The boy and his posion: Penicillin

I hope you all had a great Burns night on Wednesday and that you're all now haggis and whisky converts. My dad's side of the family is Scottish and I hate to miss an excuse for midweek gluttony and excess, it also seemed a great theme to base todays drink on.

I have to prefix this recipe with an appeal. If any of you ever meet my grandfather, I certainly didn't suggest replacing the traditional blended whisky base with single malt and I definitely did not advocate bringing ice within a square mile of Scotch. If he finds out I'll probably be disinherited. The Penicillin is a little like a younger, more Scottish Whisky Mac mainly thanks to the tang of the lemon and some lovely Scottish honey. If ginger isn't your thing you could try making a single-malt sour using the tip at the bottom of this recipe or even go the whole hog and try the Atholl Brose... a veritable meal in a glass.

You'll need

• 50 ml Single malt Scotch
• The juice of half a lemon
• A small knob of ginger
• A jar of honey

Make the honey-ginger syrup:

• Add equal parts honey and ginger to a pan. You'll eventually need about 30ml of the syrup but make as much as you'd like, its great in porridge
• Wash and finely slice the ginger into the pan (no need to worry about peeling it)
• Gradually bring the mixture to a medium heat and keep it there until its reduced to a runny-syrup consistency
• Then allow the mixture to cool

Then shake

• Add the Scotch, and equal parts lemon juice and ginger syrup into an ice filled shaker
• Shake for 10-15 seconds
• Strain into a martini glass and garnish with some finely sliced ginger

Kitchen Gadgets: The Potato Ricer

The first time I used a potato ricer at a cookery class, it was a revelation. Even after Nigella had been banging on about them for years, it had seemed like an added extra and something that I couldn't justify space for in a tiny kitchen.

I'm still not going to pretend that they are essential but a ricer is to fluffy potatoes what a hand mixer is to cake making, i.e. you could use a wooden spoon to cream butter and sugar, but you're mainly building up builders' biceps on one arm.

There are different types of ricer, mainly metal or plastic. I went for a metal one, and didn't realise it came with two discs in it to produce different consistencies of mash - slightly rough or super fine. I'd recommend choosing one or the other and not trying to smush the potato through both at once, ahem.
My only problem with the metal ricer is that the handle which you squeeze together together to push the spud through the chamber and the disc is a little bit sharp. I'd recommend one of the plastic ones instead, which are easier on the hands. Ricers retail from about £10 upwards, such as the Lakeland one pictured which is £12.99.

Look forward to making the creamiest mash, easy purees and pillow-like gnocchi with your new toy!

The Friday Five: Cocktail Shakers

It's the Domestic Sluttery Christmas party tonight (yes, we know we're a little late but we spent most of December signing your books and having Christmas naps). Nick is obviously in charge of booze, so here's a roundup of some nice cocktail shakers to play with.

Gosh it's pretty, John Lewis. This makes drinks of magic, I'm sure of it.

It's 'all about the Boston shaker', according to Nick.

It's gold plated. That's pretty cool.

Swanky, Sagaform. Very swanky.

Or why not go for the whole kit and kaboodle?

Baking for Beginners: Coconut Cupcakes with Champagne Buttercream

My best friend turns 30 in March and we're planning a 1940s party at the gorgeous little village hall where she got married. It's going to be darling. However, whilst the theme may be wartime, the nibbles most certainly won't be; and I'm getting my practice in early to ensure her party is suitably decadent.

The first recipe under scrutiny are these yummy coconut and champagne cupcakes.

You'll need:

For the cupcakes:

• 2 eggs (at room temperature)
• 175g plain flour
• Pinch of salt
• 120g unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 200g caster sugar
• 60g desiccated coconut
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• Zest of one lime
• 120ml coconut milk
• Pinch of cream of tatar
• Tablespoon of baking powder

For the buttercream:

• 450g unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 780g icing sugar
• 4 tablespoons of Champagne

Make it!:

The cupcakes:

• Separate the eggs into two bowls.
• Beat the butter and half the caster sugar together until smooth.
• Lightly beat the egg yolks a little at the time to the butter and sugar, then add the vanilla essence and lime zest.
• In another bowl, sift the flour, salt and baking powder. Add the coconut and blend.
• Add the flour mixture, a little at a time, to the butter mix. In between adding the flour add a little of the coconut milk. Blend in a figure-of-eight making sure you get plenty of air into the mix.
• In a third bowl, whisk the egg whites, the rest of the sugar and the cream of tartar together until soft peaks begin to form.
• Fold in the egg whites to the flour and butter mix with a plastic spatula, taking time to ensure it's blended but not over-mixed.
• Divide the mixture between 12 cupcake cases and bake for 18 minutes, or until the cakes are risen and golden brown.

The buttercream:

• Blend the butter in a bowl until smooth.
• Add the icing sugar a cup at a time, sifting first.
• Once you have a smooth blend, add the champagne a tablespoon at a time and combine.
• Once the cakes are baked and cooled, ice the cakes with plenty of buttercream, using the back of a spoon. Hold the spoon and rotate the cupcake.
• Once the cake is evenly covered in frosting, bring the spoon to the centre of the cake and pull the spoon away leaving a little frosted peak.

If you want to colour your buttercream then add the colour at the same time as the champagne. Don't forget that too much liquid colouring can cause a bitter taste so look into coloured gels if you're looking for really rich colours. Oh, and also don't forget that green liquid food colouring is a big fat waste of time - if you want green use one part blue to three parts yellow.

Dream Dress: AWear Bird Print

A few months ago, I wrote about having finally found a dress I was going to buy on ASOS. I lied. Or rather, I never got around to buying it.

This time though I bought three and kept two. I absolutely love this owl print dress! It's £32 and incredibly cute, although sadly doesn't come with the red belt you see in the picture. Funnily enough, despite not being a tall-specific size, it's a lot more decent to wear in public than my similar Topshop Tall mini-dress which requires shorts, or at the very least, tights worn underneath to ward off any potential arse disasters.

I love the flattering sleeves and the jersey wrap style, and it's got two cute red lines on the top by slightly puffed shoulders.

I wore it to work yesterday (yes, this is yet another WIWT picture taken in our Mad Men loos) with my favourite multi-purpose blue ribbon as a belt, pink Topshop tights and Amber & Jade Aretha heels. Happy old me.

Baking for Beginners: Pignoli

Pignoli are a sticky little riff on amaretti biscuits, made with almonds and pine nuts. They're naturally gluten free and pretty quick to knock up in a hurry. Perfect with your morning cuppa, or afternoon cuppa. Or for breakfast (ahem).

They'll be very soft when they come out of the oven, but will firm up as you leave them to cool (if you can).

Pignoli (makes around 20)
You'll need:

• 340g ground almonds
• 300g icing sugar
• 4 egg whites
• A handful of pine nuts

Make it!

• Preheat the oven to 170c / gas 3.
• Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks.
• Gently mix in the icing sugar and the ground almonds.
• Line a baking sheet with baking parchment. It's a good idea to brush it with some oil or melted butter as the pignoli are quite sticky.
• Put teaspoonfuls of mixture onto the sheet. Space them well apart as they will puff up when cooked.
• Sprinkle each one with a few pine nuts.
• Bake for around 15 minutes until golden brown.