Triple Chocolate Cupcakes

Happy New Year's Eve!

I don't normally like chocolate cake, and I rarely try to make chocolate cupcakes, because they are dry and flavourless. Luckily, this one is moist and actually tastes of chocolate! I also used it over Christmas to make Christmas tree cupcakes (pictured at the end).

These are dark chocolate cupcakes, stuffed with a Lindt Lindor chocolate truffle, covered in icing that tastes like a chocolate truffle, and topped with glitter.

This was supposed to make 12 cupcakes, but ended up making 16!

It is easier to make the icing first, as it needs to cool.

Icing:

-150g chocolate (I used a mix of dark and milk)

- 160g butter

- 3-4 tbsp cream

1. Melt the butter and chocolate together in the microwave. Mix together and leave in the fridge or freezer to cool. (Make your cupcakes while its cooling!)

2. When it has cooled and is almost set, remove it from the fridge or freezer.

3. Use an electric whisk and whip the chocolate mixture. It should turn lighter in seconds.

4. Add the cream, then whip again. When everything is incorporated, stop whipping it, and smother it over cupcakes!

I topped my cakes with gold shimmer crystals and edible glitter.

Cupcakes:

-200g sugar

-200g self-raising flour

-75g cocoa powder

-1/2tsp salt

-1 tsp vanilla extract/2 tsp vanilla essence

-1 egg

-50ml vegetable oil

-100ml milk

-200ml hot water

-6 or 12 Lindt truffles (I cut mine in half, so only used 6)

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

2.  Add everything but the Lindt truffles and the hot water to a mixing bowl.

3. When everything is mixed together, add the hot water. The mixture is quite runny.

4. Fill cupcake cases 2/3 to 3/4 full, then bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

5. When the cupcakes have cooled, push a Lindt truffle into the cake, then cover with icing!

This recipe was originally used for making Christmas tree cupcakes, they turned out pretty well!

I used butter icing on them, rather than chocolate icing.

Carrot Cupcakes

Carrot cake is lovely. When we lived in Dubai, we would go for lunch at a cafe called The Lime Tree Cafe, and we could never go there without ordering a piece of carrot cake, either to eat there or take home. It was a good day when there were 3 boxes in the fridge with slices of carrot cake in!

So after not seeing any carrot cupcakes around, I decided to make some of my own :)

These were yummy cupcakes, but I messed up the icing, so I haven't put pictures of the iced cakes up.

Recipe:

Cupcake:

- 175g light brown sugar

- 150ml vegetable oil

- 2 large eggs

- 200g self-raising flour

- 2 tsp cinnamon

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- Zest of 1 orange

Icing:

- 300g full fat cream cheese

- 50g icing sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Line a muffin tray with 12 cupcake cases.

2. Add all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix together. 

3. Spoon the mix into the cases, and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

4. While the cakes are in the oven, mix the cream cheese and icing sugar together. I decided to beat mine in a mixer, then it went really runny, so just gently mix it in a bowl by hand. 

5. When the cakes have cooled, decorate with the icing.

Okay, here is a little picture of the cakes with icing and a sprinkling of glitter. I don't think the glitter made the cakes look any better unfortunately!

Zoe x

Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes

A recent phenomenon in the world of cupcakes is cuptails! Or caketails. Basically, cocktail flavoured cupcakes. I love cupcakes and I love cocktails! Perfect match :)

There have been a few big birthdays recently! These strawberry margarita cupcakes were for Rachel's 21st. She works in a cocktail bar and started birthday celebrations with a cocktail, so I thought it was the perfect idea!

I really struggled to find a recipe that didn't use actual rum. I had bought rum flavouring, as I don't drink rum, so buying a whole bottle would be a waste. Next time I might use real rum as the flavouring wasn't quite right and smelled quite orangey. I also wanted to use canned strawberries because they are out of season at the moment, so the fresh ones are very expensive! I spent ages looking and in the end I decided that I should just kind of follow a recipe, making my own alterations as I went.

Recipe:

Cupcake:

- 175g butter

- 175g caster sugar

- Finely grated zest of 1 lime

- Juice of 1/2 a lime

- 1 tsp rum flavouring (or 2 tbsp rum)

- 3 large eggs

- 175g strawberries (if canned, then drain and chop them, if fresh, then hull and chop them)

- 280g self-raising flour

Icing:

- 500g icing sugar

- 60g butter

- 60g strawberries (if canned, then drain and chop them, if fresh, then hull and chop them)

- Zest of 1 lime

- Juice of 1/2 a lime (you can add extra at the end as long as it doesn't ruin the consistency!

- 1 tsp rum flavouring (or 2 tbsp rum and add extra icing sugar until you get the desired consistency)

Decorations:

- pink/red and green neon sugar (for the sugar rim)

- Lime, quartered and sliced

Before making the cakes and icing, everything should be at room temperature.

The recipe says it makes 15 cupcakes, but I managed to make 22!

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Line 2 muffin trays with cupcake cases, or bake one tray and reuse it.

2. Cream the butter for as long as you can. 

3. Add the sugar, lime zest, lime juice and rum flavouring, mix.

4. Beat in the eggs one at a time.

5. Sift in the flour in and mix again.

6. Put a heaped tablespoon of batter into each cupcake case. 

7. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.

8. While the cakes are cooling, start to make the icing. Cream the butter until it is pale and fluffy. 

9. Add the icing sugar, strawberries, lime zest, lime juice and rum flavouring. Mix it together s-l-o-w-l-y at first so that icing sugar doesn't fly everywhere!!

10. Pipe the icing onto the cakes.

11. Sprinkle the coloured sugar onto a plate, and roll the edges of the iced cupcakes in the sugar, to create a sugar rim. Put a piece of lime in the side. You can also cut up strawberry pencils and use them as a 'straw'.

These are all of Rachel's cakes!

Zoe x

Christmas Cupcakes

It's officially December. This means Christmas.

Christmas is my favourite time of year.

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!

Did I make that clear?

I have some good things to look forward to this month! Handing all my work in, finishing university for the Christmas break, my sister's birthday and of course, Christmas and Boxing Day where I get to see family and I'll be helping my Mum make Christmas dinner!

Best of all though, I'm going to Paris for 3 nights with my lovely boyfriend :) It was his 21st birthday present from me. I cannot wait!

My sisters and I did a cupcake decorating class 2 weeks ago with Teach Me Sugarcraft. We didn't realise that it was a Christmas theme. 

I don't think it was worth the £70 that the course normally costs! We only paid £10 each as there was a deal on KGB Deals. There were 10 of us squashed around a table in a leisure centre and we only had 3 of each thing on the table, which meant you had to wait and I felt like they rushed us. They had already made the cakes and icing, we just had to pipe, roll, cut and stick.

I think that we could have easily copied the designs from seeing a picture from the internet, we didn't really need to be 'taught', as everyone had basic decorating knowledge.

Ahh well, it was good anyway. Their icing tasted nice.

What do you think?

Zoe x

Raspberry, White Chocolate and Vanilla Cupcakes

These cupcakes were really nice, and very easy to do!

The nicest touch to these was that they had everyone's names on, in white chocolate letters :)

I also added some red butterflies for a bit of contrast, and to match the red cases that the cupcakes were in. You can get the cutters here. 

Recipe:

Cupcake

- 125g butter

- 125g caster sugar

- 2 tbsp raspberry jam

- 2 eggs

- 150g self-raising flour (or 150g all-purpose flour plus 1 tsp baking powder)

- 12 fresh raspberries

Icing

- 75g butter

- 125g icing sugar

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Line a muffin tray with 12 cupcake cases.

2. Cream the butter for as long as you can, meaning mix it with a fork or a whisk, until it is pale and fluffy.

3. Add the sugar, mix. Then add the raspberry jam and mix

4. Beat in the eggs one at a time.

5. Sift in the flour in and mix again.

6. Half fill the cupcake cases, then put a raspberry into the middle of each case, then pour more cupcake mix over the raspberries until the cases are about 2/3 - 3/4 full.

7. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes.

8. While the cakes are cooling, start to make the icing. Cream the butter until it is pale and fluffy. 

9. Carefully stir in the icing sugar and vanilla extract. 

10. When your cakes are cooled, decorate them with the icing, either piping it on, using a palate knife or a regular knife! I then added the names and the butterflies.

Zoe x

Coconut and Lime Cupcakes

We used to make a coconut and lime cake with a lemon-lime syrup when we were younger, and it was my favourite kind of cake. The syrup adds extra bursts of flavour. 

I haven't made it at all since being at university, so this summer I bought a bag of dessicated coconut so that I could make it. 

Then I thought 'what about turning it into cupcakes?' and ta dah! The coconut-lime cupcakes with a lemon-lime syrup and lemon butter icing were made. 

I split my cupcake mixture into two, one half had coconut, and the other didn't. I definitely preferred them with the coconut, but I also had to cater for the fussy people!

Recipe:

Cupcake

- 125g butter

- 125g caster sugar

- Zest of half a lime

- 2 eggs

- 150g self-raising flour (or 150g all-purpose flour plus 1 tsp baking powder)

- 60g dessicated sweetened coconut (Can be left out if you don't like coconut)

Syrup

- Zest of half a lime

- Juice of two limes (make the icing before you make the syrup)

- 4 tbsp lemon juice

- 100g caster sugar

Icing

- 75g butter

- 125g icing sugar

- Zest of 3/4 a lime

Lime Zest Curls

- 1/4 lime zest, peeled and chopped into thin strips (see pictures)

- 2 tbsp caster sugar, sprinkled onto a plate

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Line a muffin tray with 12 cupcake cases.

2. Cream the butter for as long as you can with a fork, or an electric whisk.

3. Add the sugar and lime zest, mix.

4. Beat in the eggs one at a time.

5. Sift in the flour in and mix again. Stir in the coconut.

6. Put a tablespoon of batter into each cupcake case. There should be enough for about 13 cupcakes, or 12 and some batter for you to lick up!

7. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes.

8. While the cakes are cooling, start to make the icing. Cream the butter until it is pale and fluffy, either with a fork or an electric whisk. 

9. Add the icing sugar and lime zest. Mix it together s-l-o-w-l-y at first so that icing sugar doesn't fly everywhere!!

10. Cut the lime into super thin strips like the picture below.

11. Make up the syrup with the sugar, lime zest, lime juice and lemon juice. Heat it in a saucepan gently, until the sugar is dissolved. Add the lime strips. Boil the syrup for 5 minutes, or until it has thickened. Remember it will thicken more when it cools.

12. Remove the lime strips from the syrup and roll them in sugar that is sprinkled over the plate.

13. Poke holes into the top of the cupcakes with a cocktail stick. Carefully spoon the syrup onto each cupcake. You can add another spoonful of syrup onto it when the previous spoonful of syrup has soaked in.

14. When your cakes and syrup are cooled, decorate them with the icing, either piping it on or spread it on with a knife!

Let me know if you make these, and what you think of them!

Zoe x

Squire's Cake Shop

My aunt has a fantastic cake shop near her house in Farnham, Surrey. They have everything you will need to make and decorate a cake! These are pictures of some of the cakes that they had on display when I went in there (09.06.2012).

Jubilee Cake

Animal print cupcakes

Union Jack cake

Garden cake

Handbag cake.

Squire's Kitchen's website is

http://www.squires-shop.com/ibf/index.php?p=home&loc=GB

Zoe x

More Cupcake Designs

A few snaps of cupcakes that I have made!

Vanilla cupcakes with pink and black two-toned butter icing and glitter.

Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate butter icing and chocolate hearts.

Vanilla cupcakes with white and pink butter icing and glitter.

Vanilla cupcakes with white and pink butter icing and royal icing marbled pink butterflies.

Lemon cupcakes with lemon butter icing and a royal icing dove.

Vanilla cupcakes with white icing and red, white and blue royal icing roses.

Chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter butter-icing and grated chocolate.

Vanilla cupcakes with white icing, royal icing crowns (painted with gold lustre) and gold balls.

Lemon cupcakes with red, white and blue three toned lemon butter icing! 

Check out the Union Jack cupcake cases from Squire's Kitchen!

Lemon cupcakes with pink lemon butter icing and pink royal icing butterflies painted with glitter.

Swirly Cupcakes

 
 
I have got SO many compliments about these cakes, because they are very pretty and they taste really good!

 
I've started to whisk the batter and the icing with an electric whisk, which makes them both really light and airy.

For these cakes, I used the recipe from my Vanilla Cupcakes post and the icing from my How to make the perfect butter icing.

The icing is the same recipe/proportions, but there is more!

Recipe:

For the cake:

- 125g butter

- 125 g caster sugar

- 2 eggs

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 150g plain flour

- 1 tsp baking powder

- Food colouring of your choice

For the icing:

- 150g butter

- 250g icing sugar

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- Food colouring of your choice

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

2. Cream the butter until it is pale and fluffy. I have started doing this with an electric whisk, because it goes very pale and very fluffy very quickly! You can do this manually, and see how I do it here. Add the sugar and whisk it again.

3. Add the vanilla extract and one egg, mix well, then add the other egg and mix again.

4. Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl, then gently mix them into the batter. DO NOT turn the whisk on!! The flour will fly everywhere! Either mix it with a spoon then whisk it, or keep the whisk turned off and mix it. *

5. Spoon the mixture into 12 cupcake cases, and bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes.

6. When the cakes, have finished baking, take them out of the oven and leave them to cool.

7. For the icing, whisk the butter until it is light and fluffy.

8. Gradually mix the icing sugar into the butter (don't turn the electric whisk on!!), then add the vanilla extract.

9. When the cakes are completely cooled, either spread the icing on or pipe it on to the cupcakes.

* For the blue and the pink cupcakes, at stage 4 add a little bit of food colouring (if its a paste, then 1/8-1/4 tsp, if its liquid, 1-2 drops), and half mix it in, so that it creates a swirled and marbled effect.

For the two-toned pink cupcakes:

- When you have made the icing, add half of the icing to a different bowl. 

- Add food colouring to one half (or do different colours on each half).

- Spoon the icing into a piping bag, but put the plain icing on one side, and the coloured icing on the other side. Then pipe the icing as usual.

For the blue cupcakes:

- Make the icing as usual, you can choose if you want to colour the icing or not. I coloured mine slightly, to make the icing pale blue.

- This is the tricky part! You need a paste food colouring here, not a liquid one. You will need to dip a toothpick into the colouring, and draw a straight line up each side of the piping bag. Its hard to get your hand far enough into the bag and not get it covered in colouring! I failed miserable at this and I have very blue hands!

- Then put the icing into the piping bag as usual and ice away! You probably want to pipe a bit of the icing back into the bowl, until the darker lines show up.

This is a good video on how to ice cupcakes with a perfect swirl!

How cute is this box? My friend Vicky got it for me from Poundland :)

Thank you Vicky!

Zoe x