Sunday, 25 September 2016

Red Velvet Cake Pops

  Hello everybody!   This week's blog is baking! As you can see from the title I made red velvet cake pops, I'm going to say now they were veerrrryyyy difficult and mine didn't exactly go to plan. This bake definitely follows the quote "Practice makes perfect" - I can relate!!! If you are a beginner baker you would find it quite difficult, but it was an experience making them, so with that being said let's make CAKE POPS...

  

Makes: 46
Prep time: 1hr 30mins
Difficulty: Hard  

Ingredients:     
1 red velvet cake (sponge only)
1 quantity vanilla buttercream
600g white chocolate 
 46 red or white lollipop sticks     

Method:  
 1. Line a tray with non-stick baking paper. Break the velvet cake into rough pieces. Use your hands to rub the cake pieces over a large bowl to form small, even crumbs. Remove 60g of the cake crumbs and set aside.

   2. Add the buttercream (one tablespoon at a time) to the remaining cake crumbs and mix well until
evenly combined. Squeeze 1 tablespoonful of the cake mixture firmly so that it holds together and then roll it into a 3cm ball. Place on the lined tray. Repeat with the remaining mixture to make 46 balls in total. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm.

   3. Put the chocolate in a medium heat proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl doesn't touch the water. Stir until the chocolate melts. Dip the end of a lollipop stick into the melted chocolate to coat about 2cm, then insert into a a cake ball and return to the lined tray. Repeat with the remaining sticks, melted chocolate and cake balls. Refrigerate for 10 minutes or until the sticks are secure. Reserve the remaining melted chocolate.

   4. To decorate, dip the pops one at a time into the remaining chocolate and gently tap the lollipop stick on the edge of the bowl to remove excess chocolate, turning as you go to create an even coating. (You may need to gently reheat the chocolate over a saucepan of simmering water if it is too thick for coating.) Sprinkle with the reserved cake crumbs then insert the sticks into a polystyrene block or similar to keep them upright. Refrigerate the pops for 10 minutes or until the chocolate sets.

   

That's all for this week! I hope you enjoyed. If you do this blog be very careful and please do send me photos on my Instagram (@ISayBell_blog) It doesn't look that difficult but it really was! It wasn't great on looks and the consistency was quite moist making it a bit harder to handle. However, it did taste very good! I will see you next week for another blog post! Love you all!
   Byyeee!!!!        

Sunday, 18 September 2016

Pete's Dragon | Movie Review

  Hello Everybody!   This week I'm doing another movie review. It's been 7 months since I last did one! But I recently watched a great movie called Pete's Dragon and because it was such a great movie I thought I would do a review about it! I feel like this could help a lot of you because you might want to buy this DVD when it comes out or you want to go watch it in a cinema, but you haven't heard anything or any recommendations on it this hopefully will help! So let's get on with the review...  
 
 
   Film: Pete's Dragon
   Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard (Grace), Robert Redford (Mr. Meacham), Oakes Fegley (Pete), Wes Bentley (Jack) , Oona Laurence (Natalie), Karl Urban (Gavin), Isiah Whitlock Jr. (Sheriff Gene Dentler), Craig Hall (Adult Pete)
  Director: David Lowery
  U.K. Release date: 31 July 2016
  Rating: PG
  Genre: Animation, adventure, fantasy
  Runtime: 1hr 43mins
 
  Storyline:
  Mr. Meacham (Robert Redford), a woodcarver, delights local children with stories of a mysterious dragon that lives deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. His daughter Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) believes these are just tall tales, until she meets Pete (Oakes Fegley), a 10-year old orphan who says he lives in the woods with a giant, friendly dragon. With help from a young girl named Natalie (Oona Laurence), Grace sets out to investigate if this fantastic claim can be true.
  Interesting Fact: The film is a remake of the 1977 musical film of the same name written by Malcolm Marmorstein.
 
  My Star Rating: 4 stars out of 5
  Favourite character: Grace - She is thoughtful and very loyal
  Unlikeable character: Gavin - He wanted to kill Elliot
  Memorable moment: When Pete leaps off a cliff and the dragon sweeps upwards to catch him.
  Favourite quotes: "What's a dragon?... That's a dragon." Pete and Natalie
                            "You can't say dragon over the radio." - Sheriff Gene Dentler
                            "You don't have to run anymore, Pete. You can stay with us." - Grace
  
 
  That's all for this week! I hope you enjoyed! I think I said quite a lot about the movie and also shared my opinion about it quite well! If you want me to review any other movies let me know on Instagram (@ISayBell_blog). Love you all! 
  Byyeee!!!!  
 
 
 
 
  

  

  

Sunday, 11 September 2016

Celebrating 1 Year of ISayBell

  Hello everybody!
  This week's blog is a very special blog post. I can't believe what I'm about to say; I have been doing this 'ISayBell' blog... for one whole year!!!! Over the year the amount of support given has been so amazing and hugely appreciated! Each and every one of my viewers I love! For this week's blog I have listed my favourites and my viewers' favourite blog posts! Let me just say this: I've done 53 blog posts on ISayBell! So, here are my and your favouite blog posts, counting down in reverse order!

  ISayBell's top 5 favourite blog posts:

  #5 March Favourites | Playlist
  I really like this blog post because if I ever want to listen to music, I always go to my playlist introduced on this blog.
  
  #4 Blog Changes!
  This was my April Fools blog where I said that I was changing my blog and I'd be writing about trains!
      
  #3 Would You Rather...?
  My friends and I always play this game so we like to use the questions on here if we can't think of any!

  #2 Banana Loaf
  This is definitely my favourite baking blog that I've ever done. I remember it was so easy to make and the taste was delicious. Simply the best bake I've done yet.
 
  #1 Embarrassing Dad Jokes
  This blog is all about dads, obviously, and it definitely gets lol and cringe bonus points!

   I now move on to you guys with my viewer's favourite blog posts...

  Viewers' top 5 favourite blog posts: 

  #5 Monthly Favourites | Summer
   Blog views: 77

  #4 Embarrassing Dad Jokes
   Blog views: 78

  #3 Italy Tour | Part One
    Blog views: 83

  #2 May Musical.lys + Playlist
    Blog views: 126

  #1 Strawberry Cheesecake 
    Blog views: 129
     
Those are all the favourite blog posts! I am still shocked that I've been doing this blog for a year! I think we have an incredible community. The support you give me is sooooooo amazing I cannot put into words. For the 54th time, that's all for this week and I will see you next week for another blog post! Love you all!
  Byyeee!!!!

  


  


Sunday, 4 September 2016

Gibraltar Music Festival

  Hello everybody!
  This week's blog is on a festival happening over this weekend - The Gibraltar Music Festival.



  Yesterday was the first day and the festival continues later on today so I can talk to you about what I  enjoyed on Saturday and what I'm looking foward to today! So here it is...

  I'm going to start by saying what the main stage acts were...

  Saturday:                       
   
  ▪️ Frontiers
  ▪️ Concept
  ▪️ Nathan Sykes
  ▪️ Foxes
  ▪️ The Vamps
  ▪️ All Saints
  ▪️ Travis
  ▪️ Ne-Yo

  I first saw a local band called Frontiers. They were amazing because they are one of the most popular local bands so I know nearly all of their songs!
  I then watched Concept who I really enjoyed too! I remembered watching them on X Factor so it was great to see them live!
  Nathan Sykes was definitely the highlight of the day for me. His vocals were so amazing! My friends and I were right at the at the front of the stage which made it even better!
  Now I move onto Foxes, I knew a few of their songs but they weren't one of my favourites.
  Next was The Vamps! They were soooo energetic! I was also at the front of the stage with my friends for this act which made it more entertaining because Brad, the lead singer, was interacting with the audience a lot!
  All Saints were not for me but my mum really enjoyed them as did others!
  Travis weren't my type of music but there were the odd songs that I know and enjoyed, my family really enjoyed them!
  Now the headline act.. Ne-Yo! He was so amazing! His vocals, his stage presence, the dancing, just EVERYTHING! He got girls from the audience and sang a song to them.
  And that concludes Saturday! I now more onto the mainstage acts today...

  Sunday:

  ▪️ Orfila
  ▪️ Second Sons
  ▪️ Age of L.U.N.A
  ▪️ The Fratellis
  ▪️ Heather Small
  ▪️ Zara Larson
  ▪️ Jess Glynne
  ▪️ Stereophonics

  Today I am looking forward to seeing Jess Glynne in particular but I'm also excited for; Heather Small from the M People and Zara Larson. There are also a few Stereophonics songs that I like!



  Other festival experiences:

  ▪️ Exploring around the festival stages
  ▪️ Going round the craft shops
  ▪️ Getting food (mostly sweets for me!) and drinks
  ▪️ Hanging out with my family and friends
  ▪️ Zip Wire across the main stage grounds
  ▪️ Gibraltar Music Festival Merchandise
  ▪️ Circus Stage
  ▪️ Comedy Stage
  ▪️ Dance Stage
  ▪️ Getting Henna patterns
  ▪️ And of course, watching the wonderful acts

  That's all for this week's blog! I hope you enjoyed reading about my experience so far at the Gibraltar Music Festival! If you went, tell me who you mostly enjoyed and who you're looking forward to in the comments! I will see you next week for another blog post! 
  Byyeee!!!!