Cup Cake part D'eux

Ok so as you guys may have guest I love cooking and makng food especially CUPCAKES! I got a lot of good feedback on the previous cupcakes I did you can have a look at them HERE!

My mum was reading one of her cook books and asked me if I wanted to try a different cupcake recipe that might be fun.

I thought it would be nice to try them since they contain a rather special ingerdient "Reese's Peanut butter cupcakes" soooo yuummm! they are so delicious you won't stop your self from eating them and if you take them to someones house as agift they'll love you for ever lol!

I followed Gizzy Erkins recipe I couldnt fine a direct link to her recipe but I found this webiste that has it down pretty well I have realised with Celeb cooks and chefs that they only publish selected recipes online so that you buy the book so if you really want to then go ahead but this recipe should be sufficient.

What you need:

INGREDIENTS
170g softened butter
170g golden caster sugar
3 large free-range eggs
170g self-raising flour
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
3-4 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
100g fudge, chopped into small cubes 6 Reese's peanut butter cups, chopped into small pieces
Reese's peanut butter cups or peanuts, to decorate
For the peanut butter frosting
200g peanut butter
170g icing sugar
150ml full fat cream cheese (Philadelphia is good)

What you need to do: 

Preheat the oven to 170 C/gas 3. Put 18 cupcake cases in the holes of 2 Yorkshire pudding or muffin tins.
Place the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric whisk for around 5 minutes, or until pale and creamy. Whisk in the eggs, one by one, until combined. 

You may find the mixture curdles a little when you pop in your last egg but it should come together again when you add the flour.
 
Sift over the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and stir in. Loosen the mixture with 3 tablespoons of milk and the vanilla extract. 

You want the batter to fall off the spoon easily; if you think it's too thick, stir in another tablespoon of milk. Stir in the chopped Reese's peanut butter cups.

Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. You can check this by sliding a skewer into a cake; if it comes out clean, it's done.
Leave the cakes to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer them carefully to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the peanut butter frosting, beat the peanut butter with the icing sugar and cream cheese for a few minutes, or until smooth and creamy. There are no real rules when icing a cupcake except that it has to be thick - really thick ' so whether you want to use a knife or piping bag, give them some shape or make them smooth, the choice is yours. Decorate with chopped Reese's peanut butter cups or peanuts

Makes 18
Preparation time 15 minutes
Cooking time 25 minutes 

Here's some pics for you guys to mouth water on!

One little thing to add is that I personally would have preferred to use a butter cream icing since the cream cheese felt a little weird to me but others loved it my brother and sister scoffed them all lol 

Happy Baking

All in a cupcake

Hey everyone!

Its been a while I know January tests have been happening and for the past 2 weeks the revision has been intense.

I had my first 2 assessments today and I am so drained I need a rest! so no studying today but since I'm so used to looking at the laptop or reading or writing I had to catch up on my blogging you could say its the only thing I know right now lol.

I didn't do my beauty resolutions or best of 2010 but I will soon once the pressure dies down a little and I get to complete a list of favorite products, but for now i will update on you on what I had been up to in the kitchen this past winter break.

About 3 weeks ago I was studying like crazy! and having been stuck in the house studying and finishing coursework I craved cupcakes and not just any cupcakes really good quality ones like the ones you see at Lola's bakery. But to be honest I wasn't prepared to go out and pay £2.75 per cupcake and knowing it wasn't going to be all homemade. 

So I researched online for recipes and different types I found the Red Velvet recipe and really wanted to give it ago, however things didn't go to plan and I ended up making Chocolate buttercream icing cupcakes and I am glad to say I'm happy I chose them!

I made around 2 dozen cupcakes and me, my mum and sister iced them hence the different designs I made the rose looking ones

I got the recipe from this website I still used the Red velvet cake mix recipe but didn't add the Red coloring, I liked the idea of using Buttermilk or yogurt in my case since we didn't have buttermilk but it basically makes the cake more moist and yummy!

To make these cupcakes  I followed a video and the recipe at the same time however due to lack of preparation and panicking I missed out a whole cup of flour resulting in this

Cup cake flop!

However they still came out good just a little rough around the edges everyone loved them just remember to prepare all the amounts you need in separate bowls and I really advise using an electric mixer like Kenwood or Kitchen Aid or even an eggbeater.

HERE is the video I watched and the recipe I followed to accompany the video

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

6 tablespoons red food coloring

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 cups buttermilk or yogurt

1 1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Please note that these measurements are in american terms so refer to this really helpful page by Delia smith that describes the difference

Preperation 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and lightly flour three 9- by 2-inch round cake pans, then line the bottoms with waxed paper.

To make the cake: In a small bowl, sift the cake flour and set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a small bowl, whisk together the red food coloring, cocoa, and vanilla. Add to the batter and beat well.

In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in three parts alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overbeat. In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.

Divide the batter among the prepared pans. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the layers cool in the pans for 1 hour. Remove from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack.

Chocolate Butter cream Icing:

To make the Icing I litrally put the above title into google and serched around for a good recipe but I ended up finding my old cupcake book by Primrose bakery and its so simple I love their recipes!

Here is their recipe for Vanilla buttercream Icing, for chocolate I added a bar of cooking milk chocolate and dark chocolate. This is enough to ice around 20 cupcakes.

110g (4oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature

60ml (2fl oz) semi-skimmed milk, at room temperature

1tsp good-quality vanilla extract 

500g (18fl oz) icing sugar, sifted 

Here are a few pics of how they came out!

Has anyone made cupcakes before ? Let me know!

If you guys like me to include food posts let me know too in the comments! xxx