Log Deep

Hey, yo to all the killers and the hundred dollar billers after not one of the brightest days of this summer I got home to two pretty downbeat playin housemates. Now if a Log Deep doesn't put a smile on someones face I don't know what will. Gotta admit this was a risky bake, it was pretty late, I had my headphones in as I didn't want to interrupt the film (we live in an open plan kinda flat cos we ballin like that) and also our oven is unpredictable at the best of times but it seems we got some East coast Mobb Deep inspired chocolate log down in 40 minutes flat yo. 
Log Deep

You will need:
 3 Eggs85g Caster sugar85g Plain flour2 tbsp Cocoa powder1/2 Baking powder
For the filling:
50g Butter100g Milk chocolate50g White chocolate1 tbsp Golden syrup200g Icing sugar287ml tub of Double cream



Method:
Heat the oven to 200C and line a 23 x 32 baking tray with baking paper. Beat the eggs and sugar together, again still haven't picked up my electric whisk so this should take around 6 minutes however it resulted in nearly the whole of Kendrick Lamars album and a camomile tea break for me. Once your mixture is thick and creamy you can sift in the flour, cocoa and baking powder folding the mixture carefully. Sounds so easy but I can assure you that if you don't have an electric whisk you won't need to go to the gym on this baking day. Anyway pour into the tray and bake for 10 minutes. 
Once baked remove from your oven and lay in another piece of baking paper. Now for the tricky part, roll the cake carefully with the paper still inside and leave to cool. You can now hustle on with the icing melting the butter and chocolate together in a bowl, I personally left a couple squares of the white chocolate for grating decoration. Stir in the sizzzurrrrpp (Golden syrup) and the whole tub of cream then beating the icing sugar until smooth and the icing holds its shape. 
Once the cake is cooled you can then roll it out and smooth the icing all over, then roll back in to shape, its totally up to yo ass how much icing you want to use, to be honest I didn't use all that was made as I thought it would be too much if it was ram packed. Grate a little white chocolate over the top for ultimate points and you're done! 
 I have literally just treated my little playas to a slice and the reviews were ''This is banging'' so I am one content, very tired and covered in chocolate icing vibed out playa. 
PLAY ON PLAYAS

So, run! Hop fences, jump over benches! When you see me comin' get the f out the entrance!

I never thought I would see the day when I actually enjoyed exercise, I may of taken PE at school for various reasons but taking part in the sport was certainly not one of them. Luckily for me I excelled in the theory, it definitely wasn't my sporting ability that got me a B. Anyway about two months ago I decided to start running, I suddenly had this urge to do it and now I have become quite the fan. I have quite a few pairs of trainers but wasn't really sure what to put on my feets so I was running everyday for about 2 weeks in New Balance 420s, foolish mistake. After speaking to a fellow running playa the investment into the Nike FlyKnit one was made and over 200K laters I could't imagine a life without them.

Running makes me super haps, its quite weird I usually zone out and just run and see how far I go until I feel its enough, generally aiming at least 5K. I can't say I am really bothered about time but find it more useful when Becki Clark world gets a bit crazy busy as I generally find it pretty hard to relax and chill, I'm one of those playas who always want to be doing something whether it be baking, making or a bit of rapping, you know just full time hustling really. Generally I listen to a bit of a variety when I'm running it just depends on my mood but it usually Hip-Hop or Grime to keep me motivated and I have a couple power songs for when I'm being a lazy little rat. Bryony has also witnessed me running and said it was highly amusing watching me go through from Destinys Child to Wu tang to Elijah and Skilliam, not gonna lie I do try and singalong/ throw in a rap even in the most sweaty of occasions.

Anyway June was a strong month in the running game for me, I racked up 137K and felt amazing rewarding myself with the black and white floral Janoski, however July has been slightly weaker and to be honest I haven't even had time to keep track of milage achieved. So back in the game tomorrow, its August and I have set myself the 125K target, slightly lower than June and July because I have a pretty busy month coming up. However the target is in place and the alarm is set for the first august run.

So I thought I would share one of my ultimate power songs for when the goings getting tough...

Nas Bar Cakes

A recent Wednesday night saw the standard procedure of going for a drink with a pal to the pub, Bryony, the other half of B.Unit and yes we have called ourselves this for 10 out of the 18 years we have been friends. Always been straight up G's even at 13. Left the pub after a cheeky cider and straight to Tesco's to then realise I didn't have enough money for dinner and cake ingredients. Well not to worry because once home I lured my housemate into going back to the shop for the ingredients in return for tasting the bakes. Tactical game right there, so here they are...one for the cake tin I would say, nothing special but would probably go down quite exquisitely with a cup of tea. On a side note from the recipe I also sent one of these in the post to a pal and still had a great review so at least we know they travel well.

Nas Bar Cakes

 

 

 

You will need:

 

7 oz Unsalted Butter

7 oz Golden Caster Sugar

7 oz Self Raising Flour

1 oz Cocoa Powder

4 Eggs

2 Mars Bars Chopped

1 tsp Milk

 

For the icing:

4 oz Butter

8 oz Icing Sugar

100g Milk Chocolate

2 Mars Bars to decorate

 

Method:

 

Preheat the oven to 180C. Now whack the 2 chopped Mars Bars in a saucepan with the milk on a low heat and let them melt whilst you cream the butter and sugar together. Mix the flour and cocoa powder together in a separate bowl and have that at the ready. Once you have beaten two of the eggs in, add half the flour mixture making sure you fold it in giving the cakes air and also helps to create that smooth cake texture. Add the remaining 2 eggs and the flour and repeat the folding process. By now the Mars bar and milk should be melted and if its not then damn you got some quick folding skills, add that into the cake mixture and voila it is ready to go into cupcake cases and into the oven.

Bake for 18 minutes.

 

I doubt many playas would eat these after knowing the amount of chocolate that goes in them however Bryony managed 2 and snuck half a mars bar off the side that was meant for decorating so were rolling with the chocolate vibe on the icing too. Melt the chocolate whilst you mix the butter and icing sugar together, once creamy add in the melted chocolate and leave to cool for around 30minutes. You can then ice the cakes and add optional chunks of Mars for the Full-time playa state of mind.

 

Tunes whilst you fold that mixture yo

 

 

 

 

 



Treats for my feets

This is a slightly late post on the purchase of these but I couldn't not post them. I would say the Old-skool is up there in my top 3 shoes, big statement I know but I find them really easy to wear with loads of outfits, comfortable and also I like the look of them on my feet. The latter statement I have realised is key, purchases such as the Blazer seem like a great idea at the time and don't get me wrong I love my Liberty ones but they cut off in just the wrong place for a playa like me who doesn't possess the greatest looking ankle so in the summer with pins out I tend to veer towards a lower cutting shoe.

So the Old-Skool, absolute classic on its own but you can imagine my excitement when I found these in the Vans store in Gunwharf Quays for £20. One pair left in 4.5, if that isn't fate I don't know what is. The all black premium leather on makes them look slicker than the average Old-Skool and I love the way the signature strip is stitched with the contrasting white thread. I have only worn them once since purchasing and I know loads of playas complain of blisters wearing these but I have found if you lace tightly and wear a cheeky trainer sock they're absolutely fine.

These will not suffer some of the pain I have put other trainers through, when I say that I mean sometimes I get all caught up in what I'm doing and next thing you know I've got paint on one shoe and cake mixture stuck to the other. Yes this has happened, the poor Infrareds are still suffering from their meeting with the mint choc chip cakes, foolish to bake in footwear.

Vans California Old Skool Reissue CA Leather (Black/Whisper White)

 

Ready To Pie

I have had great reviews on this recipe and is another perfect pudding for summer evenings with pals after a BBQ. I warn you now this is quite rich and filling so hold your horses on that rack of ribs off the grill if you want space for a little bannoffe special afterwards. 

Ready To Pie 

You will need:

10oz digestive biscuits 

2oz butter 

A can of Nestle Carnation Caramel

3 large bananas

350ml double cream

1 tsp icing sugar 

100g dark chocolate 

Method:

Heat the oven to 180C. Crush up the biscuits, now it is really vital to use good quality biscuits else the base can just fall apart and also above all taste bland. Mix in the melted butter and stir until it is all combined. It's totally up to you whether you want to make a large pie, Biggie probably would go for large over mini so if your after that certified G status go BIG or you can go for mini pies. Either way press the mixture into desired size rammekins or tin making sure it is even. Cook for 10 minutes so that it sets and is lightly toasted. Spread that caramel over your biscuity base and chill for an hour, make sure you let it chill else the bananas are gonna go on tour all the way to the bottom of the caramel. Arrange the sliced banana over the top of the chilled caramel and whip the sugar and cream together to go over the top. Grate the dark chocolate and spinkle over the top of the pies and yo ass is Ready to Pie. 

Now its pretty hard to pick the best track off of Biggies Ready to Die album, definitely listen to the whole thing whilst baking but I will leave you with one of my favourites... East Coast till we die. 

Treats for my feets

Whats the best footwear for a full-time playa...Trainers. About 4 years ago I went through a stage when I would buy pretty much anything anyone told me to, for some reason I thought I was a baller and I distinctly remember waiting up till midnight to buy a pair of Jordan 3 Cements off Crooked Tongues and then living off cheese bites for a week, not ideal at all but I guess my feet looked pretty snazzy that week. However as mentioned in a previous post I have become much more accustomed to a skate shoe or a pair of Clarks for day to day hustling. So last week my lovely pals Sarah and Pete gave us all a little treat at work and I was super excited to give these a try and see if they lived up the hype.

Supra Cuban Black/ White 

So I was pretty impressed, I rushed to put them on on my lunch and wandered around the park listening to a bit of Jay Z and as I expected they are really comfortable with a strong cushioning game, the sole is pretty sturdy and looks durable which is good for the amount of running about I do and also it's a really nice change to have something different from vans on my feet. 

I just had a look on the website so I could whack the link here and these are currently in the sale for £38.99, that a bargain if I ever saw one. http://www.suprafootwear.com/

So big thanks to Pete and Sarah for these treats. 

Berry J Blige Cupcakes

The requests are coming and I am hustling 24/7 to bake, make, put in the miles running and hold down 2 jobs. So todays bake were a very simple recipe with a slight twist on the topping. I kind of made them up as I went along and the results were playa status to say the least. These little fellas provide the perfect spongey texture you want from a cake as well as a fruity treat on top, one of yo 5 a day right?

''Berry J Blige Cupcakes''

You will need:

4.4 oz unsalted butter

4.4oz caster sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

4.4 oz self raising flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp milk

For the topping:

4 tsp clotted cream

a handful of raspberries

a handful of strawberries

blueberries for decoration 

Method:

One thing I always forget is PRE HEAT. Yeah this is pretty key and I tend to be having a rap off with myself and totally forget you gotta warm that oven yo. So Preheat the oven to 180C.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, add each egg one by one, don't get all eager beaver and throw them in because you need to make sure the mixture is stirred well between each addition of ingredient. Stir in the vanilla extract and sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl until the mixture is smooth. Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases it should make around 12 depending how generous you are, if you're like me it will make more like 10 because I like the cake case to look full, its not about a half stepping job. 

Bake for 20 minutes and let them cool on a cooling rack so the sponge has room to air. 

Now for the topping I was racking my brains and raided the fridge and came up with this summer berry topping which compliments the simple vanilla sponge really nicely. Simply mix the clotted cream with the crushed raspberries and strawberries and swirl over the top of the cooled sponges, add the blueberries for the full berry bonanza. 

Listen to this whilst you bake and not only will you bake some pretty vibing cakes but you will probably feel pretty haps about life too...

Gimme the Mousse, Gimme the Mousse

So this evening I went over to my fellow hustla Bryonys flat with 2 other pals Liz and Sarah for dinner and drinks. Now obviously it was my duty to provide some sort of exquisite dessert so I upped my game from a sponge or baked goods to a full blown dessert. This was easy and looked aesthetically pleasing which for me is always key. Inspired by one of the best tracks by Biggie ''Gimme the Loot'' I present the ''Gimme the Mousse''...

Gimme the Mousse

You will need: 

4 egg whites

70g caster sugar

100g dark chocolate

A handful of raspberries 

3 bags of maltesers (37g)

Strawberries for decorative purposes 

Method:

Melt the chocolate in a bowl, usually I find it easiest to do it in a saucepan as you can judge the melting unlike the microwave where it can all go pete tong and you end up with a crispy chocolate burnt disaster. Once the chocolate is melted and cooled, crush the raspberries and add to mixture. 

You then mix the 4 egg whites with the sugar and a pinch of salt whisking it until it forms a stiff peak. Now this is where I let myself down as I don't have an electric whisk, vital error for a full time playing baker as it took me around 25 minutes, a cigarette break and a helping hand from a housemate to achieve the desired state however I have no doubt if you were to use an electric whisk it would take two minutes. 

You then add 1/3 of the mixture to the cooled chocolate stirring slowly followed by the 3 packets of Maltesers crushed up leaving a couple for the decorating. The mousse like consistency should start to form and you then add the next 1/3 mixing slowly, once all mixed in with no bubbles pour in the rest and continue to whisk until the mousse is slightly stiff and consistent in colour. 

Chill these bad boys for 30minutes and add Maltesers and a cheeky strawberry to the top and voila the perfect party pudding. I can guarantee they will turn out 100x times better if you listen to this whilst making...

Hip Hip Huarache

I really enjoy peoples birthdays probably as it gives me a chance to do quite a few of my favourite things..baking and making cards! Anyway last weekend was one of my housemates, Sams birthday and like us all he has a favourite trainer and trust me it wasn't the easiest one to ice onto a cake. The Huarache. Gonna be honest it isn't a big favourite for a full time playa like myself...I have become much more accostumed to skate footwear over running/ tech models over the past two years.

I decided to make a 2 Layer double chocolate cake with chocolate fudge icing and a Huarache logo iced on top. Oh I also added Oreos around the side but that was only because thats his guilty pleasure however the reviews from the other playas said it was a good touch so totally optional.

Huarache double chocolate cake 

You will need:

12oz butter

12oz caster sugar

6 eggs

10oz self raising flour

2oz cocoa powder

6oz chocolate chips

For the icing:

 4oz butter

3 oz baking chocolate

14oz icing sugar

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

175ml milk

Method:

Now generally I find sponges one of the easiest things to get right in the world of baking, I don't know why but luckily enough for me I've never had a sponge disaster. So what you need to do is beat the butter and sugar until you get it to a creamy paste, I usually spend about 5 minutes doing this as its not about lumps of unmixed butter in your baking. Following this crack the eggs and fold in one by one, it is important to fold rather than mix so that the mixture gets air. You then sieve (essential to sieve else you end up with lumps and spots in the sponge) the self raising flour and cocoa in, once again folding the mixture. Once this is all mixed add the chocolate chips and place in two circular greased baking trays, pop these in the oven (160C) for 25 minutes. You will need to make sure you let the sponges cool before you ice them, whilst they are cooling crack on the icing. For the icing you need to melt the butter and chocolate together and then sieve in the icing sugar slowly followed by the milk and vanilla extract. Once the icing has cooled it will have the frosting texture perfect for spreading over the sponge. Decorative logo icing is optional for playa status points.

Music listened to whilst baking this bad boy: Ghostface Killah- Supreme Clientele 

Just the way playas play all day every day I don't know what else to say.

I feel like I should do some sort of introduction post or something but its hard to sum up the life of a Full-time playa in a post without just waffling about all the things I like so instead I think it might be best to do a few points to summarise what my little blog is going to entail and the things that make me haps, I guess it would come under the lifestyle kind of vibe but this is the life of a hustla...

Hip-Hop

I pretty much live my life through pretending I am a rapper whether I'm baking, making or running I always feel its essential to have the tunes on and also what's more motivational than a bit of music to spur you on.

Baking

I generally bake at least once a week depending on the money, when I lived at home I was balling, using all the finest ingredients out of mamas cupboard however since moving out I have had to think carefully and dig out the best recipe's that utilise the goods I have in my cupboard. I have started to incorporate Hip-Hop into my baking which you will see in future posts.

Clothes & Shoes

What playa doesn't love clothes and shoes, after all Big said it's "Money, Hoes and Clothes"

Illustration, patterns and making

I have always loved a good scrap booking session and drawing, creating patterns and making crafts is one of my favourite hobbies. Nothing beats a day sat at my I-mac with a sharpie selection, card and Pritt stick. Maybe throw some ribbons, watercolours and needle & thread in there and you got yourself a party.

To be honest I kind of wander around in Becki Clark world a lot of the time and its a pretty haps place to be so I thought I would share it as a little diary of a full time playa.