Banoffee Cupcakes

After being with my boyfriend for nearly a year, my love of baking all things pretty and cupcakey, has become the world's worst kept secret amongst his friends. So please, just for a moment, imagine my surprise when his muscly, tattoo-covered best friend let slip that he also has a love for all things pretty and cupcakey.
Following this bombshell, some entirely unsubtle hints were dropped about banoffee being his flavour of choice. This fact came conveniently to my attention the week before his birthday, and here we are...twelve baked banoffee cupcakes later...

These cupcakes are super sweet, with a subtle banana infusion. The sponge is much like banana bread, for which I used fresh, mashed bananas. The gluttonous buttercream is a heavenly mixture of butter and dulce de leche. 
All these gorgeous aspects make this a little banoffee cake, that captures a whole lot of perfect.

Makes twelve cakes

Method

For the sponge:

80g butter
280g caster sugar
240g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
240ml semi skimmed milk
2 tbsp vanilla essence
2 large eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed

• Preheat your oven to 190ºC (Gas Mark 5) and prepare a 12-hole deep muffin tray with cases of your choice. 
• Place your butter, caster sugar, plain flour, baking powder, milk, vanilla essence and eggs into a mixing bowl and beat together until your mixture is smooth. 
• Then mash three ripe bananas, until they have the texture of a paste. 
• Mix your bananas into your preprepared cake mix.
• When well combined, spoon the mixture evenly between your cases. (TIP: only half fill your cake cases to ensure an even rise and no overspill.)
• Bake for 20 minutes. 
• Remove and leave to cool completely. 

For the buttercream:

500g icing sugar

160g butter

50ml semi skimmed milk

100g dulce de leche (or a toffee syrup of some sort, e.g. a toffee ice-cream sauce.)

• Beat all of your ingredients together until fluffy. 
• Frost your cupcakes however you wish.

For my decoration, I opted for various different cases and topped each one with a swirl of squirty cream, a slice of fresh banana and a sprinkle of grated milk chocolate. 

Using a variety of cases always makes me think of parties you attended when you were a young child, and when was a day spent in a soft-play area, followed by ice-cream/jelly and pretty cakes ever not fun? Never, precisely. 

So, enjoy these banoffee miniatures, they're more than a little bit wonderful.

Enjoy, K x

Fudgy, Caramelly Cupcakes

When you're with a man who appreciates your baking, his birthday is the perfect excuse to go a bit crazy with calories.
He dropped some not-so-subtle hints about liking caramel, so I ran with the idea and ended up with a fluffy caramel sponge, coated in a lightly salted caramel buttercream and topped it all off with a homemade fudge drizzle and crushed Daim bar. There's nothing like using a little artistic licence, is there?
My cake loving other half is an unashamed patriot, so I decided to place these cakes in both blue gingham cases and some which adorned Union Jacks. This is just a personal touch and you can, of course, dress these gorgeous little cakes as you wish.
After I made them I did have to taste them, just to ensure that they weren't poisonous...I'm a samaritan like that. They certainly weren't, the end result was a taste not too dissimilar to sticky toffee pudding, so if that's a favourite of yours, then this recipe should take a prominent position on your shelf.




                                                                                                    










(Recipe makes 16-20 cupcakes)

Method

For the caramel sauce:

250g golden caster sugar (if you don't have this, you can use normal caster sugar and just add a little light muscovado sugar to the mixture.)
135ml water

• Put the sugar into a heavy bottomed pan and mix with five tablespoons of your water over a low heat, until the sugar has dissolved. 
• Increase the heat for around 10 minutes, until your sugar has turned dark amber in colour. 
• Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool slightly. You can stir the mixture occasionally to help it cool quicker. 
• Once the mixture has cooled slightly, add your remaining water. Take care as the mixture may spit and will be extremely hot. 
• When your sauce has completely cooled, pour into a bowl and cover, until ready to use. You can store this mixture for up to a week if necessary. 

For the sponge:

100g salted butter

120g light, soft brown sugar

120g dark, soft brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

125g self-raising flour, sifted

120g plain flour, sifted

75ml caramel sauce (recipe listed above)

50ml double cream

• Preheat your oven to 160ºC (Gas Mark 3) and place your chosen cupcake cases into muffin trays. 
• Beat all of your ingredients together until all elements are well combined and the mixture is fluffy. 
• Spoon the mixture into your prepared cupcake cases (attempt only fill them half fill so the baked mixture does not spill over the edge of your cases.) 
• Bake in the oven for around 25 minutes, or until your mixture is cooked through. 
• Remove and leave to cool completely before decorating.

For the buttercream:

80g salted butter

7 tbsp semi skimmed milk

250g light, soft brown sugar

260g icing sugar, sifted

1 tsp vanilla extract

A pinch of rock salt

• Melt your butter in a heavy saucepan, along with the brown sugar. Bring the mixture to the boil and boil for one minute. 
• Remove from the heat and stir in half of your icing sugar, before allowing it to cool slightly and adding the remaining icing sugar, rock salt and vanilla extract. Stir until the mixture thickens a little. 
• This icing is best used immediately.

For decoration: 

Fudge sauce:

340g granulated sugar

85g brown sugar

100g cocoa powder

30g plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

400g evaporated milk

250ml water

2 tbsp salted butter

2 tsp vanilla extract

•  Place the granulated and brown sugar, cocoa powder, flour and salt into a saucepan. Add the evaporated milk, water and butter and bring slowly to the boil, stirring constantly. Once boiling, cook for five minutes.
• Remove the sauce from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Stir in the vanilla extract.

Otherwise, simply crush your Daim bars and decorate as you wish. 

I hope these little cakes bring you as much happiness as they did one certain 24 year old man recently. I have every faith that they will.

Enjoy, K x

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99p Cornet Cupcakes

Tomorrow afternoon I am meeting someone for the first time, who I need to leave a particularly good impression with. I need to ooze confidence, radiate maturity and remain likeable on all accounts; instead I'm hiding behind cupcakes, which look like 99p cornets, in the desperate hope that I at least manage the likeable part. People can't help but like those who supply them with free cake.
     I found out that Cadbury's, Flake is this ladies favourite chocolate bar of choice, so I ad-libbed a little by introducing the chocolate sponge and vanilla buttercream in order to create cakey versions of everyone's old fashioned favourite, the well-established 99er.
     I placed these gorgeous little cakes in white and brown cupcake cases so as not to detract from the Mr Whippy visual effect! You can, of course, decorate them as you wish - I'm sure a few hundreds-and-thousands would only enhance your gorgeous cakey cornets!
     So, wish me as much luck as you can spare, and lets hope she enjoys these quirky little cakes which are, undeniably, the crumbliest, flakiest, most-beautifulist little cakes in the whole world. 

Ingredients (Makes 12)

For the Sponge:

100g plain flour
20g cocoa powder
140g caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
40g butter
120ml whole milk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract 

For the Icing

250g icing sugar
80g butter
25ml semi skimmed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

• Simply combine your sponge mixture together in a large mixing bowl and preheat your oven to 170ºC (Gas Mark 3).

• Once thoroughly mixed, divide your mixture between twelve preprepared cupcake cases in a muffin tray. (Ensure you only fill your cupcake cases half full, otherwise your mixture will spill over the top of your cases when baking.)

• Place in the oven and cook for 25 minutes. 

• Remove and leave to cool completely. 

• Once cool, combine all your icing ingredients together in a bowl. Beat until fluffy. 

• Frost and decorate your cakes as you wish.

So, with a sprinkle of hope, a teaspoon of excitement and an evening full of outfit planning and general unnecessary fuss, I will say goodbye. I hope you all have a fun time creating these summery, nostalgic little cakes, they're a small taste of everyone's childhood.
     As you pass yourself one of these charming cakes, don't be embarrassed to go as far as to say "99er is it, my love?" in a gentle, lilting grandfatherly West Country accent. It adds to the general ice-cream van ambience, I promise. 

Enjoy, K x

Valentine's Raspberry Confetti Cake

I am one of the few women you will ever meet who is deadly serious when they say they don't like Valentine's Day. 
     I've never appreciated the obvious tackiness of it all: heart balloons that deflate too quickly, boxes of chocolate I won't eat for fear of them never leaving my hips and being given bouquets of luridly coloured flowers, by misinformed men, that clash with the monochrome décor in my bedroom.  
    Despite being in relationships, I choose to spend Valentine's Day with my best friend every year, getting horribly drunk, without a love heart or neon pink flower petal in sight. 


     However, now I'm taking my cake making quite seriously, I decided I should probably bake something for Valentine's Day, seeing as lots of people do seem to rather enjoy it.
     I'm more than slightly ashamed to say that I surprised myself with how horribly glittery, heart-filled and smushy I became. Apparently the one thing that can melt my icy exterior and stony heart, and in turn, make me a sickening 'hearts-and-flowers' kind of girl, is cake. I'm not quite sure why I'm so surprised...
     This cake is a raspberry sponge with cream cheese frosting, which you can decorate however you please. I planned on topping it solely with raspberries, however, as you can see, this plan soon changed and became just a few raspberries and far more heart sprinkles than I care to admit. So decorate as you wish, I won't judge you now mine looks like romantic carnage.

For the Sponge: 

350g butter
350g caster sugar
6 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract 
450g plain flour
2 tbsp + 2 tsp baking powder
300ml soured cream
250g fresh raspberries
(One 25cm ring mould, greased.)

• Preheat your oven to 170ºC (Gas Mark 3)
• After you have whisked together the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, flour, baking powder and soured cream, spoon in your raspberries and mix well using a wooden spoon. 
• After this, pour the mixture into your preprepared ring mould and place in the oven for 40 minutes. 
• Once your cake has been baking for the full 40 minutes, test with a cake skewer. If your skewer comes out clean, leave to cool completely. If it doesn't place back in the oven for 5 minute instalments, testing after each one. 
• Leave to cool completely on a cooling rack, do not remove the cake from the tin until it is completely cool. 

For the Frosting:

600g icing sugar
100g butter
250g cream cheese 

• Simply whisk all your ingredients together for around 5 minutes, or until your mixture is light and fluffy.
• Once your cake is completely cool, spoon on your frosting and smooth over the cake. (Preferably using a standard palette knife.) 
• Once your cake is evenly covered in frosting, decorate it as you wish. Having raspberries on the outside looks beautiful and slightly rustic, but feel free to add whatever else you like.

     You'll be surprised how allowing your creativity to run free, also allows the hidden romantic in you to run far freer than you would usually allow it to. So have some fun with this loved-up little cake because; as the English proverb goes: "If you can't beat them, join them."

Best of luck with your amorous baking,

Enjoy, K x

An Electrician Frosts a Cupcake

My younger brother, Max, began an electrical apprenticeship last year, and has since become a lot more 'blokey.' This has manifested in daily pub trips, calling lots of people (girls and boys alike) "mate", and eating more red meat than is healthy for normal humans. 

Recently, one evening, | somehow managed to prize him out of the aforementioned 'pub trip', and got him frosting and decorating chocolate orange cupcakes - here is the rather amusing outcome.

I proudly introduce the first video upload for Kate's Cakes and Cupcakes, proving that making a pretty little cake is within anyone's reach, 'An Electrician Frosts a Cupcake'. 

Enjoy, K x :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6PCQ_HvqxM

Two-Tone Icing Tutorial

This 'Two-Tone Icing Tutorial' has been requested by a few people I know, so I thought it was about time I did it. 
     So, tonight I got on my old 'Bath Rugby' shirt (standard cooking attire, showing both dedication to cooking and my favourite team. Talk about killing two birds with one stone...) and started baking my 'Halloween Cupcakes' (see previous blog post). 
     For these particular cupcakes, given the slightly morbid theme, I chose to use black and white, two-tone icing because I wanted to each little cake to give the impression of being a spooky shadow. 
     So here is how I did it, in step-by-step pictures and annotations. 
     Obviously you can achieve this two-tonal effect using whatever alternative food colouring you choose. I simply used black because it was Halloween cupcakes that I was creating!

I hope at least some of you find this helpful :)







First of all, roll your piping bag down. This enables you to get closer to your piping nozzle (thus being more accurate) and it also helps to avoid getting icing all over both you and your bag.


















Then spoon the half of your frosting mix you have NOT yet added food colouring to over to one side of the bag.
I tend to find that the easiest way of doing this is to lie the bag on one side in your hand, then spoon the mixture in. Gravity is your friend!
You should see a clear division down the middle of your bag as shown in my picture.
If you don't, simply use your spoon to manipulate the icing back over to only one side!

After this, add whatever food colouring you wish to use, to the remaining frosting mix and whisk together. 
Then spoon this mixture into the other, free half of your piping bag. 
Once again, you should see a clear division between the two colours in your bag, as shown in my picture.

Once this is done, roll the sides of your bag back up and pipe some of your mixture out, into your mixing bowl, until you see the two colours coming out simultaneously. 

















Once you see both colours coming out, you can begin to pipe your frosting onto your cakes or cupcakes (as shown.) Simply continue to do this until all your cakes are frosted, then decorate as you wish!




















Enjoy, K x

Cupcakes Under Construction!

For the last few weeks, my house has looked like the a scene from Pearl Harbour, due to our sitting room, kitchen and dining room being entirely reconstructed.

On multiple mornings I have been woken up by deafeningly loud drilling, or walls being knocked down instead of the soothing sounds of my iPod. Trading waking up soothed and well-rested, for blistering headaches at times that feel like the middle of the night, has not been my idea of a good time.

This has also meant that my twice-weekly bake off's have been forced to happen at night, after the various workmen leave, which adds a general feeling of espionage to my baking. The various builders, carpenters, carpet layers, electricians and plumbers that have traipsed through my house, have all become rather accustomed to the daily sweet fixes that follow the morning after. 

The image of burly builders, sooty electricians and plumbers with pencils behind their ears, eating tiny sparkly cakes has started to become a regular source of amusement for me and I thought it would share it with you all.

I am consequently now on a one woman mission to  make the construction trade swap burgers and coke for pretty cupcakes and civilised cups of tea! So far it appears to be a great success - what an adaptable bunch!

Enjoy, K x

Galaxy 'Minstrel' Cupcakes

My very best friend was coming home from uni today for her reading week and, being the dutiful friend that I am, I decided to make her some cupcakes using her favourite chocolate - Galaxy!
     Emily is a fellow university student, so naturally the combination of these cakes being both free AND her favourite chocolate meant they brought her untold amounts of happiness!
     I decided to use a simple chocolate sponge, then infuse the buttercream frosting with a gluttonous amount of Galaxy chocolate...
     To decorate, I used some Kitchen Craft - Sweetly Does It cupcake cases and I then simply decorated each cake with one 'Minstrel' and some of my compulsory edible glitter. For girls and boys alike, glitter is a wonderful thing, so don't be afraid to glitz up your cakey creations!


Now, for the recipe :)

(For the Sponge - Makes 18)


200g plain flour
40g cocoa powder
280g caster sugar
3 tsp baking powder
80g butter
240ml semi skimmed milk
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract



(For the Frosting)

250g butter 
150g icing sugar
250g Galaxy
2 tbsp vanilla essence

• Simply preheat your oven to 170ºC (Gas Mark 3) and bake your cakes for 20-25 minutes.
• Once your cakes are cool, begin melting your chocolate in a bain-marie before adding it to the rest of your buttercream ingredients. 
• Frost, decorate and eat!

Ensure you devour these with a bigger cup of tea than you would usually opt for - I insist you treat yourself to some quality time alone with these sinfully chocolatey cakes!

Enjoy, K x

Triple Chocolate & Strawberry Temptation

This tower of chocolatey temptation consists of two light, chocolate sponges sandwiched together by a generous layer of chocolate buttercream and strawberry jam. I then gave it a layer of buttercream all over the cake and decorated it with homemade chocolate strawberries. 
     So as not to lie to my readers I will admit, it is highly calorific...however, it is also hellishly gooey, subtly fruity and simply gorgeous. 
     Although chocolate strawberries are a super easy thing to do, I have one tiny tip to simplify it even further! When making your chocolate strawberries, ensure you add a tsp of sunflower oil to your melted chocolate before dipping your strawberries in as this helps the mixture not to become too solid once refrigerated.
     Once you have done this, refrigerate them on a baking tray covered in greaseproof paper as this makes the process of removing your strawberries easier later!

So, here's how you make your very own 'Triple Chocolate & Strawberry Temptation' cake!

(For the Chocolate Strawberries) 

Roughly 400g of strawberries (use more/less depending on how heavily decorate you want your cake to be.)

Roughly 300g of milk chocolate (again, use more/less depending on how many strawberries you use.)

1 tsp sunflower oil

• Simply melt your chocolate in a bain-marie, until it is completely melted. 
• Once melted, add the sunflower oil.
• Dip each strawberry into the chocolate until completely covered and place on a baking tray, lined with greaseproof paper.
• Place in the fridge until it's time to decorate.

(For the Sponge)

300g plain flour
60g cocoa powder
320g caster sugar
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
120g butter
360ml semi skimmed milk 
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

(For the Chocolate Frosting)

600g icing sugar
200g butter
80g cocoa powder
80ml semi skimmed milk

• For this recipe I used two 20cm cake tins which I greased and lined - this is essential for even cooking and makes them so much easier to remove once cooked and cooled.
• Simply mix all your ingredients together and cook at 170ºC (Gas Mark 3) for 35-40 minutes.
• Once cooked, remove and leave to cool completely (this should take around 1 - 1 1/2 hours!) Then spread your chocolate frosting on one half of the cake. On the other half, spread the strawberry jam, then sandwich together. 
• Then frost the entire cake before decorating with your pre-made chocolate strawberries! 

Super simple and gluttonously perfect!

Enjoy, K x

My Cupcake Toolbox

This is just a quick post about the cupcake "stationary" I use! I read a blog post similar to this one when I started making my cakes and it made everything seem a lot simpler!

First of all: the icing nozzles I use. I use the three bigger plastic ones (left) more often and save the small silver ones (right) for more delicate decoration. I got the big plastic ones from The Happy Cupcake Company (as we all know...it's the best baking place in the whole world, so why go anywhere else?)  The silver ones I bought from Amazon. They can all be bought relatively cheaply but, as a general rule of thumb, the plastic nozzles work better with disposable piping bags!

Next, the piping bags. I buy and use disposable plastic piping bags off Amazon in bulk where a pack of 20 cost £1.15! ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Classikool-Branded-Savoy-Disposable-Piping/dp/B004QYHF86/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350340012&sr=8-1 )

     This is largely because 1.) I can't be bothered with washing out a re-usable material piping bag...lazy cupcake chef that I am and 2.) because it seems more sanitary - being also the OCD cupcake chef that I am!

I hope you have enjoyed this sneaky peak into my cupcake toolbox - it's among my most treasured possessions! It's always jam packed full of gorgeous cake cases, intricate decorations, nozzles and lots of other fun little things.

     I love to give all my cakes little personalities, so I think to think of this box as a wardrobe, packed full of fun outfits!

I hope you have all found this blog entry useful and not sinfully boring!

Happy Baking,

Enjoy, K x

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Tomorrow I have to give a presentation to the rest of my third year class, naturally - to get them all on side - I decided to make them some cupcakes, and who doesn't like a simple red velvet? The thinking twenteenagers cake choice!

     I decided to simply use some red polka dot cases (which are made by "Sweetly Does It" - http://www.kitchencraft.co.uk/catalogue/range.aspx?gid=41675&pg=SZji0DjTvs1arL8U3%2bYCFw%3d%3d ) and some edible silver glitter to decorate. I have no doubt that the boys in my class will just LOVE them...

     I decided to frost half the cakes with a star formation (a little like giant iced gems) and the other half, I frosted with my signature swirl. This makes half the batch positively slimming for those who are weight conscious...I promise!

     The recipe I used is a simple variation on Hummingbird's classic recipe, so it's undeniably gorgeous!

(For the Sponge) Makes 24:

120g butter

300g caster sugar

2 eggs

40g cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

80ml red food colouring

240ml semi skimmed milk

300g plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

3 tsp white vinegar

(For the Frosting)

600g icing sugar

100g butter

250g cream cheese (e.g Philadelphia)

• Simply heat your oven to 170ºC (Gas Mark 3) and bake for 20-25 minutes.
• Once cool, mix all your frosting ingredients together and decorate as you wish (glitter is preferable, always.) 

Enjoy, K x

"I Love London" Themed Chocolate Sponge Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting

This week I decided to go back to basics and make some super simple little cakes and 'go to town' on the decoration side of things! So, I opted for a chocolate sponge (who doesn't like that?) and some super sweet, vanilla buttercream frosting!
     I bought my decorations from 'The Happy Cupcake Company' (http://www.thehappycupcakecompany.co.uk) in Bath which, as we all know by now, is my favourite shop in Bath and does make me a happy cupcake baker! I used some London themed cases which each had red London buses round the outside and a Beefeater guard on the bottom (and yes, I shamelessly used and enjoyed the stereotypes...) I then sprinkled gold stars on the top and placed an edible, sparkly red heart on each - being the glitter loving lady that I am, happiness was then achieved.
     This was the recipe I used for these gorgeous cakes which were a vision in red, white and blue (with a touch of gold...)

(For The Sponge - Makes 18)

100g plain flour
20g cocoa powder
140g caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
40g butter
120ml semi skimmed milk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

(For The Frosting)

250g icing sugar
80g butter
25ml semi skimmed milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• Simply preheat your oven to 170ºC (Gas Mark 3) and cook your cakes for 20-25 minutes.
• Once cool , mix all your vanilla frosting ingredients together and then frost and decorate to your heart's content!

Enjoy, K x

Macmillan Coffee Morning

On Friday 28th of September I held a Macmillan Coffee Morning at my house, in memory of my Granddad, who I lost to cancer in September 2011. 

I spent the whole of Thursday covered in cake mix (including a slither of cream cheese frosting on the end of my nose that I only got pointed out to me at the very end of the day.) Alas, six hours of baking, one ring cake, a batch of sugar cookies, dozens of marshmallow twizzlers and two tiers of Terry's Chocolate Orange and marshmallow cupcakes later, I was prepared for a cake-filled Friday morning. 

The overall showstopper of the morning was the blueberry ring cake, with everyone having more than one helping. It is a recipe based on one from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook, however I tend to use a lot more blueberries than suggested, both in the sponge and for decoration. This is because I think they enhance everything and, due to their antioxidant properties, they also make a huge slice of cake seem a little healthier. However, If you don't want to use as many, you don't have to.

Here's the recipe:

(For the Sponge)

350g butter

350g caster sugar

6 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla extract

450g plain flour

2 tbsp + 2 tsp baking powder

280ml soured cream

250g fresh blueberries

(25cm ring mould, greased.)

(For the Frosting)

600g icing sugar

100g butter

250g cream cheese (Such as 

Philadelphia)

Around 250-300g of blueberries, to 

decorate.

• Heat your oven to 170ºC (Gas Mark 3) and ensure you have a well greased ring mould (works beautifully for this cake). 
• Beat all your sponge ingredients together, until light and fluffy.
• Bake for 40 minutes. Skewer your cake at it’s deepest point, if the skewer comes out clean (with no cake mixture on it) then leave to cool. If not, place back into the oven for five minute intervals, until cooked through.
• Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely, before removing from the mould.
• Once totally cool, beat all frosting ingredients together and use a palette knife or spatula to ensure that your cake is completely iced.
• Once frosted, spread the blueberries evenly over the top of the cake to decorate.

Enjoy, K x

P.S - The morning was a great success and it was lovely to see so many familiar faces, all from different walks of life, come together to support my chosen charity. Despite the current economic climate, between only twenty people we managed to raise a truly overwhelming £144.28, over the course of two hours. 

It was a truly heartwarming morning and one my Granddad would certainly loved to have been a part of - he was a fellow cake lover after all.

Cupcake Based on "The Purple One" (Quality Street)

This recipe is relatively complicated, simply because for such a tiny cake, there's a lot of aspects that go in to getting it  perfectly caramelly/chocolatey and to the Quality Street ideal!   If you are creating this cupcake for a nut allergy sufferer, leave off the hazelnut on the top, as there is no other nut products involved in the making!
     I decided to simply encase my cakes in purple foil cases to give the look of "The Purple One" from the beloved Quality Street tin! I then garnished with a drizzle of caramel and one hazelnut, as is found in the centre of the chocolate.

Recipe - Makes 24:

(For The Chocolate Sponge) 

100g plain flour

20g cocoa powder

140g caster sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

40g butter

120ml semi skimmed milk

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 170ºC (Gas Mark 3) and cook for 20-25 minutes. Remove and leave to cool.

(For The Caramel Sauce)

For this you will need a large, heavy bottomed pan.

200g light brown sugar

200g butter

180ml thick cream

• Melt the sugar and butter together in a pan until they are both dissolved. Stir regularly to avoid burning. 
• Once they are both melted take off the heat and stir in your cream until you have a gorgeous, thick caramel cream. 
• Set aside as this will be used for both your frosting and a final caramel drizzle.

(For The Caramel Frosting)

225g butter

125g icing sugar

2 tbsp vanilla essence

225ml preprepared caramel sauce

• Whisk these all together, you may need slightly more icing sugar depending on the density of the cream you used, so just add until your consistency is correct :)
• Once you have done this, use your remaining caramel sauce to drizzle over each cake before placing a hazelnut on the top. 

They're gorgeous,

Enjoy, K x