Cake, cats and Korres…

Hi everyone!

Well, as usual, this blog begins with me saying it’s been a while! I tend to update my social channels, mainly Instagram, most often as it’s, well, instant! If you don’t currently connect with me on Insta, Twitter or Facebook details are at the bottom of my blog.

Next, I’d like to say thank you so much for all of your kindness and support regarding the sad passing of my darling Pixiecat. You’re all amazing and I appreciate all of your comments. I’ll miss her forever and will keep her love in my heart for all of my days.

On the subject of cats… I have some news! I decided that, with so many animals in need of a loving home, to open my heart and home to two little boy kitties. I’ll tell you more about them in my next blog but if you follow my socials you can find out a little more ahead of the next instalment on here. Here’s some pics until then.

I recently caught up with Liz Folce from Korres. We chatted on the phone like old friends as she told me more about the brand than we usually have time to discuss on air. It was so interesting to hear about the brand’s origins and who they are today. They are built on a library of over 3,000 herbal remedies. Korres formulas are born from a deep knowledge of homeopathy and biological research and it all started with the family pharmacy several decades ago. They’re a real community and have such a lovely story, which is on their website if you fancy an interesting read with a cuppa, but I want to tell you about their forthcoming Today’s Special Value for the 27th of November!

This set consists of mammoth Supersizes! The Supersize shower gel and the body cream have been made just for QVC UK. It will come in a beautiful giftbox making it the perfect set to gift to others or to yourself.

This is what you’ll get in the stunning gift box:

A massive 400ml of Pure Greek Olive Oil Jumbo Body Cream. Enriched with olive leaf extract, extra virgin olive oil, aloe vera, shea butter, soy bean oil, sweet almond oil and rosemary extract.

Then a whopping 1 litre of Korres Hydrating Shower Gel. A magnificent mega size of their creamy-foam shower gel formulated to cleanse, hydrate and promote the look of smooth skin. Designed to help to maintain your skin’s natural moisture levels with this beautifully scented and dermatologically tested formula. It contains wheat proteins, Althea extract and soothing aloe.

As for the price, you’ll get around a 40% saving against buying individually from QVC. The 400ml Pure Greek Olive Oil Jumbo Body Cream is £30 and the 1L Pure Greek Oil Mega Size Hydrating Shower Gel is £32!

At this price it could be a treat for you and the family, or it could make a perfect gift as it’s very easy. Who doesn’t need shower and body products? I like the fact it’s not age or gender dependent and you won’t risk offending anyone like you might if you gifted, let’s say, an intensive anti-ageing set! You have to know the person fairly well for that, ha, ha!

The great news is you don’t have to wait for the live TV launch to get your hands on it as we are offering you the opportunity to get it early by buying online now (the 23rd). I’ll be enjoying an hour of Korres with Liz at noon on the 27th. Hope you can join us for the start of our Black Friday weekend!

Don’t forget to keep checking out the Black Friday deals featuring on air and online, too.

Now let’s talk cake, shall we? Some weeks back we featured a fantastic Kitchenaid deal. Kathy Tayler, Katy Pullinger, Simon Biagi and I all got involved with a Facebook live mini-series. It was a lot of fun. We each had a recipe which we demonstrated in the QVC kitchen whilst our Facebook friends watched (and in my case, laughed) along. Of course, being the Bridget Jones of QVC, there were a few mishaps and a little innuendo in my video. Eek! So scary when you’re doing it live, ha, ha! You can watch all the recipe videos back over on the QVC Facebook page.

So, I made warming spiced ginger cupcakes. Many of you asked for the recipe so here it is. It’s vegan but you can adapt it however you’d like to. My icing was a little sloppy with proportions I’ve given here. It was more of an icing than a frosting so if, like me, you want to thicken it up just keep adding more icing sugar until you get to your desired thickness.

Recipe:

For the cakes:

• 350g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp of mixed spice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 220ml coconut oil
• 200g golden syrup
• 60g oat yogurt
• 120ml oat milk
• 2 pieces of stem ginger in syrup

Icing:

• 200g icing sugar
• 55g non-dairy butter alternative (I prefer ‘Pure’ olive)
• 200g non-dairy cream cheese

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180C/350F (160C/320F for fan)
• Put the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, mixed spice and salt into the Kitchenaid bowl with the whisk attachment and sift. Transfer to another bowl and set aside.
• Next, put the oil, golden syrup, yoghurt and milk in the Kitchenaid mixer bowl and whisk until thoroughly blended. Finely chop and add the stem ginger along with 1 tablespoon of syrup from the jar. Fold in the flour mixture until smooth and combined.
• Spoon the mix into the cupcake cases.
• Pop in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Leave to cool for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• While the cakes are cooking wash and dry the mixing bowl. Next, put the icing sugar and non-dairy butter into the bowl and beat using the mixer attachment. Once this becomes pale and fluffy stop and change the attachment to the whisk.
• Add the cream cheese and whisk until smooth and yummy looking.
• Once the cupcakes have cooled you can decorate them with the icing. Spoon and kind of spread icing about for a more rustic, homemade look or use a piping bag for that swirly, whirly look.
• Dust with a little icing sugar or ground ginger if desired.

They were really yummy. Let me know how you get on. I’d love to know if you like the recipe. You can always make a sandwich cake instead of cupcakes. Whatever you do, just enjoy yourself and eat cake!

Thanks for stopping by. Stay safe and well.

Love Catherine xx

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