Orange and Hazelnut Yoghurt cake

I don’t usually consider oranges to be the most inspiring of fruits. To me they are, well, quite boring and ordinary, actually. Except during this time of the year, our oranges at this time of the year are super sweet and filled with so much juicy goodness, that they just cannot be ignored. I decided to take full advantage of the season’s offerings and baked up this delicious Orange and Hazelnut Yoghurt cake this weekend. I got the recipe out of a book called Cakes to celebrate love and life by Callie Maritz and Mari-Louis Guy. The aroma that fills the air whilst this cake is baking is undeniably entrancing. The warm aromtic cake then gets doused in orange syrupy goodness, before being topped with roatsed crushed hazelnuts and candied orange slices.

Orange and Hazelnut Yoghurt Cake:

Ingredients:

Cake:

350g Self Raising Flour
115g Ground Hazelnuts
150g Castor Sugar
5ml Baking Powder
2 large eggs lighly beaten
250ml Bulgarian Yoghurt
155ml sunflower oil
zest of 1 Lemon

Orange Syrup:

280ml Water
350g Castor Sugar
Juice of 1 orange
Juice of 1 Lemon
zest of 1 Orange

Method:

Preheat the Oven to 180 degrees (Celsius). Combine all the ingredients for the cake and beat until everything is mixed together. The consistency will be very thick and sticky. Spoon batter into a prepared cake tin and baked for 30-45 minutes. While the cake is baking, prepare the syrup. Place all the ingredients in a small pot and bring to the boil, continue to boil until all the sugar has dissolved. Pour the syrup over the cake while it is still hot. Top with roasted crushed hazelnuts and candied orange slices.

Give me the funny

I love to laugh, so it goes without saying that I am a huge fan of stand up comedy. Pablo Francisco is without a doubt one of my favourites, so you can imagine my delight when I found out that he would be performing at the Nando’s Comedy Festival at Monte Casino, along with a host of other talented comedians. I immediately snatched up tickets, and I'm so glad I did, it was just what I needed in the middle of a stress filled week. Our very own Trevor Noah was the MC for the evening and provided the audience with laughs the whole way through, it was my first time seeing him and he had me practically crying with laughter.

I also have tickets to see Jeff Dunham in September at Sun City. Yikes! I’m starting to sound like a comedy groupie!

{I wore a dark charcoal dress, with beading on the shoulders that i picked up at H&M in Berlin. I paired it with tights and Black Boots from Migato}

{Pink and purple eyeshadow, to brighten up the outfit a bit...and of course a headband!}

 

{The shoulder detail is so delicate, I get nervous everytime it gets washed}

I hope you are all having a fantastic weekend!

Separation Anxiety

 I recently lost one earring from my absolutely favourite pair of earrings from Sass Diva (as seen here) and for some reason I just cannot bring myself to throw the remaining earring away. What use could I possibly have for one earring? None. No use. Useless. So, on this weekend I decided to go past Sass Diva hoping that I could get the same pair or at least a replacement pair. I was hopeful that finding a new pair would prompt me to throw the poor friendless earring away. I didn’t find the same pair but found a similar replacement pair, which is the pair in these pictures. Pretty, right? Then why can I still not bring myself to throw the other earring away? Am I deranged?

 

{I also purchased this super sized flower brooch at Sass Diva, which I thought brought my outfit just the right amount of quirky cuteness}

{I cannot wait to wear my summer shorts, so i figured, why wait then, and decided to pair them with some stockings}

{I hope you don't grow too tired of this fossil bag and my over the knee boots, because I just love them and I have a sneaky suspiscion that this wont be the last you see of them}

{Boots-Migato; Stockings-Woolworths; Shorts-Roxy; Black T-Woolworths; Cardigan-Woolworths, Earrings and Brooch- Sass Diva, Bag-Fossil}

I Hope you all have a fantastic week!

Vitamin C Lippie

Lately I have been seeing all these fabulous dames sporting gorgeous bright orange lippie. I would imagine that this colour is probably better suited to summer, but I can't help thinking that in the midst of winter in South Africa, this could just be the perfect Vitamin C injection to help chase the winter blues away. I don’t know if I could pull the look off, with my lips being anorexic and all (have always had the hugest complex about my skinny lips) but these ladies make it look just gorgeous! Is orange the new red? We'll have to wait and see. (And maybe this trend will finally push me to treat myself to some lip plumping, but thats a whole other story, that will require a different type of injection, a painful one.)

 

Images Courtesy of  Glamour by dawn; Morning Cloak and Sterling Style

Secret Treasure Trove

On Saturday I discovered the gem that is 44 Stanley in Milpark Johannesburg. What used to be a whole lot of industrial buildings and dilapidated workshops, has been turned into an inspiring little boutique shopping experience. You can amble through all the speciality shops and little cafe's and restaurants while taking in all the artistic beauty that surrounds you. The original 1930's architecture remains, which just adds to the quaint beauty of it all. Here you will find something to amuse even the most discerning of tastes, whether it be vintage interiors, high fashion pieces or freshly baked goods, whatever your poison 44 Stanley has the antidote for you! I will most definitely return and will keep returning until I have eaten my way through every restaurant and browsed every corner of every store. I left there truly inspired.

{Over the knee boots-Migato; Tights-Woolworths; Handag-Fossil, as seen here; Oversized white shirt-Miladys, Black pullover with buttons-woolworths; headband- sass diva, Vintage Ray Ban sunnies- my mom }

{The restaurant we ate at, Il Giardino, I had a delicious pasta with mushrooms and parmesan cheese, followed by Lindt chocolate mousse, was divine! }

{spying on the people outside, don't you just love people watching?}

{cute little mismatched chairs}

{Me and my gorgeous friend Nina}

Unfortunately my camera died on me, so I didn’t get too many shots of the outside and all the little stores. Oh well, all the more reason to go back.

Fendi Find

Venice is not like any city you have ever seen, I mean, it floats on water for goodness sake, it is mindboggling and feels completely unreal. Feels more like you're in a Disney amusement park! Except with the most gorgeous ancient architecture you can imagine!

Well the point of this post is not to gush over how great Venice is, believe me I am not able to do it any justice just by describing it in words. You have to experience it yourself. So if it’s not on your " To travel list" scribble it in there now!

The point is this post, is to give you some close up pics of the gorgeous Fendi sunnies, as promised here, that I picked up in Venice. My boyfriend- bless him- bought them for me for my birthday. They are so unique, they have cutsie little flowers on the bottom of the frames, that have been carved into the backside of the frame making it look as though the flowers are floating in the tortoise shell frame! The flowers are repeated in the ear piece of the sunnies as well! So gorgeous!

 

Monday Munchies

Last night I ate a red velvet cupcake for dinner! Yes! For dinner! I am a total sucker for the sweet stuff. My current obsession is red velvet! Red velvet cake, red velvet cupcakes, red velvet anything really! It’s a really pretty piece of confectionary, the bright velvety red colour of the cake against the pale cream cheese frosting, makes it a delight for both the eyes and the taste buds!

Images courtesy of three-walls; womansday; myflourgarden & foodnetwork