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#devondaysout – The Bear Trail

18/05/201719/10/2022 Lisa 6 Comments

#devondaysout – The Bear Trail.

On Sunday we went to The Bear Trail in Cullompton for the first time.

Isabelle and I had been looking at the pictures on Facebook at all the mud-covered adults and children. She thought it was ‘awesome and I wondered what on earth I should wear!

I opted for gym gear and trainers to make running, jumping, and climbing possible.

At this point, I should mention that the day before we went it absolutely bucketed down so it was definitely going to be an extra muddy day!

I am usually the bag carrier! Daddy is usually the one who does the physical stuff whilst I look after the bags/coats/picnic, but this time I decided that we were all going to take part and have some fun.

Our Visit

The Bear Trail was easy to find and there was ample parking when we arrived.

The carpark overlooked the trail where all the equipment was laid out in a wide-open space with plenty of grass space in the middle, perfect for picnics.

Isabelle was very excited (and Daddy too) and were raring to go. When we arrived there were lots of cars arriving for a birthday party. All nicely dressed. Big mistake!

Inside the Bear Trail.

Aside from the trail itself, there is a barn with inside seating, a kiosk selling hot drinks, sandwiches, cakes as well as freshly made wood-fired pizzas, changing rooms, toilets, and a shower area.

There is also a play area for the littles with a sandpit, but there is no age limit on any of the equipment. The ethos is that if you think you can do it – give it a go. You know your own child’s capability.

Not forgetting in the far corner there is a pen with some alpaca and ponies which when you’re having fun could easily be overlooked, but we went over and gave the ponies a stroke.

The Trail

The trail has a selection of rope climbing frames, swing ropes, bridges, zip slides, tunnels, hay bales, stepping stones, tyres, and more, all with a huge puddle of muddy water either before, after or underneath.

Off we went, and at first, I think most people make some kind of attempt to stay out of the mud, but once you go in – you get stuck in. Isabelle had no hesitation and was a mud slick in minutes. Daddy closely followed whilst I lagged behind shop fresh clean.

After passing a fellow blogger who had got stuck in with her two boys I felt a bit of a wuss and with the help of Isabelle managed to get covered in mud. Squelchy feet and all.

You can go around the trail in order, but there were certain bits that we preferred so we made up our own route.

Some families set up picnics and had blankets and food laid out where the adults congregated and the kids were let loose to play. As it’s all open plan you can give the kids that bit of freedom.

We went around the trail for a good couple of hours before showering off and getting changed before being treated to a lovely lunch of a selection of wood-fired pizzas, cakes, and drinks.

About the Bear Trail

The trail set in Cullompton, Devon is about to celebrate its first birthday and was set in motion by Ben a former Army Man.

The trail is evolving and new obstacles are in the pipeline, as are better-changing facilities. We thought lockers were a good idea to eliminate the trips back to the car.

The trail is kept as basic as can be – no flashing lights, music, or bright colours. It’s all about getting outside and having good old-fashioned fun.

All the obstacles have safety nets but it’s very much up to the individual’s capability. Isabelle is six and was capable of taking part in every part of the trail and made the most of it.

It’s an all-weather day out. If it rains, you get muddier!

Info

The trail is open from 10 – 5pm. There are no time restrictions – you can stay all day.

Tickets are available at the entrance or online. If it’s the school holidays I would recommend booking beforehand to avoid disappointment.

Prices
Over 1 metre – £7.50
Under 1 metre – £4.50

Don’t wear your best clothes – they will get muddy.

Take spare clothes, shoes, towels and a bag to put all the muddy clothes in.

Food is available – the pizzas are awesome, but you can take your own. There are plenty of picnic tables and grassy areas to sit.

The Bear Trail Birthday Party’s – You can host a birthday party at the trail with different priced packages to suit your budget.

All in all we had a great day so The Bear Trail gets the thumbs up from us.

To celebrate their first birthday they are having a Colour Bomb Run where you will be showered with the colours of the rainbow as well as mud – This is taking place on 23rd July and booking is advisable.

For you lovely readers we can offer 5% off the usual ticket price if you book online. Just add the code: BLOG5 at the checkout.

Have fun.

Lisa x

Elastoplast #TearsIntoSmiles Challenge

09/05/201716/03/2021 Lisa 1 Comment

Elastoplast Tears into Smiles Challenge.

#TearsIntoSmiles

What do your kids call a cut or a graze?

A Baddie
A Boo Boo
An Oopsie
An Ouchie

Isabelle loves to make a huge song and dance whenever she falls over. She starts off crying and we’re desperately trying to work out if she’s hurt herself and if so what damage has been done whilst she bats us off covering up the ‘baddie’.

Once we’ve had a look we have to assess the situation and work out if it’s just a bang and we might need to rub on a bit of arnica or whether it’s more than that.

We have, like most parents a whole kit of stuff for every eventuality.

We have arnica for bruises
Antiseptic spray and cream to get all the nastiness out of a cut or graze
Plasters of course in all shapes and sizes
Cotton wool pads – for holding over the baddies (better with a sprinkling of magic water)
A cold pack that we keep in the freezer

I think that the biggest part of a cut or graze is the initial shock of falling over that scares them more than the resulting injury.

If we have plain plasters, then part of making it ‘all better’ is drawing a design on the plaster whilst a cotton pad is held in place to clean it is all part and parcel of making sure that all is good and well in the world again.

I’m not playing down any falls that Isabelle may have, but thankfully she’s never had any serious ones that have needed proper medical attention.

We were sent a set of both Frozen and Star Wars Plasters which have all the characters of the films on them so Isabelle has already pointed out her top few from both sets for ‘future baddies’.

#TearsintoSmiles

I love a challenge so it was no different when we were asked to take part in the Tears into Smiles Challenge – #TearsintoSmiles

So what do you do when your child has a fall?

We do all of the above and Isabelle plays a huge part in this by cleaning it herself and putting the on cream herself. She likes to put on the plaster but her aim isn’t that great so we try and do this ourselves if we can.

Following the clean up we have a bit of calm time when we sit and have a cuddle and either watch a bit of TV or read a book together.

Using Distraction

Once this is all done, it’s definitely a game of distraction that helps get the day back on track.

We were sent a Hoopla Garden Game to try out as part of the challenge which we set up in the lounge to start with but have since played with it in the Garden, and it’s even been on a trip to Nanny and Papa’s house.

Isabelle really liked this game and became the chief score taker (good for helping her count in tens and fives).

All the pieces come apart so could easily be packed away for the day on the beach as well.

This post is an entry for the Britmums #TearsIntoSmiles Challenge, sponsored by Elastoplast.

Lisa x

#whatwedidthisweek 01.05.17

07/05/201716/03/2021 Lisa

#whatwedidthisweek 01.05.17

#whatwedidthisweek – Bank Holiday Monday and we should have been out and about making the most of our day off, but after the birthday celebrations it feels like a chore to even smile. We’re all exhausted. Isabelle has opted to watch some things on her kindle laying on her bed and Chris and I are mooching around the house not doing a lot – except for washing!

The laundry volcano is spewing socks and pants like you wouldn’t believe. So much so that the lid won’t even fit on!

Back to work and school as per on Tuesday.

On Wednesday evening we went to meet a couple who may have Charlie when we go away. This time we didn’t go into their house but took the two dogs out for a walk on neutral ground. The lady had a fifteen-year-old poodle, and both dogs seemed happy in each other’s company.

I’m glad that she was able to see Charlie as he ‘really is. He’s a lovable cheeky chappy who loves playing with other dogs and loves people. She saw him as we see him and hopefully, as I really liked her they will be happy to look after him. He will go for a sleepover with them in June so fingers crossed.

I don’t think I had this much trouble finding the perfect nursery for Ryan when he was little!?

Thursday Isabelle’s school was used as a polling station so we called upon Nanny P to have Isabelle for the day.

With Both of us working so much we’re finding it a bit of a struggle to muster up the energy to do much at the weekends, but on Saturday we took Charlie out for a walk and sat and made daisy chains. Isabelle is 42 daisies tall and played hoopla which was spoilt by Charlie and one of his mates as they kept pinching the hoops.

Roller Disco Baby!

We then did something new to Isabelle. We went to a Roller Disco. I haven’t skated since I was about twelve but it is like riding a bike. The fearlessness of youth has definitely left me and I was terrified that a small person was going to skate out in front of me and I would take them out spectacularly. I was so pleased that I stayed on my feet the whole time.

Isabelle was a bit terrified at first and did a fab impression of a baby giraffe.

She practiced on the carpet which was a bit easier than in the sports hall. The session ended with sweets to take away the pain of a sore bottom.

whatwedidthisweek — Baby Giraffe impression!

Collectibles

Sunday was a trip into town to get some bits and bobs, look at suitcases for our holibobs, and pick up the longed-for Hatchimals Colleggtibles.

That’s another thing to add to the ever-growing collectible things. Isabelle is currently collecting the Lego Mini-figure cards from Sainsbury’s, Shopkins have been on the scene for a while, Beauty and the Beast Stickers, Beanie Babies, and now these Colleggtibles.

What did you do this weekend?

Keep up to date with all of our #whatwedidthisweek posts by clicking the Family Life tab.

Chocolate Cola Cake Recipe

30/04/201716/02/2021 Lisa

Chocolate Cola Cake Recipe

I thought I would share this Chocolate Cola Cake recipe that I made for my sons seventeenth birthday on Friday.

The Cake

375g Self-raising Flour
450g Golden Caster Sugar
4 1/2 tablespoons Cocoa Powder
2 Pinches Bicarbonate of Soda
375g Butter
375mls Coke
190ml Milk
3 Eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

The Filling

150g Icing Sugar
50g Butter
20g Cocoa Powder
20ml Milk
Few Squares of Chocolate

The Topping

100g Butter
2 tbsp Coke
2 tbsp Cocoa Powder
200g Icing Sugar

Heat the oven to 180C/Gas4.

Sift the flour, cocoa and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl and add the sugar. Melt the butter and cola drink gently in a pan then add to the dry ingredients, together with the milk, eggs and vanilla.

Mix gently but thoroughly and divide into two 8 inch greased round cake tins. Bake for about 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Whilst the cakes are cooling make the filling by melting the butter and chocolate. Sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder and add to the butter and chocolate. Add in the milk and mix to a creamy consistency.

Spread the filling onto one of the cakes and top with the other sponge.

Make the topping by putting the butter, cola drink, and cocoa into a pan and melt slowly. Bring the mixture to the boil and then pour onto the icing sugar. Beat until smooth and pour over the cake while still warm. Cool the cake in the tin.

For the coke bottle effect I used the Anti-Gravity Pouring Cake Kit from Lakeland and smoothing topping over the pole to make it look like coke pouring from the bottle and sprinkled Chocolate Popping Candy to make it look like bubbles. Use an empty coke bottle filled with a bit of brown tissue paper and add to the top using some of the chocolate topping to keep in place. I added cola bottles to the bottom of the cake to finish it off.

Enjoy x

*Originally posted in April 2016. his post may contain affiliate links which means that I receive a small payment should you click the link and make a purchase at no extra cost to yourself.

#whatwedidthisweek 24.04.17

30/04/201716/03/2021 Lisa 2 Comments

#whatwedidthisweek 24.04.17

#whatwedidthisweek – The last couple of weeks have been really stressful as we were fast approaching Ryan’s 18th birthday. It’s not just about him turning eighteen (which is sooooo scary) but it signifies eighteen years of being a parent.

All was booked for a birthday meal and I was on track with making sure that I had everything needed to make the cake.

I knew what I wanted to do in my head but it changed slightly from pictures to a word cloud of all the things Ryan loved over the years. Some I’m sure he would love if we forgot such as Hannah Montana! ?

We had a family meal planned with all the rellies followed by drinks at ours whilst they watched the boxing. Ryan had drinking games lined up, and I planned on staying out of the way so that I couldn’t see the potential drink spillage, hear the noise or anything else related to having around fifteen 18 years olds trampling around the house.

Amongst this, on Thursday Charlie (the dog) went for a sleepover with the dog sitter who will hopefully have him when we go away.

It didn’t go too well. He was really sad and she couldn’t let him off his lead as he was desperately looking around for us. He slept by the door and didn’t want to play with the Labrador puppy that she was also looking after. Unfortunately, she won’t take him so we’re meeting another couple next week.

Poor Charlie!

Birthday Celebrations!

Ryan’s Birthday arrived on Saturday and started off with a game of Pie Face Showdown which was hilarious. The dog also enjoyed cleaning up the cream.

We then went for a birthday brekkie before getting things and ourselves ready for the night ahead.

I think I got away with posting some baby pics of Ryan on Facebook which is probably the only embarrassing ‘mum thing’ that I did.

We went to our local pub which does awesome food where friends and family plied my poor boy with drinks. I think his tequila face was probably the funniest.

When the meal was done and all the pressies were opened it was time for Ryan to leave us and join his mates for a night of drinking games, boxing, and a night out.

Isabelle went off for a sleepover with Nanny and Papa so she was a happy girl.

When we arrived home, the boxing was underway and there was barely any room to move. It was fine! It could all be cleaned!

We did have a bit of bother with a neighbour which I thought was a bit mean since it was his 18th birthday, a Saturday night, and the first time we’ve ever made any noise since living here.

Unplanned as it was we ended up going into town and stayed for a little while before leaving them to it.

Home to bed for us oldies!

Sunday poured down with rain and all the boys that celebrated Ryan’s birthday were also all playing football as well. As you can imagine they were useless (the ones that made it) and lost the match.

It turns out that there was quite a lot of drink spillage and lots of sick which Chris managed to get cleaned up without me knowing or having to see/smell.

Overall we’ve had a busy but great week and now our boy is officially an adult.

What did you do this week?

#whatwedidthisweek 17.04.17

23/04/201715/03/2021 Lisa 2 Comments

#whatwedidthisweek 17.04.17

#whatwedidthisweek – Yey Bank Holiday Monday means that it is officially still part of the weekend. We haven’t really gone very far this weekend, as we’ve been busy working so are knackered and we’re also preparing for Ryan’s 18th Birthday on the 29th of April which I can’t possibly talk about on the remote off chance that Ryan might read it. We decided to pop down to the Quay for a nice walk with the dog and Isabelle on her scooter. As usual, we tried to coax Charlie into the water, but this Labradoodle unusual for his breed does not like water! We ended the afternoon with a bit of lunch at Bar Venezia. The pizza was so scrummy!

You can’t possibly go to the quay without getting an ice cream. Clearly, Isabelle has Daddy wrapped around her finger when she came back to the table with this whopper of icecream!

Back to work, school, and college on Tuesday for all of us. What a shocker when the alarm went off at 05.35. That’s Tuesday and Wednesday whizzing by in a work/school/college blur.

Look Good Feel Better

Thursday was another long day at work, but I had the Debenhams Look Good Feel Better event to go to. When we arrived we had a little mooch around with Isabelle heading straight for the lovely brownies and other mini desserts on offer. I had a sneaky glass of prosecco which felt a bit odd standing in the middle of the make-up counter. My favourite counter is Estee Lauder so I bagged myself a few freebies including their lovely primer which I’m using at the moment.

After speaking to Jennie from the Charity I was really intrigued by what they do for women who have had or are undergoing cancer treatment. So much so that I thought I would write a separate post about it. Another highlight of going was meeting Hayley from Sparkles and Stretchmarks. I’m so in awe of her blog and blogging achievements so it was awesome to meet her.

Friday was a normal working day again but an early finish for me which was much needed. Don’t you think it’s odd that a four-day week can feel much longer than the usual five-day week.

Saturday (big sigh of relief) we slowly started the day with a boiled egg brekkie and staying in our pyjamas for a bit. We had arranged to meet the ‘dog-lady’ today who will hopefully look after Charlie when we go away in August. I felt quite nervous and really hoped that I liked her as she would potentially be looking after our precious boy. Chris laughs at me, but I feel quite (a lot) nervous about handing over Charlie whilst we go away.

I know that I’ve had two kids and have used childcare (that was an ordeal to start with) but with children you can at least reassure them that you’re coming back. A dog won’t understand that and might think that you’re never coming back. You may laugh (the dogless amongst us) but it’s really important to me that whilst we’re away he gets love, comfort and strokes from someone in our absence. Thankfully she was lovely with an amazing garden which Charlie christened! Our holiday isn’t until August but he’s going for a sleepover to see how Charlie gets on with her own dog, Betsy. Ha ha, this will feature next week!

Sunday we had another lazy start to the day with a scrambled egg brekkie followed by a dog walk and a bit of bike riding practice. Now that Isabelle has mastered her bike we’re thinking that she needs a slightly bigger and lighter bike. Why do kids bikes weigh a ton!

#whatwedidthisweek – What did you get up to this week?

Lisa x

Devon Days Out – Fingle Bridge

19/04/201715/03/2021 Lisa

Devon Days Out – Fingle Bridge, Dartmoor.

We went to Fingle Bridge on Dartmoor.

Since getting the dog a couple of years ago we love finding new places to walk him and thankfully Isabelle loves a good walk as long as we have the following:

Drinks
Snacks
Mud/Sand
Water

One of our fellow dog walkers recommended Fingle Bridge as a place to go with the dog and the littles. Lots of opportunities to paddle in the water, lots of mud to splash and splodge in, and being woodland lots of stones, twigs, acorns, and other things to fill our pockets with.

We started off at the bridge noting the HUGE pub with its lovely setting and garden.

What to do!

The route that we took was not the easiest of walks with lots of tricky areas, huge muddy patches (thankfully we all managed to keep our shoes on our feet) and narrow rickety steps to contend with.

This was great for Isabelle who at five is slightly more fearless than we’d like her to be.

Charlie (our dog) was amazingly well behaved and loved to explore his new surroundings. We kept our beady eyes out for families with food as unfortunately at only two he’s still a total scavenger and will gatecrash, steal and run!

Strangely there were canvasses dotted around the place which kind of looked a bit odd, but Isabelle quite liked looking out for them.

The walk took us a good couple of hours with a picnic stop along the way.

Isabelle found a walking stick along the way which she held onto until we found a waterfall so she sent it on its way out to sea and wonders what country it will end up in.

It was a lovely day and we ended it by visiting the pub at the start (Fingle Bridge Inn). We may even have to go back for the Duck Race which takes place in April/May of each year.

Leave a comment to let me know your favourite place to visit in Devon.

Lisa x

#whatwedidthisweek 10.04.17

16/04/201715/03/2021 Lisa 1 Comment

#whatwedidthisweek 10.04.17

#whatwedidthisweek – I’ve missed doing this for a couple of week’s as I lost my whole entire blog for just over a week which was so unbelievably stressful, and then it took me about a week to catch up and get over the whole debacle (not sure why I added that word as I’ve never verbally used it before).

This week I’ve been off work with the little miss as it’s the Easter Holiday’s so we’ve had our fair share of much needed lazy mornings and yummy weekend style breakfasts.

Monday we didn’t have anything planned so we decided to take a road trip with Daddy as he’s a top sales dude. We ended up in Burnham-on-Sea where I don’t think I’ve visited before. It was so windy but that’s never stopped a trip to the beach for us. The sea was so far out that you couldn’t actually see it, but we had a nice walk along the seafront and Isabelle wrote our names in the sand. We found a cafe come chip-shop as I was really hungry and fancied some chips. How disappointed was I when we didn’t get ‘chip-shop chips’ but were served a plate of chunky home-fries style chips. However all was not lost as we had ice-cream on the beach and won a teddy in the arcade that came had a velcro stick-on tear that Isabelle named Max.

We were treated to Isabelle singing us all the way home which she video’d for prosperity. The videos gave us quite a chuckle as you can hear Chris and I almost screaming over the top of her to shut-up!

Isabelle had a sleepover at Nanny and Papa’s (of her choosing) which she has only done a couple of times since she was born, but she was really excited and looking forward to it. Sleep and Isabelle are not two words that fit together in a sentence so this was as exciting for us as it was her.

Off she went with no problems, and we should have made the most of being in a child-free situation, but instead we had takeaway and vegged in front of the TV.

Tuesday, again being child-free should have been used a bit better but Daddy set off for work, and after a lovely walk with the dog I sat and updated blog post SEO and other tedious jobs.

Wednesday was definitely a stay at home day, as we had a catch up with the washing and other housey stuff so none too exciting.

On the plus side, or scary side we have confirmed the booking for Ryan’s 18th Birthday meal. His impending 18th birthday is really scaring the Shizzazzle out of me and making me feel about as old as can be. I hate having a teenage son!

Ha ha I need to rephrase that. Having Ryan as a son is great, but ME being a mum to an 18 year old makes me feel old and decrepit!

Wednesday did give me a little, actually BIG ‘fist bump’ moment. We have been accepted to be a Rainbow Awards Toy Tester. I love that Isabelle plays a part in my blog and her being given the opportunity to review toys is so cool. My kid is cool!

Thursday we had a park day with one of Isabelle’s friends, so I had the chance to have some adult conversation whilst the littles played. Following this I met with a friend whilst Daddy took both kids for their dental check-up. The dentist trip for the kids has to be done by Chris as I’m such a baby when it comes to the dentist. Just sitting in the waiting room sets my teeth on edge. It’s not great when you’re trying to coax a six year old into thinking that the dentists is a fun place to go ‘and you get a sticker’!

My friend and I sat and had a coffee and carrot cake in peace and quiet and had a much needed catch-up. She’s definitely one of those friends that I might not see for ages, but when we do it only feels like yesterday!

The kids came back from the dentist check-up with the good old thumbs up for the next six months. Isabelle had to have something removed from her teeth which got me worried, but it was just a piece of popcorn that I fed her before her check-up. Oops!

Friday we played on the trampoline and then Daddy took Isabelle out on her bike for a little de-rusting practice as she hasn’t been on it for a little while. We hadn’t realised how long her legs had got, but she definitely needs an upgrade.

Yesterday we started the day by making up chocolate truffle mixture for our Japanese Inspired Chocolate Truffles. We were sent some rather unusual ingredients by Yutaka along with some recipe ideas to make. Once this was in the fridge setting we went off out for a lovely dog walk along the river. Charlie went for a little paddle, only up to mid-leg though as we have a bit of a fradey-cat when it comes to water. We ended up at the Double Locks pub. It’s a great place to go when the weather is good, and it seems to have changed quite a bit since we last went with the addition of an outside bar and toilet block and it looks as if more work is being done as well.

Easter Sunday started off with CHOCOLATE. The Easter Bunny had left a great easter treasure hunt for Isabelle which she found and loaded into her easter bucket at lightening speed. We’ve been waiting for Easter Sunday for about three weeks now, or should I say Isabelle has been waiting for Easter Sunday and we’ve been suffering along the way.

You see my MIL had her for the day about three weeks ago and they popped into Sainsbury’s where Isabelle spotted a DC Superhero Batgirl Doll and Nanny bought it for her – For Easter. Realising that she wasn’t getting the doll on the spot she had the mother of all temper tantrums which lasted from Sainsbury’s to The Range and then carried on at home.

This Barbie Doll has been the topic of conversation since then with her even going as far as making a Barbie Day countdown calendar, a Lego Batgirl house, and an every day question of ‘How many day’s is it til I get my Barbie Doll?’

This morning we were on hourly countdown until we got to Nanny’s house, where at last she got the much wanted Barbie Doll and of course loads of chocolate!

Did you do anything interesting this week?

Lisa x

5 Japanese inspired Chocolate Truffle Recipes

15/04/201715/03/2021 Lisa 2 Comments

5 Japanese inspired Chocolate Truffle Recipes

Easter is upon us and everywhere you look there is chocolate to be seen. I love chocolate with dark chocolate being my favourite and when I was given the opportunity to try some Japanese-inspired Chocolate Truffle recipes I jumped at the chance. The flavours we’re going to make are:

Miso Caramel – think salted caramel with a twist
Shaoxing Rice Wine – a warm, boozy hit
Wasabi Furikake – milder than chili with the added crunch of sesame
Pickled Sushi Ginger – chocolate & ginger with the surprising tang of pickle
Yuzu – a hint of citrus

I have to be honest when I received a box of ingredients I was hard-pushed to imagine them paired with chocolate but here goes.

This is the list of items needed to make the truffles:

Good quality Dark Chocolate
Double Cream
Unsalted Butter
Truffle cases
Shaoxing rice wine warmed
Vermicelli
Yutaka Wasabi Furikake
Drinking chocolate
Yutaka sushi ginger
Cocoa
Yutaka Yuzu
White chocolate
Sugar
Water
Yutaka Miso
Pink salt crystals

Quite an interesting list of items, but this is to make five different flavoured truffles and will make approximately 30 – 36.

Chocolate Easter Truffles Recipe

200g dark good quality chocolate
60ml double cream
80g unsalted butter
Truffle cases

Method for all truffles

In a double saucepan (or a Pyrex bowl in a saucepan), place chocolate, butter, and cream. Heat through slowly until smooth whilst whisking. Remove from heat and divide into 5 equal portions, adding the various flavourings to each individual portion as below. Place in the fridge to set – overnight if possible.

Remove the various truffle mixes from the fridge and, with a teaspoon, scoop out a goodly amount. Roll into a ball and place on a plate (remembering to keeping the various flavours separate) and continue until all the mixture has been used.

Yutaka Shaoxing rice wine flavouring

2 tbs Shaoxing rice wine warmed
Vermicelli for coating

Yutaka Wasabi Furikake flavouring

2 tbs Yutaka Wasabi Furikake
Drinking chocolate for coating

Yutaka Pickled Sushi Ginger flavouring

2 tbs chopped Yutaka sushi ginger
Cocoa for coating

Roll the ginger truffles in cocoa and place in truffle cases. Roll the Wasabi Furikake in drinking chocolate and the rice wine truffles in vermicelli and return to fridge.

Yutaka Yuzu flavouring

2 tsp Yutaka Yuzu
100g white chocolate – gently melted for coating

Using a double boiler (or Pyrex bowl in a saucepan) melt the white chocolate over a low heat and, when removed from the heat & cooled slightly, spoon over Yuzu truffles until coated. You can use a cocktail stick pushed carefully into a truffle to help you turn and coat with the chocolate. This needs patience! Leave them to set on a plate.

Miso caramel sauce filling

75g sugar
25ml water
50ml double cream
1 tbs Yutaka Miso
100g dark chocolate – gently melted for coating
Pink salt crystals for sprinkling on the top

Miso caramel flavouring method

Put sugar and water in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, stir and leave on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until caramel in colour. Carefully add double cream (it will hiss a little) and whisk whilst off the heat, add miso paste and whisk thoroughly until smooth. Add 2 tbs of miso caramel sauce to the remaining truffle mixture. The remainder of the sauce saved and used over ice cream for a delicious dessert.

Melt the dark chocolate and coat the Miso caramel truffles using a cocktail stick pushed carefully into a truffle to help you turn and coat with the chocolate. Sprinkle a couple of pink salt crystals on the top.

We made up the five different flavours and left them in the fridge whilst we went out for the day. Three of them were fairly easy to mold into ball shapes, but the Shaoxing rice wine flavour and the Pickled Sushi Ginger were quite tacky still.

We thought it was quite fun smelling all of the ingredients and wondering how the truffles were going to taste. I thought that the Shaoxing rice wine smelt quite nice. We all agreed that the Wasabi Furikake smelt awful and Daddy and I had a taste of it neat which was a bit of an experience for the tastebuds.

These are our lovely-looking truffles all ready to be tried.

Miso Caramel – We all agreed that it was quite salty, but not in a bad way so this one gets the thumbs up.

Shaoxing Rice Wine – This one was up there as one of our favourites.

Wasabi Furikake – We were all very nervous about this one. We gave it to Ryan without telling him what it was which he wasn’t impressed by. For me this felt like attempting a ‘Bush Tucker Trial’ so I only had a very little taste. Now that we’ve ticked this off our list of tried and tested I don’t think we would go for this one again. Daddy is very keen to use this in savoury cooking though.

Pickled Sushi Ginger – I wasn’t too sure that I would like this one as it seemed like a lot of ginger, but surprisingly it was a nice hit of ginger.

Yuzu – This was up there as our other favourite. I think the white chocolate made this the prettiest one as well.

This was definitely a taste experience for us all which we enjoyed. Which one of the Japanese inspired Chocolate Truffle Recipes would you most like to try?

Lisa x

*We were gifted the ingredients by Yutaka for the purpose of this review but all the opinions are our own. This post may contain affiliate links which means that I receive a small payment should you click the link and make a purchase at no extra cost to yourself.

Craft – Easter Pom Pom Painting

11/04/201714/03/2021 Lisa 1 Comment

Easter Pom Pom Painting

With each school holiday, the craft box inevitably comes out especially if it’s raining. I found the idea with Easter Pom Pom Painting on Pinterest and thought we would give it a go.

This would be a great activity to do with a toddler or young children. I wondered if it might have been a little bit young for Isabelle at six, but she absolutely loved the idea.

What I tend to do now is set up our ‘station’ with all the materials that we need and usually she’s over the moon at having something new to try.

What you will need:

White card
Wooden pegs
Poster paint
Craft Pom Poms

Pinch a pom pom with a wooden peg and allocate it to the colour. You will need the same number of pegs and pom-poms for each colour you choose.

Drawing an egg shape onto the card, use the pom poms to create a pattern of your choice.

Isabelle mixed it up a little bit by using different-sized pom poms.

For younger children and pre-schoolers this would promote good hand-eye coordination. Isabelle took it one step further by creating not just Easter Eggs, but dinosaur and alien eggs as well.

Once the eggs were dry we cut them out. I was going to make them into Easter Bunting but Isabelle thought that it would be a good idea to make an Easter Egg hide and seek game so we did that instead.

Happy Easter! For more Easter Inspiration have a look at our Easter Pinterest Board.

Lisa x

*This post may contain affiliate links which means that I receive a small payment should you click the link and make a purchase at no extra cost to yourself.