White Hot Chocolate Cupcakes!

Hi everyone! I hope you’re all well! I’m back with some Christmas baking inspiration!

This is definitely a well loved recipe! I adapted it from my favourite cake book ever: Cake Days by the Hummingbird Bakery! My cake book is so splattered with cake mixture it’s hard to read the recipe!

I’m not the biggest fan of white chocolate, but these cakes are definitely popular. It uses hot chocolate powder instead of white chocolate, and they’re not too chocolatey. I use either the Galaxy white hot chocolate or the Options one, but I’m sure others would do the job!

These would be a good thing to make for Christmas. They’re really easy as well! The only thing that sometimes trips me up is heating the milk. I sometimes forget to do it at the start and end up waiting for it to cool. But it’s not a huge problem!

White chocolate can also be quite unpredictable. The icing is quite stringy and the sponges can rise quite a bit! Just make sure you keep your eye on them and use your judgement. If you’re ever in doubt about if a cupcake is cooked, you can put a skewer in the centre. If it comes out clean, it’s ready!

This is the only photo I have, and I’m aware it’s terrible! I swear, I will remake these and take a picture of them! And let’s just ignore the chocolate drip on the radio! It’s from the drizzling from my Marbled Toffee Brownies!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

White Hot Chocolate Cupcakes (adapted from the Hummingbird Bakery)

For the sponge:

240ml whole milk

25g white hot chocolate powder

80g unsalted butter

280g caster sugar

240g plain flour

1tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

2 large eggs

For the frosting:

60ml whole milk

30g white hot chocolate powder

500g icing sugar

160g unsalted butter

Large white chocolate buttons

Method:

1) Preheat the oven to 160 degrees c and line a muffin tin with paper cases.

2) Gently warm the milk, then add the white hot chocolate powder and stir until dissolved. Set aside and allow to cool.

3) Using an electric mixer, mix together the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt on a slow speed until it resembles a sandy texture and there are no large lumps.

4) Crack the eggs into the cooled chocolate milk and combine. Pour two thirds of this into the dry mixture and mix until combined.

5) Pour the rest of the milk into the mixture and beat until smooth and thick.

6) Fill each case two third full. Bake for 18-20 minutes until the tops are golden brown and they bounce back when lightly pressed. Turn out to a wire rack and leave to cool.

7) To make the frosting, warm the milk and white hot chocolate powder together until dissolved. Leave to cool completely.

8) Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl and add the butter. Beat on a low speed until there are no large lumps.

9) Gradually pour in the milk and beat until combined. Turn the mixture up to high and beat until light and fluffy.

10) Spread the icing onto the cooled cupcakes and decorate with a white chocolate button. Store in an airtight container.

Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes!

Hi everyone! It feels like it’s been ages since I’ve written a blog post. Today I’m sharing the recipe for strawberry cheesecake cupcakes!

It’s probably the wrong season for these, but I’ve been too busy to bake. The photo I’m using is quite an old one. Anyway, if you can get your hands on some strawberries, they’re delicious!

The recipe comes from from the first Hummingbird Bakery cookbook. It’s a vanilla sponge with strawberries baked into it. The frosting is cream cheese and it is decorated with digestive biscuits. It’s a brilliant combination. I’ve doubled the quantities from the book because I don’t get enough cupcakes when I use the original.

A huge benefit of these cupcakes are they are so easy to make, but they look quite impressive! This makes them ideal for bake sales and parties, and I often make them in the summer when I get requests!

If any part of the recipe is unclear, please let me know in the comments!

Strawberry cheesecake cupcakes (adapted from the Hummingbird Bakery)

For the sponge:

80g unsalted butter

240g plain flour

280g caster sugar

1tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

240ml whole milk

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

12 strawberries, chopped into small pieces

For the frosting and decoration:

600g icing sugar, sifted

100g unsalted butter

350g Philadelphia

Digestive biscuits, crumbled

Method

1) Preheat the oven to 170 degrees c and line a muffin tray with cupcake cases.

2) Mix the butter, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a freestanding electric mixer on a slow speed. The mixture should be a sandy texture, with no large lumps.

3) In a separate bowl, combine the milk, eggs and vanilla extract.

4) Pour roughly 2/3 of this mixture into the dry ingredients and beat until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl using a spatula. Pour the remaining milk into the mixture, and beat until combined.

5) Divide the chopped strawberries into the bottom of the paper cases. Fill the cases with the batter until they are 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes. The sponges should be light golden brown in colour and should bounce back when lightly pressed. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

6) For the frosting, beat together the icing sugar and butter until there are no large lumps. It is best to use an electric mixer for this.

7) Add the cream cheese to the mix and beat until combined. Do not overbeat as the mixture can become runny.

8) Once cooled, spread the icing onto the sponges and decorate with the crushed biscuits. Store in an airtight container.

Tips

This mixture can make between 12 and 16 cupcakes. If you have leftover batter, chop extra strawberries: there should be roughly one strawberry per cupcake.

Make sure the butter is soft before making the icing. This will help to make the icing smooth.

The icing is quite soft, so the cakes may look a bit messy!

I recommend using a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment, but you could also use a handheld electric whisk. I wouldn’t recommend mixing this by hand.

Salted Caramel Cupcakes

It’s another cupcake post! I wasn’t going to post this, since I didn’t get any photos but then I found an old one on my Instagram. I knew posting all my cakes would come in handy one day! I also know how popular salted caramel is, and this is an easy recipe that produces brilliant cakes.

I don’t often eat my own bakes. I’ll eat the ends from the brownies and the leftover crumbs from when I core them, but I rarely have a full cake to myself (unless it’s Christmas, since all rules go out the window on Christmas). But I had quite a few leftover cakes from the last bake I did. I took some to a friend and some to my grandparents, but I still had two salted caramel cupcakes left.

After an awful train journey, I was in the mood for something sweet. The salted caramel cupcake I had was delicious. It’s a chocolate sponge cake filled with caramel and topped with a salted caramel icing. I personally didn’t find it too sweet or filling. It is a bit messy, but it’s so worth it!

The recipe is a Hummingbird Bakery recipe from the book Home Sweet Home. As I’ve said before, the Hummingbird Bakery is my holy grail for cupcakes. I highly recommend you buy the books! The recipe states it makes between 12-16 cupcakes. My mixture gave me either 12 or 13; I can’t remember!

I make some minor amendments. Firstly, I changed the cooking time, since my oven is practically from the Stone Age and seems to burn everything. I also used less baking powder. The original recipe calls for a tablespoon, but I’ve always reduced this to a teaspoon. I also change the way I pour in the milk, which probably doesn’t make too much of a difference. The version below is the way I do it!

I haven’t put the amount of tinned caramel that you should use to fill them because I never measure it out. If you buy a Carnation’s tin of caramel you should have more than enough. For the whole recipe, I used about half a tin.

The recipe book suggests to decorate you can swirl the icing with some tinned caramel and sprinkle with sea salt, but I’m not skilled enough for that! Usually I just blob the caramel on, or leave them plain. In the photo, they’re decorated with little caramel balls by Dr Oetker. I’ve just had a look on the website and I can’t see them, so I’m guessing they’re discontinued. They were likely to be from Asda or Tesco, so it might be worth keeping an eye out.

I’ll stop rambling on now! Here are Hummingbird Bakery’s ‘Salted Caramel Cupcakes’, with a couple of small amendments!

Ingredients

For the sponge:

70g unsalted butter

170g plain flour

250g caster sugar

50g cocoa powder

1tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

210ml whole milk

2 large eggs

For the icing:

670g icing sugar

210g unsalted butter

70ml whole milk

30g tinned caramel

Pinch of sea salt

Leftover tinned caramel to decorate.

Method

1) Preheat the oven to 165 degrees c and line a muffin tin with paper cases.

2) In a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment, mix the butter, sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together until they form a crumb like consistency.

3) In a jug, mix together the milk and eggs using a fork.

4) With the mixer on a slow speed, gradually pour in half of the liquid into the crumb mixture, and mix thoroughly until combined. Once combined, scrape down the sides of the bowl, then pour in the rest of the liquid. Mix until the batter is smooth and combined.

5) Spoon the batter into the prepared paper cases, filling them two thirds full.

6) Bake for 20-25 minutes. They will be ready once the sponge bounces back when lightly touched. A skewer inserted into the middle will come out clean. Leave to cool for five minutes before removing from the tin and placing on a wire rack to cool completely.

7) To make the icing, mix the icing sugar and butter together until they are combined and there are no large lumps of butter. Gradually add the milk while mixing on a slow speed. Add the tinned caramel and sea salt and mix thoroughly. Turn the mixer up to high and then beat until light and fluffy.

8) When the cupcakes are cool, use a sharp knife to make a hollow in the centre of each cupcake. Make sure the hole is big enough to fit a decent amount of caramel inside! Spoon about a teaspoon of the caramel into the hollow and then place the cut out piece of sponge on top. Press down to ensure it is level with the cake.

9) Spread the icing on top.

Tips

When using a muffin tin that has twelve holes, leave out the middle two for a more even bake.

You could use a cupcake corer to make the hollow, but I prefer to use a small knife to cut a square-shaped hole.

If the top of the hollow breaks (as I always seem to do), cover the caramel with leftover crumbs. It may be a bit messy to ice, but it will still taste yummy!

When icing, be careful you don’t knock the top of the hollow off.

National Chocolate Day!

Hey everyone! Happy National Chocolate Day! I sincerely hope you’ve spent the day gouging on chocolate bars, chocolate cake, and whatever else takes your fancy!

In order to properly celebrate a day that is clearly very important (much more important than the World Cup), I wanted to make a post with some chocolatey bakes in it.

I also want to apologise for the poor quality of these photos. Some of them are very, very old and I took them before I even considered posting them anywhere.

Some of these recipes are up on my blog, and I’ve provided links to the posts. Some recipes are coming soon, but if there’s any you want me to post, please let me know!

Marbled Toffee Brownies.

These are by far my most requested item, although I still stand by my statement that they’re not proper brownies! They are delicious though, and that’s the most important thing!

Hot Chocolate Cupcakes.

These are a Hummingbird Bakery recipe (of course) and they are so easy to make. They’re not as dense as a typical chocolate cupcake. I used to make these all the time!

White Chocolate Cupcakes.

These are an adaptation of the hot chocolate cupcake recipe. I choose to use white hot chocolate powder instead of white chocolate, and they work a treat!

Lemon and Blueberry Blondies.

These are so yummy! Rather than having a white chocolate base, they have loads of white chocolate chips, which are just perfect combined with the fruity blueberry and lemon. These are from Jane’s Patisserie!

Guinness Cake.

This is my dad’s favourite! You may be skeptical about using Guinness in a cake, but trust me, it is amazing! This one has a thin layer of cream cheese frosting which goes with the sponge perfectly.

Chocolate Fudge Cake.

I made this one year for Christmas. If I’m honest, I don’t have a clue where the recipe comes from, but I would definitely be happy to find it!

Salted Caramel Cupcakes.

These have a chocolate sponge cake, but are filled with caramel and topped with salted caramel icing. I made these recently and fell back in love with them!

Chocolate Cupcakes.

This post wouldn’t be complete without a classic chocolate cupcake! I love the contrast of the chocolate against the red cases.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Icing.

These are one of the most popular posts on my blog! They are also my personal favourite cupcake recipe, so win win!

Easter Chocolate Brownies.

These brownies were delicious! The recipe is from BBC Good Food. It’s basically a classic brownie with Crème eggs and mini eggs baked on top. I made them for the first time this year, and they are great!

Rolo Rocky Road.

This is another recent find, and it’s rekindled my love for rocky road. This comes from Sweetest Menu, but I also love Nigella’s!

Mississippi Mud Cake.

This was the first layer cake I ever made, and it certainly went down well! We managed to get loads of slices from it, but the only problem was transporting it around!

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

I haven’t made these in ages! They’re a chocolate sponge cake, and they have chocolate cookies baked into the top and crumbled into the icing! I think I’ll need to try them again soon!

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies.

These look a little bit wonky, but I had children helping me make them! They’re pictured alongside Birthday cake ones, which were also yummy!

Cookies and Cream Cake.

I made the mistake of making this on a hot day and it melted everywhere! You can actually see how soft it is at the front. If I was to make this again, I’d have a fiddle about with it because I wasn’t a fan of the mascarpone icing.

Crunchie Cupcake.

This is easily the most aesthetically pleasing cupcake I’ve ever made! It’s a chocolate sponge with honeycomb icing, and it’s also a recipe from Jane’s Patisserie.

Guinness Brownies

These are fresh out the oven! They’re a bit of a funny shape, so goodness knows what I managed to do. They’re very rich!

So, here’s my National Chocolate Day post! So many things I’ve made I haven’t photographed which I’m now very, very annoyed about (I’m talking about you Smoreanne cupcakes and the ‘Let Them Eat Cake’ cake). Let me know what your favourite chocolate recipes are!

The Classic Vanilla Cupcake

Ahh, bank holidays. Most people have visions of an extra day off work, spent relaxing at home or with family. I had the same plans- to just spend a day having some time to myself. Maybe I could watch something on television, or read a book.

My sister had other plans.

Most kids would choose to make a poster, or a PowerPoint for a school project. Not my sister. She wanted thirty cupcakes to share amongst her school friends.

So, that’s my plans of a relaxing bank holiday out the window!

All jokes aside, I honestly don’t mind. It gives me an opportunity to share my recipe for vanilla cupcakes. It’s a Hummingbird Bakery recipe and I usually make these for cake and candy stalls and other events like that. It’s in the original book, and also the second one Cake Days. It makes between 12-16 muffin sized cupcakes, and it can be easily doubled.

It’s also simple to turn these cakes into chocolate ones. Simply remove 40g of the flour and replace them with cocoa powder. That’s the same for the icing- remove 100g of icing sugar and the vanilla, and replace with cocoa powder.

Vanilla Cupcakes

80g unsalted butter

240g plain flour

280g caster sugar

1tsp baking powder

1/4tsp salt

240ml whole milk

2 large eggs

½ tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 165 degrees c and line your muffin tray with cupcake liners.

2. Place the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt into a freestanding electric mixer and mix on a slow speed until the mixture is a sandy texture, and there are no large lumps.

3. Mix together the milk, eggs and vanilla into a jug. While mixing on a slow speed, pour in ¾ of the mixture. Once incorporated, scrape down the sides with a spatula.

4. Again mixing on a slow speed, pour in the remaining mixture and beat until it is incorporated. Scrape down the sides again.

5. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases, filling them about 2/3 full.

6. Bake for about twenty minutes. When they are ready, the sponges should be golden brown and bounce back when lightly pressed. A skewer inserted into the centre will come out clean.

7. Leave to cool in the tin for five minutes, then place on a wire rack and leave them to cool completely before decorating.

Vanilla buttercream

500g icing sugar

160g unsalted butter

50ml whole milk

½ tsp vanilla extract.

Method

1. Beat the icing sugar and butter together on a slow speed until no large lumps remain.

2. Mix together the milk and the vanilla extract, and pour into the mixture. Once incorporated, turn the mixer up to high and beat until smooth.

3. Pipe or spread the icing onto the cupcakes.

To decorate, you can leave them plain or add sprinkles or sweets. You could even add jam in the middle and top with a jammy dodger to make jammy dodger cupcakes. I ended up making these ones a few weeks later for a birthday, so I’ve included a photo down here!

This is an old photo since I was rushing about and forgot to take new ones! I did manage to make 36 cupcakes in three hours, which is a new record for me.

In this case, my sister needed them for a school project on India and Hinduism. We used a vanilla sponge with chocolate icing and sprinkles to make ‘firework’ cupcakes, that represent Diwali, the Festival of Lights.

We also made a batch of vanilla icing, which we split into three bowls. One we kept white, and the other bowls we dyed green and orange. We iced the remaining cakes one colour each, and then arranged them into the shape of the India flag. The wheels were created using blue M&Ms (the crispy ones, since they’re the best).

I hope this post was helpful! Vanilla cakes with chocolate icing is probably my favourite combination. If you decide to make these, I’d love to see your pictures!