Let’s face it, we all love a cupcake!
In the early 19th century, there were two different uses for the name cup cake or cupcake. In previous centuries, before muffin tins were widely available, the cakes were often baked in individual pottery cups, ramekins, or molds and took their name from the cups they were baked in. This is the use of the name that has remained, and the name of "cupcake" is now given to any small cake that is about the size of a teacup. While English fairy cakes vary in size more than American cupcakes, they are traditionally smaller and are rarely topped with elaborate icing.
FAST VANILLA CUPCAKES
Makes 12
A simple recipe to top with icing and decorations. Vary the flavour at whim (see below, for ideas for fillings).
- 4oz/115g butter, at room temperature
- 4oz/115g caster sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- half tsp vanilla extract
- 4oz/115g self-raising flour
Method:
Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/gas mark 3. Line a 12-hole cupcake tin with paper cases.
In the food processor or a tabletop mixer, beat the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth.
Turn off the motor and add the flour. With the pulse button, or brief bursts of the beater, mix the flour in, stopping as soon as it is blended.
Divide the mixture between the paper cases.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and springy to the touch.
Vanilla frosting
Makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes.
9oz/250g icing sugar, sifted
3oz/80g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1fl oz/25ml whole milk
A couple of drops of vanilla extract
Method:
- Beat the icing sugar and butter together in a free-standing electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a hand-held electric whisk) on medium-slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed.
- Turn the mixer down to slow speed. Combine the milk and vanilla extract in a separate bowl, then add to the butter mixture a couple of tablespoons at a time.
- Once all the milk has been incorporated, turn the mixer up to high speed.
- Beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes. The longer the frosting is beaten, the fluffier and lighter it becomes.
From 'The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook' by Tarek Malouf and the Hummingbird Bakers (Ryland, Peters and Small, £16.99)
Ideas for fillings
Lemon curd (Homemade or Duchy Originals do a good one) Chocolate Spread (Marks and Spencer's Fairtrade Chocolate Sauce is to die for)
Raspberry Jam
Whipped cream, lightly sweetened
A cherry soaked in Kirsch (from a jar)
Cream cheese frosting is fantastic on carrot cakes and cupcakes.
Vary this basic recipe by adding colours or flavours.
Ingredients
150g/5½oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
45g/3 tbsp caster sugar
300g/10½oz full fat cream cheese
Preparation method
Place the butter in a large bowl with the caster sugar.
Beat the butter and sugar together for 2-3 minutes until light and creamy.
Then beat in the cream cheese until smooth.
RED VELVET CUPCAKES
Makes 12
“These are the Dolly Parton of cupcakes, artificially coloured, unashamedly vulgar and absolutely irresistible”, says Xanthe Clay. The base, a vanilla cake with a hint of chocolate, tinted deep red, is another Southern speciality cake, made famous when it was chosen as the wedding cake in the 1989 weepie Steel Magnolias.
Ingredients
5oz/140g self-raising flour
2 tbsp cocoa
Half tsp bicarbonate of soda
4floz/110ml buttermilk
1 tsp vinegar
Half tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp red food colouring
2oz/60g butter at room temperature
6oz/170g caster sugar
1 large egg
To decorate:
Cream-cheese frosting (see below) and fresh cherries
Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/gas mark 3. Line a 12-hole cupcake tin with cases.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, bicarb and a pinch of salt. In a mug, mix the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla and red food colouring.
Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg a little at a time. Mix in a third of the flour mixture, followed by half the buttermilk mixture, then another third of the flour, the rest of the buttermilk and finally the last of the flour mixture.
Divide the mixture between the paper cases. Bake for 20 minutes, until risen and springy - don't overcook them.
Cool on a rack.
To decorate, pipe on the frosting and top with a cherry.
Lavender Cupcakes
For this recipe you will need to make some lavender sugar first. Simply put a few sprigs of lavender into some caster sugar for a few days and hey presto, lavender sugar.
For the cupcakes you will need:
125g self-raising flour, 125g very soft unsalted butter, 125g sieved lavender sugar, 2 eggs, pinch salt and a few tablespoons of milk.
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C /Gas 6 and line a 12 bun muffin tin with paper cases.
2. Put all of the cake ingredients, except the milk, into a food processor and whizz, now blend in the milk.
3. Fill the cake cases and bake for 20 minutes or until cooked.
For the icing:
250g Instant Royal Icing, violet icing colour, twelve sprigs lavender
1. Cut the peaked tops off the cooled cupcakes.
2. Make up the icing with a little water to a thick double cream pouring consistency. Put some food colour paste onto a skewer and dye the icing to a pastel violet.
3. Spoon some of the icing over the top of the cupcakes. Top each of the cupcakes with a little sprig of lavender before the icing sets.
The Lavender Trust, a few years ago, TV cook Nigella Lawson created lavender cupcakes to raise money for a charity especially for young women with breast cancer which was set up in memory of Ruth Picardie.
TOP TIPS FOR MAKING CUPCAKES
Use paper cases that fit the cake tins snugly, or they'll either spread too much or wrinkle up. Annoyingly, sizes aren't standardised, so measure your tin's cup size before buying cases.
Use butter and eggs at room temperature for lighter cakes.
Don't get any mixture on the edges of the cupcake case: it will burn and may stop the cake rising evenly.
Turn the tin round after 12 minutes or so if your oven has hot spots.
If all else fails, buy ready-made and ice them yourself. (Best cheat: ready-made cupcakes that are not filled too high look most homemade when flooded with fondant icing - try Asda's cakes with Tate & Lyle fondant icing mix.)
Cream-cheese frosting
This is really a buttercream icing, made with cream cheese rather than purely butter, which cuts the sweetness a bit.
- 11oz/300g cream cheese
- 2oz/60g butter at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 12oz/340g icing sugar
Whizz all the ingredients together in a food processor. Chill for an hour or so before using.
Crazy for Cake Pops!
Cake pops have really captured your imagination over recent months, and is it any wonder... Bite-sized morsels of fun on sticks, decorated simply for everyday treats or dressed to the nines to wow on special occasions, what’s not to love?
Spoon the mixture into this cake pop maker from Lakeland and, in around 4 minutes,
you’ll have perfectly cooked spherical cakes, ready to be popped onto a lolly stick and decorated!
Or try a non-stick silicone mold for the oven or microwave
Cake pops are enormously popular, and make the perfect alternative to conventional cakes, whatever the occasion. From elegant flower bouquets for weddings to mini ‘cupcakes’ for birthdays, this mouth-watering collection of over 40 recipes from Lakeland, for these bite-sized treats will be inspiration for all.
No matter what kind of cake pops I am making, I always dip my stick into the melted chocolate, and then put my cake pop on it, and then let the chocolate set, usually in the fridge or freezer.
After I have all of my cake pops on sticks that have been dipped in chocolate, I then put them in my freezer. Chilling them helps set the chocolate and make the stick, chocolate and cake all come together like a happy little sugar filled family. Chilling the cake pops also helps set your chocolate more quickly when you dip the cake pops (so you don’t spend 20 minutes waiting for each cake pop to quit dripping chocolate).
I have an “always keep moving” thing when I make cake pops – the slow twirling of the cake pop until the chocolate sets. It’s a bit of a balancing act to find when to add the sprinkles and when to put the cake pop down. If you put the sprinkles on too soon, they can slide off and take the chocolate with them. Wait too long and they won’t stick. There is definitely a sweet spot time wise to adding the crystals, and I think a lot of it just takes some practice and patience to find what works.
They just look so cute & delicious!
No comments:
Post a Comment