Easter Cupcakes

These cupcakes can be frosted and topped in many ways; the chocolate is quite subtle and they taste rather syrupy. These could be frosted with ganache (dark or white), golden sryup buttercream, or even nutella. I opted for a brown butter vanilla buttercream (follow a buttercream recipe, browning the butter first, and mix in vanilla bean paste or extract).

Recipe for the cupcakes from LRF

White Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes

makes 12

Ingredients:
125g unsalted butter
100g white chocolate, chopped
150g brown sugar
90g golden syrup
160ml milk
150g plain flour
50g self raising flour
1 egg

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/mark 5 and line a muffin pan with 12 paper cases.

2. Melt the butter, chocolate, sugar, golden syrup and milk together in a small saucepan. Pour into a medium-sized heat proof bowl and leave to cool for 15 minutes.

3. Sift the flours and mix into the cooled mixture. Beat in the egg.

4. Divide the batter amongst the cases and bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean.

Pistachio & Raspberry Cakes

A birthday treat for a pistachio lover. I found this recipe after somewhat of a goose-chase over the internet searching for pistachio cake recipes.

Remaining cuttings can be cut into cubes (or any shapes) and made into little cake-bites. They could also be turned into cake pops.

The pistachio creme au beurre is rather buttery, but the tartness of the raspberries cuts through it. If you weren't using raspberries (or just couldn't be bothered with making the buttercream), you could fold the pistachio paste into some whipped cream to top the cakes.

I packaged this in little home-made pastry boxes.

Recipe from From Buenos Aires to Paris

Pistachio & Raspberry Cakes
makes 10 6cm-round cakes

Ingredients:
For the pistachio cake
100g pistachios
200g unsalted butter
120g plain flour, sifted
180g caster sugar
4 eggs
For the pistachio buttercream
250g unsalted butter
50ml water
140ml caster sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1-2 tsp pistachio paste (about 10-20 pistachios blended into a fine paste with a drizzle of oil)

400g raspberries
     

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/mark 2 and butter a 25cm round cake pan.

2. For the sponge, process the pistachios and half  the sugar until the pistachios have been very finely chopped.

3. Whisk together the butter and remaining 90g sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually mix in the eggs and then the flour and ground pistachio/sugar mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool and then remove the cake from the pan.

4. For the pistachio buttercream, whisk the butter until pale and fluffy. Heat the water and sugar in a saucepan until it dissolves and reaches 118C.

5. Whisk the yolks and eggs in a separate bowl until pale and creamy. Slowly pour the syrup (once it has reached 118C) over the eggs and egg yolks and quickly whisk to incorporate. Keep whisking until the mixture has dropped to room temperature. Beat in the butter and continue whisking until the buttercream is smooth. Whisk in the pistachio paste.

6. To assemble, cut 6cm disks out of the sponge and pipe or spread the buttercream on top of the disks. Top with raspberries and a dusting of icing sugar.

* Instead of making pistachio buttercream to top the cakes, the pistachio paste can be folded through firmly whipped cream.

Mint Chocolate Chip Cake

Complete with little wafer cones, this frosting really does taste like mint chocolate chip ice cream.

I often avoid making these types of chocolate cake, as although they taste lovely, the delicate texture makes it incredibly difficult to frost. When you spread the frosting around the cake, it has a tendency to pull of bits of the cake. Fortunately, there are tiny chocolate pieces in the frosting, so if any crumbs mix in, they'll be cunningly disguised. I would recommend putting the cake in the fridge before icing it and before applying a second layer.

For the 'ice creams', simply scoop remaining frosting into three little blobs and place atop the cake, then trim down three ice cream cones  and prop on top of the scoops.

For the little bunting, trim down a couple of wooden skewers and cut out diamond shapes from various patterns on paper. Fold the diamonds in half to form triangles. Tie a piece of string from one skewer to the other and attach the folded diamonds- glue the tips together.

Recipe from Raspberri Cupcakes

Mint Chocolate Chip Cake

Ingredients:
For the sponges
180g cake flour (plain flour with 3tbsp substituted for corn flour) (1 ½ cups)
37g cocoa (9tbsp)
1 ½ tsp salt

1tsp bicarbonate of soda
¼ tsp baking powder
115g unsalted butter (1 stick)

300g caster sugar (1 ½ cup)

2 eggs

120ml coffee/water (½ cup)
120ml milk (½ cup)
For the frosting
280g unsalted butter (2 ½ sticks)
500g icing sugar, sifted (4 cups)

150g dark chocolate, finely chopped/processed

2-3tsp peppermint extract
green food colouring

Ice cream cones, made smaller by halving the height (optional)
     

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/mark 4 and butter and line two 9 inch cake pans.

2. Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs until both have been well incorporated.

3. In a separate bowl, mix together the coffee and milk. In alternating thirds, starting with the flour mixture, mix in the flour and coffee mixtures to the butter mixture.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean. Leave to cool before taking the cakes out of  the tins.

5. For the frosting, cream together the butter and sugar. Mix in the chocolate. Beat in the peppermint extract to taste and the food colouring until the desired shade is achieved.

6. Once the cakes have cooled, use about a quarter of the frosting to sandwich the layers together, then use the rest to cover the top and sides of the cake and make little scoops of ‘ice cream’.

Almond, Cherry & White Chocolate Cake

I made this cake for a family weekend- I had had my eye on the recipe from this blog for quite some time. Thankfully, the weather brightened up and this cake is perfect for a sunny day

Almond, Cherry & White Chocolate Cake

Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the Cake

240g plain flour (2cups)

2tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

2tsp almond extract

6 egg whites

180ml milk

 170g unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks)

sugar (1 ½ cups)

For the cherry frosting

225g unsalted butter

255g cherry preserves (3/4 cup)

225g icing sugar (2 cups)

For the white chocolate frosting

225g unsalted butter

170g white chocolate, melted and cooled

170g marshmallow fluff (or 170g melted marshmallows + 5tbsp liquid glucose) (2 cups)

¾ tsp vanilla extract

6tbsp icing sugar

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/mark 4 and butter and flour two 8-inch cake pans.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

3. Lightly whisk together the almond extract, egg whites and milk and set aside.

4. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. In alternating thirds, mix in the flour mixture and egg white mixture until all of the ingredients have been incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for around 30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out of the centre of the cakes clean. Allow to cool completely before removing from the pans.

5. For the cherry frosting, beat together the butter and cherry preserves. Mix in the icing sugar and beat until smooth and fluffy.

6. For the white chocolate frosting, beat together the butter and chocolate. Mix in the marshmallow fluff and vanilla extract. Mix in the icing sugar.

7. To assemble, slice the two cake layers in half to make four layers in total. Stack up the layers by sandwiching them together with the cherry frosting. Cover the outside of the cake with the white chocolate frosting.

Marbled Cupcakes

My friend knows how much I love baking, so she knew I would be happy to make a batch (and a half) of cupcakes for a James Bond-themed party. Marbled Cupcakes were the request- perhaps a nod to the tuxedo was the reasoning behind it... or the fact that they should please both those who prefer vanilla and those who prefer chocolate.

The recipe is from the Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days book. These are actually the first cupcakes I made from the book, and I was very pleased with them. They are light and fluffy in texture, but I did find that there was more frosting than I needed. I made one and a half times the  amount listed, but the amount of frosting for a single batch would have been enough.

Marbled Cupcakes

Makes 12- 16

Ingredients:

For the chocolate sponges

40g unsalted butter

140g caster sugar

120g plain flour

½ tbsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

20g cocoa powder

1 egg

120ml whole milk

For the vanilla sponges

40g unsalted butter

140g caster sugar

120g plain flour

½ tbsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 egg

120ml whole milk

½ tsp vanilla extract

For the chocolate Frosting

200g icing sugar

50g cocoa powder

80g soft unsalted butter

25ml whole milk

For the vanilla frosting

250g icing sugar

80g soft unsalted butter

25ml whole milk

¼ tsp vanilla extract

     

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/mark 5 and line a muffin tin with muffin cases.

2. For the chocolate sponge batter, beat together all of the ingredients apart from the egg and milk.

3. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk together the egg and milk. Once the other mixture resembles breadcrumbs, beat in three quarters of the egg and milk mixture until the batter is smooth. Add the remaining quarter of the egg and milk and mix until smooth and thick.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the vanilla sponges, adding the vanilla extract to the egg and milk mixture (no cocoa powder is used here).

5. Distribute the chocolate batter evenly amongst the muffin cases, filling 1/3 of each case. Add some vanilla batter on top and swirl with a knife tip or teaspoon handle.

6. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until risen and a skewer inserted into the centre comes away clean. Leave to cool a little, remove from the muffin pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

7. For the chocolate frosting, mix together the icing sugar, cocoa powder and butter until the butter is evenly distributed. Pour in the milk and continue to mix until fluffy.

8. Repeat step 7 for the vanilla frosting, adding the vanilla extract to the milk (and omitting the cocoa powder). Ensure the two frostings are of the same consistency by adding milk where required.

9. Frost the cupcakes, once completely cooled, with some of the chocolate frosting and some of the vanilla frosting. If piping the frosting, fill one side of the piping bag with chocolate frosting and the other with vanilla.

Pistachio Trio: Macarons, Ice Cream and Brittle

I have been thinking about pistachios quite a lot recently, wondering whether to make some cupcakes, blondies or cookies with said nuts. For a long time now, I have wanted to make some pistachio macarons, though I have been a little nervous about using less almonds in macarons. Because of our ice cream machine (which my mother optimistically bought a few years back with the intention of churning out ice cream on a regular basis) which we sadly never use, since the Sun showed itself last month, I have been itching to make some ice cream.

The egg yolks (and surplus pistachios) left after making these macarons presented the perfect opportunity for some pistachio- ice cream- making. However, it seemed like a bit of a shame to do only two pistachio treats, so I went ahead and whipped up some brittle, too.

For the macarons, I didn't want to make a pistachio buttercream, and thought a toffee- type warmth would compliment the pistachios. I made a caramel and added it to a plain buttercream- you could substitute the caramel for honey, or do a plain buttercream with half brown sugar, half icing sugar.

Pistachio Macarons

Makes about 50

Ingredients:

5g dehydrated egg white powder

28g granulated sugar

225g icing sugar

65g ground almonds

60g pistachios, shelled and ground in a food processor

100g egg whites

about 5 pistachios, lightly crushed, for decoration

Method:

1. Line two baking trays with baking paper and set aside.

2. Measure out the dehydrated egg white powder and granulated sugar into a little bowl and stir to combine, then set aside.

3. Grind the icing sugar, pistachios and ground almonds together in a food processor and sift into a small-medium bowl.

4. In a large, clean, dry bowl of a freestanding mixer, whisk the egg whites until foamy and then sprinkle in the sugar and egg white powder while continuing to beat. Increase the speed of the mixer and keep whisking until a firm, glossy (but not stiff) meringue forms.

5. Using a soft spatula, fold in the nut-sugar mixture to the meringue in thirds, until fully amalgamated. Be cautious not to over mix, as you want the batter to flow off the spatula in a thick ribbon.

6. Transfer the batter to a piping bag with a plain nozzle (approximately 1cm diameter) and pipe round blobs (approximately 1-1½ inch diameter) onto the prepared baking trays. Firmly rap the trays against a counter top until the any air bubbles come to the surface- pop, with a cocktail stick, any which don’t burst. Sprinkle a little bit of the lightly crushed pistachios on top of half the piped rounds. Leave the piped macarons for 30-60 minutes before placing into the lower half of a preheated oven (300F/150^◦C/mark 2) for approximately 15 minutes.

7. Allow the macarons to cool on a wire rack before removing from the trays and sandwiches pairs of shells together with your choice of filling. Refrigerate and allow to mature for at least 24 hours.

Caramel Buttercream

Makes about 50

Ingredients:

230g unsalted butter

460g icing sugar, sifted

1-3 tbsp milk or cream

5tbsp caster or soft brown sugar
2tbsp golden syrup
3tbsp butter

Method:

1. Heat the caster/brown sugar, golden syrup and butter in a pan over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Turn the heat up a little and continue to cook until the mixture has thickened and become of a syrup- like consistency. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

2. Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add the icing sugar and beat until homogeneous. Add some of the milk/cream to achieve a fluffier, smooth texture. mix in the cooled caramel and add more milk/cream if necessary.

Pistachio Ice Cream

Makes 12

Ingredients:

120g (1 cup) shelled pistachios

150g (¾ cup) caster sugar

480ml (2 cups) whole milk

½tsp almond extract

4 egg yolks

240ml (1 cup) double cream

90g (¾ cup) shelled pistachios, toasted and roughly chopped

Method:

1. Grind the shelled pistachios and one quarter of the sugar in a food processor

2. Heat the milk and pistachio-sugar mixture in a large saucepan, bring to a boil and remove from the heat. Stir in the almond extract.

3. Whisk together the egg yolks and remaining sugar in a large bowl and whisk in the mixture from the saucepan. Pour everything back into the saucepan and heat gently, to thicken, for about 10 minutes.

4. Strain the custard into the large bowl and leave to cool to room temperature before refrigerating for about 2 hours.

5. Once chilled, pour the mixture into an ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to the freezer and place in the fridge 20-30 minutes before serving.

Pistachio Brittle

Ingredients:

60g (½ cup) pistachios, roughly chopped

100g (1 cup) caster sugar

60ml (¼ cup) water

Method:

1. Grease a 13 x 9 inch rimmed baking tray with cooking oil.

2. Heat the sugar and water in a pan over a medium-high heat, while stirring, for about 9 minutes or until the mixture turns dark brown in colour.

3. Pour the sugar over the baking tray and sprinkle the pistachios on top. Leave to cool and harden for about 15 minutes before breaking into pieces.

The macaron recipe is adapted from Not So Humble Pie
The ice cream recipe is from Epicurious
The brittle recipe is from Martha Stewart

Cherry Cupcakes

It has been a while since my last post... revision. Anyway, I will compensate by posting more than one recipe this week- we may be looking at a triple feature over this weekend...

In my last post- the White Russian Cupcakes, I wasn't totally satisfied with the texture of the cakes, but these are exactly what I was yearning for. I will usually favour a simple yellow cupcake, nice and springy and light, over a more heavily-flavoured dense cupcake, including chocolate- they seem to defeat the point of a cupcake. These cupcakes have a lovely taste of almond throughout the sponge, with sweet maraschino cherries folded in. I found this recipe from the Always With Butter blog and love it.

Cherry Cupcakes

Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients: 

225g unsalted butter

400g caster sugar

4 eggs, separated

240ml milk

¼tsp almond extract

480g plain flour

3tsp baking powder

1tsp salt

4 tbsp maraschino cherry juice

180g maraschino cherry halves 

Vanilla Buttercream:

225g unsalted butter

350g icing sugar

½tsp salt 

4tbsp vanilla extract

4tbsp milk 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven the 180C/350F/gas mark 4, and line a couple of muffin trays with cupcake cases.

2. Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy then add the egg yolks and continue beating until it is fully amalgamated.

3. Add the almond extract and sift in about a third of the dry ingredients, then add about a third of the milk, alternating until all has been added and evenly combined.

4. In a separate clean, dry bowl, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks and fold into the rest of the cake mixture. Fold in the cherry-halves and juice.

5. Bake for about 18-22 minutes in the centre of the oven, or until the tops are bouncy and a skewer inserted through the middle of the cake comes out clean. Leave in the trays for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

6. For the buttercream, sift the icing sugar into the butter and cream together until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla, salt and half the milk. As required, sift in additional sugar or milk to required consistency.