all the cream cheese icing

Cream cheese icing appeared to be a running theme when I looked through last year's baking photos on my phone. All of these bakes have been blogged previously in some form but I felt they were worth mentioning again since they're all good recipes.

First up, ALL THE CARROT CAKES.

I made this particular carrot cake *a lot* last year (also, sneaky peek at my pretty baking area in the kitchen complete with splashback tiles.) I'm aware I need to update the recipe link as I've made revisions to the original recipe. I'll get around to it some time as I'm guaranteed to bake this again.

Mum's birthday cake. I think I used the recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery's first Cookbook, although the obvious difference is that I've only baked two layers instead of three. I'm guessing I divided the mixture between two 8" round tins to create deeper layers and left them in the oven longer to bake although I have no notes to confirm this, sorry.

My brother's birthday carrot cake bundt. I love how jazzy this looks with all the walnuts, sprinkles and candles. This is the same recipe as above but baked as one giant bundt. I've made this cake previously, both as a triple layer cake and a bundt. Either way, it's awesome. This recipe works so well as a big bundt and is a lot less faff to make than assembling and decorating layer cakes. Bear in mind it needs longer to bake in the oven (1 hour) since it is one big cake instead of 3 thinner layers.

Apple and walnut cupcakes, recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery's Cake Days book. I was clearly on a Hummingbird bender last year. I fancied revisiting this recipe as I hadn't made it for years (first blogged here.) It makes such soft, juicy cupcakes. They didn't hang around for very long.

Hummingbird cake (spiced banana and pineapple cake for those not familiar with it.) Surprise surprise, another Hummingbird Bakery triple layer cake baked as one big bundt. I've also made it as a layer cake before. This was baked for my parents' wedding anniversary so I made it look prettier by piping rose swirls all around the cake. Cream cheese icing isn't ideal for this since it tends to be soft, but it still worked ok... providing you don't look at the cake too closely.

Bonus photo where you get to see a glimpse of my garden. It's mostly full of weeds but look at my beautiful blue fence!

I'm always on the lookout for fun ways to use or pimp up cream cheese icing. My favourite flavour additions are vanilla extract or cinnamon although honey and lemon is also lovely. I think I've even added fruity curds to it before. I've bookmarked a recipe somewhere which involves browning the butter before adding it to the icing. I've used browned previously in baking (these blondies in particular were awesome) so I think this would be worth trying out. Perhaps on a banana bread.

What's your favourite cream cheese icing or way to use it?

chocolate and vanilla marble cupcakes

This was my first bake in my new home in my shiny new oven a year ago. My best friend came to visit me about a week after I moved in which gave me the perfect opportunity to test my oven's baking abilities.

I went with marble cupcakes as I fancied trying two toned piped icing, something I've wanted to try for absolutely years. I absolutely love how the piped swirls turned out and intend to try the technique on a cake some time. I've actually seen some Easter versions online recently where bakers have marbled pastel coloured icing to match Cadbury Mini Eggs and it looks so pretty.

There's something very satisfying about marbled bakes. I always think they look fun, with or without icing.

As a side note I love my cooker, a cream coloured Richmond Stoves. I managed to buy a decent one as I saved a good chunk of money by sourcing second hand kitchen units (£200 from Ebay.) It has a bit of old fashioned charm as the lid makes it look like an old Aga (and handily the lid doubles up as extra worktop space) and the look suits my quirky, retro styled kitchen. I can also confirm after a year's testing that the oven bakes good cakes.

 (Here's a peek at my baking station. This was before I put up my kitchen tiles behind the worktop. It looks even prettier now.)

I also want to say I hope everyone is staying as safe as possible at the moment amidst the Coronovirus mayhem sweeping the world. It's all incredibly scary and unsettling on so many levels. Take care of yourselves and look after loved ones. x

Recipe was just a bog standard victoria sponge mixture divided in half with cocoa powder added to one half and 1/2tsp vanilla extract to the other. For the icings I followed the vanilla and chocolate butter icing from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. My butter icing swirls were created with a Wilton 1M piping tip.... I think!

apple, cinnamon and maple syrup cupcakes

....and fairy cakes. I couldn't decide which size to go for so I made both.

After seeing Sammie's maple syrup frosted apple cupcakes last week I immediately felt compelled to bake apple and maple syrup cupcakes, only I fancied pairing mine with cinnamon and a maple cream cheese icing. Other than that, the recipe is essentially the same, but Sammie's look way more photogenic. Haha! I intended to pipe my icing but there was a lot of air trapped in the piping bag which made the icing burst out the nozzle in a very uneven manner, so out came the palette knife to smooth everything over. I also didn't make enough icing which was a bit stupid. It's the flavour that counts, right?

It's hard to go wrong with apple, cinnamon and maple syrup; they're such classic, warm, autumnal flavours. The apples are grated into the mixture, rather than chopped, so the flavour is distributed evenly through the sponges. I don't think I need to elaborate much on the maple syrup cream cheese icing - it's very, very tasty.

Please don't be put off by my dull presentation, these are lovely, little cakes.

apple, cinnamon and maple syrup cupcakes

sponges:
6oz (175g) softened butter/margarine

6oz (175g) soft light brown sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

7oz (200g) self raising flour

2 eating apples, grated (mine weighed about 5oz)

icing:
(this is enough to lightly cover 24 fairy cakes and a few cupcakes but I'd double, at least, if you want to pipe it on in swirls)
50g softened butter
100g cream cheese
125g icing sugar 
a few drops (or however much you fancy) of maple syrup

For cupcakes, preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. For fairy cakes preheat to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Fill your cupcake/bun trays with paper cases. In a large bowl beat together the margarine and sugar for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs to the mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add a tablespoon of the flour with the last egg to prevent the mixture from splitting. Add the maple syrup and cinnamon followed by the flour and mix together until fully combined. Grate the apples and stir them into the mixture - you'll need to work quickly with the grater as apples brown quickly.

Spoon the mixture into the cake cases, filling them about 2/3 full. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes (12-15 minutes for fairy cakes as they're smaller) until well risen, golden and spring back when touched. Leave to cool in the tins for a couple of minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

For the icing, beat the butter until smooth then add the icing sugar. Once combined, add the cream cheese and the maple syrup and mix until the icing is light and fluffy. Feel free to adjust amounts to personal taste or if you want a different consistency. Spread the icing on top with a palette knife or pipe it on with a piping bag and nozzle.

lemon cupcakes with lemon cream cheese icing

I've baked something. It's been a while, for me anyway. I'm still obsessed with my retro juicer so I made some zingy, lemon cupcakes as an excuse to use it.

As a slight variation to my usual lemon cupcakes, I followed the Peggy Porchen method of making a sugar syrup to brush over the freshly baked cupcakes and topped them with a swirl of lemon cream cheese icing.

The syrup gives the cupcakes an extra juicy lemon punch and the addition of cream cheese to the icing calms the sweetness and sharpness. All in all, a damn tasty cupcake... providing you love lemon.

I thought this was the first time I had made lemon cream cheese icing but I see I used it a couple of years ago in a birthday cake for my Dad. It's a good job I have this blog as an archive as my memory is terrible. Looking back at that cake, I'm a bit gutted I didn't consider adding lemon curd as a filling to my cupcakes. That would have taken them to another level of lemony goodness.

My brain feels too scrambled to write anything else vaguely coherent. June has been tiring and thanks to the EU Referendum the UK appears to be in meltdown. Nice.

I have things I want to make and bake, and blogs I want to catch up with, but I'm struggling to motivate myself in the evenings at the moment. All I want to do after work is sit and watch Dance Moms (I am so obsessed, it's embarrassing) X-Files re-runs and Tattoo Fixers (bizarre considering I'm not even a fan of tattoos.) Wimbledon can also be added to the tv list since it started this week. Wayhey!

Lemon cupcake
makes approx. 15 cupcakes

cupcakes:
6oz (175g) caster sugar
6oz (175g) softened butter or margarine
zest of 2 lemons
3 large eggs
6oz (175g) self-raising flour

sugar syrup:
juice of 3 lemons
caster sugar - same weight as the juice of 3 lemons

cream cheese icing:
100g full fat cream cheese icing
100g softened butter
250g icing sugar
zest of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4 and line two cupcake trays with cases. In a large bowl beat together the margarine, sugar and lemon zest for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs to the mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add a tablespoon of the flour with the last egg to prevent the mixture from splitting. Add the flour and mix everything together until fully combined. Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, until 2/3 full. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until well risen, light golden and spring back when touched. 

Place the lemon juice and caster sugar for the syrup in a saucepan whilst the cupcakes are baking. As soon as the cupcakes come out the oven, bring the syrup to the boil on the hob. Let it simmer until the sugar has full dissolved then take the saucepan off the heat and set aside to cool slightly.

Brush the cupcakes with the sugar syrup whilst they're still hot (they absorb the syrup better this way). Once it has soaked in and the cupcakes feel warm, rather than hot, remove the cupcakes from the trays and cool on a wire rack.

For the icing mix together the icing sugar, lemon zest and butter until well combined. Add the cream cheese a little at a time then mix it all on a high speed for a minute or so until the icing is soft and smooth. Either swirl the icing on top of the cooled cupcakes with a spoon/palette knife or pop it into a piping bag. I used a Wilton 1M tip for mine and piped from the centre, swirling outwards.

nostalgic bakes: buns (fairy cakes)

I had grand plans for baking this Easter. Various recipes had been picked out to try, the baking cupboard was well stocked with chocolate mini eggs.... but when it came to the weekend I just couldn't be bothered. It all felt like too much effort.

However I had quickly baked some buns to take to a birthday party on Friday night and they went down really well. They're perfect party food: cute, dainty, light and quick and easy to put together. I can get two trays of these fluffy beauties baked and decorated well within an hour.

Knowing it wouldn't take me long, I made a second batch on Sunday for the family to enjoy. I had used Mary Berry's all-in-one method for the first batch on Friday, but for the second batch I went with my usual victoria sponge creaming method and I have to say I prefer the texture of the second batch. They definitely feel fluffier.

There was meant to be a couple of mini eggs on top of each bun with this batch but, ermmmm.... they kind of got eaten. Not all by me I might add, although admittedly that is a plausible assumption. I bloody love handfuls of mini eggs.

Baking plain, little buns gave me warm, fuzzy feelings of nostalgia as they were the main treats I baked growing up until the cupcake craze came along and broadened my (sponge based) horizons. It was both odd and brilliant that my favourite thing became trendy. You have no idea how excited I was when I could finally get my hands on different patterned and coloured paper cases. Thank you, cupcake trend! Now I can enjoy fluffy mouthfuls of sponge encased by dinosaurs.

As much as I love cupcakes, sometimes it's good to go back to basics. The humble, fluffy bun with its little paper case, modest covering of butter icing and childlike hundreds and thousands sprinkled topping will always have a special place in my heart/stomach.

Iced buns/fairy cakes

buns:
6oz caster sugar
6oz margarine/softened butter
3 large eggs
6 oz  self raising flour

icing:
icing sugar
softened butter

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Line two bun trays with paper cases, keeping spares nearby in case you need more (I think I got 28 buns out of this mixture). Beat together the sugar and butter/margarine for 5 minutes with your mixer until pale, soft and very fluffy. Crack the eggs into a jug and lightly whip together with a fork before gradually adding to the sugar mixture, mixing well after each addition. Add a tablespoon of the flour with the last lot of egg if the cake mixture starts to curdle/split. Add the remaining flour and mix until fully combined. 

Divide the mixture between all the paper cases (I find a heaped teaspoonful is about right.) Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until they're well risen, lightly golden and bounce back when touched. Lift out of the trays and leave to cool on a rack.

For the icing I admit I guess amounts, dumping a pile of icing sugar into a large bowl and adding a small amount of softened butter to taste. I also add a drop of boiling water to achieve a good spreading consistency. Swirl a dollop of the icing on top of each fairy cake with a teaspoon. If you're in a rush it's ok to ice the fairy cakes whilst they're still a little warm, if anything it helps the icing spread! Decorate with sprinkles or mini easter eggs... if you haven't already eaten them.

cranberry and orange muffins/cupcakes

Festive baking is now in full swing around here. I think I've baked something every evening since last Friday! The Christmas tree was also put up this week and I decorated it today whilst half watching a fantastically awful Hulk Hogan Christmas film on tv. Can't get much better than that really!

First up with the festive baking are these cranberry and orange muffins which I decided to bake as cupcakes as I really wanted to use my festive cupcake cases from last year. They have really cute patterned bases.

I came across fresh cranberries in the supermarket last week and absolutely had to buy them. I've never seen fresh cranberries to buy before so was pretty excited and immediately started searching for festive cranberry based recipes online. There were a few serious contenders but after a quick family poll these cranberry orange muffins from Sally's Baking Addiction won.

Sally's opening description is spot on - "Buttery and moist, these cranberry orange muffins are heavy on the flavor and bursting with cranberries in each bite." I absolutely loved the tart bursts of cranberry. Despite me loving full on sweetness in bakes I actually really liked that these muffins weren't overly sweet other than the orange icing glaze. They're a good antidote to all the Christmas chocolates, fudge and shortbread and would also make a lovely present for folk who don't like cakes loaded with sugar or icing.

These cupcakes/muffins also smell absolutely amazing. When I opened my cake tin the following morning the most amazing waft of Christmas came out. A heady mix of orange and spice. Lovely!

raspberry trifle cupcakes

I'm just going to put this out there... these are the best cupcakes I've ever made, quite possibly the best cupcakes I've ever eaten. They are THAT. DAMN. TASTY.

I've had this recipe bookmarked in the Hummingbird Bakery's "Cake Days" book for 4 years. I knew I wanted to make it at some point, but due to my aversion to recipes which don't use the whole egg I've always grumbled at the 5 egg yolks listed in the custard topping ingredients and flicked the page. When was I ever going to have 5 egg yolks lying around?

Well guess who had exactly 5 egg yolks spare after making a meringue roulade last week? The stars had finally aligned!

These cupcakes were definitely worth the 4 year wait. Hell, I would make another meringue roulade just to have an excuse to make these cupcakes again. I need to stop being such an ass about not using whole eggs.

The creamy, custard topping is to die for. It pairs beautifully with the soft, fluffy, vanilla sponge and jammy, raspberry filling.

My only change to the recipe was baking the raspberries inside the cupcake as I love the squidginess of a baked raspberry. It also means that the cupcakes keep better, not that these will hang around for long. They are pretty addictive.

I could quite happily shove endless quantities of these cupcakes in my mouth and not get fed up with them. I have no shame.

I am also delighted to report that there were no tiny bugs in these raspberries. Each raspberry was thoroughly inspected. This is the first time I've bought raspberries since *that* incident. Wow, that was almost two years ago. You'd almost think I held a grudge...

Raspberry trifle cupcakes 
Recipe from Hummingbird Bakery, "Cake Days", barely adapted.
The recipe looks long, but it really isn't that complicated. Don't feel put off!

sponge:
80g (3oz) unsalted butter, softened
280g (10oz) caster sugar
240g (8.5oz) plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4tsp salt
240ml (8.5fl oz) milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, large

filling:
punnet of fresh raspberries
jar of raspberry jam

custard topping:
500ml (18fl oz) milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste)
5 egg yolks
100g (3.5oz) caster sugar
30g (1oz) plain flour
30g (1oz) cornflour
200ml (7fl oz) double cream

Preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/Gas 5 and line two cupcake trays with paper cases. (The mixture gave me 18-20 cupcakes.) Mix together the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl with a mixer set at a low speed. The mixture should look like fine breadcrumbs.

Whisk together the milk, vanilla and eggs in a jug with a fork. Pour 3/4 of this into the dry mixture while mixing on a slow speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything gets mixed in. Add the rest of the egg mixture and mix again on a higher speed until the batter is smooth.

Fill each cupcake cases with the batter until about two thirds full and press a raspberry into the centre of each cupcake. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until well risen, light golden and springy to touch. Leave to cool in the trays for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

While the cupcakes are in the oven you can make the custard topping. Combine the milk with the vanilla in a saucepan and bring to the boil. In a bowl, combine the egg yolks with the sugar, flour and cornflour to create a paste. Add 1 tbsp of the heated milk if necessary. Remove the saucepan from the hob once the milk has boiled and pour 4-5 tbsp of it into the paste. Give the paste a mix then pour it into the saucepan with the milk and return to the heat. Bring the milk back to the boil, continually whisking to avoid lumps, and boil for a further minute to fully cook the flour. Pour this custard mixture into a baking tray and cover with cling film to prevent a skin forming. Leave to cool for 30-40 minutes.

Once cool, tip the custard into a large bowl (feel free to sieve the custard like me if you discover that it's a bit lumpy!) and beat with a wooden bowl to break it up. In a separate bowl, whisk the double cream into soft peaks, then fold the cream into the custard mixture. Now your topping is ready!

Using a sharp knife, cut a circular disc/hollow in the centre of each cupcake (until you reach the top of the raspberries baked inside), place roughly 1/2 tsp of raspberry jam in the centre, then press the cut off sponge back on top. Pipe or spread the custard on top of each cupcake, topping with an extra raspberry and some sprinkles for full on party trifle effect.

Baker's note: The cupcakes will keep/store better without the custard icing, so only ice as many as you're planning to eat at the time and keep the remaining custard in the fridge in a bowl covered with clingfilm.

strawberry cupcakes

It's Wimbledon season, the time of year when I swoon over Roger Federer and eat lots of strawberries. Sometimes swooning over Roger Federer whilst eating strawberries.

This year I have been swooning over Roger Federer (can you tell I like Roger Federer?) whilst eating strawberry cupcakes. Soft, fluffy, vanilla flecked cupcakes with juicy chunks of strawberries and topped with strawberry jam butter icing. These are seriously addictive. I could easily eat 3 in quick succession.

Jam mixed into butter icing is definitely my new favourite thing. I've tried raspberry and strawberry jams mixed into icing so I'm plotting which jam variation to try next. Any suggestions?

These strawberry printed cupcake cases have been sitting in my baking stash for at least two years, waiting for the right opportunity to be used. Aren't they cute? I've always felt that I couldn't just use them for any old cupcakes, they *had* to be strawberry flavoured. I'm surprised it has taken me this long to make strawberry cupcakes again (last baked here - god that was ages ago!)

I made these cupcakes to take on a summery picnic with my friends last week. The weather looked set to be glorious, so glorious that I ventured outside in bare legs(!) and sandals(!!) However by the time we arrived at our picnic destination the sky clouded over slightly and it became increasingly windy. It was strange weather: hot enough to promptly melt my friend's ice-cream and so windy that the melted ice-cream blew *everywhere* In hair, on arms, on tops, on trousers, on my legs! It was an eventful day out.

Strawberry cupcakes

cupcakes:

200g margarine/ softened butter

200g golden caster sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

200g self raising flour

100g strawberries, chopped into relatively small chunks

icing:

250g icing sugar

125g softened butter

1-2tbsp strawberry jam (add to taste)

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4 and line two cupcake trays with cases. In a large bowl beat together the margarine and sugar for about 5 minutes until very light and fluffy. Add the eggs to the mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add a tablespoon of the flour with the last egg to prevent the mixture from splitting. Add the flour and mix everything together until fully combined. Stir in the strawberry chunks until evenly distributed.

Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, until 2/3 full. I got 18 cupcakes from this mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until well risen, light golden and spring back when touched. Leave to cool in the tray for a couple of minutes before turning out to cool on a wire rack.

For the icing, beat together the icing sugar and butter for a few minutes until light and fluffy. Stir in the jam and mix for another few minutes. Spread the icing on top of the cupcakes with a palette knife. I'd recommend increasing the amounts (by about half perhaps?) if you'd prefer to pipe the icing on as this only gave a relatively thin covering per cupcake.

coconut cupcakes - half with raspberry jam, half with (questionable) pineapple curd

Last week I was posessed with the idea of making summery pineapple curd to put inside coconut cupcakes. However there was a major flaw in my tropical plan: I'm a lazy low faff baker.

All the pineapple curd recipes I came across online only used egg yolks and I cannot be arsed with recipes which only use half the egg. (Now you know why I rarely make meringues!) The number of times I've set aside the other half of the egg with the best of intentions to bake something with it, only to eventually throw it away as I inevitably forget about it is annoying. And wasteful.

So I set about inventing a pineapple curd recipe loosely based on a few whole egg curd recipes. The resulting curd tastes lovely and is a glorious sunshine yellow but is sadly more like a grainy, runny sauce than a curd. I decided against putting it inside the cupcakes but mixed a few teaspoonfuls into the icing and have eaten some drizzled on top of a cupcake. It definitely adds to the overall flavour of the cupcake, but I'm kicking myself for not following an actual pineapple curd recipe.

Without the curd I find the cupcake a bit "meh". Coconut is a funny flavour for me. I think it's a subtle, secondary element or an additional texture. It needs to be paired with a strong flavour such as pineapple, raspberry, lime or chocolate to bring it to life.

Following the disappointment of my pineapple not-quite-a curd I split my coconut cupcake batch to produce a raspberry and coconut combination too. For these I put raspberry jam in the centre and whipped a few teaspoonfuls into the butter icing. I've seen a few people mix jam into icing but have never tried it myself. It is so tasty, why haven't I done this before?! Move over malt chocolate icing, this is my new obsession.

The girly girl in me is filled with glee by eating something which looks so pink and fluffy. The bright jammy centre just adds to the girly excitement. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed raspberry and coconut as a pairing.

Unsurprisingly the raspberry batch are the winners for me. However had the curd worked I think these would have been pretty special too as pineapple and coconut is such a fresh and summery flavour combination. I'll just have to suck it up one day and make a pineapple curd using only egg yolks!

Coconut cupcakes - half with raspberry jam, half with pineapple curd

6oz/ 170g margarine/ butter

6oz/ 170g caster sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

5oz/ 140g self raising flour

1oz/ 30g desiccated coconut (plus extra to top the cupcakes at the end)

2 tablespoons of milk 

filling:

1 jar raspberry jam

1 jar pineapple curd - I won't write what I did as it didn't particularly work but you can find a few different pineapple curd recipes here, here or here.

  
butter icing (covers both batches):

150g softened butter

300g icing sugar

2-3 teaspoons of raspberry jam/pineapple curd (add to taste)

Preheat the oven to 180C/160 Fan/Gas 4 and line a couple of cupcake trays with cases. In a small bowl, soak the desiccated coconut in the milk. Whilst that's soaking, beat together the margarine and sugar in a large bowl for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add a tablespoon of the flour mixture with the last egg to stop the cake mixture from curdling. Tip in the milky coconut, vanilla extract and remaining flour and mix until everything is fully combined. 
 

Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases (I think I got 16 from the mixture) and bake in the centre of the oven for about 30 minutes until the cupcakes are light golden in colour, well risen, and spring back when touched. Leave to cool in the tins for a couple of minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling. 

For the icing, beat together the butter and icing sugar for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Split the icing in half, adding a few teaspoons of raspberry jam to one batch and curd to the other. Mix both icings thoroughly.

Using a sharp knife, cut a circular disc from the top of each cupcake and pop a teaspoonful of jam or curd inside and replace the top. Spread or pipe the icing on top and liberally cover with (toasted) desiccated coconut.

banana cupcakes with malted chocolate icing

I have made so many banana bakes over the last few weeks it's getting ridiculous. Bananas appear to brown at the speed of light around here. I wasn't going to bother blogging these as I used the same recipe as this loaf cake I posted not long ago, but I felt the need to rave about the malted chocolate butter icing. It's that good!

The icing is so silky soft it's almost mousse like in texture. It just melts in your mouth, wrapping around a soft, sweet banana crumb. Banana and chocolate is an excellent combination but banana and malted chocolate is even better. I honestly cannot rave about it enough.

I came across the icing on Laura's blog, I'd Much Rather Bake Than..., last week and immediately bookmarked her post. As you can see the icing pipes beautiful soft swirls. I imagine it would be very satisfying to cover a full cake too. Next time I'll need to pair it up with chocolate cake for full on swirling and indulgence.

On a separate note, do you like my new cake plate? It's a Royal Winton Grimwades piece, my "ultimate" china brand, and I couldn't contain my excitement when I found it in a second hand shop a few weeks ago after visiting the dentist. I told the cashier I was rewarding myself for not needing any fillings.

Has anybody else had good luck in second hand shops recently? I've found some brilliant pieces in the last couple of weeks and I'm looking forward to organising a blog post about them soon.

cranberry and orange cupcakes with white chocolate icing

January has been the "bake things I never got round to making in December" month. First the gingerbread biscuits and now these cupcakes from the Hummingbird Bakery Home Sweet Home book.

There are some gorgeous looking baked goods in this book. HOWEVER... is it just me or are a lot of the cupcake/cake recipes basically their chocolate or vanilla cake batter with slightly different presentation or an extra ingredient/flavour thrown in? I hadn't noticed this in their two previous books, so I felt a bit disappointed, although I will undoubtedly bake more from this book.

One more gripe regarding Hummingbird Bakery recipes... is it just me or is 1 tablespoon of baking powder for a cupcake batter excessive? For a recipe containing 200g-ish of plain flour I would normally think 1 teaspoon or maybe 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder is sufficient. I have had mixed results with Hummingbird Bakery cupcake recipes (something to do with their baking powder ratio perhaps?) and these cupcakes certainly turned out interesting looking. I've never had a mixture turn out like this before. Have you?

In the interest of comparison I baked another batch using a standard victoria sponge mixture, adding in the same amount of orange zest and dried cranberries. I photographed the two batches side by side for your amusement.

After sampling both batches, dare I say, the pimple-tastic volcano cupcakes possibly win in flavour! They have a creamy flavour and soft, close texture whereas the victoria sponge cupcakes are much fluffier. It's a tough contest to call as both are very edible, but I really enjoyed the creamy sponge against the creamy, sweet icing.

 creamy volcano

fluffy cupcake

It was really lovely to bake with orange for a change. So often I bake with lemons, forgetting there are other citrus fruits. It's less in your face than lemon but still really fresh. I always find orange pairs very well with dried fruit, whether it's cranberries or sultanas.

And not enough words can express my love for white chocolate icing. It's just the most delightfully creamy, sweet thing to grace the planet. I must refrain from eating spoonfuls of it like a bowl of ice-cream.

Cranberry and orange cupcakes with white chocolate icing
Recipe from Hummingbird Bakery "Home Sweet Home" book

70g (2 1/2oz) unsalted butter, softened

210g (7 1/2oz) plain flour

250g (9oz) caster sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

210ml (7 1/2fl oz) whole milk (I used semi skimmed)

2 large eggs

60g (2oz) dried cranberries

1 tsp grated orange zest

white chocolate butter icing:
I would suggest halving this as it easily covered both cupcake batches. Unless you're happy to eat a bowlful of it like myself.

60g (2oz) white chocolate, chopped

500g (1lb 2oz) icing sugar

160g (5 1/2oz) unsalted butter, softened (I used half unsalted half salted)

50ml (1 3/4fl oz) milk (semi skimmed)

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3 and line a muffin tray with paper cases. To make the sponge batter mix together the butter, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until it resembles breadcrumbs. In a jug, whisk together the milk and eggs with a fork. Pour half the eggy milk mixture into the flour mixture and whisk on a slow speed until everything is combined. Turn up the mixer to a medium speed and beat until there are no more lumps. Once smooth, slowly pour in the rest of the eggy milk mixture and mix until the batter is fully combined. Fold in the orange zest and dried cranberries until even dispersed.

Spoon the batter into the cupcake cases filling them about 2/3 full. I think I got 15 or 16 cupcakes from this mixture. Bake for 20-25 minutes until well risen (hopefully not like oddly formed volcanoes) and springy to touch. Leave to cool in their trays for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

For the icing, start by melting the chocolate in a heatproof bowl in short bursts in the microwave (or in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, whichever technique you prefer.) Set aside to cool. Mix the icing sugar, butter and milk in a large bowl. Start off mixing by hand to minimise the dreaded icing sugar dust cloud, then continue whisking with the mixer for 5 minutes until the icing is light, smooth and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate and whisk until fully incorporated.  Spoon the icing into a piping bag fitted with a nozzle (Wilton 1M tip) and pipe swirls on Mr Whippy style, working from the outside edge swirling in.