Fab Fairies and Wicked Tarts

It had been a long week and I came home from work and Lee surprised me these beauties. He found them at a food market near Moorgate (Guildhall Food Market which was in support of Mental Health) and what a treat they were.

He bought a raspberry cheesecake brownie and a Nutella brownie. The raspberry cheesecake was so moist and fruity whilst I felt I like was just spooning nutella in mouth with the other. I genuinely struggled to decide which one was my favourite but I think the cheesecake brownie just wins. It was proper creamy cheesecake with the fruitiness of brownies and then a moist brownie underneath. Definitely buy one if you come across these guys! Also at only £1.50 each they were an absolute bargain.

Christmas Cork trip - O Conaill Chocolate

Ireland is a favourite destination for Lee and I, tending to go over once a year around Christmas. This time we ventured to Cork for the second time. Smaller than Dublin, it feels cosy and so so Christmassy with the lights weaving around the little streets.

Tucked down French Church Street off the main highstreet is O Conaill's. Prior to arriving in Cork I had had a little Google of the best places for hot chocolate and this came up on Trip Advisor. From the front it just looks like a normal cafe but when you go inside there is chocolate everywhere.

We ordered a normal hot chocolate each and a brownie. They arrived and looked delicious. Obviously a hot chocolate and chocolate brownie need more chocolate and so on the side was a cup of little chocolate buttons. It was all amazing! The hot chocolate was so smooth and the brownies was moist and strong in chocolatey flavour. You don't have to just stick to normal brownie as they do a range of flavours included caramel.

Because we loved it so much we ventured back there the next day and bought a pack of their homemade hot chocolate flakes to take home.

Taste - 8 out of 10

Gooeyness/Denseness - 8 out of 10 

Top - 7 out of 10

Size - 8 out of 10 
Extras - 9 out of 10 - the chocolate buttons were brilliant

Cost - 7 out of 10 

An emotional Christmas lunch

So Thursday 1st December was our annual Research Christmas bash which usually involves food, drink and Secret Santa like any other team Christmas do. However, this one was slightly different because it only involved a research quiz/questionnaire (typical researchers) but also it was the leaving lunch for our manager, so a slightly sad affair. But we had a blast all of us together!

The lunch was at the Bleeding Heart Tavern in Farringdon which has a lovely atmosphere. Very French but very cosy with a warm English pub feel. 

The starter and mains were alright but the dessert was definitely the best. Firstly it was big! Two brownies for the price of one if you will. Topped with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. The brownies were soft with a crisp top, which is a classic winning brownie formula for me. They weren't as rich and sugary as you might expect but the vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce helped to give the extra flavour. Priced at roughly £4.95, it's not an huge cost for a restaurant dessert. 

So to help compare the brownies I taste I have decided to start doing a score out of ten based on the key factors I think that make an excellent brownie:

Taste - 5 out of 10 

Gooeyness/Denseness - 7 out of 10 

Top - 7 out of 10

Size - 8 out of 10 

Added extras (this includes additions to the brownie itself or what comes with the brownie like icecream) - 6 out of 10 

Cost - 7 out of 10 

So overall not a bad performing brownie.

A little pick me up

So Monday was meant to be our team lunch but life wasn't having any of it, what with being on crutches and then a deadline for work. To say I was less than impressed was an understatement. So while my team were out for lunch, I sat at my desk wishing I wasn't huddled over a desk with my leg propped up on an hard wooden stool.

But my mood perked right up when the team came back from lunch with a chocolate brownie from Albion for me. In a cute little cardboard box the brownie was a mix of a chocolate sponge cake and brownie. Moist which it fundamental to a brownie but less dense and gooey than I might have expected. But the taste was good. It had what I thought was a hint of rich liqueur in there but I could be wrong followed by a classic American brownie flavour. By that I mean almost a Betty Crocker flavour. Priced at £2.50 I do not think you can complain for the size and standard considering brownies in London tend to hit the £3 plus mark.

This brownie definitely cheered me up on a Monday afternoon!

Jackie's weekend

The Jackie is a group of four of us from university. We all lived together in the second year of university and ever since then we have been a little unit from our What'sApp chats to our trips to Guernsey (or the Rock as we like to call it) to visit Natalie to our nights out. We try to get together a couple of times a year to catch up with one another.

For this get together we decided to reunite in the place where we first met, Brighton. It was a miserable weekend in January but we drank and ate our way through it.

One of our meals out was to Bill's in the North Lanes of Brighton, which I love anyway because it is so cosy and proper homely meals. Bill's originated in Sussex in Lewes with the Brighton restaurant being the second to open. Bill's feels like a farm shop with food scattering the shelves and rustic slate floor mixed with a buzzing local cafe.

After a massive main I opted to share a dessert with Flo and obviously opted for the warm chocolate brownie. It was delicious! It came with warm chocolate sauce, vanilla ice cream and a chocolate flake and cost £5,95.

The brownie was warm and soft and chocolatey with a crispy top. And then the milk chocolate flake with the brownie was just an added bonus plus not scrimping on the chocolate sauce made it one of my top 10 brownies. Delicious!

Elveden Inn, Thetford

As part of my dad's Christmas present I took him clay pigeon shooting up near Thetford forest which was great fun. The drive isn't too long but still about an hour so after finishing at clay pigeon shooting around 12.30, we decided to stop for something to eat on the way home.

Elveden Inn is on the exit for Brandon just before reaching Thetford town if you are coming from the south. There is a lovely garden room out the back which looks onto the garden and then the main restaurant is an old pub with slate floors and cosy big chairs.

For my main I had the burger which came with cheese and bacon and a side of chips. Whilst the burger tasted like proper juicy meat, it was too small for the bun and there was a lack of condiment and filling within the burger. Having said that the chips were greats, nice chunky crispy chips. So for £12.95 it was bad at all.

The winner of my lunch was the brownie dessert. Not only did it look fab when it arrived with ice cream, chocolate flakes, cream, icing and a raspberry. But the brownie was so lovely and moist. Slightly more cake like than I usually go for but still really good.

If you don't have to rush off from lunch then across the road they also have an amazing farm shop with so much food and home ware stuff. The shop is in a big square with a court yard in the middle where you can have tea and cake.

Costa salted caramel brownie

After spending two hours prepping the bathroom ready for it to be painted (my mum is seriously thorough when it comes to painting prep), we went to Costa for a much needed sugar hit...caffeine for my mum. 

Not only did I have the hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream but I opted for the new Christmas salted caramel brownie which cost £2ish. 

I expected a gooey caramel on the top and not much else but instead it is a thicker caramel which doesn't run that is in blotches throughout the brownie. Whilst it doesn't have much of a salty flavour it is sweet and moist. A nice little treat on the go which doesn't cost too much.