Very Lemony Cupcakes

A couple week's ago our friend was having her baby shower and I wanted to try out a new yummy cupcake recipe for her. I went to look for a cupcake recipe from my Hummingbird Bakery books and forgot that I haven't tried out their newest book, Home Sweet Home. (As of today, March 30, 2014, the book is only £5!! Great price!) I had a look through but couldn't find one that I really wanted to make for the baby shower. So what did I do?! I changed a recipe slightly and combined it with another one. I started off with their Key Lime Cupcake recipe and changed everything to lemons and didn't make the custard. Then I had to figure what kind of frosting to pair up with the tart lemon flavour. I decided on making Lemon Cream Cheesing frosting from another recipe in the book. I ended up with a vanilla sponge, filled with lemon curd, and topped with lemon cream cheese frosting. They turned out lovely and went down well at the baby shower. The tart lemon curd was balanced by the cake and cream cheese frosting. I was really happy with how they turned out and the yummy cupcakes disappeared fast!! It was also the first time that I've made lemon curd... I had no idea how easy it is to make and can't wait to make it again.

To make this recipe follow the curd recipe on page 52 of Home Sweet Home, replacing the limes with lemons and don't use the double cream. Then on the same page, follow the sponge recipe exactly. Then on page 106, follow the frosting recipe exactly. Then you have very yummy Very Lemony Cupcakes, perfect for Spring time! If you don't have the Home Sweet Home recipe book yet, go out and get it! Lots of yummy recipes!
 

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Candy Cane Mocha Cupcakes

Happy December everyone!! To get into the holiday spirit, I decided to make Candy Cane Mocha cupcakes and use these reindeer cupcakes holders from PartyDelight.co.uk. The holders come with cupcake liners as well and thought it would be perfect for this recipe! The recipe comes from the Hummingbird Bakery book and I added my own little touch to the recipe. I love mochas and with the addition of peppermint candy canes, it made these cupcakes very festive and yummy! I tried crushing the candy canes but made a huge mess, so popped them into a food chopper and pulverised them to little bits. After that, I added quite a few teaspoons to the frosting and saved some to sprinkle on top. I still have lots left over, so I need to think of another recipe to use the candy cane bits. Try this recipe out for yourself and get into the holiday spirit. I'm off to have another one of these yummy cupcakes!

Recipe by Hummingbird Bakery: Cake Days

Ingredients:
Cake:
240ml whole milk
15g hot chocolate powder
5g instant espresso powder
80g unsalted butter, softened
280g caster sugar
240g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs

Frosting:
50ml whole milk
30g hot chocolate powder
500g icing sugar
160g unsalted butter, softened
crushed candy canes, to decorate

Steps:
Preheat oven to 190C/375F and line a muffin tin with muffin cases. Gently warm the milk, without letting it boil, then remove from heat and mix in hot chocolate powder and espresso powder, stir until dissolved then set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt on a low speed until the ingredients resemble fine breadcrumbs. Place the eggs in the bowl with the milk mixture and whisk together by hand. Add 3/4 of the milk mixture to the dry mix and combine together, then increase the speed and add the remaining milk mixture. Continue to mix until smooth. Divide the batter between the cases, fill them to two-thirds full. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes. Leave to cool slightly before removing from the tin, then place them on a wire rack to cool completely. FROSTING: Gently heat the milk, add in the hot chocolate powder, dissolve and set aside to cool. Mix the icing sugar and butter until no lumps of butter remain and then gradually add the hot chocolate milk. Once this has all been added increase the speed and mix until light and fluffy. Top each cake with a generous spoonful of frosting and smooth with a palette knife or pipe frosting on and decorate. Decorate with crushed candy canes or add some into the frosting or do both!

If you would like to buy the Reindeer Cupcake holders, you can order them from PartyDelights.co.uk, they are perfect for a holiday party.

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Earl Grey Tea Cupcakes

My friend Jennifer came over to do some baking with me. She looked through my baking books a few weeks ago and wanted to try out these Earl Grey cupcakes from the Hummingbird Bakery book. I love Earl Grey tea but wasn't sure what it would be like as a cupcake. As always the Hummingbird Bakery recipes are super easy to make and we only added an extra teabag to the recipe. Not only was it was an easy recipe but it was very yummy. The cake had a subtle Earl Grey flavour, I would use more teabags and possibly infuse them with the milk mixture as well next time. The frosting had a wonderful Earl Grey flavour and really complimented the cake. We even sprinkled some of the dried tea on the cakes, we liked a stronger Earl Grey flavour. Try this recipe out yourself and I am going to try out their suggestion of using pepermint tea instead, which I imagine will be just as yummy as well. Can you think of any other teas which would be nice as a cupcake?

Recipe by Hummingbird Bakery: Cake Days

Ingredients:
Cake:
4 Earl Grey teabags
3 tbsp just boiled water
80g unsalted butter, softened
280g caster sugar
240g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt
200ml milk
2 large eggs

Frosting:
50ml whole milk
500g icing sugar
160g unsalted butter, softened.

Steps:
Preheat oven to 190C/375F and line a muffin tin with muffin cases. Place the teabags in a small bowl and add the hot water, allow to infuse for 30 minutes. In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt on a low speed until the ingredients resemble fine breadcrumbs. Place the milk and eggs in the bowl with the tea and whisk together by hand. Add 3/4 of the tea mixture to the dry mix and combine together, then increase the speed and add the remaining milk mixture. Continue to mix until smooth. Divide the batter between the cases, fill them to two-thirds full. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes. Leave to cool slightly before removing from the tin, then place them on a wire rack to cool completely. FROSTING: Place the used tea bags in a small bowl with the milk. Mix the icing sugar and butter until no lumps of butter remain and then gradually add the tea infused milk. Once this has all been added increase the speed and mix until light and fluffy. Top each cake with a generous spoonful of frosting and smooth with a palette knife or pipe frosting on and decorate.

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Root Beer Float Cupcakes

We were celebrating our friend's birthday this weekend and I wanted to make cupcakes for her. I had a few ideas and wanted something summery as it has been raining pretty much non stop for weeks now! I remembered the cola cupcakes I made last year and thought root beer float cupcakes would be fun and yummy! The cupcake turned out great, very yummy and moist with a subtle root beer flavour. I'm not sure what happened to the frosting this time... I have used this recipe before with no problems but it didn't work this time, it was too runny and I didn't have time to fix it. I made it work it just wasn't as fluffy as usual but still yummy. Everyone loved them, we all had a couple. Now I just need the rain to stop so I can run off the calories!

Recipe inspired by Hummingbird Bakery: Cake Days

Ingredients:
Cake:
80g unsalted butter, softened
280g caster sugar
240g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp root beer syrup
200ml whole milk
2 large eggs

Frosting:
500g icing sugar
160g unsalted butter, softened
2 tbsp root beer syrup
1 tbsp marshmallow syrup
2 tbsp whole milk

Cherries and straws, to decorate

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Steps:
Preheat oven to 190C/375F and line a muffin tin with muffin cases. In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt on a low speed until the ingredients resemble fine breadcrumbs. Place the root beer syrup, milk, and eggs in a small bowl and whisk together by hand. Add 3/4 of the milk mixture to the dry mix and combine together, then increase the speed and add the remaining milk mixture. Continue to mix until smooth. Divide the batter between the cases, fill them to two-thirds full. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes. Leave to cool slightly before removing from the tin, then place them on a wire rack to cool completely. FROSTING: Mix the icing sugar and butter until no lumps of butter remain and the mixture is still powdery. Add in root beer syrup, marshmallow syrup, and milk and mix slowly until combined then increase the speed to high. Continue mixing until the frosting is light and fluffy. Top each cake with a generous spoonful of frosting and smooth with a palette knife or pipe frosting on then decorate with a cherry and straw.

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Turkish Apple Tea Cupcakes

I've been wanting to make cupcakes for awhile now as it has been too long since I last made any. I decided to try out another Hummingbird Bakery recipe as it has always given me great results, love this book!

I saw this recipe, they called them Apple Blossom cupcakes, but I had Turkish Apple Tea powder in my cupboard, so called them that but pretty sure they are similar. The powder reminded of the Hot Apple Cider drinks I used to have as a kid in the States, so was quite happy to find something similar in the England. 

These cupcakes turned out wonderfully moist! I loved the strong apple flavor throughout the sponge and frosting, it tasted very refreshing and so yummy. This is a great recipe to enjoy on a warm spring day dreaming of summer!

Recipe by Hummingbird Bakery: Cake Days

Ingredients:
Cake:
4 tbsp Turkish Apple Tea powder
3 tbsp hot water
80g unsalted butter, softened
280g caster sugar
240g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

200ml milk
2 large eggs

Frosting:
4 tbsp Turkish Apple Tea powder
50ml whole milk
500g icing sugar
160g unsalted butter, softened

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Steps:
Preheat oven to 190C/375F and line a muffin tin with muffin cases. Place the apple tea powder in a small bowl and add the hot water, allow to dissolve completely. In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt on a low speed until the ingredients resemble fine breadcrumbs. Place the milk and eggs in the bowl with the apple tea and whisk together by hand. Add 3/4 of the tea mixture to the dry mix and combine together, then increase the speed and add the remaining milk mixture. Continue to mix until smooth. Divide the batter between the cases, fill them to two-thirds full. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes. Leave to cool slightly before removing from the tin, then place them on a wire rack to cool completely. FROSTING: Dissolve the apple tea powder in the milk. Mix the icing sugar and butter until no lumps of butter remain and then gradually add the apple milk. Once this has all been added increase the speed and mix until light and fluffy. Top each cake with a generous spoonful of frosting and smooth with a palette knife or pipe frosting on and decorate.

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Meatloaf Cupcake with Roasted Beetroot Mash

I was recently challenged to come up with a recipe based on the colour Purple. I had no idea what I was going to make and was brainstorming for a few days. I finally came up with this little creation with inspiration from friends and the net. I loved these little meatloaf cupcakes with the roasted beetroot mash. They turned out great, loved all the different flavours I packed in! I was very happy with them and it was fun to make, I will definitely be making these again.

Hope you like my recipe for the Appliances Online British Ovens Rainbow Cookbook, check out their blog to see what other bloggers created for the other colors of the rainbow.

Recipe 

Ingredients:
Meatloaf:
500g mince beef
400g mince turkey
1 red onion, chopped
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp salt
1 cup panko crumbs
1 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Glaze:
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp chipotle chilli sauce

Frosting:
3 medium potatoes, peeled & quartered
3 roasted beetroots
200 ml double cream 
100g butter

Steps:
Preheat oven to 180C, quarter slice up 3 beetroots and place in a roasting tin. Roast for 30 minutes and let cool completely, remove skin, and blitz in a mini chopper. While the beetroot is roasting, make the mashed potato frosting.  Place chopped potatoes in a saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until tender. Drain and return to pan. Add remaining "frosting" ingredients; mash to smooth consistency. While those are cooking, grease a 12 cup muffin tin. In a medium bowl, mix together all meatloaf ingredients with your hands until fully combined. Divide equally between the 12 muffin cups.  In a small bowl, mix together all glaze ingredients and top each cupcake with about 1 teaspoon. Bake for 30 minutes. Rest for 5 minutes then remove from tin.
 

I have also submitted this to March's AlphaBakes hosted by
The More than Occasional Baker and Caroline Makes.

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Cake Truffles

Within the last week I made 2 batches of Espresso Cupcakes, one to try out on my work colleagues and then another batch for this past Thursday in London. I had a few left over but not enough to take into work and too many for me to eat the rest, so I thought I would try something out. CAKE TRUFFLES! I would say these are similar to a cake pop without a stick. It is really versatile as well, as you could make this to accompany any cupcake recipe you make. The only trouble I had with these is trying to rush it and some of the cake truffles lost their shape when being dipped into the chocolate coating, I know to be patient next time I make these. They turned out great though and nice to be able to use left over cupcakes. What kind of Cake Truffles will you be making?

Recipe
Makes about 20 Cake Truffles
Ingredients:

• 5 frosted cupcakes
• 150g chocolate of your choice

Steps:

1. PLACE the cupcakes into a mixing bowl, using 2 forks mash up and completely mix the cupcake into frosting.
2. SCOOP out small balls of cake and roll between your palms until they are round and place on a tray lined with baking paper. 
3. REFRIGERATE the balls for about 30 minutes, so they keep their shape when dipping into the chocolate.
4. PREPARE the chocolate, to do this you need to break it into small chunks and then put it into a heatproof bowl within a gently simmering pan of water. The chocolate should not be stirred until it has completely melted.
5. DIP the balls into the melted chocolate one at a time and then place back onto the lined tray. If desired, add decorations to the top of the balls before the chocolate sets.
6. REFRIGERATE the truffles to set the coating completely, about 20 minutes. These cake truffles are best served at room temperature, and can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. 

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Espresso Cupcakes

This past Thursday, I was invited to attend a casting call in London for the show "Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard". I wasn't sure what I was going to make and had lots of ideas flying through my head. I decided to go with espresso cupcakes and used my tea cup baking cups! I did a test run earlier in the week and took a batch into work, everyone really enjoyed them. I knew this would be a good one to take to the casting call and with the amount of caffeine in these cupcakes it would definitely give them a pick me up. I feel like the interview went really well and now just have to wait to hear back from them with a decision. Fingers crossed!

Recipe

Inspired by Hummingbird Bakery
Ingredients: 
For the cake:
240ml milk
20g instant espresso powder
80g unsalted butter, softened
240g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
For the frosting:
20ml milk
16g instant espresso powder
500g icing sugar
160g unsalted butter, softened
Chocolate covered coffee beans to decorate

Steps:

1. Preheat the over to 190C/375F and fill a cupcake tin with cupcake cases. 
2. Lightly warm the milk in the microwave for about a minute and dissolve the espresso powder in it, mix well and place aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt on a low speed until it is like a breadcrumb texture.
4. Add the eggs and vanilla extract into the espresso mixture, whisk by hand until combined. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and mix on low speed, then increase speed until everything is mixed together and you have a smooth batter.
5. Pour the mixture in to the cases, filling each case about two-thirds of the case. The mixture should make about 12 to 16 cupcakes. Bake in the oven for 18 to 20 minutes. Leave in the tin for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting the cakes.
6. Now to make the frosting, warm the milk in the microwave for about 10 seconds and dissolve the espresso powder in it. Set aside to cool completely before adding in frosting mixture.
7. Beat together the butter and icing sugar, on a low speed until they are fully combined. Slowly start to add the espresso mixture, then once mixed in, increase the speed until the frosting is light and fluffly.
8. Decorate your cupcakes!

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Cupcakes vs Muffins: What is the difference?

Cupcakes Definition: a small cake baked in a pan having cuplike molds and typically frosted.	Muffins Definition: a quick bread baked in a pan having cuplike molds.

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Do a search on Google and there will be tons of pages arguing Cupcakes vs Muffins with lots of different theories, but I would like to simply define the difference with the simple definitions above. Do you agree?

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Vegan Chai Latte Cupcakes

I was looking through photos off of my old phone and found this one of Chai Latte Cupcakes! I went through a stage of vegan baking from the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World recipe book. It's a great book and has some really great cupcake creations. Try this recipe out and I bet no one would know they are vegan cupcakes. I will have to do some more recipes from this book and take better pictures with my camera.

Recipe
Courtesy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over...
Ingredients:
1 cup soy milk
4 black teabags
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup plain soy yogurt
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
pinch of ground pepper

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 375F and line a muffin tin with paper liners.
2. Heat soy milk to almost boiling in a small sauce pan. Add the tea bags, cover, and remove from heat. Let sit for 10 minutes.When ready, dunk teabags a few times in soy milk and squeeze gently to extract any soy milk before removing. Discard tea bags. Measure the soy milk and tea mixture and add more soy milk if it is less than 1 cup.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together oil, yogurt, sugar, vanilla and tea mixture until all yogurt lumps disappear. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, and pepper into wet ingredients. Mix until large lumps disappear, some small lumps are okay. Fill tins full and bake for 20 to 22 minutes.
4. Cool completely on a wire rack before decorating with icing sugar and cocoa powder.

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National Cupcake Week: Very Chocolatey Cupcakes with Marshmallow Buttercream Frosting

So, I finally got a chance to make some cupcakes this week. Wish I could have made some everyday for National Cupcake Week but I have been too busy! My friend from work, Becca, is moving to Australia and she had a leaving party last night. I wanted to make some cupcakes for her so I quickly whipped up 24 very chocolatey cupcakes with marshmallow buttercream frosting. I used the Hummingbird Bakery basic chocolate cupcake recipe but the batteries died on my scale as I was measuring the cocoa powder, so I have no idea how much cocoa I actually put in the cupcakes! It was more then the recipe called for, hence the new name very chocolatey cupcakes. I also tweaked the buttercream frosting recipe. The cupcake recipe can be found in the Hummingbird Bakery: Cake Days book, it is full of lovely and tasty recipes! Here is my recipe for the marshmallow buttercream frosting. Recipe Inspired by Hummingbird Bakery Ingredients: 500g icing sugar 160g unsalted butter 2Tbs whole milk 1Tbs marshmallow syrup 1/2tsp vanilla extract Steps: Put all ingredients into a large mixing bowl except the icing sugar.  Slowly add in the icing sugar in 3 batches, mix in very well!  Ready to frost 12 cupcakes.

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First Order Completed!

I received my first official order from a friend at work for her daughter's 18th birthday party. She wanted 60 cupcakes and some kind of American theme, as that was the theme of the party! I have never made that many cupcakes before but was ready for the challenge! We decided on making an American Flag out of cupcakes! Here are some pictures from the order!	Everything needed to make 60 cupcakes!

Icing sugar went EVERYWHERE!

I was really happy with how they turned out and loved doing it! R.I.P. hand mixer, it couldn't quite handle the 5th batch of thick buttercream frosting! I really need to save up for the stand mixer, so I can do more orders!

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Some Of My Past Baking

I was having a browse through my pictures and found some from when I have baked in the past. Most of the pictures were taken with my mobile phone, so not the best quality. I have added a link to some of the pictures below. I wish I would have taken more pictures but will do for any future baking!

Monkey Bread

Shane's 25th birthday cake 2010 (Tunnel of Fudge)

Flapjack

Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes

Love making and eating Chocolate Pretzels

Mum-In-Law's birthday cake 2010

Vegan Vanilla and Chocolate cupcakes

Vegan Marbled Cupcakes

Cinnabon Cake - Blobs

I love Baking!

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