Cherry Cake.

I bought a bundt tin. Well, to be more accurate, my mum bought me a bundt tin. Also I'm not entirely sure if 'bundt tin' is the right word or if there is a more specific word for this particular shape of tin? All I know is that I chose this tin with absolutely no idea what I would make with it.

What I ended up making was this Mary Berry cherry cake recipe. Yes, even after the scone disaster, I gave Mary another chance. And I'm very glad I did because this cake came out beautifully. Now I just need to find some more delicious bundt cake recipes. (If you have any then hit me up in the comments!)

Ingredients

For the cake

200g glacé cherries

225g self-raising flour

175g softened butter, plus extra for greasing

175g caster sugar

Zest of 1 lemon

50g ground almonds

3 large eggs

For the decoration

175g icing sugar

Juice of 1 lemon

15g flaked almonds, toasted

5 glacé cherries, quartered

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4. Grease your bundt tin with butter and lightly dust with flour.
• Cut all the cherries into quarters and set aside five quartered cherries for the decoration. Rinse the rest of the quartered cherries in a sieve under running water. Drain well and dry with kitchen paper. Finally toss the cherries in two tablespoons of the already measured flour.
• Cream the butter and caster sugar together in a large bowl, then add in all the other ingredients (except the cherries) and beat well until thoroughly mixed. Now lightly fold in the cherries and then turn the mixture into your bundt tin.
• Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes until golden brown, well risen, and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for about ten minutes and then turn out and cool completely on a wire rack.
• For the icing, mix the icing sugar with the lemon juice (A little tip - if you don't like lemon very much then I would recommend making a simple icing with just icing sugar and water - it'll work exactly the same but be a lot less lemony!) to a thick paste.
• When the cake is completely cooled drizzle the icing over it using the back of a spoon. Then sprinkle over the toasted almond flakes and the cherries you set aside earlier and voila!

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stasialikesbooks | Book review: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart.

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends - the Liars - whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True Love.
The Truth.
(x)

We Were Liars is my first E. Lockhart book but I'm sure it won't be my last (I've been eyeing up The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks for years, truth be told.) I wasn't too sure what to expect but I'd seen a lot of reviews, all of which seemed to follow the same pattern - this book is amazing but I can't tell you what happens - and now that I've read it I can totally understand why.

We Were Liars is powerful and surprising, both in the story itself and in the way in which the story is told. I've never read anything else like it and I'm sure I never will. But. I'm still not totally convinced about the writing style. While it's definitely interesting, I found it at times to be a little annoying, almost until the end. Towards the end I found myself appreciating the style and it started to make sense retrospectively, but I can't deny that I spent a lot of the book unsure about it. Also I still don't understand why the group are called 'The Liars' but I don't think I'm the only one.

Nevertheless this is definitely a unique novel, deserving of the praise it has gotten. The story unfolds in ever more clever and surprising ways and the final reveal comes like a punch in the gut. But, like, in a good way. I'd recommend it.

4/5 stars.

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September book reviews.

Just two books this month and both of them are conclusions to series whose previous books I've already reviewed on this blog, which is actually nice and fitting for what will probably be the last monthly book reviews post you'll see on stasialikescakes! (More about that at the end of this post. Ooh. Teasing.)

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams

I know there is technically one more book in the Hitchhiker's Guide series but I've been informed that it's best to stop after the fourth one and only the first four are included in my bind-up anyway so for now at least my journey with Arthur Dent is definitely at an end. Like the previous book (which I talked about in last month's reviews) I really missed the group dynamic between Ford, Arthur, Zaphod, and Trillion in this one too, however, there were a lot of aspects of So Long and Thanks for All the Fish that I really did like. Adams's humour was on top form, as usual, and I thought Fenchurch was an excellent character. If anything, I'd have liked more of her. I really enjoyed the story line though and Arthur finally finding out a few things. Some questions were, of course, still left unanswered, but all in all I think this was a pretty fitting end to the series. I just wish it had been a bit longer, to be honest. 4/5 stars.

Don't Tell Alfred by Nancy Mitford

Regular readers of this blog with good memories will remember that I liked the first book in this series, The Pursuit of Love, and loved the second, Love in a Cold Climate. Don't Tell Alfred takes place some years after the first two books and in Paris this time (I know, I know. Paris? Again?) where Fanny must navigate French politics, the previous occupant of her house who refuses to leave, and her wayward sons, all of whom are rebelling in some way or another. Don't Tell Alfred was every bit as funny as The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate and Northey along with Fanny's sons were almost entertaining enough to make up for the lack of the wonderful Jassy and Victoria. I'm firmly in love with Nancy Mitford now and can't wait to get my hands on The Blessing and Wigs on the Green. 4/5 stars

Now, I mentioned at the start of this post that this might be the last monthly book reviews you see on this blog and that's because I've started a new blog called stasialikesbooks! I will still be posting recipes and lifestyle posts and all those other bits and pieces on stasialikescakes, don't worry, but from now on I will be posting book reviews, book tags, film reviews, tv recommendations and all of those sorts of things on stasialikesbooks. I'm doing this because I've felt for a while now that this blog is sort of all over the place and I feel that splitting it into two like this might help me to focus better on what I want to post without worrying about everything fitting together. I hope that makes sense?

It was a pretty spur of the moment decision to be honest and who knows, it's entirely possibly that a few weeks from now I could be back, tail between my legs, admitting that it was a terrible idea and that actually I'd quite like to go back to the way things were before. But honestly, right now I'm feeling really positive about the idea, and I hope you are too!

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stasialikesbooks | The A-Z bookish survey.

The same day that I decided to make this new blog I saw this tag on The Book Journal and thought it seemed like a fun first post to kick things off with. So without further ado (partly because this is kind of long. Mostly because I'm currently re-watching Gossip Girl and right now I'm on the first Christmas episode!) here are my A-Z Bookish Survey answers!

Author you've read the most books from
Meg Cabot.

Best sequel ever
Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins or every single Harry Potter sequel.

Currently reading
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart.

Drink of choice whilst reading
A nice cup of tea.

E-reader or physical books
I do read a few books on my iPad and find it super useful but I think it will always be physical books for me.

Fictional character you probably would have actually dated in high school
Can I pretend that I was cool enough in high school to land Cricket Bell??

Glad you gave this book a chance
Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier. My mum bought it for me and it sat in my bookcase for ten years or something before I finally got around to reading it. I wish I'd given it a chance sooner!

Hidden gem of a book
I'm going to say Campari for Breakfast by Sara Crowe. It only came out earlier this year but I absolutely love it and I don't know anyone else who's read it yet.

Important moment in your reading life
Probably the first time I finished reading a novel by myself. It was Charm School by Anne Fine and I can still remember how excited I was when I reached the final page because I could finally say that I had read a whole book by myself!

Just finished
Don't Tell Alfred by Nancy Mitford.

Kinds of books you won't read
Probably horror? Maybe?

Longest book you've ever read
I expected this to be Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur but I just checked and it's actually Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, clocking in at an impressive 766 pages.

Major book hangover because of...
Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins.

Number of bookcases you own
Two bookcases + a drawer full of books + half a shelf on my parents' bookcase.

One book you've read multiple times
Avalon High by Meg Cabot.

Preferred place to read
In bed or in the bath. Just, lying down somewhere, I guess.

Quote that you like from a book you've read
'God knows I tried my best to learn the ways of this world, even had inklings we could be glorious; but after all that's happened, the inkles ain't easy anymore' from Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre.

Reading regret
That I actually read the entire of The Time Traveler's Wife.

Series you've started and need to finish
The Percy Jackson series! I've only read the first one but I really want to read the rest of the series.

Three of your all-time favourite books
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, Avalon High by Meg Cabot, and Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell.

Unapologetic fangirl for
Harry Potter and The Princess Diaries.

Very excited for this release more than others
Blue Lily, Lily Blue, the third book in Maggie Stiefvater's Raven Boys series.

Worst bookish habits
I can't really think of any. Unless you count buying books faster than I can read them. If you do then that.

X marks the spot - start at the top of your shelf and pick the 27th book
A Series of Unfortunate Events #12: The Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket.

Your latest book purchase
The Cornish Coast Murder by John Bude and The Norfolk Mystery by Ian Sansom.

Zzzz-snatcher book - last book that kept you up WAY too late
Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins. I barely stopped to sleep or eat while I was reading that book.

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My name is Stasia and I can't make scones.

It was my mum's birthday on Tuesday and we spent the day at the zoo. On Sunday I had asked if she wanted a birthday cake but she decided that she wanted scones instead, so we could take them with us to the zoo and have a birthday picnic. This was fine, I thought, I'd made scones once before when I was at uni and I remembered it being a pretty quick and easy thing to make.

So on Monday morning I put on my dotty apron and pulled Mary Berry's Baking Bible off the shelf, ready to go. This wasn't actually the recipe I had used the last time but I thought surely this will be even better than the scones I made last time. This is Mary Berry!

Cut to two hours later. I have cut out all of the scones twice because they kept shrinking on the baking tray, the kitchen is literally covered in flour, my hands are so stuck together with dough that I can't remember what it felt like to be able to move them freely, and I have already had a little cry. I finally get the scones in the oven and ten minutes later pull out these.

These are not scones. I don't know what they are but I think we can all agree that they are not scones. A friend of mine saw this picture and said they looked like 'scones cunningly disguised as eggs' and I have to agree with her. Apparently they taste okay but I personally am not in any hurry to try them.

Okay, so Mary Berry has let me down. It's alright, I can find the recipe I used last time. I'm at the end of my rope already but it's mum's birthday and she wants scones so scones there will be.

Except we don't have enough flour left for another batch of scones because I used it all on the aforementioned definitely-not-scones. I have another cry. Dad drives me to the supermarket to buy more flour.

The process for the next lot of scones is a lot more like I remember it from last time. It's quick, easy, not too messy, and at no point do I feel the need to have a cry.

Until, of course, I open the oven door to find these.

They look more like scones than they do eggs, yes, and are therefore a step up from the last batch. But as you can see they are also almost completely flat. However, I do not cry. I am already numb to the disappointment.

I throw away the second half of that batter. By this time it is almost four o'clock. I haven't finished making mum's actual birthday present, I haven't showered, and at seven I am going to see a film at our local cinema club with dad. But I'm in too far now.

I grab the hella old cookery book that mum insists contains the best recipes in the world. Just that morning in fact, after the egg-scones came out of the oven, she told me that this book, that she has had since she was in school, has the best scone recipe in it.

Okay, I think, I'll try it. At this point I have spent an entire day making scones with no actual scones to show for it. I have nothing to lose.

I finally give up. I am surrounded by not-scones. Three batches of three different recipes and all that's left are me in my dotty apron and around 30 things that are definitely not scones.

I leave the not-scones strewn across the kitchen and have a long bath.

Mum comes home from her meeting. She tries to assess what exactly I did wrong with all the scones. I do not want to talk about it.

Mum makes her own scones.

I vow never to make scones ever again.

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Pete Wentz: Poet laureate of my wasted teenage pop punk heart.

Or: Fall Out Boy released a new song this week and then I wrote this weird post.

There's something about Fall Out Boy's music that makes me feel like I'm 17 again, but like, in the best way possible. Like I can single handedly kick the world into shape. Like I'm really alive. I know that's super cheesy but whatever, we've all got those bands, right?

There are some T. Rex songs that kind of make me feel that way too but unfortunately Marc Bolan is no longer around to release surprise albums. Imagine if Marc Bolan was around now though. Imagine the music videos. IMAGINE MARC BOLAN'S TWITTER FEED.

Sorry, this isn't about Marc Bolan, this is about Fall Out Boy.

(Although I mean, what isn't about Marc Bolan, really? If it's not about Marc Bolan it's usually about David Bowie or Dolly Parton. My music tastes are pretty sequin-based. With the exception of Fall Out Boy, who I am supposed to be talking about right now.)

I remember being a wee baby teenager and really only knowing a couple of Fall Out Boy's songs and just not really being that into it, but I had a few friends who really liked them so I listened to a few more of their songs.

Then I listened almost exclusively to Fall Out Boy and various Fueled by Ramen bands for about the next two years of my life.

And I have this weird association in my head between The Sims 2 and Folie à Deux because I spent basically the entire summer after Folie à Deux came out playing The Sims 2 with the sound off and listening to that album on repeat. Yeah, those are the crazy antics I got up to as a 17 year old.

I kind of took a hiatus from the whole pop punk thing while Fall Out Boy were on their own hiatus but when Save Rock and Roll came out last year it was like, well, this is it. This is my life again now. Patrick Stump tells me to put on my war paint and I'll do it. I'd probably kill a man if Patrick Stump asked me to. I wouldn't even question it.

Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating a little. Maybe there is some hyperbole at play in this post but come on, what other band could get Courtney Love and Elton John in the same music video?

Maybe that's why I love Save Rock & Roll even more than their past albums (controversial, I know), maybe it's because the addition of Elton John brings Fall Out Boy one step closer to sequins than they have ever been before?

Sequins or not, listening to Centuries makes me feel like I could punch a shark right in the nose and I'm probably going to be completely useless for anything other than listening to the new album on repeat when it comes out.

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(I promise things will get back to normal with my next post.)

August book reviews.

This month I FINALLY got to read Isla and the Happily Ever After and yes that caps lock was definitely necessary because I have been waiting for this book for so long I honestly started to think it might never be released. To paraphrase the great Twitter philosopher of our time, Jaden Smith: When You Have To Wait Over 18 Months For A Book. Then You Will Realise.

Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams

Life, the Universe and Everything is the third book in the Hitchhiker's Guide series. I reviewed the first two books last month and finished this one early in August. I loved the first two books in this series but honestly, I found this one to be a little bit of a chore to get through. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that the main group of characters spent a lot of this book apart and one of the things I had enjoyed most about the first two books was that group dynamic. Life, the Universe and Everything also seems even more complicated than the first two books in the series. Like, needlessly complicated. It was still very funny though and I'm still looking forward to reading the fourth book in the series, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish. 3/5 stars.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

With Isla and the Happily Ever After finally being released I thought I'd better re-read Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door to refresh my memory of this world and its characters. I instantly fell in love with Anna and the French Kiss when I first read it and it was no different this time. Although I think I definitely noticed and appreciated more of the detail in this book the second time round. And since I'm always only one impulsive, late night, whiskey fuelled debit card transaction away from running away to Paris anyway, it will come as no surprise to anyone that Perkins's beautiful descriptions in this book had me rolling around on the floor, pining after French pastries and Notre Dame. 5/5 stars.

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

The first time I read these books I actually preferred Anna and the French Kiss but upon re-reading them I think I've definitely changed my mind. Cricket Bell and Lola Nolan are the ones for me. I'm in love with both of them. Okay, mostly Cricket. However, Lola's view of fashion is pretty close to my own, albeit a little more extreme. Rest assured though if I could easily get my hands on some pink wigs and wasn't so terrible at sewing, I would totally be rocking Lola's looks. I've never been to San Francisco but again, just as with Anna and the French Kiss, Perkins's descriptions really brought the place to life for me. I almost felt like I could taste Andy's pies. I wish I could taste Andy's pies. 5/5 stars.

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

I don't think I've ever ripped open a package as quickly as I did this one when it finally fell through our door. Isla and the Happily Ever After takes us back to The School of America in Paris from Anna and the French Kiss for a large part of the story but we also get to visit Barcelona and New York, which, again, Perkins does a fantastic job of using to just fill me with god damn wanderlust. If you've already read Anna and the French Kiss (which I ABSOLUTELY recommend you do before reading Lola or Isla because even though these aren't technically sequels there are still a few events in this book featuring characters from the previous two books that will definitely spoil the ending of Anna for you) then you'll be familiar with the two main characters in this book, Isla and Josh. Isla and the Happily Ever After follows a little bit of a different story to its sister books. Whereas Anna and Lola are more about the getting together, Isla is definitely more about the staying together, and it was really nice to read that. If I have just one complaint it would be that there is not enough of Isla's friend Kurt for my liking. I wanted more Kurt. I want a whole book about Kurt! But other than that, 5/5 stars.

If you're a fan of YA romance then I honestly cannot recommend this entire series enough. But you could probably tell that already.

The Wandering by Saruuh Kelsey - Expected release date: 23rd September 2014.

Alright so technically I was actually proof reading this one but I thought I'd sneak it on here anyway since 'proof reading' is totally still 'reading'. The Wandering is the sequel to Saruuh's first book, The Forgotten, which was one of my 10 Favourite Books of 2013. The Forgotten and The Wandering are the first two books in The Lux Guardians series, which will eventually be a series of four YA dystopian novels (is dystopian the official genre? Saruuh, let me know if I'm marketing your book wrong), which will all be available for free as ebooks with a limited number of paperbacks available too. The series follows four main characters; Honour and Horatia, who are from the year 2040, and Bennet and Branwell, from the year 1878, as well as a whole host of other fantastic, interesting characters. There's time travel, romance, secret organisations dedicated to overthrowing the corrupt government, all that good stuff. 5/5 stars.

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