Gluten Free Dark Chocolate Cake

'Ello!

It feels like a while since I've done my last food related post (go figure, because it has been about half a year), so when my brother had to make something for a picnic he was attending, it seemed like an opportune moment for me. I had actually already had another post planned, which I was in the middle stages of making, but since I haven't had really any quality content for you guys recently, I thought this would be a nice change to the system. Also the post that I had planned, which I think you can expect next week, is a right old ramble and I didn't think you'd want that.

Apologies for the lack in quality of the photos. I had a little tantrum in the middle of the making-of-the-baking process in which my brother (considerately) took the photos for me. I'm not saying that his photo taking capabilities are limited (I mean, he only took three photos on his recent trip overseas), but I am just saying that we were all a little stressed. A tip for next time, if you want to bake when your family is home, set some strict ground rules. For example, four people in the kitchen at once is not a good idea.

Before I ramble on some more, here you go.

Preparation Time: give or take 30 mins | Cooking Time: give or take 30 mins | Serves about 16 

You will need:

• melted butter or greasing paper (or both) for greasing
• 20 cm square cake tin
• 250 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped or in small pieces for easy melting (chocolate buttons work well) 
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil 
• 2 Tbsp low fat milk 
• 2 cups almond meal
• 5 eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup Caster Sugar 
• Optional: Icing sugar for dusting, or ice with whatever you want
• Optional: paper cut outs in shapes

Method: 

1. Preheat oven to 160oC. If you are using butter, grease the base and sides of your cake tin; if you are using baking paper, line your tin. Or do both, like me! 
2. Put your chocolate, oil and milk in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (make sure it's not touching the water) and stir with a metal spoon until the chocolate is melted and silky. Set aside to cool slightly. 
3. Put your chocolate mixture, almond meal, egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and mix to combine.
4. Put the separated egg whites into an electrical blender until stiff peaks form. 
5. Fold 1/2 the egg whites into the chocolate mixture first. Then add the remaining egg whites into the mixture, once incorporated. 
6. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin.
7. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cake is firm to touch. Allow to cool completely  before cutting the cake into 16 slices.
8. If you're feeling creative, cut out little templates (in paper will do) and place them on top of your cake squares and dust over them (with icing sugar)
9. Enjoy your good cakeness yums.
10. While enjoying your yums, make sure you appreciate my poorly added and taken creative shots. I mean, some thought went it to these, albeit limited.

Now the icing is completely up to you but make sure your cake has cooled completely before you add any icing. The last thing you want is runny, goop-y icing on your beautiful creation. Also keep in mind that any cracks that occur in your bake are normal and perfectly fine - they will be just as most and enjoyable! It just adds a little more character. I prefer to just add icing sugar to the top and leave it at that, but obviously it's up to you. I hope you enjoy it. 

Much love,

Duchess

Shoe Envy: Tony Bianco

Hello beautiful beings,

"Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world." - Marilyn Monroe

Upon purchasing a new pair of Tony Bianco boots (yes, I know that I'm going into Spring, but they were on clearance), I found myself exploring their site to see what else I would develop a love for. Turns out, Tony Bianco sources some of the most divine shoes that I have ever seen. Now for some (including me), you may look at some of the prices and sadly look down and turn away, but - judging from the one purchase I made - they seem to be of amazing quality, and marked down quite a bit, may just be worth the wait.

I am a huge supporter of clearance sales, and you can always find my mum and I going through racks of out of season clothes to pick up at ridiculous prices, to wear next year. I mean, I would much rather that (with my limited source of income) than spending, actual, ridiculous amounts of money to obtain clothing that's considered 'season'. I mean, a shirts a shirt - you can pair it with a coat and a scarf, and you're going to be fit to wear a Summer top in Autumn anyway. So when I saw these boots being marked down by $150 (?!) I couldn't resist splurging a little (by splurge I mean roughly $45).

If you want to check them out, you can find them here.

I mean, they're really pretty boots, and they were going at a super reasonable price for quite a high end shoe store. Getting back to the topic at hand, as I scrolled through this site, my hands seemed to disregard my brain, and I soon found myself with about 15 items in an online wishlist I would never, but would like to, purchase. Also, because my brain works in weird ways, I thought some of you might like to see what I had collated from this websites wishlist, so I narrowed these shoes down to just a hdnful. Here you go...

1. FRAYA: I love the simplicity of these booties. I mean, they just look like grown up Chelsea boots, and I think that this would be some easy to wear with just about anything.

2. MIXA: I'm loving laced heels at the moment, and I will always love a little peeptoe, as I think it's quite a classic look. You can only imagine my excitement when the two were brought together! Albeit looking somewhat uncomfortable, that chunky heel ought to make up for it.

3. OLIVER: Imagine how easy this would be to add your extra something-something to it. I like the neutral shade, especially on flats, because it gives you the flexibility to do almost anything with it. The little bit of wood detailing also adds a little more charm.

4. OLLEY: I would normally just go for a black if I dared to go this dark, but I think that this colour definitely suits this type of shoes. I'm a sucker for a bit of detailing on a plain flat, and I like the look of these, as opposed to the statement metallic designs that are being displayed on the fronts of flats at the moment (although I love that too).

5. TWISTER: How I adore a heeled boot. I think that this shade is so chic and fun to play around with. I would love to be able to buy something like this, when I'm older, and just see how much I could do with it. I'm in awe of people who wear things like this casually - one day!

6. ALAQUA: As I said before, I'm loving a laced heel. This thin heel and intricate design gives the shoe a much more feminine and delicate feel, which I adore. Not going to lie, I've been eyeing some shoes like this, but with no where to wear them there's no point! Won't stop me window shopping though.

Obviously these are just a select few shoes on the site that particularly caught my eye, but there were so many more that I had to, unfortunately, cut down. I guarantee that they'll be something on the site that you'll like though. As some what more of a conservative, play-it-safe kind of shoe person, I would say that this site even dared me to consider something I would never usually consider, and I think that that in itself is something to be happy with.

Apart from selling a wide variety of beautifully designed and crafted shoes, Tony Bianco is also a source of many other clothing and accessory items. I would definitely recommend you check them on out, and I will link their website here. Note that the website linked is actually just for the Australian website, I'm sure that there's a way for you to get to your nation/areas website from there though.

Which were your favourite pair? And what's your favourite shoe brand?

Much love,

Duchess