TOFFEE CUPCAKES

The latest theme for the Bake Along challenge is Celebration Cupcakes. 

 The girls have been baking together for two years now and I wish them well for the next year and look forward to joining in many more bake along events.

 

I wanted to make something that was a little bit indulgent as that is what I associate with a celebration.  The cupcakes themselves are standard vanilla cupcakes so feel free to use your own tried and tested recipe if you have one.  The toffee cream is super indulgent and once you add a bit of caramel sauce over the top you have something worthy of any celebration.

 

We had nothing in particular to celebrate but it didn't stop us from enjoying every little morsel.

 

For the printable version - click here

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 40 mins

 

Yield: 8 large or 12 small cupcakes

 

Ingredients

• 225 g plain flour
• 110 g caster sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg, beaten
• 150 ml milk
• 50 ml sunflower oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

 

• Caramel sauce see here for recipe

 

•  For the toffee cream
• 110 g sugar
• 2 tblsp water
• 400 ml cream

 

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 200C, 400F, Gas 6.
2. Arrange 8 - 12 paper cases in baking tin.
3. Sift the flour, sugar and baking powder into a mixing bowl.
4. Whisk together the egg, milk, oil and vanilla.
5. Stir in the dry ingredients until combined.
6. Spoon the mixture into the paper cases and bake for 20 mins until golden brown.
7. Cool in the tin for 5 mins.
8. To make the toffee cream, heat the sugar and water in a pan over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. You should not need to stir.
9. Continue cooking, and again do not stir, until the sugar turns a golden amber.
10. Remove from the heat.
11. Slowly pour the cream into the pan. It will bubble up but not enough to spill over the edge of the pan.
12. Stir until well combined.
13. Chill well, stirring occasionally.
14. Whisk the toffee cream until soft peaks form.
15. Arrange the toffee cream over the top of the cupcakes.
16. Drizzle with caramel sauce and serve.

 

       

A happy 2nd birthday to the Bake Along girls,
Zoe, of  Bake for Happy Kids, Joyce of Kitchen Flavours and Lena of Frozen Wings
 

 
 
Written by : Angela Darroch
 
 

BLUEBERRY & ORANGE MUFFINS

My kids eat a lot of fruit.  3 kgs of grapes, 1kg of blueberries, 16 plums, 12 apples, 6 bananas, 4 pears, 2 pkts of strawberries and a couple of oranges – and that's just in a week!  The first thing people say (apart from our dentist) when you tell them is “you’re so lucky,” and I agree but it is so, so expensive.  And as much as they love fruit it has to be the freshest, crispiest, crunchiest fruit that you can buy,  so no bargain buys for me.  The problem I had this week was that a lot of the blueberries were a bit squishy and I have to admit that even I struggle with soft, squishy blueberries but at £4 a punnet I have to find a way to use them up.  I don’t necessarily want to turn them into a sugar and fat laden dessert just for the sake of using them up so the healthiest option for me is these muffins I found in Annie Bell's Baking Bible.  The kids still refuse to eat them because of the squishy blueberries but they are the perfect snack for me together with my much loved daily cup of coffee. There is no butter in them and I have used a blend of sugar and stevia to cut down the sugar content and of course my favourite ingredient of the moment is the delicious seeded spelt flour from Sharpham Park.  These muffins are not necessarily frugal if you have to go out and buy the ingredients but if like me you have some over ripe fruit to use up then it is preferable to throwing the fruit out. 

   These muffins are deliciously moist and stay fresh for a few days and like most muffins will freeze really well. 

 

 

Blueberry & Orange Muffins
 

For the printable version - click here

 

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 40 mins

 

Yield: 8 - 12 depending on size

 

Ingredients

 

• 80 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 180 ml orange juice, no bits (approx 2 large oranges)
• finely grated zest of 1 orange
• 2 medium eggs (I used 2 large eggs)
• 275 g plain flour (I used Sharpham Park Seeded Spelt Flour)
• 2 tsps baking powder
• 200 g golden caster sugar (I used 100g Tate & Lyle's Stevia & Sugar blend)
• 150 g fresh blueberries (I used 200g)

 

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190C (170C fan).
2. Whisk the oil, orange juice, zest and eggs lightly in a bowl.
3. Add the flour, baking powder and sugar and stir until just combined.
4. Fold in two-thirds of the blueberries.
5. Spoon the mixture into your muffin tray, two-thirds full.
6. Scatter over the remaining blueberries and a little extra sugar and bake for 30 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.

Recipe adapted from Annie Bell's Baking Bible   

Written by Angela Darroch    

CARROT & COCONUT MUFFINS WITH CHOCOLATE TOPPING

I can hardly contain my excitement whilst writing this post. Why? you may ask. It looks like just any other muffin topped with the usual artery clogging butter and sugar frosting. Well guess what - there is no butter, no refined sugar and it is grain free. I have most definitely not turned over a new leaf and gone super-duper healthy but I have been following the progress of a lady over in New Zealand who is trying to alleviate some of her health issues by changing her diet. Suzanne's blog is over at Strands of My Life and is full of interesting information about using alternative products to change the way we eat. Suzanne is adamant that going gluten, dairy and refined sugar free should not mean that she cannot have her sweet treats and this gorgeous treat below and many others are as a result of her hard work to achieve this.

 

The muffin itself is made with coconut oil, coconut flour, honey, carrots, raisins, shredded coconut, eggs, bicarb and cinnamon. I found the first two products at Holland & Barrett and they are not cheap. £14.00 for the two products is a lot to pay but if you are plagued with food intolerances then you may have these items already. I was just curious and wanted to try them out for myself. The baked muffin is quite heavy and dense but not unpleasant. It is sweet and tasty and very moist. But the piece de resistance is the fabulous chocolate frosting. This is made from avocado, cocoa and honey. It is unbelievably thick and creamy and has absolutely no taste of avocado. Suzanne explains about the benefits of avocados so I will not repeat it here. If like me, you have children then you will know that it is usually the frosting on a cupcake that they go for, leaving the cupcake for someone else to finish off (me). Every time I watch my children devour all this butter and sugar I feel guilty but this would be so different. Yes, avocados contain fat but it is good fat and honey is so much better for you than all that refined sugar that makes up icing sugar.

 

I have just returned from picking my 6 y/o up from school and couldn't wait for him to try one of these muffins. I had placed the muffin so that he would see it as soon as he came into the kitchen and of course he begged to have it there and then. I was trying to act as normal as possible so as not to alert him to the fact that is was different. He took his first lick of icing, looked at me and said "did you make this?" Oh here we go, he's sussed me out, I thought. "Yes," I said, "why?" He walked over to me and gave me a big hug and said "this is so yummy, thanks." He didn't eat the muffin but that is not unusual.

Result!!

 

The next time I make chocolate cupcakes for the kids I will definitely use this frosting.  It is just so much healthier than the buttercream frosting I normally use.

For this fabulous recipe and more information on going grain, dairy and refined sugar free pop over to

 Strands of my Life - Carrot & Coconut Muffins with Chocolate Topping

 

 

 

Because these muffins are sugar free I am going to submit them to the We Should Cocoa challenge which is hosted by

Chocolate Log Blog and Chocolate Teapot

 

 

 

 

and to the Calendar Cakes challenge which is hosted by

Dolly Bakes and Laura Loves Cakes

 

 

Written by : Angela Darroch

LEMON MERINGUE CUPCAKES

I had a tiny bit of lemon curd left over from whoopie pies which I had made last week.  Normally I would treat myself to some hot buttery toast with the lemon curd but as I have decided to try and enter some challenges this year I decided to be a bit more creative.   As I didn't have very much lemon curd I only baked half the quantity and ended up with 3 gorgeous little cupcakes for today's treat. 

I used a meringue cuite mixture only because the kids would eat one and I wanted to make sure the eggs were cooked.  It is a little more work than normal because you have to whisk over a hot stove for 10 minutes but if you ever need meringues to hold their shape whilst cooking then this is the perfect solution. 

 You can also keep this meringue mixture in the fridge for up to a week and it will still pipe beautifully.

 

 

 

 

For the printable version - click here

 

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 50 mins

 

Yield: 6 large cupcakes

 

 

Ingredients

• 110 g butter
• 110 g caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 110 g self raising flour
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 tsp custard powder
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 50 ml lemon curd
• 2 egg whites
• 115 g icing sugar

 

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180 deg C (160 for fan oven). Place 6 large paper cases in a cupcake tin.
2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy and stir in the vanilla.
3. Sift in the flour, salt and custard powder and lightly fold into the mixture alternately with the eggs until well blended.
4. Spoon into the paper cases and bake for 20 - 25 mins until golden brown and springy to the touch.
5. When the cakes have completely cooled, cut out a hole the size of a 2p coin from the centre of each cake. Fill with lemon curd.

         To make the meringue cuite           

1. Sieve the icing sugar into a heat resistant bowl with the egg white.
2. Place your bowl over a half-full pan of simmering - not boiling - water, whisk with an electric mixer until the mixture is thick and glossy, approx 10 mins.
3. Place the meringue mixture into a piping bag and pipe on top of the cupcakes.
4. Increase the oven temperature to 230 deg C and bake the cupcakes for a further 5 mins or use a cooks blowtorch to brown the tops.

 

I am submitting this for Tea Time Treats hosted by Lavender and Lovage and What Kate Baked     

 

 

 

Written by : Angela Darroch

BANANA MUFFINS

We all have recipes that we turn to time and time again.  The ones that never let us down, the guaranteed crowd pleasers, the ones that just make us feel good.  These banana muffins are one such recipe.  I hate to think how many I have made over the years.  They freeze beautifully so there is no excuse to not have some freshly made muffins on hand when those unexpected visitors pop in.  I normally let my bananas ripen until the skin is black and really soft.  They look terrible but have so much more flavor than their yellow and slightly under ripe partners.  If I am not ready to make the muffins I'll peel and mash them up and freeze the pulp until such time as I am ready to bake. 

 Today was such a grey, miserable day with the rain lashing down from early morning that I could think of nothing nicer than putting a fresh pot of coffee on to brew and having some fresh home cooked banana muffins to cheer us up.

 

For the printable version - click here

 

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Total time: 45 mins

 

Yield: 12 (large)

 

 

Ingredients

• 240g plain flour
• 125g butter
• 250ml (1 cup) soft brown sugar
• 4 very ripe bananas (peeled and mashed)
• 2 large eggs
• 2ml (1/2 tsp) salt
• 5ml (1 tsp) bicarbonate of soda
• 3 tblsp water
• 7ml (1.5 tsp) baking powder

 

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F).
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and creamy.
3. Stir in the mashed bananas and beat to combine thoroughly.
4. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, blending well.
5. Sift flour and salt onto mixture and stir well.
6. Dissolve bicarbonate of soda in water and stir into mixture.
7. Add baking powder and stir well.
8. Pour batter into muffin moulds and bake for 20 - 25 mins.
9. Cool in tin, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

 

Written by : Angela Darroch       

CHOCOLATE AND CRANBERRY COOKIES

On the way to school yesterday my son sent me into panic mode.  "You know it's only 5 weeks until Christmas" he announced.  "No way" was my immediate response but when I gave it some thought I realised he was right.  I have so many things on my 'to do' list (thanks to Pinterest) so without  wasting another day I decided to make a start on my neighbours gifts.  Every year the kids make something to take over to them so I wanted to try these seasonal cookies.  They were very easy and quick to make and will be perfect for the kids to make nearer the time.  I then spent  a lovely couple of hours making up some pretty boxes ready for the kids to package up their gifts.
 

 

For the printable version - click here


Prep Time : 20 mins
Cooking Time : 10 mins
Total Time : 30 mins

Yield : 20

 

Ingredients

• 150g butter
• 150g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 50g ground almonds
• 50g porridge oats
• 80g dried cranberries
• 50g brown sugar
• 50g caster sugar
• 100g white chocolate chunks
• 1 large egg yolk

 

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C (356 F).
2. Melt the butter, and allow to cool.
3. Sift the flour and the bicarbonate of soda into a mixing bowl.
4. Add the ground almonds, oats, dried fruit, soft brown sugar, caster sugar and the chocolate chunks and mix well.
5. Mix the cooled melted butter with the egg yolk and pour into the dry ingredients, stirring to combine.
6. With your hands, form into walnut-sized balls and arrange slightly apart from each other on 2 baking trays.
7. Using a fork, flatten the biscuits slightly and place in the preheated oven for approx 10 minutes or until golden.
8. The cookies will still be soft when you take them out of the oven so allow to cool a little on the trays before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

 

               

Written by : Angela Darroch            

INDIVIDUAL APPLE PIES

I love Autumn.  The gorgeous colours, the crisp, frosty mornings, the change in menus from light and fresh to slow cooked comfort food.  Apple pie has to be one of my favourite comfort foods.  There is nothing more inviting than the smell of fresh apple pie cooking in the oven.  Heaven!!  I had a couple of apples from our tree in the garden and wanted to make individual apple pies.  I loved the photos on Zoom Yummy's blog and so decided to pretty much follow her recipe.  I used ready made Sweet Shortcrust pastry but followed the rest of her recipe and the results were delicious.   

   

For the printable version - click here

 

 

Ingredients

• 750g ready made Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
• 8 medium cooking apples peeled, cored and diced evenly
• 1/2 cup granulated, white sugar
• 1 tblsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tblsps butter, melted
• 20ml cornflour
• Vegetable oil for greasing muffin tin

 

 

Cooking Directions


Preheat the oven to 180 C (356 F)

1. Lightly oil your muffin tin with the vegetable oil.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry out to a thickness of 3mm.
3. Cut circles for the base of the pies. They should be big enough so that the edges extend slightly higher than the edge of the pan.
4. Cut enough circles for the top of the pies. These should be slightly smaller than the bases.
5. Ease the large pastry circles carefully into the pan.
6. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the filling together and mix well.
7. Taste to make sure there is enough sugar for your taste.
8. Fill the dough with enough of the filling mixture so that it is heaped high above the edge of the pan.
9. Place the pastry tops over the filling.
10. Using a knife or a fork, seal the edges and decorate as you wish.
11. Cut a small slit in the top.
12. Glaze the tops with some milk.
13. Bake in the oven for 25-30 mins.
14. Let them cool down to just warm and enjoy as is or with some homemade custard.

 

Recipe from http://zoomyummy.com/2010/03/27/mini-apple-pies/     

Written by : Angela Darroch 

CLASSIC CHOCOLATE CAKE

I can't believe it has been three months since I last posted on my blog.  The beginning of August was when the kids broke up for their summer holiday and it has just been one thing after another since then.  I had almost decided to not carry on with my blog because of the amount of time it takes up but I have really missed it and so for my own 'me time' I'm back.

The kids are now on their half term break and had asked me to bake them a cake.  Their preference is always for a chocolate cake and when they saw this one on the front cover of the latest Olive magazine it was a done deal.  I was really pleased with the way it turned out.  It was really moist and lasted for at least a week which I think is quite unusual for a chocolate cake.  I did have a little disaster when I was taking the photos.  My backing board (which is a heavy piece of wood) fell over and of course it fell on the cake - completely ruining my nice glossy glaze.  Still tasted good though!!

 

 

For the printable version - click here

 

Ingredients

• 225g unsalted butter, diced
• 225g caster sugar
• 175g self raising flour, sifted
• 50g cocoa powder, sifted
• 2 tsp baking powder, sifted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 medium eggs
• 100ml full cream milk

 

Buttercream:

• 100g butter, softened
• 100g icing sugar, sifted
• 2 tsp cocoa powder, sifted
• 1 medium egg yolk

Icing

• 100g milk chocolate, broken into small pieces
• 15g butter
• 30g cocoa powder, sifted
• 50ml water
• 1 tblsp golden syrup

 

Cooking Directions

1. Heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C and butter and baseline 2 x 20cm sponge tins with removable bases.
2. Put all the cake ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and cream together.
3. Divide the mixture into the cake tins, smoothing the surface.
4. Bake for 25 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
5. Run a knife around the collar of the cakes and leave to cool completely.

    To make the buttercream

1. Blend the butter, icing sugar and cocoa in a bowl and then mix with an electric whisk on high speed for 2 mins until really pale and fluffy.
2. Add the egg yolk and whisk for another minute.
3. Spread the buttercream over the bottom sponge and sandwich together with the top sponge.

    To make the icing

1. Gently melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl set over a pan with a little simmering water in it, stirring until smooth.
2. At the same time, combine the cocoa, water and golden syrup in a small saucepan and heat almost to boiling point, stirring until smooth.
3. Add this to the melted chocolate and blend to a thick icing.
4. Working quickly, smooth over the top of the cake using enough so that it drips down the side.
5. The glaze needs to be prepared and used straightaway.  If it starts to appear oily, simply whisk in 1tsp of water until it returns to being glossy.
6. The cake will keep well in a covered container for up to a week.

Written by : Angela Darroch

       

CLEMENTINE & ALMOND BUTTER CAKE

There is nothing light and airy about this cake.  It is rich, dense and buttery giving it a beautiful moist texture.  I can't imagine them ever drying out but to be honest they are never around long enough to find out.  I usually bake mine as small individual cakes so that I can freeze them but you could use a loaf tin or a normal cake tin.  You would just need to increase the cooking time to about 55 - 60 mins.

I was in two minds about whether to blog this recipe - not because it doesn't taste good but because I couldn't think how to make them look good in the pictures.  For me this is the hardest part of blogging as I am neither a photographer nor a food stylist.  Anyway - I decided that that wasn't a good enough reason to not share this recipe - so here are my very unglamourous but tasty clementine and almond cakes.

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 50 mins

Yield: 8 large muffins

For the printable version - click here

Ingredients

• 2 clementines
• 175 g butter, softened
• 175 g caster sugar
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 175 g self-raising flour
• 3 tblsp ground almonds
• 3 tblsp single cream

      Glaze and topping

• juice from 2 clementines
• 2 tblsp caster sugar

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180 deg C (350 deg F).
2. Prepare muffin tin or if using a cake tin, grease and line the base with baking parchment. An 18cm/7 inch round tin is about right.
3. Using a fine grater, grate the rind from the two clementines and add to the caster sugar.
4. If you want to intensify the orange flavour a bit more - you can whizz the sugar and zest a couple of times in a food processor to release the oils but no harm done if you miss this step.
5. In a bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and clementine rind until pale and fluffy.
6. Gradually add the beaten eggs to the mixture, beating well after each addition.
7. Gently fold in the self-raising flour, followed by the ground almonds and the cream.
8. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases or prepared tin.
9. Bake for 30 mins (muffin size) or 55 - 60 mins for a large cake, or until a fine skewer comes out clean.
10. Leave to cool slightly.
11. Meanwhile, make the glaze.
12. Put the clementine juice into a small saucepan with the caster sugar.
13. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
14. Brush the glaze over the cakes until it has been absorbed fully.

  
Written by : Angela Darroch