Sunday 5 July 2015

Ice cream cupcakes

These are just too cute. They look like real ice cream cones but in my opinion these are much better. I do like ice cream though I don't eat it often. I much prefer cupcakes!

You need to buy the ice cream cups rather than cones so be careful which pack you pick up in the supermarket! You could make any flavour cake recipe and I put a twist in mine by scooping out some of the centre and filling with raspberry jam. And don't forget the flakes!

Ingredients:
125g caster sugar
125g butter/margarine 
125g self raising flour
2 eggs
3 tbsp jam
Buttercream
6 flakes cut in half (from the packs you get for ice cream if not then 3 normal flakes 
Sprinkles

Preheat the oven to 190/170 fan and fill a muffin tin with ice cream cups so they stand up. Cream the butter and sugar together. Mix in the eggs and flour and fill each of the cones about 2/3rds full.


Bake for 20-25 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. Prick the bottoms with a skewer a few times to let some of the steam out to avoid the cup going soggy inside and leave to cool on a wire rack. 


Remove some of the centre of each cup and fill with raspberry jam. 


had some buttercream left over already but a quantity of 250g butter and 500g icing sugar will be more than enough. Pipe with a star nozzle in swirls onto each cone and top with a flake and sprinkles 



Thursday 2 July 2015

Sweetie traybake

It's my son's school BBQ tomorrow and they need cake! I've seen a few of these around and have loads of spare sweets (yeah I know!) so decided to kill two birds with one stone.

This is an orange coloured and flavoured sponge slathered in white chocolate and topped with sweets. You can use any sweets you like of course. Super simple, super quick and what child is going to say no to a slice?!

Ingredients:
8oz caster sugar 
8oz butter/margarine 
8oz self raising flour
4 eggs
Orange food colouring
Orange flavouring
200g white chocolate 
Lots of sweets

Preheat the oven to 190/170 fan and line a 9x9 baking tin with grease proof paper.

Beat together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy then add half the flour and two eggs. Beat in then add the rest of the flour and the remaining two eggs along with the food colouring and flavouring (I added 1tbsp as mine is quite weak).


Pour into the tin and bake for 25 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. 

Leave to cool then melt the chocolate. I melt mine in the microwave on half power and check every 30 seconds (this only took 60 to melt as it's very hot today). Pour over the cooled cake, leave a couple of minutes then adorn with the sweetie selection of your choice.

This cake has to put a smile on your face!




Wednesday 1 July 2015

Violet Cream Cupcakes

Both my mum and I are huge fans of Rose and Violet creams. We usually buy each other a box for birthday and Christmas presents. Dark chocolate covering rose and violet flavoured centres. Yummy!

The supermarket we visit on holiday in Spain sells rose jam and violet jam (made in France). Two years ago I used the rose jam to make Turkish delight cupcakes. In May I bought a jar of violet jam this time with a view to using it to make a cake for my mum's birthday. I decided not to make a cake though as violet is a unique taste and not one everyone likes, so I decided to make cupcakes instead and I only made 6. I baked chocolate cupcakes using my devil's food recipe but flavoured it with violet flavouring (I bought it in Lakeland).



I filled the centres of the cupcakes with the violet jam then topped with plain buttercream coloured purple. I decided not to add any flavouring to the buttercream as there was enough violet flavour in the cupcake batter and jam. 

If you really can't stand violets or can't get your hands on the jam, this recipe works perfectly for any jam you'd like in the centre of your cupcakes. You could even use marmalade and flavour your cake batter with orange essence. Lakeland sells loads of different flavourings you could use.

The recipe here makes 12 cupcakes 

  • 50g cocoa powder
  • 100g dark brown muscovado sugar
  • 250 ml boiling water
  • 125g soft unsalted butter
  • 150g caster sugar
  • 225g plain flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • 2 large eggs
  • 15-20 drops of violet flavouring 
  • --------
  • 250g very soft butter
  • 500g icing sugar

  • Preheat the oven to 170c fan.

    Put the cocoa and dark muscovado sugar into a bowl and pour in the boiling water. Whisk to mix, then set aside. 
    Cream the butter and caster sugar together, beating well until pale and fluffy then add the violet flavouring.

    Measure the flour, baking powder and bicarb together in another bowl, and set aside for a moment. Add 1 egg to the creamed butter and sugar, followed by a scoopful of flour mixture, then the second egg. Keep mixing and incorporate the rest of the dried ingredients for the cupcakes, then finally mix and fold in the cocoa mixture, scraping the bowl well with a spatula.

    It's a runny batter so I used a spoon to fill the muffin cases until 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean then leave to cool reading for filling and frosting.


    You can now make the buttercream. Beat together butter and icing sugar until combined then beat for a good 5 minutes until it lightens in colour. If it's too stiff add a splash of milk. Then mix in some purple colouring (I use gel colours)


    I have a cupcake corer (check me out!) so I used that to take the middles out of the cupcakes. If you don't have one just use a knife to cut the centres out. Fill each cupcake centre with the jam then pipe each one with buttercream.

    Happy birthday Mum!!xx