The Beat That My Heart Skipped – A blog dedicated to daily design inspirations. By Rohini Wahi.

It’s been a fabulous last week or so with what really does seem to be the long awaited arrival of spring. During the end of the Easter holidays Lily, Arthur and myself even managed a couple of impromptu picnic lunches on the beach! With the promise of many sunny days to come, I plan to eat al fresco as often as I can, even if it is just a snatched 20 minutes in the park with a flask of tea and a cake. As luck would have it the wonderful Hummingbird Bakery have just launched a lovely new spring range of cupcakes that would suit such an indulgent occasion.

Their new collection is based on delicious hot beverages from around the world. With a new flavour for every day of the week, visitors to The Hummingbird Bakery will find everything from time-honoured coffee flavours to the trendiest teas, all transformed into delicious cupcakes. These gastronomic treats will be available daily from now until the end of June – so there is plenty of time to try out every flavour.

Monday – Earl Grey Tea Cupcake
Cure the Monday blues with an archetypal British flavour. This cupcake features a deliciously light Earl Grey tea infused sponge and is iced with a delectable Earl Grey tea frosting.

Tuesday – Hot Chocolate Cupcake
Chocolate drinks have been evolving since Aztec times and this spring, The Hummingbird Bakery has a new twist on Hot Chocolate with the Hot Chocolate Cupcake – a deliciously moist chocolate sponge with a sumptuous hot chocolate flavoured frosting.

Wednesday – Green Tea Cupcake
For some mid-week Zen, visit The Hummingbird Bakery for an Asian-inspired Green Tea Cupcake. This cupcake is made with Shinzo Japanese Green Tea, a premium green tea from Japan, and features a green tea sponge and fresh green tea frosting.

Thursday – Red Bush Tea Cupcake
A flavour savoured by South Africans for generations, this take on Red Bush tea includes a cupcake sponge infused with red bush tea and is topped with a subtle red bush tea frosting.

Friday – Mocha Cupcake
For a Friday treat, the French inspired Mocha flavour is a cupcake you can really sink your teeth into. The Mocha cupcake features a rich coffee flavour infused in chocolate sponge and is topped with a delicious chocolate coffee frosting.

Saturday – Espresso
True lovers of Italian coffee will appreciate The Hummingbird Bakery’s Saturday special. This Espresso infused cupcake has a bold coffee flavoured sponge that is smothered in espresso frosting.

Sunday – Fruit Tea Cupcake
A true American original, the Fruit Tea cupcake features raspberry, cranberry and elderflower fruit flavours in its delicious sponge and is topped with a light fruit tea frosting. The Fruit Tea cupcake is the perfect treat at the end of a weekend.
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Today we are sharing a recipe from Ele’s Kitchen, if you recall Ele has contributed to the blog a few times here and here. Now she’s back with a wierd and wonderful alternative version of coleslaw – perfect for the summery days ahead. Thanks Ele!

My Mum has a saying, one which should bring comfort to frustrated parents everywhere: “Picky eaters are just good cooks in the making”. Though this hasn’t been scientifically proven, it’s definitely proved accurate in the case of me and my sister, and indeed most of our cousins, too.

My family was rife with picky eaters, and I was the worst of the bunch. Christmas Eve dinner for me was often a roll with butter, and I would routinely get stomach aches before going to a certain aunt’s house for dinner, so frightened I was of whatever she was going to foist upon us. [I’ve since come to realise that said aunt is actually a wonderful cook, and love eating at her house.]

Though my picky-eater status is nowhere near where it used to me, and my good cook status much improved, there are still a few things that I’ve never been tempted to try, let alone cook. Dishes that, by their merest mention, make my stomach turn. Among the worst of these offenders is coleslaw. I know people who adore the stuff, waxing lyrical about the contrast of crunch and creaminess. But me? I only see cabbage, raw cabbage, smothered in that most revolting invention of humankind, mayonnaise. No, thank you.

It was somewhat of a surprise then, when I came across a coleslaw recipe that I immediately wanted to make- and eat. The Peanut Slaw from David Lebovitz’s wonderful book The Sweet Life in Paris jumped out at me for its decidedly un-coleslaw-like vibe. A fresh and crunchy mixture of cabbage and carrots, it’s dressed not with gloopy mayo, but with a simple mixture of peanut butter, soy sauce and lime juice. Since there’s nothing [in my opinion] that can’t be made better by the addition of peanut butter, I figured if I was ever going to try coleslaw, this was going to be it.
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Party Time!

As a busy mum of two, my time is stretched at best. Any chance to relax is oh so rare, so why is it I regularly steer away from the ‘easy options’ in life. I wonder if it is a deep scar from years ago when my school reports were frequently summed up with quotes such as ‘ nice girl, could try harder’. I am also a frustrated creative, so my choosing not to take the easy options helps to feed this.

My daughter Lily recently celebrated her 5th birthday. She was very keen to have a party so I decided to hold one. Despite the chaos of hosting a child’s party at home, I am holding out from having to hire an expensive and dreary hall for as long as I can. I set the guest limit [12 including Lily] and Lily set the theme [Princesses].

At this point most sane mothers would text those lucky enough to be worthy of one of the 12 places, or maybe pop into town to buy some party invitation – I’m sure Lily would have loved the Disney Princess invites I saw and turned a blind eye to. But I decided to hand make them. And I didn’t stop there I made the party bags too, plus giant tissue paper pom poms [Lily isn't keen on balloons]. I decorated the room with the Poms and then gave one each to the children to take home with them.

My starting point for both the invitations and the party bags was a letter writing set, some fabric scraps and an old magazine all from one of my favourite stores Cath Kidston. I felt that the nostalgic pretty prints lend themselves well for a 5 year old’s party of carefree fun, games, dancing and cake.

The invitations were great fun. A selection of pretty papers, glue, alphabet stamps and some crimping scissors were all that were needed. I then followed the pretty floral theme through to the party bags. I simply purchased some cheap Calico fabric which I cut using crimping scissor [resulting in no need to hem] into long rectangles. Then using my floral fabric [and for the two boys that attended the party, blue spot fabric], I cut small rectangular patches and sewed them on. Finally, I them folded them in half and using my sowing machine stitched up each side. Once filled with goodies I fasten them with ribbon.

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This recipe is fantastic. If you balk at the idea of ‘brown bread’ ice cream, I urge you to give it a try … I promise you’ll be converted. The bread in question is made into breadcrumbs and toasted with brown sugar giving the ice-cream a deep fudgy caramel taste which is so moorish. The other great thing about this recipe is you need no special kit to make it, just a hand whisk and a lidded tupperware type box. Enjoy!

Louise x

Louise’s Brown Bread Ice-Cream

Ingredients
Serves 6.
85g/3oz brown breadcrumbs
85g/3oz soft dark brown sugar
2 large eggs, separated
Half a tablespoon of dark rum [optional]
300ml / Half a pint of double cream
85g/3oz sifted icing sugar
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This week I have a couple of recipes for you from My Kitchen. Both were a result of needing to knock up a quick lunch that satisfied on every level. The weather was cold, but full of promise with bright sunshine. Hence a combo of a bowl of rich soup and a [smaller bowl] of ice cream was on the menu. Both of these recipes were made from what I had in the kitchen cupboards, fridge and freezer. Often the best dishes are those that are cobbled together on a whim. Below is my recipe for the soup, tune in right after for my brown bread [yep you heard right] ice cream recipe!

Happy Cooking,

Louise x

Roasted Pepper, Garlic and Onion Soup

Ingredients
5 – 6 Pepper [red, yellow or orange]
Onion
3 – 4 Cloves of Garlic [adjust to your own taste]
Fresh Thyme [you can other herbs such as parsley, basil and sage or dried herbs if you don't have fresh to hand]
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
A splash of balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar
Olive Oil
Vegetable Stock

This really is a make-it-up-as-you-go-along recipe, so quantities and ingredients are but a rough guide – follow your instincts!
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