Rhubarb Crumble Cake.

I knew I would have the share this with you as it's one of the tastiest cakes I've ever made and a great autumn evening treat. I adapted it a bit from this recipe as my cake tins aren't very big and because rhubarb is pretty much heading out of season now. I'm also happy to admit that I cheated a little because it was easier and it was just something simple I wanted to whip up, not a hardcore baking session.




Ingredients:
200g butter
200g caster sugar
200g self-raising flour
2 eggs
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tin of rhubarb
1 packet of crumble mix (easy to make, but just as easy to buy ready-made)
1 tsp brown sugar

These ingredients fit perfectly into an 18cm cake tin.

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C.
2. Sift your flour into a bowl and cream in the caster sugar and butter.
3. Add the eggs - I find that adding one at a time and mixing them in individually makes for a much lighter sponge, which is well-suited to this cake, as well as being something I hope for in most sponges I make.
4. Add lemon juice and 2-3 tablespoons of the juice from you tin of rhubarb to your sponge and mix well.
5. Grease cake tin and add your sponge mixture.
Drain your rhubarb well and sprinkle over the top of you sponge.
6. Cover mixture with the crumble mixture, until you can't see the rhubarb anymore, and sprinkle with brown sugar.
7. Put in the over for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown and firm to touch.
8. Leave to cool, remove from tin and serve.

I love the different textures of this cake and hope you enjoy making and eating it as much as I did, it's perfect with custard or just on its own. I basically made this because Moon set me a challenge to after we were talking about how great lemon cake is while we were watching Nigel Slater (famed for his rhubarb & fish combo), I'm pretty glad it turned out the way it did and I hope to make it a few more times as it gets colder.

Crisp.

I like all different times of year for so many different reasons. I like summer because it's when it's most warm and it's when my birthday falls, I like spring because everything feels like it's alive again, winter is good because it means Christmas and a chance for snow and I like autumn because I love wearing layers and the colours. There are few things better than wrapping up warm, heading out for a walk and coming home to a warm house and cooking a tasty one-pot dish - and that's exactly how Saturday turned out for me.

There are a few more photos of me in this post than there usually would be as I gave Moon (semi)free reign of my camera while I was using my 35mm SLR - a camera I probably love most but don't use nearly as much as I should.

I love weekends like this, as it means lie-ins, tasty breakfasts, having the time for kitty cuddles and just generally feeling relaxed. It sure was nice to do something that we haven't done since last year, I definitely think autumn is my favourite time to go for walks and I'm looking forward to finding different routes and exploring more, although it seems like the season is rushing past already, I can't believe that it's November on Thursday!



My two favourite things about yesterday's outfit. ♥


Feeling decadent and having French toast for breakfast.


Doll must be feeling the cold because she never lets me hold her like this without wriggling away, she makes an amazing hand/lap warmer. The colder weather seems to be making her more welcome to my affection. #crazycatlady


So, yesterday we took ourselves up to Greenham Common, which is a two minute drive from our house and the perfect place for a walk (to walk a dog, I really want a dog, any dog). It's so open and such a neat place to go. There are massive old bomb shelters, and basically it would be the perfect place to go if a zombie apocalypse were ever to happen - which was mainly what our conversations surrounded while we were exploring.


Not sure if this is a real body of water or just a massive puddle...



Thank you self-timer/Moon ♥.

As the bunkers are related to the Ministry of Defence, they were all fenced off so it was a little eerie, although it's pretty cool to see how nature has adapted to this, but less cool that this tree was trimmed for its efforts rather than rewarded.

What I Wore:
Coat: Primark
Sweatshirt: The Arthouse
Trousers: Primark
Socks: New Look
Shoes: Vans
I had way too much fun making that .gif.



Absolutely adore that there's even some purple in here too, such pretty colours.

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Came home to find Dolly up a tree, apparently she can climb trees now, still no birds yet though (definitely a good thing).

Saturday evening was so cosy! I did a bit of tidying, lit some new candles and cooked stew before Take Me Out and X Factor, such good Saturday night telly right now!

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I'm so happy that we've managed to find somewhere we can take in some fresh air the way we used to when visiting Richmond Park last year, I hope we come across some wildlife on our next visit. I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend, I'm a FIFA widow for a bit, but Monster House is on Channel 5 in a bit. ♥

Wishlist for the Weekend.

It's come to my attention that I'm pretty good at spending money like water and very terrible at saving it, so I guess I'm doing this to benefit myself in that if I put it here, I'll feel (maybe) a little bad if I go back on it.
I frittered my first paycheque away a little bit and I'm hoping to be a bit more responsible next month, mainly because I just need to be more strict with myself but also because it's about time I start saving properly for Florida in December.

Still, I like to treat myself so here's my mini wish-list for payday, in a hope that I'll be able show a little more direction and restraint if I write it down.

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One: ASOS Leather Jodhpur Ankle Boots — I've been eyeing these up since the beginning of last month with the hope that they'd soon become part of ASOS' never ending, unfortunately they haven't yet but I think they'd be a worthwhile investment. Lets face it, my faux suede £8 Primark ankle boots aren't likely to hold up for much longer.

Two: Models Own Wonderland Box Set — Models Own have been releasing some great glittery polishes lately, but I wasn't totally taken by their earlier Mirrorball set, this one is totally perfect though and I can see myself getting a lot of use out of it, particularly the Snowflake one, which is just dreamy and almost an exact dupe for a flakey GOSH one I had a couple of years ago. They'll be great for Christmas and I love the mixture of fine and chunky glitters.

Three: Samsung Galaxy 10.1 Tablet — There's been a lot of buzz surrounding this tablet so I do feel as though I've been slightly brainwashed into picking it out, but at the same time it's just what I want. As last month saw my first grown-up paycheque, I was reluctant to part with my dosh which I now see was a little silly so next month this will be first on my list. The real question though is whether I pick it up from a real-life shop or save £20 (which could go towards a MicroSD card) and get it online but have to wait around.

Four: A New Hairdryer — It's not an exaggeration to say that my hairdryer has completely fallen apart, I'm pretty surprised that it actually still manages to dry my hair because it really isn't looking so great. Luckily its demise has come when Boots has half price offers on electricals, so this cheap and cheerful leopard-print Mark Hill Style and Shine Raw Power Dryer is an obvious choice.

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I hope you have a great weekend, I'm not going to let my current churchmouse status get me down and hope to get outdoors and snap a few rolls of 35mm because it's been a while. I'm so looking forward to tomorrow's lie-in as well as cooking lots over the next couple of days; sleeping and cooking are things I don't get to do much of during the week.

What I Wore: Polka Dot Creep.

Here's what I wore when I went to Gathering Festival on Saturday. It wasn't too cold but it did get drizzly in the evening and I didn't want to take any chances having only just recovered from being ill for the two days previous to this. I was really pleased with this outfit, it was cosy and warm but I didn't feel too wrapped up.


Coat: Primark
Cardigan: H&M
Dress: Izabel London @ House of Fraser
Belt: Another dress, Primark
Tights: M&S
Socks: Primark
Shoes: Timeless @ ASOS


Necklace: Vintage
Pin: Cath Kidston


Bag: Marc b. @ Topshop


This dress was a total bargain from when I was having my shopping spree fail at the beginning of the month. It was originally £32, marked down to £18 but I got it for £12. I really love the shape and I don't have enough polka dots in my wardrobe at the moment. It actually came in super useful as a semi-smart-casual dress when I was shooting Nick and Cat's wedding the weekend before too. I really like the frilly waist detail and I'm just so pleased, it's definitely one of my best finds in ages.

I'm really sad that these flatform/creepers didn't get more use when I bought them in the summer, but I like styling them up the way I have here and I think I might do it more often. They were really comfortable too, great for standing around for ages, perfect for gigs!

I really hope that this coat is a real bargain and lasts, I'm not hopeful as it's only Primark but it's doing really well so far. I really like the cuffs and it definitely does the job of keeping me cosy now it's colder.


I really enjoyed this manicure. I feel like it might be my first successful attempt at Aztec/Tribal nail art, which I'm definitely putting down to the fantastic Topshop nail art pen.
Proper Copper, Top Turquoise, Vintage Rose & Disco Heaven (Hed Kandi) by Models Own
Country Bumpkin by Topshop
Nightrider, Topshop Nail Art Pen


I finally feel like I've adjusted to the seasonal change now, especially seeing as the weather is behaving more as I would expect it to. Have you been wrapping up warm recently?

Izabel London