Recipe: Apple cider cake

When Waddlegoose offered to send me some of their cider to try, I immediately thought of baking with it. Coming in two delicious flavours, crisp apple and fruity berry,  the first flavour seemed the perfect one to create a cake. The flavoursome new launch from Aspell, gave the cake a delicious flavour without being too over-powering. It's even better the next day served with a steaming hot cup of tea!

Taken from a Paul Hollywood recipe

Ingredients
100g unsalted butter
100g unrefined light muscovado sugar
2 free range eggs
225g plain white flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp of cinnamon
150ml of cider

For the glaze
Icing sugar
Cider

Method

1.  Heat the oven to 160 degrees - adjust the temperature if you don't have a fan oven. Grease a cake pan and line with baking paper.

2. Beat the better and sugar together using an electric hand mixer. Once fluffy, beat in the two eggs.

3. In a separate bowl, shift the flour, cinnamon and bicarbonate of soda together.

4. Using a metal spoon, fold in a third of the flour into the beaten mixture. Then half the cider. Fold in another third and then the rest of the cider. Finally fold in the final third of flour.

5. Transfer the mixture into the prepared cake tin. Cook for around 30 minutes. Keep an eye on it as mine was ready within 20 minutes.

6. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 20 minutes before taking it out and leaving it to cool full on a wire wrack.

7. Once cool, it's time to make the glaze. Mix icing sugar and cider together to create a thin glaze. How much you use is depending on your taste. Pour over the cake before leaving to dry.

8. Tuck in and enjoy!

As always please do tweet me if you try this cake at home. It's definitely one I'll be trying again!

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Hotel review: Hotel Lyskirchen Cologne, Germany

For our trip to Cologne we wanted a hotel that was central yet far enough away from the main strip to still be quiet - it's never about only having a few hours sleep. We stumbled across Hotel Lyskirchen*, a modern hotel close to the River Rhine.

Offering 105 rooms, free wifi and air conditioning, the hotel is located 1.5km away from the famous Cologne Cathedral and just 300 metres away from the old town. Our economy room was a good size, with a fridge, sofa and wardrobe offering lots of storage space. It was so lovely to not feel cramped as what is common with many city hotels. Check in was a doddle and the staff were extremely helpful - I felt like I could go down quite easily if I had any queries. The breakfast buffet was the perfect way to set us up for the day - so much food! I'd really recommend booking Lyskirchen if you ever find yourself in the city!

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Exploring the UK: Regents Canal, London

Ah North London. One of my favourite parts of the city. I love the fact that each place is so different. It almost feels like each place is a little village within a big city. Sometimes it doesn't even feel like you're in the city at all. Angel is brilliant for a night out. Camden is great for trying lots of new foods.  Primrose Hill is a fantastic place to soak up the city sights. Regents Park is the perfect place to lose a few hours. The list goes on and on.

A new place I've recently discovered in North London is Regents Canal. Last weekend was the first time I'd taken a walk down the canal. I'd sat on the walls in camden eating street food and has some outfits snapped in Kings Cross. But never walked along it so I decided to take advantage of the beautiful sunshine and tick it off my list.

Starting at Granary Square, we started to head north. Buzzing with cyclists, dog walkers and people sitting at the edge indulging in a few ciders, it didn't feel like we were in the capital city at all. We walked and walked until we hit Camden. We battled through the crowds at Camden Lock before rejoining the canal front and walking past London Zoo in Regents Park. We left the canal for a trip up to Primrose Hill to take in the city in all it's glory. If you carry on you'll hit Little Venice.

All in all the leisurely walk takes about 50 minutes. A good stroll to burn off lunch, admire the pretty houses and be at nature. One I'll definitely be doing again when summer hits.

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