Ironcupcake London - Fruit

Last night was the 11th ironcupcake london event and as usual there was a fabulous turn out and more than 30 great entries to taste. Here is a sample of the line up.....

and these are the ones I shared with my friends - yum!!!! So hard to pick a favourite.....

The theme this month was fruit so I decided to try something new and came up with blueberry and earl grey cupcakes, topped with earl grey buttercream and a handmade vintage rose decoration. Nice and dainty......

Here's the recipe if you want to make them.....

Earl grey and blueberry cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes (makes 12)

• 125ml semi-skimmed milk
• 4 Earl Grey tea bags (I used twinnings)
• 110g unsalted butter (softened)
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 2 medium eggs
• 125g self-raising flour (sifted)
• 125g plain flour (sifted)
• 1 cup of blueberries (washed)

Buttercream

• 250g unsalted butter (softened)
• 400g icing sugar (sifted)
• 2 tbsp semi-skimmed milk
• 2 tsp of earl grey tea leaves

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Heat milk in a saucepan to the boil, then remove from heat and add teabags. Infuse for 20 mins or until cooled. In the meantime, beat sugar and butter with electric beater for 5 minutes until light and fluffy (butter will change to a lighter colour). Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add flours and the tea-infused milk in two batches, mixing well each time. Lastly stir through blueberries (I like to keep them whole, but you can chop them up also). Spoon mixture into lined muffin trays (about two-thirds full), then bake for 15-20 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the centre of one of the cupcakes to see if they are done. If it comes out clean, it’s done! Remove cupcakes from oven, and let them cool for 10 minutes in the muffin tray before transferring them to a wire rack. Once they are completely cooled, decorate with a buttercream swirl.

To make the buttercream beat the butter and icing sugar on a slow speed for 5 minutes. Add milk to make icing a slightly softer consistency if desired. Sitr through tea leaves then put in piping bag, fitted with a star-shaped nozzle to pipe swirl on the cooled cupcakes.

To decorate the cupcakes, I used pale pink flowerpaste in a rose mould (Karen Davies) to make vintage rose toppers. Here's the mould......

I then used lustre dusts to colour the rose and the leaves. So pretty......

Next month is the 1 year birthday of ironcupcake london. Stay tuned for an update on my entry!

Happy baking xx

Ironcupcake London - December Entry

Tonight was the last round of Ironcupcake London for the year. The theme for this month was 'Christmas' and there were 46 amazing entries - the largest number of entries to date. Everyone went to so much effort - the flavours and decorations were all superb. Here are some photos I took of the night:







So many cupcakes to try!!!

My entry was Spiced Eggnog Cupcakes with Bourbon Buttercream

Here's how to make them:

Ingredients

Eggnog

• 2 large eggs (separated)
• 75g caster sugar
• 100ml bourbon
• 200ml full cream milk
• 150ml whipping cream
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg

Cupcakes

• 1 1/2 cups caster sugar
• 115g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 3/4 cup eggnog
• 1/4 cup bourbon
• 2 1/4 cups plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp all spice
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Bourbon Buttercream

• 2 tbs brown sugar
• 2 tbs whipping cream
• 1 tbs unsalted butter
• pinch salt
• 3 tbs bourbon
• 250g unsalted butter (softened)
• 500g icing sugar

Method

Start by making the eggnog. Whisk egg yolks and caster sugar with an electric beater until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Whisk in boubon gradually and then add the milk. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, then fold it into the egg yolk mixture. In a separate bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks form then fold it into the mixture. Stir the nutmeg through the mixture then leave in the fridge until needed.

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 175C. Beat caster sugar and butter together until light and fluffy using an electic mixer. Then beat in the eggs until well combined. In a separate bowl, mix eggnog, boubon and vanilla together. In another bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, all spice and nutmeg. Alternate adding dry ingredients and wet ingredients into the egg mixture until the all combined. Spoon mixture into lined cupcake tins (only fill about 1/2 of the cup) and bake for 20-25 mins. Once cooked, leave the cupcakes to cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the bourbon buttercream, whisk brown sugar, cream, 1 tbs unsalted butter and salt in a saucepan over a medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Pour in bourbon and stir to combine, then remove sauce from heat and allow to cool. Using an electric mixer beat 250g unsalted butter until soft and fluffy then gradually add icing sugar, ensuring it is mixed in well after each addition. Stir through bourbon caramel sauce.

Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost them with the buttercream and decorate as desired. I used edible silver balls and sugarpaste snowflakes I made in advance.

Enjoy xx

Iron Cupcake - November Entry

Last night was the november round for Ironcupcake London. The theme for this month was 'spice', and there were 33 fantastic entries - the largest number of entries so far! Here a a few pics from the night....so many delicious cupcakes.....

I used 7 spices to create Chai Latte and Honey Cupcakes

These cupcakes are super easy to make, and are really delicious. Here's how to make them:

Ingredients

Cupcakes
1 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons honey
2 black tea bags
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
1/4 teaspoon ground star of anise
2 1/4 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
225g unsalted butter, softened
1-1/2 cups caster sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla essence

Spiced Frosting
250g unsalted butter (softened)
4 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Method
Pre-heat oven to 175°C. Combine boiling water, honey and tea bags in a bowl and let it stand for approximately 10 minutes. Remove bags and squeeze out liquid. Place spices, flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and mix well before setting it aside. Next, cream the softened butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla essence. Beat until light and fluffy. Alternate adding the flour mixture and 3/4 cup of tea blend; beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix after each addition until just combined. Mix cake batter until smooth after final addition of flour. Divide batter into 12 lined cup cake tins. Bake for approximately 25 minutes before allowing the cupcakes to cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the frosting beat butter and icing sugar with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Stir in remaining ingredients and mix until smooth. Pipe generous swirls of frosting on the cooled cupcakes and decorate as desired. I added a piece of chocolate coated honeycomb.

Happy baking!

Iron Cupcake Earth

The first challenge of the year for Iron Cupcake Earth is music. I had a lot of fun trying to come up with song titles that I could bake as a cupcake....not an easy task.......but luckily I had some great suggestions from friends to help me! In the end I decided to make 'Raspberry Beret' cupcakes....rasberry and white chocolate cheese cake topped with white chocolate cream cheese frosting and a rasberry sugarpaste beret.



Voting will be held from 30th October - noon on the 5th November at http://www.ironcupcakemilwaukee.com/. Be sure to stop by at the website and check out all of the great entries and vote for your favourites!

We're all competing to win some fantastic prizes, including:
The Demy™ by Key Ingredient
Hello, Cupcake by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson
Bella Cupcake Couture
Cupcake Stackers by Gourmac
The Cake Mix Doctor Returns! by Anne Byrne

If you want to recreate these cupcakes, here's the recipe:

Cupcakes

• 1 1/2 cups of white sugar
• 750g light cream cheese
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 4 medium eggs
• 500g raspberries (thawed if using frozen berries)
• 120g organic white chocolate (chopped into small pieces)

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 250g light cream cheese
• 80g organic white chocolate
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 100g sifted icing sugar
• 70g unsalted butter (softened)

Preheat the oven to 175C. Blend sugar, cream cheese and vanilla essence in a bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, ensuring that you mix them in well after each addition. Fill ~18 holes in a lined cupcake tray about 3/4 full with the cake mixture. Divide the chopped white chocolate pieces and the rasberries evenly between the 18 cupcakes and gently push them into the mixture. Bake cupcakes for about 25 minutes, then turn the heat up to 230C and bake for a final 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from the oven and let them cool for a while before putting them in the fridge and letting them set for at least an hour.

In the meantime, prepare the cream cheese frosting by mixing butter, vanilla essence and cream cheese with an electric beater until smooth. Gradually add icing sugar, mixing well. Stir in melted white chocolate, then refrigerate frosting until it is needed.

Once the cupcakes are cool, pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. Store them in an airtight container in the fridge. These cupcakes are so delicious and are also gluten free.

Happy baking x

Ironcupcake UK - October Challenge

On Monday I entered the 5th round of Ironcupcake UK. This month, the theme was "alcohol" and there were 19 entries from 14 bakers. There were so many great cupcakes this month, it was really tough choosing a favourite! I made a batch of mojito cupcakes, and ended up coming 2nd which was such a thrill. Here's my recipe for anyone who wants to try it out for themselves:

Mojito Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes (makes ~20 cupcakes)

• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tbsp. dark rum
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 cups plain flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 225g unsalted butter (room temp)
• 2 cups caster sugar
• 4 medium eggs

Rum Syrup

• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 55g unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup dark rum
• Zest and juice from 1/2 a lime
• 1/2 cup fresh mint

Lime and Rum Buttercream

• Zest from 3 limes
• Juice from 1 lime
• 250g unsalted butter (softened)
• 600g sifted icing sugar
• 1/4 cup dark rum

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 175C. Combine butter and caster sugar in a bowl and mix on a medium-high setting with electric beaters until light and fluffy (about 5 mins). Reduce the mixer speed and add the eggs, one at a time, remembering to scrape the sides of the bowl after each addition.

In a separate bowl, sift in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside. Combine buttermilk, rum and vanilla extract in another bowl and also set aside.

Using the mixer on a low speed, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and mix well. Next add half of the buttermilk mixture and mix well (about 2 mins). Add another third of the dry ingredients (on low speed) and mix well before adding the remainder of the buttermilk mixture and mixing. Add the remainder of the dry ingredients (on low speed) and mix for a few minutes, until the batter is smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that all of the flour has been mixed in well.

Fill a 12-hole muffin/cupcake pan, lined with paper cases, with the batter and bake for approximately 20 mins. Before removing the cupcakes from the oven, test that they are cooked all the way through by inserting a skewer into the centre of the cupcakes. If it comes out clean, they’re done. If not, bake for another 5 mins. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes before poking holes in them with a skewer or toothpick. Immediately spoon the rum syrup over the warm cupcakes and let them soak it all up. Once they’ve cooled completely, you can ice them with the lime and rum buttercream.

To make the rum syrup, put butter, caster sugar and water in a saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring often. Once the butter has completely melted and the sugar has dissolved, remove from the heat. Carefully add the rum. The mixture will bubble so take care not to burn yourself. Once you’ve mixed in all the rum, add the lime zest and mint and let the syrup infuse for 5 minutes before spooning over the cupcakes.

For the lime and rum buttercream, beat sugar on high speed for about 5 mins until light and fluffy before gradually adding sifted icing sugar (about 200g at a time) on a low speed. Once all the icing sugar is incorporated into the mixture, increase the mixer speed to high again and mix for another 2-3mins. The buttercream should be light and fluffy. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the rum and the lime zest and mix on a medium speed until well incorporated. If you wish to colour your buttercream, you can also add a few drops of green food colouring to make it a lime colour. Add buttercream onto cupcakes once they are completely cool and the rum syrup has been soaked in. You can spread the buttercream on with a knife, or you can use a piping bag to pipe a swirly design.

For my cupcakes, I made lime pieces from green sugar paste to add as decoration. Here's the final result:

More pictures from the competition are on the ironcupcake website.

Next month, the theme is 'spice'. If anyone has any suggestions on spices I should try, I'd be happy to hear from you :)

Happy Baking!