20 Sweets in 20 Weeks - #13: Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

I first attempted making Red Velvet cake back in 2009 and I think it is safe to say that it was deemed a failure. I think I must have put to much baking powder in those cupcakes because they were extremely bitter. So when Red Velvet won the poll this week I was happy to be giving it another shot, but I was also worried that I would fail again. Luckily those worries were unfounded. I have now successfully made Red Velvet cake, in the form of whoopie pies!

That being said - I think I'm not a massive fan of Red Velvet cake - the flavour is a bit so-so to me, it just isn't sweet enough, or chocolatey enough, or anything really. But my goodness it sure does look pretty. In fact it looks out of this world! The bright red cake with the white cream cheese filling looks divine. And on another positive note my mum officially loved these whoopie pies - she said for her it was a flavour explosion - I guess we must have very different tastebuds? Who knows.

Anyways if you want to make some pretty whoopie pies and you want a 'not too sweet' cake then give these a try - they were extremely easy to make and very pretty to look at.


Red Velvet Whoopie Pies (from Annie's Eats)
For the cookies:
2 cups plain flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
8 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 oz red food coloring

For the frosting:
8 oz cream cheese
5 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract (I only used 1 tsp)
2½ cups icing sugar, sifted

1. Preheat the oven to 375˚ F and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.  
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Beat in the egg until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.  Blend in the vanilla.  
4. With the mixer on low speed, beat in about a third of the dry ingredients, followed by half of the buttermilk, beating each addition just until incorporated.  Repeat so that all the buttermilk has been added and then mix in the final third of dry ingredients.  Do not overbeat.  
5. Blend in the food coloring.
6. Annie piped hers to make heart shaped whoopie pies - I just used an ice-cream scoop to scoop out the batter on to the baking paper. 
7. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until the tops are set, rotating the baking sheets halfway through (mine were a bit larger so I baked for 15 minutes).
8. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking trays  at least 10 minutes, until they can be easily transferred to a cooling rack.  
9. Repeat with any remaining batter.  
10. Allow cookies to cool completely before proceeding.
11. To make the cream cheese frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the cream cheese and butter on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes.  Mix in the vanilla extract.  Gradually beat in the icing sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth.
12. Annie used a piping bag to pipe the cream cheese frosting on between two of the cookies - I just used a knife to spread it on through sheer laziness. 
13. Once you have piped/spread on the cream cheese frosting on to the bottom of one cookie - sandwich it with another cookie - and voila! You are done. Now just repeat for the rest of the whoopie pies.

Iron Cupcake - Keep It Simple Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes

It is Iron Cupcake time again and this month the not-so-secret ingredient was apple. As soon as the ingredient was announced I started to rack my brain - toffee apples, apple pie, baked apples, apple crumble - arrrghh! What to do? I finally decided that you just can't mess with the apple and cinnamon combination, I know it isn't very inventive but it is darn tasty!

Apple cinnamon cake topped with cream cheese buttercream and dusted with ground cinnamon

Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes (from Confetti Cakes for Kids by Elisa Strauss)
Makes 24 cupcakes

3 3/4 cups plain flour
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 cup unsalted butter
3 cups packed brown sugar
4 eggs
1 cup apple sauce
2 apples, peeled and chopped finely

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and line 2 12-hole muffin trays with cupcake papers.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cloves. Set aside.
   
3. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping after each addition.
4. Alternately add the flour mixture and the apple sauce to the butter mixture in three batches, starting with the flour. Scrape down the bowl after each addition and beat until thoroughly combined.
5. Add the apples and stir them in just until they are incorporated.
6. Divide the batter among the cupcake papers and bake for 20-25 minutes.
   

Cream Cheese Buttercream

60g butter, softened

160g cream cheese, softened

3 cups icing sugar (approximately)

1. Beat butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.
2. Gradually beat in sifted icing sugar until you reach the consistency you want.
   
3. Spread over cooled cupcakes and then top with a dusting of ground cinnamon.
   

Look at those yummy chunks of apple...


All lined up ready to be packed up in the cupcake courier...


Well this one didn't make it to the courier :P


Our Generous IronCupcake:Earth Prize Providers:

• The Demy™ by Key Ingredient
• Hello, Cupcake by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson
• Bella Cupcake Couture
• Cupcake Stackers by Gourmac
• The Cake Mix Doctor Returns! by Anne Byrne
• Beautiful Baking Liners by Vestli House
• Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Bakery & Cupcakey Supply

Cake Slice - Burnt Sugar Cake

This is my second month as a member of The Cake Slice Bakers and this month it was all about sugar. Since I have a major (and I mean major) sweet tooth I was quite excited when I found out that the cake for this month was a lovely sounding Burnt Sugar Cake from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott. However when I discovered that we had to melt sugar to make the burnt sugar syrup I have to admit that I was a little scared. The last time I made toffee the pot had to be thrown away after - I made a mess of the whole thing. Well luckily this time my pot (well frying pan) came out of this baking session alive and more importantly the cake was fantastic. The burnt sugar syrup has an amazing rich toffee flavour, the cake was lovely and moist and the icing although a little grainy from the icing sugar was good too. If I make this cake again I will replace the icing with swiss meringue buttercream and then I think the cake would be perfect. So if you do want to bake this cake I would suggest making up a batch of vanilla swiss meringue buttercream and then adding the burnt sugar syrup to taste - that would be delicious!

Oh and if you are wondering, my icing was melting since it was 44 C (111 F) here when I baked the cake - so I decided to go with the flow and just let the icing dribble down the side of the cake. Well that is my excuse and I'm sticking with it!


Burnt Sugar Syrup

1 cup sugar
1 cup boiling water

1. Heat the sugar in a cast iron skillet or another heavy bottomed pan with high sides. Heat over a medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar melts into a clear brown caramel syrup. It should be the colour of tea.
   
2. Gradually add the boiling water, pouring it down the sides of the pan so that if the syrup foams and bubbles up, you should be protected.
   
3. Continue cooking, stirring often, until the water combines with the syrup and turns a handsome brown syrup.
   
4. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Store the cooled syrup in a sealed jar if not using right away (I stored mine for 3 days).
   

Burnt Sugar Cake (from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott)

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1¾ cups sugar
4 eggs
½ cup Burnt Sugar Syrup (recipe above)

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans (I baked mine in 2 6 inch round cake pans and a 12-hole muffin tray lined with cases).
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt and stir with a fork to mix well. Stir the vanilla into the milk.
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and the sugar with an electric mixer at high speed for 2 – 3 minutes, until they are well combined. Stop now and then to scrape the bowl down. Add the eggs, one by one, beating well each time. Pour in half a cup of the burnt sugar syrup and beat well.
   
4. Add a third of the flour mixture and about half of the milk, beating at a low speed, until just incorporated. Mix in another third of the flour and the rest of the milk. Finally, add the remaining flour.
5. Divide the batter between the cake pans and bake at 350F for 20 to 25 minutes until the cakes are golden brown, spring back when touched gently in the centre and begin to pull away from the sides of the pan (for some reason it took 40 minutes in my oven - maybe because I couldn't preheat - due to little miss Zoe crawling around).
   
6. Let the cakes cool in the pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Turn out the cakes onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Burnt Sugar Frosting

3¾ cups confectioners sugar
½ cup Burnt Sugar Syrup (above)
¼ cup (½ stick) butter
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 – 3 tbsp evaporated milk or normal milk (I used normal milk)

1. In a large bowl, combine the confectioners sugar, the burnt sugar syrup, butter and vanilla. Beat with a mixer at medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl now and then to bring the ingredients together.
   
2. Add 2 tablespoons of the milk and continue beating until the frosting is thick, soft, smooth and easy to spread. Add a little more sugar if it is thin, and a little more milk if it is too thick.

To Assemble

Place one layer, top side down, on a cake stand or serving plate.

Scoop about ¾ cup of the frosting onto the cake and spread to the edges.


Place the second cake layer over it, top side down (I put mine bottom side down for that homely feel/look).


Frost the sides of the cake, and then the top until it is evenly covered (as you can see mine was sort of more drizzled).


Now cut yourself a slice and if you have any leftover syrup pour a little on top - because there isn't enough sugar already :P

In the words of Mat...

"It just tastes like sugar,
it's a sugar cake
and there's nothing wrong with that."

If you like pina coladas...

Pineapple cake topped with Pina Colada buttercream and shredded coconut

Have you heard that Iron Cupcake is back? Another reason to bake some cupcake delights! To kickstart the second year of Iron Cupcake we have an interesting challenge - the theme this time was music. So of course I started to rack my brain for cupcake worthy songs, and I came up with... If You Like Pina Coladas!

So if you in fact do like Pina Coladas may I suggest that you try out these cupcakes, especially the buttercream (drool).

Pineapple Cupcakes (adapted from Planet Cake)
Makes 12

175g unsalted butter, softened
160g caster sugar
1 tsp natural vanilla extract
1 tsp grated lemon zest
2 eggs
160g self-raising flour
100g plain flour
200ml milk
440g tin of crushed pineapple, well drained (reserve the juice for the buttercream)
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
1/3 cup honey
50g unsalted butter, extra

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and line 2 12-hole muffin trays with paper cases.
2. Beat butter, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and a pinch of salt until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Sift the flours together. Using a wooden spoon, fold the flour and milk alternately into the creamed mixture.
4. Spoon mixture into the paper cases. Top each cupcake with crushed pineapple and a sprinkle of coconut.
   
5. Beat the extra butter with the honey until creamy. Spoon some of the honey mixture over each cupcake - not too much!
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Leave in tray for 5 minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool.

Pina Colada Buttercream

160g cream cheese, softened
60g unsalted butter, softened
500g icing sugar, sifted
2 tsp coconut essence
2 tsp pineapple juice

1. Beat the cream cheese and butter until creamy.
   
2. Add the icing sugar, coconut essence and pineapple juice and beat until combined.
   

To assemble the cupcakes top each with a swirl of the buttercream, then flatten out the frosting and roll it in some shredded coconut. Decorate with a bendy straw and cocktail umbrella.


Our Generous IronCupcake:Earth Prize Providers:

• The Demy™ by Key Ingredient
• Hello, Cupcake by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson
• Bella Cupcake Couture
• Cupcake Stackers by Gourmac
• The Cake Mix Doctor Returns! by Anne Byrne

And check out Iron Cupcake Earth - it really is a lot of fun!

Cupcake Hero - The Pumpkin Graveyard Cupcakes

Have you all heard about Cupcake Hero? Well I had heard of it and was only just getting on this crazy baking band wagon when it all came to an end. Luckily Clara from I Heart Cuppycakes has taken the Cupcake Captain position and Cupcake Hero is back (that is a tongue twister if ever I saw one), and this time I am going to participate.

This month's challenge is a pumpkin cupcake with Halloween themed decorations - yay! I love pumpkin and I have a new found love for decorating so this challenge excited me a lot. Supposedly there is a pumpkin shortage in America - but luckily there is no such thing here, I actually had a lot of leftover pumpkin waiting for me in the fridge - it was begging to be baked, really it was.

So without further ado, here are my little pumpkin graveyard cupcakes...

Pumpkin Graveyard Cupcakes

Moist pumpkin spice cupcakes topped with sweet cinnamon butter cream, then finely crushed Oreo biscuits and spooky fondant skulls, bones and fingers

Creepy no? I thought so.

So the first thing that you need to do to make these creepy looking cupcakes is to make the fondant decorations - of course you can always use some store bought candy/lollies if you don't have the time or patience for this step.

Skull/Bone/Finger Fondant Cupcake Toppers

250g modeling fondant (knead in 1/2 tsp of Tylopur or CMC to normal fondant to make modeling fondant)
yellow paste colour
brown paste colour
red paste colour
vodka

1. Colour the fondant a very light yellow.
   
2. Next shape the decorations - have fun with this bit, I made bones, skulls and fingers, but you can make whatever you desire :)
   
3. Colour the decorations with the paste colours - I diluted mine with a bit of vodka and then painted directly on the decorations. I used the brown colour to make the bones and fingers look aged, and then the red for the end of the finger and the fingernail.
4. Leave to dry over night - I left mine for 3 days (do not store in a plastic container, just leave them in a safe and dry place).
   

Here is one of the many bones...


A tiny little skull - awww so cute...


And one of the gruesome fingers (and if you are wondering why it looks all bent and strange - that is because I modeled it on my finger, which is also all bent and strange)...


Now that you have your creepy decorations, it is time to make the cupcakes...

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes (from Cupcake Heaven by Susannah Blake)
Makes 12 cupcakes

115g brown sugar
120ml sunflower oil
2 eggs
115g pumpkin, grated (finely grated)
grated zest of 1 lemon
115g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon (I would reduce this to 1/2 tsp)

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and line a 12-hole muffin tray with cupcake cases.
2. Put the sugar in a bowl and break it up with a fork, then beat in the oil and eggs.
3. Fold in the grated pumpkin and lemon zest.
4. Combine the flour, baking powder and cinnamon in a bowl, and then sift into the sugar mixture and fold in.
5. Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases and bake for 18 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
   

Next step is the...

Cinnamon Buttercream

125g unsalted butter, softened
500g icing sugar, sifted
1/4 cup milk
pinch of cinnamon

1. Beat the butter until light and fluffy.
2. Add 1 cup of the icing sugar and beat until combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
3. Add the milk and beat until combined. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until combined and fluffy.
4. Add more cinnamon if desired, add more milk if too stiff or add more icing sugar if it is not firm enough.
   

Now that the cupcakes have cooled put a dollop of buttercream on each cupcake and then using an offset spatula (or knife) level out the frosting.


Next crush up a packet of Oreos - using either a food processor, a rolling pin or like me you could use your bare hands - I know I am an animal! Then coat each cupcake with the crushed up Oreos...


At this point you might want to do a little taste test...


Yep these taste pretty darn good! The only thing that I would change would be to decrease the amount of cinnamon in the cupcakes (as I noted in the recipe).

To finish off the cupcakes top them with your creepy fondant decorations and then sit back and marvel at your creations (or just eat them, whatever you want to do).


One last thing...

Are you more of a creepy detached finger kinda person...


Or a skull and bones kinda person?

First cupcake order

Today I baked my first ever cupcake order! One of the lovely ladies from Mat's work wanted some cupcakes for her daughter's 10th birthday party - and I was ever so happy that she asked me to bake them. The birthday girl wanted vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and sprinkles. The colour choices were left up to me, so I decided to do 12 yellow cupcakes with coloured sugar confetti and 12 pink cupcakes with sprinkles.

The pink ones are my personal favourite - they look so pretty...


I really like the look of the sugar confetti, especially on yellow frosting - classic cupcake style!


Here they are all packed up in my cupcake courier ready to go...


I hope the birthday girl liked them :)

Baking Mondays - Chocolate Cupcakes

The KitchenAid has officially been broken in! Last night I baked chocolate cupcakes using Martha Stewart's one bowl recipe (thanks to Cassie from How to Eat a Cupcake for posting the recipe). It was an incredibly easy recipe and using my KitchenAid made mixing it up a breeze! Loved it!

I really wanted to make a chocolate swiss meringue buttercream, but it wasn't to be. By the time I got around to baking it was too late in the evening and I ran out of time. So I just made a normal chocolate buttercream since that is always quick and easy. The KitchenAid gave it such a good consistency - way better than the old hand beaters. Next time I need a buttercream though I will definitely be going the swiss meringue route - I need to know what it tastes like and how good the texture is - can't wait to experiment!

So the rating?

Me - 7/10, cake was moist and had a good texture, I think I could be a bit richer though. Also normal buttercream is getting boring - I think I need to move on :P

Mat - 5/10, cake was moist and good, but he isn't a huge fan of chocolate. The buttercream is way too sweet and overpowering.

Baking Mondays - Deluxe Hazelnut Cupcakes (ICE Entry)

This is my first ever entry into Iron Cupcake - and I have to say that it was a lot of fun! The theme this month was Nuts and Seeds. There were so many flavour options to choose from, caramel and pecan, macadamia and white chocolate, orange and poppyseed, peanut butter and jelly, the list goes on. I decided to settle on chocolate and hazelnut for my flavours and I have to say that is definitely a winning combination! These cupcakes turned out wonderfully - absolutely delicious! They are a moist hazelnut cake, filled with Nutella cream, topped with vanilla buttercream and crushed hazelnuts, then drizzled with dark chocolate ganache.

Here is one of the cupcakes:


A cross section of one of the cupcakes:


The recipes:

Hazelnut Cupcakes (taken from The Baker's Dozen Cookbook)
Made 29 cupcakes :)

1 cup hazelnuts, toasted, skinned and coarsely chopped (+1 cup extra for topping)
2 3/4 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bi-carb soda
1/2 tsp salt
226g unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup plain yogurt, at room temperature

1. Preheat to 180 degrees celsius. Line 3 12 hole muffin trays.
   
2. In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, process 1/4 cup of the chopped hazelnuts with 1/4 cup flour until the hazelnuts are finely ground, almost a powder. Transfer to a medium bowl. Sift the remaining 2 1/2 cups flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt into the bowl and whisk to mix. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until it is lighter in color, about 45 seconds. Add the granulated sugar in a steady stream, then stop the machine and scrape down the bowl. Return to medium speed and beat, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl, until the mixture is very light in color and texture, 4 to 5 minutes.
4. Gradually, about a tablespoon at a time, beat in the eggs. Continue beating until the mixture is ivory-colored. The entire process of adding and beating the eggs should take 3 to 4 minutes. Add the vanilla toward the end of mixing.
5. Reduce the mixer speed to low. In four additions, add the flour mixture, alternating with three additions of the yogurt. After each addition, scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat until smooth. Stir in 1/2 cup of the remaining hazelnuts. Spread the batter evenly between the cupcake liners.
6. Bake until the tops spring back when pressed lightly and a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, around 15 minutes (but my oven is crazy so this may vary).
7. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire cooling rack and cool for 10 minutes before removing from the muffin trays.

Nutella Cream
4 tbsp Nutella
300ml thickened cream

Whip Nutella and cream together until light and fluffy.

Vanilla Buttercream
250g butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups icing sugar, sifted
2 tbsp thickened cream

1. Beat butter until light and fluffy, add vanilla extract and beat to combine.
   
2. Add the icing sugar one cup at a time beating well with each addition.
   
3. Add the thickened cream and beat to combine.

Chocolate Ganache
250g dark chocolate, chopped
150ml thickened cream

1. Put dark chocolate in a bowl.
   
2. Bring the cream to the boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat as soon as boiling point is reached.
   
3. Pour the cream over the chocolate and whisk until chocolate melts.
4. Leave to cool slightly before using.

To put it all together cut a small cone out of the top of each cupcake, spoon in the nutella cream and replace the cone of cake. Pipe on the vanilla buttercream, top with some crushed hazelnuts and drizzle with chocolate ganache.

So the verdict?

Me - 9/10, these were yum, yum, yum! I think the only improvement would be to use a swiss meringue buttercream.
Mat - 10/10, these is his favourite cupcake so far!

Voting opens at http://www.ironcupcakemilwaukee.com on March 29th - so please vote for me if you think the cupcakes look good!

The prizes for Iron Cupcake this month are:

• A Bunnycake Easter Plushie by DOGBONEART, http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21636297.
• A whimsical piece by CAKEASAURUS, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5729584.
  
• as well as a pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6057281.
• a collection of all new printed cupcake liners, 200 in all from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Cupcakery, http://www.acupcakery.com/
  
• PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com . And as a special thank you, we would like to once again thank DIANAEVANS - http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5599270 for her participation in the February challenge. An incorrect link was posted and we want to be sure that she gets the recognition she deserves. Thanks again Diana!

Baking Mondays - Orange Cupcakes

This week I decided to make some orange flavoured cupcakes to use up the few oranges that I have lying around. I used this recipe from CupcakeRecipes.com.

For once I actually followed the recipe exactly, so there are no notes to go with these cupcakes.

The verdict?

Me - 6/10, unfortunately the oranges that I did have were pretty tasteless and even a bit tart so the frosting was bitter. The cake itself isn't too bad, but it certainly isn't anything amazing either.
Mat - hasn't tried one yet, so I will update with his verdict later.

Baking Mondays - Neapolitan Cupcakes

Ah what a disaster. The plan was to make rocky road cupcakes. I chopped up the cherries, marshmallows and peanuts, covered the bowl in cling wrap and then went out to visit some friends. When we got home I was all psyched up to finish the cupcakes but soon discovered that ants had gotten into the rocky road mix! It was extremely disappointing and I nearly gave up there and then, but when I realised that I had all the necessary ingredients for neapolitan cupcakes I was in business again. So without further ado...

Neapolitan Cupcakes (from The Australian Women's Weekly - Cupcakes)

Makes 12

125g butter, softened

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

150g caster sugar

2 eggs

185g self-raising flour

80ml milk

pink food colouring

strawberry essence

1 tbspn cocoa powder

2 tsps milk, extra

1. Preheat oven to moderate. Line 12 hole muffin pan with paper cases.
2. Beat butter, vanilla, sugar and eggs with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in the sifted flour and milk, in two batches.
3. Divide mixture evenly among 3 bowls. Tint one mixture pink and flavour with strawberry essence. Blend sifted cocoa with extra milk in cup, stir into another mixture. Leave third mixture plain.
4. Drop alternate spoonfuls of the 3 mixtures into cases. Pull a skewer through the mixtures to give a marbled effect.
5. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn onto a wire rack to cool.
6. Decorate with butter cream.

Neapolitan Butter Cream

125g butter, softened

240g icing sugar

2 tbsps milk

pink food colouring

strawberry essence

1 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tsps milk, extra

Beat butter with electric mixer until as white as possible. Beat in sifted icing sugar and milk in two batches. Divide mixture into 3 bowls and flavour butter cream in a similar style to the cupcake mixture.

Note: I added the strawberry essence to give it a true neapolitan flavour, the original recipe just used pink food colouring.

So the verdict?

Me - 7/10, pretty good - I think I would add a tad bit more strawberry essence to the cake and I would like to decorate it differently next time.

Mat - 8/10, sugary goodness - he is looking forward to having another one tomorrow.

One more photo of the cupcakes, this is the inside of the cake...

Baking Mondays - Vanilla Raspberry Cupcakes

I was a very slack blogger over the weekend - but I am back on the blogging wagon today because it is Baking Monday! I planned to make these cupcakes a week ago for Valentines day, but with our short trip back to Mildura I didn't get the time to go to the shops to get all of the necessary ingredients - so here they are a week late.

I used the recipe for Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcakes and was planning to swirl some raspberry flavoured syrup through it to give it that extra burst of raspberry flavour. However, when I opened the syrup jar and it didn't make that lovely 'pop' sound to say that it was fresh I knew that dream was over. So instead we just have plain vanilla cupcakes - and it was lucky that they turned out! When I had finished mixing the ingredients I thought the batter looked incredibly dry - so I reread the instructions and whoops I forgot to add the eggs! I blame it on my silly mummy brain, thankfully they still turned out okay.

For the raspberry butter cream I used the recipe from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody. However, I put in a full cup of raspberry jam and it wasn't seedless because apparently that doesn't exist in my local shopping centre. Also I only used five and a half cups of icing sugar.

So the ratings?

7/10 from both Mat and I - these are definitely yummy, but they don't blow your socks off or anything.

Baking Mondays - Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

This weekend I asked Mat what flavour cupcake he would like me to bake and he requested choc mint. So I googled away until I found a few recipes that I was happy to try out. I found this recipe for chocolate cake and made it taste slightly minty by adding an eighth of a teaspoon of peppermint essence, the recipe made 22 small cupcakes. I then used this recipe for mint frosting and added just a few drops of green food colouring to make it look that little bit more minty, the recipe made more than enough frosting for all of the cupcakes. Finally I topped the cupcakes with a small slice of mint patty.

The verdict?

Mat - 8/10

Me - 6/10 (I think the frosting needs some work still)