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Cocktail Cupcakes – PDSA

Apr14

Since the 12 Ducks of Duckmas we haven’t had a post and so far this year there has been a severe lack of baking going on 🥺.

However this has now been rectified by our first charity bake of the year!! My fabulous flat mate is running the London Marathon for PDSA in a couple of weeks and a cupcake sale is always a fab way to boost donations. You can visit her fundraising page by clicking here. PDSA help lots of animals, because every pet deserves an awesome vet. Just in case my words are not enough here is a photo of my beautiful boy. His face is definitely enough. Yes I am biased.

Last weekend I went to Morrisons. This turned out to be a disaster. Thanks to a very badly maintained carpark and seemingly a lack of care from anyone at Morrison’s these cupcakes actually cost me £179.99 in the shape of a new tyre. Keep thinking of all those little dogs, cats and other pets who need help. That’s what I kept telling myself as my car sank towards the floor.

However during this drama I discovered some rather delightful cocktail flavouring and they actually taste amazing. 4 flavours in a box and I managed to make enough great tasting frosting to ice over 50 cupcakes. You’ll be happy to know that these will not cost you £179.99, but rather £2.30 and are available from Morrisons or by clicking on this link. They are made by Cake Decor which I love. Their website is full of amazing cupcake inspiration, check them out at MyCakeDecor.co.uk.

I chose vanilla cupcakes so that the focus would be on the cocktail flavouring and buttercream icing as this pipes beautifully! I used half the vanilla extract and substituted the rest of it with the cocktail flavouring. After several blind taste tests I can confirm that they actually taste like the cocktails and this may actually be the best frosting I’ve ever made! I used a little bit of gel food colouring to mimic the cocktail and some decorations/glitter to make them sparkle. Finished results are below!

Strawberry DaiquiriPina ColadaMojitoGin Fizz (Pink) Gin Fizz (This was my favourite!!!)

As I honestly wasn’t expecting the flavouring to be as good as it was, I have a box left over! I had to play this one safe due to it being charity cupcakes, but next time round I’d like to try and infuse the sponge with the cocktail and make the ultimate boozy cupcake. Any volunteers?

December 12th’s Duck of the Day – Christmas Duck Bauble

Dec12

We finally put our tree up and we are very proud!

My Christmas Tree would not be complete without a Christmas Duck Bauble.

I found this little guy on a shopping trip to Basingstoke in Tiger. They have a whole range of Christmas Baubles. Check out the link here to see.

We had a lovely evening decorating the tree, a theme of Ducks, Baking, Harry Potter and Disney. The bottle of wine was nice too!

December 11th’s Duck of the Day – Quackers the Duck Soap

Dec11

So my flatmate has just gone for a shower. That is where I got my inspiration for today’s Duck of the Day.

Today’s Duck is Quackers. Quackers is a lovely shea butter soap in duck form! Picture below. Yes picture of the duck, not my flatmate in the shower… sorry to disappoint, but we are not that kind of blog.

How cute is he! I sense a whole new brand about to emerge here. I mean “Dove” is a brand of soap, so why not “Duck”? Oh wait, probably because it is already a toilet cleaner. You don’t want to wash with the same thing you clean your loo with.

Update on shower status: Flatmate has emerged from the shower as I am halfway through this post. We are now on the subject of duck and soap related puns and I just really had to share her golden egg of tonight. “Imperial Feather”. I can’t breathe 😂😂😂. Shortly followed by “Molton Down” and “Radux”.

Anyway, I found Quackers the Duck soap on notonthehighstreet.com. Click here to view. You definitely need to buy this. You shower right? Shower in style! #BeakyClean

December 10th’s Duck of the Day – Wedding Ducks

Dec10

On the 10th day of Duckmas, A little bit Quackers gives to thee: The only wedding gift you’ll ever need.

I love these! A Bud Duck is always a quality Duck and these little sets are perfect for weddings and anniversaries. I just love the Groom’s removable hat!!

Would also make a very cute wedding cake topper.

Click here for Bride and Groom

Click here for Groom and Groom

Click here for Bride and Bride

You really can get a duck for any occasion! I first saw these ducks at The Duck House (which is where the links above will take you) and I just thought they were adorable. Unfortunately I forgot about this the last wedding I went to!

December 9th’s Duck of the Day – Statue of Liberduck

Dec9

Yesterday we went for Best of British but today we are waddling over the pond to the U.S.A. This duck is the duck of the day due to it being the first duck I ever owned. This duck started the mild obsession that has now ended up in a flat full of Ducks. I won’t go into the story of how my duck collection spiralled as I have told that one before, but you can click here to hear the story of how one Statue of Liberduck turned into a rather large collection.

Sadly I could not find the exact same Statue of Liberduck duck pictured above (this duck was bought over 10 years ago from America) but there is a very cute little alternative below.

Buy from Just Ducks by clicking here.

December 8th’s Duck of the Day – Best of British

Dec8

Feeling a little bit patriotic today, so therefore today’s Duck of the Day is taking a very British form.

I stumbled across a website tonight called British Corner Shop and I’m a little bit sad that I have not been here before! it is an online store for ex pats around the world to ensure that you can still get all your favourite British brands wherever you are! It is not all food, they do cosmetics, books and gifts. Gifts is where I stumbled upon these Duck(s) of the day.

I do feel like I am maybe cheating a little but here but I could not narrow it down to just one duck today. Could not have the queen without her guards right?

Queen Elizabeth Duck

Can you get more British than the Queen? Her majesty is available from The British Corner Shop by clicking here. Queen Elizabeth is currently the second oldest serving state leader at 92 and the longest reigning British monarch in history. She has a fondness for Corgis and is the only person in the country who can legally drive without a driving license!

Royal Guard Duck

This duck is available here. These Queens Guards are seen as being very British, with thousands of tourists having their photos taken with them every year. However there are many videos in where they have got in the way of the guards performing their duties and these guards will not take a second thought when it comes to rightly moving you out of their way. Don’t think the same will happen with this duck, but he is a very cute souvenir!

Police Constable Duck

I had to include him too. Mainly because of the gifting opportunities this duck has! I have a lot of police in the family and this duck would make a great Birthday/Christmas present for any serving or ex police officer. Also as a new job gift, retirement gift, the list goes on. Police Duck is available here!.

Enjoy 🙂

Sam

December 7th’s Duck of the Day – Luxury Swarovski Duck

Dec7

I have been very good this year. Honest. Look at this!

I have a lovely little collection of Swarovski Crystal ducks which have been gifted to me over the years but this is an entirely different puddle of duck.

Currently selling for £120 from The Duck House, there is only 180 of these in the world. How cool is that. This is a very special duck… look how shiny it is 😍

Click here for a better look

So like a said previously, I have been very good this year, so Santa baby, slip a Swarovski Duck under the tree for me? 🙏

December 6th’s Duck of the Day – O2’s hook a duck

Dec6

Today was the day that O2 failed and half the world ceased to function as a result. This reminded me of an advert from way back in 2009. If you have not seen it please click here to watch as I do believe it was one of the best adverts made, but I could be biased considering the theme.

I work in the customer service industry and did actually sympathise with O2 today. It bares a resemblance to occasions where we have had to stop trading due to technical difficulties, and trust me you feel just as crappy about it when it is your business causing the drama as you do being the customer who is affected by it!

Looking at O2’s social media right now I would most definitely not like to be in their complaints resolution department at this present moment in time. It does make me sad how people seem to so easily forget that the person on the other end of the screen/phone/counter is a human being and subject them to so much abuse. This happens every day, not just on days like today when the countries biggest mobile phone network fails. The shop workers that you abuse daily on your way to work could already be having a tough enough day without having to deal with your disrespect. It takes very little to be kind.

However back to O2, I did feel very lost without my phone today, I actually had to do work using pen and paper which I have not done for a long time!

Lots of grumbly people, but if O2 hadn’t had their issues today I never would have remembered about their 2009 hook a duck advert campaign and therefore would not have had them as Duck of the Day. Every cloud and silver linings.

December 5th’s Duck of the Day – Uniduck

Dec5

So following on from the Unicorn Cupcakes here I conveniently stumbled across an advert for this lovely little glow in the dark unicorn duck. It is a little bit creepy how Facebook stalks your life to tailor its adverts to whatever you’re talking about.

This year definitely seemed to be all about unicorns 🦄

Available from my favourite shop for £16.99 The Duck House

December 4th’s Duck of the Day – Quack Mallard

Dec4

On the 4th day of Duckmas Lewis sent to me: A duck from the pirates of the Caribbean movie.

If you didn’t sing that in your head I am a little bit sad. If you sung it out loud you are wonderful.

I do have a Jack Sparrow duck called Captain Quack Sparrow, but Quack Mallard is taking the duck puns to a whole new level.

To be fair, the other two characters are all ready Duck related… Bill Turner and Elizabeth Swan, despite Jack Sparrow already being bird related I do think Quack Mallard fits in quite well.