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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Is It Nearly Christmas? Navabi Dress Review

Now you may say it’s too early, you may say it’s bad luck even, but I don’t care. It’s approaching the festive season and I couldn’t be more excited. Party dresses? Baileys? The Gavin and Stacey Christmas Special? Bring it to me. We’re heading into my favourite time of year so let the leaves fall, bring the cosy nights and reruns all evening, I want it all. 

What is never too early in my opinion is planning your wardrobe for the party season. Whilst I have some favourite dresses I keep and wheel out most years I also like to try something new and see what’s out there. I find this can be quite tricky when you’re plus sized as there’s not as many stores and not as much choice available for us. There are often a lot of returns, so having to fork out for several at a time to find the right one and often the quality is just lacking. Am I right? I sometimes dread going into shops only to be disappointed so I am a big fan of shopping online, even if I do have to get more than one at a time to find the right fit. 

This is a reason I was thrilled to be asked to review a dress from Navabi. I first became aware of Navabi through the fabulous plus size goddess/blogger/instagrammer Danielle Vanier. Everything she wears looks incredible and she launched her very own range with Navabi, so inspirational and is just one of her acts of showing the world that plus size fashion deserves a place and the space that every other straight size line out there has. Danielle, we thank you. 

So this is how I came to discover Navabi, I loved that there were options out there that were more designer led rather than just cheaper fast fashion. A place where you could buy some quality pieces that you weren’t worried about how many washes you’d get out of it. From my experience there aren’t that many high end high street options for us plus size ladies so Navabi really helps fill that gap in the market. 

I’m a big believer of not shying away from colour, when I was younger I wore only black. Don’t get me wrong, I still love to wear black, I love to feel like a Disney villain, but I have now embraced colour and especially contrast. Life is too short to hide in the back in something I want to hide myself in, I have bright red hair and I feel most confident when the dye is fresh and the clothes make it pop. So it seemed obvious for me to review a green dress, I’ve actually never owned a fully green dress that would make me feel like Poison Ivy, so the choice was easy. 

A few days later and the Manon Baptiste dress was here. What a thing of beauty, green cotton lace, little sleeves, nipped in at the waist with a ribbon belt and a fabulous swishy skirt that made me feel like the cute little octopus in Finding Nemo. It’s knee length which is my favourite, I struggle with floor length glam dresses and to be honest, I just love to twirl. I’m 5”2 so it was an inch or so below the knee for me. The arms are always a worry for me, I feel like plus size retailers often don’t have proper fit models so the arms are always too tight and you feel like you’re bursting out of a sausage skin. They fitted wonderfully and I feel like I could have done the macarena in ease at the office Christmas party. Winner. 

The dress isn’t too heavy so you don’t feel like you’ll end up sweating buckets on the dancefloor and end up running to the looks to put paper towels under your bra line...no? Just me? Cool. But heavy enough to still give you that swish and feel like it’ll withstand a mixed load after a night out. The dress also has 3% elastane  which I prefer as it hugs a bit more comfortably. 

The ribbon tie belt is a really nice touch, I might jazz it up with some sparkles but I’m not sure yet. It’s just a loose piece so you can adjust the tightness yourself or not use it all, because of the lace on the dress you don’t really notice the belt loops so could easily get away with not wearing it if you didn’t fancy it.

There are so many gorgeous pieces on the site but the party dress section just has to be my favourite, the Manon Baptise dress is also currently on sale at £91 also so go have a nose! Meanwhile I’ll be itching to get my decorations up, chilling the Baileys and practicing that perfect Christmas party hairstle from Pinterest...only two months to go!

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I'm Back! Let's Catch Up.

I’m back!

So I haven’t blogged for a while now, things take over, life, decorating, Instagram stories (speaking of which, come and have a follow). So I woke up today with the fire burning to get back into it. So here I am. I need to revamp the blog a bit so I’ll be doing that little by little and changing direction. 

I now live with the bearded wonder and have done for a while actually, my current obsession is decorating. Over the past two years we’ve worked hard to transform the house of magnolia and brown to a more colourful/mid century/Jetsons inspired wonderland. I say wonderland because frankly, I think it’s fabulous. I just can’t stop. So I’ll be doing some posts to show some before and afters, some DIY jobs we’ve done and some absolute bargains we’ve found online. 

I’ll still be posting about some hairstyles that I love, my hair was so long for a while that I just couldn’t do anything with it, so I’ve had a load chopped off so this should resume. Let’s also not forget about the fashion, you know I love weird and wonderful outfit, this has not changed.

Here's a few pics from the last couple of years, have a nose, I'll be back! 

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Cherry Dollface Photo Shoot at Le Keux!

Some people say you should never meet your heroes, WRONG! I'm glad I didn't listen to them, meeting Cherry was one of the best experiences I've had. So forgive me, this post is two years in the making. I'm not entirely sure why it's actually taken me so long.  I've shared these images on my Instagram so it's about time I show them off properly. Cherry Dollface was my gateway into the vintage/pinup scene. I'd always loved it but didn't realise there was a whole world of people out there who lived this life daily, that is until Instagram and Youtube. Since discovering this wonderful world I've met some of the most wonderful women you could imagine, empowering, encouraging and inspiring. It all started for me because I wanted to do my eyebrows in a pinup style and I found Cherry's channel. 

Then I realised she also did videos about how to style your hair, and so the interest grew. I've kept up to date with her videos and posts ever since and I found out she was doing a UK tour and offering photo shoot packages with hair and make up done by her lovely self, I couldn't turn it down so I signed up and patiently waited. 

The shoot took place at Le Keux Vintage Salon in Birmingham, a place I had been wanting to visit for a while actually. They do photo shoots, hair, make up and offer lots of different packages so it's definitely worth a visit. I arrived with a dress I had made especially for this occasion, a leopard and cherry print dress with a huge skirt and underskirt. It was the most complicated dress I've ever made and it was by no means perfect but I loved it. I found the fabric in a little shop in Lyme Regis called Sew-La-Di-Da Vintage and I managed the buy the last of the stock they had of it so I had to make sure I turned it into something fabulous and I feel like I did it justice.

The salon is wonderful and the staff were amazing. Lynsey looked after me and talked me through what would be happening and really put me at ease. Not having done anything like this before I was a bit nervous and really excited to meet Cherry. You could hear her before you could see her, bouncing around and chatting excitedly with the lady she was shooting with before me. Before it was turn I had a little look around at the rooms available to use for shoots. Spoiler - they're all great.

So it was turn, meeting Cherry was lovely, she was so warm and full of fun you instantly felt excited. I hadn't had my make up and hair done professionally a lot so it was a real treat and I had intended to pay a lot of attention so I could replicate it at home. Unfortunately I was too caught up in conversation with Cherry to pay proper attention to all the processes so styling my hair successfully with heat still remains a mystery to me. 

Make up close up (excuse the millions of filters)

I love how she did my make up, I used to always use eyeliner on the bottom of my lids but she didn't and I couldn't believe how big it made my eyes look. She gave me a bright red lip also, I love red lips but never felt too confident with them like I couldn't quite pull them off because my lips were big and I felt I looked like I'd just pushed my face into jam. But then Cherry said something that has forever changed how I feel about my lips, she said I only feel like that because I have big lips, this doesn't mean I can't wear it and basically that my big lips were wonderful. Since then I've worn lipstick almost every day and love when they look big and bold rather than shying away from them. Big lips embraced. Tick.

I have no idea how she did what she did to my hair, she did tell me, and the products she used. But I can never re-create this, it looked perfect. The curls were so silky and defined, and the set held for a couple of days. When I use heat my curls drop in a matter of hours and can use get success from doing wet sets.

A few sneaky dressing room snaps before the shoot began

Suddenly I was ready to get dressed. I really wasn't sure what to expect as I've never looked like this before, but I couldn't have felt more confident and couldn't wait to get started. I had a few sets to shoot in and I wasn't a natural, at all! But soon I felt more at ease and didn't want it to end. Lynsey took the pictures and was great at giving me direction and tips which helped me so much.  It was a wonderful day, I made some great memories which I'm now ready to fully share.

 Ignore the dodgy hem...

Above is probably my favourite 

I feel like this one is perfect for my blog name, I also love how it shows off my dress

If you're thinking of doing a shoot like this but haven't done one before and feel nervous - do it anyway. Give it a try, I see bloggers who do this all the time and I wish I could afford to do it more. I can't recommend Cherry or Le Keux enough.

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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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