Saturday Afternoon Adventures

It was a lazy Saturday afternoon and my parents had come over to visit, so while my dad walked the dog me and my mum made a couple of batches of cupcakes (what else is there to do on a Saturday afternoon?!)

First up, a new recipe - Earl Grey cupcakes, from the Primrose Bakery book (which, by the way, I LOVE!!!!). We decorated them with a vanilla buttercream, tinted lilac.

They tasted amazing - a gorgeous almond flavour, with a really subtle hint of the bergamot from the Earl Grey tea. I recommend buying the book and trying them out!

Next up, a treat for my dad - Cherry bakewell cupcakes, from my favourite recipe book of all time, Cupcake Magic by Kate Shirazi. We decorated them with lemon icing and sugar paste hearts before piping onto them. Most said 'love' but we also piped some family members names onto some of them as well :)

Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

What's better than mint and chocolate? Nothing, that's what!!!!!

Chocolate cupcakes + mint frosting + crushed glacier mints = heaven!

Fruity Adventures

Mmm, fresh raspberries and strawberries, you can't beat them! So I've used them as inspiration for two cupcakes - white chocolate & raspberry and strawberries & cream. Delicious!

For the strawberry cupcake I added a load of mashed up strawberries into a normal cupcake mix and upped the flour content. When they had cooled I whipped up some double cream and piped it on top of the cupcake and topped it off with half a fresh strawberry. Yummy!

For the raspberries ones I made normal vanilla cupcake mix, then swirled in some raspberry jam. After baking I made a white chocolate butter cream (normal vanilla butter cream, half a large bar of melted white chocolate and a couple of tablespoons of double cream) and spread that on top, and finished them off with two fresh raspberries on top.

Mothers Day Adventures

For Mothers Day I made two batches of cupcakes, one for my mum and one for my mother in law :)

The first batch were lemon cupcakes, with lemon icing and sugar paste flowers and the second batch were chocolate cupcakes with butter cream swirls (some chocolate, some vanilla) and a chocolate on top!

You can't see the cases in this photo, but they were pastel colours with while polka dots - super cute! I matched the colour of the icing to the colour of the cupcake case. 

Adventures in Desserts #2 - Apple Crumble Cupcakes

Well, the Lemon Meringue Pie cupcakes were a massive hit!!!!! Yay me! So it got me thinking - "what other desserts can I turn into a cupcake?" and after some crazy suggestions (Chicken Korma Cupcakes anyone???) I came up with Apple Crumble.

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

Jar of apple sauce (around 270g)

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
55g/2oz butter
85g/3oz  demerara sugar
1 egg
175g/6oz self raising flour
1 tsp cinnamon

For the crumble topping:
50g/2oz plain flour
50g/2oz demerara sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
35g/1oz butter

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180c/gas mark 4 and line a 12 hole cupcake tin with baking cases
• Make the crumble topping by putting the ingredients into a small bowl and rubbing together until they resemble breadcrumbs. 
• For the cupcakes stir the bicarbonate of soda into the apple sauce (you'll need a bigger bowl than you think for this - the chemical reaction between the bicarb and the apple sauce makes it expand!)
• Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the egg.
• Sift the flour and cinnamon in and mix. Stir in the apple sauce.
• Spoon the mixture into the baking cases, then top each one with 2 teaspoons of crumble mix. Press down slightly. 
• Bake for 20 minutes then allow to cool.
• To make them taste even better, serve with cream or custard!

Picture will appear soon!

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

Ooooh, yummy! Three of the greatest things of all time - lemons, meringue and cupcakes, combined into one snack of awesomeness!

Ingredients

For the cupcake:

• 100g self raising flour
• 100g butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• Lemon Curd

For the meringue:

• 2 egg whites
• 100g caster sgar

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180c/gas mark 4 and line a 12 hole tin with bun cases
• Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
• Stir in the eggs then the lemon juice
• Fold in the flour
• Spoon 1 large tbsp of the mixture into each case, then make a small dip in the middle of each one
• Spoon 1 tsp of lemon curd into each dip, then cover with the remaining mixture
• Bake in the oven for 10 minutes
• While the cupcakes are baking, make the meringue. Beat the egg whites in a clean bowl until they from stiff peaks
• Slowly add the sugar until the mixture is thick and glossy
• Spoon the mixture into a ziplock bag or piping bag and cut off one of the corners
• Remove the cupcakes from the oven and pipe the meringue over the tops of the cakes
• Return to the oven for 10 minutes
• Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin

Et voila! Delicious lemon meringue cupcakes!

Red Velvet Adventures

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Red Velvet Cake. In fact, I love it so much that I had it for my wedding cake. I wanted to make some Red Velvet cupcakes to take into work cos everyone goes crazy for them!

The biggest issue I have with making Red Velvet cakes is the colour. I like mine super bright red, but you have to be careful which food colouring you use. Colouring that says "natural" on the bottle does NOT make your cakes red. However, that is all that's available in a lot of supermarkets right now, so if you want the good stuff you have to go to specialist stores or look online. I like using paste colours because they give a really vibrant colour but don't affect the consistency of your batter (but if you use these remember to add a little more liquid ingredients to your mix, as the recipe will be expecting a LOT of liquid colour!)

I love these paste colours: http://www.cakecraftworld.co.uk/products.asp?cc=64&scc=218

Today I had to make do with natural red colouring, and the cupcakes came out dark brown, no red at all. At least they still taste good though! Tomorrow I'm going to cover them with Cream Cheese Frosting, ready to take in to work on Monday.

Recipe, Red Velvet Cupcakes (makes 20)


250g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
50ml red food colouring (if using a paste colour add 50ml of buttermilk instead)
110g butter (I actually use Stork margarine, it makes cakes and cupcakes very light and fluffy)
290g caster sugar
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
240ml buttermilk
1tsp white vinegar
1tsp bicarbonate of soda

Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4, 175 Celsius, 350 Fahrenheit. Line cupcake pans with cases.

Sift together flour and baking powder, and set aside for later.

In a separate bowl, mix food colouring and cocoa together (with 50ml of buttermilk if using a paste colour) to form a thick liquid, without any lumps.

Using hand mixer or standing mixer beat butter and sugar together, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla.

Beat in the cocoa powder mix, remembering to scrape the side of the bowl with a spatula to ensure even distribution of colour.

Add one third of the flour mixture, then half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of the flour, followed by the rest of the buttermilk. Add the last of the flour and mix well.  Finally, add the vinegar and bicarbonate of soda.

Fill the cupcake cases 3/4 full with the mixture then back for 20 minutes, turning halfway.

Once out of the oven, leave to cool inside the baking tray for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack. Wait until completely cool before covering with cream cheese frosting, and decorate with red candy hearts.