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! :)