Lemon Curd Muffins | Recipe

Cake Fork | Mary Berry for Sainsburys ||  'S' Mug | M&S
If theres one thing that will make a particularly testing day a whole lot better, it's a sit down with a really good cup of tea, in my favourite mug, accompanied by something baked.

My most recent baked obsession has been courtesy of the British institution that is Marks and Spencer, with their lemon muffins providing the perfect naughty lunchtime pick-me-up. With a hidden lemon curd centre, springy sponge and a big old blob of some pretty tasty icing, they're just the best.

On a free Sunday a couple of weeks back, with a muffin craving and  not an M&S in sight, some trial and error ensued, and I managed to come up with my own version at home. They're really simple to make, you'll probably have most of the ingredients already in your cupboard, plus, they only take 15 minutes to bake... you can thank me later!

For six decent sized muffins, you will need:

1 large egg
200g self raising flour
100g caster sugar
150 ml milk
75ml sunflower oil
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of lemon curd for each muffin

For the icing:

3 tablespoons of icing sugar (with more to spare to adjust the consistency if needed)
Lemon curd to taste

Bowl | Mason Cash
Once you've set your oven to 190 degrees, lined a 6 hold muffin tin with paper cases and weighed everything out, grab a bowl and combine your flour and sugar.

In a separate bowl (or jug) , give your egg, milk, oil and vanilla extract a good whisk until fully combined.


Make a well in the centre of your dry mix and slowly pour in the liquid a little at a time, mix until you have a thick batter.

Half fill each of the muffin cases, then carefully pop a generous teaspoon of lemon curd on top of each before covering in the remaining muffin mix.

Place in the oven for around 15 minutes or until all are an even golden brown colour. Once baked and smelling yummy, place them on a wire rack to cool.


In the meantime, you can get on with making the icing. It's a little bit of trial and error, but you need the icing to be thick enough to place a decent sized blob on the top of each muffin, so three tablespoons and splash of water should do it. Add in a little lemon curd and mix in until it turns a very pale yellow shade.

Plate | Emma Bridgewater
Once your muffins are completely cool, spoon a generous blob of the icing into the middle of each. Serve with a big old cup of tea, a pretty plate and an obligatory cake fork. While they might not be the prettiest looking muffins in the world, they are certainly up there on the taste scale, and hey, it's not like Mary Berry is watching!


Cycle Date

When you've had what feels like the longest week at work, stuck indoors, sometimes all you need by the time Saturday finally rolls around is a good few hours in the great outdoors. On Friday evening, we left our weekend plans in the hands of fate with Dan and I making use of our Date Night Jar.


So, on Saturday morning, I donned the gym leggings, comfy layers and trainers, we packed a bag, grabbed the camera and popped off to rent some bikes. Now for those that know me particularly well, the prospect of me getting on a bike, voluntarily no less, is nothing less than laughable. In fact, when it was mentioned in a Facebook status, I immediately revived a concerned text message from Tom asking 'Why on Gods green earth are you on a bike?', which may just sum up my feelings to organised outdoor activities. Maybe this Northern air has had a strange effect but there I was, pedalling away, on this neon yellow beast.



We cycled along the Manifold Valley cycle path, which runs for 8.5 miles through the lovely Staffordshire countryside alongside rivers, rolling fields full of Spring lambs and even a cave if you fancy a bit of a climb, finally ending up in Manifold. It's entirely flat so for those cycling novices amongst us, it's ideal plus, it has plenty of rest stops along the way for mid-point ice creams and a well earned sit down.


Six miles in, I was somehow still alive and to Dans surprise, still capable of mustering a smile, although that may have had a little something to do with Dairy Milk ice cream.


Now, as someone who hasn't been on a bike since a family short break to Centre Parcs in 2009, a 17 mile round trip on a mountain bike, did have the potential to break me as a person, especially when we throw in the fact that to a certain lovely boyfriend of mine, who in a former life competed, biking is second nature. By around the 7 mile mark, the promise of a pub lunch and alcohol was seemingly the only thing spurring me on.



Despite my rubbish fitness levels, it was so lovely to get out and about and properly see the area that is essentially on our doorstep, for once, not through a car window. It might not be the sea and I might not have sand between my toes, but I do feel incredibly lucky to live in such a beautiful place. You know, I think I might be getting used to this country-life...



And finally, if only as proof that Dan was actually there and not just in charge of the camera, I give you this absolute treat. Two guesses at which point this was taken. If my face here doesn't just scream 'GET ME TO THE PUB' i'm not entirely sure what does. 

With an 8.5 mile cycle back to the car and bruising starting to well and truly come to light (lets just say, pillows have come in incredibly handy and next time, we'll be making use of gel seats) we made our way, slightly less enthusiastically, back along the path and back to the car. I think we can both safely say that the nap we had as soon as we stepped through the front door was the best nap we've ever had.

Jamie's Italian | Birmingham | Review

What better way is there to spend a bank holiday than a meal with friends? Nothing right? Good Friday saw us do just that as we took a little drive down a very rainy M6 to check out Jamie's Italian at the Bullring. It's somewhere that has been on my list to visit for quite some time and with a full day off from work and a long weekend ahead it seemed like the perfect way to kick off Easter.

jamies italian birmingham restaurant food italian food

Now, it's no secret to anyone that knows me, that where recipes are concerned, I usually turn to the foodie wisdom of a certain Mister Oliver. Whether it's his foolproof Risotto or that Mozzerella Al Forno that is a firm family favourite, his italian dishes are some of my favourites to cook so I was pretty excited to try some in a restaurant setting.

jamies italian interior

As none of us were drinking, we started things off with some homemade lemonades, the perfect little refresher and always better than the fizzy kind. I opted for strawberry, one of many options which ranged from classic lemon to pomegranate. Really fresh and definitely tasty enough to keep the gin and tonic cravings at bay!


I went for my usual bread board to start , with a seeded cracker bread, sea salt and Rosemary focaccia (which was particularly amazing!) ciabatta and some really good olive tapanade. I will probably never ever learn that bread boards are never a one person thing, but hey, nobody ever minds helping me out a bit! The others opted for the Italian nachos- deep fried, cheese filled ravioli with a salsa dip and the pork scratchings. Now to sway Dan away from ordinary nachos is a real feat but they went down very well so a big 10/10 for that one.


For main I went for chicken in a creamy mushroom sauce which was served on a crostini and topped with lemon dressed rocket. I also got some polenta chips with rosemary and parmesan, out of sheer curiosity. It was really lovely, quite light despite the creamy sauce and I especially enjoyed the polenta chips, which have well and truly altered my opinions of polenta! Dan went for his usual burger and triple fried Funky Chips with sea salt and rosemary which proved to be a big hit while Carrie and Chris went for a prawn linguini and the sausage pasta.

After not an awful lot of persuasion, we all decided to go the whole hog and take a peek at the dessert menu, it's rude not to, right?! Dan went for a brownie, which I must say looked incredible, Chris opted for the cheesecake, which looked enormous (we were assured by him that it was mostly cream though!) and myself and Carrie went for 3 scoops of ice cream. I would, without a doubt recommend the salted caramel, it's seriously good, I also went for chocolate and honeycomb which were good but not a patch on the caramel.


One thing I think we would all agree on is the fact that our waitress was amazing. She completely knew her stuff reeling off the specials and lists and lists of lemonade and ice cream flavours, despite us being completely rubbish and forgetting various flavours by the time she got around the table, she was super lovely and very patient!

All in all, we all had a really lovely evening, it's the perfect place for a post-shopping Italian lunch break or, like us, a meal with friends but I think one thing we all agreed on is the fact that although it was good, there was nothing about the food that was overly remarkable. It was all very nice but nothing that you couldn't find in another Italian chain like Strada or Ask which for somewhere headed by Jamie Oliver came as a bit of a surprise. Price wise, it was pretty reasonable working out to around £25 per person which for three courses, didn't seem too bad at all. All in all, I had a fab time with tasty food and lovely company and while its somewhere I would recommend to a friend in search of a decent Italian, it's not somewhere i'd rush back to immediately.


*This was a gifted opportunity in order to review, however, as always, all opinions are 100% honest and 100% my own. 

Surviving Mothers Day


Mothers Day. A day to celebrate all of the incredible things the mummies of the world do every day, a day to sing the praises of that incredible lady that carried you around for 9 whole months, dried your tears when you fell over in the playground, taught you how to bake a cake and advised you on the perils of boyfriends in your teenage years.

The lady that told you off for being horrible to your siblings, made you cringe when she wanted to be a little too involved in the details of your love life but equally, made you properly laugh more than anyone else ever has.


What does Mother's Day mean when you don't have that wonderful lady around to celebrate it with? It's hard not to get angry when all you're faced with is tv adverts, floral supermarket displays and 'don't forget Mothering Sunday!' stamps on your post. Harder still not to get jealous of everyone else that has their mum at the end of the phone.

Since July 2010, I've spent the weeks from Valentines Day to mid March dreading doing the weekly shop or just popping into town knowing that the very word 'Mum' will be printed on everything from banners to teddy bears. Newspapers will be filled with inspirational mum stories, restaurants with Mothers Day menus and shops with the types of card that would make her a little teary eyed before being safely stowed away in a memory box.


Knowing that my Mother's Day card would have nowhere to go and any flowers I bought would have to sit atop a gravestone is harder than I ever could have contemplated. I'm not the only person in the world that's facing this big old world of growing up without their mum, I'm one of billions for whom the thought of Mothers Day is tangled up with bitter sweet memories.

A mum is a figure that no matter how much you think you do already, you will never fully appreciate until they aren't there anymore. Until you realise silly things like the fact that you never got around to asking her to write down her famous pie recipe or the fact that with just the smell of certain beauty products, you're instantly transported to being cross legged on her bedroom floor intently watching her apply her make up.


There are moments that will hit you and you realise that you won't have her there to help choose a wedding dress, to calm pre-wedding jitters, to celebrate your first proper job, your first child or your first house. It's those kind of thoughts that make days like today the hardest.

I'm incredibly lucky that I had my amazing mum for as long as I did. Luckier still that my parents surrounded themselves with a little network of very special ladies who have become my little band of adopted mummies so even though my real one isn't around, I've got plenty of people I can call for a much needed mumma-chat.


You might be asking yourself why, if I find Mother's Day so hard, have I dedicated a whole post to it. Primarily, because there are people all over the country who today will be facing their first Mothers Day without their leading lady, two in particular close to myself, and I just wanted to extend a bit of a virtual hug.

For those of us that don't have the option, thank your mum. Tell her how much you appreciate her, how much she inspires you, makes you laugh, annoys the hell out of you sometimes. It's little moments like that, silly seconds in time that you will carry with you always.


To all the mums out there in all of their guises, you're doing an amazing job and if, in the future, I can be just half the mum my own was, I'll consider my life well spent.


Thats A Wrap | Ardour Rose Beaded Wrap Bracelet | Review


We all have that one trend that we've tried our hardest to master. Whether it's leather trousers or mustering the confidence to rock that fedora, there's always that one that you never quite get on point. For me, it's the stacked bracelet look sported by every Gap Year veteran on the planet, an impossibly tanned arm full of woven bracelets collected in the beach huts of Thailand, the street markets of Morroco and, more often than not, the airport on the way home. They act like a little collection of memories, tied onto golden brown skin as a talisman of your adventures.

As much as I've tried over the years, carefully collecting little woven trinkets from Malaysia to Maderia and everywhere i've found myself in between, i've never quite nailed it. Those little strings always end up lost, worn out or simply cut off when I got fed up of the inevitable sogginess on exiting the shower.

Winter Garden Bead Wrap Bracelet*  | ℅ Ardour Rose
Now that my days spent daydreaming of Gap Years have turned into days filled with editorial deadlines and office attire, I've been searching for a more chic, grown up and ultimately, more permanent alternative. Something that will still evoke those memories, but that I can wear off duty as well as at the office without looking like I've just stepped off of a plane after a sun drenched 6 months. 

Enter Ardour Rose, a fab little company from none other than beautiful Devon, specialising in handmade, beaded wrap bracelets. The company have a huge range of pieces in a miriad of styles, colours and length options. I opted for the beautiful Winter Garden style,with very pale green beads strung on a gorgeous tan leather chord (we all know my penchant for tan leather...).


What has impressed me the most is the sheer quality of the bracelet, the images on the companies website simply don't do them justice. While the string itself is quite dainty, wrapping 5 times around my wrist, the high quality leather and the glass beads make it look and feel far more expensive than it is (the bracelets begin at £11.95 and go up to £21.95). Also, the packaging was beautiful, arriving in a small branded drawstring bag with a hand drawn label attached with a teeny wooden peg. You can never underestimate pretty packaging! 

What I love is that the bracelet is so versatile, amazing for achieving that stacked look I've always tried to create but also as an anklet- something that to someone like me, having grown up next to the sea, is a sure sign of summer. The length of the bracelet would also lend itself well to wearing it as a necklace, with the metal button fastening enabling you to wear it any which way.


This bracelet has become a favourite accessory recently and I think it's clear to see that I'm a huge fan of this company and their gorgeous products. I have my eye on on the Aztec bracelet with its mixed beads that wrap around to look like a collection of lots of different bracelet styles and theres a couple I have earmarked for gifts. I think it's safe to say there will be a few more Ardour Rose orders on the way!

Barbour Jackets & Winter Days

| Hat - Topshop | Jacket - Barbour | Scarf - Primark | Handbag - Mulberry | Dress - Topshop |
| Cardigan (just seen) - Jack Wills | Chelsea Boots - Topshop |

Theres not much I love more in the winter than bundling up in lots of layers. Theres something very cosy about a comfy day spent wandering around cute little towns...especially when you happen upon the best lighting ever for your outfit photos!

Theres one thing that I have lusted after for years and years and every time that i've come even remotely close to actually handing over my card, i've suddenly had a moment of sensibleness and walked out the shop empty handed. Enter my new Barbour Beadnell Wax Jacket. I have finally taken the plunge, after being talked around by no-one other than my dearest boyfriend and become a full on, official country bumpkin. Despite the waves of shopping guilt that i'm still experiencing nearly a week later, i've barely taken it off, and I just keep placating myself with the fact that it will last forever and it's a wardrobe classic... my debit card unfortunately does not agree!

We spent a lovely day in Bakewell (another post to follow!) with my Dad and his partner Rosie who spent the weekend visiting us in our little flat. After a little trip to a cute little cafe for lunch, we spent a few hours wandering around interiors shops looking for things to make our new home look even more homely. Luckily, despite the pretty chilly temperatures (the Devonshire girl in me definitely still isn't used to all these minus numbers!) my lots of thin layers outfit approach worked a treat to keep me nice and cosy - thank goodness for super cosy cashmere mix cardigans, knitted socks and my absolute favourite, bargain tartan blanket scarf!

14 Things in 2014

The wanderer returns after a much longer blogging break than intended, but believe me when I say that I have been buried under boxes, organising to the point of distraction and so preoccupied with homeware that it borders on the insane. Aside from that though, I wanted to start this year as I mean to go on, by blogging. This is the year for The Sopho Diaries and I want to pour so much more time and effort into this whole blogging malarky, it's my one little thing that I love to do and that little break showed me how much I missed making time just to sit down and write...not for work for once, but just because I love it. 

I think that it's always important to reflect and before I embark on this New Year I wanted to take a little look back over the last one but not with your run of the mill New Years Resolutions type post. I've chosen 14 things that happened in my 2014, from the best bits to the not so good things, but things that shaped my year and made my 2014 what it was- a teeny tiny bit crazy. 



1. In January my little blog turned 1. My first year of blogging taught me lots of things. It made me get a little bit more serious about taking proper photos with a proper camera rather than relying on Instagram filters and it led me to go way out of my comfort zone by getting involved in blogger chats, going to events and actually meeting likeminded people that knew what all the fuss about this blogging lark really was. The Sopho Diaries turns 2 on the 10th of January and i'm excited about what the next year of it's little online life will bring. 


2. Another bloggy thing, but I hit and surpassed 500 subscribers on YouTube, not a huge amount by modern standards but a pretty massive amount for a girl who started off her Channel with a 20 minute video rambling on about being a university fresher. That video has somehow amassed over 30,000 views which I can't even quantify so for that I will be eternally grateful and baffled in equal measure! 



3. I spent more time than I ever thought possible in a university library basement, beavering away for my masters and wondering A- why I was putting myself through another year of studying and B - whether shutting myself away surrounded by books instead of getting out there and seeing the world like some of my best friends were would ever be worth it. It was, so you know, stay in school kids! But also, take snacks, because 7 hour stints in the library will break you as a person. Believe me! 


4. I made the decision to move not just a little out of my comfort zone, but move halfway up the country to live with Dan. Packing up my whole life on what was at that point nothing much more than a whim, with no concrete plans in terms of jobs or home was both one of the scariest and most liberating things i've ever done. Standing on the edge of your new life not knowing where you'll end up or how it's going to pan out is a pretty terrifying prospect, but hey, sometimes you've just got to jump in, feet first and hope for the best...


5. I dealt with one of the worst periods of anxiety i've ever had which really made me confront the fact that this wasn't another weird quirk that I should just put up with and was something that needed to be properly sorted. A 5 month stretch of daily panic attacks is debilitating to say the least and being 22 and not feeling mentally prepared to leave your house alone, even for the simplest of things makes you feel about 5 again. With the help of a lovely hypnotist and a good old fashioned bit of soul searching, i'm in a much better place now and finally enjoying life the way I should be. 



6. I got a real, grown up, proper big girl job. I'm finally writing for a living which is putting all of my experience to the test and is hopefully putting me on the right path to my absolute dream job. Never underestimate how amazing it feels to actually use the degree you worked so hard for! 



7. On the subject of degree's, I managed to, between working 2 jobs, write and submit a 20,000 word dissertation for my Masters, which by some miracle I passed. I'm going to be graduating in a couple of weeks as a Master of Arts... never thought i'd see the day! 



8. I had to do lots of grown up things like organise flat viewings and ask sensible questions about water rates and work out how to pay council tax and realise that life without student loan day is not quite as fun as it used to be... i'm learning to live without the tri-monthly Topshop splurges or cheeky Jack Wills orders... sort of. Kind of. Not at all. It's a challenge.


9. After 6 and a half years, I moved in with a certain lovely boyfriend of mine, into a super nice flat in a really cute little town with the best sandwich shop in the world...seriously, like reaaaally good. I'm loving having our own home and filling it with all of our collective stuff (even if it's all a bit girly right now... I have a vision, just you wait!) It's nice having our own space and it finally feels like our little life is starting. I won't get all gushy on you but it's all super exciting and lovely. 



10. We lost my lovely nan in November, she was an incredible lady who was one of the strongest, funniest and most truly inspirational people i've ever met, I can truly appreciate where my mum got her strength from. I feel quite lost without her being on the end of the phone when I have a baking disaster and her not being there to give me a pep talk when I feel like the world is against me. She was an amazing lady and the world is definitely less brighter but I was very lucky to have her in my life as long as I did. 



11. I had a realisation, that maybe, just maybe, although I am a Devon girl through and through and there is nothing more comforting to me than salt in the air and the sound of the sea, I actually quite like all this countryside business. I haven't hung up my flip flops and beachy hair entirely yet but i've become quite a fan of muddy wellies and Sunday walks through the fields. Yes. This is me talking.  



12. This is the year that I asked for a toaster for Christmas. I know. I'm a changed woman, but hey, a Jack Wills onesie will not a loaf toast... As saddening as that is, it just won't. I also swapped pretty shoes for clothes airers, dresses for cushions and discovered just how outraged I can get over the price of kitchen bins. Just call me a domestic goddess and be done with it!


13. We had our first Christmas together in our own place. It was also my first ever White Christmas...well, it snowed on Boxing Day but that definitely counts! We also got our first ever real christmas tree and somehow managed to fit it, quite easily into a Mini. We are however, now knee deep in uneaten candy canes and drowning in post Christmas chocolate overload! 


14. I realised just how lucky I really am and although things don't always pan out exactly as I want or plan them to? Well, thats half the fun...
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