Carrot Cupcakes

The pineapple in these keep them moist, but also add a subtle 'tropical' flavour - perfect for those like me who are stuck in a country that thinks that it's winter during summer, so at least when it's raining, you can still pretend. Makes 12 cupcakes or 24 mini cupcakes. 

      

 Ingredients

For the Cakes

88g Plain Flour

1/2tsp Baking Powder

1/4tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

1/2tsp Ground Cinnamon

A Pinch of Salt

1 Large Egg

100g Caster Sugar

50ml Vegetable/Sunflower Oil

1/4tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Large Carrot, Peeled and Finely Grated

30g Tinned Pineapple, Drained and Finely Chopped

2tbsp Chopped Walnuts, Plus Extra for Decorating

For the Cream Cheese Icing

22g Unsalted Butter, Softened

120g Full Fat Cream Cheese

150g Approx. Icing Sugar

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas 4, and grease/line a cupcake tin. Weigh and measure the flour, baking powder, bicarb, cinnamon and salt, and mix together in a bowl. 

2. Using a freestanding or handheld mixer, beat the egg and sugar until pale and fluffy; about 10 minutes. Gradually add the oil and vanilla, beating meanwhile, until combined. Sift in the dry ingredients, and fold in with a metal spoon until evenly distributed.

3. Stir in the carrots, walnuts and pineapple, and divide mixture between muffin cases. Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle of one comes out clean. Leave to cool fully before icing.

4. While the cakes are cooling, beat the butter until very soft, and then add the cream cheese, mixing until completely incorporated. Then sieve in 1/3 of the icing sugar, and mix in, starting slowly. Repeat with the next third, and the last, adding milk or more sugar to reach the desired consistency. If you want to pipe it, it should be fairly thick. 

5. Pipe or spread the icing as desired on the cool cakes, and top with a sprinkle of chopped walnuts.

Enjoy :)

After Eight Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

Who doesn't like mint and chocolate? This recipe tries to copy the 'after eight' mint, with the dark chocolate cake, and the secret mint fondant filling inside. Not really sure what to say about quantity though, for me it made 24 mini muffins and 4 regular ones. 

Ingredients

For the Sponge

50g Dark Cooking Chocolate

123g Butter

113g Sugar

2 Eggs, Beaten

50g Self-Raising Flour

1.5 tbsp Cocoa Powder

Pinch of Salt

Mint Filling

100g Icing Sugar

3/4tsp Peppermint Extract

Some Water

Mint Buttercream

60g Butter, Soft

250g Icing Sugar

1/2tsp Peppermint Extract

1/2tsp Vanilla Extract

Some Milk

Green Food Colouring

A few thin mint chocolate crisps

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C/fan 160C/Gas 4. Line/Grease a mini muffin or regular muffin tin. Put the chocolate and butter into a bain-marie and melt, stirring throughout. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar. Pour into a mixing bowl and leave to cool for 10 minutes. 

2. Beat the mix with a handheld or freestanding mixer for about 3 minutes, or until much lighter in colour, and gradually add the beaten eggs, beating well inbetween each addition for about 10 seconds. Sift in the dry ingredients and fold in until well incorporated. 

3. Fill the holes of the tins 3/4 of the way with mix, and place in the oven for about 25 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. They should have a brownie-like texture. In the oven they will rise, and then fall, so don't be alarmed if they do so. Place on a wire rack to cool. 

4. Whilst they are cooling, make the fondant filling. Mix the icing sugar, 1tbsp water and peppermint extract with a whisk until blended, then add about 1/2 tbsp more water and whisk until well incorporated. You are looking for a thick liquid texture. 

5. Once the cakes are fully cooled, using a knife, and not cutting too deep, cut a cylinder out of the top of a cupcake, and fill with fondant filling. Place the cylinder back in to the cupcake and set aside. Do the same for all.

6. For the icing, mix the sugar and soft butter together, then add the flavourings. Add 1 tbsp milk, and use a handheld whisk to bring it all together. Add another as much milk as necessary to form a quite thick icing, mixing inbetween additions, and add food colouring slowly to reach your desired colour. Pipe onto the cupcakes with a star nozzle. 

7. Cut the chocolate crisps into shards or rectangles, and stick on the top of the cake. 

Enjoy :)

Banana and Pecan Muffins

A change from the normal incredibly unhealthy recipes I put on this blog, these fibre-full treats taste good, and serve as a fantastic snack. I make them mini-muffin size, and I recommend to as well, as with most bakes, I find the standard muffin size too large. This recipe makes around 8 or 9 normal sized muffins.

Ingredients

250g Plain Flour

25g Natural Wheatgerm

1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

1tsp Baking Powder

1/2tsp Ground Cinnamon

100g Pecans, Roughly Chopped

3 Small Bananas (350g total weight including skins)

1 Egg, Beaten

85g Butter, Melted

100g Light Muscovado Sugar

175ml Buttermilk 

Icing Sugar for dusting (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6/fan 180C. Grease or line your muffin tin. In a large bowl combine the flour, wheatgerm, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon and 85g of the pecans. Peel and mash the bananas.

2. In a separate bowl, mix together the egg, butter and sugar, then stir in the mashed banana and buttermilk. Add the egg mixture all at once to the flour mixture, stirring until just combined, but don't overmix it or the cake will turn out heavy.

3. Spoon the mixture into the tin, about 3/4 the way up. Sprinkle with the remaining pecans, and bake for 20-25 minutes until well risen and golden. Cool on a wire rack.

4. Once cooled, dust with icing sugar, or cut a design out of a circle of greaseproof paper to make a template, and dust over that.

Cookies 'n' Cream Muffins with Homemade Marshmallow Fluff Icing

I don't think I have met one person who doesn't like oreos; so this recipe will suit everyone! Minus my tweaks, the original recipe was from the 'Primrose Bakery', and is the best cookies n cream cupcake/muffin recipe I have found yet, and it works great with the marshmallow fluff icing! It makes around 18 muffins(use a muffin tin, not a cupcake tin). The Marshmallow Fluff recipe makes a lot, so once you've finished icing, store the remaining fluff in the fridge to eat with toast, or use in cakes, drinks etc.                                                             

Ingredients

Cupcake Mix (the 'Cookie')

115g Dark Chocolate

85g Butter

175g Light Muscavado Sugar

2 Eggs (separated)

185g Plain Flour

3/4tsp Baking Powder

3/4tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

Pinch of Salt

250ml Semi-Skimmed Milk

1tsp Vanilla Extract

Marshmallow Fluff Icing(the 'Cream')

120g Granulated Sugar

80g Golden Syrup

1.5tbsp Water

2 Egg Whites

1/2tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Pack of Oreos 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas mark 5. Line a 2 12 hole muffin tins with about 18 muffin cases (if you only have one tin, you can bake them in batches).

2. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over simmering water, or in the microwave. Leave to cool for about 2 minutes.

3. Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer until pale and smooth, then slowly add the egg yolks bit by bit and beat well. Once combined, add the melted chocolate and beat well again.

4. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a medium mixing bowl and mix together until combined. Measure the milk into a jug and stir in the vanilla extract.

5. Gradually add alternate amounts of the dry floury mix and the milk mix into the creamed butter/sugar/chocolate mix, beating well between each addition.

6. In a clean bowl, using a handheld electric whisk, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks have formed. Then, using a spatula or a metal spoon, fold in the egg whites into the batter until thoroughly combined.

7. Using two spoons, spoon the batter into the cases, filling them about 2/3 of the way up, and bake for around 20 minutes (you'll know if you put the right amount of mix in if it's ready in exactly 20 minutes), or until when you stick a skewer in one, it comes out clean. If you don't have two muffin tins like me, cooking in batches might take a while, so start on the icing once the first batch is done.

8. For the marshmallow fluff icing, put the sugar, golden syrup and water into a pan, and cook on a high heat for about two minutes until the mixture thickens and turns golden (it will resemble caramel).

9. Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form, then keep beating while slowly adding the hot sugar mixture. Don't worry if your whites lose their stiffness.

10. Continue beating at a higher speed until the mixture becomes thick, glossy and cool. Towards the end, add the vanilla extract. 

11. Wait about 10 minutes for the muffins to cool a bit before adding the icing, then spoon on a small dollop onto each muffin, and smoothen out with a small palette knife, or a round-ended knife.

12. Chop your oreos into quarters, and save the crumbs. Place two quarters on each cake, and sprinkle the remaining crumbs around them. 

And as always, enjoy! :)