RECIPE: Eggless Victora Sponge Cake

So it was my nani's birthday last week, she turned the big 89! So I decided to make her a cake. She doesn't actually eat eggs so I set out to make an eggless version of my all-time favourite, the Victoria sponge. Before this, I had only ever made an eggless cake once, yeaaars ago, and it didn't taste that great so I was sceptical of whether this was actually going to work. BUT to my surprise IT WAS DELICIOUS! I decided to make a vanilla buttercream to go along with it and topped it with loads of strawberries. The strawberries didn't all make it through the journey to my nani's house because my niece decided that she wanted to eat them all.

Okay so it is super simple to make, for the cake, you will need;

- 175g self-rising flour
- 3tsp baking powder
- 70g margarine
- 60g sugar
- 1 tbsp. golden syrup
- 150ml milk

- Some jam

And for the buttercream;

- 225g butter

- 400g icing sugar

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 2 tbsp. milk

NOW FOR THE FUN BIT! Once you have preheated your oven, and greased and lined your sandwich tins, sift together the flour and baking powder into a bowl and set aside. Then cream together the margarine, sugar and golden syrup together until light and fluffy, add a little flower, then a little milk and repeat until all of the flour and milk has been added into the mixture. Mix this until it's all combined and smooth! You can always add a bit extra milk if you find it is too stiff, but mine was fine! Then divide this into the two sandwich tins and bake in the oven for around 20-25 minutes, depending on your oven, until they have risen and are nice and golden-brown. Let them cool for a bit and then turn out of the tins. You may need to trim a bit off the top of the cakes to make them flat.

If you are rushed for time, stick them in the freezer for a bit to make the cool faster, but I left them overnight to cool completely. 

For the buttercream, cream all of the ingredients together until it is nice and smooth. Then sandwich your cakes together with this and a little bit of jam. You can either spread it on with a palette knife or you can pipe it on. Don't forget to save some for the top of the cake! I also saved a bit to pipe around the bottom of the cake and then I stuck some strawberry chunks on there too for added decoration. Plop all of your strawberries on and you're ready to go! 

Enjoy!

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Spring Style 2015

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For me, living in Manchester where it is allllwaaaays raining, spring style is lots of light layers. I am a huge fan of the white jean trend and I reckon I will be wearing mine a lot as the weather picks up a bit more, and I really like them paired with pastel colours, stripes (anyone who knows me knows that I am sucker for a good stripe) and a bit of denim too. I have also been on the lookout for the perfect longline white blazer. I think it would make any outfit look instantly chic. Perfect for dinners/drinks and other occasions, where you want to look put together. For more casual weekends spent shopping or running errands, I really like casual midi dresses with a long, oversized cardigan on top, paired with some cool gladiator sandals. I saw some in Topshop which are to die for and I can't stop thinking about them. Or some black skinny jeans and an oversized sweater, teamed with those trusty Birkenstocks. You either love them or hate them. I also think I need to invest in a new pair of jeans. At the moment, all I have are either black or dark wash. I'm thinking something with a lighter wash, but I am undecided about whether to get some which have rips at the knees or not? I would probably pair these with either converse during the day, or some minimalistic heels in the evenings.

What is on your fashion menu for this spring?

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Every Day Spring Makeup

So I reeeeaaaallllyyy wanted to show you all my every day go to make up for Spring, and I was finding it SO difficult to do it as a stand alone blogpost, so I thought I would film a little video going through all of the different products I used to create this look.

I am still so surprised that I managed to pull this off (kind of - if you make it near the end you'll know that my camera gave up haha oooops) because I never thought I would be brave enough to put myself out there. I feel like this has given me so much more confidence even though I am just talking to a camera, and I really loved putting this together so hopefully there will be many more to come!

I hope you all like this look. It is very simple so perfect for every day, and can be easily taken to a night time look by adding a red lip and falsies!

Please let me know what you think! And please subscribe as well! It would mean the WORLD to me!

» SUBSCRIBE →   http://www.youtube.com/c/DivyaKhilosia

P.S. I know I'm suuuper awkward in this and I am sorry! hahah

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That Fringe Bag

TOP | ZARA

JEANS | TOPSHOP

SHOES | ASOS

SUNGLASSES | H&M

BAG | ZARA

It's not secret that I loooove stripes. The majority of my tops are striped and it has got to the point where my friends won't let me by anymore! Not okay! BUT when I was in London with my family, I popped into zara and found this top. I love the fit of zara t-shirts, and they are just SO comfortable for every day too! I paired it with my Topshop Joni Jeans obviously, and my petrol skater shoes from ASOS. When I first got these shoes, they were SO SO painful! Like I can't even explain to you how uncomfortable they were! But now that I have finally worn them in, they are not too bad! My bag is from Zara and is the most perfect fringe bag. I feel as though it just adds so much to the outfit as it is pretty simple and boring. The only thing is, I do wish it was slightly bigger, because I can just about fit my purse and keys in it!

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Summertime Drinks

Now that the weather has picked up a bit and we are FINALLY getting some sun, I thought I would put together a list of my favourite spring/summer drinks. All of these are so quick and easy to make and are perfect for any occasion, whether you're having people round or you just fancy sitting in the garden yourself!


1. Peach Lemonade. A unique twist on the iconic lemonade which is perfect for kids too! Stick 4 cups of water, 2 cups of chopped peaches and 3/4 cups of sugar in a pan and boil, then blend into a puree. Press through a seive and add 1 cup of lemon juice. Serve with lots of ice, mint and a wedge of peach! (via What2Cook)

2. Strawberry-Kiwi Frozen Mojitos. OMG please just look at these. THEY LOOK SO DELICIOUS! Get yourself to the supermarket and pick up some strawberries and kiwis, and stick them in the freezer RIGHT NOW. Blend together 1 cup of strawberries, 4 mint leaves, a shot of rum and a cup of crushed ice until its like slush, and fill your cup halfway. Then do the exact same with the kiwis, and pour this ontop of the strawberries. Decorate with more kiwi, strawberry and mint and ENJOY! (Via Host the Toast)

 

3. Strawberry Vodka. I know so many people who would love this!  Take 750ml of Vodka. It's best to use reaaallly good quality vodka, and combine with 2 heaped tablespoons of caster sugar. cut up the starwberries and add them to this mixture. Then, just leave it in a cool place for like 3 days, whilst giving it a swirl everyday. The strain the mizture out and decant into air tight containers (jam jars look cool!) And you're done! Deeeelicious! (Via Delicious Everyday)

4. Rum Punch. I love how this drink looks! Pour 3 oz  pineapple juice, 2 oz orange juice 1 oz dark rum and 1 oz cocnut rum into a glass and gently stir. Then slowly add a splash of grenadine. This should sink to the bottom. And then add a little bit more dark rum on top. This will give that cool ombre effect! garnish with a slice of lime! (Via Inspired by Charm)

 

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RECIPE: Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

I did some baking this week! I went for these delicious lemon meringue cupcakes! The sponge is so super soft and bouncy and they are topped with a meringue. They have such a unique taste and the meringue gives them that little bit extra! AND they didn't even take that long to make!

YOU WILL NEED:

 For the sponge:
- 80 grams of softened butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup plain yoghurt
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
- 1 1/2 cups of self-raising flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

For the meringue:
- 4 egg whites
- 1 cup of sugar

SO. Once you have done the boring task of preheating your oven at 180° and preparing your cupcake cases, cream the butter and the sugar together until they are light and fluffy. Then add the eggs, one at a time and then beat in the yoghurt, lemon juice, peel and extract.In another bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients - the flour, baking powder and baking soda, and then add this into your mixture.

You can then fill your cupcake cases until they are around 1/3 full and pop them in the oven until they are lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean.

For the meringue, whisk the egg whites on a medium speed until soft peaks form. Then gradually add the sugar, whilst beating on a high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form. I then piped this onto my cakes, but you can just spread it on with a knife if you prefer! And then stick these in the oven for around 5 minutes, until the meringue is slightly browned.

Let cool on a wire rack and enjoy!

This recipe makes 12 cupcakes and they are literally deeeelicious!

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All Black Everything

TOP | H&M

JEANS | TOPSHOP

SHOES | PRIMARK

BAG | VINTAGE

There's nothing better than an outift which is alllll black! I love how chic and sophisticated it looks paired with a red lip! This blouse is from H&M, I got it whilst I was in London last week and although it is slightly big on me, I love the fit of it and how it skims down, and doesn't make you look huge. AND it was only £14.99. The jeans I'm wearing are the Topshop Leigh Jeans. If you have been reading my blog for a while, you will know that I do love my Joni Jeans but these are quickly becoming my favourites. They are medium rise so they suck you in and are just so comfortable! I got them in a W28L30 which is slightly cropped on me. My shoes are from Primark, aaaagggesss ago, but are just cute black flats with gold studs on them. They literally go with everything! My bag I got from the Vintage area of Clothes Show last year and is it a beautiful black purse with croc print detailing.

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Makeup Revolution Blush Palette in Sugar and Spice

Makeup Revolution is one of those make up brands that just popped up out of nowhere, so I thought it would only be right for me pick something up. I have recently really got into wearing blusher (click here to see my last post) so I got the Ultra Blush Palette in Sugar and Spice. I was originally tempted to go for the Hot Spice one which is more bronze but I chose this one as I thought that the pinky shades would go with my skin tone a lot better.

Okay let's start with the packaging. It comes in a very sleek, black, glossy packaging which is nice and sturdy and perfect for travelling. The best thing about this is the fact that you also get a huge mirror in it too! Overall, it feels like such good quality and is so compact. Now, this palette is £6 and you get 8 blushes in it which is just incredible! I was so surprised to see how much product you get as well, I was expecting them to be a lot smaller.

You get 2 brown-ish contouring shades, 4 pink blushes, 1 baked blush and 1 bakes highlighter. I wouldn't actually use the brown shades to contour as I found that they were actually a little too pink for a contour, but they are perfect as a bronzer, or on those days and nights when you feel like going slightly Smokey with your eyes. The other 4 blushes are all such nice shades for spring summer, as they brighten up your face. The baked blush is not my favourite as it is reeeallllyyy shimmery - I would have much preferred this to have golden shimmer but it is quite silver and doesn't really suit me. The highlighter is nice. Again, not my favourite highlighter, but it does the job, adds such a nice glow to your skin when applied on the tops of the cheekbones.

So as these blushes were so cheap, I wasn't really expecting much when it came to the pigmentation of them, but boy was I wrong. You literally just need one swipe and you're done. Amazing! The textures of them is so soft and buttery which I love. They blend really seamlessly and give such a smooth and silky finish. They are very very light on the skin and are not chalky at all. And the lasting power is amazing too, lasting most of the day.

Overall, I am SO impressed with this palette. Everything from the packaging to the texture is amazing, and all for such an affordable price!

Have you ever tried anything from Makeup Revolution?

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