vappeby bluetooth speaker : ikea

vappeby bluetooth speaker : ikea

We’ve had a Bose Soundlink Mini II bluetooth speaker for a good few years now. It’s portable, the charge lasts for quite a long time and the sound quality is excellent. It still looks pretty cool after about ten years, so design-wise, it ticks boxes for us. It’s small enough to pack into an overnight bag, so when we go away, it’s usually brought with us, as we can’t be without our Spotify playlists. It’s used both indoors and outdoors – and this is the only real negative. It’s not waterproof or rain resistant. Not that we’d ever leave it out in the rain, but sometimes you are caught a bit short and it has had to be rescued in the nick of time, from an unexpected shower or two. But, we’ve been more than happy with it.

However, we now have a young pretender. Step forward a rather funky looking bluetooth speaker from IKEA, of all places. We weren’t in the market for a new one, necessarily, but having just had outdoor sockets finally fitted in the garden, we’ve been re-thinking how things can be a whole lot better, sound and lighting wise. We’ve even considered a projector so that we can watch films outside, like the time we watched Cinema Paradiso on a wall in a village in Lesvos. But, I don’t think we were really considering a new speaker, until I read something about the VAPPEBY speaker online. Not only was it a very good price – €49.95 – but the reviews were amazing, especially relating to chargeability, portability and sound quality. One thing which definitely steered us in its direction was the Spotify Tap, the technology that lets you start, or carry on listening, just by tapping a button, rather than opening the app on your phone, selecting a playlist, and going through all that rigamarole. Just press a button on the device to start streaming with Spotify Tap. Don’t like what’s playing? Press the button again and another recommended song will start up. Once pared with your playlist, it’s very intuitive and the tap function is really good added extra. One which our Bose doesn’t have. Being made of tough, easy to clean plastic, and rated IP65, it’s shower proof, so completely suitable for using outdoors, especially as it has 360-degree sound meaning that the music plays clearly and distinctly. Again, another feature missing from our much more expensive Bose speaker.

We bought this on Sunday and did charge it initially – there was already some charge in it, but it is only this morning (Thursday) that it has needed to be recharged. And, when I say we have hammered its use, I really do mean that – it’s been in use every day since Sunday, because we can’t work without music. So, that’s another big plus point. Another plus point, is that it also has a lamp function, with two settings, one being a bit more ambient than the other. The brighter setting, however, is perfect for evenings in the garden when it starts to fall dark. The sturdy carrying handle is also very useful, especially if you are carrying other things in and out of the garden at the same time.

The unit comes in three colours – white, a sage green (the one we purchased) and a dark blue/grey. It’s good to know that a USB cable for charging the portable speaker is included, but if you need a USB power adapter, this is NOT included, and is sold separately.

So, so far so good with our new Bluetooth speaker, which was less than €50. Perhaps a summer of it being used all the time, may reveal signs of wear and tear, and we may return to our faithful Bose, but I think we have high hopes for the VAPPEBY.

This is NOT a sponsored post. We paid full price for the speaker and we have NOT been asked to review it. All photographs of the product are IKEA images, from the website.

velvet bar : zagreb

velvet bar : zagreb

We have very fond memories of Velvet, on Canal Street, in Manchester, way back in the ’90s. Along with bars such as Manto and Metz, these places just seemed to ooze glamour and decadence and opened up a whole new world – definitely a far cry from some of the student haunts we used to visit. When we moved to West Didsbury in 2000, it took a good couple of years before we saw any kind of resurgence and renovation, and so still largely travelled into the city centre to get our glamour kicks. Then, The Metropolitan was given a new lease of life, and West Didsbury started to become the place to be, and as everything was on our doorstep, we stayed local, and all of the early 90s bars became fuzzy memories.

Move onto 2017 and we found ourselves living an entirely different life. Up in the hills of northern Istria. With not a Velvet anywhere on the horizon. But, over the past few years, things have started to develop in our neck of the woods and we have a lot more choice for eating out and drinking options. But, as in the old days, sometimes you need to head the bright lights of the big city – and these days, when we do, it’s often Zagreb.

So, the reason I initially mentioned Velvet on Canal Street, is that we’ve now found ourselves another Velvet – this time, tucked away under the old town of Zagreb, conveniently located next to an underground car park, beautiful independent stores, cool restaurants and stylish apartments, perfect for a short stay. At night, it’s dark and moody and velvety. Perfectly adorned with chandeliers and ambient twinkling lights. Set on different levels and with different rooms/areas, you can be as anonymous or as gregarious as you want to be. By day, it’s light and airy, and serves just about the best coffees we’ve found so far in Croatia, as well as a massive array of cakes and sweet bakes and savoury sandwiches and toasties. A very good way to begin your day or enjoy a leisurely brunch.

Although we do currently need to go a little further afield to find a funky bar, than we did when we lived in West Didsbury, we see the travel as part of the adventure. We get to stay over in places we wouldn’t otherwise probably have investigated – seven years ago, I would never have considered high-tailing into Zagreb, as we used to in Manchester. But that’s how our lives have turned out – opportunities we never knew were possible, but even if it’s the name of a bar, always intertwined with our Manchester lives…

 

the start of spring 2024

the start of spring 2024

This winter definitely hasn’t felt as long as previous ones we’ve spent in Istria. When summer ended and family went home after four long, fabulous weeks, we had two autumn visits from friends, when we experienced a really warm October, feeling that summer was still stretching itself out. At the start of December, we met up with Didsbury friends in Bergamo for birthday celebrations, and at Christmas, family came out again. We then had a lovely surprise New Year visit, from the friends we’d gone to Bergamo with, so by the time January arrived, we almost felt that summer was only just over.

January and February have been pretty mild, too – no snow, so far, and we are crossing our fingers it stays away this year. We’ve had rain and wind and fog,but who doesn’t in winter? And although we’ve been here long enough now, to know that the weather doesn’t settle into a summery rhythm until later April/early May, March has arrived and brought with it warm weather, blue skies and sunshine.

We’ve been keeping ourselves busy, doing a BIG de-clutter. The outside cellar has finally been cleared and rationalised – seven years worth of *stuff* has been either stored away neatly and tidily, or put on the ever growing pile for the municipal tip. We can finally get inside it now, and get to the overspill fridge – very handy in the summer! – instead of stumbling over boxes, bags, bicycles, pots of paint and all of the paraphernalia that comes with a long house renovation. We also have two sheds in the garden – one that was supposed to be a storage place for all things gardening related, the other, a home for all of the garden furniture cushions and throws and lanterns etc. Of course, these have also become dumping grounds and nothing has had its own place, so cushions have been squashed up against terracotta planters and lights and lanterns have just been shoved wherever there was a space. Not any more though – everything now has a home, and we feel super organised and ready for the onset of very warm weather. Maybe the budding trees and plants have motivated us, but we feel very re-energised and ready for a big summer of adventure.

minimalist colour palette

minimalist colour palette

We’ve been working on the process of stripping back the colours in our home, for the last year. Our initial colour choices were quite bold – deep navy, copper, shades of grey. These worked well for us, and created a real warmth in our stone house. However, what you once really loved, can now seem not quite right. Since we designed and had built a very spacious, tiered, walled Mediterranean style garden to the rear of the house, where a little tumble down house once stood, the interior of the house needed to change. As well as the garden, we had a window knocked out in the living room and French doors installed, leading out onto a box balcony and down into the garden. More light now floods into the living room and we felt that we should embrace the natural colours we now have. Darker tones were perfect in our house in West Didsbury, where it was often cloudy and dull, but we were beginning to realise that we were actually working against the natural colours we now have.

So, Farrow & Ball Hague Blue is no more. Dark grey rugs have been moved from the living room and well room, replaced by much more natural, jute rugs, of different shapes and sizes. The resin treated concrete table, which was quite dark and speckled, has been transformed with a light sanding and a few coats of white paint. Dark shelving has gone and in its place, we’ve introduced white cupboards and chalk painted new versions. And, well, the whole house feels like a new house. We’ve increased the sense of space and with a little bit of de-cluttering too, let the house breathe.

Natural colours and textures are now threaded through all of the rooms, so even where there is a darker element – like a big, grey rug or our squishy charcoal grey modular sofa – it now longer dominates. The light coming into the house feels “lighter” – probably because it now has a more natural palette to bounce off. Blue perspex “ghost” chairs, which sat around the resin concrete table, have been replaced with two solid wooden benches, now covered with white faux sheepskin covers. Natural hessian runners give coverage on the table – easier to clean up a wine spill from a runner than it staining a white table!

Gradually, we’ve replaced accessories around the house, mostly without really realising we were doing it. The colours of candles have changed – more natural pillar candles, and paler colours instead of strong, bold gold and navy. Wooden bowls, softer cushion covers, oatmeal coloured linen curtains and white woodwork throughout, are changing the feel of our home. When we renovated, I think we were still attached to what we had done in West Didsbury and so replicated quite a lot. But now, we’ve finally realised that we live in a very different place and climate, where things are much more Mediterranean and we can actually authentically embrace this style. Perhaps we’re just now preparing ourselves for a new way of living…

salon de provence : bouches-du-rhône : france

salon de provence : bouches-du-rhône : france

Our road trip to France, was semi-planned. We had an idea of certain areas we wanted to visit to see if they could be added to our list of possible places for relocation. So, as we set off for the south-eastern region, we knew we wanted to tick off Beziers, Carcassonne and Nîmes, but apart from that we were pretty easy about where we headed to and stopped off. We think this is the best way to get to know places, and we were proven right on this trip. We don’t think we’d heard of – or, at least they hadn’t really registered – Arles, Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, Caunes Minervois or Salon de Provence, but these places all resonated for very different reasons.

Our stop over in Salon de Provence, nearly didn’t happen. We had thought to book somewhere in Aix-en-Provence, but on googling hotels etc, Salon caught our eyes and we decided it might be worth investigating. And, we were in luck as I found a beautiful hotel – La Maison d’été – which had availability. As we were in the locality, rather than book online from the car, we decided to go in person and book in for the evening. Only on arrival, I was informed by a quite a dismissive gentleman, who I assumed to be the owner as he had the air of someone with a degree of responsibility, that even though I might have found something online, he could assure me that this hotel was fully booked. As they are most nights, he added. And no, when I asked, did he know of any other hotels in the area. And back he went, to quaffing a glass of wine with guests who were clearly checking in, leaving me feeling like a little bit of a spare part, in the beautiful entrance way.

So, in my head I stuck two fingers up at him, and returned to the car, where we did find another hotel very close by – Hotel d’Angleterre – which had excellent reviews, looked quirky and also apparently had availability. We booked the room immediately and headed to check in. A slight Fawlty Towers moment happened when we arrived at reception, as I tried to explain we had just made a booking, but the receptionist, who could speak no English, so I was reliant on my limited French, would not accept we had made a booking, as we weren’t in her system. However, she did manage to convey that we could park outside the hotel – free after 6pm until 9am, so *result* – and by the time we’d done this, we had appeared on the system, and all was OK with the world. Check in successful. I intend to do a separate blog about the hotel as I think it deserves it, so I’m skipping to what we thought about the small part of Salon de Provence that we discovered, the next morning, when it was bathed in beautiful September sunshine.

Photo credit : https://rampal-latour.fr/collections/savon-de-marseille

Not having heard of Salon de Provence before we visited, there were some things we discovered, which we found to be very interesting. Firstly, that this is town where the production of my favourite soaps – Savon de Marseille – is carried out, in the historic soap factory of Rampal Latour, soap maker since 1828 and installed in Salon since 1907. For an entry of between €3 – €5, if you are a real soap fiend, you can visit the Marseille Soap Museum, too.

If soap’s not thing, maybe predictions and prophecies are, and of so, Salon is your town. The place where Nostradamus settled in 1547 to make a family home for himself, his wife Anne and their 6 children, and where he wrote all his books and where he died twenty years later in 1566. His house is now a museum, which is open all year, Monday to Friday from 09:00 – 12:00 and 14:00 to 18:00, and at weekends from 14:00 – 18:00. Entry to the museum costs around 5 euros for adults and is free on the 1st Sunday of each month.

If soaps and prophecies don’t do it for you, maybe the fact that since 1946, Salon de Provence has been home to the École de l’Air at Salon de Provence Air Base. The quarters of the Patrouille de France have been there since 1964. It is the only flying school in France and trains 400 Air Force officers a year in military, scientific, social and intense physical training for positions “on the ground” or as crew, with some fighter pilots graduating from the school and making their name in the famous Patrouille de France. Often, you can have the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the Patrouille de France’s planes in the sky, training. Salon is also home to the Château de l’Empéri, the oldest fortress in Provence. Surrounded by the old houses nestled against its walls, it dominates the city, and houses the Military Museum with a collection of Napoleon’s uniforms, weapons and objects unique in the world, a pair of gloves that belonged to General Bonaparte, a cartridge box that belonged to Louis XV and the uniform of a French soldier who took part in the victory parade in Paris at the end of the Great War.

But for us, with only an hour or so before we had to hit the road again, we decided on this occasion, to soak up the morning atmosphere, as the town was just stirring. The historic centre is absolutely beautiful, and as French as French could be. If you had clipboard with a list every quintessential French cliche, you’d definitely get a full house here – wrought iron balconies, honey coloured stone buildings, pastel coloured wooden shutters, plane tree lined boulevards, independent shops and boutiques, effortlessly super stylish people, boulangeries, patisseries, street planters tumbling with flowers, no litter. And the list goes on. It is a beautiful, beautiful town and if we had already sold our house and were in a position to move there and then, I’d have spent the day house hunting. Thankfully, we weren’t in a position to buy there and then, so common sense prevailed, but, Salon de Provence is definitely a town on our radar. And, amongst other things – location, distance to other important places, amenities etc – this is why…

Visiting this area of France has certainly given us a lot to think about, as we consider where we might want to relocate to, when our renovated stone house in Istria is sold. We know that our itchy feet are leading us in the direction of Spain or France, but we still want close proximity to Italy, and the south east of France seems to give us the best location, in terms of being close to borders. But, we still need to investigate as this move has to be right – and if investigation means discovering beautiful towns like Salon de Provence, this makes us very happy in the meantime.

a little bit of art deco design

a little bit of art deco design

Our Istrian stone house has not an iota of art deco about it. With a very traditional Mediterranean stone house structure, a Scandi inspired interior and a contemporary exterior, there’s nothing at all that hints at this popular design style of the 1920s and 1930s. However, by accident, more than intention, we seem to have introduced a bit of the characteristics of this style, beginning the process of creating an external geometric privacy screen. We had toyed with the idea of just attaching a shop bought wooden trellis to the concrete walls at the rear of the house, but felt that after all of the work and time and expenditure which has gone in to the garden, this would be a cheap solution, in terms of design, and we wouldn’t be happy with it. So, we’ve gone completely DIY. Lots of wood is now ready to be cut down into various sizes, to create a frame, which will sit on top of the concrete wall, which overlooks the side access road. We’ve already started creating this frame, but it’s quite slow progress, as we are novices and although we have plenty of tools, we don’t have the top end professional tools which would complete this project quickly. But, we’re happy to just tootle along, preparing for spring in our time, knowing that we don’t have a deadline. Knowing that if it’s raining, it doesn’t matter. And knowing that when the sun shines, we can put a couple of hours aside to make progress…

Although we are not overlooked, our neighbour does have a garden and a carport just across the access road, opposite the wall in the photo above. His land, and what he has on it, doesn’t impinge on us in any way, but we just felt that the wall could be enhanced by trailing, rambling plants, not totally blocking the view but affording us a little more privacy, especially in the summer, when we sunbathe in this garden.

To make the construction, we bought traditional 4×4 timber and had it cut into lengths of 200cms and 100cms at the DIY store, mainly for transportation but because we knew that we wanted the individual frames to be of different sizes and different orientations, so having it cut smaller initially, meant it would then be easier to cut down at home. The first part of the jigsaw was the “frame” around the entrance. This will eventually – and hopefully – have tumbling greenery wrapped around it, so we needed to ensure it was high enough for tall people to walk under. Bracketed to the wall at the bottom and fixed with strong wire to the wall, this particular section will be strengthened as the additional frames are added.

For extra strength – we do get strong seasonal winds here (a bit like the Meltemi winds in Greece) – we’re adding blocks of wood, within the frames, and this is what’s going to give it its overall art deco style.

The next frame is being added today – slightly higher than the one to the right of the opening and not as wide, with possibly a vertical piece of timber, and maybe an offset horizontal one. We’ll continue this fairly random, but geometric structure, all the way along the wall, priming, undercoating and top coating as we go. The final piece of the jigsaw will be the potted Russian Vines, which we know are exceptionally fast and large-growing climbing plants very aptly, known as ‘mile-a-minute’. At the moment, the dark green heart-shaped leaves, haven’t budded, so the network of branches and stems are the only things on show and there is no great ornamental value, at the moment. However, we know that soon, masses of white or pinky-white flowers will appear and these are attractive to bees and other pollinators. Having had Russian Vine in our West Didsbury garden, we know how it grows, and so the shears and trimmers will always be on standby…

centro paolo vi : brescia

centro paolo vi : brescia

We’re not religious people by any stretch of the imagination, but I do like a bit of Italian theatrics when it comes to things of a holy nature. I also like a hotel which is a little bit different, and if it comes with free, secure parking – as we’re never without a bootful of goodies on our travels – then this is a winner. And Centro Paolo VI, in the heart of Brescia, delivers on all of these.

Located a short distance from the Roman Forum, the hotel is housed in a beautiful 17th-century building with original features including elaborate frescoes, grand sweeping staircases, parquet flooring, enormous chandeliers and baroque ceilings.

The hotel itself now houses a conference centre, so certain parts of it do have quite a “business” feel, but it was also a thriving convent. And, one of the more unusual elements of this hotel, is that an order of nuns do still live here. Not that you’d particularly notice, if you weren’t aware – they presumably live away from the public part of the hotel, but with a church on-site, you may well catch a glimpse of a nun, on her way to early morning mass. The cloisters now form part of the hotel corridors and run alongside the beautiful internal walled garden, and its not hard to imagine huddles of nuns, in their habits, scurrying out of the convent and into the gardens, on their way to pray in the church. It’s definitely a bit out of the ordinary to stay here, but the religious aspects are not in-your-face, so you can certainly avoid them if all you want is a place, at a very reasonable price, close to all of the amenities in Brescia centro.

The rooms aren’t boutique, by any stretch of the imagination. Because of its location, we’ve stayed here three or four times now, so have seen different rooms, and all have been clean and quite comfortable, but pretty functional. Dark wooden furniture – don’t be thinking old, vintage, mis-matched, more 1970s dark-stained beds, wardrobes and desks – and mulberry coloured curtains and bedding, can feel a little bit oppressive in the smaller rooms, but higher up, the rooms are larger and some have large terraces. These are the ones we tend to choose, even just for a stop over, because the feeling of space is much better and the terraces do overlook the beautiful gardens, and there are glimpses of Brescia. You also get to see cracking sunsets from these rooms. So, the upshot is, you wouldn’t necessarily stay here because of the rooms, more the experience. And the gardens are very lovely, with towering trees, which would probably be perfect to give shade in the summer.

The hotel also offers free parking – you can’t reserve a space, but because it also has conference facilities, there are a good few spaces available, and it is very safe and secure as it inside the walled courtyard. Located on a very quiet street, behind high walls, the hotel offers real peace and quiet, but in under five minutes, you can be in the centre of the historical part of Brescia, with its fabulous piazzas and Roman ruins and colonnaded walkways, as well as very brutalist architectural buildings and amazing Piazza del Vittoria. This square is linked inextricably with Mussolini who in 1932, during the ceremony of inauguration of the square, which coincided with the tenth anniversary of the birth of fascism, was present and gave a speech to a huge crowd. Today, it is a square where people go more to passagiata than fawn over a dictator, and there are some lovely bars and restaurants around the square.

So, would we recommend Centro Paolo VI as a place to stay in Brescia? Yes, we would – but with a word of caution. It is NOT a boutique hotel. It could be described in places as being a bit austere. Certainly in the rooms and breakfast area, there’s little panache or anything to elevate it beyond a functional place to stay. However, the overall experience is worth it, even if just to admire the beauty of the oldest parts of the building and grounds. But, with easy access into Brescia and secure parking, plus a very good price point, I think you’d struggle to find anywhere really comparable in a historic Italian city centre.

 

repurposing a chimney pot

repurposing a chimney pot

One of the stranger things we packed into the back of the removal lorry when we came out to Istria, was the large clay, chimney pot which had been removed from the roof of our West Didsbury house, when we were renovating it, because it was redundant. I’m not sure why we didn’t just leave it in the garden, but packing up your whole life probably makes you do things that don’t make total sense at the time. Anyway, the soot stained pot – which is large and resembles an oversized chess piece – has been in various locations, around our garden here. None of which have really been perfect and in all honesty, we have really questioned at times, why we were keeping it. It has been planted up with various plants, none of which were ever right, and in its last incarnation, it was a receptacle to house brooms, rakes and shovels. So, looked a bit of a mess. It’s also ingrained with black soot – even our high pressure water washer couldn’t shift it and so all in all, it just wasn’t the prettiest, But for some reason, we’ve persevered with it, thinking that one day, we’d do something with it. After all, it had come all the way from West Didsbury and survived a winter in the garden, when the big house renovations started, back in 2018, so we reasoned it deserved a chance.

Fast forward six years from the photo above, and we’ve moved on an awful lot. The exterior of the house (and the interior, thank goodness), is now largely finished, and we’re in that great place where we are tweaking and accessorising to our hearts’ content. And so, at the weekend, we made a decision about the chimney pot and gave it a whole new lease of life, by sanding it down and spray painting it white. The sooty residue can’t be budged, so this has started to show through, along with the greeny tinge around the base – bit this just adds to its rustic charm now.

A variety of plectranthus – with already a very strong aroma of incense – has been planted up, and its tendrils falling over the top of the pot. These will hopefully grow and we’ll finally have a splendid chimney pot. It’s also the first new addition to the rear garden – last year, this all felt so new and we were a bit unsure about how to style this garden, beside our white stones and olive trees and ornamental palms. But this year, we’ve got used to our new space, and we don’t feel as in awe of it, and so we have some big plans for what we call our Secret Garden. We’ve already started on our plans for the white concrete wall which runs alongside the access road, which we’ve covered in white stones, and which we share with one neighbour. It’s involving a lot of wood and cutting and painting, as well as pots of Fallopia Baldschuanica (Russian Vine) which have been planted up, ready to go into position. But for now, we’re pretty delighted with our upcycled West Didsbury chimney pot…

super speedy salmon supper

super speedy salmon supper

Saturday evenings often remind me of Azzurro Restaurant in West Didsbury, just around the corner from where we used to live. It was a real “local” restaurant for us – owned and staffed by people we knew and really liked, and often full of people who were either friends or acquaintances. The food also, was just unbelievably good. Real Italian fare, without a pizza or a garlic bread in sight. And, without a doubt, my go-to favourite, cooked to utter perfection, was the fresh seabass with linguine. I’ve missed it, so this weekend, we made our own take on this Azzurro classic…

We didn’t have fresh sea-bream, but did have some lovely salmon fillets, so used these an alternative. And, for a quick dinner, we’ll definitely be doing this again…

what you’ll need

  • salmon fillets, marinaded for about two hours in olive oil, chilli flakes, honey and paprika
  • cherry tomatoes, on the vine
  • linguine (or spaghetti)
  • fresh basil leaves for garnish
  • parmesan

what you’ll need to do

It couldn’t be simpler.

  • marinade the salmon fillets
  • roast the cherry tomatoes, on the vine
  • cook the linguine
  • griddle the salmon fillets, so that they char
  • strain the linguine, and then mix in the salmon fillets (which will flake) and top with the cherry tomatoes, still on the vine (they just look prettier, if served like this…)
  • sprinkle with parmesan flakes and fresh torn basil leaves

Very different to the restaurant standard Azzurro dish, but absolutely perfect for a DIY fish/pasta dish. Especially when paired with a lovely Italian white, and eaten on the sofa. Just what weekends are about…

 

three ingredient chocolate cake

three ingredient chocolate cake

I have never been much of a baker, but I do love the idea of baking. Unfortunately, I’m very impatient and I like quick and easy – preferably immediate – results, so the thought of standing in the kitchen, baking up a complicated recipe doesn’t really do it for me. I wish it did, as I think I’d take great pleasure in successful results, but that’s where we’re at. Then I stumbled across this recipe…

three ingredient chocolate cake

And, yes – it does actually require only three ingredients, so I figured I could give this one a go. I’m sure more creative bakers would enhance the recipe, but I decided to stick with the original, apart from a slight flourish with the topping…

what you’ll need

  • 350g choc chip cookies – I used two packets of quite deluxe cookies, with plenty of chocolate chips
  • 360ml milk
  • 10g baking powder

what you’ll need to do

Simply crush the cookies, using a bag and a rolling pan, leaving some larger chunks for texture. Tip into a mixing bowl, add the milk and baking powder and blend, either by hand or using a whisk. Pour into a parchment lined baking tin and bake for 25 minutes in an oven, preheated to 180°C. Use a wooden skewer to check that it is cooked and then allow to cool. Remove from the tin, place on a wire tray and unless you want a naked chocolate cake, you can begin decorating. Extra ingredients are obviously needed at this point, but these are up to you, as I’m sure you’ll be a whole lot imaginative than I was.

All I did was melt a large bar of Milka chocolate and smothered this over the cake, leaving it quite rough – this almost any errors were easily disguised. As an extra sparkle, I added tiny white chocolate curls and dried raspberries – all taken from a box of museli…