Fat Friday #49 Natural Red Velvet Cupcakes

I've always loved the look of red velvet cakes and cupcakes. I've made them before but was always a little off put by the amount of red food colouring. I stumbled across this recipe in one of my favourite books and wanted to try it for a group of friends who were coming over for afternoon tea. Its made with beetroot and raspberries (there is a little food colouring to add a rich colour but you can omit this if you like) so its as natural as it can get. 

Recipe Adapted from Primrose Celebrations by Lisa Thomas and Martha Swift
Beetroot Puree :

• 1 raw beatroot
• 35g frozen raspberries
• 1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 
• 1/2 tablespoon cold water

Equipment:

• Blender
• Chopping board
• Knife
• Peeler
• Bowl

Method:
1) Peel and chop the beetroot into cubes. Place in the blender with the other ingredients.
2)Whizz for 5 minutes, scraping the sides from time to time to make sure that the puree is really smooth.
3)Once smooth place in a bowl to one side. 

Buttercream Ingredients:

• 80g unsalted butter
• 160g cream cheese
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 560g icing sugar

Equipment:

• Handwhisk
• Bowl

Method:
1)Place all the ingredients into a bowl and mix with a hand whisk until light and fluffy.

Cupcakes Ingredients:

• 185g self-raising flour
• a pinch of salt
• 30g dark chocolate
• 60g unsalted butter
• 150g golden caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 55ml milk mixed with 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon natural red food colouring
• 115g of the beetroot puree

Equipment:

• Cupcake tray lined with cupcake liners
• Wire rack 
• Bowl x 2
• Hand held electric whisk
• Saucepan filled with hot water with a heatproof bowl on top/Microwave
• Sieve

Method:
1)Pre heat oven to GM 4/350f/180c.
2)Sift the flour and salt together in a bowl. Set aside. 
3) Melt the chocolate either in the microwave or on the heatproof bowl with hot water in a saucepan. Make sure the chocolate doesn't burn.
4)Place the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in another bowl and mix until light and fluffy. 
5)Add the melted chocolate to the egg and sugar mixture, and whisk again.
6)Pour in the milk and lemon liquid and food colour and mix on a low speed. Then add the beetroot puree and mix again!
7)Add the dry ingredients to the batter, mix and divide into the cupcake cases, filling them about 2/3 full.
8)Bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Once cool you can decorate as you like! I like to use a palette knife or a piping bag fitted with a circle nozzle. Of course sprinkled with some cute little sprinkle thingies too. 
Happy Friday! 

Fat Friday #47 Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Oh yeah! Cookie dough! One of my guilty pleasures. I never eat cake batter or biscuit doughs as I want to eat the baked product. But cookie dough is another thing, if there isn't enough to make a full cookie, I will eat it. When I saw this recipe for cookie dough inside a cupcake, it was definitely one for a Fat Friday.  Although, you'll need to start the day before to make the cookie dough so they have enough time to freeze. 

Recipe (Adapted from Primrose Bakery Everyday by Martha Swift) 
Cookie Dough Ingredients:

• 50g unsalted butter
• 75g golden caster sugar
• 75g flour
• 30g dark chocolate chopped into pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Equipment:

• Electric hand whisk/Wooden spoon
• Freezer friendly plate or tray
• Bowl

Method:
1) Place all the ingredients into a bowl and mix until combined
2) Using a set of scales (hopefully you used some to weigh out the ingredients!) weigh out 20g of cookie dough and roll into balls. (Note: they maybe a pain to roll but its worth it)
3)Put in the freezer to freeze overnight. 

Cupcake Ingredients:

• 170g unsalted butter
• 170g golden caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 170g self raising flour
• 45ml milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Equipment:

• Electric hand whisk/Wooden spoon
• Cupcake tin lined with 12 cupcake liners
• Bowl
• Wire rack

Method:

1) Preheat the oven to GM 4/180c/350f. Line the cupcake tin with cupcake wrapper.

2) Cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. 

3) Add the eggs in one at a time and mix until incorporated. 

4) Throw in the flour, milk and vanilla extract and beat again until no flour lumps are present.

5) Spoon the batter into the cupcake cases until they are 2/3 full.
6) Grab the frozen cookie balls that you made the day before, and place one ball in each of the cupcakes. You won't need to press them in, the batter should bake over them. 
7) Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cakes are golden brown on the top. 
8) Leave in the tin to cool for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Buttercream Ingredients:

• 150g unsalted butter
• 350g icing sugar, sieved
• 100g golden caster sugar
• pinch of salt
• 60g sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 35g dark chocolate pieces, chopped

Equipment:

• Electric hand whisk/Wooden spoon
• Sieve
• Bowl
• Piping bag fitted with a large circle nozzle/ palette knife

Method:

1) Place all the ingredients in bowl and beat until combined.

2) Once the cupcakes have cooled down, pipe a swirl on top or use a palette knife to spread onto each cupcake. 

Happy Friday!

Pumpkin Bakes

Need that hit of pumpkin now that autumn has hit? Check out our list right here!

1.Pumpkin Spice Syrup- Because we need this in every hot drink for the rest of autumn!

2.Horror Film Gory Cupcakes-These cupcakes are both adorable and horrific at the same time.

3.Pumpkin Pecan Bars-These always go down well at parties and are so moist. 

4. Pumpkin and Cheese Muffins- We needed a savoury one right?

Great for a snack or a super light lunch. 

Fat Friday #34 Hot Cross Cupcakes

Its not long until Easter creeps up on us and there's a number of treats that you bake at this time at year. In this case, hot cross buns are a well known Easter time treat. This recipe was designed to put all the flavour of a hot cross bun into a cute cupcake. Its a fairly easy recipe to master as well!   

Cupcakes Makes 12 Cupcakes (Recipe Adapted from The Cake Book by Jemma Wilson):

• 12g currants
• 50ml orange juice
• 125g self raising flour
• 100g caster sugar
• 25g soft dark brown sugar 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon mixed spice
• 20g mixed peel
• 135g unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tablespoons whole milk 
• 1/4 teaspoon golden syrup
• Chocolate Buttercream recipe here or Vanilla Butter Cream recipe here

Equipment:

• Muffin tin lined with muffin cases
• Piping bag
• Bowl x 2
• Jug
• Sieve
• Wire Rack
• Whisk
• Pastry brush
• Scissors

Method: 

1.Preheat oven to 170c/375f/gas mark 5.

2.Soak the currants in the orange juice for 30 minutes, then drain.

3.Put the dry ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine. Add the currants when drained.

4.Cream the butter and sugars together. Then add the eggs and beat to combine.

5.Add the milk and golden syrup to the sugar mixture, then whisk for 20 seconds, or until well combined. Then add the dry ingredients and mix again until incorporated.

6.Fill the papercases about 2/3 full with the cupcake batter mixture. 

7.Bake for 20 minutes. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

8. Meanwhile, warm the marmalade up in a saucepan and brush the tops of the cupcakes with a pastry brush.

9.Once cooled completely, decorate with a cross of vanilla (or chocolate) buttercream, using a piping bag.

 

Have a great weekend!

What I got For Christmas 2014

I'm very lucky to have friends and family who know me very well. They know that getting food and baking related gifts is always a winner. I'm so grateful for all my gifts this year, and I thought I would share with you readers what I got. (Its also a thank-you post as well :))  

One of the coolest notebooks that I've ever received is the 'Notes of a Baking Genius'. Which sums me up perfectly! Which my friends Lucy and Ben got me. I'm also in love with my cute cupcake little diary which I'll be documenting my blog post dates and college deadlines (Thanks Nan and Gramps). The baking dvd and book combo my mum got, when I have a moment I'll have to watch it (Thanks Mum!) Also, the tea towels my Mum got me as well, which are very pretty.

 I got the Great British Bake Off Showstoppers (thankies Sofia!) which I've been browsing for my next bake. Also, I got the latest Primrose Bakery book which is all about Christmas cakes and bakes (again thank you Mum). I haven't had a chance to look at this one, but I'm looking forward to reading it. Another fantastic gift is the green tea-towel which has written on here: "1. Bake Cake, 2. Accidentally eat it all myself." Again, Lucy and Ben nailed it, thank you!

Another couple of lovely gifts I got were from 2 good friends of mine, unfortunately I was too stupid to take any pictures of them. I opened them up at different times before Christmas and, I tend to get a bit over excited, so I ripped them to shreds. Firstly, I received a pretty blue owl mug and Instant Chai Latte mix that I got from Chloe. I wish I had taken a picture of the whole thing wrapped up because it was so pretty. Many thankies Chloe! Also, my friend Zoe knows me very well in my love off all things coffee related and she got Starbucks Hot Chocolate Mixes *Homer Simpson Drool*. Thanks Zoe!! I'm also very lucky in getting my first ever blowtorch, which is a girly pink! I also got 2 adorable little heart shaped crème brulee pots with the blowtorch! Thanks Chantelle and Nicky, I can't wait to use this!

Lastly, Rob got me the coolest thing ever: a Rice Cube! (didn't take pictures was to busy being a child and opening them up). Its a cute little device that makes sushi simple. I can't wait to start playing with it. Rob also got me a traditional bamboo steamer, presumably to go with my Rice Cube. Thank you so much Rob!

The next gift has nothing to do with baking at all, but it definitely deserves a mention. Its a zombie desktop shooting set! I've got a pencil gun with rubber band shots and zombie rubber targets. I keep getting distracted cause they need to be shot at! (Lucy and Ben woo!! Thank you very very much for this!)

I did get more pressies but they were more skincare related and there are plenty of blogs that showcase beauty and make-up bits. This be a foodie blog and make-up is not really my domain anyway.

Did you get any food related gifts this Christmas?

Fat Friday #7 Mojito Cocktail Cupcakes

Its Fat Friday Time. This week we're looking at Mojito Cupcakes-a cocktail in cupcake form. The base is lime flavoured while the buttercream is mint and rum flavoured. I made these ages ago and they were very well received. I barely got a chance to photo them before they were devoured.  
Anyway's sorry for the short post, I'm just travelling back from Tenerife and its hard to bake and holiday at the same time. Will be doing a round up post soon of the holiday. Happy Baking!

Recipe:

Makes 24 Cupcakes  (Recipe adapted by The Cake Book by Cupcake Jemma) 

·      275g unsalted butter, softened

·      250g golden caster sugar

·      4 large eggs

·      250g self raising flour, sifted 

·      1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

·      The zest from 3 limes, plus 2 tablespoons lime juice

·      2 tablespoons mint infused milk

 Equipment:

·       2 cupcake tins lined with cupcake wrappers

·       Electric mixer/hand-held electric whisk

·       Sieve

·       Bowl x 2

·       Knife

·       Tablespoon

·       Teaspoon
·       Grater

1.    Pre heat the oven to 170c/375c/ Gas mark 5. Line the tins with cupcake wrappers.
2. Sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl, and add the lime zest. 
3. In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar together for 2 minutes, add the eggs and lime juice and beat for a further minute. 

4. Add the mint infused milk, beat and add in the sifted dry ingredients. beat the mixture for a further 30 seconds until fully incorporated.   

5. Fill the papercups up about 2/3 full and bake for 20 minutes until the cupcakes spring back when touched. Leave cupcakes to cool on a wire rack.  

Recipe:

Buttercream (Recipe adapted by The Cake Book by Cupcake Jemma) 

·      300g unsalted butter, softened

·      675g icing sugar

·      3 tablespoons dark rum/rum flavouring

·      2 tablespoons mint infused milk

Equipment:

·       Electric mixer/hand-held electric whisk

·       Sieve

·       Piping bag fitted with a star nozzle

·       Tablespoon

·       Decorations of your choice, I used cut up straws and crystalised mint

1.Beat the butter with an electric whisk until smooth. 
2. Sift the icing sugar into the same bowl as the butter and mix well until incorporated. 
3. Gradually add the rum and infused milk and beat for about 5 minutes.

4.Fill up the piping bag with the buttercream and pipe onto the cold cupcakes.

5. Garnish with straws or any other decorations. 

What's your favourite cocktail? Happy Baking!

Horror Film Gory Cupcakes Recipe

Its less then a week until Halloween, I hope you all have fantastic plans. My plans to celebrate is with cupcakes. But not just cute little cupcakes...
Be warned- This post contains blood like decoration and if your  a little faint hearted or a bit weird with blood then look away now.

Coming to your kitchen soon! You wont be able to hide from these yummy yet disturbing treats. They will find you. They wont stop until they have been devoured. Its, its ITS...:
Horror Film Style Gory Cupcakes!!!!

Ahh! Those Poor Sour Patch Kids!!

 

Ok film time has finished, time for that recipe!
Recipe-Makes 14 Cupcakes:

·       225g plain flour, sifted

·       2  teaspoon baking powder, sifted

·       ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda, sifted

·       2 tsp mixed spice, sifted

·       1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon, sifted

·       1/2  tsp salt, sifted

·       400g canned pumpkin puree (I used Libby’s)

·       80g unsalted butter, melted

·       55g golden caster sugar

·       120ml evaporated milk

·       2 large eggs

·       1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting:

·       300g icing sugar, sifted

·       200g cream cheese

·       1 teaspoon mixed spice

·       110g unsalted butter, plus a little extra to grease the baking tin

To decorate:

·       Red food colouring

·       Sour Patch Kids with the heads cut off

Equipment:

·       Muffin tin lined with cupcake cases

·       Wooden spoon/ spatula/ Electric whisk

·       Bowl x 2

·       Jug

·       Sieve

·       Can opener

·       Straw

1.    Pre-heat the oven to190c/375f/Gas Mark 5 and line the cupcake tin with cupcake cases.

2.    Make the frosting first as it needs 2 hours to thicken in the fridge.

This will make it easier to spread. To make the frosting, in a large bowl beat the butter and cream cheese with an electric whisk/ wooden spoon/ spatula.

3.    Gradually the rest of the icing sugar until the frosting is smooth and creamy. You can make it last however, to make it very gooey and very drippy so it looks halloweeny.

4.    In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, mixed spice, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Put to one side.   

5.    In the other bowl, on medium speed if using an electric hand whisk, beat together the pumpkin, butter, evaporated milk, vanilla and eggs until smooth.

6.    Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. 

7.    Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester, until golden and risen. Cool tins for 5 minutes, then place onto a wire rack to cool completely. Make sure that the cakes are completely cool before icing.

8.    Spoon into icing bag and ice the cupcakes with the gooey icing.

9.    Using the red food colouring, get a straw and splash icing so it looks like blood. Then decorate with sour patch kids cut in half so it looks like a massacre. 

So in a little more detail: How to Bloody Up Your Cupcakes

1. Dip your straw into your liquid food colouring. Cover the top of the straw with your thumb.
2.Hover your straw above your chosen cupcake and release your

thumb so that the food colouring drips onto the cupcake. 

3.This will create a 'blood effect' and that's how you make a gory cupcake! 

In the end you will have a good and gory cupcake that you will be able to eat and Halloween night!

Have a good weekend and a Happy Halloween!

Classic Mini Vanilla Cupcakes

Its back to school time, and the weather is slowly changing from the mildly warm summer (we dont get hot weather in the UK), to the autumn (or fall to the USA readers). I think what I'm trying to say is that its time for adapting and changing. I had to adapt and pretend I was completely confident and that I was not nervous or panicky. I recently had to do a presentation on what I've been up to during my placement year. 

I didn't have an epic placement year. I swapped placements 3 times and felt like a failure for swapping so many times, I found that the last placement in an office worked out in the end and I completed my patisserie course. I wouldn't have been able to complete the course unless I moved around. So talking about a placement year that didn't start out great but ended well, was a little nerve racking. 

Standing in front of people who you may not understand where your'e coming from was awful and during the presentation my legs were shaking. 

I worried for nothing. People understood what I went through and they did enjoy the presentation. More importantly I got a little clap at the end. I think that the fact I brought in some mini cakes helped my case. 

Deciding on the 'keep it simple' theme, I choose the classic vanilla cupcakes. You can't go wrong with a classic. I got quite a few compliments on the cute-ness and the delicious-ness of the cupcakes so I was pleased. 

Oh and the presentation went well! Thank-you for those who listened to the presentation. 

Recipe-Makes 48 (Adapted from Cupcakes from Primrose) :

·       110g unsalted butter, at room temperature

·       225g golden caster sugar

·       2 large eggs

·       150g self raising flour, sifted

·       125g plain flour, sifted

·       120ml semi-skimmed milk at room temperature

·       1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Buttercream:

·       110g unsalted butter

·       60ml semi-skimmed milk

·       1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·       500g icing sugar, sifted

To decorate:

·       A colour paste of your choice

·       Sprinkles and decorations

Equipment:

·       Wooden spoon/ spatula

·       Bowl x 3

·       Jug/ small bowl

·       2 x Mini Muffin tray lined with 48 mini cupcake cases  

·       Piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle/ palette knife

·       Teaspoon

1.    Pre-heat the oven to 160c fan/180c/350f/Gas Mark 4 and line the mini muffin trays with cupcake cases.

Step 2. Butter and sugar until pale and smooth.

2.    In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar until pale and smooth.

3.  Add the eggs one at a time, and beat until combined.   

Step 4. Combine the two flours and milk and vanilla extract

4. Combine the two flours in a separate bowl and combine the milk, and vanilla extract in a jug. Add one-third of the flours to the creamed mixture and beat well.

Step 5. The completed cake batter

5.    Pour in one-third of the milk mixture and beat again. Repeat these steps until all the flour and milk has been added.

Step 5. Fill the cupcake cases

6.    Carefully spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, filling them to about two-thirds full. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until slightly raised and golden brown.

7.    Remove from the oven and leave the cakes in their tins for about 10 minutes before carefully placing on a wire rack to cool. Once they are completely cool, you can ice the cupcakes.

Step 7. Wait until completely cold to ice

8.    To make the buttercream, in a large bowl beat the butter, milk, vanilla extract and half the icing sugar. I did this with a spatula and it took about 5 minutes with loads of elbow grease!

9.    Gradually add the rest of the icing sugar until the buttercream is incorporated, smooth and creamy. 

 These were a real hit in the classroom, it would have been weird if I took photos of people eating. I used confetti sprinkles, glitter sugar, and oreo's to decorate but you can use whatever you want. 

Anyway my main message in this post is no matter what's going on around you, don't lose your confidence and smile. It's not as bad as it seems.
Have a good weekend!