Chocolate Log Recipe

Hello It’s 2 Peas In A Pod Blog Here,

Hello and welcome back to our blog, its Jade here. Tonight’s blogmas post is a recipe. You will know by now we love a good Christmas recipe. So what’s better than a chocolate log? It’s a tradition in my family that at Christmas we have a Christmas pudding for the adults and chocolate log for the children. I still class myself as a child as I go for the chocolate log. Each year we buy a chocolate Swiss roll and I make the butter cream icing myself and decorate it myself. However, this year I thought I would make the chocolate log from scratch. So here goes. 

To make this recipe you will need:

·      4 large eggs

·      100g Caster Sugar

·      65g Self- Raising Flour

·      40g Cocoa Powder 

For The Icing:

·      175 grams dark chocolate (chopped)

·      250 grams icing sugar

·      225 grams soft butter

·      1 tablespoon vanilla extract

So firstly you are going to want to preheat the oven to 200ºC / gas mark 6. 

Then lightly grease a 33 × 23 cm Swiss roll tin, and line with non-stick paper or baking paper.

Then whisk the eggs and sugar using an electric hand whisk in a large bowl until the mixture is pale in colour.

Now sift the flour and cocoa powder into the bowl and carefully fold together, using a metal spoon, until all the cocoa and flour are incorporated into the egg mixture. 

Pour the mixture into the lined tin and spread evenly out into the corners. 

Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for eight to 10 minutes until the sponge is springy and baked the whole way through. 

(Wow can you see the steem coming off the cake?) 




Place a piece of baking paper bigger than the Swiss roll on the work surface. Move the cake on to the paper and remove the bottom lining piece of paper.

Trim the edges of the cake with a sharp knife and make a score mark 2.5 cm in along the longer edge. 

Whilst the cake is cooling you will want to create the icing.

 To make the icing, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water. 

Then put the icing sugar into a large bowl and add the butter and hand whisk until smooth. Then add the melted chocolate once it’s cool. Then add the vanilla extract. Whisk it until it is all combined together. 

Then spread some of the icing thinly over the cake. Make sure it isn’t too thick so it doesn’t seep out the edges. Then start rolling from the side that is facing you. Press against the baking paper rather than the cake so it’s easier.

Then with the rest of the icing that you have left spread it over the chocolate log. Grab a fork and make wood like textures across it to make it more authentic. Also do circles at the end of the logs to create the tree rings. Then sift some icing sugar on top to create a fallen snow effect. 

You can add decorations on the top like I have to create a more festive log. 

I hope you have enjoyed this blog post as much as I have had creating it. It is also Christmas Day tomorrow so I hope you have a magical day. Myself and Lydia wish you a Merry Christmas and hope you get some lovely gifts. There is a blogmas blog post going live tomorrow so be sure to check that out. After that there will not be any more blog posts until the following Tuesday. So everything will resume back to normality.

Hope you all have an amazing Christmas.

Please Share The Pea Pod Love,

Thank You,

Jade Xx

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Where To Find Us: 

Click The Usernames For Direct Links 

Blog Accounts:

Twitter: 2peasinapodblog

Email: twopeasinapodblog@gmail.com

Jade: 

Twitter:   Dewey_bear

Instagram:  THE_PERKS_OF_BEING_JADE

Lydia:

Twitter:  Lydia_Greyhound 

Instagram:   LYDIA_GREYHOUND

Top 5 Christmas Movies

Hello Its 2 Peas In A Pod Blog Here,


























Hello everybody and welcome back to our blog, its Jade here. I hope you are having a festive week leading up to Christmas. I know I am. I broke up for the christmas holidays yesterday so thats all good. So as you might know we have decided to do what we did last year, which is a mini blogmas. As our schedules are really busy during december with work and college we decided we should do a mini one leading up to christmas. So as you saw yesterday we posted a joint blog post which is the first of the series of blogmas. So today is the fist blogmas post for me. I decided to start easy and tell you all my top 5 christmas movies ! 


I found this quite hard as I am a massive lover when it comes to christmas movies. I find them really cozy and I feel calm watching them. You may think this is weird but I have been watching certain christmas movies since August. Whoops. When I am super stressed there is nothing better than lying in bed with a cup of tea watching a christmas film. So lets get on with the count down.

I do not own any of these photos and all rights go to the owners of the photos.

My ultimate favourite chrtsmas film has to be Elf. I absolutely love it. I find that it is easy watching and just funny. I feel like one day of my life I would like to experience Buddy's life. All I have to remember is not to eat yellow snow. I am sure that you are aware of the film, I feel like its a christmas staple when wrapping your presents. I love it so much.



























My next favourite christmas film is a childhood memory that I used to watch every christmas eve with my mum and I still do now. It is Miracle On 34th Street. I guess this film makes me cozy and fuzzy inside. On christmas eve my mum and I have a tradition of eating chinease take out in our pyjamas and watching that film. When I was younger as soon as that film had finished I would brush my teeth and lay out my carrot and mince pie and of course a shot of whiskey for Santa and the raindeers and rush off to bed. That way I was sure to be asleep when Santa dropped my presents off. If you have not seen this film I highly reccomend it, its about a man who is Santa and he is hired as the shops santa. Long story short many people are out there to prove he is not the real santa and he battles his way to prove he is the real man.




























The next film that is on my top 5 is Arthur Christmas. I have a couple of memories for this movie. It was my first date with my ex boyfriend and the other memory is watching it with my little brother snuggled on the sofa. I like this movie because it is easy watching and quite funny at times. I love the elves in this film and I do sit and laugh at them. Not many people have watched this film but once they mention it I kind of force it upon them to watch it, because it is amazing.



























My next film is not really a film but it counts as some would say that I watch this more than any of the films that I mention in this blog post. So it is worth a metion. It is the Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special. Those who know me, know that I am a Gavin & Stacey Fanatic. So when they brought out a christmas special I was so happy as that is 2 of my favourite things combined together. Oh and my man crush is totally James Corden. This dvd never leaves my dvd player as I watch it through out the year. It has even got to the point where when it is on TV my family refuse to watch it with me as I can recite the words with the characters and it annoys them. My favourite part of the special is when Smithy wraps all of his gifts in tin foil. I have seriously thought about doing that a few times.

My last but no means least favourite christmas movie is Love Actually. This is a classic film that everyone loves to watch. Its so cozy I just love it. My favourite characters are the priminister and the personal assistant they are just so cute, I love it. This is the sort of film I love to cozy up on the sofa with a hot coco and watch this film. As it isnt all christmasy but its just great and I love it. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post, I hope you have enjoyed it. Make sure to be here tomorrow for Lydia's blogmas post. What is your favourite Christmas Movie? Hope you are having a great christmas so far.  :) 

Please Share The Pea Pod Love,

Thank You,

Jade Xx

Coconut Lane Discount Code: peas20

Where To Find Us: 

Click The Usernames For Direct Links 

Blog Accounts:

Twitter: 2peasinapodblog

Email: twopeasinapodblog@gmail.com

Jade: 

Twitter:   Dewey_bear

Instagram:  THE_PERKS_OF_BEING_JADE

Lydia:

Twitter:  Lydia_Greyhound 

Instagram:   LYDIA_GREYHOUND

8 Ways To Prepare Yourself For The December Rush

Hello It's 2 Peas In A Pod Blog Here,

Evening everyone and welcome back to our blog. As you might of guessed already things are starting to get festive here on our blog. Well, not just here! Shops, hotels and YouTube channels are getting so festive it's unreal. Which isn't really that bad as we love Christmas. So we have decided to follow the Christmas trend and get festive. *Que Cheesy Christmas Music*. 

As its coming up to December we thought we would give you lovely readers some tips on beating the December Christmas rush. That might be in your home or in the local shopping centre. Can we just take a minute to realise we are nearly at the end of 2016, wow that has gone quick. Anyways lets get back to th blog post.

1. Don't Panic

Now we can probably assume you are reading this blog post because you are panicky about the December rush. Well don't, you can do this. Seriously though, we get stressed out for one day. This year it's your turn to enjoy the festive season and sit back and relax. The biggest tip to achieve that this  Christmas is to do pretty much everything in November. Which this blog post is scheduled at the wrong time as its only 1 day until December, but please look past that. 😂 

2. Plan Trips

This is very important as you need to plan shopping trips, family gatherings and the all important Santa's Grotto trip. So it's mich better if you plan these trips in advance. It may seem silly planning at the start of November your trip to see Santa. However this helps a lot as you can avoid double booking. We planned our annual Christmas shopping trip and sleepover way back in October to make sure we had free time. It really helps trust us.

3. Write Present Lists

This point ties in with point 2. It's another form of planning. This point means either planning who you need to get Christmas presents for or who you have got presents for and what you have got them. That helps so you know when your family are opening their presents you haven't missed any presents off! 

4. Shop At The Start Of December 

We find this tip the most effective. If you shop before December or at the start you still have a good pick of the good presents to buy your friends and family. Also it's less crowded so you can feel more at ease when shopping. We have our annual shopping Christmas trip on the 1st December. If you leave your shopping until Christmas Eve, the rush can be very stressful. However, on the other hand if you shop early and you forget a certain present you have time to go out and buy it. 

5. Have A Practice Christmas Dinner 

This might sound silly but it helps. If you are that type of person who struggles with timings etc then a practice Christmas dinner might help you. Getting your parsnips roasted in time and baking the piggies and blankets! 

6. Plan Your Christmas Outfit 

This is a must. Christmas outfit is very key. That might be a sparkly Christmas dress or a novelty Christmas jumper. If you plan your outfit before hand you won't be stressing about it on Christmas Day.  Remember the key thing is to be stress free on Christmas Day, after all it's about having fun.

7. But Double Wrapping Paper

This is a good one. Sometimes you can underestimate the amount of cheesy Christmas wrapping paper that you will need. So it's better to be safe than sorry so buy double the amount of wrapping paper. Also if you make the mistake that Jade did one year you will definitely need extra Christmas wrapping paper. Basically she accidentally picked up happy birthday wrapping paper and no other wrapping paper. It was funny though. 

8. Decorating Your Home

This is the most exciting tip. Decorating you home all Christmasy and festive is just the best. It makes you home so cozy. If you get the decorating out the way at the start of December you can enjoy the decorations for longer and have stress free December! Also imagine all the Instagram pictures you can get!

Thank you for reading this blog post and we hope you have taken these tips wisely. We hope you have a great week and soon it's time to tuck into your advent calendars!! Yummy. What advent calendar do you have this year? 

Please Share The Pea Pod Love,

Thank You,

Jade & Lydia Xx

Where To Find Us: 

Click The Usernames For Direct Links 

Blog Accounts:

Twitter: 2peasinapodblog

Email: twopeasinapodblog@gmail.com

Jade: 

Twitter:   Dewey_bear

Instagram:  THE_PERKS_OF_BEING_JADE

Lydia:

Twitter:  Lydia_Greyhound 

Instagram:   LYDIA_GREYHOUND