Chocolate brownies.

Apparently today is National Chocolate Cake Day, which is very convenient given that I already had this recipe from ASDA's Good Living magazine for these completely delicious chocolate brownies in my drafts, just waiting to be written up!

I made these last week (while re-watching the entire of series one of Miranda. Excellent day.) and they were such a hit and so easy to make that I am definitely planning on making them again very soon! (I'm also planning on talking some more about Miranda very soon. Watch this space...)

Ingredients

• 225g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
• 225g softened butter
• 3 large eggs, plus 1 extra yolk
• 275g golden caster sugar
• 100g plain flour
• 1 level tsp baking powder
• Icing sugar (optional)

Method

• Preheat your oven to 180C or 160C for fan ovens and line a baking tray.
• Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water, making sure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. 
• Leave the chocolate and butter until almost melted then remove from the heat and stir until the chocolate and butter are completely melted.
• Beat the eggs, egg yolk, and sugar in a clean bowl until foamy.
• Stir the chocolate and butter mixture into the eggs and sugar until just evenly blended.
• Sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture and stir until combined.
• Pour the mixture into the baking tin and bake for 35 minutes or until the top of the cake is firm but the middle is still soft.
• Half fill a roasting tin larger than your baking tin with cold water and carefully place the baking tin into the roasting tin, making sure no water goes over the edge of the baking tin. Leave the baking tray in the water until the cake has completely cooled.
• Cut into even pieces and (if desired) dust with icing sugar before serving. (I didn't bother with the icing sugar and the brownies were still delicious!)

Follow

QuickFic.

I'm only a little behind in sharing this news (read: nearly a week) but this is just a little post to share that last Friday I took part in Faber Academy's weekly QuickFic competition for the first time and came runner-up with my short story Deer in the Mist, based on the above photograph. You can read my short story and the other winners here on the Faber Academy blog if you so wish!

I'll be honest; I am quite pleased with myself.

Follow

Bowie.

Photo from my Instagram | Brooch from Andsmile

When I was sixteen I told a group of friends, one warm evening in the South of France, that I thought Ziggy Stardust was better than Led Zeppelin. They were horrified that I could say such a thing but I stuck to my guns. I knew I was right. Ziggy Stardust, to me, is better than almost everything.

When I was at university I had a framed poster of Aladdin Sane on my bedroom wall, all three years. It was the first thing I bought for going to uni, months and months before I left, and it stayed rolled up in its tube until I finally moved and had the space for it, next to my new wardrobe, in a clip frame that was far too big. It's in its tube again now and the clip frame is somewhere else, waiting until I have the space again.

When I was twenty-two I bought a pair of boots that made me feel like David Bowie. That's how I described them when I first put them on. That's why I bought them. If a pair of shoes makes me feel like David Bowie then of course I'm going to buy them. That applies to everything. Any clothing in the world - if it makes me feel like David Bowie then it's right.

I cried when I heard the news. I cried for most of the day. I'll still be sad for a long while yet, but the last two days I've listened to all of my favourite songs on near-constant rotation. I've danced and sung (terribly on both counts but with plenty of enthusiasm) and I've smiled and I've been happy too. That's what his music does; it's why I knew at sixteen that Ziggy Stardust was better than Led Zeppelin: because it always makes me happy.

Follow