'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!

Each Poach Pear Plum

Poached pears are a yummy summer dessert and they must be good for you, it's only fruit! (Cooked in a rather sugary liquid but I won't tell if you don't.)
Each time I make this, I use a different fruit juice (mostly because I can't remember which one I used the last time), but the berry ones are the best. Those rich in colour are great as they dye the pears as they cook, making them a treat for the eye as well as the belly.


Serves 4
Ingredients:

4 pears, peeled
4 plums
600ml fruit juice
400ml water
1tsp vanilla essence
1 cinnamon stick

1. Boil the fruit juice and water in a pan, add the vanilla essence and cinnamon stick.
2. Turn down to simmer and then add the pears and plums. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Remove from the heat and allow to cool in the liquid.
4. Serve with natural yogurt, ice-cream or double cream. For an extra treat, top with dark chocolate sauce.

With the remaining juice in the pan, add some sugar, a splash of white wine and simmer down to make a lovely sauce to accompany your fruity feast.