Vanilla and Blueberry Swirl Cupcakes

I know it's been a while since I've published a post but it's been a long old couple of weeks. To sum it up:

• I've been baking (Duh). The recipe for vanilla and blueberry swirl cupcakes is below, of course. 
• Visiting my lovely friend Lauren for coffee and Japanese food. (After a coffee we had a mini dessert. It was so freaking adorable) 

  

  How cute is this? Little chocolate fudge cake with a cappuccino 

• Working at my amazing job with my crazy colleagues. We're starting our own inside jokes, which means I'm making progress-work wise.
• My boyfriend came over for a flying weekend visit. In fact, I managed to purchase a mortar board made out of chocolate! How epic cool is that?! He graduated about 2 weeks ago and I thought what better way to show my love than in chocolate form?  
  
  
  
  
  

He did share a little with me, but it didn't last very long. It lasted about 20 minutes. Yes it's been a wild couple of days. So lets get right down to these cupcakes:

These cupcakes are made with whole blueberries baked into the cupcake. It has a muffin-like texture, but the sweetness of the buttercream brings it back to its cupcake form. Also worth noting that the buttercream is made with blueberry juice. Not extract, not flavouring but the real blueberry juice. The good stuff. (Well as good as it gets in a cupcake form) Sometimes it's best to use the natural stuff. 

Makes 12 Cupcakes-For the cake you will need: Recipe adapted from Cupcake Heaven Magazine

·        225g plain flour

·        2 tsp baking powder

·        110g caster sugar

·        2 eggs

·        110ml sunflower oil

·        225ml milk

·        70g blueberries

For the Buttercream you will need:

·        55g unsalted butter

·        110ml double cream

·        ½ tsp vanilla extract

·        350g icing sugar

·        55g blueberries

·        Blue sugar to decorate

1.     Preheat oven to Gas Mark 6/200c/400f, and line 12 paper cases into the muffin tin. Sift the flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar.

2.     Whisk together the eggs and oil in a separate bowl until frothy, slowly whisk in the milk. Stir in the dry ingredients until just combined. Gently stir in blueberries.

3.     Spoon the mixture into papercases and bake for 20 minutes until risen and springy. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool.

4.     To make the frosting, beat the butter, then beat in the cream and vanilla with a wooden spoon. Sift the icing sugar and beat again. Put half of the frosting into another bowl.

5.     Press the blueberries into through a sieve to extract the juice.

6.     Add a little of the blueberry juice into half of the icing sugar. Only a little as the frosting can go sloppy.

7.     Spoon the two buttercreams into the fitted piping bag. Pipe a swirl onto each cupcake and decorate with coloured sugar. 

Have a great Bank Holiday weekend! Also don't forget it's Bake it Yourself Day on Monday!

Honey and Banana Cake Revisited

I know I'm a little late with my this post but its been brought to my attention that I've got to do some university work during the summer. During the summer. It's a sin. It hurts my head thinking about it. 
I've been working at my new job and I saw some banana that weren't good enough to serve to customers. They were going to get thrown away! Now what do you do with really ripe bananas? You bake them into something fab! This cake is way better to serve to customers rather then a boring banana. 

Since moving from London I only packed a single suitcase. My whole life in one suitcase. Needless to say that I couldn't bring down a single recipe book so I wanted to revisit a recipe that had already been published on the blog. The Banana and Honey Cake
that my friend Louise had given the recipe to me is a cake that often gets baked when I've got some manky banana's that need to be used up. To make it even quicker, skip out the icing and just drizzle a little honey on top.  

Ingredients needed:

• 100g unsalted butter
• 6 tbsp honey
• 300g self-raising flour
• 1tsp baking powder
• 1tsp cinnamon
• 150g brown sugar
• 2 ripe banana's 
• 250ml milk
• 2 eggs, beaten

Equipment needed:

• 450g loaf tin
• small saucepan
• tablespoon
• sieve
• 2 large bowls
• fork
• wooden spoon
• metal spoon
• skewer/knife
• foil

1.     Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4/180c/350f, and grease and line your loaf tin.

Step 2. Add t

2.     Melt butter with the honey in a small saucepan.

3.     Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a large bowl, add the sugar and stir.

This is my mashy face

Look at the intense concentration 

Step 4. Add the melted butter and honey. 

4.     Mash the bananas, mix them with the milk and eggs, and then add the melted butter and honey.

Step 5. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients

5.     Pour the banana mixture into the dry ingredients, and fold it in with a metal spoon.

Step 6. Cover with foil and bake

6.     Pour the mixture into the loaf tin, cover loosely with tin foil and bake for 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into cake comes out clean.

Orange Cream Cheese Icing. 

As said before, if you haven't got time to make a frosting, just try heating some more honey and brush it on top. 

• 175g cream cheese
• 325g icing sugar
• 125g unsalted butter
• the zest of one orange

Equipment needed:

• Sift
• 2 bowls
• Hand mixer
• Knife

1.     Sift the icing sugar in one of the bowls

Step 2. Mix all the other ingredients together

2.     Mix all the other ingredients together in the other bowl.

Step 3. Combine all the ingredients together

3.     Once combined, mix the icing sugar a little at a time. 

4.     Spread the icing onto the cooled banana cake. 

5. Decorate with something nice such as sprinkles or fruit slices.

Have an excellent week! Also, don't forget to check me out on BlogLovin'