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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Cinnamon Apple Loaf

I wasn't planning on baking anything today but I was browsing Pinterest this morning and changed my mind. There are so many yummy recipes that people pin on there. I really wanted to make these quinoa cookies but didn't have all the necessary ingredients... I've saved that to try out another day. Instead I found this Cinnamon Apple Loaf recipe and I had everything needed to make it. The recipe is fairly simple and was easy to whip up. I changed some minor things from the original recipe, such as doubling the cinnamon, different brown sugar, and used almond milk instead of normal milk. I layered the batter and apples as described in the original but wished I would have swirled the apples in the middle into the batter. The loaf also took a lot longer to cook then 30 minutes for me. I checked every 10 minutes to see if it was done but ended up having it in there for a whole hour. The loaf turned out great though! It is a nice vanilla cake like texture with the apple cinnamon mixture layer in the middle and then a nice crunch on top with the second layer of apple cinnamon mixture. It's not too sweet either which makes it nice for a little breakfast treat. I would make this again and maybe add some type of nut into the apple cinnamon mixture. Try out this yummy recipe soon! (Oh and excuse the photos... they are from my mobile.)

Recipe by AllRecipes.com

Ingredients:
1/3 cup brown or muscovado sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2/3 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 3/4 tsps baking powder
1/2 cup milk (I used almond)
1 apple, peeled and chopped

Steps:
Preheat oven to 350F/ 175C. Grease and flour a 9x5-inch loaf pan. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Beat white sugar and butter together in a medium bowl using an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until incorporated; add vanilla extract. Combine flour and baking powder together in a small bowl then fold into creamed butter mixture. Mix milk into batter until smooth. Mix together the chopped apples and brown sugar mixture. Pour half the batter into the prepared loaf pan; add half the apples and brown sugar mixture. Lightly pat down into batter or swirl with a knife into the batter. Pour the remaining batter over apple layer; top with remaining apples and brown sugar mixture. Lightly pat this into batter. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the loaf comes out clean, about 40 minutes and then check every 10 minutes until the toothpick comes out clean.

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Book Reviews and More Giveaways!

I was recently sent copies of the books pictured below to have a little review of them but also to give away 3 copies of each book, 6 lucky readers will win one of the books!! If you didn't enter or win the last giveaway, make sure you enter this one using the rafflecopter form at the end of this post. Winners will be selected on the 9th of January 2013! Winners will be contacted by email and must be over 18 with a valid UK or Ireland mailing address. Good luck!

Marshmallow Madness - I was quite excited to receive this book as I love marshmallows but never thought about making them at home. I always thought that the process would be extremely messy and the marshmallows wouldn't come out nice but after reading the introduction with Shauna's insight, knowledge, and tips on how to make marshmallows and make them well. I was ready to get in the kitchen right away, but to make them successfully you really need a stand mixer... I have one of those but someone in this household has made my stand mixer unusable!! So until that gets fixed no marshmallow making for me, which stinks but I'm hoping the unnamed person will be fixing it soon as there are so many recipes that I want to tryout in this book. There are 6 sections in this book starting with the classic marshmallows, fresh and fruity, happy hour, for the mallow connoisseur, kids in a candy store, and then ending with other fluffy puffy desserts. My top picks from each of the chapters to try out would be jam-filled marshmallows, key lime pie marshmallows, buttered rum marshmallows, the elvis marshmallow, pb&j marshmallows, and blonde rocky road. Those would be the first few recipes that I would want to try out to begin with but there are many more unique marshmallow recipes in this book. The photos are beautifully shot however I wish there were more. Shauna has really taken marshmallow making to the next level and I can't wait to start making marshmallows and maybe even come up with my own unique flavour combination idea!

Pure Vanilla - With most recipe books mainly focusing on chocolate, it is refreshing to see a book focus on vanilla! Most books start with a short introduction, but this book's introduction is 20 pages giving a brief history of vanilla, from orchid to extract, origins, varieties and tasting notes, as well as frequently asked questions. I learned quite a few things after reading this section.  Shauna has divided the book into 6 chapters, breakfasts, cakes and pies, cookies and bars, candies and confections, custard and creams, and finally drinks! There are some classic recipes in there but Shauna has turned the creative juices up for this recipe book. Here are my top picks from each chapter, Vanilla Brown Sugar & Black Pepper Bacon, Tres Leches Cake, Salted Vanilla Chip Oatmeal Cookies, Golden Pear Vanilla Jam, Nutty Vanilla Spread, and a Vanilla Mojito. These are just a few that screamed out to me that I would love to try making first from this wonderful. Again the photos throughout the book are beautiful but wish there were more! So forget about the chocolate and check out this book to make many yummy vanilla inspired recipes from Shauna.

Which book would you love to add to your collection?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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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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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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Blueberry Muffins with Yoghurt Icing

I was sent a lovely package from www.mybakes.co.uk a few weeks ago and I have been wanting to try out the items ever since. Today, I decided to bake Blueberry Muffins and use the Simply Melt Yoghurt Buttons sent to me. On the back of the package was a recipe for Blueberry Muffins and I thought I would try that out too. So, are you wondering what I thought of the yoghurt buttons?! They made a lovely icing for the muffins, great flavour and a nice addition to blueberry muffins. The recipe for the blueberry muffins was very good as well. I will definitely be using this recipe and the yoghurt buttons again, just need to find a place that sells them! I think they might just have to send me some more, until I can find them locally. If you see them in your local shop, you should definitely give them a try. Or in the mean time, if anyone has a yummy yoghurt icing recipe to send me, I would love to try it out.

Recipe 
Inspired by mybakes.co.uk 
Ingredients:

2 eggs
240ml milk
120ml sunflower oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
200g granulated sugar
375g plain flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
175g blueberries
1 x Renshaw Yoghurt Simply Melt
Decorate with a few extra blueberries


Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F
2. Place the eggs, oil, sugar, vanilla extract and milk in a large mixing bowl and quickly beat together.
3. In another bowl, thoroughly mix the flour, salt and baking powder.
4. Add the dry ingredient mix to the liquid, and roughly mix it in - it does not have to be absolutely smooth.
5. Stir in the blueberries.
6. Fill a muffin tray with paper muffin cases, and then fill each case to near the top with the muffin mixture.
7. Bake the muffins for 25 minutes.
8. Allow the muffins to cool before decorating.
9. Melt Yoghurt Simply Melt following the guide lines on the packet and drizzle over the cooled muffins.

This completes number 32 of My 100 list!

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Rice BlogHop: Tiramisu Rice Pudding

Last month, I entered my Cake in a Mug to be part of a bloghop focused on cakes! My cake got quite a lot of "likes" and is now the most popular post on my blog. I was then emailed shortly after asking if I would like to participate co-hosting in the next bloghop, focused on rice. I wasn't sure to begin with as I had no idea what I would make with rice but with emails of encouragement from fellow bloggers and a good search on the net, I found a recipe! There are so many things you can make with rice, but I wanted to make something unique and that I have never heard of or had before. I came across a site with loads of all different rice recipes. I wanted to make a dessert so I had a browse and then I saw it... Tiramisu Rice Pudding! I had to make it. It is a really easy recipe to make and very yummy, quite a filling dessert and could easily serve 8 people. Enjoy with lots of whipped cream!

Recipe
Inspired by Riceland
Ingredients:
1 US cup uncooked long grain rice
2 1/2 US cups milk
1 Tbsp. instant coffee granules
1/4 tsp. salt
2 1/2 US cups fresh whipping cream
2 Tbsp. icing sugar
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 US cup marscarpone cheese
1/2 US cup sugar
2 Tbsp. coffee liqueur
Unsweetened cocoa powder




Steps:

1. COMBINE in a medium sauce pan, the rice, milk, instant coffee, and salt. Stir occasionally until mixture has come to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Move to a large bowl, cover and refrigerate until chilled.
2. WHIP 1 1/4 US cup of cream together with 1 tbsp icing sugar and 1/2 tsp almond extract, set aside. In another bowl, whip 1 1/4 US cup of cream together with 1 tbsp icing sugar and 1/2 vanilla extract, set aside.
3. MIX together the chilled rice, almond whipped cream, marscarpone cheese, sugar, and coffee liqueur in a large serving bowl. Once thoroughly mixed together, cover with vanilla whipped cream. Sprinkle with cocoa powder. Cover and chill for at least an hour then serve.

Please join in on the #ricelove fun by linking up any rice recipe from the month of September.  Don't forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #ricelove event. The twitter hashtag is #ricelove. Co-Hosted by: Baker Street, Bloc de Recetas, Bon a Croquer, Cafe Terra, Chef Pandita, The Daily Palette, Elephant Eats, Food Wanderings, Hobby and More, Knitstamatic, Mis Pensamientos, Simply Reem, The Professional Palate, The Queen's Notebook, The Spicy Rd.

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Shane's 26th Birthday - Grape Poke Cake

So the past couple of weeks, I have been trying to figure what I was going to make for Shane's birthday. I was searching the net for something unique and came across the Poke Cake. I knew he would love it and I wanted to do it in his favorite flavor Grape. Luckily we had brought back some Jell-o from our recent trip to the States. The only item I couldn't find was White Cake Mix, which was fine, so I searched for a homemade version. There are so many out there and I didn't have time to test it out with the Poke Cake recipe so I decided on this White Butter Cake. The White Butter Cake was lovely but not the right cake for the Poke Cake recipe, you will see below in the pictures. The Jello just soaked right through the cake rather then staying in the poke holes. So it had the great flavor just not the the same streaky line effect. Does anyone have a recipe that replicates the Betty Crocker White Cake? Guess I will just have to do some more experimenting! Shane didn't seem to care as he loved the cake and has already had 3 big squares of cake! At the end of the day, that's all that matters!

Recipe  
Courtesy of KraftRecipes with my little tweaks
Ingredients:

1 pkg. white cake mix or use a homemade cake

1 US cup boiling water

1 pkg. (3 oz.) JELL-O Grape Flavor Gelatin

1/2 US cup cold water

300ml Whipping Cream

1 Tbs Icing Sugar

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Handful of red grapes, chopped

Purple Glimmer Sugar

Steps: 

1. PREPARE cake batter and bake as directed on package for 13x9-inch pan. Cool cake in pan 15 min. Pierce cake with large fork at 1/2-inch intervals. 
2. ADD boiling water to gelatin mix in small bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Stir in cold water; pour over cake. Refrigerate 3 hours. 
3. WHIP the cream together with the icing sugar and vanilla extract. Frost the cake. 
4. CHOP the grapes into quarters and put into a sandwich bag. Pour some purple glimmer sugar in the bag. Shake the bag up so the sugar sticks to the grapes. Scatter the covered grapes all over the frosted cake. 

Happy 26th Birthday, Shane!

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Coffee Granita

I was watching the Good Cook show the other day, and he was making a Coffee Granita. I have never heard of it before but it seemed like a great recipe to try out for the summer. Granita is a semi-frozen dessert made from sugar, water and various flavorings. Originally from Sicily, although available all over Italy, it is related to sorbet and italian ice. It is extremely easy to put together and tastes very nice. I have modified his recipe, see it below. Or try your own combination of ingredients. I am going to try making some fruit granitas in the future. This recipe completes number 85 of "My 100" list. 

My Recipe
Coffee Granita

• 4.5 Cups Double Strength Coffee (I used 10 scoops of coffee grounds)
• 170g Sugar
• 225ml Milk
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 tsp Almond Extract

Whipped Cream

• 250ml Double Cream
• 1 Tbs Icing Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Toppings

• Cinnamon (optional)
• Demerara Sugar (optional)
• Caramel (optional)

Steps Brew coffee  Pour sugar into a mixing bowl, add in the vanilla and almond extracts. Once coffee is brewed, pour into mixing bowl and whisk everything together Pour into a 8" x 8" glass pan Place carefully into freezer Check in an hour, use a fork to rake through the mixture Continue to check every 30 minutes and rake through the mixture It took 5 hours for mine to complete, but it all depends on your freezer Once you are ready to serve, combine the 3 ingredients for the whip cream. Whip it to a soft peak Scoop on top of the granita Sprinkle with your choice of topping

Last addition of milk

Ready for the freezer

Halfway there

Almost done

Ready to eat!

Whipped Cream Topping

 Enjoy!

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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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