Chocolate chip peanut butter cake

 This cake. Ohhhh, this cake.

As you may have seen, I made it for my birthday this year - and yes, I always WANT to make my own cake - and I have to say I fell a little bit in love with it.

Being the peanut butter obsessive that I am, I was always going to make something PB-related. Remember my peanut butter and nutella cupcakes, triple layer chocolate, nutella and peanut butter cake, and my chocolate chip peanut butter cupcakes?

I didn't, lol. In fact, I totally forgot about those last cupcakes when I made this cake.

But yes, let's get back to this cake. This glorious, glorious cake.

The sponge is incredibly moist but crumbly and fluffy, chock-full of chocolate chips, smothered in lashings of light vanilla buttercream, and topped with chunks of chocolate praline and chocolate fudge.

Is it indulgent? Yes. But is it so worth it? HELL yes.

Did I eat the final quarter by myself the day after my birthday? You betcha. And I don't even regret it.

I knew I was going to love this cake because it's full of all my favourite flavours (could you guess?) but I was also super pleased because even my friends who don't really like peanut butter - honestly I don't know why I'm friends with them - loved it.

Or they told me as much anyway. It was my birthday after all, they were hardly going to say they didn't like my cake.

It's flavoursome and rich, but the hint of saltiness means it's not too sickly.

Honestly, it's probably in the top five best cakes I've ever made.

I was really worried I'd underbaked the cakes, but actually they were perfect, so don't worry if you feel the same.

Hope you love it as much as I do!

Ingredients

Cake:
1.5 cups self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup crunchy or smooth natural peanut butter
1/3 cup slightly salted butter, at room temp
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup Greek yoghurt
100g milk chocolate chunks or chips

Icing and topping:
250g unsalted butter, at room temp
600g icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate, fudge pieces and sprinkles of your choice

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and grease and line two round sandwich tins.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium-sized bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter, butter and brown sugar and beat using an electric which until well combined. Beat in the vanilla and eggs until just combined.

3. Add the yogurt and flour mix bit by bit, alternating as you go and mixing well in between. Don't over-beat the mixture though.

4. Fold in the chocolate chunks and then pour the batter evenly between the two tins. Bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out just a bit moist. Leave to cool in the tins for ten minutes before turning on to a wire rack to cool fully.

5. To make the icing, beat the softened butter until smooth and light, then beat in the icing sugar a bit at a time. Once all combined, carry on beating with your electric whisk for five minutes to ensure your icing is lovely and fluffy. 

6. Place one cake on your serving plate and spread about a third of the icing on top. Sandwich together with the other cake and do the same with another third of the icing. Spread the remaining third around the sides of the cake. Top with chocolate praline pieces, fudge, chocolate buttons, silver balls and even edible glitter if your party is silver-themed like mine.

Enjoy! 

My silver jubilee (AKA 25th birthday)

I love birthdays. I love birthdays SO much. I love everyone's birthdays, but of course I love my own the most. Duhh.

I had thought that I'd get less and less excited about my birthday with each one, but it would seem that is not the case.

It was my 25th birthday a week or so ago and I was SO EXCITED! Definitely more excited than I had been for my 24th, and I don't even really know why.

I made all my friends save the date months in advance, I wouldn't shut up about it for weeks on end, and in the week before, I told pretty much every person I spoke to that it was my birthday that coming Saturday. Yup, I'm that girl.

On the morning of the big day, I kept waking up over and over again from about 4am or 5am, each time just wishing it was time to get up (like a little child at Christmas. Or me at Christmas for that matter. OMG YOU GUYS CHRISTMAS IS COMING!)

I just got so into it this year. I had so much fun planning my party and the whole day, and it's made me realise that if/when I ever get married I am going to go nuts. Like, properly obsessed crazy. Can't wait. Lol good luck to my friends and family.

This year, I was blessed to have a Saturday birthday, which we all know is a rarity. So I decided to fully make the most of it - largely by drinking champagne all day, naturally.

On the morning of my birthday, I woke up in my birthday PJs (they're from Boux Avenue and I thoroughly recommend you get some for yourself), donned a tiara and three different birthday badges and started the day opening presents and cards with my flatmates.

We then made breakfast: peanut butter banana pancakes, topped with peanut butter cups, maple syrup and mixed berries. All washed down with Buck's Fizz. Honestly, it may have been the best way I've ever started the day.

I actually used this recipe and the pancakes were pretty healthy too - I thoroughly recommend it.

Next we started decorating the flat with the ludicrous amount of decorations I'd bought and made (honestly, I spent a fortune but I have no regrets).

Being the both extra and basic girl that I am, I had decided my birthday was going to be known as my silver jubilee (well, the definition is the 25th anniversary of a significant event...), so everything was going to be silver and sparkly. I didn't want it to be tacky though, and Pretty Little Party Shop is perfect for tasteful decor. I suggest you pay them a visit in the run-up to your next festivity.

I also decorated my cake, which I'd baked earlier. People are always like, "OMG why do you make your own cake? Someone should make it for you." But these people don't understand that for me, the joy is as much in the baking of the cake as the eating it. Baking is my fave.

I made a chocolate chip peanut butter cake, with buttercream icing (dusted with edible silver glitter) and a topping of chocolate praline chunks, chocolate fudge pieces and silver balls. Don't mean to brag but it was undeniably one of the yummiest cakes I've ever baked so I plan on sharing the recipe with you all soon.

Then it was time to get ready and head out for lunch with the girls - we were off to Duck and Waffle!

If you didn't know, Duck and Waffle is the famous restaurant on the 40th floor of the Heron Tower in the City. I'd been dying to go for aaaaages but it's really hard to get a reservation, so you can imagine my joy when I managed to book us in all those weeks in advance.

It was every bit as fab as I'd hoped, both the food and the view. We toasted with champagne and got stuck in - most of the girls went for the signature duck and waffle, Stef chose a sweet waffle, Frankie opted for salmon and I went for avo and scrambled eggs. Cos brunch food is life.

And after a long, late lunch, we went back to mine to eat cake, drink more champagne, open more presents, finish decorating the flat, get a Franco Manca pizza delivery (yes, there was lots of eating, but one has to line one's stomach well when drinking) and beautify ourselves for the evening's festivities.

Mmm cake. Mmm pizza.

The day of birthday deliciousness continues thanks to @francomancapizz 🍕🍕🍕🙌🏻

A post shared by Rachel Hosie (@rachel_hosie) on Sep 23, 2017 at 10:39am PDT

It was party time! We LOVE hosting parties in my flat because we have a fab open space. I basically spent the whole night drinking from my giant champagne glass (it holds a whole bottle lol) and the GORGEOUS Bottega rose gold metallic prosecco bottle my fabulous flatmate Maddy brought me back from a recent trip to Italy.

In head to toe sparkles, surrounded by my friends and family, it's safe to say I had a ball.

It was just the best day.

This basically sums up yesterday. I HAD SO MUCH FUN! Birthdays are the best. As if I have a whole year to wait for my next one.

A post shared by Rachel Hosie (@rachel_hosie) on Sep 24, 2017 at 6:09am PDT

I'm so so touched by how my friends made it so special for me because they know how much I love birthdays.

It'll be hard to top 25, but I sure am going to try. At least I have a year to plan it...

Percy Pig's Official 25th Birthday Party

I never buy sweets. I eat them when they're offered to me, sure. But I prefer chocolate on the whole so don't tend to buy sweets for myself.

Well, there is one exception to the rule. And that is Percy Pigs.

The pig is a legend. Due to some clever marketing on the part of M&S and the sheer deliciousness of the sweets, Percy Pigs have become iconic.

All Brits know Percy. And I've never met anyone who can resist him. The seductive little fella.

My siblings and I loved him when we were little, my colleagues and I love him now. My friends have always loved him.

Imagine my excitement then, when I learned Percy was this year turning 25, just two months before I was set to hit the milestone myself.

And that excitement went up another notch when I received an invitation to Percy's birthday party. His official 25th birthday party! What an honour.

Let me tell you, it was a lot fancier a soirée than my birthday party will be (not through lack of my trying - there's only so much you can do with a tiny London flat and a journalist's salary.)

Along with a select group of lucky journalists and bloggers, I entered on a hot pink carpet and was greeted with a choice of a Percy on the Beach or some rosé sparkling wine.

How could I choose? Obvs I had both.

Here's the recipe for the Percy on the Beach, should you want to taste the deliciousness yourself:


The room was insanely beautiful. It was so pink and essentially what my dreams consist of.

The most gorgeous bunches of pink roses and peonies atop every surface (my dream flower combo), cute retro glass jars of every different type of Percy for us to pick n mix, and huge pink pom-poms adorning the room.

And of course, I was most excited to meet the guest of honour.

Although you might think I wore pink trousers especially for the occasion, the fact of the matter is that on any given day there is a 90% chance I will be wearing pink. Safe to say I felt very at home.

We mingled, sipped drinks, scoffed canapés and discussed our favourite Percies - mine, should you care to know, are veggie Percies (I prefer the texture, they're more squidgy).

And then it was time to sit down for dinner.

The chefs said they'd tried to put the essence of Percy every course, and each dish was inspired by a different top chef too.

The starter was plated up in a retro way - it was wild seabass with citrus nage and turned courgettes, inspired by Marco Pierre White.

The mandarin definitely conjured up Percy vibes and it went down a treat with the lovely sauvignon we drank.

The main was amazing: Heston inspired ricotta tortellini with summer vegetables, greenhouse pesto, potato and a confit garlic foam.

It was accompanied by orange wine too which I loved.

Pudding was, as you might imagine, sensational.

Citrus compressed grapes with yogurt sorbet, meringue and rosemary oil, inspired by René Redzepi. It was very sweet and did taste like Percy, but it was herby at the same time which was unexpected.

Oh, and the Asti we drank alongside the pudding was so delicious. I'd forgotten how much I love Asti. I'm so basic. But who says bubbles are just for the start of the night? Asti with pudding is going to be my new thing.

And just because we hadn't had quite enough sugar, we finished the meal with mandarin sherbet dib-dab...

And blackcurrant and Parmesan marshmallows.

Yes, really. Not going to lie, it was a bit weird and confusing. But hey, you win some, you lose some.

It had been a wonderful evening and I feel very privileged to be able to celebrate Percy hitting the big 2-5.

Here's to Colin the Caterpillar's 21st next year!

Sugar-free afternoon tea at Harvey Nichols

I know what you're thinking: sugar-free afternoon tea?

Afternoon tea, that most sweet of treats? Sans sugar?

Well, yes. Sans refined sugar, anyway.

Created by Sarah Wilson of I Quit Sugar, the sugar-free afternoon tea has just launched at Harvey Nicks. And I went along to try it out.

Sugar is public enemy number one these days, and whilst I doubt I'll ever totally quit it (because hello, sugar makes things delicious), I am trying to cut down a wee bit.

And whilst naturally sweet things - you know, fruit and honey and maple syrup and whatnot - are supposedly better than refined sugar, the general consensus seems to be that they're not saintly enough to give you a free pass to scoff loads.

Still, you can make a lot of delicious things without refined sugar, so I was most looking forward to trying out the tea. It had also been far too long since I'd had afternoon tea too.

The lovely Jenny and I made our way up to the fifth floor of Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge and sat ourself down in the restaurant, tummies rumbling.

There was a little wait for our food to arrive, but fortunately we had pots of tea and champagne in the meantime so all was well in the world really.

Champagne isn't technically part of the sugar-free tea, but let's be real here: what is afternoon tea without it? (OK yes, also good. But not as good.)

I chose pink champagne because I was wearing pink which says a lot about how I make decisions in my life.

And then came out the masterpiece.

Obviously we worked from the bottom up, we're not savages.

So, the savouries: Carrot tahini burgers, which we loved; paleo veggie bread with cream cheese and cucumber - I liked the ribbon, it was a nice twist on a classic; sardine boats (no comment as je ne mange pas fish); spring vegetable pie - warm and delicious; pork and fennel sausage roll, a definite winner; and beef sandwiches, with tasty coleslaw.

It was a LOT of food, but it was great. Very creative and nice to feel a bit healthier than the standard finger sandwiches.

Whilst the sugar-free angle was pretty irrelevant with the savouries, the next level up was where it got interesting.

The strawberry scones were good. They were served with raspberry chia seed jam which was pretty tart - noticeably less sweet than real jam - and a touch lemony for my taste. There was also no cream which was a shame.

Next up was carrot cake with cinnamon frosting. They looked super cute and the flavours were great, but the texture of the cake was not good, I have to say. It was so dry and crumbly it was practically powdery, I'm not sure why. The cream cheese frosting was divine though.

On to the top tier.

The lemon posset topped with a chia seed crumble was lovely - very creamy and a particular hit with Jen. It wasn't noticeably less sweet than a regular one either.

I absolutely loved the cheesecake - it was classic vanilla with a coconut base and utterly delicious. Very sweet too.

The chocolate cherry tart was a bit meh. The base was a bit dry and bitter and the cream was fine but not super exciting. The cherries were delicious and juicy though, which was lovely. And to be fair, we were pretty gosh darn full by this point so the tart may have gone down more favourably before we'd filled our faces.

That said, we saved the best till last by finishing on the chocolate ganache tart. Rich, smooth chocolate with a hint of cardamom on a nutty base with a sprinkle of sea salt - I was so full but it was so good I ate the whole thing.

So all in all it was a slightly mixed afternoon tea, with some real winners and some not so much. To be honest though, I love the concept of a lighter, sugar-free afternoon tea. And if you are watching your sugar intake, it's a rather nice treat.

Jenny and I were guests at Harvey Nichols but all opinions are honest.

Bottomless Bucks Fizz and brilliant brunch at Timmy Green, Victoria

Up until six months ago, I worked in Victoria. Now I've got a new job and am based in Kensington. But in the six months since I changed jobs, Victoria has suddenly blossomed in to a foodie hotspot. I mean, seriously?!

It's all down to the opening of the Nova building which has attracted a whole host of brilliant eateries. And as soon as I found out about Timmy Green I was desperate to pay them a visit. Plus I hadn't brunched in a whole two weeks so was craving my fix.

I've realised that brunch seems to have replaced afternoon tea in my life. I'm totally still down for three tiers of deliciousness, don't get me wrong, but - the millennial cliché that I am - I bloody love brunch.

And guys, Timmy Green has made it into my top three brunch spots in London I think. For reals.

I absolutely loved the vibe - floor-to-ceiling windows, two levels, plants on the ceiling, neon signs - it's bright, fun and chilled. There were fresh flowers on every table and even a very talented singer/guitar player when we visited. It was also packed.

Oh, and there's prosecco on tap so what more could you want really?

My dear friend Tasha and I decided we'd indulge and go for the bottomless brunch which entails two courses and two hours of Bucks Fizzes or prosecco (and you can switch between the two).

I was a big fan of the presentation of the Bucks Fizzes and they were freshly-made each time - whilst at some bottomless prosecco brunch spots you end up getting sloshed because the staff top up your glass before you've even drunk half, at Timmy Green it's a slightly classier affair.

They also have a cracking cocktail menu so I'm going to have to go back to make the most of that for sure.

For our first courses, we shared the banana bread and the granola.

Warm, squidgy, moist banana bread with light mascarpone cream, fresh berries and honey. It was huge, stodgy and oh-so-delicious.

Homemade maple granola, thick Greek yogurt, fresh berries, coconut flakes, honey, chia seeds, and flaked almonds. The granola was wonderfully crisp and there were chunky clusters too, which I loved. 

And to quote Tasha: "Cute plates." She was not wrong.

After a brief pause we were ready for our next courses - and let me tell you it was not an easy choice as the whole menu sounds amazing.

I ummed (my laptop just tried to correct that to bummed lol) and ahhed for a while but eventually settled on the broccoli and corn fritters. And chums, it was an excellent choice, if I do say so myself.

The fritters were fluffy and flavoursome, the avocado on top was the perfect ripeness, my egg was poached to perfection (just look at that yolk!) and I liked the courgette ribbon on the side too. I wasn't fussed about the chilli jam but that's just because I'm not a spicy gal.

I thoroughly recommend - unsurprisingly - getting a side of halloumi.

It was a rather inspired addition to the dish IMHO. Unfortunately our halloumi was actually forgotten but it didn't take long for the v friendly staff to bring it out.

As I reached three-quarters of the way through my meal, I was so full, but it was so delicious I just couldn't stop. I know there's no judgement here.

Tasha went for the avocado on charcoal bread served with homemade labneh, dukkah and spinach.

Weirdly enough, you can opt to add an egg to the dish (as you can see above), but Tasha didn't ask for one because she doesn't like eggs. So we weren't sure what happened there but hey - two eggs for Rachel!

I was really intrigued to try the charcoal bread as I'd never had it before. It was, well, rather like regular bread, but with a slightly smokier flavour. I liked it.

The trouble was - especially sans egg - the ratio of bread to toppings was a bit off, Tasha found.

But all the food was exceptionally delicious and the quality was brilliant. It's classic brunch food, with slightly creative twists. I may have just found my new fave brunch spot...

Tasha and I were guests at Timmy Green but all opinions are of course our own.