Brandy & Amaretto Cream Liqueur Cupcakes

I’ve been learning to drive for over a decade and during that period, I’ve graced many an instructor’s car across two continents. I’ve got a list of excuses at the ready to justify the length of time it has taken to get this far, but I want to spare myself the embarrassment.  It has been a bit frustrating at times but whenever I’m tempted to chuck in the towel, a quick trip on public transport (especially during rush hour) is enough to get me booking as many lessons as possible in advance to get my licence.  I’m not a gambler, but I wouldn’t mind putting a quid down on being the longest learning driver in London – something I’m sure my driving instructor would attest to.

The last month has seen my driving improve tenfold. Don’t get me wrong I’m no Lewis Hamilton (a difficult feat when the only car I’m sporting these days displays an L plate), but it appears years of exercising my memory bank and gentle reminders  from my very patient instructor are finally beginning to take effect.  I no longer dread my lessons, I look in the mirrors more often, I don’t wait until the car is on the verge of exploding before changing the gears from first to second, I’ve stopped blaming lamp posts for getting in my way when reverse parking and best of all I can see myself in one of those bad boys like an Aston Martin or a Maserati GranCabrio (a girl can dream can’t she?).  Obviously there are niggling bits still hovering around like a bad smell (namely roundabouts – booo hisss), that need to be nipped in the bud.

Something miraculous happened to me a couple of weeks ago.  I was making the most of my new found confidence while attempting a tricky manoeuvre on the road when my instructor sprung one on me – he suggested it was about time I booked my practical test. As thrilled as I was, and as harmless as his suggestion was, I couldn’t help thinking how bad his timing was as it doesn’t usually take much for my nervous disposition to kick in.  You see, because I never imagined hearing those words, let’s just say my sudden footwork action on the controls almost wiped the classic look off a car parked inches away.

The journey back home was a complete blur, but I do remember racing straight to the kitchen for a celebratory drink – a little premature I know.  What I hadn’t anticipated when I opened my cupboard was a box of Brandy and Amaretto Cream Liqueur Tipples and not much else.  Emptying those 20ml sachets into a glass (ice or no ice) would have seemed a little desperate so I did the next best thing and baked and iced cupcakes with them.  The Brandy and Amaretto Cream Liqueur buttercream frosting was simply divine and the cake mixture benefited from a dash of espresso.  My faithful testers felt the cake mixture could have benefited from a couple more lashings of espresso to intensify the flavour.

Friends and family still can’t believe their ears, and keep trying to hoodwink me into revealing my test date.  You won’t believe some of the stunts they’re pulling.  My sister even offered to buy me a couple of Louboutins if I let slip the dates.  This is serious bait for any girl especially this one and I’d be telling porkies if I said I wasn’t tempted.

I have a driving lesson next weekend, and hope my new-found driving happiness isn’t short lived.

Cupcake Treats x

Vanilla Bean Paste Cupcakes

Last week I found myself completely seduced by a blog oozing beautifully frosted vanilla bean paste cupcakes.  One minute I was casually catching up on my emails and the next I found myself submerging slowly under their hypnotising spell.  Until then I would often wonder what those gorgeous flecks often seen in custards and desserts were.   Everyone knows resisting temptation is a bit tricky, so when I found myself enticed by a computer screen I knew I had to do something about it pronto.  A couple of minutes later I was walking up the baking isle at my local supermarket with a trolley in tow.  Yeah I know… what the heck was I doing with a trolley?  Or was it two? Anyway as it happens there were only four tiny jars on the shelf when I got there, and it soon became apparent that I wasn’t the only one with the intention of clearing the shelf.  With fever pitch tensions mounting, anyone would have thought it was a case of “Running of the Brides.”  I stood there for a couple of seconds pondering how to play this one. Shall I plough the jars into my trolley in one foul swoop (well all four tiny jars)?  Shall I pop a jar in my trolley walk around unassumingly and return for the rest when no one is looking?  I must have been thinking aloud because I suddenly felt a deadly gaze burning into the back of my head which pretty much made my mind up for me.  With one jar in my hand, I was out of there like a shot before I turned into ice :-).

Vanilla bean paste – The one that got away

A few days later, my friend asked me to bake vanilla cupcakes for her family.  When I say she asked me, it was probably with a little nudge in the right direction from my end.  With the vanilla bean paste practically screaming to be used, what was I supposed to do?  Eventually we settled for a reasonable compromise of a vanilla and chocolate combo.

Cakes on cooling rack. The smell was soooo gorgeous and surprisingly evoked a few childhood memories.  I am now a convert.

Vanilla Bean Paste Frosting – Yum!

Cupcake Treats x

Mango Cupcakes With A Slice of Chocolate Ganache

Spring is teasing us at the moment.  One minute it’s shorts and t.shirts (for the eternal optimists out there) and the next it’s winter woolies.  Then when we think the sun is here for keeps, the heavens open in all its glory forcing us to rush for our sturdiest brollies and toughest wellies.  It’s enough to send you fleeing to sunnier climates.  So to bring you some exotic escapism, it’s mangoes to the rescue yay.  In short, I can never get enough of the stuff.  Mango desserts, mango lassies, mango milkshakes, mango juices, mango chutneys, mango mango mango.  I’m sure you get my drift.  If it has a mango ring to it then I’m totally yours.

I bought an unripe mango from my local supermarket a couple of days ago and it was so green I had to wrap it tightly in a plastic bag to hasten the ripening process.  I’m sorry but crunchy mangoes just don’t cut the mustard for me.  Fortunately, the trick worked a treat and before long my mango was ready for baking and icing.  To be honest, I find ready-to-eat mangoes a little difficult to find in supermarkets before they are thrown out, so you have to be quick off the mark to catch them in the act.  Careful how you play this though; rugby tackle them to the ground and you could wind up with more than you bargained for.

The easier option I guess would have been to use tinned mango pulp.  My only problem with that is the overt sweetness and lack of natural mango scent.  I have used tinned mango pulp in a few recipes and have always been disappointed with the outcome, hence the reason I opted for the fresh alternative.

A couple of seconds in the blender and the pureed mango was good to go.  It should have been enough on its own but typically, I wanted an accompaniment to give the mango cupcakes a little je ne sais quoi.  That’s where the chocolates come in.  I didn’t have to look very far before I spotted a bar asking to be used.  As a minimalist I wrestled with the idea of a mango and choco combo but it didn’t last long.  My friend Lara recently introduced me to Montezuma’s organic chocolates and it just so happened that I had a bar lying around.  They even sell kilo bars and quite frankly that’s just oh so so very cruel…  Anyway, with the chocolate sitting there still staring at me, a decision had to be made pretty sharpish because it was either going to wind up in a chocolate ganache or my mouth. I’m glad to say that the chocolate ganache won that standoff:-).

Once the mango cupcakes were ready I piled them with chocolate ganache before finally completing the look with a generous mountain of mango buttercream.

Thanks again to my colleagues who without fail dished out their thoughts and recommendations. Just as I figured, my enthusiasm to mangofy (if ever there is such a word) the buttercream frosting unfortunately created a runny mess, and resulted in abandoning any fancy piping plans I might have had.  I’ll just have to resist the temptation to go overboard next time.  I have amassed quite a collection of piping bags and nozzles and can’t wait to use them next week.

Cupcake Treats x

Sport Relief Charity Cake Sale

This week has been a bit of a weird one for me.  Firstly, I forgot my keys at work, and realised the time costly mistake just minutes before arriving at my front door.  Having clocked three hours travelling to work and back that day, the thought of accumulating additional three hours to my total journey time almost tipped me over the edge.  I’m sure anyone who has ever been that situation would have sympathised with my plight.  Secondly, my phone was stolen from my satchel (yes a satchel and a very deep one at that!) on a crowded tube journey to work.  I had slept very well the previous night and was very alert that morning.  Seriously, how daring do you have to be to consider putting your hands in someone else’s bag and have a good search under the watchful eye of the potential victim?  Very daring, I think is the answer for the thieving swine who legged it with my phone, and also enjoyed hours of international calls with it might I add.  My phone bill at the end of the month should be a barrel of laughs :-(.

Anyway, with enough excitement to last a month, it is little wonder I almost forgot about the Sport Relief charity cake sale at work which I had volunteered to contribute towards.  With all proceeds going to Great Ormond Street Hospital and the Royal Institute for the Blind, I decided to go for two of my favourite flavours; double chocolate and coconut.  The cakes were nice and soft perhaps as a result of using the McDougalls Supreme Sponge flour mentioned in the Flour Power blog, and they went down an absolute treat :-). The fine desiccated coconut covered cupcakes looked so cute and surprisingly delicate, while the double chocolate buttercream frosting looked really vibrant with colourful sprinkles, sugar strands and flowers.  We raised more money than we expected, which was fantastic considering the fun we had baking and selling the cakes.  All in all it was a brilliant end to the week.

Cupcake Treats x

Flour Power

It’s not the most riveting topic so I’ll attempt to garner some interest and promise not to punish you for longer than necessary. I’ve noticed that while some of my cupcakes come out quite nicely, others come out a tad on the chewy side. I’m not talking flapjacks here although they come pretty close. The problem is more apparent in plain cupcakes that are quite light in texture. Initially, I thought it was because I skimped on the ingredients and preparation times when I took my eye off the ball for a couple of seconds, but this turned out not to be either as I later discovered.

While scouring the net for clues, I stumbled across a site which provided some clarity on the confusion. You see, I’ve always assumed that any type of flour will do the job regardless of what I’m baking, but it appears flours suitable for baking cakes are high in starch content, refined and have 5 – 8 % protein composition. The outcome is you wind up with light and fluffy cakes that are less likely to collapse when they come out of the oven. I had a look at the flour packet in my cupboard and was intrigued to discover the protein composition was bordering 12% which is significantly higher than the recommended guide.

Suffice to say that I was down my local supermarket afterwards like a shot examining all the flour packets and trying to establish the best brand for my cupcakes. Eventually, I bought a packet of McDougalls Supreme Sponge Flour with the protein composition of 8% which isn’t too bad. Another tip I discovered floating around the net is to mix all purpose flour with a bit of cornstarch. This is supposed to work a treat when you are out of the real stuff so I might give it a go when the packet I bought runs out.

I can’t wait to get baking to see whether this really does make a difference. See that wasn’t so torturous after all :-). I’ll let you know how I get on.

Cupcake Treats x

Cupcake Treats London – The Beginning…

I love cupcakes and make no bones about my love affair with these delightful fancies. I suspect you would be hard pressed to find cupcake haters out there, and if you do, they might not be keen on the sweet stuff but chances are they’ll be impressed by how pretty they look.

For as long as I can remember, no Sunday brunch with friends and family has gone by without my ritual cupcake and tea. The re-insurgence of cupcakes a couple of years ago coincided with the purchase of my new kitchen, and what better way to put the oven to good use than to get baking pronto. That said, I soon discovered that the idea was going to take longer to materialise than expected.

I’m not going to lie; it hasn’t been plain sailing. Firstly, all manner of baking has always been under the close guidance of my mum who is usually patiently waiting in the wings to remedy potential emergencies. She lives abroad and although she’s a couple of digits away by phone if things really hit the fan, it’s just not the same as having her here with me. Secondly, trying to understand my fan oven is like learning another language from scratch, and I’m not talking about reading the manual here (which incidentally happens to be written in English).

What is it about fan ovens that don’t allow you to nip away for a couple of minutes without feeling like you might return to find your food burnt to a crisp? Let’s just say that my first attempt at baking cupcakes produced less than desirable results. This was my first baking experience in a while and I was disappointed. With a frustrated yelp, the shrivelled rock hard chocolate cupcakes were flung out of the kitchen window quicker than you could say..well.. cupcakes. To my local postman outside going about his business that morning, I apologise profusely for giving you concussion. Thank you for not pressing charges – I owe you one.

In retrospect, I couldn’t have been that upset because I found time to take a few pictures before the shock set in. I realised pretty sharpish that I couldn’t afford to rely solely on memory to whip up nice cupcakes. I was going to have put in some serious research, and finding the time was going to be tricky. I work during the week and weekends are strictly for relaxing so this was going to be tough. Anyway, I needn’t have worried because before long, I was surfing the net for recipes galore, reading cupcake blogs and every cupcake book I could get my hands on. It soon became an obsession and my parched kitchen bookshelf quickly expanded with cake and icing books. When my head couldn’t take any more information, I put on my gloves, drummed up some Dutch courage and knuckled down to some..er.. serious baking – and that’s where friends, family and colleagues enter the picture. Initially, they really tried to be uncharacteristically kind which is always a dead giveaway. I don’t do ‘pity’ so I told them not to hold back. I had barely completed my sentence when their kindness came to a screeching halt. Their comments were brutal of gargantuan proportions and it was soul destroying. Their unwavering honesty wasn’t pretty. I remember thinking “that’s it just dig the knife in and twist it while you’re at why don’t you?” But then again, I asked for their “honest” opinion. Outside, I looked cool, calm and collected but inside my veins and arteries were singing songs of their own. I’m surprised no one saw the vein in the middle of my forehead perilously close to bursting.

Fast forward almost a year down the line and I’m glad to say that things are now a distant cry from those infamous chocolate cupcakes. It looks like I’m starting to get the hang of things. My faithful samplers are more appreciative of their weekly treats (although they are now blaming me for their expanding waistlines), and their feedback continue to shape my cupcakes.   Stop by to share my experiences and I hope you have fun.

Cupcake Treats  x