Pupcakes – the main ingredient is imagination!

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When my sister said “Cake Sale... Next Saturday... For charity... Inspiration for the novice baker please?!”, it had to be Pupcakes.

These are my (current) favourites. They are a little fiddly to make but so worth it when you see the reaction they get. Both kids and grownups deliberate for ages over their choice. When I point out that each of these little cuties tastes the same, I often get the reply “But, Hester! They all have different personalities! I have to find the one that’s right for me!”

For 1 dozen cute pupcakes (each with their own personality) you will need...

... a small star-shaped piping nozzle such as a Wilton 22 and a piping bag (or a freezer bag with the corner snipped off to accommodate the piping nozzle).

1 dozen vanilla-flavoured plain cupcakes

Buttercream Icing

250g butter (not dairy spread), at room temperature (i.e. soft)
275g icing sugar, sifted
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1.                 Place the soft butter together with half the icing sugar in a large mixing bowl or stand mixer. Mix together slowly to avoid filling the kitchen with a sweet sugar cloud. When mixed, add the second half of the icing sugar and the vanilla essence and whip until light and fluffy – I usually mix this in my stand mixer, leaving it running for 5 minutes. This amount will decorate 12 cupcakes.

To decorate the pupcakes you will need...

6 red/pink Starburst sweets (or similar soft fruit caramels), for the tongue

6 marshmallows for the muzzle, snipped in half so you have two discs from each

a further 4 marshmallows for the ears, each snipped into 4 long slices then rolled out to make long floppy ear shapes

24 Smarties (or similar sweets) for the eyes (pairs of matching colours if possible)

12 Smarties (or similar) for the nose - pink or brown look good

a little imagination 

 

Mmmmm, I feel like a kid in a candy store!

2.                 First, make the tongues: Unwrap 1 Starburst (or soft fruit caramel) and place it in the microwave for about 4 seconds to soften it slightly. Roll it out to a thickness of about 2mm. Using a kitchen scissors, cut out rounded teardrop shapes about the size of your index fingernail. You should get 2 tongues from each sweet. Fold each teardrop gently in half, then unfold to create a line down the centre of the tongue. Gently bend to make natural-looking tongue shapes (as shown in the photo above). Ok, that was the difficult bit. The rest is an easy assembly job.

3.                 Next, If your cupcakes are domed, cut the tops off in line with the top of the cupcake cases to make a level surface for your icing.

4.                 Half-fill your piping bag with the freshly-whipped icing (piping bags are a lot easier to work with if not too full).

5.                 Cup a cake in one hand and, with the other, pipe icing all over the surface using little stabbing motions to mimic the appearance of fur.  It doesn’t have to be too neat.

6.                 Place a marshmallow half – with the sticky, cut side, down - off-centre to create the muzzle. Cover this with icing too. Place 2 Smartie eyes on the cake as shown in the photo below. Top the muzzle with another Smartie for the nose.

7.                 Press a pair of marshmallow ears either side of the eyes, making sure a sticky side is in contact with the icing as this helps it adhere.

8.                 Insert a Starburst tongue between the muzzle and the cupcake to secure.

9.                 Finally, pipe a cute little curl just over the eyes. Once you’ve done one, the rest are much quicker to assemble. Store in a cool dry place (not the fridge!)

Start with a level base; use half a marshmallow for the muzzle; add marshmallow ears
and candy eyes and nose; finally poke the tongue just under the base of the muzzle. 

The event, at St Matthias Hall in Killiney, Co. Dublin on Saturday, December 1st, 12 noon to 2pm, is in aid of the Intellectual Disability Association of Lesotho. Christmas music... mulled wine... tea, coffee, hot chocolate with marshmallows...  mince pies.... cakes, buns, cupcakes etc. as well as some Christmas crafts... Break Christmas in gently...

Come along on Saturday and meet the Ambassador of Lesotho and his family as you deliver a delicious donation, or simply take time out to enjoy one of the gorgeous creations on offer along with a cuppa and maybe even get some of your Christmas shopping done.

And, hey! Hands off! That one's mine!

Other bake sale ideas include:
Honey, Lemon and Almond Tartlets - this recipe makes 18
Banana, Pear and Coconut Loaf - excellent with coffee, improves if made ahead of time

If you have your own favourite bake sale recipe that you’d like to share with the bakers participating in the sale, please email me your link at simpleingredientsmagicalfood@gmail.com, and I’d be delighted to add it to the list. Pin It

Mocha Walnut Cupcakes – Made with Magic Beans!

Pin It It is not every day you get to meet a man who sells magic beans. Unlike Jack (of beanstalk fame) I wasn’t taking my cow to market. I was waiting to be interviewed on the Morning Show on East Coast FM, when Stephen McCabe walked in, bringing with him a delicious aroma of freshly-roasted coffee beans.

Let them eat cake!

We got chatting and it turns out that Stephen is master roaster at McCabe’s Hand-Roasted Coffee. He had just been awarded two gold stars for his espresso – McCabe’s Classic Italian Blend – this year’s top Great Taste Award from the Guild of Fine Foods. This is an outstanding achievement by any stretch, but given they are a small family firm, up against some of the giants in the industry, it is doubly impressive. These are magic beans indeed. 

Dark chocolate coffee cake with a swirl of espresso frosting... about to do a disappearing act !

Stephen’s success has inspired these Mocha Walnut Cupcakes with Espresso Buttercream Frosting. I am, of course, using his magic coffee beans.

For 12 large cupcakes you will need...

150g butter, softened

100g caster sugar
50g dark Muscovado sugar (or any dark brown sugar)
3 eggs
125g plain flour
25g cocoa powder, sifted
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of double-strength espresso, cooled (or 1 teaspoon decent instant coffee dissolved in 1 tablespoon boiling water, then cooled)

Pre-heat your fan oven to 160°C and line a 12-hole muffin tin with cupcake papers

1                   In a mixing bowl, beat the butter together with the sugars until smoothly blended. Add in the eggs one at a time, mixing well between additions.

2                    Sprinkle in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda and continue beating until these dry ingredients are incorporated into the mixture.

3                   Add the cooled strong coffee and the vanilla essence and mix until incorporated.

4                   Divide the mixture between the 12 cupcake papers and transfer to the preheated oven.

5                   Bake for 18 – 20 minutes or until risen and evenly golden.

6                   Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Leave to cool completely adding the frosting.

For the Espresso Buttercream Frosting you will need...

150g butter, softened

300g icing sugar

1 tablespoon of double-strength espresso, cooled (or 1 teaspoon decent instant coffee dissolved in 1 tablespoon boiling water, then cooled)

1                   In a mixing bowl, slowly beat the butter together with one-third of the icing sugar until smoothly blended. Add in the rest of the icing sugar and the cooled coffee and continue beating until light and fluffy. I usually set a timer for 5 minutes to ensure gorgeous light frosting.  Transfer to the frosting delivery system cupcakes using a spatula, or pipe in generous swirls and top with toasted walnuts – the perfect complement to an excellent coffee.

We're full of (magic) beans!

I’m lucky enough to live near several of the many coffee shops that sell their coffees and McCabe’s have an online shop if you live further afield. Pin It

Strawberry and Orange Cream Cheese Cupcakes – the 3-second rule applies !

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 When my sister got married, she made a special request. Would I please, please, please make “that amazing carrot cake with the cream cheese frosting” as her wedding cake. While I’d never made a wedding cake before, I was delighted to oblige.

Strawberries and Cream Cheese - the perfect marriage!

The project got off to a bad start...  As I was transferring the largest of the cakes into the oven, the base fell out of the tin, dumping batter all over the bottom of the oven... the floor... my shoes... I made up some new swear words that day.

The hours to the wedding were ticking down so I rolled up my sleeves, gritted my teeth, and started again.

By next morning, the three tiers were baked and frosted. Before the ceremony, I went to the hotel to set up the cake. I had my list: Cake boards ... ü Ribbons ... ü Dowels ... ü Pillars ... ü Roses ... ü It was like a mini-construction site, complete with landscaping.  With the multi-storey cake set up and refrigerated, I went off to the ceremony, much relieved. Job done!

At the end of a wonderful meal, the cake was wheeled out. Was it just me... perhaps the champagne... or was there an ever so slightly Leaning Tower of Pisa look about the cake? Hmmmm...  



I ♥ Strawberries

Thankfully, the cake made it through the photos. I had turned back to chat to my fellow guests when I heard a collective gasp, followed by a soft thud, as if someone had fainted. I refused to look and moments later, the groom tapped me on the shoulder. “Great cake, Hester” he said, “but the engineering skills need work!”  Ooops! The light fluffy carrot cake just wasn't up to the task of supporting several kilos of pillars, and frosting, and roses and the layers of cake above it. (Doh!) Luckily there was enough in the surviving tier for everyone in the room.

Funnily enough, there was no sign of the fallen cake when the hotel staff arrived to clear it up. I have a sneaking suspicion that the 3-second rule was employed by the hungry boy children in the room.

Lower fat cupcakes: "Does my bun look big in this?"

For the most part, I’ve stuck to single-storey cakes since then, but my love of cream cheese has grown so much that as well as using it for frosting, I now put it in various cake batters in place of butter. It adds a whole new flavour dimension as well as cutting the fat content dramatically. Butter is about 81% - cream cheese is around 23%.

The 3-second rule applies to these cakes. In my experience, that’s about how long they remain on the plate J

For 12 cupcakes you will need:

150g Philadelphia Cream Cheese

150g caster sugar

3 eggs

Grated zest of an orange

150g plain flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

Pre-heat your fan oven to 160°C and line a 12-hole muffin tin with cupcake papers

1          In a mixing bowl, whisk the Philadelphia together with the sugar until smoothly blended. Add in the eggs and the orange zest and continue whisking until well combined.

2          Sprinkle in the flour and baking powder and continue whisking until the flour is incorporated into the mixture.

3          Divide the mixture between the 12 cupcake papers and transfer to the preheated oven.

4          Bake for 18 – 20 minutes or until risen and evenly golden.

5          Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Leave to cool completely before piping on the frosting.

For the cream cheese frosting you will need:

125g Philadelphia Cream Cheese

125g softened butter

325g icing sugar

1 punnet of fresh Irish strawberries

6          In a mixing bowl, whisk the Philadelphia together with the butter then slowly add in the icing sugar, whisking continuously until all the sugar has been incorporated and the mixture is smooth and thick. Transfer to a piping bag with a large star nozzle and refrigerate until needed.

7          To finish, pipe a swirl of frosting onto each cupcake and top with a fresh strawberry. Apply to face. Grin happily! 

Apply to face...

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Chocolate Truffle Frosting – it’s a meltdown!

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I’ll be brief. I’ve had a meltdown. Literally.

You see.... my sister gave me this enormous dark chocolate egg... and while I know it isn’t Easter for a few more hours, I cannot help myself. I am an instant gratification sort of girl.



Thumbs up for this meltdown!



This is what happened to that egg…

I smashed it to smithereens (love that word). Having measured 100g of chocolate smithereens into a bowl, I poured 100mls of boiling double cream over it and added a dash of vanilla extract. I stirred... and stirred... and stirred until the chocolate had melted into the cream, then popped it into the refrigerator for a couple of hours until it had set into what is essentially a chocolate truffle mixture.

Next, some "quality control" – it took several spoonfuls of quality control to be quite sure it was divine.

The delivery system of choice was some feather-light zesty lemon cupcakes. I piped the frosting with a Wilton 1M star nozzle. This was enough to cover 8 cupcakes – and probably more had I skipped the quality control stage ;-)

To decorate each cupcake, I pressed 3 mini eggs into the chocolate truffle frosting - as it’s Easter… almost.

Mmmmmmmmmm … nom nom  

Happy Easter everyone!

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Sticky Toffee Cupcakes with Fleur de Sel Caramel – fall for them!

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There is something about the whole Gym thing that makes me think of battery farming. I much prefer free-range exercise, particularly as I am fortunate enough to live in one of Ireland’s most beautiful counties.

Sticky Toffee Cupcakes - I've fallen for them! 

Free-range exercise offers a dilemma of its own - which route to choose? Which view will be more spectacular today?

The lakes are a no-brainer on a frosty morning when a mist sits just above the surface of the water giving the scene a dreamy Camelot-like quality.  The forest has its own charms, and is full of interesting wild life. If I take my mountain bike there I am quite likely to spot a stag; or a doe with its fawn; or on a really good day, a rare red kite.

My beloved will happily hike with me but refuses to take his mountain bike out. There was that unfortunate incident when his rear wheel slipped off a narrow path and his bike came to a dead stop. Making a brave attempt to balance, he wrestled with the uncooperative contraption for a long moment ... before toppling head-over-heels into a ditch.

Luckily he had a soft landing. Unluckily, it was an evil-smelling liquid mud that was the exact colour and texture of warm caramel sauce. Once I established that only his pride was injured I cried with laughter at the bedraggled sight. I still cannot eat this sticky toffee dessert without snickering at the memory!

Ahem! Anyway, it is light and sticky. It is sweet with little hits of salt in the caramel. Good vanilla ice cream completes the picture. Resign yourself to second helpings.

Did I mention it is also extremely versatile? Swap the dates for some of that left-over christmas mincemeat and a teaspoon of grated orange peel and ditch the salt in the sauce for 4 tablespoons of Grand Marnier liqueur. Magic!

For 12 cupcakes you will need...

... to pre-heat the oven to 160°C

200g ready-to-eat dried dates, quartered

100mls tea

1 tablespoon treacle (or molasses)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

110g butter

175g dark brown sugar

3 large eggs

250g plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon fine table salt

It's a date!

1          Place the dates, tea and treacle (or molasses) in a saucepan over a medium heat. Bring to the boil then turn down the heat and simmer gently, uncovered, until the dates have absorbed most of the liquid. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract and the bicarbonate of soda (which will fizz alarmingly but helps make the cake light and fluffy). Leave to cool.

2          While the dates are cooling, line a 12-hole muffin tin with muffin cases.

3          Cream together the butter and sugar until paler in colour and fluffy – an electric mixer/beaters is best for this. Meanwhile in a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.

4          Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between additions, and alternating with a tablespoonful of the flour mixture. When the egg has been combined, add the rest of the flour mixture and beat until just combined.

5          Add the cooled dates - they don’t have to be completely cold – and mix until just combined.

6          Divide the mixture between the 12 muffin cases and transfer to the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes until well risen and cooked through. A toothpick inserted in the centre should come out clean. If any mixture adheres, bake for a further 5 minutes and test again.

7          When cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Ooooooh yeaaaaah!

To make the fleur de sel caramel sauce you will need...

... to exercise caution – boiling sugar is very, very hot

180g caster sugar

1 teaspoon white malt vinegar

75g butter, cut into walnut-sized pieces

150mls pouring cream

½ teaspoon fleur de sel salt (or other large crystal salt)

1                   Place the sugar and vinegar in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. After 3 minutes or so, the sugar will start to become liquid. Stir until all the crystals have melted into an amber-coloured syrup.

2                   Add the butter and stir until melted - the mixture will bubble vigorously but will soon subside. Remove from the heat then add the cream and stir until smooth. Finally, stir in the fleur de sel salt. Allow the sauce to cool a little before transferring to a sterilised jar.

Le Salt


To serve, remove the cupcakes from their papers. Warm the cakes and the caramel sauce. Dust the cakes with icing sugar and add a generous puddle of caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream.

The first sticky toffee cupcakes of the year, with the first daffodils.

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Mini Mango and Ginger Cheesecakes – the best things come in small packages, cupcake!

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Perhaps because I am snack-sized myself, I have a weakness for mini-food of all types. If there are canapés on offer, I’m there. Too often, by the time I’ve polished off a proper dinner, I have barely enough room left to read the dessert menu, never mind actually tackle the average confectionery... unless of course it’s a cupcake.

When this winter rolls over into January 2011, trendy foodies will be saying “Cupcakes are so last year!”  Tsk! What a shame, because many people – me included – love the endless variation of form and flavour (and mini-ness) that cupcakes represent.

What lies beneath?  

What is going to replace the cupcake in my affections?

I know! The mini cheesecake! It is petite perfection, with about half the calories of a regular old-fashioned slice (unless you devour two). Just like the cup cake, the mini cheesecake can take on endless form and flavour. 

Say "Cheese!"



For approximately 15 mini Mango and Ginger cheesecakes you will need:

Ginger biscuit base

150g Ginger Nut biscuits, crushed

75g butter, melted

1.   First, line a muffin pan with paper muffin liners. Mix together the crushed biscuits and melted butter and divide between the muffin cups, packing the mixture down lightly with the back of a spoon.

Mango cheesecake mix

1 x 568ml (1 pint) packet orange jelly (Jell-O) – I use the 135g Chivers brand

125mls boiling water

350g full-fat soft cheese (low-cal won’t set properly)

110g caster sugar

125mls double cream

1 x 397g tin sliced mango in light syrup

25mls fresh lemon/lime juice or 25mls Maguary Passion Fruit concentrate if you can get it

2.   In a measuring jug, dissolve the orange jelly in the boiling water. A few zaps of the microwave can speed this up a little.

3.   In a food processor, purée the sliced mango with enough of its syrup to make a thick liquid and add enough of this to bring the melted jelly mixture to bring it up to 275mls on the measuring jug (you’ll have plenty left over – I drizzle this over the finished cakes). Stir in the lemon/lime juice or Passion Fruit concentrate. Leave to cool, checking every five minutes or so for the gelling process to start – this is where it begins to thicken ever so slightly.

4.   Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth.

5.   When the jelly mixture has reached the gelling stage, add it to the cheese mixture and beat until smooth. Finally, add the double cream and beat until just combined.

6.   Divide the mixture between the muffin cups – careful to leave about  ½cm at the top. Refrigerate for about 3 hours or until set. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

To decorate as shown:

Spoon a little of the mango purée over the surface of the set cakes. This gives them the beautiful sunny yellow in the picture.  Draw shapes on baking parchment and fill them in with melted dark chocolate, or drizzle random shapes, remembering to count one for each cheesecake and a few extra for the cook. Leave for about 5 – 10 minutes in a cool room then peel away the paper and decorate the cheesecakes with the chocolate shapes.

Variations:

Choose another flavour of in place of the orange jelly and add a complementary puréed fruit in place of the mango.

Add a little chopped crystallised ginger to spice up the base, or choose another biscuit entirely – try Oreos, Digestive, Choc Chip...  So many mini cheesecakes, so little time...

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