Chocolate Runnin'

I do it all the time. I run out of chocolate, so I pop out on a chocolate run to pick up more. I’m chocolate runnin’.

There are people out there who will just never understand my relationship with chocolate. And that’s okay … just let me be. In boyfriend terms, chocolate is the perfect man. He is always there to make me feel better. And when everything seems dreary, he reminds me of something that will always be good in my life. He accepts my sweet tooth and doesn’t make fun of it. And even though we’ve been together for so long, he still excites me. Thank you Chocolate, for being eternally sweet.

Luckily for me, I have another sweet, gorgeous guy (who actually exists in real man form). Thanks for being you as well Bradley!

And I’ve decided this chocolate runnin’ is nothing to be ashamed of. So long as I do some actual running every now and then. And I totally do. To all other self confessed chocoholics I salute you - with a little bit of chocolate all around my mouth. Oops.

What got this sweet stuff on my mind today? A big, chocolatey chocolate cake, sitting in front of me right now. Luckily it's not for me. And I’m going to coat it in buttercream roses, blush pink and bananary yellow. When you’re piping a hell of a lot of roses, you want to make sure your buttercream is fairly chilled. The more you hold and compress that piping bag, the softer the buttercream … the sloppier the roses. And who wants sloppy roses? We want soft, circular swirls with a perfect bud in the middle. The best thing to do with that piping bag, is pop it in the fridge to chill as and when you need to.

I’ll adorn this spring time two tier with a lovely bow. It’ll be mint in colour, and perfectly pleated and made from modelling paste. This dries harder than fondant but is softer than florist paste. I make my bows free hand but if you need a little practice there’s some great bow cutters out there, thanks to JEM and PME.

Two tiers like these make me happy. Simple, sweet and full of chocolate. There’s some cupcakes which I’ll decorate to match … with sprinkles as well. I feel like there’s this invisible cupcake code in my head … Must Use Sprinkles. And I have my favourites. I love the pastel confetti from Lakeland, and there’s a brand called ‘Edibles’ whose hundreds and thousands blow my mind.

Blogging is leading to some serious sidetracking in my life. Like there are petals over there which need frilling and I’m just tapping away at these keys. Must. Stop.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my love affair with chocolate. I feel better already.

Bridie x

These pretties are totally gluten free and absolutely scrummy.

Lots of you ask me how I get those pretty, pastel shades. I use sugarflair gel colours - just a speck at a time. Remember you can always add more (you can't take away).