"> fiesta friday - A Tipsy Giraffe

Peach and Raspberry Iced Tea

Cool, refreshing iced tea made with green tea and sweetened with a homemade peach and raspberry syrup, the perfect summer drink

Peach Raspberry Iced Tea by Giraffes Can Bake - refreshing iced tea made with green tea and sweetened with homemade peach and raspberry syrup, the perfect summer drink

 

I’m not a tea drinker, I just don’t like it – I know, I’m a terrible brit! Iced tea is a different story though, I believe the fact that it’s cold helps reduce some of the tannin which, in turn, makes it less bitter. This is my first time making my own iced tea and I’m definitely going to start making it more often, it’s so much better than the bottled stuff and you don’t get a lot of iced tea in restaurants here. Making it yourself is great because it means you control how sweet it is and you can get creative with flavours! Plus, it’s so easy to make, what’s not to love!

Peach Raspberry Iced Tea by Giraffes Can Bake - refreshing iced tea made with green tea and sweetened with homemade peach and raspberry syrup, the perfect summer drink

Continue reading →

Chocolate Butterscotch Cheesecake

Rich, creamy chocolate cheesecake with the most divine brown butter butterscotch chocolate sauce swirled all the way through, with a crust of brown butter, oreos and butterscotch candy. 

Click here to read the full post, comment and share

Chocolate Butterscotch Cheesecake

Have you guys been watching Daredevil? If not, you need to, now! It’s sooooo good! It is a Netflix show, but honestly it’s worth signing up for it just for that show. You don’t just have to take my word for it, the whole world seems to be raving about it right now, and for good reason! I’m not talking about this because my blog has suddenly become a bad TV review blog, but because it explains why I have only just finished editing the photos for this post… at almost 1am! I sit at my computer and I think “I should edit those photos…. or I could watch another episode of Daredevil!”, and as you can guess Matt Murdoch has been winning! I’ve only got a couple episodes left to watch though so here I am, edited photos and all! 

Chocolate Butterscotch Cheesecake

 

Continue reading →

Mango Banana Bread

Sweet, moist banana bread with chunks of sweet mango throughout. You won’t believe how delicious this bread is until you try it! 

This post may contain affiliate links. Read full disclosure here

Mango Banana Bread

{disclaimer: I received products from Kitchen Craft to review, all opinions and words are my own}

Is it just me or does this winter seem to be dragging on forever? We’ve been pretty lucky here in my part of the UK, we barely had any snow so I can’t complain too much. But the days are just so grey and dreary, it’s becoming very depressing. Trying to take decent photos in this weather is not a fun task either. The sun is out today though so I’m happy! We did have a solar eclipse this morning (that I slept through, oops!) so I think the sun may be protesting over the moon stealing it’s light! Did anybody see it? I think it was only visible in parts of Europe, and you only got the full effect if you’re very north like Scotland and Norway. 

Mango Banana Bread

 

Continue reading →

Chocolate and Raspberry Vodka Tonic

Chocolate Raspberry Vodka Tonic

Happy 1st Birthday to Fiesta Friday!!! 52 weeks of an awesome virtual pot luck party, the only place to be every Friday! And after 52 weeks it’s only getting better. If you haven’t partied with us before, today is the day – because we’re having a party within a party! And even better than that, it’s a two week long party. This week it’s happy hour time, so there’s going to be plenty of appetizers, finger foods and of course cocktails! Next week the party will continue with main dishes and desserts! So come celebrate with us, whether it’s your 1st Fiesta Friday or your 52nd, you’ll be welcomed with open arms and you’ll have a great time,   I promise. Our fab co hosts for part 1 of the party are Hilda and Julianna.  Join up with the party here 

Chocolate Raspberry Vodka Tonic

I am bringing this awesome cocktail to the First Fiesta Friday Anniversary Block Party – because what’s a party without a cocktail or 5! When I brainstorming on what to make for the party I knew it needed to be something sweet, it’s what I do best after all. And I think our wonderful host, Angie, might appreciate how I happened upon these ingredients as I know she impulse buys random things in the store because she *might* find a use for them, just like I do – that’s how I got the two main ingredients for this cocktail! There’s a small international section in the mini Tesco by my house and I also browse it to see if there’s anything fun looking, and I found this bottle of raspberry syrup, I think it’s Polish but I’m not 100% sure, I picked it up because I thought it looked cool and I was sure I’d find a use for it – cue it sitting in my cupboard for 6 months unopened! Then when I was in Atlanta over Christmas, I went to the liquor store to pick up some bottles of wine and at the checkout they had little bottles of flavoured vodka, as soon as I saw the chocolate vodka I picked up one – chocolate and vodka, what’s not to love?! And again my rationalisation was “I’m sure I can find a use for it!” 

Chocolate Raspberry Vodka Tonic

When I thought about cocktails I could make from the chocolate vodka and raspberry my mind immediately went to a cream based cocktail, it seemed to make the most sense. But the inspiration this chocolate and raspberry vodka tonic came when I was enjoying my regular vodka tonic. Vodka tonic with a lime wedge is my favourite drink but it has to be good quality vodka, and it has to be polish. My favourite is Belvedere by far, I always pick up a bottle at duty free! A chocolate vodka tonic definitely sounded like a good idea to me, especially combined with raspberry syrup and with the addition of a little fresh lime juice and you have every flavour profile a cocktail needs – sweet, bitter and sour! It’s a simple cocktail to put together, but it will definitely impress your friends. And it’s perfect for a big party like this! 

Chocolate Raspberry Vodka Tonic

I’m no mixologist and cocktails definitely aren’t my area of any kind of expertise, but I knew if I got the right levels of sweetness from the syrup and vodka, the bitter edge to the tonic would make for a delicious cocktail. You don’t even need any fancy cocktail wear to make it, no shaker needed. You will want something mix it up, but even a spoon will do. Since this is a stirred drink, the amount of ice you use isn’t too important as it’s not used to dilute the drink – you just need enough to keep it nice and cold. 

Chocolate Raspberry Vodka Tonic

I’d never heard of this brand of vodka before and while it’s no Belvedere it was very tasty, if you can get your hands on some chocolate vodka I would definitely recommend it trying it! It has a bit of chocolate sauce taste to it which blended really nicely with the raspberry syrup. If you can’t get your hands on chocolate vodka right now, I would definitely recommend trying this with regular vodka I’m going to be adding raspberry syrup to my regular vodka tonics much more often – but please use good vodka, drinks are just like anything else, the better quality your ingredient the better it will taste! 

Chocolate Raspberry Vodka Tonic by Giraffes Can Bake

 

This drink is not only great for this fab party, but with that beautiful pink colour and the chocolate theme it’ll be perfect to serve on Valentine’s Day – whether you’re spending it with a significant other or having drinks with your single friends! I’m certainly going to pour one for myself on February 14th! 

Chocolate Raspberry Vodka Tonic

So, get your party shoes on and grab a cocktail, there’s lots to see and taste! I can’t wait to see what everyone else has brought to the party, cheers! 

I’d love to see what you guys are up to on social media, You can find me on Twitter, Instagram,Pinterest and Facebook

If you liked this post, why not enter your email address into the subscription box on my side bar to get my future posts directly into your inbox!

Chocolate Raspberry Vodka Tonic

 

Chocolate and Raspberry Vodka Tonic
A delicious cocktail made with chocolate flavoured vodka, perfect for Valentine's Day and any party!
Write a review
Print
Ingredients
  1. Ice
  2. 25ml Chocolate Vodka
  3. 25ml Raspberry Syrup
  4. Tonic Water
  5. 2 Lime Wedges
  6. Fresh Raspberries (optional)
Instructions
  1. Add ice to a tall glass, filling halfway full
  2. Pour over vodka and syrup, fill up with tonic water.
  3. Squeeze lime wedges into glass before dropping them in glass
  4. Garnish with fresh raspberries if desired, serve with stirrer to mix drink.
Notes
  1. If you don't have stirrers, be sure to stir drink before serving
A Tipsy Giraffe https://www.atipsygiraffe.com/

Sharing with… 

Fiesta FridaySuper SaturdayShow Me SaturdayScraptastic Saturday, Bewitchin’ ProjectsHit Me With Your Best Shot, Inspire Me Wednesday, Create It Thursday, Cook It! Craft It! Share It!

Bounty Coconut Chocolates

Bounty Coconut Truffles

 Hello from Atlanta! Well, technically Kennesaw these days, but I’m not here to fuss around on technicalities! I love the city, I love cities in general, I’m definitely the kind of person that prefers to be surrounded by tall buildings and lots of people over countryside and nature! But as much as I love the city, I have to admit it is beautiful up here in the ‘burbs. I’m staying at Leah’s mum’s house and it’s gorgeous, it’s a beautiful house in beautiful surroundings – hopefully in my next post I’ll include a few photographs for you, because it is lovely up here. The weather has become much warmer than it has been here too, I’m choosing to believe I brought the warmth with me as the temperature has apparently dropped a lot in the UK since I left on Monday!

Bounty Coconut Truffles

I did intend for this post to be out on Wednesday, but I was having a bit of bloggers block and combined with how exhausted travelling had left me (I was travelling for 20 hours, no fun!) it just wasn’t happening. But it’s all worked out in the end, because today is Fiesta Friday which is the best day of the week! It’s even better this week (for me, that is) because I am co-hosting the party for the first time! When Angie asked me if I’d like to co-host, I pretty much tripped over myself to say yes! I can say with all honesty that Fiesta Friday is the best link party out there, and if you haven’t joined yet let today be your first, I guarantee fun! Fiesta Friday is a great way to gain exposure for your blog and posts, lots of bloggers link up every single week who will be coming over to see your wonderful posts – but I think the best thing about Fiesta Friday is how social it is, everybody is so friendly and welcoming whether it’s your first link up or your 45th! We’re not just here for exposure, we’re here to make friends and have fun! 

Bounty Coconut Truffles

 

Continue reading →