How to bake my Messy Black Forest Gateau

If you haven't guessed already from my instagram pictures, I love cake. I love to buy it, eat it, bake it, take pictures of it and pretty much live off it. Last week someone put the thought of making a black forest gateau into my head and before I knew it I was in Tesco picking up all the ingredients needed. I'm usually a pretty savvy shopper and love getting good quality products for as little as possible but on this day I was in a rush and didn't have my bargain hunting head on. It cost me €17 to buy all the ingredients for this cake. Usually I would have most of them already in the press at home which can save me a few pennies but on this occasion I had to buy each ingredient. And on the plus there is plenty left over to make other treats. 

For the cake you will need:

340g Golden caster sugar

340g Unsalted butter

240g Self-raising flour

100g Cocoa

6 Eggs

For the filling:

2 cans of black cherries in syrup

2 tbsp of Kirsch 

For the icing:

600ml of double cream - The more the better because this cake is pretty rich!!

200g dark chocolate - I bought Tesco own brand and it worked out just as nice as pricey chocolate. Also leave a few squares to decorate your cake afterwards if you like.

1. Preheat your oven to 170C

2. Prepare your cake tin before you start making a mess! Butter, dust with flour and line with greaseproof paper.

3. Now it's time for the good stuff. Whisk the butter and sugar in a bowl until it becomes light and fluffy. 

4. Then begin to beat in the eggs, one at a time. Sift flour and fold into your mixture along with cocoa powder.

5. Place mixture into baking tray and place in oven. Leave in until your entire kitchen smells like chocolate or for you crazy time accurate people 1 hour! Leave on a wire rack to cool.

6. Drain cherries and keep 200ml of the cherry syrup to be added to the kirsch.

7. Slice your cake into three sections.

8. Spoon your cheery syrup evenly over each section and leave to soak.

9. Heat up your double cream and add the chocolate pieces until melted. Place in the fridge to cool and thicken.

10.Now it's time to decorate. You can do this any way you wish. It pretty much involves your whipped cream, cherries and chocolate icing. For my cake I places a layer of cream and cherries between each section and topped the cake with the chocolate icing, chocolate shavings.

11. If you can wait, leave to set in a cool place. If you can't pop the kettle on and grab a fork!!

Enjoy girls,

Sarah

BARGAIN ALERT: INGLOT discount sale to celebrate the launch of Nightlife Collection

INGLOT have spoiled us once again with their new Nightlife Collection which launches this August 1st. Nightlife nails collection consists of five glitter polishes which can be worn on their own or over your own polish to add sparkle and bling. 

To celebrate the launch on August 1st INGLOT are offering a 10% discount in store as well as the chance to grab your favourite products for less, check out the offers below.

3 for 2 on Nails

3 for 2 on AMC pencils

Pro 5 palette reduced to €15

AND

Their 14 piece brush set reduced to €144 from €180

Let me know if you hit one of their stores. I'm on a spending ban myself at the moment as I'm saving up for my first car! The only problem is I have a list as long as my arm of products I want to try when the ban has been lifted! 

Love,

Sarah

YOUR NAILS Magazine

If you are obsessed with nails as much as I am you will love this Irish magazine. It's called Your Nails and retails at €6.50. The magazine has everything that you need to know about on trend nail art, step by step guides and salon reviews. 

The nail art step by step guides are amazing and most are geared towards professionally trained nail technicians in my opinion but even for the likes of myself who isn't trained and just has a real interest in nails I have taken inspiration from these looks to create my own. This magazine is jam packed with really interesting and fun subjects. They even have a fashion section where they show you outfits to match your polish! Product news telling you what the top five selling products are, essentials and updates on new products. They also have a health section showing you the best way to take care of your nails and an education section which covers topics such as "Are artificial nails harmful?".

I really enjoyed reading this magazine over and over again, it's so colourful and full of great tidbits of information. Also check out their website yournailsmag.com for endless inspiration on what to to with your nails next!

Love,

Sarah