All Greek To Me

So a quick pop into Cardiff town centre and a short wonder around the arcades.. I come across this little gem! Loving all things Greek how could I just walk past? No way. Stepping inside I felt like I was in Greece, the decor is so simple but so effective. The cobbled style floor just like paved stones and blue touches immediately reminded me of photos from Santorini. The smell of Greek olives in the air and friendly chit chat. I know this is a place my boyfriend would love and can't wait to take him! 

I couldn't quite get the shop keeps names with all the food chat but they are such lovely women. Immediately showing her Greek custom she offered me some food to try, which I could not turn down. Completely 100% fat free choco bites. They're made with olive oil instead of butter which tastes amazing (not at all savoury as I initially thought) selling at 5 for £1, bargain on the go snack.

Fat-free chocolate bites

Everything is made by the owners from scratch and you can taste it in the quality of the food.  The cheese pie was amazing too. Although All Greek To Me just opened yesterday I know they'll be around for a while, if your in Cardiff definitely pop in and say hi. They're very friendly and the food will speak for itself.

Delicious Greek pie

Situated in the classic Cardiff arcades, nearest the castle ( I really can't remember the arcade name! If you know where I'm talking about please comment and correct me haha)   'High Street Arcade'

What do you think, gorgeous and quaint or what?!

Until Next time xo

*Update - this lovely lady is called Leda. I still love this shop and pop by every week. 

Carrot Cupcakes

I love carrot cake, its one of my favourites. The name just makes it feel slightly less naughty when you've got your feet up with a cup of tea and a large slice. But when I looked up a few recipes online the name is very deceiving. The recipe I took uses 200ml of sunflower oil?! I was really unsure if it was   just a typo or a joke. It felt pretty disgusting putting that much oil just on top of eggs and mixing! But as Ive learnt from so many disasters in the past, always follow the recipe! Especially if like me, your just a home baker haha. If you not like me and count your calories daily then you may want to cut down on your carrot cake intake!

I wish I had picked up a few little carrot fondant decorations to make it a bit more obvious but hey ho. I used around 200g of grated carrots but it still didn't quite give the taste, I think if you try this then 1 whole tablespoon of cinnamon would be advised. It brings out the taste of the carrot a lot more.

Recipe
275g caster sugar
200ml sunflower oil
4 medium eggs
300g carrot (more or less)
150g nuts or dried fruit
225g wholemeal or plain flour
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp cocoa powder

Cheese frosting:
125g unsalted butter,
125g full-fat cream cheese
275g icing sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Edible decorations 

1.Cream the eggs and oil together
2. Mix in carrots
3. Add sugar and flour
4. Mix in nuts
5. fold in cinnamon and cocoa powder
6. Cook for 15 minutes at 170 degrees
7. Mix all frosting ingredients together and spread over cooled cakes

Shakes!

The amazing American milkshake joint in Guildford's busy town centre has closed down! They used to make the best, creamiest milkshakes using different commercial cookies, chocolates, candies and sweets. I only ever had one the kinder bueno and it was so amazing. Chocolate, hazelnut, white chocolate, ice-cream and milk. So indulgent but so good. It's a shame when you see big businesses being bought out by large chain companies, which there is one down the road from this establishment. Goodbye shakes!

Cookie Dough recipe

Everyone has become addicted since Americans have broadcast it all over their sitcoms and then trickled into Domino's and American style diners and of course Ben and Jerry's. Its delicious and really fattening but it does taste amazing. The only problem is after about 5 teaspoons, its so sweet and rich that you get a bit sick of it. So its probably best to make these as cake pops which I might try soon. I got this delicious recipe here.

Fairly cheap ingredients

My indulgent dough

Original recipe

Recipe:
200g butter
230g brown sugar, 
200g all purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tablespoons of milk
toppings

1. Cream butter and sugar together until smooth
2. Add vanilla extract and 2 spoons of milk
3. Mix in half the flour
4. Add all the flour and milk and mix well
5. Mix in all the toppings
6. Eat raw

This would probably taste amazing, stuffed into the middle of a cupcake. What do you think? You need to serve this straight away as if you keep it for too long, the butter melts and seeps out. blegh.
Until next time xo