No bake honeycomb slice

I made this simple slice last week for the cake stall at the Cheeky Monkeys' school fete and thought I'd share the recipe because of the great response it received!  Let me warn you, this is definitely not a treat to make if you're going "sugar free" or following a strict diet.  So now that you're warned, here's what you need to know.

Ingredients
- 250g choc-coated honeycomb (e.g. Violet Crumble or Crunchie)
- 250g plain sweet biscuits such as Marie or milk arrowroot
- 1 cup of sweetened condensed milk (approx. 305 g)
- 125g unsalted butter
- 250g dark chocolate

Method
1. Crush the biscuits and honeycomb in your food processor.  It doesn't matter if it's not super fine, in fact I like to have small pieces of honeycomb visible in the slice.  You just don't want large chunks of honeycomb or biscuits as that can affect the slice consistency.
2. Melt the butter and condensed milk together in a saucepan on low heat.
3. Mix the melted butter and condensed milk with the crushed dry ingredients.  The mixture will look wet at this stage, but shouldn't be runny, just thick and gloopy.
4. Line a slice pan (approx. 28x18 cm) with foil.  Pour your mixture into your pan and spread evenly all the way to the edges.
5. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or a bowl in your microwave.  Spread the melted chocolate evenly over the top of the biscuit mixture in the tray.
6. Refrigerate until solid, at least 2-3 hours.  Remove from the fridge about half an hour before slicing, then cut into bite-sized squares.
7. Enjoy your slice now, or store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.  You could even freeze your slice if you want to make it in advance for a function!

Variations
- If for some strange reason you're not a fan of honeycomb, you can easily substitute Maltesers or Clinkers into this recipe.
- Use milk chocolate for the topping if you don't have any dark chocolate on hand; I prefer the dark chocolate for balancing out the super sweetness of the condensed milk and honeycomb.

A rainbow of mandalas

I was recently contacted by a customer who loved Domum Vindemia's mandala-themed wine glass charms, but wanted something a little different from what was in-store.  She decided on a rainbow-coloured collection of mandala charms and I had a blast working on this large set of charms.

My favourite thing about this bespoke set is that each charm is beautiful but also so different from its mates that guests can easily differentiate between wine glasses.  There are only two mandala wine charm sets left in-store, and I'm thinking that I might have to seriously think about adding some more.  What do you think?

Glamming it up in the Emerald City

You'd be excused for thinking you'd wandered into Wizard of Oz's Emerald City today for yes, there's certainly a lot of emerald green to be found!  And yes, I know I'm a week out for St Patrick's Day, but I just couldn't get these green pretties made in time for a St Patrick's Day post.

Although all of Two Cheeky Monkeys' "glam it up" range has been quite popular, by far the most popular pieces have been the emerald-hued ones.  Therefore, I'm adding two new styles of emerald earrings to the range, as well as a funky emerald and white swirled cocktail ring.

Each of these pretties is vintage Czech or West German glass made in the 1940s and 1950s, so they are beautifully made and limited edition too, due to their vintage age.  Which is your favourite piece?

Mr Darcy's Back!

Good news Mr Darcy fans!  The last Pride and Prejudice watch necklace was so popular that I decided to create just ONE more.  While the last one featured the names of Eliza Bennet and Mr Darcy, this one has a sweet oval-shaped charm which says "Mr Darcy".

But at the moment this is the ONLY ONE I'm making, so if you love it, head to the store ASAP to make it yours.  If you love this style of watch necklace but are interested in other literary characters, please leave me a comment below and I'll get back to you to discuss a bespoke commission. :)

Musical Bags

If you're like me and LOVE to go out to cafes with friends or take occasional family treats eating out, but DISLIKE the constant "where do I put my purse/handbag" struggle then you're going to love this latest addition to Domum Vindemia.  The purse hanger range has been in-store for about six months now, and I've been working on how to expand this popular range.

After a chat with my super talented musician cousin (I think she's the only one of all my musically trained cousins who actually took their training and made a career out of it), I realised that I still haven't added a music-themed purse hanger to the range.  This has been now rectified and there is a treble clef/bass clef bag hook available, with the option to commission a musial note bag hook too.  Which of your friends would find this bag hook a perfect solution to the bag on floor problem?

Ciabatta

I know that I post A LOT about food and you probably all think that I'm some greedy piglet with food addiction issues (well, you're not totally wrong but I'm working on improving myself).  But, the Cheeky Monkeys family are actually fans of eating well and eating fresh food, so I do find that I'm often on the search for homemade recipes of commercially available foods.

One such favourite food of the little Cheeky Monkeys is ciabatta.  It's pretty hard to resist the crunchy, chewy and airy texture of this Italian bread which tastes great as a sandwich or used to mop of soups and casseroles.  However, the commercially available ciabatta is not particularly nutritious because it is made solely from refined or white flour.

So today I am sharing this FANTASTIC recipe for ciabatta which I found over at the kitchn site.  I altered it by substituting half the white flour for wholewheat/wholemeal flour and to be honest, this is the most successful bread I've ever baked by hand (Mr Cheeky Monkeys' comment was "They look like real bread rolls!").  My Cheeky Monkeys absolutely loved the rolls I created and I think you'll love this recipe too, enjoy!

My dear, I don't give a damn

"My dear, I don't give a damn" or "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" - one quote comes from Margaret Mitchell's novel and the other comes from the film version of said southern novel.  But whichever version of the quote you're a fan of, you're going to love entertaining with our new Gone With the Wind wine glass charms!  Which character would you choose for your wine glass?

Pulled Pork Recipe Roundup

We're big fans of pulled pork on the Two Cheeky Monkeys household and I've been trying different recipes to find the ULTIMATE pulled pork recipe.  I'm not sure that I've found THE ONE yet, but here are four I've been playing around with in the kitchen.  Enjoy!

1. Slow cooker Texas pulled pork (our current favourite)

2. Slow cooker pulled pork (sort of Mexican-inspired)

3. Semi-dry slow cooker pulled pork (we found doubling the spice amounts made this recipe better)

4. Oven-cooked pulled pork

Compact Mirror Giveaway!

Hello beautiful readers, today's post is all about thanking my wonderful readers and newsletter subscribers for your loyalty and support!  It's been a while since I've hosted a giveaway on the blog, so I thought this month I'd offer something fun.

You probably all know by now that I've been happily creating compact mirrors with bold, cheeky or beloved literary quotes adorning them for Domum Vindemia.  At the moment there are six quotes to choose from, and I'm offering ONE LUCKY PERSON the chance to win YOUR CHOICE of compact mirror from our available range.

What do you have to do to enter our giveaway?  Follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter form below - PLEASE NOTE that the first two entries are MANDATORY.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is open to worldwide entrants 18 years of age and over.  Giveaway ends 17 March 2017 and the winner will be chosen randomly.  The winner has 48 hours to respond to my email before they forfeit their prize and a new winner is chosen.