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 :)

Filled Fairy Cakes

I have the baking bug! It really chills me out and work is crazy at the moment so my boyfriend is going to get fat! Today I decided to try and make some filled fairy cakes but went with the easy option and filled them after I’d cooked them. I topped them with a simple icing made from butter, cream cheese and icing sugar. My fairy cake recipe was taken from my first ever Baked and Delicious magazine (Baked and Delicious) and is a basic sponge recipe which I adapted for the second batch of mint chocolate flavour.

For approximately 8 fairy cakes:

60 g (2 oz) softened butter

60 g (2 oz) caster sugar

1 egg

60 g (2 oz) self raising flour (I took out 1 tbsp and replaced with 1 tbsp of cocoa powder in the second batch)

1 tbsp milk

½ tsp vanilla extract (I substituted this for peppermint essence in the second batch)

Heat oven to 190^oC (375^oF)

Beat butter and sugar together. Gradually add a little of the egg whilst still beating to prevent the mixture from curdling. Generally if my mix does curdle it doesn’t affect the outcome but I do get a satisfaction from preventing it! Add a little of the flour if it does. Fold in the remaining flour, extract and milk with a metal spoon. Divide evenly into cake cases and bake for 10-15 minutes. I always check mine are cooked by using a cocktail stick and checking that it comes out clean. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

I made fruity fairy cakes with the basic vanilla mix by taking out a little of the middle of the fairy cakes. I used the end of a teaspoon to make a small hole and filled with Morrison’s Best Mango and Passion fruit jam. I mixed the jam up a bit to make it easier to use.

For the mint chocolate cupcakes I made a very basic ganache with some left over sour cream from the doughnuts I made earlier in the week! I just melted 50 g milk chocolate and beat in 1 ½ tbsp of the sour cream. Again I made some small holes in the top of the chocolate fairy cakes and filled with the ganache.

For the icing I used 25 g cream cheese, 25 g butter and about 200 g icing sugar with ½ tsp of lemon essence for one lot and ½ tsp peppermint essence for the other. I piped the lemon icing onto the fruity cakes and spooned the peppermint icing onto the mint chocolate cakes. For each batch I finished off with some pretty sprinkles on the top.

And now for the results!

My fairy cakes are coming out a little misshaped at the moment, my bun tin is really shallow so I think I'm going to get a new one!

Lizzi :)

Sour Cream Doughnuts

So today I decided to tackle doughnuts. I’ve made them before and it’s been a long and laborious task that hasn’t produced great doughnuts. My boyfriend is Polish and they have ‘fat Thursday’ like a lot of European countries where they eat pączki (Polish doughnuts). He loves them but I often just buy them from the supermarket for ease! However, over this weekend I stumbled across a website with some fantastic ‘copycat’ recipes (copycat recipes) which of course led me onto other recipes. I eventually found a recipe for sour cream doughnuts which seemed simple and sure enough they were (sour cream doughnuts). They are super easy, have turned out brilliantly and have gone down a storm with my boyfriend!

For approximately 20 mini doughnuts:

(The recipe is in cups which I converted to grams and it worked fine – I’ve put both on here for you to choose.)

150 g (1¼ cups) plain flour

35 g (⅓ cup) icing sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

15 g (1 tbsp) margarine

60 g (¼ cup) sour cream

1 egg

Oil for frying (I used about 500ml of extra virgin but it’s probably cheaper and just as good to use vegetable or sunflower oil)

Sift all the dry ingredients together. Beat together all wet ingredients until smooth. Pour the wet mix into the dry mix and stir together to make a sticky dough. Chill for at least 20 minutes. Heat your oil. Be VERY careful when deep frying, particularly if you use gas like me. I use a high sided saucepan and watch it like a hawk. I don’t have a thermometer so just have to cook by trial and error. I have found that putting a tiny bit of the dough into the oil and seeing when the oil starts to bubble is the best way. If you do have a thermometer then the oil needs to be at about 175^oC (350^oF). Pull off bits of dough and roll in the palm of your hands into a ball shape. You can make whatever size you like but I made mini ones about 3cm (1.5 inches) in diameter. They will take varying times to cook but a good indicator is the colour. Mine went golden brown. Fish out with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen roll. You can roll them in sugar if you want to make them authentic and voila! Homemade doughnuts!

And now for the tasty results!

 Lizzi :)

Valentine's Chocolate Cake

I think it’s always good to have some fail safe recipes under your belt and chocolate cake is definitely a must! This one is so, so simple and always rises due to the addition of an extra ½ tsp of baking power. Again it’s a heart shaped cake (I like heart shapes!) so it's perfect for Valentine's Day or if you want to surprise your partner. I used my silicone pans which are FANTASTIC! No greasing, no lining, nothing! For once I have actually followed the recipe which is from one of my Baked and Delicious magazines.

For two cakes and a little left over:

100 g (3 ½ oz) self raising flour

3 tbsp cocoa powder

100 g (3 ½ oz) butter, softened

100 g (3 ½ oz) caster sugar

2 eggs, beaten

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp vanilla extract

Heat oven to 180^oC (350^oF)

Firstly, measure out the flour, take out 3 tbsp and replace with 3 tbsp of cocoa powder. Add the baking powder and sieve the mixture. Add all the rest of the ingredients to this and beat well with a whisk. I usually go until it’s quite light in colour and I always scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula to get all the ingredients incorporated. Spoon the mix into the cake pans but don’t fill them over half full. Any left over mix I usually put into some cupcake cases. Bake for about 15 minutes until they are springy to touch. I check they are cooked using a cocktail stick when it comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pans for about 10 minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack. Once completely cool, sandwich together using some jam – I used raspberry – and sprinkle with cocoa powder.

And here are the results!

Lizzi :)

Easter biscuits

I wanted to make some biscuits as I haven’t made any in AGES so I thought I’d go for some Easter ones. I took the recipe from the BBC website here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/easterbiscuits_67742 but I have adapted it as shown below. I used a lot more mixed spice but they still didn’t really have a distinct flavour and the dough was quite crumbly. I doubt I’ll use this recipe again but it was good fun decorating the rabbits and hearts! Obviously hearts aren’t very Eastery but I like making them for my boyfriend!

So here is the recipe I used and I made approximately 24 biscuits:

110 g (4 oz) unsalted butter, softened

110 g (4 oz) caster sugar

225 g (8 oz) self raising flour, sieved

1 medium egg yolk

1 tsp mixed spice

1-2 tbsp water

Heat oven to 160^oC (325^oF)

Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. This usually takes me about 5 minutes on full speed using my Dualit mixer. Gradually beat in the egg yolk. Sift flour and spice together and add to butter mixture. I tend to do this in 3 parts: the first 2 lots using the mixer and the last lot using my hands – it gets messy! You might need to add some milk to mix in all the flour. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and roll out to about ½ cm thick. Use cutters (any shape you like) to cut the dough and place the biscuits onto a greaseproof papered baking tray. You may need to bake in batches. I cooked mine for about 8-10 minutes but it really depends on a) how thick your biscuits are and b) how crispy you like them! Turn them onto a cooling rack until ready to ice.

Again for these biscuits I used ready roll fondant icing rather than making my own as I’m very busy at work and with moving house at the moment! Very simply all I did was choose my colours and using the same cutters as the biscuits cut out the shapes. I did the detailing with writing icing and voila! See the results below!

Once I’m all moved house in a couple of weeks I hope to start videoing my cooking and vlogging on youtube so watch out for some interesting entertainment!

Lizzi :)