'Using Up Stuff' Cupcakes

I had oranges in the fruit bowl and blackberries in the fridge. I could have just eaten then as they were, but where's the fun in that?

So I made a batch of chocolate cupcakes from The Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days recipe book and iced half with orange buttercream frosting and the other, yep, you guessed it, with blackberry buttercream frosting.

I started off with a few spare oranges and a small punnet of blackberries, and have ended up with over a dozen delicious cupcakes...magic!

Ingredients:

80g butter, softened
280g caster sugar
200g plain flour
40g cocoa powder
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
240ml whole milk
2 eggs

Let's get making...

Preheat the oven to 190C/gas mark5 and line a muffin tin with muffin cases.

1. Beat together the butter, sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder and the salt until it look like little crumbs.
2. Whisk the milk and eggs together in a jug and add three quarters of this to the dry mixture. Beat slowly to begin with and then as the ingredients begin to combine, crank it up and mix until everything is nice and smooth. Pour in the remaining milk mixture and continue mixing until everything is smooth again.
3. Fill your muffin cases two thirds full and bake for 18-20 minutes.

To make the butter frosting, take 75g of softened butter and beat until fluffy. Slowly add 250g of icing sugar and combine. Add two tablespoons of milk and one teaspoon of vanilla and another 250g of icing sugar. Beat until well combined and if needed, add up to two more tablespoons of milk.

I then divided the frosting into two bowls. Into one I add the grated zest of one orange and into the other, a punnet (150g) of blackberries. Although, be sure to save 6 of the best looking blackberries to put on top of your yummy chocolate and blackberry cupcakes, once they have cooled and are iced.

White Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes

One of the great things about adding fruit to your cupcakes is you can trick yourself into thinking that they must be one of your five a day. Not to mention that the tart taste of the raspberries goes perfectly with the sweetness of the chocolate.

Ingredients:

115g self-raising flour, sifted
115g caster sugar
115g soft unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 tbsp of milk
1 tsp of vanilla essence
1/2 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
200g mascarpone
75g white chocolate
1 punnet of fresh raspberries
1 tbsp of icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 190/gas mark 5


Let's Get Making:

1. Beat the sugar and the butter until light and fluffy.

2. Add the vanilla essence and one tbsp of the flour (this stops the mix splitting), then add the eggs one at a time, beating after each one, followed by the milk.

3. Mix the bicarbonate of sad in with the remaining flour, then gradually add the four to the cake mix.

4. Pick twelve of the prettiest raspberries from the punnet and put to one side. Lightly crush those that remain and carefully add to the mix.
5. You are now ready to fill your cupcake cases, only two third full, mind.
6. Place in the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes, until lightly brown.

Whilst the cakes are cooking, melt 75g of white chocolate. Wait until it is lukewarm and then beat with 200g of mascarpone until it is smooth and glossy. Top each cake with a teaspoon of the mascarpone mix, and put a raspberry on top. Dust each cake with a little bit of icing sugar and finally, enjoy!

Mini Egg Treasure Hunt

Forget running around the garden hiding eggs, just pop them in your cupcakes. These Easter cakes the yummy answer to the Easter egg treasure hunt.

Ingredients:
Serves 24

125g unsalted butter, softened

125g caster sugar

125g self-raising flour

Pinch of salt

2 medium eggs

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 packet Cadbury's Mini Eggs

For the Frosting:

50g unsalted butter, softened

100g chocolate, melted

300g icing sugar

3 tbsp Milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Let's get making:

1. Preheat oven to 190°C or Gas Mark 5.
2. Beat the butter in a large bowl until it is softened. Add the sugar, flour, salt, eggs, milk and vanilla and whisk until the mixture is smooth.
3. Spoon the mixture into the cases, and then press one Mini Egg into the centre.
4. Place muffin tin in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, until cupcakes are a light golden colour.
5. Remove the tins from the oven. Leave the cupcakes to cool in the tins for a few minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.

To make the frosting:

1. In a large bowl beat the butter until it is fluffy. Beat in the melted chocolate. Gradually add half of the icing sugar, stirring first (to prevent it going all over the counter, and you) and then beat until well combined.
2. Slowly beat in the milk and the vanilla. Then add the remaining icing sugar. Beat in more milk, if needed.

Pipe the icing onto the cakes, when cooled and then top with a Mini Egg.

And there you have an Easter egg treasure hunt on a plate!

Blue Denim Cupcakes

I love Red Velvet cupcakes. They taste divine and look amazing; red cakes-genius!
Blue Denim cupcakes are my own little creations, my ode to the Red Velvet if you like. They are essential a
white chocolate cupcake that have had a stone wash and topped with cream cheese frosting.

Ingredients:

250g unsalted butter, softened

250g caster sugar

250g self raising flour

Pinch of salt

4 medium eggs

4tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

200g white chocolate, melted

1 tbsp blue food colouring

Let's get making:

1. Preheat oven to 190°C or Gas Mark 5.
2. Beat the butter in a large bowl until it is softened. Add the sugar, flour, salt, eggs, milk and vanilla and whisk until the mixture is smooth.
3. Fold in the melted chocolate and food colouring

4. Spoon the mixture into the cases.
5. Place muffin tin in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until lightly golden on top.
6. Remove the tins from the oven. Leave the cupcakes to cool in the tins for a few minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.

Whilst your blue cupcakes are cooling, you can make the cream cheese frosting. For this you will need:

125g cream cheese

250g icing sugar

90g unsalted butter, softened

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 lemon, juice only

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until combined. Store in the fridge until the cupcakes are ready to be frosted.

 And there you have it, the Blue Denim Cupcake...

Faking It

I am yet to use silicone moulds in my baking, but my mum swears by them. And mums know best. So I have decided to have a look at what the silicone world has to offer. There is some fab stuff out there.

Take these TeaCupCakes from StrawberryFool.

The set contains 4 reusable baking cups and saucers so you can impress your friends, with the presentation of their cupcake, when having tea parties...if you have tea parties. If not, then here is a perfect excuse to start having them.



A perfect recipe to bake in these would be Earl Grey Tea Cakes.

This recipe is taken from Nigella.com


Ingredients:

Butter for greasing
2 Earl Grey tea bags
60ml (1/4 cup) boiling water
80ml (1/3 cup) milk
100g unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
160g (2/3 cup) caster sugar
190g (1 1/4 cups) self-raising flour
230g (1 1/2 cups) pure icing sugar
1.5 tbsp breakfast marmalade
1.5 tbsp fresh orange juice (approx)

Let's get making:
1. Preheat oven to 180C
2. Brush 12 medium muffin pans with melted butter to lightly grease.
3. Empty the tea leaves from the tea bags into a cup and add the boiling water.
4. Set aside for 3 minutes
5. Stir in the milk and then transfer to a large bowl. Add the butter, eggs, sugar and flour to the tea mixture
6. Use electric beaters on low speed to beat until just combined. Increase speed to medium and beat until the mixture is pale and creamy (the mixture may look slightly curdled)
7. Spoon the mixture evenly into the greased pans. (Or TeaCupCakes, if you have them.)
8. Bake in a preheated oven for 20-22 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted in the cakes comes out clean.
9. Remove from the oven and set aside for 2-3 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool.

To make the marmalade icing...

1. Combine the icing sugar and marmalade in a small bowl.
2.  Add enough juice to make a very thick past
3.  Use a teaspoon dipped in hot water to spread the icing over the tops of the cooled cakes
4. Set aside for 15-20 minutes to allow the icing to set

And now you can enjoy with a cup of tea.

Cupcake Heaven

If you love cupcakes, you will love the Hummingbird Bakery. And I love cupcakes so this weekend I made the journey to Notting Hill to get me a little sweet treat.

The Hummingbird Bakery has been in Portobello road since 2004 and is the perfect place to buy freshly made, beautifully decorated cakes. Of course there is a wonderful selection of cupcakes but as well as these little yummy treats, the bakery also makes and sells a variety of layer cakes and American pies.
With the cakes made in store, the aroma as you walk in is just divine and the staff were friendly and patient even though they were very busy. (As expected; they do have shelves full of tasty treasure after all.)

 

As well as this bakery in Notting Hill, there are also branches in South Kensington, with a red velvet seating area and another in Soho which displays cupcake pop art. Both sound like a great place to visit and I now have perfect excuse to buy a few more scrumptious cakes.

With my Red Velvet bought, I escaped the hustle and bustle of Portobello Market and made my way to Green Park to enjoy the rewards of my journey. (I took great care on the tube and held my little box very close to my chest, looking slightly strange perhaps but I wasn't taking any chances.)

I took my first bite and was pleased to know that the Red Velvets I made at home a few months ago tasted just as they should. Absolutely heavenly. And until I am able to get back to one of these little sugary sanctuaries, I can rest assured knowing that with my Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook I can have a little bit of Hummingbird heaven whenever my heart (and belly) desires.

For the Love of Cupcakes

If you are crazy about cupcakes and crazy about the Royal Wedding (or more the opportunity to have a day off, pretending to celebrate the beautiful union when really it's just an excuse to have a champagne cocktail with your breakfast), then you will love these cupcake cases.

Priced at just £2.99 for 54, from delights.co.uk, you can bake your way into patriotism and eat cupcakes all the way through the ceremony. (Unless of course you have been invited to attend.)

Marshmallow Melts

Toasting marshmallows has got to be the best part of camping, I mean who really wants to sleep surrounded by insects, be at risk of being eaten by wild animals or wash from a bucket?
But why go through the ordeal at all when you can have Marshmallow melts in the comfort of your own, insect free, home, with very little mess. All the magic happens in one bowl, what more could we ask for? Apart from a cocktail in the hand that isn't holding the beaters.


Ingredients:

250g unsalted butter, softened

250g caster sugar

250g self-raising flour

Pinch of salt

4 medium eggs

4 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

24 marshmallows

1 Jar of Fluff

Let's get making:

1. Preheat oven to 190°C or Gas Mark 5.
2. Beat the butter in a large bowl until it is softened. Add the sugar, flour, salt, eggs, milk and vanilla and whisk until the mixture is smooth.
3. Put one marshmallow in each paper case.
4. Spoon the mixture into the cases, covering the marshmallow
5. Place muffin tin in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, until cupcakes are a light golden colour.
6. Remove the tins from the oven. Leave the cupcakes to cool in the tins for a few minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.
7. When cool, spread a generous helping of Fluff onto each cupcake, (avoiding the temptation of spooning it straight into your mouth).