How to Wear A Maxi in the Fall + GIVEAWAY

I know what you're thinking... "a pastel maxi dress for fall? You must be crazy!" But, no I am totally not kidding. Maxi dresses are comfortable, versatile, the ultimate layering piece, and if paired with some great accessories, can take your wardrobe from summer to fall. You last saw this maxi dress here, when the wildflowers were overtaking the fields, and the heat of summer was fierce and fabulous. That also meant there was no way I was even adding a belt to this dress for fear of over heating. Fast forward to last weekend; the sun was shinning but that fall chill was definitely in the air. I paired this maxi with some of my favourite fall accent pieces including my go-to leather coat, my favourite new Shop for Jayu sunglasses (keep scrolling to win a $60 gift card to the shop!) and a perfect pearl pair of freshwater cultured pearl Pandora earrings to take this style beyond the season.

Looking for a few ways to style your maxi for fall? Here'w how you can totally maximize the use of your maxi!

1. Layer. Leather coat, trench coat, chambray blouse, oversized sweater, cardigan, or even a long sleeve shirt underneath; they all work! If the maxi is a loose fitting piece try adding a belt to give some definition. Or if you want to go for the oversized look, throw on a turtleneck overtop!

2. Pair with booties. Booties can make any outfit seem fall appropriate, don't you think?

3. Colour change-up. Instead of pairing with a white bucket bag, or a pink crossbody, try pairing your maxi with accessories in standard fall colours like cognac, grey, brown and cream. Bags and sunglasses are the perfect pieces to incorporate these colours.

What I'm Wearing

Shein Patchwork Spghetti Strap Maxi Dress c/o

Shop for Jayu Cedar Bench Beige sunglasses c/o

Sophie Hulme "Albion" East/West Tote in Charcoal Grey

Pandora White Pear earrings c/o 

Le Chateau Suede-Like Open Toe Ghillie Tie Sandal  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mini Egg Sugar Cookie Cake

I think the addiction to Mini Eggs is real for most of us. There is something so intoxicating about just the smell of those delicious Easter treats. Crunchy, crispy and chocolatey, and the scent of vanilla magnifying as soon as you open the bag. My mouth is watering just thinking about them… I love making a classic Bunny Bark for Easter, but this year I wanted to try something a bit different. This weekend I went off on limb to adapt Sally's Funfetti Sugar Cookie Cake to resemble something similar to my favourite cookies by Toronto bake shop Desmond and Beatrice. The result? An utterly sweet, chewy, soft baked, pastel dream of a cookie cake. So perfect for any Easter/spring gathering! Take stock of Mini Eggs while you can and get in the kitchen to re-create this easy, massive and delicious cookie cake.

Mini Egg Sugar Cookie Cake 

Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction

Ingredients

1/2 cup softened butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

2/3 cup chopped mini eggs (plus a few extra to leave whole to place on top)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and spray a 9-inch pie dish with nonstick spray. Set dish aside.
2. Cream the softened butter for 1 minute with a mixer. Once smooth add the sugar until fluffy.
3. Beat in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until combined.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cornstarch. 
5. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three equal segments until combined. Dough will be thick.
6. Lay mini eggs on wax paper and cut into chunks. If you can do this in a large tray it will be easiest as the mini eggs tend to fly all over the place! Add mini egg pieces to dough and fold in using spatula. 
7. Press the dough evenly into the sprayed pie dish (I added some whole mini eggs to the top of the dough for more colour). Bake for 23-25 minutes or until lightly brown on top. Cool on wire rack before taking cookie out of the dish. 
8. Optional: Use your favourite frosting recipe (this one) to create little flowers/swirls on the top of the cake. Top the larger ones with whole mini eggs.

Enjoy!

Heels Over Fall

This is hands down my most favourite outfit from October. Mixing pastels with black, florals with fall, and my new most treasured shoes. It happened in NYC. I couldn't resist. And I have zero regrets. Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world… right? That's how I feel wearing these beauties and I'm fine with never taking them off. 

{RW blazer, Talula tank, Daniel Wellington watch, Valentino heals, Tory Burch clutch}

Easter Weekend

This Easter weekend was filled with tulips, yummy treats, being thankful for my beautiful family and enjoying some much anticipated warm weather. Looking through the P&P archives I found my beloved Bunny Bark recipe and knew I had to make it. I may have indulged in it for breakfast, as a snack and as an after dinner treat. It's too good!  I hope you had a lovely Easter long weekend! 

One Year Old

happy first birthday pastels and pastries.

It's hard to believe that only a year ago I published my fist post on Pastels and Pastries, and finally brought my vision of this blog into existence. This blog has channeled not only my inspirations, but has also helped to evolve my soft-hued dreams and record my adventures. Although I may not share daily outfits or groundbreaking perspectives, I hope you find yourself constantly encouraged and excited to live a more radiant and lustrous life. 

Thank you for choosing to venture back to my little, virtual corner of the world, and for your kind words of encouragement. I think it's quite obvious that there is really only one way to celebrate today. 

xx gabriella

{chocolate cake recipe found here}

Sugar Cookies and Royal Icing

 A few years ago I asked my aunt for her famous sugar cookie recipe and now every time I make them my mind becomes flooded with childhood memories. Her cookies were always baked to perfection, iced in pretty colours, cut into fun shapes and I could not wait to dive into them at any chance I could get! This year I decided to put a pastel spin on the classic Christmas shapes and I'm so excited to bring them out on Christmas day where she can give mine a taste. Follow the recipe below and make these for any occasion, I promise you won't be disappointed!

Sugar Cookie:

3/4 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 TSP vanilla
2 1/2 cups four
1 TSP baking powder
1 TSP salt

1. Thoroughly mix butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla.
2. Blend in flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Cover dough at least 1 hour to chill in refrigerator.
4. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
5. Roll dough 1/8 inch thick on  floured board.
6. Cut our shapes and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
7. Bake 6-8 minutes. (makes about 4 dozen)

Royal Icing:

4 cups sifted powered sugar

3 tablespoons meringue powder

8-10 tablespoons of warm water

1. On a medium speed, beat powered sugar and meringue powder together.
2. Gradually add in the warm water- 1 TSP at a time (you may find you don't need all 10).
3. Stop beating when icing is texture of toothpaste (not too runny, not too thick). 
4. Separate into bowls and add desired food colouring.
5. Put icing into squeeze bottles or icing bags and pipe away (I start by outlining the cookie and then flood the inside adding more as necessary). 

I usually ice the cookies the day after I bake them because the process tends to be long. Don't let this discourage you! They are the cutest little cookies and are just as delicious as they look.

Fall On Point

There is no better uniform for running errands on a Saturday morning than a top knot and pointed toe flats. I wasn't able to find these flats in New York like I had hoped (as seen on my wish list), and after searching multiple Zara locations here I was ready to give up. Finally, they became available in my size again online so I scooped them up right away. I love how they dress up an outfit and really their all around chicness! I'm just hoping we continue to have this perfect weather for a while longer so I can get more use out of them before freezing feet declare it's time to bring out the boots!

{J Crew necklace, eBay shirt, Old Navy sweater vest, Tommy Hilfiger skinny jean, Coach bag, Zara flats}

Piece of Paris

Not only did I have the chance to indulge in a taste of Italy while in NYC, I was also able to treat myself to a piece of Paris. I seriously have been so fortunate to have visited the city twice, but I still miss it terribly!  It has almost been a year and a half since I last visited my favourite city, so it was inherent that my mom and I would head uptown to Ladurée for some utterly delicious macarons. Nostalgia got the best as me as soon as I saw the beautifully crafted building, which brought me right back to my time in Paris. We browsed the shop and took our time choosing the eight macarons which we would devour later that day. Excitingly enough, our imaginary journey to Paris didn't stop at Ladurée! We also visited Balthazar and Ceci-Cela for the most mouthwatering croissants. A while back I read Paris My Sweet by Amy Thomas, which is a great read, but really I enjoyed how she reveals the best pâtisseries not only in Paris, but in NYC. She doesn't miss a dessert: the New York cupcake, the Parisian macaron, the crème brûlée, the list goes on! Point is that I made mental notes of the best of the best and decided to check Balthazar and Ceci-Cela out. Just as Amy describes, the croissants were very comparable. But really, they will just have to do until I can get myself back across the pond!  

{found this gem on a side street waiting to be shown in a parade}

Easter Eats: Bunny Bark

After scouring Bulk Barn and coming home with pretty much every pastel coloured candy, I knew it was time to try out this Easter Bark that has been floating around Pinterest for quite some time. I found far too many variations, so combining them all seemed like the best idea. I mean why would anyone want to choose between Golden Oreos, Mini Eggs, M&M's (peanut and chocolate), pretzels and marshmallows? I based my version on the Bunny Cookie Bark found here, but went off in my own pastel candy frenzy. Ready for the best part? There is no bake time! The result was the most amazing (and pretty looking) combination off all the classic candy favourites! This is must have for any Easter gathering.

What I used for the base:

• 12 Golden Oreos
• Handfull of broken pretzels 
• 1 cup Mini Eggs
• 1 cup M&M's (peanut)
• 1 cup Jet Puff marshmallows

1. Lay out all above ingredients in a parchment lined 11" x 7" baking dish
2. Melt 1 pound of white chocolate (or melts) in microwave, stirring constantly
3. Pour melted chocolate over candy mixture evenly
4. Top with regular M&M's (and any other candy you feel like!)
5. Refrigerate for 1 hour
6. Break apart with knife

You can pretty much modify the toppings to your liking, and for any holiday! But seriously, so delicious.