Ellie Ellie turns 3!

It's Ellie Ellie's third birthday tomorrow, so we've been celebrating with lots of goodies!

With all the festivities, we thought we'd share our range of lovely party decorations and accessories. We've got everything you need to make any special occasion extra colourful and vibrant!

From Traditional Red And White Party Straws to Retro Vintage Party LED Battery Lights, you can add a fun retro feel to your celebrations with these simple touches!

Our Vintage Party Honeycomb decorations can also be used both indoors and out, over and over again!

Are you celebrating anything this weekend?

www.ellieellie.co.uk

A bit of Milk, Eggs and Flour is all you need!

It's Pancake Day!! Also known as Shrove Tuesday this day is associated with the day preceding Lent because it meant you could use up rich foods such as eggs, milk and sugar before the fasting season of Lent for 40 days!

Pancakes are so easy to make and only use 3 simple ingredients, flour, eggs and milk. Simply put all of these ingredients into a bowl and whisk together until you get a smooth batter, cook your pancakes in a frying pan for 1 minute each side and serve them with an assortment of toppings. 

Our favourites in the office are chocolate and strawberries, nutella and bananas and the favourite lemon, sugar and syrup! 

What's your favourite topping?

Celebrate Chinese New Year!

The 31st of January is the start of Chinese New Year, which is a 15 day celebration including feasts and decorations and ending with the Lantern Festival on the 15th Day!

London's celebrations for the Chinese New Year are one of the biggest outside of Asia, and every year thousands of people visit the West End to wish each other Happy New Year or "Kung Hei Fat Choi'

In 2014 the celebrations are taking place on Sunday the 2nd of February, in Chinatown, Trafalgar Square and Shaftsbury Avenue. If you fancy a fun day out go and get involved in the celebrations, which include a parade and performances from visiting artists from China in Trafalgar Square. As always and the part Ellie Ellie always loves exploring, there will be traditional food and craft stalls, perfect if you want to find hidden gems or something a bit unusual.

Visit the website for more information about London's Celebrations!

New Years Eve Celebrations!

There are so many great ways to celebrate new year, whether you celebrate with friends, that special someone or with family!

A great way to celebrate is the fireworks at Embankment in London, presented by Vodaphone and the Mayor of London! Which is a great new year celebration that involves a massive arrangement of fireworks and a great crowd of people in the mood to celebrate!

What ever you have planned, the team at Ellie Ellie hope you enjoy your celebrations!

To find out more about London new years eve celebrations, visit the website now!

It's Time to Prepare the Christmas Cake

If you want to make an impression this Christmas, or want a challenge, making the perfect Christmas Cake is definitely a great way to impress. Now you may wonder why we're writing a post about Christmas Cake in the middle of November, but the truth is, Christmas Cake needs time to rest for up to three months and you need to feed the cake at intervals throughout this time with brandy. It's more complicated than you think!

The Christmas Cake ingredients:

Currants
Sultanas
Raisins
Glace Cherries, rinsed, dried and quartered
Dried apricots, snipped into pieces
Candied peel finely chopped
Brandy, plus extra for feeding the cake
Plain flour
Nutmeg
Ground mixed spice
Softened butter
Muscovado sugar
Eggs
Almonds
Black Trecle
Lemon zest
Orange zest

To prepare the cake:

1. Put the currants, sultanas, raisins, rinsed, dried and quartered cherries, snipped apricots and chopped mixed peel in a large bowl. Stir in the brandy, cover the bowl and leave in a cool place overnight.
2. Lightly grease a 23cm/9 in deep round cake tin. Cut a strip of non-stick baking parchment to fit twice around the sides of the tin, fold the bottom edge of the strip up by about 2.5cm/1 in creasing it firmly, then open out the fold and cut slanting lines into this narrow strip at intervals. Put a circle of non-stick baking parchment into the base of the tin, lightly grease the outer edge and then fit the prepared strip of parchment with the snipped edge in the base of the tin to line the sides of the tin. Place a second circle of non-stick baking parchment in to cover the cut part of the paper. Preheat the oven to 140C/275F/Gas 1.
3. Put the flour, grated nutmeg, mixed spice, butter, sugar, eggs, chopped almonds, black treacle and the citrus zest into a large bowl and beat well to mix thoroughly. Fold in the soaked fruits.
4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and spread out evenly with the back of a spoon. Decorate the top with the whole blanched almonds and glacé cherries, pushing them lightly into the top of the cake mixture. Cover the top of the cake loosely with a double layer of greaseproof paper. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 4¼-4 ¾ hours, or until the cake feels firm to the touch and a skewer inserted

Remember to let the cake rest and feed it with brandy in intervals up till Christmas!

 

Find Mary Berry's recipe here.