probably do the same if I were you!

3. Asos Curve Halloween Tights £8.00 a pair

Tights that fit my thighs, hurrah! I know, I know, it can be a pain to find cute novelty tights to go over majestic thighs such as mine, but these go up to size 24-26 so I'm fairly sure even I could even I could wiggle into these fairly happily. I love them all but I think the bats are my favourite, and for only £8.00 a pair it would be rude to not try them all...especially now as I signed up to free next day delivery...whoops... 

4. Club L Plus Cape Velvet Midi Dress £34.00

Oh. My. God. Look at this little beauty, this appeals to all my witchy traits. While it may not be covered in baths, spiders or skulls, I think I'm in love and would totally rock this for Halloween. I have a bolero in a similar fabric and I'd love some more green velvet pieces. It's looks so luxurious and is a pretty good deal at £34.00. It's also not just limited to Halloween...with the other festive season just around the corner this could be your go-to dress for many a occasion. 

5. River Island Plus Black Choker £8.00

Now earlier I talked about chokers, I really love this one in the new RI Plus range. It's pretty simple in case you don't want to feel restricted and it's only £8.00. I really like the diamante circle in the middle for a little bit of sparkle. This is a great starter choker before you try out maybe a full one or maybe even a spike one. Ah, I do miss the 90s.

6. Hell Bunny Harlow 50s Dress £49.99

Now this print is one of my favourites out there at the moment, I have it in the skirt version and I love the dress! Just look at the print, it fulfills all of your Halloween dreams with pumpkins, bats, spiderwebs and ghosts. I got lots of compliments on the skirt and I intend to wear it all year round, no shame, no shame at all. They also do it in a top too... 

7. Voodoo Vixen Katnis Dress £66.99

Right, this is another one of my own purchases, it's been about at least a year but I bloody love it. It makes me feel a million quid when I step out in this dress. It's lovely and heavy too and...it has pockets!!! It is a bit pricier than the others but the proof is in the quality. The scalloped neck is to die for and let's not even get started on the colour and the cat print. I recommend you get this as soon as you can. Now.

8. Interrobangart Pumpkin Circle Skirt £50.00

If you really want to rebel against the subtle then this baby is for you, being a bit sucker for skirts I couldn't resist adding this one. I've bought from this lovely before and her skirts are great so go and have a look. I love this one, just look at the huge pumpkin face, it's great! She's designed the fabric herself and you can contact her about altering sizes as they're made to order. 

Images taken from Boohoo, Asos, River Island, Hell Bunny, Voodoo Vixen, Interrobangart.

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Boohoo Plus - Eliza Peplum Skirt Review

Boohoo is a brand I've not considered before, not for any real reason other than sizing. I did know they did a plus size range but I never really checked it now, now I regret everything.

Payday came and I thought I'd have a little trawl through, I was looking for something particular so this made it a little easier. We were celebrating Roald Dahl's 100th birthday soon after and I wanted to go at the Grand High Witch, of course, because it appeals to my dark little heart. So I wanted a witchy pinup skirt.

 And Boohoo Plus delivered! I spotted this gorgeous little number, the black pencil Eliza skirt with a peplum waist made from scuba fabric which was nice and stretchy. There was an exposed silver zip at the back, I love exposed zips so I knew this would be a winner. What I struggle with when it comes to pencil skirts is that they can be baggy at the bottom, I often take mine in so I really get that hour glass shape. This one was perfect, tight with lots of movement and the peplum was dramatic and I felt really confident in it. I can be a bit aware of my stomach so I often wear tops over my pencil skirts, this is the first one I wore the top underneath and I bloody loved it. Best of all? It was on £12....£12!

I decided to give the skirt a test run at the weekend, I had intended to go without tights but my chub rub shorts were visible through and under the skirt so I put on the old faithful black tights.  I teamed the skirt with a black strap top from Primark, I live and die in these and have about ten. They're lycra ones and I feel like they hold me in a bit and I've had them for years without them falling apart. This is pretty unexpected considering they only cost £3 each. 

Then I added one of my favourite cardis from Collectif in a cherry print, you can't get this style any more but all their cardi's are fab so I suggest you check them out. I have it in this style and a dark green velvet one too which will be great for winter. 

I felt killer in this outfit, I can't wait for summer to go away now so I can rock it a bit more often, I'm not also on the hunt for some more peplum's! 

 

Oh and I also thought I'd play with my hair (excuse the offensive bobby pin).

Until next time. 

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Chi Chi London Beatrice Curve Dress Review

 

For the longest time I've been wanting to get my hand on a Chi Chi London dress. To be honest I've had no occasion to wear one until now. Me and the bearded wonder have a wedding to attend in a few weeks and I've not really thought about what I'm going to wear as I have so many dresses, and if I'm really honest I ordered this on a whim just to see how it looked but thought I'd have to return it as I have no where to wear it to... that is of course, until I tried it on.

The Beatrice dress from the Curve range comes in sizes 18-26 (mines a 20) but you can get the exact same dress in smaller sizes too. It comes in at £57.99 which I thought was really reasonable for an occasion dress. When it arrived I was instantly pleased with how heavy it seemed without actually being heavy, does that make any sense? It felt like a quality product. 

What I really love is that it's a Bardot neckline which I'm really into at the moment, a bit of off the shoulder action is perfect for summer. I have worn it with a little cardi here but you really don't need to. It's a really pretty floral fabric, not my usual style at all actually, where's the black?? But I love how girly it is, I really felt like I was ready to attend a summer wedding and it hit me that it would be perfect for the one we're going to that's coming up. Once I had that in my mind, the selfie stick came out. 

While it seems like a heavy fabric it's actually just fairly stiff so it has a lot of structure and keeps you in whilst really showing off your waist without making you want to die. You can still breathe too which is a huge plus. Because the fabric is stiffer the pleated skirt part of the dress really sticks out and has as much volume as my hair after leaving my victory rolls in overnight saturated in hair spray.

Look how much it sticks out! I'm not even wearing a petticoat! I do feel like my back fat is eating at the waist band a little but a little shapewear should smooth that out nicely. I have to say, I am a little bit in love with this dress, I really don't think I can face sending it back and I think I will just have to find a place for it in my ever shrinking wardrobe. Shame. NOT! Welcome my friend.

This is not a sponsored post, I just bloody love this dress! I think if you sign up to their newsletter you'll get 10% off too!

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Preparing For Summer With Evans! - Review

Summer is finally on the horizon, the sun's been out so I'm finally looking to ditch the black tights and bring some colour back.

 

I've been eyeing up Callie Thorpe's Instagram and just LOVED the Collection Khaki Zip Front Cami Top she's been showing off recently from Evans. I really struggle to find tops I like so I was a bit hesitant but dropped it in my online basket anyway. For £15.00 I thought it was a bargain.

(Image from Callie Thorpe's Instagram)

When I was on the site I also couldn't help but notice this Blue Floral Print Prom Dress, for £60.00 for a dress I thought it was pretty reasonable so... that went into the basket too. 

The khaki top I got in a 20 and I think it's because I'm used to having to size-up from other stores because of the boobs, I could easily have gotten this in an 18, however it did still fit well I just prefer a more snug fit. I sometimes feel like tops that aren't fitted all the way down can make me feel bigger and they can stick out, this fabric fell really nicely and nice and loose for summer without making me feel like Homer Simpson in his moo-moo (and the zip is a fabulous details also) thumbs up!

I was really excited about trying on the dress, I was MORE excited about the fact it was scuba fabric and didn't need a zip so it could be pulled straight over my head and boobs with ease. The fabric also didn't lose any colour when stretched like some scuba fabrics can that make you look like your wearing an ill-fitting product. The fabric didn't change at all which was lovely and I felt like a normal human being in a cute dress. This was a size 20 and it was a perfect fit and length.

The colours are beautiful and it's a heavy fabric so it falls nicely but you don't feel too hot in it so will be great over summer. 

I've taken a close up of the pattern to really show it off. 

Next I'm looking for some cropped patterned trousers which I've always been scared of! Suggestions?

Product images from Evans

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Oil Slick Hair, My Dream To Be A Disney Villain

I've had red hair for years now, about 5 I think. And I love it, I really do. But I've always dreamt of something darker, something more...Ursula or Maleficent and maybe even a bit of Hades creeping in. 

To be really honest I've always wanted blue hair but haven't dared bleach it to achieve this dream. I did however notice that the ends of my hair were getting very light, light enough to colour blue? Why not! I caved and bought some 'midnight blue' from Directions and boldly whacked it on hoping for maybe a bit of ombre? And what did I get? DISNEY VILLAIN OMBRE THAT'S WHAT!

I did panic slightly when I blow dryed it as it looked like a dark storm, blue and black and murky. Once I'd washed it once more what I was then left with was, oil slick hair, perfect for any evil character. 

In the sun it was beautiful, stunning blue at the bottom and streaking throughout the red which now had streaks of purple and almost looked iridescent like those purple/red/green cars you see around. 

I decided to pin curl it and this was the best decision I made. It brought the blue higher up and more visible and you could really see all of the colours working together. So in love with this hair. 

Long term, will I keep it? Not sure, I think blue will be harder to maintain than the red but I just really wanted to try it out. The blue will stay in a little longer but I may colour it again with the red which I think will make the overall end colour really stunning.

Stay tuned!

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Christmas Eve in Lindy Bop - Review

It's been ages since I posted, will do better this year! I thought I'd do some more outfit posts, and I'll start with my favourite outfit of the festive season. As we're Norwegian, we mainly celebrate on Christmas Eve with a huge meal consisting mainly of meat, a huge rib of pork, meatballs and various kinds of sausage which is a tad perversely shaped...don't ask. 

 

We also like to dress up for this meal as it's really special and what's the first thing you'd pick to wear? Maybe something that you could eat loads in (thinking of Joey in Friends with his thanksgiving turkey eating pants), something with a full skirt that fans out hiding the after belly of food? NAH!

 

I knew you'd want to see the meat in all it's glory... no sniggering

I felt brave and ordered something I've never ordered before, a figure-hugging wrap dress from Lindy Bop, the 'Sadie' dress. I wasn't sure how this would suit me but slapping on the control shorts I gave it a go and I bloody loved it. Bright green leopard print may not sound like something you'd wear to Christmas Eve dinner but it's actually really lovely and I felt amazing in it. I really hope they release more styles.

The fabric is nice and heavy so it falls nicely and gave me a great shape I wore it again on new years eve but my hair wasn't nearly as good hence so pictures! It gathers and ties up at the side which I love as I'm not sure how I'd feel in a tight wiggle dress without this little disguising feature but you never know, I might brave it next time. 

Great news is that Lindy Bop has a sale on, you can get it now for £20.99. 

PS. Not an endorsed post, I just love it so much. 

I also thought I did a pretty good hair and make up job! All using Makeup Revolution, their Ultra Brow Palette is the best and give me the brows of my dreams and their contour trio palette works a treat though I don't think that's online anymore. I did a wet set on my hair the night before to get the pincurls perfect for the day!

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Pinup Picnic in the Park - Hyde Park

 

So as you may know, I love a bit of Instagram and the pinup community that comes with it. I love having a place with so many like-minded people at the tap of my touch screen. I've also been following The British Belle's on there for a while, a group of ten British pinup ladies who decided it was about time we all try to meet up without the IG filters. 

The day was set for last Saturday in Hyde part and I couldn't wait/was nervous about going to London to a big even on my own because I'm a child. But I knew it would be lovely to meet all these guys in person and take lots of silly pictures whilst discussing hair and petticoats. Now what to wear, this was a difficult decision! I didn't want to turn up in the same as someone else so out came the sewing machine and the watermelon fabric. I know I can make a pleated skirt in an evening so that's exactly what I did, it'd match my new watermelon shoes from Asda (£6) perfectly. 

I decided to team it with my Lucy Fruity cardigan by Collectif (£39), the more I wear this the more I love it and it's definitely the most expensive cardigan I've bought and I now want all the cardigans they have! Ahhhh. Collectif won again as I wore my black Dolores top (£25) with my peacock Erstwilder brooch which I bought at the same time as the cardi from the Brighton store which I think was £17.50.

With freshly dyed hair I headed down on the train...always time for selfies and made by way to the meeting point at Marble Arch.

 Straight away I met my Insta friend Kayla, check her out! Pretty sure she's my rockabilly spirit animal. I loved standing in a huge gaggle of pinup ladies, I think everyone around thought something super special was about to happen and there were loads of pictures being taken. I had to hide some serious fan girl moments seeing some of the famous pinup ladies I follow in the flesh, they were all lovely, mental and stunning!

After gathering all of us together we marched over to a nice spot in Hyde Park and set up camp for our picnic. Everyone had cute little picnic hampers, Pimms and prosecco. It was such a great experience meeting all the lovelies I've been following and admiring and meeting and following new girls and swapping hair and clothes secrets. We were all really impressed that no one had the same thing on actually. 

 The sun was glorious! We did eventually all have to move into the sun to maintain our porcelain skin and of course more photos!

Kaylaevans84, secretplussizegoddess, lipstickanddresses and moi

Most of these pictures are my own...a couple are stolen from other IGers so give me a shout if you mind!

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