Christmas Tree Cup Cakes!

I made these for my Mam to take to her Christmas party at work but I'm also making some for the family on Christmas day..so this was a good practice for then!

They actually turned out better than I imagined for my first try and I am super pleased with them..the Christmas spiced sponge is do die for as well!! I think next time I will make the trees higher!

To make these you will need:

225g (8oz) butter

225g (8oz) caster sugar

225g (8oz) self-raising flour

4 medium eggs

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp vanilla extract

1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees / Gas mark 4

2) Cream together butter & sugar

3) Beat in the eggs

4) Fold in the flour gradually

5) Add the spices and the vanilla extract

6) Spoon into cake cases & bake for 15-20 mins

For the icing:

125g (4oz) icing sugar

100g (3oz) butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp green food dye

1) Cream together butter & icing sugar

2) Add the vanilla extract and the food dye. You might need to add more dye than this depending on how green you want it!

3) Spoon into a piping bag with a large star end nozzle.

4) Start from the middle and work your way upwards in a spiral to make a Christmas tree shape.

5) Decorate with silver balls for a bauble effect!

Christmas Tree Shortbread Biscuits!

I found some Christmas cookie cutters today and couldn't resist buying them. So then I decided to knock up some quick Christmas tree shortbread biscuits!
I used just a basic butter shortbread recipe with:

125g (4oz) butter
60 g (2oz) caster sugar
180g (6oz) plain flour

1) Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl
2) Stir in the flour
3) Knead until firm..don't need to much though!
4) Roll out onto a floured work surface and cut out some shapes!
5) Put into an oven at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes.

I used a bit of butter cream icing mixed with green food dye for the decoration and some silver balls (icing looks yellow in my pic..it's not?!). You can just use glaze icing with water but I really hate the taste!

I rushed these, might make some nicer ones at a later date! Also will be making some Xmas cupcakes so looking forward to that! :-D

I made this for my sister's birthday and it went down verrry well! I was actually really worried about the amount of soft cheese I put in thinking it was going to taste like a proper cheese fest..but it didn't! It was delish!

To make this you need a cake tin with a loose bottom, otherwise you won't be able to get the cheesecake out! I also put a bit of grease proof paper on the bottom of the tin so I could get it off the base easier. It would also be beneficial to have an electric mixer, I used a hand held one otherwise your arm is gona ache a lot when mixing things together!

You will need:
250g (8oz) digestive biscuits
150g (5oz) butter, melted
1 vanilla pod (vanilla extract will do)
600g ( 12oz) soft cheese (full fat!)
100g (3oz) icing sugar
284ml double cream

For the topping:
400g (14oz) strawberries
25g (1oz) icing sugar
1tbsp water

1) Put the digestive biscuits into a food bag and bash into crumbs with a rolling pin. Transfer the crumbs into a bowl and pour over the melted butter. Mix it until all the crumbs are well covered. Line the bottom of the cake tin with some grease proof paper and then tip in the crumbs. Press the crumbs down firmly so that they are well stuck together and the surface is even. Put this in the fridge for 1 hour.

2) Place all of the soft cheese, the icing sugar and the vanilla seeds (3-4 caps of vanilla extract) into a bowl and beat with an electric mixer. Once all combined pour in the cream and beat until all the ingredients are combined and the mixture is firm.

3) Carefully spoon the mixture onto the base from the edge working inwards. Make sure there are no air bubbles. Smooth the top of the cheesecake with the back of a spoon and put in the fridge to set over night. If you don't have time over night then at least 4-5 hours should do it as long as the mixture is already fairly firm (which it should be).

4) The topping should not be made until the next day to prevent the strawberries going soft or preventing the top of the cheesecake from setting properly. To make the topping take 200g of the strawberries and half them. Then put them in a deep bowl or jug, add in the icing sugar and water and then mix with an electric mixer to make a puree.

5) Arrange the rest of the strawberries however you want on the cake and then pour over the puree however you would like it. Put it back in the fridge until 30 mins before serving.

6) Take the cheesecake out of the fridge and leave it for 30 mins to get it up to room temperature, this makes it easier to slide the cake out of the tin. Get a tall glass (pint glass) and place the cake tin on top. Slowly and carefully pull down the cake tin to remove the cake. If you can, use a fish slice or large spatula to take the cake off the metal base. If the cake won't come off the base, just leave it and serve it with the base on..no one would know!  

Enjoy! 

Chocolate Cup Cakes with Chocolate Ganache!

I actually got this recipe out of the Daily Mail when the whole "Britain's Best Baker" thing was going on. I have tweaked it a little though because it seemed more complicated than it needed to be! 


You will need:
20g (1oz) cocoa powder
100g (40z) butter
100g (4oz) self raising flour
150g (50z) caster sugar
2 Medium eggs


1) Cream the butter & sugar
2) Beat in the eggs
3) Add the cocoa powder & stir well
4) Add in the flour & stir well again
4) Pour the mixture in to cases and put in a preheated oven at 170 / Gas 4 for 20-25 minutes!


This made 7 cakes for me! 


For the frosting I made chocolate ganache! I've never made this type of frosting before but it was so simple & it's soooo rich & chocolatey!


To make the ganache you will need:
50ml (2fl oz) double cream7
60g (2.5 oz) milk chocolate


1) Break the chocolate up into very small pieces
2) Pour the cream into a small pan & heat until boiling
3) Once the cream is boiling add the chocolate & stir well until the mixture is smooth & shiny.
4) Take off the heat & leave to cool
5) Spread or pipe the ganache onto the cakes!

White Chocolate Cup Cakes with White Chocolate Frosting!

I haven't baked in AGES and I had a lot of time on my hands today so I thought why not do some baking?! By special request I made these white chocolate cup cakes! I improvised on the recipe and got rather worried they wouldn't turn out but they came out perrrrfect I am very pleased!

To make them you will need:
125g (4oz) butter
125g (4oz) caster sugar
125g (4oz) self raising flour
2 medium eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g (3oz) white chocolate


I made 10 using these measurements (though I did eat some of the mixture ha!)


1) Preheat the oven to 170 / Gas mark 4
2) Cream together the butter & sugar
3) Beat in the eggs
4) Melt the chocolate in the microwave on a medium heat for about a minute and then add it to the mixture
5) Stir in the flour and add the vanilla extract
6) Pour the mixture into cake cases and bake for 20-25 mins!


To make the frosting you will need:
125g (4oz) butter
250g (8oz) icing sugar
150g (5oz) white chocolate
1 tbsp of double cream


1) Beat the butter & icing sugar
2) Melt the chocolate in the same way as earlier & add it to the butter & sugar
3) Stir it realllyyy well!
4) Add the tbsp of cream & beat the mixture (I used an electric whisk as it was a bit grainy and this seemed to solve the problem!)
5) Pipe or spread onto the cooled cakes!


This frosting is absolutely delish! BUT! It is very sickly..so try not to eat too much like I did!!

Cocktail Inspired Cup Cakes!!

So tomorrow pretty much all of our friends hand their dissertations in so we're having a big get together to celebrate. I decided it would be an awesome idea to make cocktail cup cakes for everyone! :D


I made 3 versions..

Mojito cupcakes

You will need:
113g (4oz) self raising flour
113g (4oz) caster sugar
113g (4oz) butter
2 medium eggs
Zest & juice of 1 lime
2 caps of white rum
(Makes 12)

1) Preheat oven to 170 degrees / Gas mark 4

2) Cream together butter & sugar

3) Beat in the eggs

4) Fold in the flour gradually

5) Add the lime zest, juice & rum

6) Spoon into cake cases & bake for 15-20 mins

Mojito Frosting:

113g (4oz) butter

255g (9oz) icing sugar

Few drops of green food colouring

1 cap of white rum

Juice & zest of half a lime

1) Cream together butter & icing sugar

2) Add rum, food colouring & lime juice

3) Ice & garnish with lime zest & mint leaves!

Strawberry Daiquiri Cup Cakes

You will need:

113g (4oz) self raising flour
113g (4oz) caster sugar
113g (4oz) butter
2 medium eggs
2 caps of white rum
4 strawberries chopped finely (ideally soak them in some rum for an hour beforehand) 
(Makes 12)

1) Preheat oven to 170 degrees / Gas mark 4

2) Cream together butter & sugar

3) Beat in the eggs

4) Fold in the flour gradually

5) Add the rum

6) Add the strawberry pieces

7) Spoon into cake cases & bake for 15-20 mins

Frosting:

113g (4oz) butter

255g (9oz) icing sugar

Few drops of pink food colouring

1tsp strawberry flavouring

1 cap of white rum

1) Cream together butter & icing sugar

2) Add rum, food colouring & strawberry flavouring

3) Ice & garnish with strawberry slices!

Strawberry Mojito Cup Cakes

You will need:

113g (4oz) self raising flour

113g (4oz) caster sugar

113g (4oz) butter

2 medium eggs

2 caps of white rum

Juice & zest of 1 lime

4 strawberries chopped finely 

(Makes 12)

1) Preheat oven to 170 degrees / Gas mark 4

2) Cream together butter & sugar

3) Beat in the eggs

4) Fold in the flour gradually

5) Add the lime zest, juice & rum

6)Add the strawberry pieces

7) Spoon into cake cases & bake for 15-20 mins

Frosting:

113g (4oz) butter

255g (9oz) icing sugar

Few drops of pink food colouring

1 cap of white rum

Juice & zest of 1/2 a lime

1) Cream together butter & icing sugar

2) Add rum, food colouring & lime juice

3) Ice & garnish with lime zest & strawberry slices!

Cakes galore! I hope everyone enjoys them! I had a lot of fun making them :)

Banoffee Cup Cakes With Vanilla Frosting!

I know I made them, so I am slightly biased..but these are the most delicious cup cakes I have made to date! Seriously! Even if you aren't a big banoffee fan I urge you to try.

You will need:

225g (8oz) butter

225g (8oz) caster sugar

225g (8oz) self-raising flour

4 medium eggs

3 ripe bananas (mashed)

50g (1oz) fudge pieces

(Makes 12)

1) Preheat oven to 170 degrees / Gas mark 4

2) Cream together butter & sugar

3) Beat in the eggs

4) Fold in the flour gradually

5) Fold in the mashed banana & fudge pieces

6) Spoon into cake cases & bake for 15-20 mins

For the frosting:

250g (8oz) butter
600g (12oz) icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

1) Cream together butter & icing sugar
2) Add the flavouing & mix! 

I piped the frosting with the star nozzle & then added some of the fudge pieces to the top!

Chocolate Brownies!

This is my second attempt at chocolate brownies. The first time they were far too stodgy, this time they are fine but they were in the oven for a bit too long & some of the edges are rather...crispy! But they taste reallllyyy caramelised and delish! 

You will need..

350g (12oz) chocolate

250g (8oz) butter

3 eggs

250g (8oz) brown sugar

100g (3oz) plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1) Preheat oven to 170 degrees / Gas mark 3

2) Melt chocolate & butter in a bowl over a pan of water

3) Whisk eggs & sugar together in separate bowl until smooth & fluffy

4) Fold chocolate mixture into egg mixture

5) Stir in the flour & baking powder 

6) Pour into a well greased square tin

7) Bake for 35 mins or until the top starts to crack

8) Wait until completely cool before slicing into squares

 

Vanilla Cup Cakes with Raspberry Frosting!

I made these with my boyfriend Luke today. I just used the recipe for basic vanilla cup cakes which you can find here. For the frosting I actually used fresh raspberries rather than flavouring, but I used too many & couldn't get the frosting the right consistency to pipe! I did pipe it..but it kind of fell down so it just looks spread on! Oh well, live & learn!

Raspberry Frosting:

1/2 cup of raspberries 

170g (6oz) butter

600g (12oz) icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1) Cream butter & icing sugar

2) Mash raspberries through a sieve to get a smooth puree (you can just blend them in a mixer if you want the seeds in..this does look quite pretty & I may try this next time)

3) Add vanilla extract

4) Gradually mix in the raspberry mixture.. I say gradually because you don't want to add too much & make the frosting too runny! 

I added a few pink glitter sprinkles & some pink candy balls just for prettiness! They are very sweet & are actually really nice...just disappointed at the consistency! 

Valentine's Cup Cakes!

I made these for Valentine's day! They were actually more red in real life, the picture makes them look kind of salmon couloured! It was vanilla cup cakes with strawberry frosting.

I made basic vanilla cup cakes:

225g (8oz) butter

225g (8oz) caster sugar

225g (8oz) self-raising flour

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

(Makes 12)

1) Preheat your oven to 180 degrees / Gas mark 4

2) Cream the butter & sugar together

3) Add in the beaten eggs bit by bit

4) Fold in the flour gradually

5) Stir in the vanilla extract 

6) Put into cake cases in a muffin tray & bake for 15-20 mins!

For the frosting:
250g (8oz) butter
600g (12oz) icing sugar
2 tsp strawberry flavouring
4 tsp red food colouring


1) Cream together butter & icing sugar
2) Add the flavouing & colouring & mix until the colour is even!


I piped this using the star nozzle & added candy roses for a cute Valentine's touch!
They were really nice, the strawberry frosting was lovely! Ideally I would like to do it again but using fresh strawberry's rather than flavouring.

Chocolate Cup Cakes With Angel Delight Butterscotch Frosting!

So I made these at the same time as the Nutella ones... 

For the cake recipe see this post.

To make this frosting I really improvised & I made it far too runny so I couldn't pipe it, but they were SO tasty!! Next time I will know how to do it just right!

I made up the Angel Delight but with 1/2 of the milk that they tell you to use...I'd say that you only need to 1/4 of the recommended milk & you probably only need about 3/4 of the actual Angel Delight mix!

Once you have made up the Angel Delight, add in icing sugar gradually until you have a nice smooth, but firm consistency (firm enough to pipe). You don't need to use any butter for this frosting! 

It is so yummy, I definitely recommend it! 

Chocolate Cup cakes with Nutella Frosting!

I made these cakes a few weeks ago.. & I am not going to lie, they were delish!

For the Cupcakes I used:

225g (8oz) butter

225g (8oz) caster sugar

225g (8oz) self-raising flour

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp coa-coa powder

(Makes 12)

1) Preheat your oven to 180 degrees / Gas mark 4

2) Cream the butter & sugar together

3) Add in the beaten eggs bit by bit

4) Fold in the flour gradually

5) Stir in the vanilla extract & coa coa powder (ensure it is well mixed!)

6) Put into cake cases in a muffin tray & bake for 15-20 mins!

For the frosting I used:

95g (3oz) butter

380g (12oz) icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 small jar of Nutella

1) Cream together the butter & Nutella

2) Gradually stir in the icing sugar

3) Add the vanilla extract

This is how I make it if I want to pipe the icing, so it needs to be fairly firm in order for it to stay in shape!

I piped it using the star nozzle & added chocolate balls at the end for a cute finish! Yum!

The baking begins..

Well, actually it began a while ago but I have just decided to start doing it more often & to blog about it too!
I got myself a cute little note pad & pen to write all my recipes in & I invested in a better piping bag than the one I already had! It's a 12" Tala one that came with 6 nozzles..

I am going to post my baking accomplishments & recipes for all to see! Hope you enjoy! :)