Christmas Cupcakes

More festive baking with Christmas cupcakes from the Love Bakery.  It's a lovely combination of cinnamon and cranberries which pair really well together.  It smelt really good in the oven.  I finally got a chance to use my Christmas cupcake wrappers and Christmas sprinkles - they're red and green Christmas trees! Aren't they cute?

For the cake
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
125g caster sugar
1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, at room temperature
125g self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoon semi-skimmed milk
150g dried cranberries

For the frosting
60g unsalted butter, at room temperature
85g full fat cream cheese
225g icing sugar, sifted
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I used double the amount)
Small pinch of ground cloves (I omitted this)

• Preheat oven to 180C.
• Add the butter, sugar and vanilla extract to the electric mixer and cream together for 7 minutes, or until light and fluffy. 
• Add the eggs, one by one, and mix for 2 minutes.
• Mix the flour, baking powder and cinnamon together in a separate bowl, then add to the mixer and mix until incorporated.
• Add the milk and mix for a further minute, then add the cranberries and mix in with a tablespoon.
• Divide the mixture evenly between the muffin cases.
• Bake for 25 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and immediately transfer to a wire rack. Leave to cool. 
• To make the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese together in the mixer for 3 minutes.
• Add the icing sugar and beat until smooth.
• Watch closely, as the frosting must remain firm if you are going to pipe it. 
• Add the cinnamon and cloves (if using) and mix to combine. 
• Chill in the refrigerator until ready to use. 

Christmas M&M cookies

Finally some festive baking!! I had great plans but alas was ill for a week so it's time to catch up this week! M&M'S have a special red and green xmas edition so I made candy cookies again with a festive touch. I love the colours.

175g caster sugar
110g brown sugar
225g unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract (or 2 tsp vanilla essence)
450g plain flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
55ml milk
M&Ms

• Beat together the sugars and butter until pale and fluffy. 
• In a seperate bowl, use a whisk to beat together the vanilla and eggs. 
• Gradually transfer this egg mixture to the creamed mixture, beating between each addition. This will prevent the mixture from curdling. 
• Over this mixture, sift the flour, baking powder, soda and salt. 
• Use a metal spoon to carefully fold together until no lumps remain. 
• Gradually add the milk and stir until soft dough forms (be careful not to add too much milk or dough will be too sticky). 
• Leave in fridge for 20 minutes, covered. 
• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees (fan-forced) and prepare 2 large cookie trays. 
• Remove from fridge and roll small balls of mixture; put on prepared tray and flatten slightly. 
• The cookies will spread a fair bit when cooking. 
• Continue rolling balls until no mixture remains. 
• Decorate the balls of dough with M&Ms.
• Bake biscuits for 8-9 minutes or until they are golden brown, but still slightly soft. They will harden slightly upon cooling. 
• If you want a crunchier cookie, then cook for longer until brown and rather firm to touch when removed from oven.

Banana, pecan and honey loaf

Whenever I have over-ripe bananas, I tend to make banana bread. It's really quick and easy to make and perfect for breakfast or tea. I love nuts and honey so thought this recipe would be perfect for me and it didn't fail to disappoint.  The bread was really moist and flavourful.

Look out for some festive baking next week! 

 ready to go in the oven

 i love the lovely brown colour

175g softened butter , plus extra for greasing

175g golden caster sugar

3 eggs

140g self-raising flour

85g ground almonds

½ tsp baking powder

100ml milk

2 small, very ripe bananas

50g pecans , chopped, plus extra

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. 
• Grease and line a 2lb/900g loaf tin with a long strip of baking parchment. 
• To make the loaf cake batter, beat the butter and sugar with an electric whisk until light and fluffy. 
• Add the bananas in a few chunks and beat in with the eggs, flour, almonds, baking powder and milk until smooth - the whisk will mash the bananas. 
• Stir in the pecans, then scrape into the tin. 
• Bake for 45-50 mins until golden, risen and a skewer poked in comes out clean. 
• Cool in the tin, then lift out.

Banana and honey teabread

I actually made this a few weeks ago but have not had a chance to post about it.  This is a simple recipe from Mary Berry.  I love the addition of nutmeg which really complements the banana flavour. I still can't decide on my favourite banana bread recipe and I have tried quite a few! I seem to always have over-ripe bananas and they almost always get turned into cake or bread.
Do you have a favourite banana bread recipe?

 mash bananas 

 rub flour, nutmeg and butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs  

 Add the other ingredients 

 ready to go in the oven 

 delicious! 

225g self raising flour
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
100g butter
3 bananas
100g caster sugar
grated rind of 1 lemon
2 extra large eggs
6 tablespoons thick honey

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Lightly grease and base line a 900g loaf tin with greased greaseproof paper.
• Measure the flour and nutmeg into a large bowl and rub in the butter using the fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• Peel and mash the bananas and stir into the flour mixture with the sugar, lemon rind, eggs and honey.
• Beat well until evenly mixed, then turn into the prepared tin and level the surface.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 1 and 1/4 hours or until a fine skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Red Velvet Cake

This is yet another birthday cake for my mum.  She had a birthday lunch with her friends so I agreed to make the cake for them. She had a store bought red velvet cake for one of her birthday dinners (there have been many birthday celebrations!) and really enjoyed it so I thought I'd make her one myself.  My family thought it was much better than the store bought one... well I suppose they would say that as they are family! I have to admit it tasted really good. The cake was nice and moist and I really love the colour of the cake. I wanted to try some different frosting methods but they didn't quite turn out as expected. I tried using my mum's piping syringe with attachments which was difficult to control compared to a piping bag.  Oh well practice makes perfect, right? Plus the icing got quite runny as I had to re-do the piping a few times and didn't have time to firm it up in the fridge as I was running late! The final result is quite plain and simple but at least the taste spoke for itself.
Incidentally this is also my 100th post so it's fitting that it's a birthday red velvet cake :)
PS apologies for the quality of photos, most were taken from my phone.

 fresh from the oven, I was a little worried it was not red enough but it looks better in reality.  

 

 First attempt at frosting borders. Didn't quite turn out so I scraped it all off ...

 ...and ended up with this! 

 tried to make lines on the side of the cake with a new cake tool I have but I obviously need more practice! I do like the borders on the edges.

 

 the photo doesn't do it justice but it was a beautiful red colour 

For the cake 

120g unsalted butter, room temperature

300g caster sugar

2 eggs

20g cocoa powder

40mls red food colouring (I used 30mls and it turned out beautifully red)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

240ml buttermilk (You can make your own by adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk)

300g plain flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

3 teaspoons white wine vinegar

Cream Cheese Frosting

600g icing sugar, sifted

100g unsalted butter, at room temperature

250g cream cheese cold

• Preheat the oven to 170C
• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Slowly add the eggs and beat well.
• In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, red food colouring and vanilla extract to make a thick, dark paste.
• Add to the butter mixture and mix well.
• Slowly pour in half the buttermilk, then add half the flour and beat until everything is well incorporated.
• Repeat until all the flour and buttermilk have been added.
• Add salt, bicarbonate of soda and vinegar.
• Beat until well mixed.
• Pour mixture into prepared cake tins and bake in a preheated oven for 30-35 minutes.
• Leave to cool slightly before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
• To make the frosting, beat together the icing sugar and butter and then add the cream cheese in one go and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy. Be careful not to overbeat as it can become runny.

Tropical Hummingbird Cake

This is a special birthday cake for my mum's birthday. She loves fruits so I decided to make a tropical hummingbird cake having seen the recipe on bbc.co.uk.  The hummingbird cake I made earlier in the year which was also for a birthday contained bananas and pineapple. This cake has the addition of mangoes and passionfruit and it was really refreshing and delicious. The fruit flavours really came through and the sponge was very light.  The cream cheese frosting paired well with the cake.  However, I didn't like the texture of the passionfruit seeds which were crunchy but also a little 'sandy'.  Thankfully my mum loved it and she wants to make the same cake for Christmas this year.
I also wanted to try out some new molds that I bought recently - butterfly and daisy mold. They didn't quite turn out as some of the cake stuck to the mold and I didn't have time to do much creative decorating but it still looks quite cute.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!!

 new cake moulds

 cake batter 

 layering with cream cheese frosting

 double layer cake

 mini cakes - slightly burnt!

mini cakes decorated with M&Ms :)

 pre-decoration 

 final cake 

 you can see the bits of fruit and nuts. Delicious! 

For the cake
250g/8¾oz plain flour
250g/8¾oz caster sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 free-range eggs, beaten
200ml/7fl oz sunflower oil, plus extra for greasing
50g/1¾oz pecan nuts, roughly chopped
50g/1¾oz walnuts, roughly chopped
2 bananas, mashed
1 large mango, peeled, stoned removed, flesh mashed
2 passion fruit, pulp only
85g/3oz tinned pineapple, mashed
1 orange, zest only

For the cream cheese frosting
200g/7oz full-fat soft cheese
50g/1¾oz unsalted butter, softened
1 orange, zest only
400g/14oz icing sugar

• Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease and line three 20cm/8in cake tins.
• Sift the flour, caster sugar, ground cinnamon and bicarbonate of soda together in a bowl.
• Stir in the eggs, sunflower oil, nuts, fruit and orange zest until well combined.
• Divide the cake batter among the three cake tins and bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until risen and golden-brown.
• Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Run a round-bladed knife around the inside edge of the tins to loosen the cakes. Remove the cakes from their tins and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Meanwhile, for the cream cheese icing, blend the cheese and butter together with an electric whisk until thick and creamy. Add the orange zest and sift in the icing sugar. Stir gently until well combined, then chill in the fridge until needed.
• Once the cakes are cool, spread cream cheese icing on top of each cake. Stack the cakes to make one three-tiered cake.

Chocolate Whoopie Pie

I was really excited to try out recipes from my whoopie pie book that I won at cupcake camp London. I've never made them before and was curious to see how they would turn out. I made these for Gerard's leaving do alongside the giant chocolate and caramel cupcake. They are quite soft and cakey and were quite 'more-ish' to eat. I think everyone enjoyed them as they were all gone by the end of the party! They are quick and easy to make and I'm sure I'll be making more of these in the future! What is a whoopie pie I hear some of you ask? Well here's a brief history lesson....

Whoopie pies are considered a New England phenomenon and a Pennsylvania Amish tradition. Whoopie Pies have also been known as a "gobs." in Western Pennsylvania.  A whoopie pie is like a sandwich, but made with two soft cookies with a fluffy white filling. They have been described as a cross between a cake and a cookie.  Traditional whoopies pies are made with vegetable shortening, not butter. The original and most commonly made whoopie pie is chocolate with a marshmallow filling. They are hailed as the new cupcakes. Have you tried them before? What do you think? 

 beat butter, shortening and sugar 

 whoopie pie dough

 I used more than 1 tablespoon resulting in giant sized whoopie pies! I am using my ice cream scoop next time. 

 place whoopie pie flat side up

add buttercream filling (i piped mine using a star tip) 

 assembled whoopie pie from the top 

 side view 

Classic Chocolate Whoopie Pie
(Makes 48 two-inch cakes)
200g flour
80g unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
57g unsalted butter, at room temperature
57g vegetable shortening
180g dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
250mls milk

• Preheat oven to 190C.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper.
• In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachement, beat together the butter, shortening, and brown sugar on low speed until just combined.
• Increase the speed to medium and beat until fluffy and smooth, about 3 minutes.
• Add the egg and vanilla and beat for another 2 minutes.
• Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk to the batter and beat on low until just incorporated.
• Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Add the remaining flour mixture and 1/2 cup milk and beat until completely combined.
• Using a spoon, drop about 1 tablespoon of batter onto the prepared baking sheets and repeat, spacing them at least 2 inches apart.
• Bake one sheet at a time for about 10 minutes each, or until the pies spring back when pressed gently.
• Remove from the oven and let the cakes cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

Classic Buttercream Filling
470g icing sugar
113g butter
3-4 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt

• In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat together the icing sugar with the butter, starting on low and increasing to medium speed, until the mixture is crumbly,about 1 minute.
• Add the heavy cream, vanilla and salt and beat on high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.

To asemble whoopie pie: 

• Spread filling on flat side of one cake using a knife or spoon.
• Top with another cake, flat side down.
• Repeat with the rest of the cakes and filling.
• Alternatively you can use a pastry bag with a round tip to pipe the filling onto the cakes.