Diamond Jubilee Cakes

Our Queen has been on the throne now for 60 years!!! This weekend we have two bank holidays to celebrate and there will be many street parties across the country. I'm not a massive royalist but I do like things like this so will definitely be getting involved.

This Thursday I was asked to go onto BBC London radio to talk about baking for the Diamond Jubilee and to give some basic baking tips. Petrified, I dragged my sister along and we managed to whip up a feast of different cakes and sweet treats that went down really well!

Jubilee Cake Box
Buttermilk scones with clotted cream, jam and strawberries
Lemon drizzle loaf
Blueberry loaf
Fruit cake loaf
Red velvet bites
Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate fudge frosting
Vanilla cupcakes
Jam tarts

We had a lot of fun with Jumoke Fashola who was presenting the show and forbade me from posting any pictures of her eating cake!

Check out our radio debut on BBC London Radio 949 talking all things cakes! Click the link and go to 2:10:15 when we get introduced.


Peace & Love


xx

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Mint Choc Chip Cupcakes

Recently I've been hearing good news stories. Of course there is never a lack of doom and gloom but some people that I love are having cool things happen to them and it makes me so happy. I literally feel like it's happening to me. That's because we are all one and if it can happen to you, then surely it can, and is, happening for me.

Last week I met up with my old and good friend who recently had a beautiful baby girl and we hung out at Clissold Park (amazing). She is loving motherhood and it was such a joy to see! I know too much to get broody myself, but I was happy that she was happy :)

The sun was shining & the weather was sweet, but not quite not warm enough for ice-cream. Instead, I made some mint choc chip cupcakes in honour of my favourite flavour. This was a massive experiment (well massive-ish), because I was keen to use real mint as opposed to flavourings. I LOVE the taste of fresh mint, it's subtle and so sweet. I also wanted the cakes to taste creamy, so I went for a very creamy icing rather than buttercream. 

Here is the recipe;

Mint Choc Chip Cupcakes (makes 16)

Mint Choc Chip Icing

250g mascarpone cheese

100g icing sugar

150ml extra thick double cream

25 mint leaves very finely chopped (more or less to taste)

3 drops green food colouring (depending on how strong you want the colour to be)

40g chocolate flakes (approx)

Chocolate Cupcakes (adapted from the Hummingbird Bakery)

80g (3oz) unsalted butter softened

140g (50oz) caster sugar

140g (50oz) soft brown sugar

200g (7oz) plain flour

40g (1½oz) cocoa powder

80g (3oz) chocolate chips (optional)

1 tbsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

240ml (8½fl oz) full fat milk

2 large eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F) Gas 3 and line 2 muffin trays with cupcake cases. 

2. Put the flour, sugars, baking powder, cocoa powder, salt and butter together in a large bowl or food processor and mix until everything is combined and you get a sandy consistency. Gradually pour in half the milk and beat until the milk is just incorporated.

3. Whisk the egg, vanilla extract and remaining milk together in a separate bowl for a few seconds, then pour into the flour mixture and continue beating until just incorporated (scrape any stray ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula). Add the chocolate chips and continue mixing for a couple more minutes until the mixture is smooth. Do not overmix.

4. Fill the cupcake cases with the cake mixture until two-thirds full and bake in the preheated oven for 20–25 minutes. A skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean, or the sponge will bounce back when touched.

5.  Leave the cupcakes to cool slightly in the tray before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

While the cupcakes are cooking make the icing. Set aside approximately a tablespoon of chocolate flakes for the garnish. Mix together all of the ingredients until you have a smooth icing that is quite firm. Leave to cool in the fridge.

6. When the cupcakes are completely chilled, pipe the icing on top and sprinkle with the left over chocolate flakes.

The amount of mint leaves that you ought to use, really does depend on taste. When I first made them I didn't quite add enough to get the hit straight away. Also, I think that the cakes are best eaten when the icing is very cold, so perhaps aren't great for picnics on hot days. I spent the rest of the week loving them though. I warmed up the cupcake (10 seconds on full power) & added the icing afterward. 

One of my favourites this year I think, if you decide to give it a go let me know how you get on! Do you have any good news to share?


Peace & Love


xx

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Tea and Cupcakes

There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea ~ Bernard-Paul Heroux.

This is a busy week for me with some serious life shaping stuff happening. Major changes mixed in with birthdays, anniversaries and baby showers: in other words cakes, cakes and more cakes! Yes, life changing stuff must be marked with cake.

Cake and Tea. 


Generally we use cake as a mark of celebration and tea for everything and anything! For me, baking has become a solace and a place to channel my love and creative energies. The thing is, you can't be angry or bitter and bake something tasty. Food that is cooked with love just tastes different, you can't put your finger on it or explain it, it just does. I bake to stay sane and to keep my heart soft and filled with love. I drink tea because it's tasty and warm and strangely comforting.

Today, in amongst the many cakes I have this week, I decided to use some of the leftover cake mixture to try out these cute silicon tea cup cupcake moulds. I bought mine online from Amazon and they are just as cute as they look in the pictures! The two cupcake flavours are vanilla and chocolate and both are topped with a cream cheese based frosting. For the vanilla cakes, I coloured the frosting pink and the chocolate cakes have had a touch of Nutella added to the frosting. I just couldn't resist after the fun I had last time.

If you want to make Cream Cheese Frosting use this recipe below adapted from the Hummingbird Bakery Book;


Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes enough to cover 12 cupcakes.

300g icing sugar, sifted at least TWICE

50g unsalted butter, at room temperature

125g cream cheese, cold

Beat all of the ingredients together in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) on slow speed until the mixture comes together and is smooth and well mixed. Do not overbeat, as it can quickly become runny. If it does get a bit runny then leave in the fridge to firm back up again before you use it.

The actual recipe advises you to mix the butter and sugar first before adding the cream cheese but I always had lumpy or runny icing with that approach. You may have better luck than me though! 

So find yourself a cup of tea, a cake and tell me, what or where is your happy place? 


Peace & Love


xx

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Day 16 - Chocolate Cupcakes With A Cherry On Top

Do I need a reason to have made these cupcakes? Seriously, they are just ridiculously cute and a perfect treat for hard working ladies (and men for that matter :). These babies were the Chocolate Cupcakes that I referred to in yesterday's post, I think it's clear to see why they needed a post to themselves :). 

The fresh cherries were covered in melted white candy and left to dry in the fridge. I then made my favourite chocolate cupcake using the recipe from the Primrose Bakery. This is a fail safe recipe when I know that the cakes may not be eaten straight away. That said, it is super fiddly. It's all about separating eggs, whisking egg whites, melting chocolate, etc etc. You literally have to work your way up to it but I wanted the ladies to take some with them as gifts so I went for the longer lasting ones. You have to be careful with cupcakes as they can dry out really quickly. 

On a more slightly more concerning note, Christmas is hurtling towards me at breakneck speed & I still have a lot to do- like buy some Christmas presents! My deadline is the end of this weekend so on Monday I'll give you an update as to where I'm at. Party season is kicking in as well so there's loads going on; I'm going to my first ever costume party this weekend & I'm super excited.

I'm off to get my presents on: have a great weekend whatever you're up to!

Peace & Love

xx

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