Brilliant Shoes For You This Autumn

Blue shoes! Teal Anika Kendra, £54.99

I'm such a fickle beast. Two days of rain and I'm already casting lascivious looks in the direction of autumn, not least because it means gorgeous back-to-school thoughts of cabbages and kings, lovely clothes and shoes.

A lot of my favourite shoe companies have released their AW catalogue, like doves into the wild, but the only one to get money out of me so far is Clarks. Yes, Clarks. I do seem to be banging on about them a lot this year, don't I? But really, it's because their stuff has been superb. Here are my favourites.

I don't care if it means that I have to limbo through a doorway, I absolutely must have, or at the very least, try on these gorgeous wine patent heels (£59.99, 2-9, half-sizes, widths D and E). I gave up doing heels for a while until I found the amazingly comfortable Arethas over at Amber and Jade, but given that Clarks make a killing out of offering comfortable shoes, walking in these can't be much of a problem at all. Gorgeous prim but fit 60s school aesthetic going on as well.

These are on my feet literally as we speak. I've worn them two days on the trot and they are absolutely stunning on. Comfortable, solid and waterproof (thank the heavens, which keep opening over my head) they are a MIRACLE with jeans, smart trousers and pretty much anything else. They're also called Hotel Diva which feels wholly appropriate for the Sluttery crew, and I haven't fallen this hard for a pair of shoes in ages. They're £64.99, 3-9, half-sizes, D width.

If you haven't come across former Times stylist Hannah Rochelle's wonderful flat shoes blog En Brogue, you are in for a treat. That's where I first found these gorgeous Bodkin Beach shoes, which are ridiculous in all the right ways, and with the same slip-on look as my beloved Diva. Happily for my wallet, they don't go up to a 9 (boo!), and are available in sizes 3-8, half-sizes, D width for £69.99.

Clarks have got a metric tonne of quality brogues in for autumn (if you prefer a gentleman's cut, the Edward Limit in the men's range is a gorgeous reissue of an old classic).

This animal print Hamble Oak came home with me and the Hotel Divas. As anyone who has seen my bright green red laced Irregular Choice set will know, I am a sucker for a ridiculous shoe, and these are just so happy and joy-making that I had to have them.

Here are some other crackers from the range, all of which cost £54.99, come in sizes 3-9 and half-sizes, and D and E widths unless otherwise stated:

These black patent numbers are the very embodiment of 'snazzy'.

Remember Spatz on CITV? It took me YEARS to discover what spats actually were (I read The Great Gatsby and its ilk convinced they were a type of trousers). These spats-like brogues come in the same sizes as its kin, but D width only.

Can you tell I love burgundy? These gorgeous brogues are also called Wine Interest, which seems particularly suitable for some people of my acquaintance (you there. Yes, you).

I really like the cloth tartan in these burgundy shoes - if it had been made in a slightly stronger colour, or a patent, I would have snapped these up as ultimate 'fun shoes'. (D width only)

I'm feeling a bit knackered after all that shoe enthusiasm, so here is a smooth pony skin, suede and patent combo to finish in these elegant black slippers (£64.99, 3-9, half-sizes, D width).

 In unrelated news, I totally, absolutely want everything the model is wearing in this picture.

Plus Size Picks: Yes you can wear stripes!

I've touched briefly on the stripe myth before. Horizontal stripes get a bad rap. Fashion rules dictate that stripes make you look bigger, but for every study that shows this to be true, there's one that proves it false. Really, how much difference can one print make? Plenty of plus size brands make striped styles, so obviously they don't believe they're the devil in polyester form. To help bring you over to the dark side, I've picked some of my favourite striped pieces from some of the usual suspects. There are odd stripes, diagonal stripes, wide stripes...and especially for those who just can't get those annoying rules out of their heads, a few vertical stripes thrown in!

The easiest way to try stripes if you're worried is in wide panels, and a simple shape. This mexican-inspired skirt from Debenhams' 'Gorgeous' range (sizes 16 - 26) is totally risk-free, and has the added bonus of working for summer with sandals or for autumn with tights and boots. It's also in the sale, yours for £17.50. It's worth noting the customer reviews suggest sizing up because it comes up small on the waist.

The twinset gets a striped overhaul courtesy of blogger fave Carmakoma, who've put graduating humbug stripes on their Stint cardigan (£47.74) and Melika jumper (£45). The detail on the back is brilliant - both pieces have black spines running down the centre. Spines are awesome.

Very's ever-reliable So Fabulous range has put an evening spin on things with this ruched maxi skirt. You're going to have to believe me that despite the photo, this one does come in larger sizes (14-28 to be exact, for a very purse-friendly £15). I like the idea of wearing this on holiday with a black vest and flat sandals for a change from the dated cropped trousers and tiered maxi skirts that every plus size brand insists on flogging this time of year.

I promised vertical stripes, and here they are. Lovedrobe's oversize dipped-back shirt (£38, sizes 16 - 26) was made to be worn with skinny jeans / leggings. Brave souls can keep it buttoned up right to the top for androgynous glam. Those of us prone to shelf boob will probably want to undo a few buttons and let the girls breathe.

Finally, a graphic striped number from the folks at ASOS Curve (£36, sizes 18 - 28). A word about the midi skirt - it's a bit of a scary length that you might fear will look frumpy (especially if you're petite). But if you keep the print bold and youthful (or, in this case, a bit 70s nafftastic) it will look great. I do think this is a skirt length that looks better with heels though - or at least wedges for a bit of lift!

If you're still unsure whether stripes are for you, remember this - your body is your body, regardless of whether it's swathed in florals, stripes, polka dots, pug print, neon or 'slimming' black. Avoiding stripes narrows your options (which can already be limited by the sparse offerings in larger sizes) so why not give the forbidden print a go?

Blend Your Own Whisky - And Bottle It!

I grew up next to a distillery. The distillery man used to give our cat a wee thimbleful of whisky in a bowl of milk each day, resulting in one very happy, purry moggy with a slightly slurred miaow. Despite my childhood proximity to one of Scotland's finest purveyors of cat sedatives, I've never given much thought to how whisky blends are crafted. UNTIL NOW. Thanks to Master of Malt's Blend Your Own Whisky Kit, I'm beginning to fancy myself as a bit of a whisky alchemist.

For a very reasonable £49.95, this kit gives you everything you need to perfect your own blend at home. Eight little bottles of single malt and something described quite emphatically as 'very, very old grain whisky' provide the distinct flavours or notes for your blend. Four base whiskies make up the, um, base of your concoction. There's full instructions, of course, so that you're not just blindly pouring fine malts down your throat into your beaker willy-nilly. And then there's the Science Equipment Bit: Pipettes! Measuring cylinders! CONICAL FLASKS! You even get a crystal tasting glass so you can sip your samples in style, possibly while doing some sort of overblown Jilly Goolden-style sniffy thing.

But all that prancing about with pipettes is just the beginning of our journey, dear readers. Once you've hit upon a blend that rivals everything you've ever tasted, ever, it's time to bottle it. Oh yes - use Master of Malt's nifty Sciencey Slider Technology™ to input the quantities of each whisky you used in your perfect blend. 

Once you've done that, you can name your whisky (it occurs to me that I should have checked with the lovely folks at Master of Malt to see whether sweary whisky names are allowed. It is you lot we're talking about, after all) and order a full-size bottle. Your bottle will look just like this one, assuming your given name is indeed 'Your Blend's Name Here'. 

The price of your finished blend will depend on your ingredients - but really, isn't a bottle of your own whisky, invented by YOU, simply priceless? I think so. And if you really love it, you can order a case of six bottles. 

Hic.

Baking for Beginners: Negroni Pie

It's rare for two words to inspire the giddy child-like sense of excitement and awe usually reserved for events like 'the-ice-cream-man'. Whilst there are definitely phrases like "free drinks" and "gin... 2 for 1" that can bait the average punter, they'll never equate to the exquisite excitement of noticing something like 'Negroni Pie' on my twitter feed.

When the notion of this amazing desert appeared out of the blue I had the misfortune of being stuck in the office, woefully far away from a kitchen and with no prospect of recreating this pinnacle of boozy desserts. So a week later I decided to take a days holiday and recreate my own version of this marvel. So without further ado I present to you the Domestic Sluttery Negroni Pie.

Negroni pie.
For the filling you'll need:

• 1 packet of shortcrust pastry
• 200g sugar
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 separated eggs
• 3 tablespoons of cornflower
• 1 cup of milk
• A pinch of salt
• 75ml of Campari
• 25ml of gin
• 50ml of sweet vermouth (although Punte Mes worked out for me really well) 
• 1 Red grapefruit
• 1 medium pot of whipping cream

Make it!
Make the base

• Preheat your oven to 190C
• Roll out the pastry onto a floured surface until it exceeds the diameter of the tin
• Line a buttered 20cm tart tin with greaseproof paper
• Fill with baking beans and blind bake at 190°C for 25 minutes
• Pull those baking beans out and bake for a further 5 minutes at 150°C

Meanwhile for the custard

• Beat the sugar and butter until well blended.
• Add each egg yolk one at a time beating into the mixture.
• When you have a nice smooth consistency, sieve in the flour, pour in the milk and add your pinch of salt.
• Now for the first two parts of the booze. Add the gin and Campari.
• Add a squeeze of grapefruit juice and two teaspoons of grated grapefruit zest and beat everything together
• Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl and fold them into your custard.

The final act

• Pour your custard into your pie shell and bake for one hour at 150°c.
• Which gives you just enough time to add 50ml of vermouth to your cream as you whip it.
• When a knife comes out clean from your pie it's ready to come out and cool for an hour.
• Then pipe on your boozy cream and grate on grapefruit zest to garnish.
• Serve with a negroni (obviously).

Sluttishly Sweet: 5 minute ice cream in a bag!

You don't need a fancy ice cream machine to make amazing ice cream, nor do you need to keep going to the freezer and stirring your ice cream every couple of hours on order to make it (I've never had the patience for that). All you need is a bit of arm muscle power (or willing children make EXCELLENT substitutes) a couple of Ziploc bags, some ice and plenty of salt.

One of the many ace things about this method is not only do you have fresh homemade ice cream in just a few minutes but that you can make one batch of plain ice cream mix and put out loads of different flavours to customise each one.  I've used double cream for a really rich ice cream but you can use half milk and cream or all milk, it will still work, and if you want to cut down on calories a bit more then swap the caster sugar for a tablespoon of agave syrup and you can even make some of Caleigh's amazing ice cream cones to put it in!

The science bit of this is what makes it so quick and easy, the salt lowers the freezing point of the ice and so brings the temperature down to about -5C in the ice bag thus freezing your cream, the more you shake the better your ice cream will be.

5 Minute ice cream in a bag (serves 1-2)
You will need:

For the base:

• 150ml double cream 
• 1 heaped tablespoon caster sugar 

Also:

• Ice 
• 8 tablespoons of table salt.
• 1 large Ziploc bag
• 1 small Ziploc bag

Vanilla, raspberry and meringue flavour: 

• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste (or 1 capful extract/seeds from 1/2 vanilla pod) 
• 1 handful frozen raspberries
•  2 shop bought mini meringues

Make it!

1. Half fill the large Ziploc bag with ice then add the salt and give a good shake to mix then set to one side.
2. Make your base mix simply by combining the cream and sugar in a jug and mixing well.
3. Now you can add the rest vanilla paste and raspberries and mix well.
4. Pour your ice cream mix into the small Ziplock bag then put it inside the large one filled with ice and cover with ice, seal and then shake rapidly for 5 minutes. You'll notice quite quickly that the cream gets thick and hard, the more you shake and squeeze the better the ice cream ill be. 
5. After five minutes your ice cream is ready to eat so you can top it with the crushed meringues and maybe a few extra raspberries if you like and dive in with a spoon.

You can get really experimental with your flavours, try:

Chocolate, ginger and strawberry flavour:

• 2 tablespoons shop bought Belgian chocolate sauce
• 1 ball stem ginger, chopped
• 1 tablespoon stem ginger syrup
• 1 handful frozen strawberries

Make as above using the base mix or how about maple syrup, walnut and white chocolate chip? The possibilities are endless!

Spine Thrillers: Beautiful things for bookworms

If you've been reading the Domestic Sluttery series, "What have we been reading...?" posts, you'll know what a bunch of book lovers we are. But when books and pretty meet, we're virtually in Sluttery heaven.

Virtually, but not quite. But I think I've found the things that will make our joy complete. Here's five steps to a bookish heaven:

Anthropologie's page turner placemat will appeal to anyone who has ever attempted to organise their books by colour (er, me then). For £12, it will add valuable reading matter to the dining table. Sadly, however, the names and the titles on the spines are all fictitious (though I've been enjoying speculating that one of the authors, 'A.J. Brown', is a distant relative of Kat's)

If you are the kind of person who loves scanning a row of spines, I suspect you might enjoy the work of Standard Designs. From a distance this print looks like a fairly regular collection of vintage Penguins. Peer closer and you'll realise the titles on the spines are all the songs from the Stone Roses' debut album. One for those who are firmly in the centre of the Venn diagram of books and indie - admittedly quite a big centre - there are also designs inspired by Radiohead and The Smiths. This print is available for £15.

I'm a firm believer that books have a place in every room of the house - though some of my reading while washing up time-saving efforts have ended in upsetting mishaps. If only I'd spent £9.99 on this books tea towel from Zara Home I would have saved myself a lot of heartbreak, sigh...

The titles on this Books and Flowers mug are definitely getting a space in my kitchen. It's a gorgeous 50s-influenced design from Sophie Richardson. Just add coffee and a cosy spot to make for the perfect reading companion. It's £12, and the same design is also available on a teapot and a cup and saucer - the happiness!

Judge a book by its cover? Sometimes. I'm more likely to judge a person by the books they read. Which makes deciding between these book stack illustrations from The Boho Press an extra tricky business. On the right, the titles in the stack include High Fidelity, Slaughterhouse 5, The Virgin Suicides and The L-Shaped Room, while the left pile includes Fahrenheit 451, The Cement Garden, The Great Gatsby and Brideshead Revisited. The good news is that you probably don't need to choose, as the prints are just £16 each. Happy reading.

Gluten Free: Ice Cream Cones

School's out and so's the sun, it's definitely time for an ice cream cone! Of course, if you're gluten free, your cone options are somewhat limited. Personally, those little bowls with the spoons shaped like tiny shovels are a winner, but sometimes I crave a 99. Or a cornetto.

You can buy gluten free cones, but they're pricy (what GF product isn't, eh?) and as it turns out, it's not too tricky to make your own. If you have a little time, it's worth a try. These cones taste like those waffle cones you can fill with hundreds of scoops of ice cream and, if you make yours big enough, that's exactly what you should do. You can make these in the oven, (in the same way as Laura makes her fortune cookies) but, these days if I can avoid having the oven on, I will – if you think thin crepe as you go, you'll be fine. If you're lucky enough to have a waffle, or waffle cone, maker then you can use that.

Ice cream cones (makes 4 or 5 cones)
You'll need:

• 1 egg
• 55g sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp melted butter (melt a little bit extra to grease the pan later)
• 25ml milk
• a pinch of salt
• 40g ice flour (I used Dove's Farm Rice Flour)

Make it!

1. Whisk the egg and sugar together until frothy, then beat in the vanilla extract, melted butter and milk.
2. Sift the salt and rice flour together and add to the liquids.
3. Whisk everything well until smooth.
4. Brush a frying pan (non-stick works best here) with a little melted butter, or oil and heat gently.
5. Pour a couple of tablespoons of batter into the pan and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan in a thin layer.
6. When the edges start to colour, gently lift them off the pan with a spatula and turn the crepe. I find that turning it out on to a sheet of baking paper, then flipping it back into the pan is the easiest way to do it.
7. Cook the other side for about a minute, checking occasionally, until evenly golden.
8. Turn out and roll into a cone shape. Be careful, it's hot! If you're finding it tricky, roll a piece of baking paper into a cone and slide the crepe inside to shape it.
9. Once the cone is holding its shape, place on a cooling rack to harden. Repeat with the rest of the batter.
10. Store in an airtight container until you're ready to use them. They should stay crisp for about 24 hours, but if they do go soft then reheat them in the frying pan until hot then reshape.

Bare Conductive's DIY Light-up Card Kit

Geeks assemble! I have a really nifty thing to tell you about. Bare Conductive paint is the world's first non-toxic, electrically conductive paint available to we consumers. We all know circuitry is fun (yes we do, don't argue), but its fun level has increased exponentially with the new possibility of drawing circuits on robots and making their tiny robot hearts beat with a flashing light. (Italics don't really properly emphasise my excitement, but there were too many words to caps lock.)

Here's what I'm talking about. Buy a greeting card kit from Bare Conductive for just £12, and you'll get everything you need to work electronic magic on three cards - two pre-printed robots (complete with the lines where you should draw your circuits), and one blank card which you'll be able to tackle once you've mastered the basics. Somewhere deep in the recesses of your mind, you know the basics, don't you? Well, there's no harm in a refresher course.

Along with the cards, you get all the fun stuff you need to set your cards alight (no, not a box of matches). A Bare Paint pen, cell batteries, and four flashing LEDs are all included, so you can start being all clever and conductive right away. The robot instruction sheet is simple to understand and will have you glowing in no time.

Time for an animated GIF, don't you think? Look at this little chap's eyes! You made that! I mean, you could make that.

If the greeting card kit whets your appetite, you can buy the pens and batteries separately. There's also a light house kit, which would make pretty lovely light-up gingerbread houses for Christmas, and an awesome classroom card kit for any teachers out there. 

Just one more GIF before we part ways. His tiny robot heart is beating with a flashing light! 

*perishes of cute*

Friday Wishlist: Gorgeous things you'll want to buy RIGHT NOW

The perfect floral dress. £45 from Joy.

The perfect pigeon mug. £5 from Emma Bridgewater. FIVE POUNDS! FIVE! GO!

The perfect erm... Wonder Woman Mrs Potato Head. £32.68 from Amazon.

The perfect mixing bowls. £34.95 from Howkapow.

The perfect shoes. £225 (I'M SORRY), from Cleo B.

The perfect cushion. £55 from Chloe Croft.

Sluttery Sales Spy: French Connection, Mango & Topshop

There have been so many distractions this week: a lady had a baby, two Daddy Long Legs had sex in my kitchen for TWENTY MINUTES, and there were some thunderstorms. Despite all this, I've somehow managed to round up the best of this week's sales for you lovely lot. I know, I know - I'm borderline Wonder Woman, right? 

THE DRESSES

Nishe embroidered dress, £16.50 (was £55), ASOS

Ah, this embroidered dress by Nishe is so darn CUTE. That row of pink buttons? They're shaped liked flowers! If that hasn't convinced you to buy the dress, I don't know what will. I can't thaw hearts of ice, y'know.

Birdcage dress, £38 (was £55), Sugarhill Boutique

I don't know about you, but now that I've seen this beautiful birdcage dress from Sugarhill Boutique, I am singing Birdhouse In Your Soul (aka The Best Song Ever) with the alternative - and I think you'll agree, superior - lyric of 'build a little birdcage on your dress'. 

YOU'RE WELCOME.

THE JEWELLERY

N2 by Les Nereides Little Red Riding Hood earrings, £25 (was £45), ASOS

If you're prone to disobeying your mother, wandering off-path in forests, talking to strange wolves, and generally being a little bit irresponsible about personal safety, these Little Red Riding Hood earrings will act as a reminder of the consequences of such silly behaviour. 

Happily though - because to err is human - if you do accidentally find yourself being eaten by a wolf, these earrings will also reassure you that it is possible to survive, completely unscathed, and that your granny will be fine, too. Phew. A fairytale ending, I suppose.

Isiya ice cream necklace, £25 (was £49), Ted Baker

Now then - if you're looking for a lasting reminder of the Hottest Summer Since 2006™ - and who wouldn't be seeking to commemorate this momentous historical event, really? - look no further than this ice cream cone necklace from Ted Baker. A true necklace de nos jours, it conjures up all the feelings I would be experiencing if every shop in my hometown hadn't sold out of fans, if I hadn't already exhausted supplies of my homemade beer ice cream, and if I hadn't lost my favourite pair of sunglasses AND my refreshing facial mist. 

As it stands, I'm actually feeling rather homicidal, and there ain't no necklace for that. 

THE SKIRTS

Two-tone skirt, £29.99 (was £59.99), Mango

If you're the sort of girl, like me, whose legs spend the summer the colour of milk jelly that's had a run in with a bottle of blue food colouring, maxi skirts are a godsend. They keep you cool, they swish around your pale blue ankles, and they cover a multitude of sins. For this girl, those sins include four of the most grotesque horse fly bites the world has ever witnessed, 347 midgie bites, and a bruise the size of a saucer. 

So, taking other people's sensitive dispositions into account, this two-tone maxi skirt from Mango is exactly what I need to allow me to actually be seen in public this month. 

Primrose Stripe skirt, £25 (was £62), French Connection

The colourway of this Primrose Stripe skirt from French Connection is described as Peach Alba/Trouble Yellow. I always love their colours. What does any of it even mean? Trouble Yellow sounds like my kind of hue, though. Buy this skirt and go and cause some mayhem.

THE BAGS

Tabitha bag, £35 (was £70), Ollie & Nic

Slutettes, meet Tabitha. Tabitha, meet the Slutettes. I think everyone is going to get along just fabulously. Isn't Tabitha pretty, guys? She thinks you're really pretty too. Actually, she said she'd really like to get to know you better. Fast work, readers. I'm impressed.

Zatchels flamingo satchel, £90 (was £120), Oliver Bonas

When Sel wrote about this flamingo satchel by Zatchels - exclusive to Oliver Bonas - earlier this year, I admit I did fleetingly consider eloping to Gretna Green and trying to marry a handbag. But it was £120, quel woe. While it's still not cheap at £90, it is less expensive - so I might try living in sin with it for a wee while. It can be my bidey-in.*

* (Scottish) Live-in lover.

THE SANDALS

Facade sandals, £20 (was £40), ASOS

Normally I steer clear of sandal embellishment, for fear of looking too Brits Abroad. But I'm pretty taken with these Facade sandals from ASOS - the pale pink and black discs add a little interest to an otherwise plain sandal. Also, they're not going to fall off your feet any time soon, which is good, because I'm quite keen on being able to walk without looking like an absolute doofus. Without looking like more of an absolute doofus, I mean.

Nano T-bar clogs, £25 (was £45), Topshop

I love me a pair of clogs, and I love me some shiny red. GUESS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?! Go on, guess! Oh, all right, I'll help you out:

I love me these shiny red clogs from Topshop! 

You feel a bit silly now for not guessing, I know. The clues were there, weren't they? Nevermind. 

QUESTION TIME:

1. Will you be buying any of this gorgeous stuff? 

2. Have you ever seen Daddy Long Legs having sexy times? I felt bad for staring. 

3. What's the colloquial term for a live-in lover where you come from?

Let Her Eat Cake: Cherry Cola Cupcakes

What could be more kitsch than Cherry Cola? It's like Rockabilly and Americana hooked up one night by the soda dispenser and produced a love child called Chichi. Fruit is cute, as we've seen with one of our favourite sites, Now That's Pretty, and cola is vintage as hell, so what are we waiting for, eh? Let's bake some cakes that taste just like cherry cola, C.O.L.A Colaaaaaa.

Cherry Cola Cupcakes (Makes 12)

You will need:

For the cupcakes:

• 200g self-raising flour
• 200g caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt 
• 1 egg
• 120ml milk
• 2 tbsp greek yoghurt
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 125g butter
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 175ml coca cola
• 100g ripe cherries

For the froth frosting:

• 200g icing sugar
• 125g butter, softened
• 2 tbsp coca cola
• 20ml milk
• Fizzy cherry cola bottles and cherry sweets to decorate

Make it!

The cupcakes:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4. Lightly grease and line a 12 hole cupcake tin. 
2. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. 
3. Beat the egg in a separate bowl, along with the milk, yoghurt and vanilla. Set aside. 
4. In a saucepan over a low heat, melt the butter together with the cocoa powder and coca cola. 
5. Allow to cool for a minute or two, then pour over the flour mixture, stirring until just combined and there are no streaks of flour showing.  
6. Stir in the egg mixture until the batter is completely blended. 
7. Core the cherries and quarter them. Stir gently into the mixture. 
8. Pour into the cupcakes cases, filling 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes until risen and a skewer comes out completely clean. 
9. Leave to cool on a wire rack until ready to frost. 

The frosting:

1. Beat the butter and sugar together until no lumps remain.
2. Beat in the coca cola and milk until light and fluffy. (Don't skimp on this bit: a good beating will make the icing look like coca cola froth!)
3. Fill a piping bag with the frosting and pipe a swirl onto the top of each cake, decorating with whatever sweets you haven't already eaten.