Biscoff and Kahlua Crunch Cupcakes

I have just come off four days on the Dr. Oz 3 Day Juice Cleanse. Yup. I realise it is a three day cleanse, and I did four days but y'know, in the words of the great Justin Timberlake "#that's how we do"!

What can I say? I'm just one of those people who always goes the extra mile. Or maybe I'm one of those people who eats so much sugar that they need at least one extra day more than normal people to cleanse their bodies of all the stuff. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusion. If you jump to the latter (unfairly and unfounded), then we're over. O-V-E-R!

Anyway, I didn't mention my cleanse just to show off (well, I did a little).
I mentioned it so as to use it as an excuse.
I would have posted this two days ago but I couldn't really write about cupcakes when I hadn't eaten solid food for 2 days. Nobody has that kind of strength! (Except maybe everybody else in the whole world).

I realise I might be hitting you with some unfamiliar ingredients with these cupcakes - roll with it, new is good. Luckily, I have put together a handy glossary to help you along on very delicious road less travelled. You're welcome :)

Biscoff: Recognise these amazing biscuits?

Well these biscuits are to Biscoff spread what peanuts are to peanut butter. They make up 65% of it. It's basically these cookies in spread form! Incredible for eating out of the jar with a (large) spoon and baking! To be honest, I can't really think what else you'd do with them - the thought of spreading it on toast as suggested really doesn't appeal.

Kahlua: A coffee liqueur. True story, I discovered this while I was doing an exchange programme in Victoria, Canada. If memory serves me right, my Japanese friend Rieko introduced me to it. Mixed with milk, this tastes amazing! And you can drink lots of it! And we did. Though I don't know if it has that much alcohol in it so go ahead and start having it with your milk in the morning. I did and I turned out fine! (ish)

The combination of these two and the Daim bars make for an amazing cupcake! I think I went wrong with my cupcake somewhere as it fell but honestly, it made for a wonderfully moist, dense, slightly sticky chocolate cupcake. As I've said before, I'm not a big fan of chocolate cake but this was really good! It was my favourite part of this cupcake!

Everyone else's favourite part though was the frosting. It is a Swiss meringue buttercream which has the advantage of being really creamy and not too sweet. I have to say it's not my favourite frosting (but I am someone who can list her top 5 frostings, spelt backwards, with the ingredients listed alphabetically) but objectively, it is a brilliant frosting.

These cupcakes have been on my "to bake list" for ages and I'm so glad I finally got round to making them!

Recipe from the amazing Bakers Royale

Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcake
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
113g unsalted butter, melted and warm
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons instant coffee
1/2 cup Kahlua

Biscoff Frosting

5 large egg whites

1 1/2 cup sugar

454g unsalted butter, diced and softened

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/4 cup of Biscoff spread

Chocolate Pouring Sauce

2/3 cups dark chocolate

2 tablespoons double cream

4 tablespoons icing sugar, sifted

4-5 tablespoons, warm

Decoration
2 Daim chocolate bars

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven to 180C / Gas Mark 4 / 350F. Line 12 cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. To make cupcake: Add flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and mix thoroughly to combine. 
3. Add in the butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat on medium speed for one minute.
4. Add half of the Kahlua into the mixture and beat for 20 seconds. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add remaining Kahlua. Beat for 20 - 30 seconds until the batter is smooth. The batter will be thin enough to pour.
5. Divide batter evenly among the lined cups. Bake 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a few of the cupcakes comes out clean. Set the pan on a rack to cool. Frost the cupcakes when they are completely cool.
6. To make chocolate pouring sauce: Place chocolate and double cream in a bowl over simmering water. Let chocolate and cream sit for 2-3 minutes to melt without stirring. Then slowly stir mixture to combine.
7. Add the icing sugar and mix to combine. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing after each addition until pouring consistency is reached. Remove 5 tablespoons and place reserve in a separate bowl. Set aside all chocolate pouring sauce to cool until warm.
8. To make frosting: Combine egg whites and sugar in a bowl placed over simmering water. Bring mixture to 160F/ 71C while whisking constantly. If you don't have a candy thermometer (I don't), whisk for 7 minutes over simmering water.
9. Transfer mixture to stand mixer bowl (or the bowl for your hand mixer), fitted with a whisk attachment and beat on medium high speed (speed 8 on a KitchenAid stand mixer) until mixture cools and doubles in volume and forms stiff peaks; about 10 - 12 minutes.
10. Add butter in a piece at a time, mixing to incorporate after each addition. The mixture may appear clumpy and almost curdled looking - this is normal. Keep mixing and it will become even and smooth again. Add salt and vanilla and mix to combine. 
11. Add in Biscoff and mix until well combined. Add reserved chocolate pouring sauce into frosting. Using a spatula, gently fold it into the frosting, DO NOT over mix so that chocolate streaks remain.
12. Assembly: Cut Daim bars into shard shapes (or try to - I struggled and got block like shapes instead ;p); set aside. Finely chop any leftover crumbs.
13. Fill pastry bag with round tip. Hold pastry bag at 90 degrees above the cupcake and starting from the perimeter, pipe inward and upward.
14. Using a spoon drizzle chocolate on top of frosting. (If it is too thick to drizzle, thin slightly with an addition tablespoon of warm water, or two). Sprinkle Daim crumbs on chocolate. Insert Daim shards into top of frosting.

Coca-Cola Cupcakes with Salted Peanut Butter Frosting

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

Yes, I know nothing says Christmas less than chocolate and peanut butter, but in my defence, these were meant to go up weeks ago! Umm, yeah, I realise that's not a great defence but also ..., also..., nothing says Christmas like forgiveness and a bit of tolerance, so if you all would just exercise your Christmas spirit and pretend these are Christmassy cupcakes then we all win :)

Whatever you're doing this festive season, however you celebrate, or not, I hope you're surrounded by people you love and you have a wonderful wonderful wonderful few days. Rest like I've been doing a lot of since yesterday at my parents house. Oh. And bake. Because also, nothing says Christmas like the smell of home baking wafting through a house :)

See you in the new year!

Slightly adapted from Sprinkles Bakes

Yield: 12 - 14 cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes
1 cup Coca-Cola (Not diet!)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
57g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup plain flour
1/2 tsp plus1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg

Frosting
3 cups icing sugar
227g butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 tsp salt
3-4 tbsp double cream
Sea salt for sprinkling
Ground salted peanuts

1. Cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 180C / Gas mark 4 / 350F. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake wrappers.
2. In a small saucepan, heat the Coca-Cola, cocoa powder and butter over a medium heat until butter is melted. Add sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool.
3. In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together.
4. In a small bowl, whisk egg until just beaten, then whisk it into the cooled cocoa mixture until combined. Gently stir flour mixture into cocoa mixture.
5. Use a 1/4 cup measure to pour batter into the cupcake wrappers. Bake cupcakes for 25 minutes or until cake springs back when pressed in the middle.
6. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
7. Frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or with the whisk beaters on a hand mixer), combine icing sugar, butter, peanut butter and salt. Mix on low speed until just combined, then switch to high speed.
8. Add double cream one tablespoon at a time and beat until mixture is lightened and smooth. Transfer to a piping bag or a sandwich bag with the corner snipped. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.
9. Garnish with ground peanuts and a sprinkling of sea salt.

Champagne and Raspberry Jubilee Cupcakes

I rarely have the time or the organisational skills required to bake and do posts for holidays and occasions e.g. Halloween, Valentines day, Thanksgiving ... you get the gist. I'm also not that into the royal family - though I do love the extra day of holiday they've given us two years in a row; thanks Queenie! - so it is against all the odds that I actually baked something in honour of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee! Okay, so it's a couple of days late, but who's counting? Plus, this was actually ready yesterday but it was a sad day so posting a celebration recipe wasn't something I really felt like doing.

I dedicate this post to Onada; whose favourite books are 'The Other Boleyn Girl' and a book on Marie Antoinette, is mildly interested obsessed with the royal family, owns a Kate and Will wedding souvenir mug, and never tires of telling me that if she were queen, she'd send me to the tower as my indifference to the royals constitutes treason. Thank goodness she's not queen!

Since I had an open bottle of champagne and have been wanting to try this recipe from Cuckoo's Bakery in Edinburgh via Stylist Magazine, it was the perfect occasion. I'm as indifferent towards champagne as I am the royal family - I'll drink it but I'd never ask for it - but these cupcakes make champagne taste good! You can't taste the champagne in the soft, delicate cake once they've been baked but the flavour is clear in the filling and the frosting. Clear, but not overwhelming and it helps to temper down the sweetness of those two elements of the cupcake. It is an amazing cupcake! Maybe my favourite cupcake I've ever made!

As you can see, I tried to do the red, white and blue of the British flag but without much success. My cakes turned out pink rather than red and my blue is sky blue rather than navy. Ah well, who cares with cupcakes so good!

 Ingredients

160g unsalted butter
160g caster sugar
170g plain flour
2 1/2 tsps baking powder
3 large eggs, room temperature
3 tbsps champagne

125g unsalted butter at room temperature
275g icing sugar, sifted
4 tbsps champagne

8 tbsps raspberry jam
4 tbsps champagne

1. For the cake: Preheat oven to 180C / Gas Mark 4 / 350F. Line a cupcake tin with 12 cupcake cases
2. Cream the butter and sugar for two minutes using an electric mixer
3. Crack the eggs into a jug and lightly beat them, add the champagne to them
4. Combine the flour and baking powder in a bowl and add to creamed butter and sugar mixture
5. Add the egg and champagne to the bowl
6. Mix them at a medium speed for two minutes, scraping down the bowl as necessary
7. Divide the batter among liners and bake for 18 minutes. Insert toothpick to test. They are ready if the toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and leave to cool on a rack
8. For the buttercream: Place the butter into a mixing bowl and mix with an electric hand mixer until soft and whippy, about 2 minutes
9. Sift the icing sugar into the bowl and slowly blend with the mixer. Increase the speed of the mixer slightly and beat together for 4 to 5 minutes, scraping down the side of the bowl as necessary
10. Add the champagne and mix everything together for a further one minute at a slow speed
11. Filling: Mix the raspberry jam and champagne together in a bowl
12. Using an apple corer (or just a regular knife as I did), core out the centre of each cooled cake
13. Using a teaspoon, fill the cored out cake with the champagne jam mixture and replace the cored out sponge back into the cake (You'll probably have to cut off most of the sponge from the middle and only put the cored out top back onto the cupcake)
14. To decorate: Frost each of the cakes with a palette knife or piping bag and nozzle. Decorate with your favourite sprinkles, a cocktail firework or a fresh raspberry.

Red Velvet Cupcakes (Take II) with Chocolate Philadelphia Cream Cheese Frosting

These days, I feel like I'm always apologising for being tardy at updating my blog. And while that is definitely the case now, instead of apologising yet again, I'll try and distract you with what I've been up to since the last time you heard from me ... deal?

I turned 30! I know, I know, you're thinking I don't look a day over 21 right? Ah, I blush, you're far too kind :)
I mentioned in this post that I had been tricked into registering for the London  2012Marathon. Well, when I returned from holiday (a time when I did no exercise except eat abundantly... Oi! What do you mean eating isn't exercise? Ever heard of competitive eating? See? It is a sport!) I went straight into week 4 of my training schedule and two runs in, I developed Tendonitis in my Achilles. Painful! And worse, it meant I couldn't run for almost 6 weeks. I started training again two weeks ago - leaving me with only 8 weeks to train for my first every marathon - but hey, what can I say? I like a challenge!

By the way, if anyone would like to sponsor us, we'd really appreciate it! We're raising money for the Salvation Army - which is a great charity - and specifically their work with young people. You can read more about it and sponsor us here.

While I've previously posted a recipe for red velvet cupcakes, I much prefer the Martha Stewart recipe below. Using oil instead of butter makes for a far moister cake (is 'moister' even a word? Should it be 'more moist'? Ah well, I say it is a word and my blog, my rules!).
For the frosting, in place of regular boring ol' Philadelphia cheese, I used the amazing new Chocolate Philadelphia Cheese which I was sent a sample of.

Of course, before I used it in frosting, I tried a bit (a teaspoon or two full to be exact) and I really like it! I don't think it bears any similarity to regular Philly at all! It's lighter and tastes almost more like a mousse than something which you'd spread on bread.
When I spent a semester in Canada on an exchange program, I was introduced to Strawberry Philadelphia Cheese which was heaven on a bagel! So Kraft UK, if you're taking this whole expanding the sweet Philadelphia range thing seriously then please please do me a solid and at least consider a strawberry version. Thanks :)

Cupcake recipe from Martha Stewart

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups plain flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (I sift mine as I always find it leaves little lumps in the mixture otherwise)
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon red gel-paste food colour
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

1.  Preheat oven to 180C / Gas Mark 4 / 350F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. 
2. Whisk together flour, cocoa and salt
3. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whisk together sugar and oil until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
4. Mix in food colour and vanilla
5. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and whisking well after each. 
6. Stir together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl (it will foam); add mixture to the batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds.
7. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each halfway to three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centres comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.
8. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

Cream cheese frosting recipe adapted from this Hummingbird Bakery recipe

Ingredients
250g icing sugar, sifted
50g unsalted butter, at room temperature
200g Chocolate Philadelphia

1. Beat the icing sugar and butter together in a free standing mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) on medium-slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed.
2. Add the Chocolate Philly cheese in one go and beat until it is completely incorporated. Turn the mixer up to medium-high speed  and continue to beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, no more than 5 minutes as cream cheese frosting can become runny if beaten for too long.
3. Frost cupcakes. I often make my cream cheese frosting a day before and leave it in the fridge overnight so that it is harder and pipes better.

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting

The two things I love trying new recipes for are cupcakes and layer cakes. Because there are so many out there! Chocolate and bacon is pretty popular amongst American bloggers these days and I recently saw a recipe for a cupcake topped with fried chicken. I kid you not! While I'm not going that experimental just yet - 'just yet' being the operative phrase seeing as there is a Nigella bacon and chocolate brownie recipe sitting in my pile just waiting to be tested - I thought I'd make something a bit different for my next cupcake.

For those of us that aren't American and have no idea what a Snickerdoodle is - nope, it's nothing to do with drawing or Snickers bars - I found this definition online to help us along: "Snickerdoodles are an old fashioned cookie that have a sugar cinnamon coating and a sweet and buttery flavour"!

See how helpful that was? Whatever did we do before the Internet?!

These are a light, cinnamon flavoured cupcake topped with marshmallow frosting so the entire thing is lighter, less sweet and less cloying than your average cupcake. They're also a nice, easy cupcake to make, which I have to be honest, was the deciding vote when I was considering which new recipe to try. Some of the recipes out there look I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E but boy oh boy, they've got an ingredient list longer than ... well, something really long!

This recipe is adapted very slightly from my amazing Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book and the marshmallow frosting is from Marthastewart.com . Photos are courtesy of the amazing Onada.

Makes: 28

Ingredients

Cake
3 cups plain flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, plus 1/2 teaspoon for dusting
227g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for dusting
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups milk

Frosting
8 large egg whites
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Cake
1 - Preheat oven to 180C / Gas Mark 4 / 350F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Combine together both flours, baking powder, salt and 1 tablespoon cinnamon.
2 - With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk, and beating until combined after each.
3 - Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester/toothpick inserted in centres comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored up to 2 days at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.
Frosting
4 - Place egg whites, sugar and cream of tarter in the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer. Set over a saucepan with simmering water. Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and whites are warm to the touch, 3 - 4 minutes.
5 - Transfer bowl to electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat, starting on low speed, gradually increasing to high, until stiff, glossy peaks
6 - To finish, combine remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 2 tablespoons sugar. Using a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip, pipe frosting on each cupcake. Hold bag over cupcake with tip just above top, and squeeze to create a dome of frosting, then release pressure and pull up to form a peak. Using a small, fine sieve, dust peaks with cinnamon sugar

DAMN! Don't my cupcakes look good?!

Wow! I know I'm supposed to be modest and all that but wow! My cupcakes look gooooooood! And that's all thanks to my wonderful photographer friend Bola who I put to work on her short trip to London a month ago! Who would've have known all those years ago when we met in school that she'd come in handy one day? ;p

If she makes my cupcakes look this good, you can only imagine what she does with people! Actually, you don't have to imagine, go check out her work here NOW!

I'm afraid this is it from me till January. Have a WONDERFUL Christmas all and an incredible New Year! And not just the 31st of this year but an incredible whole of next year!

Thank you so much for reading my blog and commenting and I'll be posting lots of new and interesting stuff in the new year!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Fudge Frosting

You all know my favourite chocolate cake recipe is Guinness Chocolate Cake. And that is the recipe I use for most of my cupcakes and cakes. However, when I was asked to make some small cupcakes for a friend's nephew to take to school on his 6th birthday, I deduced all on my lonesome that the parents might not be too pleased with their 6 year old eating Guinness cake. Despite the fact that all the Guinness evaporates in the bakingand that it doesn't taste of Guinness *spoilsports*.

So I decided to make these cupcakes from 'The Crabapple Bakery Cupcake Cookbook'. I've made them before and my chocoholic housemate thinks they're the best chocolate cake he's ever tried! Since that accolade very clearly belongs to Guinness cake, we can dismiss his opinion as crazy but it is still pretty good compliment right?

It was fun making these cupcakes as they were so small and cute and I had a ball decorating them! I made 30 and apparently the kids at his school were so enthused that kids from other classes came in to have cake too. The amazing little birthday boy kept one cake for himself but ended up giving it to another kid who didn't get one. So he didn't get to have any of his own birthday cupcakes. I think there is a lesson in there for us all right? DO NOT SHARE CAKE! No. Not really. Caring. Sharing. More along those lines.

However, he did threaten to fight his aunt if she didn't get him more cupcakes which is how I ended up making a few more of these yesterday :)

Makes 24 normal sized cupcakes


Ingredients

For the cakes
3 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons instant coffee granules
1 cup hot water
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup cold water
200g softened unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups caster sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For the chocolate fudge frosting 
6 cups icing sugar (I reduced this from the original amount of 8 cups)
1 cup cocoa powder
200g softened butter
3/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 - Preheat oven to 170C / 325F / Gas Mark 3. Line two 12-hole muffin trays with chocolate-coloured cupcake papers.

2 - Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl whisk together the coffee, hot water and cocoa until you have a smooth paste. Add the cold water and whisk until evenly combined.
3 - In a separate bowl, cream the butter for 1-2 minutes. Add the caster sugar a third at a time, beating for 2 minutes after each addition. After the last addition, beat until the mixture is light and fluffy and the sugar has almost dissolved.
4 - Add eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition or until mixture is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.
5 - Add a quarter of the flour to the creamed mixture and beat on low speed until combined. Add a third of the cocoa mixture and beat until combined. Repeat this process twice more. Add the remaining quarter of the flour and beat until thoroughly combined; do not over-beat as this will toughen the mixture.
6 - Spoon mixtures into cupcake papers, filling each about three quarters full. To prevent the cupcakes cracking on top, allow the mixture to sit in the cupcake papers for 20 minutes before baking.

7 - Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a fine skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from trays immediately and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before frosting.

8 - While cooling make the frosting. Sift the icing sugar and cocoa into a bowl.
9 - In a separate bowl, cream the butter for 1-2 minutes. Add the milk, vanilla extract and half of the icing sugar mixture, and beat for at least 3 minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy.
10 - Add the remaining icing sugar and beat for a further 3 minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy and of a spreadable consistency. Add extra milk if the mixture is too dry or extra icing sugar if the mixture is too wet.

Mojito cupcakes and My Favourite Books Reviewed Part 1

Good morning :)

As I explained in this post, I'm an avid reader. And I'm going to start reviewing some of my favourite books of all time on here thereby incorporating two of my favourite things; eating baking and reading. And writing. Okay, make that three of my favourite things. 


However, don't let my enthusiastic book review distract you from today's cupcakes because they're absolutely scrumptious! Even if I do say so myself. My housemate proclaimed them her favourite of all the many, many cupcakes I have made. I chose to be flattered rather than indignantly insulted on behalf of all the other cupcakes :)

The Other Boleyn Girl - Phillipa Gregory

Have you ever read a Jackie Collins book? If you haven’t, do yourself a favour and beg, borrow or steal one. If you have, then you’ll understand what a treat you are in for when I say The other Boleyn Girl is just like a Collins book, except it has more substance, it is set in the 16^th century, and it features deviant monarchs and courtiers instead of rock royalty and pop princesses.

This definitely isn’t your typical boy meets girl story. For one, the boy is King Henry VIII - he of the six wives fame – and the girl is Anne Boleyn. The boy is already married to Queen Katherine of Aragon and before falling for Anne, he had an affair with her sister; Mary. Oh, did I forget to mention that Mary was married at the time and her husband all too aware that she was the King’s mistress?

In a nutshell, this novel is the story of Anne’s rise to the throne as Queen of England, told through her sister’s eyes. This is a genius move on Gregory’s part as it gives a personal and spectacularly fascinating (albeit fictional) insight into a historical saga that most of us are at least vaguely familiar with. Anne herself is truly one of the most interesting characters ever to grace the pages of a book. She is extremely intelligent, and the relentless ambition with which she first gets the King’s attention, and the rather crazed dedication with which she holds it for several years while he tries to get a divorce from Katherine – and all without sleeping with the famously lusty King – make for fascinating reading.

Scandalous and enlightening, this is a must-read for anybody who thinks palace life in Tudor England was boring. This is such an interesting and remarkably well written book that you will be torn between devouring it every spare minute you get and savouring every last word because you know that reaching the end of this book might be the last time in a long while you read anything this brilliant. As for me, if it is even half as good as this book, I am planning to make ‘The Tudors’ (also about Henry VIII) my new TV addiction. 

Makes 12 cupcakes


For the cupcakes - recipe from Alpine Berry


Ingredients


1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup mint leaves, loosely packed
3/4 cup whole milk, hot
113g unsalted butter, at room temp
1 cup golden caster sugar
2 eggs
grated zest of 2 limes
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp rum (optional)


1 - Preheat oven to 180C / Gas Mark 4 / 350F
2 - Add mint leaves to hot milk. Let steep for 10-15 minutes. Pour milk through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl. Press liquid from mint leaves. Discard leaves and allow milk to cool slightly
3 - Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
4 - In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, 3 - 5 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally.
5 - Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. 
6 - Mix in lime zest, vanilla and rum (if using)
7 - On a very low speed, add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk and ending with flour, mixing until just incorporated
8 - Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and half fill each liner with cake batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 18 - 22 minutes
9 - Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely.

For the frosting


Ingredients


225g softened cream cheese
1/2 cup soft dark brown sugar
2 cups icing sugar
2 cups whipping or double cream
Grated zest of 1 lime
1 tsp fresh lime juice


1 - Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, lime juice, lime zest and brown sugar until light and creamy and the sugar completely incorporated. 
2 - Add the icing sugar and beat for another couple of minutes
3 - Beat the whipping/double cream in a separate bowl until very thick
4 - Add the cream to the cream cheese mixture and whip for a minute or two until thoroughly combined
5 - Frost cupcakes

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Brown Butter Frosting

To set the scene for today's post, I must tell you two very important things about me.

1. I am addicted to Twitter
2. I know very little about children. In my defence, I just don't have very many in my life. Please do take this as a HUGE hint my married sister and friends :)

So when I invited a friend and her two kids over for lunch one Sunday after church, I had a bit of a dilemma. And naturally, as with all important life decisions, I decided to ask for help on Twitter.  Here is the conversation I had with one particularly helpful friend of mine.


Me: Forgive my ignorance but do kids eat the same food as full grown people??
T: No. They eat specially created food from specially created specialist children's shops
Me: Dammit. That's what I was afraid of. Where are these shops ;p
T: There is one near Hogwarts and another half way up Jack's beanstalk. Next to the pub called the white nosed rhino.
Me: Hogwarts is way too far. I might have to feed these kids some adult food. Thanks for your help though!


To this day, I can't rid myself of the niggling feeling that he was mocking me. So yeah, thanks for nothing Trey! 
All by myself, I came up with a menu of meatballs cooked in tomato sauce in the oven with pasta, salad and these cupcakes for dessert.


It all went down pretty well even if I do say so myself. The kids wanted to come round again the following Sunday. That's good huh? But I think the highlight were these cupcakes. Yum! The cake itself is moist, soft and not too sweet at all! And the frosting ... wow! Brown butter frosting is a revelation. It tastes ... it's difficult to describe the taste, it's a fusion of subtle spice and it's a bit nutty and a bit caramelly and a whole lot of incredible! Thank you Brandy for submitting this recipe to 'Frosting for the Cause'!

Makes 20 cupcakes


Ingredients - for the Pumpkin Cupcakes


1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
113g unsalted butter, softened
2 cups plain flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup pumpkin puree (In the UK, you can buy this in Waitrose)


1 - Preheat oven to 180C / Gas Mark 4 / 350F
2 - Combine the dry ingredients (Except for the sugar) together in a bowl
3 - Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy; about 4 minutes
4 - Add eggs one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition
5 - Add the flour mixture, milk and pumpkin in the following order - 1/3 flour, milk, 1/3 flour, pumpkin, last 1/3 flour - mixing after each addition until just combined. Scrape the bowl after the last addition of flour to make sure all the ingredients are well combined
6 - Line the cupcake tins with liners and fill each liner until 2/3 full with the batter. 

Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

7 - Leave cupcakes to cook on a rack and make the browned butter frosting in the meantime


Ingredients - Browned Butter Frosting
1 cup of brown butter (Instructions to make follow)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup of whipping or double cream (more can be used depending on the consistency you want)


To make the brown butter
1 - Start with 1 cup of unsalted butter, cut into chunks. Put it in a small saucepan and boil on medium low heat until it slowly cooks and boils and results in a golden/brown colour

2 - Let the brown butter cool. Once cooled add to the mixer with the cinnamon and vanilla. Mix until just combined
3 - Add the icing sugar one cup at at time. Once it is all added, it will be very dry and crumbly
4 - Add the whipping cream while mixing on low until combined and smooth - about 4-5 minutes. If still too thick to frost, add whipping cream one tablespoon at a time till you reach your desired consistency

5 - Frost cupcakes

Going Out with a BANG - Malteser Cupcakes

Did you know that Lent this year will last 46 days and 45 nights? That means that I'm giving up sweet stuff for 46 long, possibly cold, whole days! I don't really care about nights because I don't eat in my sleep. Or at least not that I know of. And if I don't know that I'm eating, it wouldn't count anyway, right? But 46 days of no sweet stuff?? Wow!

You're probably wondering what this will mean for my weekly baking and blogging? Because I cant possibly bake and not at least taste the product of my labour. It would be unprofessional. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it! Well, it means it is about time I start baking some savoury stuff; bread, pizza, more bread, savoury pies ... I'm not exactly sure what yet but rest assured, continue to bake I will, and continue to blog, I will too :)


It was my friend Fade's birthday on Saturday and on Sunday and we had girly brunch to celebrate her ahem, 20-something years of life - Happy Birthday again Fade! I asked her what kind of cake she would like and she said she was craving red velvet but also really liked the Irish Car Bomb cake. But, she ended with, "surprise me". I found out later that she intended that to mean "I want red velvet". I, on the other hand, took that to mean, "opportunity to try a new cupcake!" But Fade is fussy you see? She doesn't like caramel, toffee and a whole host of other good stuff so I settled on Malteser cupcakes and decided to sort of make them up as I went along using bits and pieces from other recipes. 


One of my bright ideas was that instead of crushing Maltesers into the cake for fear of it dissolving and not making an impact, I would put a layer of Maltesers in each cake. I can't say that made much of an impact either but I'd probably do it again next time, just with bigger chunks of Maltesers. 


Okay, I'm off to lunch now. With no dessert. Then I'll have a cup of coffee at 4-ish. Without a biscuit. Are you feeling sorry for me yet??? 


Makes 22 cupcakes

Cupcake

Adapted from these Vanilla Cupcakes from the Crabapple Bakery Cupcake Cookbook     

                            

2 ¾ plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder                                           

200g softened unsalted butter                                         

1 cup caster sugar 

¾ cup dark brown sugar     

4 eggs                                                                             

1 tablespoon vanilla extract 

1 cup milk

2 sachets Malteser hot chocolate (25g each)

135g bag Maltesers, crushed lightly (you want some large pieces still remaining)

Chocolate Mousse Filling

Also adapted from the Crabapple Bakery Cupcake Cookbook

150g dark chocolate

½ cup double cream

½ cup of whipped cream


Malteser buttercream
Adapted from Maison Cupcake

135g bag of Maltesers (set 22 aside for topping the cupcakes, the rest get blitzed)
500g icing sugar
200g softened butter
50-75mls milk or cream

For the cupcakes

1 - Preheat oven to 170ºC. Line two 12-hole muffin trays with cupcake papers

2 - Mix together the flour, hot chocolate and the baking powder. Mix both sugars together

3 - In a separate bowl, cream the butter for 1 - 2 minutes. Add the sugar a third at a time, beating for 2 minutes after each addition. After the last addition, beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.

4 - Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition or until mixture is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined

5 - Add a third of the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat on low speed until combined. Add half the milk and beat until combined. Repeat this process. Add the remaining third of the flour and beat thoroughly until combined; do not over-beat as this will toughen the mixture

6 - Spoon (I used a disposable frosting bag with the tip cut off) a small amount of mixture into cupcake papers,  just enough to cover the bottom. Then sprinkle a layer of the crushed Maltesers in each cupcake, before topping with the remaining mixture till three-quarters full. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a fine skewer inserted comes out clean

7 - Remove cupcakes from trays immediately and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before frosting

For the chocolate mousse filling

8 - Chop the chocolate up into small pieces and put in a heat proof bowl

9 - Heat the cream in a saucepan on low heat until it starts to boil. Stir every few minutes to prevent a skin from forming on top

10 - Pour the cream over the chocolate pieces. Leave for a minute for the chocolate to soften and then stir till all of the chocolate is dissolved

11 - Leave to cool to room temperature and in the meantime whip your cream till it stands in stiff peaks

12 - When ganache is cooled to room temperature, fold in half of the whipped cream till just combined. Then fold in the rest until combined.


For the Malteser Buttercream
13 - Set aside 22 Maltesers to top the finished cupcakes (and a couple to pop in your mouth at random intervals). Blitz whatever is left in a food processor or crush finely. (Note that if you don't blitz them entirely, you'll have problems piping the buttercream using a star nozzle as the Malteser bits get stuck in the nozzle)
14 - Using your mixer, beat softened butter for two minutes.
15 - Add the icing sugar and Maltesers, beat for a further 6 - 8 minutes, scraping down the bowl every few minutes to make sure everything is combined.

Assembly
16 - Cut out a cone shape in the top of your cupcakes and using a piping bag or small spoon, fill with with the chocolate mousse.

17 - Pipe or use a spatula to spread your buttercream over the the top of the cupcakes.
18 - Eat and enjoy!