Sour Cream Banana Cupcakes

When I bake, my boyfriend always likes to eat some of the results but as the cupcakes I made earlier are for someone else I had to make him something as well! So he has been blessed with these lovely sour cream banana cupcakes. I didn’t have sour cream so used crème fraiche instead and they are fine! The recipe is from the same book I used for the white chocolate mud cakes called The Complete Book of Cupcakes, Cheesecakes and Cookies by The Australian Women’s Weekly. I made them a bit fancier by taking them out of their cases and filling them with icing and fresh banana.

For 12 standard sized muffins:

90 g butter, softened

110 g brown sugar

2 eggs

75 g plain flour

75 g self raising flour

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp mixed spice

2 mashed medium sized bananas

80 g sour cream

2 tbsp milk

Heat oven to 180^oC (350^oC or gas 4)

Beat butter, sugar and eggs together until light and fluffy (guess what? It curdled again!). Stir in the flours, bicarbonate of soda and mixed spice and once well mixed add in the bananas, sour cream and milk. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl to get all the ingredients well mixed in. Divide the mix between 12 muffin cases and bake for about 20 minutes or until a cocktail stick comes out clean. Once the cupcakes are cooled, slice in half, spread with a little butter cream (my standard recipe is here) or fresh cream, layer on banana and put the top back on. And here are the very tasty results!

Lizzi :)

White Chocolate Mud Cupcakes

I wanted to make some cupcakes for a lady I know who has just found out she is a having a baby girl so decided that white chocolate mud cakes would be perfect. I’ve made these before and actually took them to Poland the first time I met my boyfriend’s parents! I used a simple vanilla buttercream, some sparkles and little pink feet to decorate them. The recipe is from a book I got from my best friend one Christmas called The Complete Book of Cupcakes, Cheesecakes and Cookies by The Australian Women’s Weekly. Unfortunately I can’t find it on the internet anywhere but there are lots of similar ones. I love the cupcake recipes as they are quite unusual.

For 12 standard sized muffins:

125 g butter, softened

100 g white chocolate

150 g brown sugar

90 g golden syrup

160 ml milk

150 g plain flour, sieved

50 g self raising flour, sieved

1 egg

Heat oven to 170^oC (325^oC or gas 3)

Melt the butter, chocolate, sugar, golden syrup and milk in a saucepan over a low heat. Once all combined pour the mixture into a bowl to cool for about 15 minutes. Whisk in first the two flours and then the egg. Divide the mixture between 12 muffin cases. It is quite a sloppy mix so I first poured it into a jug and then poured it into the cases. Bake for about 30 minutes or until a cocktail stick comes out cleanly. I decorated these cakes with vanilla buttercream (my normal recipe – one from here), edible pink glitter and pink feet! Which I did buy from my local cake decorating shop – cheating? Maybe! And here are the results!

Lizzi :)

Soft Chocolate Cookies

 

I was looking through my bookmarked pages this morning (I have A LOT) and came across these cookies on a website I was browsing a couple of months ago. I have a whole tin of treacle in my cupboard which I have used once to make gingerbread at Christmas so I thought I’d give these cookies a go. The recipe on the website is American so although the ingredients look completely different they aren’t! I have again converted it into grams as I find it easier to do although I do have some fantastic Russian dolls that measure cups that I got from my mum! It is slightly different as I’ve left out the chocolate chips – purely because I didn’t have any. I guess the cornflour is used to make them light but to be honest if I made them again I would probably just replace it with more plain flour. These ones have come out feeling a bit powdery when you eat them. At the moment we don’t have a microwave so I softened my butter in a bain marie. I always, always use greaseproof paper not baking parchment as everything sticks to parchment. So here is my slightly adapted recipe.

For about 30 good sized cookies.

240 g (1 cup) butter, softened

180 g (1 cup) caster sugar

2 tbsp treacle

80 g (⅔ cup) corn flour, sieved

3 tbsp cocoa powder, sieved

2 eggs, beaten

300 g (2 ½ cups) plain flour, sieved

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Heat oven to 180^oC (350^oF or gas 4)

Beat softened butter, sugar and treacle together until they are light and resemble whipped cream. Beat in corn flour and cocoa powder until completely combined. Use a spatula to scrape around the bowl to get all the ingredients. I used a big bowl because there are a lot of ingredients. You could halve the mixture if you didn’t want so many cookies. Pour in all the eggs and beat into the mixture. Mine curdled – AGAIN! But it turned out fine so I think I just need to resign myself to the fact that my eggs don’t like me! Mix in the flour and bicarbonate of soda in about 3 parts to make it easier. You should end up with a mixture a little like cake mixture but stiffer. I lined baking trays with greaseproof paper and dropped little rounds of the mixture onto them using a dessert spoon and teaspoon to push it off. You can make them as big or as little as you like, just remember to alter your cooking times for whatever size you make. Cook for about 12-15 minutes or until they are slightly browned on the outside. Leave to cool on the trays for a while and then turn onto cooking racks.

And here are the results!

Lizzi :)

Victoria Sponge Cake

Ok, so it’s been nearly a month since I last posted and in that time we have moved house! The reason it’s taken me sooooo long to finally get to bake is the oven we now have is gas and wasn’t on our safety certificate. I’m a bit funny about gas and always have a minor panic attack when I smell it! But it is sorted now and I’m so excited to have a gas oven because they are quick and tend to be easier to bake with. I need to get the hang of using it because its my mums 60^th in July and I’ve been informed by her that I am making her cake so of course it will have to be my best yet! Again I’m following the simple theme and I’ll gradually work my way onto the more complicated cakes I’ve made. So here is a very English, very traditional and very tasty Victoria sponge.

This recipe is from one of my earlier Baked and Delicious magazines.

For one Victoria sponge cake:

175 g (6 oz) unsalted butter, softened

175 g (6 oz) caster sugar

175 g (6 oz) self raising flour, sieved

3 medium eggs, beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp milk

Heat oven to 180^oC (350^oF or gas 4 for me now!)

Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs a little at a time and keep beating until completely incorporated. Mine did curdle again but turned out fine. Fold in flour in about three separate batches. Finally add the milk and vanilla extract. Split the mixture between two 7” (18 cm) sponge tins (I used my silicone ones) and bake for 20 – 25 minutes until a cocktail stick in the middle comes out clean. Mine were in for closer to 25 minutes. Cool in the tins for at least 10 minutes but longer if possible. Turn out onto a cooling rack and leave to cool completely before sandwiching together.

If I were making this for afternoon tea in the summer I’d use cream and fresh strawberries as the filling but as the weather is so atrocious at the moment I used buttercream and strawberry jam. I made the buttercream the same as I always do: by guessing! I used about 100 g butter and ½ tsp vanilla extract and beat in about 250 g icing sugar. I spread the buttercream on the bottom cake and the jam on the top cake and sandwiched them together. I dusted with a little caster sugar and here is the result!

I'm quite happy to answer any questions so feel free to ask!

Lizzi :)