Christmassy Night In || BLOGMAS, DAY 11!

Hello lovelies,

HAPPY BLOGMAS DAY 11!

Also, happy christmas eve eve! this month has flown by, I feel like I’ve blinked and it’s practically gone already, it’s crazy. Anyway, by now the majority of people have finished work or any form of education for the festive season and let’s be honest, what more do you want then to have a nice Christmassy night in? after all, it’s been a busy few weeks for everyone trying to tie ends together before finishing for the new year.

All I’ve seen people talking about on social media is how excited they are to relax now that Christmas is nearing, so today’s blogpost is all about how to have a perfect night in (well in my opinion anyway)…

Christmassy Night In:

Before doing any of things I mention below; I would say to run yourself a nice, warm bath filled with scented bubbles to de-stress yourself before cosying down for the night. De-stressing is unbelievably important, not only for your mental health but for your physical too!

Food & Drinks:

The one thing EVERYONE loves about Christmas? the fact you can eat as much food and drink as many drinks as you like without feeling guilty. There’s nothing better when your having a night in then surrounding yourself with tasty ass food and having a drink in hand – this is what I’d do everyday if I could.

There is one food option which always ticks everyone’s box when it comes to a cosy night in and thats a plate of chocolate covered biscuits. The fact you can just sit there, watching a film, grabbing a biscuit whenever wanted is what I’d call luxury. So I’ve shared with you how I made my Viennese Whirls below;

Ingredients:

• 250g unsalted butter
• 55g icing sugar
• 225g plain flour
• 75g corn flour
• bar of milk chocolate (or whatever you chocolate prefer)

How To Make Viennese Whirls:

• firstly, gather together all your equipment, ingredients and preheat your oven to around 170C/ Gas Mark 3. Also, make sure you have lined your baking tray with non-stick parchment paper.
• Secondly, soften the butter by weighing it out and then either briefly microwaving it (for seconds only!) or leaving it out on the worktop for an hour or two.
• Once the butter has softened, then weigh out the rest of the ingredients (except for the milk chocolate) into a large mixing bowl and put in the butter.
• Using a wooden spoon or electric mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the ingredients to a paste like consistence and then stop. You don’t want to add too much air.
• Now, spoon the paste into a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe the mixture out onto non stick baking parchment.
• Pipe the biscuits on the tray they will be baked on and make sure they are spaced sufficiently apart because they do expand.
• Bake the biscuits for 15 minutes until light golden brown. Then place them onto a wire rack to cool to room temperature.
• Next, melt the milk chocolate bar in a bowl and dip one half of the cooled biscuit into it to coat. Gentle shake off some of the excess chocolate and place the biscuit back onto the non stick mat or lightly greased baking parchment.
• Leave the chocolate to set completely to avoid mess.
• Once the chocolate has completely set, your Viennese Whirls are ready for you to enjoy!
• 

So I thought, seen as these biscuits are only half covered, why not go a little crazy and add a dipping sauce which will make your mouth explode with flavour even more?

Ingredients For Dipping Sauce:

• 150g | 5.3oz dark chocolate chopped small

• 150ml | 5.3fl oz whole milk (or cream)

• 300g | 10.5oz mini vanilla marshmallows

• 1 tsp vanilla paste

How To Make Dipping Sauce:

• Firstly, prepare the sauce. Gently heat the milk and vanilla until small bubbles appear around the edge of the saucepan then pour in the chopped chocolate.
• Once you’ve done that, let it stand for a couple of minutes then stir so the chocolate melts.
• Return to the pan and add the marshmallows – stir over low heat until the marshmallows melt. (You can also heat in the microwave on medium setting in short bursts as marshmallows can burn easily.)
• Finally, serve the Viennese Whirls with little pots of the sauce so that everyone can dip to their hearts content!

My word, this combination of biscuit and dipping sauce is just divine, you’ll thank me later!

Furthermore, on to drinks. Now everyone indulges during Christmas especially with alcohol but when it comes to a night in, alcohol is thrown to the side and the hot chocolate is brought forward.

Now this may come as a surprise but I’m not a fan of hot chocolate at all but my parents and friends love it so I know it’s something that goes down well. Therefore, I’d highly recommend;

Ingredients You Need To Make The Perfect Hot Chocolate;

• Cocoa powder (or you can buy hot chocolate bags with all different flavours like galaxy etc from your local store)
• Milk or Cream
• Whipped cream / for topping
• Marshmallows / for topping
• Candy canes broke down / for topping

Obviously making a hot chocolate is like making any other hot drink but adding these toppings that I listed above (or adding anything you’d like, it’s completely optional of course) will give your drink that extra kick of flavour.

Cosying Down:

When it comes to getting cosy, my priorities are making sure I’m as comfortable as possible and I’ve got everything I need around me. What are your priorities?

Firstly, you can’t be cosy when your wearing your daytime clothes so make sure you get yourself changed into your comfiest clothes. For me, my favourite clothes are my pyjamas, I practically live in them when I’m indoors! Why be sitting around in uncomfortable clothes like jeans, when you can be unbelievably comfortable in pj’s, fluffy socks and a dressing gown?

Secondly, put on a Christmassy film, because who doesn’t love a good Christmassy film to put them in the Christmas spirit? I love sitting down, snuggled in a blanket to watch a festive film, especially when it’s classic. my all time favourite film is ‘Santa Clauses’, we watch it every year without fail as it’s a brilliant film. But if you don’t want to watch a classic, then there’s other films out there which will suit your tastes.

Finally, just enjoy your cosy night, wether it’s by yourself, with family or with friends. Being able to sit back and relax is rare so take full advantage of it this Christmas period, eat and drink as much as you can.

I really hope you enjoyed today’s blogpost and it gives you some inspiration if your thinking of having a night in yourself. If you do, make sure you let me know if you used any of my suggestions or my Recipe.

Sending you tons of love and hugs as always,

Elle xo