Showing posts with label cupcakes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cupcakes. Show all posts

Sunday, February 2, 2014

a few good things

1. flowering crepe myrtle in the early light.
2. baking choc chip cupcakes.
3. sweet little ceramic bowls my brother gave me for christmas (plus a family portrait).
4. fresh peaches - one of my favourite things about summer.
5. tea & toast + home-made apricot jam.
6. Mum planted this rose in memory of my grandfather (her Dad).
7. the awesome new name-tags we made ourselves.

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Happy Birthday Amy!


Today is my lovely, smart, funny, organised, determined, talented, kind, brave, sister Amy's birthday - she's pretty special & I love her to bits :)

Happy Birthday gorgeous!


Her celebration is happening on Saturday, but we wanted her to have a treat on her actual birthday too, so Mum baked some funfetti cupcakes for her as a surprise.

Sunday, September 29, 2013

sweet spice...


I've been wanting to try baking these muffins for ages - something about the combination of tea & poppy seeds just really appealed. I much prefer chai tea to earl grey though, so I simply substituted chai teabags when infusing the milk - plus a dash of vanilla in with my wet ingredients - and went with apricot jam for the glaze.

A double batch (with an extra egg) yielded 3 dozen nicely sized muffins - although they seem more like cupcakes to me... but then again, I really couldn't describe what the difference is. Not that it matters, as they are soft & delicious, with a beautiful hint of tea & spice.


Just in case I haven't tempted you enough, a few other recipes I've had success with recently(ish) - Spelt Apple Teacake (& Amy also made this Spelt Carrot Cake not that long ago), Magic Custard Cake, & the chocolate version too. Plus, I had this awesome chocolate cake for my birthday :)

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Milk & Choc Chip Cupcakes


When I saw these gorgeous cupcake over on Raspberri Cupcakes, I knew they had to go on my 'to-bake' list (which is alarmingly long, darn you pinterest). As we've never quite gotten the cookie-dough obsession in this house, I felt quite safe leaving that part of the recipe out. And sadly, my cupcakes are much less fancy than the ones Steph made.


I did make the condensed milk icing & even had a go at piping it on. Although the icing did taste awesome, the general consensus was that it was a bit much in piped quantities, so I only did one each like that - the rest I spread a smaller amount on.

Even without the icing the cupcakes were delicious - next time I'll probably just make them & not do the icing at all. I doubled the cupcake recipe (adding an extra egg), which made 30 cupcakes. I only did a single batch of icing, which made a nice amount per cupcake - even with the piped ones.


choc chip cupcakes with milk icing
(makes 12-15 cupcakes)
 
For the cupcakes:
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
155g sugar
2 eggs
225g self-raising flour + 1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Optional: 1/2-2/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (or finely chopped chocolate)

For the icing:
350g unsalted butter, chopped into cubes
400g icing/confectioner's sugar, sifted
1/2 can (200g/7 oz) sweetened condensed milk


Make the chocolate chip cupcakes; Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
Cream butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer at high speed. Beat in eggs one at a time and then fold milk, flour, salt into the mixture until smooth.
Stir chocolate chips into the mixture and then spoon into a 12-hole cupcake tray lined with papers.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until cupcakes are golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool in tin for 5 minutes and then cool completely on a wire rack.

Prepare the icing; remove the butter from the fridge about 30 mins before starting.
Place butter in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high until smooth and fluffy, then reduce speed and gradually add icing sugar. Beat again on high until well combined. Add condensed milk and beat on high until fluffy.
Place in a piping bag fitted with a 1cm round tip and pipe swirls on top of cupcakes. Or spread generously with a knife. Can be served immediately or stored in the fridge in an airtight container for several days. Remove from the fridge 30 mins before serving.


Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Really Lemony Blueberry Yoghurt Cupcakes


The other night one of my Flickr contacts uploaded a shot of some cupcakes she had baked, with a link to the recipe. Once my sisters saw the photos, the demanded that I try baking them.



So, this morning I did :) They are really, really delicious & really easy to make. The batch I made is all gone already...one brother claimed that they are his new favourite way to eat yoghurt & I'm facing demands to bake a double batch as soon as possible.



Here is a link to the recipe.....butter sugar flour....some of the other recipes look really good to, I'm sure I'll be trying some of them sooner or later :)