Love Heart Biscuits

baking

You'll need...

For the Biscuits...

200g Light Brown Soft Sugar
200g Unsalted Butter
1tsp Vanilla extract
1 Egg, beaten
400g Plain white flour
Circular cookie cutter
Baking paper

For the Icing...

Food colouring, 3 colours
Writing icing
300g Royal icing sugar
Piping bags x3 and 3 small nozzles

To make...
Weight out the sugar and chop the butter into cubes, mix together until creamy with a spoon.
Add the Vanilla Extract and beaten egg, Mix well, then add the flour, stir until it forms a smooth dough.
Wrap the dough in cling-film and chill for 30 mins.
Roll out the Dough to around 5mm thick, Chill again for 15 mins
Preheat the oven to 180oC
Take a baking tray and cut out some baking paper to cover the bottom of the tray
Cut out the dough using a circular cookie cutter into approx. 36 biscuits
Place the biscuits onto the paper, with a 2cm gap around them and bake for 10mins until just turning golden at the edges.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
NB. You may need to bake them in a couple of batches depending on how big your baking tray is.


Make your icing, weight out 100g of icing sugar, add to a small bowl and add 2-3 tablespoons of water. Add your food colouring. (Repeat this for all 3 colours)
Take a piping bag and cut to fit the nozzle. (about ¾ of the way down)
Insert your nozzle inside and push into the hole to fit snuggly.
Holding onto the end of the nozzle, turn the bag inside out and spoon in your icing.
Shake the icing to the bottom of the bag and twist the end.
Squeeze the bag to decorate your biscuits, draw a circle outline to start with and fill with zigzags back and forward until flooded. Shake each biscuit to flatten out the icing and leave to set. Repeat with the other colours.

Chill in the fridge for an hour. Then take the writing icing, draw a heart outline on top of the iced biscuit and add a sweet saying such I've used some of these... True Love, Be mine, How sweet, Yum


Pistachio & Cashew Summer Fete Cake

baking
Bake off is back on our tellies this week, to celebrate I've made a summer fete inspired cake.
It's perfect to have a slice with a cuppa whilst you watch the show. It's really easy to make but needs a little patience as you essentially make two tiers and sandwich them together. 

Why not top with fresh flowers, make sure they are edible ones like Roses, Pansies, Marigolds, Hollyhocks and Daisies. Or alternatively you can top with Pistachio nuts if you prefer, just pile a cluster in the middle of the cake and ta da!


You'll need...
For one cake tier....
115g self raising flour
140g muscovado sugar
75ml sunflower oil
1 large beaten egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 grated carrot
1 mashed banana
25g pistachio & cashew nuts

For the topping...
170g icing sugar
200g soft cheese
85g melted butter 
Pistachio nuts or fresh flowers to decorate


To make...
Mix all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl until well combined and smooth.
Break up the nuts and stir into the bowl.
Turn into a greased 18cm cake tin and shake to level the surface.
Pre-heat the oven to 180oc, bake for 30 mins
Leave to cool, turn out onto a wire rack and repeat to make the second tier.

Sift in the icing sugar into a bowl, add the soft cheese and butter mix together until smooth.
Spread the icing onto the top of one tier.
Then put the second tier on top of this.
Spread icing on the top and decorate with nuts or fresh flowers.
Serves 6-8 people.

Photographed using my Country Ducks collection exclusively from Debenhams

Preview: Into The Woods Collection

Ashley Thomas at home

My Autumn/Winter collection for Debenhams is inspired by the beautiful British woodland. Leafy, botanical prints are a modern take on traditional florals inspired by turn of the century prints from the 1900's. The range is full of entangled foliage, wonderful woodland creatures and atmospheric autumnal colours. This season rambling florals sit on dark grounds, replacing twee palettes for sophisticated colours. Mix and match patterns add an element of playfulness to your home. Charming woodland animals feature throughout the range and create a conversational element to your home. Some of our favourite products are featured below, look out for the hedgehog salt and peeper shakers.


Debenhams A/W16

Events

A few months ago I went to the Debenhams Autumn/Winter press show to celebrate the launch of my new collection with them (which is starting to appear online now).
My collection is called "Into the Woods" and is inspired by the beautiful British woodland. 
Leafy, botanical prints sit on dark grounds this season. I was hugely inspired by turn of the century wallpapers and prints, which is reflected in the collections main pattern.
The range is full of intricate mix and match patterns, moody autumnal colours and charming quirky woodland creatures which add a playful touch to the designs. You'll find Hedgehog salt and pepper pots, an super sweet owl trivet, beautiful tea sets, dinnerware and an adorable measuring cup set featuring an owl handle.

The products were displayed on tree trunks and crispy leaves and tree branches. Which set off the designs beautifully and set the tone for the collection.




Hedgehog Salt and pepper set, coming soon. Click here to shop my collection.




Above is one of my favourite products, Set of four measuring cups, £14 Exclusively at Debenhams


The products have started to appear online and in stores now, but should be fully available in September. Exclusively at Debenhams.

Christmas in July 2016

Events



Last week was the Debenhams Christmas in July press show. It was held in the beautiful Fritzroy Square in a gorgeous Georgian town house. I was asked to host a cupcake decorating workshop with the visitors in the stunning kitchen on the ground floor, which was nearly as big as the whole downstairs of my house! It was an invite only event and visitors were journalists and researchers from short lead magazines, newspapers, TV shows and independent writers and bloggers. Debenhams presented products launching in store soon within the house. Including my new Christmas homeware collection which will be out in September.



The event workshop was so much fun, I do lots of baking at home and it was a lovely opportunity to talk to everyone about my new range whilst teaching a simple buttercream icing recipe which I use for my cupcakes.




Here's some of my workshop victims having a go at pipping their own icing onto the cupcakes.
If you want to have a go at home here is the recipe we used...

For the cupcakes...
100g Butter, 100g Caster sugar, 1 tbsp Cocoa Powder, 1 Orange, 2 Eggs,
50g Dark Chocolate, 125g Self-Raising Flour

For the icing...
350g icing sugar, 150g butter, Orange food colouring
Edible silver balls, Edible glitter, A piping bag & nozzle

To Make...
Preheat the oven to 170oC
Beat the sugar and butter together, add the cocoa powder,
grate in half of the zest of the orange and squeeze in 2 tablespoons of the juice.

Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie and then add to the mixture.
Whisk the eggs together and mix into the mixture well.
Then fold in the flour.

Spoon the mixture into 12 cupcake cases, they should be 3/4 full.
Bake in the oven for 20mins, allow to cool completely.

Make your buttercream icing in the meantime, 
weigh out 120g/4oz of icing sugar and 50g/2oz of butter.
Sift the icing sugar into a bowl.
Chop the butter into small cubes and mix in to the sugar using the back of a spoon.

Add a few drops of food colouring to add colour to your icing.
Grate in some of the orange zest or add a few drops of vanilla extract
or caramel flavouring to add flavor to your icing.

Cut the piping bag to fit the nozzle. (about ¾ of the way down)
Insert your nozzle inside and push into the hole to fit snuggly.
Holding onto the end of the nozzle, turn the bag inside out and spoon in your icing.
Shake the icing to the bottom of the bag and twist the end.
Squeeze the bag to decorate your cupcakes.

Use the large open nozzles to create the classic blob or the large star nozzle to create rose and ruffle shapes or use the smaller nozzle for spikes and mini roses.

Top with a variety of decorations such as silver balls,
chocolate stars, twirls, mini jazzies or cherries.




Christmas in July 2016

Events
Next week is the Debenhams Christmas in July press show.
I'll be doing a cupcake decorating workshop here with the bloggers, press and other visitors on the day. I realise it's a little crazy talking about Christmas in July! But the glossy magazines are starting to work on Christmas issues now. They work around 3 months ahead in general. I'll be promoting my Christmas Collection at Debenhams. In the hope that we get lots of lovely features in the upcoming months. So stay tuned for a sneak preview of the event and the first look at my range.



Country Ducks

Ashley Thomas at home
My country ducks collection is now live on the Debenhams website.
This classic collection is designed for the quintessential country kitchen. Hand-drawn adorable runner ducks feature bow ties and rosettes, with a beautiful linen texture background and gorgeously handpainted dots and stripes. This range will give your kitchen the country bumpkin vibe even if you live in the city!

Look out for my new recipe card tin to store those recipes your grandma passed down to you.
Or if your not that lucky, write your favourite recipes in here and start your own collection to pass down!

A totally new feature launching in this collection is the wipeable, matt finish apron and matt coated cake tins and canisters. We are really pleased with this way this has turned out and it gives a beautiful quality finish to the range.

See it yourself in your nearest Debenhams
or you can Shop the full range here.

Set of 3 Storage Tins £18
Duck Toast Rack £8
Matt, wipeable Apron £16
Vegetable Basket £22
Oven gloves £15
Set of 2 Cake Tins £20
Wooden Utensil Jar £16
Ceramic Canister £12
Wire Trivet £8
Recipes £15
Worktop Saver £12

Summer Sale

exclusive

The heat has gone to our heads over at Ashley Thomas HQ  we are offering huge discounts for a limited time only.

You can now get 30% off everything online at www.ashleythomas.co.uk until the end of the month. All our products are handmade and printed in England. From greeting cards to notebooks, fine china mugs, handmade tea towels and cushions.
View the full range now and get your
exclusive discount with this code:
Summer16

My Travels: Miami

South Beach
In part two of my epic adventure to America, we flew into MIA for a few days before hitting the road for the final part of our holiday. We stayed on South Beach near 2nd Street. It feels more residential at this end of Miami Beach. The middle is a little crazy with tourists and people partying, which isn't my thing anymore really. It was very different than I imagined Miami to be. I guess I was expecting it to have a posher vibe about it, I thought it would be full of models sipping cocktails is super cool bars, middle aged men in supercars, I guess a kind of St. Tropez feel. But it wasn't like this at all. It was a bit run down really, I guess years of being a party town has taking it's toll. The sunsets over the harbour where break-taking, the colours are unbelievable, my photos really don't do it justice. The beach is just perfect with silky soft white sand, tall palm trees and adorable wooded life guard stations. I loved all the art deco buildings too, it's like stepping into the 1920's It's just a shame that many of the beautiful buildings are now cheesy bars and tacky souvenir shops! Miami is the perfect gateway to The Florida Keys so from here we hit the road on Highway 1. An unbelievable road built over the ocean, connecting sleepy islands together (The Keys). I'll be posting some inspirational photos I gathered of Key West in my next post, so stay tuned.







My Travels: New York

First timer guide to New York
I've recently returned from an epic adventure to America. We did a little tour of the East coast, New York, Miami and the Florida Keys. I took so many pictures I'm going to split each location into a post. So today I'm starting with New York.

I've always dreamed of going to New York from watching scenes in films and TV shows most of my life. So many amazing things are filmed in NY. From Friends to Sex and the city, Ghostbusters to I Am Legend and a countless number of other films that are shot there. It's such an iconic, historic city and a must see city of the world. As I turned the big 30 this year I wanted to escape and celebrate/commiserate in a far away land so what better place to do it than New York!

As a first timer to New York I was desperate to cram in as much as possible into our 4 nights in the big apple. I've put together some snaps of our favourite spots. We did a couple of walking tours from this Lonely Planet book, which was great as we saw so much of the city just walking around. She didn't disappoint with iconic looking streets of West Village, the bright lights of Times Square, humorous signs, and interesting street art. An absolute highlight was the circle line tour around Manhattan island. I'd totally recommend getting an Explorer Pass which gets you a discount of multiple attractions in NY.

 
Walking across Brooklyn Bridge was really nice and you get amazing views of the city from the across the bridge.

 Another favourite was The Top of The Rock. The views of the city from the top of this skyscraper are breathtaking. We timed it around sunset to make the most of the views. I'd heard stories of tourists queuing for hours to get up the Empire State building so we decided to do the Rockerfella centre instead, and I'm so glad we did as we went straight up the lift and the top wasn't over crowded either. I'd recommend this as a must do if your planning on visiting NY yourself.

We visited the Museum of Modern Art on our last day. Here's a couple of favourites from their collection. Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe. And Vincent Van Gogh's portrait of Joseph Roulin.

There are some beautiful natural areas of NY too, central park being the most famous. We cycled around this but it was so much busier than I expected! Maybe because there was a charity race on and it was a Sunday so there was alot of runners, cyclists and dog walkers. We also walked on the Highline which is an old railway which has been converted into a garden space. It was also a great way to get to the Meatpacking district, which was one of my favourite areas on NY. Full of artisan ice cream shops, lovely garden style eatery's and great bars.
We also paid our respects at ground zero, which is such a beautiful memorial. It's a very moving place and so much bigger than I ever imagined. I was moved more than expected in NY actually from the memories of the horrific scenes of 9/11 to the history of the immigrants coming over in the 1900's to make a better life in the land of opportunity. It's a surprising, mesmerising and intriguing city and we just scratched the surface. As our tour guide said on the boat tour around the island, you need a year and 1 million pounds to explore it properly.