Whitworths Christmas Cake Kit

Whitworths Christmas Cake Baking Kit

Christmas Cake is like Marmite - either you love it or you hate it, I 'like' Christmas Cake, its not my favourite but its not Christmas without a cake to devour with cups of tea, port and cheese.


I have always fancied making my own, starting months before and then pouring alcohol over it to keep it moist (and very boosy) for weeks and weeks.  As always I forgot and so 3 days before the big day I am now embarking on making my cake.


To help me out I am using a Christmas Cake kit from Whitworths.  Inside is almost everything I need: Soft Brown Sugar, Mixed Fruit with Rum, Black Treacle, Chopped Almonds, Plain Flour, Mixed Spice and the recipe card.    You also need to provide yourself the baking tin, baking parchment, butter, 3 eggs and lemon zest and juice.
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To make the cake just follow the instructions - simple :)  (I'll let you know how I get on)
I have read online to lower the temperature in my oven a bit as I have a fan oven and also to put a circle of baking parchment on top of the cake (not touching the mixture) so that the top doesn't get too brown.  The pack states 150*C so I'll knock it down to 140*C instead.  The total baking time is 3 hours so I will watch that too as it may cook a little quicker in my oven.


What annoys me is that the decorating kit has to be brought separately.   The cake kit is around £8 which is a lot cheaper than buying all the ingredients on their own (plus you have no half packets of ingredients hanging around or being wasted), then you have to buy a decorating kit (or all the icing sugar etc... to make your own) the icing kits are at least a further £5+ to buy.    


To be honest its cheaper and easier to buy a ready done cake .... but its not so much fun :)

ibrew

Own a micro-brewery this Christmas with ibrew!

When Andy turned 30 he went into 'must brew my own beer' mode ... apparently all men go through this phase when they are 30.  He scanned online auction sites, the local paper and car boot sales to buy all the kit, then I refused to let him brew it in our house as the beer smells the house out while brewing.
He was not bothered one bit as his Mum came home from work one day to find the contents of her airing cupboard on her bed and Andy brewing his beer at her house!

Since then a new kit has been developed which makes the process a whole lot easier.  ibrew is a fantastic kit where everything you need fits into the brewing container - which means that when the new budding brewer gets bored you can pack it all away again until the interest arises again.

Many a beer-lover has dreamed of owning his very own micro-brewery. Now that fantasy can become a reality this Christmas thanks to the groundbreaking ibrew system!

ibrew is a complete, self-contained in-home micro-brewery offering anyone, novice or expert, the opportunity to brew premium lager, bitter or stout inside just 21 days. Compact and easy-to-use, the ibrew micro-brewery kit contains everything needed to produce top-notch, 4% ABV beer of a quality comparable to the finest artisan products on the market – and at a fraction of the price. In fact, ibrew costs from just 50p a pint – offering superb value for money compared with both supermarket and pub prices.


ibrew makes 20 pints of beer at a time at room temperature, which means it can be tucked discreetly away in a cupboard during the brewing process. The beer is stored in two 10-pint bottles until ready to drink. The finished product is dispensed from these bottles using an innovative tap, which also doubles as a clever gas carbonator for the beer. Beer brewed using ibrew is all-natural, containing only malt, hops, water and yeast.


ibrew marketing manager, Andy Janes, said: “ibrew is the perfect treat for beer lovers to buy themselves – or a great gift idea to buy the beer-lover in your life. Brewing your own lager, bitter and stout with ibrew is simplicity itself and very rewarding. It tastes as good as beer produced in professional micro-breweries but offers much better value for money.”


ibrew is ideal for everyday responsible in-home consumption, but also perfect for entertaining this festive period. If you don’t tell them (though it’s likely you’ll be too proud of your beer not to) guests at Christmas and New Year parties will probably not even realise it was brewed in-home!

I am really impressed with the kit, it contains everything you need and clear instructions.  The kit is easily ordered online and is well packed for delivery.  We haven't had chance to brew any beer yet but from unpacking the contents we are both very impressed with the quality of the kit so far.
I like the fact that the little carbonated gas cylinders are included, this is a great upgrade to what Andy and I are used to (as our beer was always a bit flat and naff ... actually so naff that only Andy's dad would ever drink it!).

This is a top quality product and great for any occasion for the 'man who has everything'.  Available with both bitter and lager variants they cover the taste for everyone.

Available for just £64.99, the ibrew starter kit offers a complete re-usable home brewery with everything you need to begin brewing – including the ingredients to make 20 pints. Refills cost £9.99, again for 20 pints, which means home brewing costs from just 50p a pint.


ibrew kits and refills are available to buy online at www.ibrew.co.uk and in numerous retailers nationwide (visit website to find nearest stockist – prices may vary between retailers).

Panduro Hobby

Panduro Hobby

www.pandurohobby.co.uk

http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/ccc7b6ae#/ccc7b6ae/46 << Link to catalogue

Since it was established in 1955, Panduro Hobby has developed a unique concept for giving people possibilities for their own creative activities.
With a comprehensive range of more than 9,000 hobby items, they offer everything required for making unique and personal articles.

Quite simply, they enable people to experience the satisfaction of being able to create something beautiful with their own hands.

I was asked to review a product from the Panduro catalogue, being very arty I was thrilled and started looking trough the pages and pages of beautiful kits, projects and materials ... I have never seen such a range of wonderful creative products! Each and every item is 'want-able' and simple to create, my daughter Emma eventually asked if we could make some candles and so I chose the BeesWax Sheets.

The products arrived quickly and well packed, if you spend over £50 on the website they offer free delivery which is great!

Just before bed (after a lot of nagging from Emma) I relented and agreed to help her make some candles. In our pack we received 5 sheets of honeycomb sheeted beeswax in yellow and some wicks. We read the instructions and Emma got to work.

First up was a simple straight candle. It was really easy to make and the kit gave us enough wax for us to make one each (I am convinced mine is better but Emma disagrees).



We then decided to be a little more daring and following the comprehensive well described instructions (including pictures with measurements) we made two spiral candles.



Finally as we still had two sheets left and lots of wick we attempted the more 'posher' stepped pillar candle. I'll have to admit that when Emma was moaning "No Mum its not like that you need to use this part!" I ignored her and swore blind that I was doing it correctly .... I wasn't it looked odd, luckily being wax you can unroll, flatten and start again :)

This time Emma took the lead and created a lovely stepped pillar candle - she has decided to give all five candles to her Gran for Christmas :)



Then it really was time for bed. The candles have stored really easily in the bag that the wax came in ready to be wrapped for Christmas.

Panduro have many many kits suitable for all age groups, boys, girls, Mum's, Granny's etc... I have posted the link to the Christmas Catalogue above but obviously throughout the year they will have different products available.

Prices are fair and the quality is high, I am very impressed with the wax that we tested and will definitely go back to the catalogue to have another browse (possibly for stocking fillers for 'you know who' above ;) as she enjoyed the candle making so much).

Our rating: 10/10
For more information please visit: www.pandurohobby.co.uk