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

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

Classic Victoria Sponge

What better way to end our most patriotic summer to date, than with a traditional yummy slice of British, "Victoria Sponge" cake? (Clue: there is no better way.)
     This is a super simple recipe and how you present it is totally up to you. I simply added a piped buttercream heart to the top which encased a small, chocolate silver dragée and a simple dusting with icing sugar.
     If you prefer a Victoria Sandwich instead (minus the buttercream and simply use the jam!)


Recipe (For The Sponge)

• 200g caster sugar
• 200g softened butter
• 4 eggs
• 200g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder 
• 2 tbsp semi skimmed milk

(For the vanilla buttercream - if required)

250g icing sugar

80g butter

25ml semi skimmed milk

A couple of drops of vanilla extract.

• Ensure you have properly prepared your cake tins (x2 20cm sandwich tins) with butter and greaseproof paper. Then heat your oven to 170ºC (Gas Mark 3) and cook for 20 minutes, before removing and leaving to cool.
• Add whichever jam you like to one of your sponge (I favour raspberry and the tanginess it brings to the cake, but strawberry is gorgeous too!) Then spread your buttercream onto the opposing sponge base and sandwich together.

Super easy and super delicious!

Enjoy, K x

Baileys Cupcakes

Sometimes something is created in the kitchen that there's just no bettering and I’m fairly certain that it's these. They're super boozy, irresistibly smooth and packed full of what I now believe to be the true, unfaltering Irish charm.

To decorate, I used ten green paper cases and ten gold foil cases, each decorated simply with just one edible gold star. This made the cakes look rich in Irish colours with the simple glint of the gold star on the very top to add something quirky and special.

Feel free to keep adding Baileys to the frosting mix until your happy it's the right amount for your tastes, but be aware that as you add more liquid you will have to add more icing sugar, so make sure you have lots of both. 

Here's how I made them...

(For The Sponge - Makes 20) 

130g self raising flour

130g caster sugar

130g butter

10g cocoa powder

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp Baileys  

(For The Frosting)

375g icing sugar

10g cocoa powder

125g butter

60ml Baileys  

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

• These are super simple, just heat your 

oven to 170ºC (Gas Mark 3) and cook

 for 15-18 minutes!

• Once cool, simply mix all your frosting 

ingredients together and decorate as 

you please!

Enjoy, K x

Earl Grey Sponge with Lemon Buttercream Icing

These are a beautiful summery, mid-afternoon cupcake. The earl grey gives them a beautiful richness while the lemon adds something a bit special and tangy to them. Don't be shy with the amount of lemon you put in your frosting, if you think it needs more, add it, just be aware you will also need to increase the amount of icing sugar you use.

      I opted to use blue gingham cases and a simple, chocolate silver heart dragée on the top, because it's a quintessentially British mouthful and deserves to be treated as such :)

My Recipe (Makes around 16 cakes)

(For The Sponge)

5 Earl Grey teabags
100ml just boiled water
80g butter
280g caster sugar
240g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
200ml semi skimmed milk
2 large eggs

(For The Frosting)

50ml semi skimmed milk
500g icing sugar
160g butter
2 tbsp lemon juice

• The only thing I will point out is that while mixing your sponge ingredients together, you should leave you teabags soaking in their 100ml of water. It worked out nicely that once I had combined all my ingredients, my earl grey was stewed enough to add in.
• Otherwise, set your oven to 190ºC (Gas Mark 5) and cook for 18-20 minutes. Remove until cool and then decorate as you please!

Enjoy, K x