Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

These have been on my list of things to bake for a long time and this weekend (being the hottest weekend in a long time) seemed like a good time to try them out.

I used a simple BBC Food recipe to make these, so simple in fact you just throw all the ingredients into a bowl and mix. This includes; 200g butter, 200g caster sugar, 200g plain flour, 4 tbsp custard powder, 1 tbsp vanilla essence and 2 eggs. I halved this recipe to make 6 cones but in the end it made around 9.

Then spoon the mixture into flat ice cream cones which need to be placed into a muffin tin to make sure they stay upright whilst baking. Fill the cones 2/3 of the way with mixture so that the cakes rise to the top of the cone.

They will need to go into the oven for about 30 minutes but I found mine needed to come out before then, so keep an eye on them and take them out when they are golden brown in colour (use a cake tester to make sure it comes out clean).

To make the butter icing combine 350g of butter, 350g icing sugar and 2 tbsp of vanilla essence. Then spoon it into a piping big, ideally one with a star shaped nozzle or a relatively big one.

Once the cakes are cool, you can pipe the icing onto of the cones, starting from the edge into the centre.

Then you can decorate them with whatever you fancy, I went for the traditional 99p cone as you can see, only with added sprinkles (obviously)!

Cake in a Mug

I've seen several microwave mug cakes on Pinterest recently (unfortunately mine doesn't look quite as good as them), so I thought I'd give it a go and it turns out it is even easier and quicker than I thought.

             1. Add 4 tbsp of S.R. flour, 4 tbsp          2. Stir in one egg until all the 

             of caster sugar and 2 tbsp of cocoa      ingredients are combined.

             powder into a mug and mix.

              3. Add in 3 tbsp of milk and                  4. Put the mug in the microwave
              3 tbsp of vegatable or sunflower          on a high heat for 4-5 minutes
              oil. As well as any extracts or               or until it has stopped rising.
              additional chocolate drops.

Then tah-dah, you've made a cake in less than 10 minutes!

Whilst I can't say it was the tastiest thing I have ever baked, it was by far the quickest bake I have ever done.

Cadbury Mini Egg Cupcakes

Everyone loves a good vanilla cupcake, especially an Easter themed one with a butter cream icing topped with crushed Cadbury Mini Eggs. The good thing about this recipe is each ingredient requires the same quantity (4oz). 

First combine 4oz of butter with 4oz of caster sugar until it makes a creamy, fluffy mixture. Then add in two eggs (one at a time) before adding in 1tsp of vanilla essence.

 

Then add in 4oz of self-raising flour (and if you think it is a needed, a few drops of milk to loosen the mixture) before spooning into the cupcake cases. The mixture makes exactly 12 cupcakes - whilst it may not seem as if there is enough in each they will raise and it also allows for room for the icing on top. 

 

To make the butter icing, combine 10oz of icing sugar and 5oz butter (it will always be double the amount of icing sugar to butter). If it seems too thick, you can add a small amount of milk but I found 

it wasn't needed for these. 

Then place the icing into a piping bag before piping onto the cupcakes.

 Then take a handful of mini eggs and place them in a sandwich bag before giving them a good bash with a rolling pin. Then sprinkle the crumbs on top of the iced cupcakes before placing a mini egg on the top of each. 

Then all that is left to do is sprinkle them with gold glitter (obviously).

Funfetti (Sprinkle) Cake

I've seen several funfetti cake recipes on Pinterest recently, all of which look amazing, and so I thought I'd give it a go myself. It makes a simple sponge look much funner with lots of coloured sugar strands throughout the cake. 

As all the recipes on Pinterest were American and used cups as a measurement, I used a Victoria sponge cake recipe instead and added about 3/4 of the pot of sprinkles to the mixture.

The sprinkles are added in last after the cake mixture has been made.

Then once you have buttered the baking trays, split the mixture into two and bake for between 25-30 minutes.

 

Next is the butter icing, I used 5oz of butter with 10oz of icing sugar to make the one below. Make sure the cakes are completely cool before spreading on the butter icing as the butter will begin to melt otherwise.

 

Turnover one of the cakes, and spread a thick layer of butter icing on the top before placing the other cake on top (this is the middle of cake). 

Then you can begin on the outside of cake by spreading a thin layer of icing all over the cake. Otherwise known as a crumb coat, this thin layer will pick up all the crumbs from the cake before you add the final top layer of butter cream. Once you have done the crumb coat, pop the cake in the fridge for roughly 10-minutes before adding the second layer.

Then you can decorate it however you wish, but being a funfetti cake I choose to decorate it with even more sprinkles!

Hummingbird Bakery Apple Streusel Cake

Apple streusel cake is a three layer cake consisting of Victoria sponge, layered apples and a crumble topping. What's not to like?

The first step is to make the 'streusel' which is the crumble topping. Rub the sifted (70g) plain flour, (1 1/2 tsp) cinnamon (I prefer to use mixed spice instead) and (40g) cubed butter together to form breadcrumbs before adding in the (70g) light brown sugar. 

To make the sponge; cream the (60g) butter and (100g) caster sugar together until pale and fluffy, then add the egg and (1/2 tsp) vanilla essence, followed by the (140g) plain flour, (1 tsp) baking powder, (1/8 tsp) salt and (80ml) milk - this last part is added in two halves.

 Then you can move onto the apples by peeling, coring and slicing three granny smiths into quarters and then into 3/4 slices, depending on the size of the apples.

Then comes the fun bit, layer the cake by evenly spreading the cake mixture on the bottom, layering it with apple slices and then sprinkling on the crumble topping.

Place it in the oven at 170c for between 35-45 minutes, until golden brown and crunchy on the top. To check it is baked the whole way through, insert a skewer (or end of a teaspoon) and if it comes out 'clean' (no trace of raw cake mixture), it's done.

Then all that is left to do, is to get the cream out of the fridge and put kettle on.

Cake Pops

I've been wanting to make cake pops since the craze first stared but I've never been sure which method to use as there are three main ways; using a 'cake pop maker', combining pre-brought cake with butter cream icing or using a cake pop mould (like the one I used below).

Making the cake pops themselves is the easiest part, simply weigh out and combine; caster sugar (4oz), butter (4oz), (3) eggs, plain flour (4oz) and vanilla extract to form the cake mixture. The mixture then needs to be spooned into the individual moulds (up to the rim) but make sure it isn't the side with the little air hole as that is the top.

A top tip to make sure they don't stick to the mould once they are done is to (very) lightly coat the silicone tray beforehand with oil (using a spray oil is the easiest way to control the amount you use) and flour. They need to go into the pre-heated  (180oc) oven for approximately 20 minutes, however I found they needed a little longer than this but be careful not to take them out to early as it will cause them to drop in the middle. 

Once they have cooled for roughly 20-30 minutes, melt the chocolate you are going to use to coat the cake pops and individually dip the sticks into the melted chocolate before inserting them into the cake pops. You need to be careful not to push them too far as they might go through the other side. I'd recommend inserting them a third of the way into the cake pop. 

There are a range of different cake pop stands online but with a bit of wood and a drill my dad quickly rustled me one up and my mum (justpootling.blogspot.co.uk) being the keen crafter she is, set to work decorating the cake pop stand, which you can see above. I found the how-to for this cake pop stand from rosebakes, it provided a great step-by-step guide.

       

Once the cake pops have been left in the fridge for roughly an hour and a half, you can begin dipping them into the melted chocolate. The best way to do this is to melt the chocolate over a bain marie, allowing more control over the temperature of the chocolate (less likely to burn). It will also keep the chocolate hot whilst you coat each cake pop, as when microwaved it will begin to thicken as it cools at a much quicker rate (as you can see above).

I choose to melt milk chocolate and white chocolate for these but you can choose whatever chocolate you want to coat the cake pops. 

There are a thousand different ways to decorate cake pops (you only need to do a Google search to see the vast amount of cake pop designs), but it is completely up to you as to what you choose to decorate them with. As you can see I raided the cupboard and found every single tub of sprinkles possible.