London Fashion Week 2015

London Fashion Week for the Autumn/Winter 2015 collections kicks off this Friday at 9.30am and ends on Tuesday 24 February at 17.30. 

Emilio De La Morena and fashion duo Thornton Bregazzi with their label Preen are among this year's highlights.

Emilio De La Morena is a young Spanish designer who studied at Central Saint Martin and the London College of Fashion and has worked for Rafael Lopez and Jonathan Saunders. With his structured and sculptural collections - mainly centred on evening wear and cocktail dresses in metallic shades - 'he manages to create surprising and fastidiously sexy cocktail looks by modernising old and obscure craftsmanship techniques'.

Emilio De LaMorena A/W 2015

Emilio De LaMorena A/W 2015

Preen by Thornton Bregazzi - one of London's most distinctive and successful labels - was founded in 1996 by Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi. Their designs are a mix of multicolour fringes, lace and architectural tailoring.

Preen S/S 2015

Unfortunately most shows will be by invitation only but some shows will be live streamed on the official LFW website.

Topshop on Oxford Street will live stream the Topshop Unique fashion show from Tate Britain on Sunday and will also be giving the chance to win a Topshop wardrobe to those who review the show by tweets. Follow this link for more info.

Chicken with Peppers

A quick and easy dinner idea.

Ingredients:

4 chicken thighs

1 garlic clove

2 tbsp olive oil

1 pepper (capsicum/bell pepper)

salt

ground pepper

ground nutmeg

dry parsley to garnish

Method:

Warm the oil in a pan, Finely chop the garlic and add to the pan. Add the chicken, salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg and cook covered for 15 mins stirring occasionally. Add a few tbsp hot water if it becomes too dry. Add the pepper (washed and diced) and add a little more water, just enough to cover and allow the pepper to cook. Cook for a further 5/10 minutes. Garnish with parsley once cooked and serve with toasted bread or boiled rice.

Mocha Cake

As those of you who have been reading my blog would have grasped by now, I love baking! I love making and eating desserts of any kind! I have a sweet tooth, but I am also devoted to a healthy diet.

Healthy eating is not about strict dietary limitations, staying unrealistically thin, or depriving yourself of the foods you love. Rather, it's about feeling great, having more energy, and stabilizing your mood.

I like my cakes light, with less fat than ordinary cakes. This way I can eat my favourite homemade baking ideas without too much guilt. There's nothing better than a nice slice of cake with a cup of your favourite coffee to give you the right energy to start your day or a nice sweet treat in the evening to warm these cold winter days! 

Cocoa and Coffee are my favourite baking ingredients in the winter. I just love this Cocoa and Coffee Cake, which I called Mocha Cake. It's so quick and easy to make!  

As this is a dark cake, I chose to give it a bit of colour by decorating it with Hundreds and Thousands. Hundreds and thousands have been around for ages. They bring back everyone's fond childhood memories. 'Hundreds and Thousands' is the British English term. I believe they are called Sprinkles or Jimmies in the US. 

Ingredients (serve 6/8):

3 eggs

250 gr caster sugar

3 tbsp margarine

4 tbsp strong coffee

zest of 1 orange

2 tsp vanilla essence

50 gr cocoa

200 gr flour

2 tsp baking powder

For the glaze:

3 tbsp caster sugar

1 tbsp cocoa

2 tbsp water

Hundreds and Thousands

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease a 20cm/8in cake tin with some butter and dust it with flour. 

Beat the eggs with the sugar, margarine, orange zest and vanilla essence until fluffy. Blend in the rest of the ingredients and stir until smooth. Gently pour the mixture on to the cake tin.

Bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes, or until the top is firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Transfer the cake to a serving plate. 

Prepare the glaze by blending the caster sugar and the cocoa. Dissolve this mixture in water and bring to a boil – boil until it starts to thicken

Glaze the top of the cake. Sprinkle with Hundreds and Thousands. 

Allow the frosting to cool before serving.