burley manor, the new forest

After a long old drive from Norfolk down to Hampshire, and the night before we were due to set sail from Southampton to Norway, we had the sheer joy of driving through the New Forest for stay at Burley Manor. I've only ever been past the outskirts of the New Forest in the past, on the way to the Isle of Wight, and have always wanted to have the chance to explore it further. Burley Manor just so happens to be situated deep in the heart of the area, so beautiful views are to be seen all around.

The rooms are the perfect combination of luxury details, understated yet vivid use of colour and gentrified furnishings. I also found the bed to be insanely comfy which made rising for breakfast in the morning a task in itself.

Dinner was of top quality too and we even had the pleasure of having a mini wine tasting session from the wonderful waiter who made it his mission to convince me into considering something besides pinot grigio for a change. Considering I was only buying two glasses worth and not a full bottle I was super impressed to be treated to some expert wine knowledge before our meal. I always think the staff make or break a place and as everyone we met was so warm and friendly it made the stay that bit more special. 

A stay at Burley Manor on a Bed and Breakfast basis will start from £119 in a snug room. To book or for more information see www.burleymanor.com.

norway fjords cruise: olden and stavanger

For the second half of our cruise to Norway, we stopped first at Olden, a tiny little village hidden between the mountains.  Although this was our first real taste of colder weather as the sunshine had decided to desert us, I really enjoyed the fact the weather was so mixed and gave us a feeling of each season in the separate locations. It was truly so magical to experience landscapes so vastly different from one another all within the same few days. If you've never been to Norway before and imagine what a traditional, unspoilt and quaint little village will look like, Olden is exactly that. 

The final port of call was Stavanger, on yet another bright and sunny day. If you're in the mood for shopping and eating (which if you're like me, is always) then there's plenty of trendy places to explore. Though be careful when it comes to food as I somehow managed to spend just over £10 on a starter sized portion of nachos. Stavanger really has it nailed when it comes to being everything I love about Scandinavian cities, ultra clean looking and decidedly monochrome architecture along with the odd edgy graffiti artwork and of course a huge amount of plants and trees. 

Stavanger's answer to a Scandi hipster version of Selfridges comes in the form of Høyer, and if you have cash to burn, it's unmissable. It just so happens that I managed to stumble across a rather pricey bomber jacket and kissed goodbye to an eye-watering sum all at once. Enter with caution. 

I truly had the most incredible and memorable experience in Norway, and having the luxury of being able to see so many wonderful places all whilst hopping back onto the Britannia at the end of each day was an absolute joy. I know only too well that cruising can have the rep of being an older person's thing, but I strongly believe it's a gem left to be discovered for younger generations and I'm convinced that it's by far one of the most efficient and enjoyable ways to travel. As for Norway itself, I'm already hoping that I get to visit again one year soon! 

summer berries chocolate birthday cake

With my mum's birthday coming up, I decided to take on the yearly task of baking up a special birthday cake. I say yearly, but in fact it only became a tradition after I spent an entire day making a rainbow cake for her 50th last year. As we usually have family over to celebrate, it always feels like the prime time to roll up my sleeves and attempt to create a masterpiece. I'm comfortably familiar with the ins and outs of a classic vanilla sponge recipe, so this time opted for a rich and fudgy chocolate cake as oddly enough I've never once given one a go. I nabbed the recipe from bbc good food, except I made the slight alteration of making it two layers instead of three and I added summer fruits as a topping as they're bang in season. I also decided to make a raspberry coulis (fancy huh) to pour over the slices of cake too, but it really is just as delicious on it's own. I picked up the golden cake board and Happy Birthday cake topper from Hobbycraft, and the candles from Waitrose.

METHOD

- Butter a 20cm round cake tin (7.5cm deep) and line the base. Preheat the oven to fan 140C/conventional 160C/ gas 3. Break 200g good quality dark chocolate in pieces into a medium, heavy-based pan. Cut 200g butter into pieces and tip in with the chocolate, then mix 1 tbsp instant coffee granules into 125ml cold water and pour into the pan. Warm through over a low heat just until everything is melted – don’t overheat. Or melt in the microwave on Medium for about 5 minutes, stirring half way through.

- While the chocolate is melting, mix 85g self-raising flour, 85g plain flour, ¼ bicarbonate of soda, 200g light muscovado sugar, 200g golden caster sugar and 25g cocoa powder in a big bowl, mixing with your hands to get rid of any lumps. Beat 3 medium eggs in a bowl and stir in 75ml (5 tbsp) buttermilk.

- Now pour the melted chocolate mixture and the egg mixture into the flour mixture, stirring just until everything is well blended and you have a smooth, quite runny consistency. Pour this into the tin and bake for 1 hour 25-30 minutes – if you push a skewer in the centre it should come out clean and the top should feel firm (don’t worry if it cracks a bit). Leave to cool in the tin, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

- When the cake is cold, cut it horizontally into two/three. Make the ganache: chop 200g good quality dark chocolate into small pieces and tip into a bowl. Pour a 284ml carton of double cream into a pan, add 2 tbsp golden caster sugar, and heat until it is about to boil . Take off the heat and pour it over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.

- Sandwich the layers together with just a little of the ganache. Pour the rest over the cake letting it fall down the sides and smoothing to cover with a palette knife. Decorate with fruit whilst chocolate is still unset. The cake keeps moist and gooey for 3-4 days.

If you want your cake to have an expert finish, I'd say first make a batch of 2/3 of the chocolate ganache recipe, cover the cake and leave to set, then add on a final layer to smooth out any imperfections. I was more than happy for my cake to have a homemade feel so wasn't overly fussed about attempting something that resembled a bake off showstopper. All in all the cake turned out to be a real success and was surprisingly easy to make, making it both super pretty to look at, delicious to eat and doable to bake.