I recently took my niece out for ‘tea’ (the kind of tea that is typically accompanied by delicious treats and yumminess!) and I gave her free reign to choose her favourite location and to set the menu for  our little outing. She’s a wonderful girl – very hip, very trendy, always on top of the fashion and always full of fun! I do love spending time with her. Anyway, yes, back to the story. So … she chose this amazing little tea shop just off Leicester Square and guess what she ordered? Macaroons!

I haven’t sampled these delicious delicacies in years so imagine my surprise when we got delicious pistachio-flavoured green macaroons, strawberry-flavoured luminous pink macaroons, chocolate-flavoured deep brown macaroons and lemon-flavoured yellow macaroons all laid out beautifully on one of those gorgeous cake stands! And of course, me being the food lover that I am, I couldn’t help but google fabulous recipes as soon as I got home!

Now there seem to be an awful lot of techniques involved to get your mini macaroons looking as good as they should (just look at the picture, above, yum!) so I decided that instead of slaving over the stove with bowls and bowls of experiments, I’m going to Work Smart. In fact, I’ve already enrolled into a Macaroon Making cooking class! And I’m taking my niece along too – she’ll love the opportunity to make gorgeous treats to share with her friends And I’m sure that her mum will thank me as well!

Can’t wait! Yummmeee! So, if you’re in the market for an interesting gift idea for your  niece and you want to get her something really unique and special (something that she will truly appreciate) then you might consider millions of macaroons and a fabulous macaroon making class! Don’t forget to join in on the fun, it’ll be a ball!

I’m looking for a gift idea for my niece. Can you recommend anything? I’m not really sure what she’s into Sorry I can’t be more helpful.

From Bruce.

Dear Bruce,

Nieces are usually charming little girls that you, as an  uncle, get to spoil rotten! In fact, that’s your job! I’m really excited that you’ve asked for help because I delight in treating my nieces and we always have a fab time together! Here are a few ideas to help you out of your predicament:

Little girls like to dress up. It doesn’t matter whether they’re girly girls or tomboys, every girl will relish the opportunity to get our her mum’s make-up and strike a few poses for the camera. That’s why I always treat my youngest niece to fun activities like make-up lessons and photoshoots. She may only be 10 but she loves to glam it up! Her older sister also gets in on the fun and at 21, she’s a bit of a diva too.

Tomboys are tricky because they’re usually very busy little bodies. But that’s okay, you can delight them with fun adventure activities like sphereing that’ll keep them busy for ages! There are also some really fun driving days that’ll let them drive their favourite cars. Now wait, I can hear you asking out aloud: ‘what?’, but it’s true. They actually do driving days for kids aged 12 to 16 and they get to drive some awesome cars! Everything is done with a trained pro right next to them so it’s quite safe. Nice idea, don’t you think?

Older girls aren’t so bad either: they also like to dress up and have fun, they just like to do it their own way. That’s why I’d recommend a fun group song recording session so that she can take her best buds and they can sing their hearts out! She will also really enjoy a cheeky chocolate workshop or cooking class that’ll teach her how to become a master chef in the kitchen!

Good luck Bruce, I hope this points you in the right direction! Do let me know how it all goes,

x Stacey