Dotty About...Fudge!

Shhh, it's my best friend's birthday today, and I have decided to give her a (mostly) home-made present. I found this amazing heart shaped dish, and I thought I would fill it with all sorts of yummy treats for her.

So I made my mind up to start with fudge.

OH MY! you would not believe how many ways there are to make fudge!! Some are made with milk, some with milk and cream, some contain flour, some with condensed milk thrown into the mix, and others made with JUST condensed milk and dark chocolate which sounded yummy, however, for this gift, I decided to stick to a basic recipe from the Carnation website - if you haven't tried any of their recipe's yet, you really should, they are super scrummy. I particularly LOVE their Key Lime and Banoffee Pie's :D

Once I had mixed up the basic recipe (of course, this one contains condensed milk!) I added some crystalised ginger and dark chocolate to the mix before pouring it into the pan and leaving it to set.

I am pretty pleased with the result, I hope she will be to!!

(yes, the candles are home made too ;-) that's a whole other chapter!)

Dotty About...Own Branding

I absolutely LOVE this new (ish) trend of personalising random things at your wedding. Particularly in my line of vision this week are several items on the blog: Style me Pretty

Labelled up jars - which, of course, also make beautiful (and cheap) favours

Escort cards, of course are a great way of repeating your personal branding

Of course one great way of putting across your own branding for people to keep is through your favours:

Sweet bags

Sticks of rock

And last but not least, of course, we couldn't have this blog post without Bunting!

Seeing these made me think of our own random branding at our wedding (nearly a year ago!!)

Our branded tea bag favours (with home made cookies) created by our friend Mark of Artwork Express, Macclesfield.

Dotty About...Vintage Buttons

This weekend's bride had the most gorgeous handmade hair decoration with vintage buttons sewn in. It was so pretty, I decided to look for some more inspiring button decorations for weddings. Of course, if you are button-phobic, please look away.

A beautiful wedding which I was event coordinator for last year. Incidentally, the couple have just had their first baby so I am also sending them lots of congratulations. The Bride had inherited a whole box of vintage buttons from her grandma so she incorporated them into her beautiful handmade Table Plan and Place Names.









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And, of course, last but not least... Edible button favours!



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And instructions on how to make them here: bakeitpretty.com

Dotty About...Cake Pops

One of my best friends is getting married next year, and I am very very excited to be doing not only her wedding cake, but also making other items for her cake table.

I have seen some amazing cake tables on other blogs over time:









(Images from Inspired Bride & Style Me Pretty)

SO I am really looking forward to doing some very special things for this one. One of the things we have chatted about in particular is cake pops.

If you have had your head under a rock and have missed the cake pop phase, time to remove your had from the rock! lol.

The wedding is next year, so I thought I had better get some practice in over the next few months to make sure that they turn out the way we want them. She has a specific flower which she wants to try to emulate called Billy Balls!!



Here is my first attempt today. I got a bit carried away with sprinkles, and I think we have a way to go, but I am quite pleased with the result :)

Dotty About...Lemons at weddings

Some top tips for using lemons at weddings:

1) Lemon cakes for favours - Here's something I am going to try next week, from a brilliant design blog - A Subtle Revelry



2) Lemons as decorations



3) Real lemonade for a refreshing reception drink - What about this for a recipe: Limoncello & Mint Lemonade (found on Noble Pig)

Add some sugar to some freshly squeezed lemon in a pyrex or sturdy vessel. Pour over a little hot water to melt the sugar into the lemon juice. When cool, add some mint leaves and squish with a pestle.

Pour into a glamorous glass (preferably with a lemon-sugared rim). Add some soda water, then top up with limoncello. Pop a slice of lemon on the rim of the glass (and a pink straw depending on the glass)and Taa Daa, a very classy, clever and eye-catching wedding cocktail!