strawberry cheesecake cupcakes

classic vanilla

lemon meringue cupcakes

I love these lemon meringue cupcakes with lemon curd in the centre! I used the Hummingbird Bakery Recipe which explains it well although its quite vague around the meringue part. Its important you have a digital sugar thermometer so you can ensure the sugar doesn't get too hot, and make sure you don't over whisk the egg whites, I'm still perfecting this technique! 

the day of the daffodils

It seemed like a good idea at the time…300 cupcakes for a charity fundraiser at work! I don’t think I appreciated how many cupcakes that was! So they weren’t all the same, I made 180 plain vanilla cupcakes, and 120 lemon cupcakes filled with lemon curd, and topped with lemon icing. As daunting as this task was, it really was a lot of fun! The decorating took the most time, icing each cake, cutting out the individual flowers, painting the sunflowers, and making the daffodils, and of course adding the glitter! Luckily I had friends who came round to help out, although maybe it was to be quality control!

And all this goes into making 300 cupcakes!

the kitchenaid wins

Cooking hasn't been the same since I brought my new cream Kitchen aid! Whether you're making cupcakes, pastry, meringues or bread, it makes baking a lot easier...and a lot more fun! I thought for a long time whether to get this or a Kenwood, but they have the same specifications and are both SO heavy so it the end it came down to which one was going look better out on the worktop- and of course the Kitchen aid won!

easter carrot cupcakes

I had a lot of fun making these! I used an excellent carrot cake recipe which is below. This recipe either makes a 3 tiered cake (using 20cm tins) or 24 cupcakes. I piped the green cream cheese frosting over the cooled cupcakes using the ‘grass/hair’ #233 attachment I got from Amazon. The little bunnies are made using royal icing dyed different colours and then moulded to the different shapes and stuck together with edible glue. These were so popular at work when I sold them for my weekly charity bake sale, I will definitely be doing them again!

Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

300g Soft Light Brown Sugar

3 Eggs

300ml Sunflower Oil

300g Plain Flour

1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Ground Cinnamon, plus extra to decorate

½ tsp Ground Ginger

½ tsp Salt

¼ tsp Vanilla Extract

300g Carrots, grated

100g Shelled Walnuts/ Pecans, chopped, plus extra, chopped and whole, to decorate

Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F) Gas 3. Put the sugar, eggs and oil in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) and beat until all the ingredients are well incorporated. Slowly add the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt and vanilla extract and continue to beat until well mixed. Stir in the grated carrots and walnuts with a spoon, then pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin. Bake in the preheated oven for 20–25 minutes, or until golden brown and the sponge bounces back when touched. Leave the cakes to cool slightly in the tins before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely. When the cake is cold, spread over the cream cheese icing. Finish with chopped walnuts and a light sprinkling of cinnamon.

Cream cheese frosting

300g icing sugar, sifted

50g unsalted butter, at room temperature

125g cream cheese, cold

Beat the icing sugar and butter together in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) on medium-slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed. Add the cream cheese in one go and beat until it is completely incorporated. Turn the mixer up to medium-high speed. Continue beating until the frosting is light and fluffy- for at least 5 minutes. Do not overbeat, as it can quickly become runny.

hello!

 

Hello and welcome! My name is Vicky and I live in Clapham. I love to bake and spend most of my spare time in the kitchen.  I would love to share with you some of my favourite things aswell as some baking and decorating tips along the way.

For now i will just talk to myself and see how it goes...