Lots in store this week…

Hi there,

I was working at the weekend, so no travels in our campervan this time, but Olley and I did enjoy a walk with our son and his lovely dog, Jasper, in the sunshine on Sunday morning before I headed into the QVC studios. There’s something really special about crisp, sunny autumn days and I made the most of not having to set my alarm for an early Morning Show start. Normally, I spend the best part of the day indoors on my work days.

It’s certainly early to work for me this week, and busy mornings with lots going on at QVC. Our Today’s Special Value on Thursday (launching 9pm on Wednesday) is the iconic Kitchenaid Artisan Stand Mixer with a 4.8litre bowl and accessories. It comes in Onyx Black, Almond Cream, Empire Red and also a brand new colour, Dark Pewter.

Incredibly versatile, this “loved by many” machine will help you make your best cakes ever, but also makes an easy job of pizza dough, all sorts of bread, scones, pastries and biscuits. It even gives you the smoothest of mashed potatoes!

Some of the presenters will be showing you one of their favourite recipes on Facebook Live this week, with Katy Pullinger on Monday, Catherine Huntley on Tuesday, Thursday will be Simon Biagi and I’m taking the slot on Wednesday morning, when I’ll show you how easy it is to make a delicious carrot cake if you have a Kitchenaid to do all of the hard work. We’ll all be starting at 10am, straight after the Morning Show. I hope you can join us.

You may have missed me on Facebook Live showing you how I make my favourite cake in my trusty Kitchenaid stand mixer. Here’s a link so that you can have a watch, and the recipe and method below. It really is a delicious cake and everyone seems to love it!

Kathy’s Carrot Cake:

• 250g wholemeal flour
• 300g muscovado or soft brown sugar (I like a mix of both types)
• 3 eggs
• 175ml oil (sunflower, olive or any other is fine)
• 100 ml soured cream (or dairy free yoghurt)
• 3 teaspoons pure vanilla essence
• One teaspoon (or a bit more) grated nutmeg
• Two teaspoons cinnamon (I often put in three!)
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 300g grated carrots
• 150g broken walnuts (more if you like, and maybe put some on the top of the cake as well. You could use pecans if you prefer.)

Topping: (If you’d like to cover the sides of the cake as well as the top, double up the amounts.)

• 110g full fat soft cheese (or lactose/dairy free alternative)
• 50g butter (or dairy free substitute)
• 50g sifted icing sugar
• Juice 1/2 a big lemon

Pre-heat oven to Gas Mark 2, 300 Fahrenheit, 150 degrees C.

Line the bottom of an 8” round cake tin.

Place the eggs, oil, vanilla essence and soured cream in a bowl and add the sugar and beat until well combined  (you could serve the sugar to avoid lumps but if using a KitchenAid, I don’t bother!)

Add the flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda, salt and fold in. Mix in the carrots and nuts until everything is evenly distributed.

Spoon into the cake tin and pop into the centre of the oven for 90 minutes to two hours. For the topping, beat or whisk all the ingredients together until smooth and spread thickly on the cooled cake.

Other Today’s Special Value opportunities this week include Wednesday’s Kipling bag, the Orazio large shoulder bag. It’s crafted in a premium fabric with a fine lurex thread running through it, which gives a lovely sleek finish – you can see the five colour options in the photo.

And on Sunday, we have Beauty Day, featuring a five-piece Shape Tape Dream Team collection from Tarte Cosmetics. It contains the hugely popular and well-reviewed Shape Tape concealer and also the brand new Face Tape Foundation, in a choice of ten shades, along with an eyeliner, mascara, application sponge and a sparkly bag. The foundation alone sells for £33, so the TSV price of £36.96 is fantastic, and it’s available early online, from Tuesday 27th.

Have a good week and do take care.

Best wishes

Kathy x