Farewell, Clara Oswald

Doctor Who Themed Cupcakes

Excuse the buttercream, I feel I had to open with that because the buttercream went considerably wrong, it still tastes good though and the colour is rather fun. Basically, THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF IS BACK WAHEYYY. I thought, being a fan of both Doctor Who and The Great British Bake Off, I'd connect the two and make some time vortex themed cupcakes, below I will include the recipe as well as 5 easy steps. Enjoy my bizarre attempt at geek baking.

Ingredients

• Caster sugar 55g
• Icing sugar 55g
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 60ml water
• Baking powder
• Food colour gel paste
• 55g softened butter x2
• Food colouring
• Edible glitter
• 55g plain flour
• 1 medium sized egg
• Edible gold stars
• 6 cupcake cases
• Pinch of salt

Cupcake recipe

• Preheat the oven to 180°/350F/Gas 4
• Place your 6 cupcake cases in the muffin tray
• Put the butter and sugar into a bowl and  beat until it's pale 
• Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl, then beat the eggs and vanilla until it's all combined. Add the food colouring and gel paste to create the time vortex look, and then spoon into the 6 cupcake cases. 
• Bake for 18-20 minutes until the outside has risen and is firm, but also golden on the outside. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes then transfer the 6 cupcakes onto a wire rack to cool more. 

Buttercream recipe

• Beat 55g butter until soft, then beat in 55g icing sugar in, a tablespoon at a time. Add the coloured gel paste used in the mix for the darker tones and mix until it's an appropriate consistency and the fitting colour, depending on the colour theme you have chosen.
• Pipe onto the cupcakes once they are cooled, and sprinkle the edible glitter over the top of the buttercream in a circular rotation to add bright spirals around the buttercream. Add a small pinch of the glitter to the very top of the buttercream, creating a shiny point at the top.
• Take a few of the edible stars and sprinkle them onto the cupcake, following the glittered spirals. Take some more of the edible stars and place them randomly and loosely in small clusters. 
• EAT

1. Get your ingredients ready

2. Mix that 'ish

Basically, yeah. Mix it all up. Add a tiny bit of vanilla essence for flavour. 

3. Colour it up

Use one food colouring AND gel for two different consistencies, the gel should be used for the darker effect, the food colouring used for the lighter effect. Don't mix it fully, leave it to a loose mix to create streaks within the mix, this will create the time vortex look in the bake. Here I used green for lighter and navy blue for darker, use any colour combination to create a time vortex/space effect inside the cake as seen below, I would also recommend yellow/red, pink/purple, red/blue.

4. Conjure up the buttercream

5. Decorate the cakes

I initially used gold edible glitter, however the consistency was too heavy and the colour wasn't fitting, so I used silver/white edible glitter instead and 'sprinkled' it over the cupcake, adding edible gold stars on. On reflection, I wish the buttercream were much darker and a thicker consistency in order to really enhance the whole 'space' feel to it.

I'm sure these are cakes the Twelfth Doctor and Clara would happily eat (and maybe spit out). I'm not too sure about Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood though. 

Check out my good friend Sparkleeyes101's bake for GBBO here, which are considerably better than my failed attempt!

That's all for now...
Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

P.S. Make sure to check back on the 22nd for my Marvel Phase 4 Predictions. What happens after the Infinity War and we're introduced to the Inhumans? Which superheroes do I predict will debut, get their sequels, and what will be the big Avengers story of the MCU's Phase Four?

DOCTOR WHO MIX-UPS

Hello! As some of you may be aware, Doctor Who is my favourite thing of all time (other than strawberry squash). Have you ever wondered what it would be like to mix up the chronology of Doctor Who and have some current characters crossover with some older ones and vice versa? Today I'll be looking into that, enjoy!

1. The First Doctor and... Donna Noble

All the sass. IT'S ALL TOO MUCH. Sass implosion. Sassy Doctor and Donna against sassy Dalek Kahn. SASS. The question here is, who's the Doctor and who's the companion? Doctor Donna or The Doctor?

2. The Second Doctor and... Mel Bush

The quirky fab ones with an intense side... I mean, Mel Bush was badass as heck. 

3. The Third Doctor and... River Song

Pow pow pow (that's all I can say because this pairing is so cool and hip and intense)

4. The Fourth Doctor and... Rose Tyler

This is a fan-service pairing, possibly the most popular companion of New-Who paired with the most popular Doctor of all time, on par with Ten and Eleven. Also, this pairing would genuinely be fun to see. Would you like a jelly baby? DOCTORRRRRR.

5. The Fifth Doctor and... Clara Oswald

My favourite Doctor after Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor (I couldn't really pair Clara with a Doctor she's actually been a companion of) and my favourite companion. Besides, this pairing would be interesting to see, slightly different characteristics while both being kind and considerate. 

6. The Sixth Doctor and... Martha Jones

One of the harsher Doctor's paired with the person The Doctor turned into a soldier. Let's go. Let the badassery destruction begin. (For the greater good of course)

7. The Seventh Doctor and... Captain Jack Harkness

This duo, comedy gold mixed with genuine heroism. Yet, both have a darker side which could be explored brilliantly in the partnership.

8. The Eighth Doctor and... Amy Pond and Rory Williams

The first married couple in the TARDIS with the first ever romantic Doctor. It just works. 

9. The Ninth Doctor and... Tegan Jovanka 

Abrupt and direct, this pairing would be a force to be reckoned with. Just imagine all those speeches and sublime sass.

10. The Tenth Doctor and... Romana (I AND II)

The ultimate time lord and ladies combined for a whole lot of time and saving the world. Huzzah!

11. The Eleventh Doctor and... Ace

Quirky, clumsy and fun with a whole lot of heart. I'm actually desperate for this pairing to happen, PLEASE DOCTOR WHO PLEASSSEEEEEEEE I NEED IT TO HAPPEN.

12. The Twelfth Doctor and... Jo Grant 

Katy Manning's Jo Grant is my favourite Classic Who companion, and when she reappeared in The Sarah Jane Adventures I was ecstatic.. and then I saw a set of photos from Manning's visit to the TARDIS after shooting Casualty. 

It looks perfect, right? It actually looks perfect. Imagine Jo Grant adventuring with the Twelfth Doctor and Clara and facing up to Missy, the dynamic from the photo above alone is worthy of screen time. This is something I'd really, really, REALLY, love to see. 

13. The War Doctor and... Leela

Leela is a bad-ass member of a tribe from the future, The War Doctor is, well, it's in the name. I imagine Leela assisting John Hurt's Doctor in the time war, destroying the Daleks and ending the time war and (eventually) saving Gallifrey.

That's all for now, see you soon for a blog post about songs that young people need, songs that are motivating, iconic in teen cult films and songs that were prominent in our childhood. 

Bye for now!

TotallyCulture

MY FAVOURITE DOCTOR WHO EPISODES

Hello there! As you may or may not know, I'm kind of obsessed with Doctor Who. By obsessed, I mean it's my life. Yeah. These 5 episodes are based on the revived series of Doctor Who (2005-). Hurrah!

1. The Angels Take Manhattan

Amy and Rory feels nope

“But you don’t believe statues can move. And you’re right. They can’t. Of course they can’t… when you’re looking.”

2. The Name of the Doctor

"Do you hear the whisper men, the whisper men are near, once you hear the whisper men then turn away your ear, do not hear the whsiper men whatever else you do, for once you've heard the whisper men they'll stop... and look at you"

3. Partners In Crime

I have never laughed so much in my life until I saw this episode, I still laugh now. 

#sassydonna

"They're just children. They can't help where they came from"

4. The Shakespeare Code

"You can change people's minds, just with words in this place"

5. A Good Man Goes To War

Demons run when a good man goes to war

Night will fall and drown in sun 

When a good man goes to war

Friendship dies and true love lies

Night will fall and the dark will rise 

When a good man goes to war

Demons run but count the cost 

The battles won but the child is lost

Honorary Mentions

The Idiot's Lantern

The Parting of the Ways

Hide

Listen

Doomsday

That's all.

Bye for now.

Geek Culture and Me

Curtis

"Let's get lost, drive all night"

MY TOP 10 DOCTOR WHO COMPANIONS

Hello!

I'm going to be talking about my favourite Doctor Who companions! Let's begin!

1. Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman)

Oh but Clara's the most recent companion. Omg you're not a true fan.

Shh, Clara is my favourite because she's head-strong, sassy, smart, and, well, she's Clara. She's top notch. You go Clara, you go.Plus, Jenna Coleman's acting is brilliant, I can't wait to see what she does post-Doctor Who, Hollywood is calling.

2. Jo Grant (Katy Manning)

My favourite classic companion. Jo was just brilliant. I have no words.

3. Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman)

She's so underrated, it actually makes me sad. People are still so caught up in Rose Tyler that they completely ignore Martha. One of the best companions, Martha was confident and smart. Resourceful, brave, and empathetic. 

4. Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman)

Let's be real, why wouldn't Jack be in the top 5?

5. Amy Pond (Karen Gillan)

Feels incoming, in 

3...

2...

1...

6. Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill)

Here's a reminder of how Amy and Rory left in my favourite ever (and saddest) Doctor Who episode yet, The Angels Take Manhattan

7. Donna Noble (Catherine Tate)

#sassydonna

SHE WAS GOING TO BE WITH HIM FOREVER. THE FUNNIEST YET MOST HEARTBREAKING COMPANION, TO FORGET HER ADVENTURES AND WHAT SHE'S SEEN. IT'S HORRIBLY SAD. 

8. Ace (Sophie Aldred)

ACE!

9. Melanie (Mel) Bush (Bonnie Langford)

Friendly, optimistic, strong, brave and sweet. A completely underrated and pointlessly disliked character who deserves much more recognition and praise, a bit like Martha Jones I must say. 

10. River Song (Alex Kingston)

YOU GO RIVER YOU DO YOUR THING

The Doctor's Wife, legit, or not, we don't know. Plot holes. But still, River's brilliant. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of her in the future, in some shape or form. Alex Kingston is great. Just great. Watching her death in series 4 is even more heartbreaking after watching 5-7. Gosh. 

Honorary Mentions

Leela

Romana 

Ian Chesterton

Susan Foreman

Rose Tyler

That's all.

Bye for now.

Geek Culture and Me

Curtis