Adventures in Brussels

Hello everyone!

I've just looked to see when my last 'proper' blogpost was and it was over a year ago! Yikes! Where dis that time go!?

I can't say what I was doing for most of that time because I really don't have any reason but since the end of january I have been living in Brussels, Belgium!

I'm currently home for 10 days before I head back to my tempory home for a final 2 weeks.

But what have I been doing there?

As you all(should) know I'm studying to be a Montessori teacher and as part of that I was offered to go on an Erasmus programme to Brussels for 3 months. 

So of course I jumped at the idea!

I have actually found it extremely tough being away from Ireland, we are such home birds aren't we? I think I'll try and do some posts talking about what I found hard and how I overcame it to maybe help soemone else who is mocing away from home specifiacally for a short time like 3 months. 

For now here are some of the things in Brussels you simply can't miss. 

Like in the picture at the top and these two pictures. the number one place to visit is Grand Place.. you really can't miss it! It's kinda the centre of everything! I love it, so beautiful and always a pleasure to see!

Atomimum was built for the 1958 world fair and is pretty cool. The view from the top is amazing but the stricture it's self is a great sight. 

This photo does not do the Galleries justice, I have now realised that i need to take a better picture when I go back in.. 9 days. 

My favourite two things in Brussels are Grand Place and The Galleries. The Galleries are lined with chocolate shops and boutiques that are too expensive to even to step into but I always love walking through here with my University on the other end I would do the walk quite frequently. 

Finally we have the famous Manneken Pis statue. This is a little boy statue that is simply peeing! 

He always has a huge crowd around him trying to take selfies with their selfie sticks. There are a lot of legends about him but the one that is the most feasible is that there was a bomb in the middle of the city, this little boy urinated on the fuse of the bomb which then put it out and saved everyone. The End. Woohoo! It's a fun tourist attraction anyway!

So there are some of the things you can't miss in Brussels!

I hope to do more blogging but don't want to make empty promised.. I'll try!! 

Lots of love,

Alice May.

Moist Chocolate Cake Recipe

Hello my lovelies!

Today I have the most amazing cake recipe to share with you all, this is honestly the best chocolate cake I have ever tasted. It's moist, rich and just oh so mouth watering! 
I've made it twice now and both times have I had many people ask for the recipe and have nothing but good things to say about it.
So here we go!

You will need:

• 1¾ cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated white sugar
• ¾ cup cocoa powder
• 1½ tsp baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk (or you can put 1 tbsp white vinegar in a cup then fill the rest up with milk; let   stand 5 minutes. This is what I do)
• ½ cup butter, melted
• 1 tbsp vanilla essence 
• 1 cup hot coffee 
• Fresh Cream
• Mateasers or whatever you want to use to decorate 
• A food mixer, I use a Kenwood 
• A rubber spatula
• 9 inch round cake tin x2

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees and grease your 2 cake tins. Pop on the kettle for your coffee as well.

First you need to add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt 

Then mix in the eggs, milk, melted butter, vanilla essence until smooth

Do this on high power for a few minutes

Brew your coffee and add it to the mixture(make yourself a cup too). This is the most crucial step to having your cake be moist. I swear that there is no taste of coffee in the finished product, every single one of my friends where shocked to hear of this ingredient! 

Mix it altogether using a rubber spatula 

Pour the mixture evenly into both tins. The mixture will be very 'runny'.

Place your cakes in the oven for 35 minutes (The little heart was in the oven for just over 15 minutes)

Place a toothpick into the middle of the cake after the time, if it comes back with no batter, you're good to go! Leave them stand for 15 minutes.

 Run a knife around the edges and flip them onto a cooling tray. You can not ice or put cream on cakes that are not fully cooled.

You can make butter icing(which I did for the last cake) but I wanted something a little less heavy and also didn't feel like making a bigger mess so I just got some fresh cream from Centra.

I only used one small thing of cream for my cake and it was just enough

Put one cake on a plate and spread cream on the top of it

It looks like a lot but it just covers the top however I would use more on this layer then the top layer.

Place the top cake on top creating a 'sandwich'. Spread the remaining cream on the top and decorate if you wish. I used maltesers. 

Serve and enjoy!

That is the recipe! It's nice and easy and tastes absolutely amazing! I brought this to my friends who was making dinner for us all and it went down a treat as well as the leftovers being wolfed down by the girls in college. 

Jumana also made a Nutella and Oreo cheesecake for desert for us all so I had to include a picture of it here!

Please let me know if you try this out and send me pictures on twitter if you do. Also do you all like recipe posts and would you like to see more like this? I know I haven't been posting regularly however I have been a little better over on YouTube so be sure to check that out!

All my Love,

Alice May xx

*Original recipe found on foodsess.com

Haul: What I got my Boyfriend for Christmas

Hi all!

I hope everyone had a lovely and relaxing Christmas. I know I did and it was filled with wine...

I decided before I gifted my Boyfriend his presents I would take a picture of them and share with you what I got. I thought it would be a nice spin instead of annoying you all with what I received from Saint Nick.

Seán(the Boy) loves to wear suits. Any chance he gets he's in one. He's even sent me a picture here and there where he's just put one on at home 'for the craic' so I decided that something to do with this obsession would be appropriate. He's also studying Computer Science in college so is a self confessed nerd. So with that back story here is what I got!

I got these nerd cuff links back in October when I was browsing Etsy(for the first time) looking for ideas for Christmas(I like to start early) when i saw 'Geek cufflinks' this sent me on a frenzy to find ones saying Nerd as it's a running joke but also terribly true! I came across a pair here so was delighted!

On passing one day Seán mentioned how he would love a pocket watch for when he wears a suit so I stored that information and bought him exactly that. It's from Sekonda so it wasn't very expensive but it looks it in my opinion and what's more important is he loved it! I was so happy with his reaction that I think it's safe to say it's one of the best presents I've ever got someone before!

 So that is what I got my Boyfriend for Christmas! We also made something for each other but one I'm not going to bore you with it and two it's more on the personal side.

Did any of you get something for a loved one this year that you feel you hit the mark spot on? Or did you receive something that was just perfect for you?

I hope you're all well and I'll talk to you in the New Year!(eek!)

Love and Hugs,

Alice May xx

Christmas Outfit Ideas!

Hey everyone!

Today I'm writing a post with some outfit ideas to wear over the Christmas period. Everyone has parties and nights out around this time so thought I would show you some of the outfits I would wear.

These three outfits are what I've worn before so the photo's are kind of 'live in action'

Everyone loves a skater skirt, why not pair it with a simple black tee and a gold belt to split it up? I'm wearing brogues with this outfit instead of heels.

 I really like to wear jeans and heels when I go out it's super easy, keeps you warm and no worries when it comes to wind! I wore black skinny jeans from River Island, a simple black flowy top, A purple blazer for a pop of colour, simple nude shoes and my Michael Kors handbag

 I love this dress! I wore it to my cousins wedding believe it or not just over a year ago and it has seen so much wear! I wore is on Christmas day last year. It's just a simple black skater style velvet dress from New Look that I paired with a simple gold belt from Penny's. I love wearing all black(have you noticed?) so wearing black tights and black heels I feel brings the whole outfit together.

Lastly I just wanted to briefly show the dress I'll be wearing this Christmas. I don't have the best pictures but I wore it to a wedding in October. I'll be wearing this navy dress from A|Wear the same way but with tights. I bought the purple blazer from the 'jeans outfit' for this dress so I'll wear that too. I bought low nude heels for the wedding as I had a sprained ankle at the time and I also didn't want sky scrapers! As a result I was able to wear them for ages so think this is a new thing for me!

I hope I gave you some ideas on what to wear this Christmas season. I hope you're all doing really well.

All my love,

Alice May xx