Sunday facials

Spending a lazy Sunday pampering yourself is good for body and mind but if, like myself, you don't think about having a pamper session until the day you never have a face mask going spare when you need it.

Fear not as I have a recipe for that. Unlike many of the recipes on this blog however I recommend that this one isn't eaten.

I have heard of avocados being a good ingredient for making face masks as is yoghurt with porridge oats and honey yet for this 'recipe' you will need a banana; just the one.

The benefits to your skin from bananas vary greatly:

Pottasium is the nutrient that is mostly closely associated with bananas and it is believed that it is good for moisturising and hydrating skin cells - perfect as I have dry skin.

Vitamin A , B and C are also found in banana and their benefits include: evening out rough skin and get rid of blemishes and dark spots. Anti ageing properties, moisturising and lightening skin and finally fighting free radical impairment, boosting resistance to sun-rays and minimising the appearance of wrinkles.

Phew with all those benefits to my skin I think I might need to make banana masks more often. For more banana face mask recipe have a look here. 

Unfortunately for me the bananas in our fruit bowl were starting to go black so a few days previously I had unpeeled them and put them in the freezer. This meant that my face mask was a tad on the cold side.

Additionally to the one mashed banana I also added 1/2 tsp of bicarbonate of soda (this works as a deep cleanser as it breaks down grime and dirt and removes excess oil which otherwise can clog up skin pores)

1/2 tsp of ground turmeric (antibacterial properties aka kills bacteria) and 1 tsp of honey ( Exterminates bacteria, contains lightening properties and elimates dark spots)

 

Take your putrid yellow, rather smelly face mask into the bathroom to apply as this will avoid things getting too messy.

Make sure that your hair is tied back and kept out of your face with a headband.  Additionally remove all jewellery and glasses. 

I washed my face before applying the mask and left it (the mask) on for fifteen minutes whilst lying back and trying to relax despite the smell.

My calming playlist included songs from Natalie Holmes, Orla Gartland and Lauren Aquilina. Click here 
for my playlist.

Wash your face mask off in warm soapy water. I used The Body Shop Nutriganics Foaming Face Cleanser to help me in this task and pat dry with a fluffy towel. 

The Nutriganics range was also the source of my face cleanser which after putting some of the liquid onto a cotton pad I massaged into my skin. This was followed by the Aloe Vera Calming Toner which was applied in a similar way.

To complete the 'cleanse, tone and moisturise' regime I also turned to The Body Shop Aloe Vera collection yet as I have previously mentioned I have quite dry skin so this stage had more than one potion including: eye serum, protective serum and an intensive protective mask. The later of which should be liberally applied to the face and neck and the excess is wiped off after fifteen minutes

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Macaroons for World Baking Day

Happy World Baking Day one and all! There can be only one form of activity on a day like today and as you've probably already guessed by the title or even just by clicking onto this page: today we are baking.

I will be making macaroons and I'm hoping that they will actually work this time as all previous attempts, despite being delicious, did not quite go to plan. My last batch were not cooked for long enough and were therefore very soggy.

Nevertheless, today it's going to work out…right?

The recipe I am using comes from Lorraine Pascale but I (obviously) had to make some changes.

The ingredients list for the recipe was:

• 125g/4½oz icing sugar

• 125g/4½oz ground almonds

• 90g/3½oz free-range egg whites

• 2 tbsp water

• 110g/4oz caster sugar

• food colouring (optional)

• desiccated coconut, for sprinkling (optional)

• 150ml/5fl oz double or whipped cream whipped

• 100ml water

• 2tbsp honeybush tea leaves

• 200ml custard

oh look conjoined twins

But I ignored the last three and instead used:

I was going to make standard vanilla macaroons but then I thought nah lets make my life more complicated so I went for a Honeybush tea infused option. You can find the tea here! 

When making macaroons you have three key elements: the almond/icing sugar paste, the whisked egg whites and the sugar syrup. It is the latter in which we will be using the tea.

In a pan boil the water and add 2 tbsp of tea leaves. Any tea should be fine and I might try this recipe with some green tea next time. Brew for 5 minutes before staring the tea leaves and putting your infusion back on the boil. 

To this pan add 110g sugar and let it thicken to a syrup. I haven't got a sugar thermometer but if you are using one the temperature should reach 115 Celsius.

Set aside to cool.

In a bowl measure out 125g each of icing sugar and ground almonds. Add 40g of egg white - if you not cool enough to stand around weighing egg whites this equates to roughly one medium sized egg. Stir to a thick paste. 

Whisk the remaining egg whites to medium/stiff peaks. Luckily I have a  Kenwood to do the hard work  for me :) 

Gradually pour in a quarter of the cooled sugar/tea syrup and continue whisking until shiny and smooth.

Fold the almond paste into the egg whites and if you are wanting to use any colouring for your macaroons this where you would add them in.

To form the macaroons you will need to line a baking tray…or two…actually make that three and pipe your mixture on in little circles of roughly the same size. If, however, your piping skills leave a lot to be desired you 
can spoon the mixture onto the trays. Yet this method may result in your macaroons being a lot flatter than the ones that you normally see being sold in the shops.

Leave your macaroons to stand for half an hour before baking. This allows the macaroons to form a skin. Alternatively you can place an additional sheet of grease proof paper over the tray after 10 minutes of cooking in the oven for a similar effect.

Whilst you are waiting for your macaroons you could make a start on the filling, read another one of my blog posts or maybe make some cupcakes? All of the above is also a good option.

 Preheat the oven to 170 Celsius and once ready, bake the macaroons for 12-15 minutes or until they are 
starting to golden. Timing is crucial for when making macaroons (much like tuilles - lol that was fun *sarcastic face*) as if they undercooked they will be too soggy and unusable.

Leave the macaroons to cool and harden whilst you turn your attention to the filling.

I cheated on this bit as we had ready made custard in the fridge already (well it was reduced to 29p)

Pour the custard in a pan with the rest of the tea syrup and bring to the boil. Wow that was simple.

Sandwich two pieces of your macaroons together with a blob of filling in between. If any go wrong…eat them :)

Macaroons can be kept in the fridge for up to a week or even frozen for three months. If you are freezing them though take your macaroons out an hour before eating them so that they have sufficient time to defrost.