Golden Caramac Cupcakes

Seriously, who doesn't love Caramac?? I'm so glad you can still buy these deliciously retro and unique golden caramel flavoured chocolate bars in most shops. This recipe is so easy but great if you want something a bit different from normal chocolate cupcakes, and the mere smell will have people salivating in anticipation! Adding half dark brown sugar to the batter is a simple twist on a regular cupcake but the result is a divinely butterscotchy flavour which really compliments the Caramac frosting. The creation of these babies coincided with Bargain Baking Find of the Year, courtesy of my mum - she picked up a can of Dr Oetker's amazing Golden Shimmer Spray for 49p instead of a whopping £3.99 just because the main cap was missing! I don't think I could justify paying full whack for it but the metallic sheen it creates is just fantastic and perfect for this recipe, although the cakes are just as delicious without it.

INGREDIENTS - makes approx. 12

For the cakes:

• 4 oz self-raising flour
• 2 oz caster sugar
• 2 oz dark brown sugar (sifted if preferred)
• 4 oz margarine/butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp baking powder

For the icing:

• 4 oz butter (unsalted if preferred)
• 8 oz icing sugar
• 3 30g Caramac bars
• Dr Oetker Gold Shimmer Spray (optional)

METHOD

For the cakes:

1. Line a baking tray with 12 paper cases.
2. Whisk the margarine/butter and both lots of sugar* together in a mixing bowl then whisk in the eggs.
3. Fold in the flour, baking powder and vanilla extract until a batter of a soft dropping consistency has formed.
4. Drop the mixture into the paper cases using a teaspoon until they're each about two thirds full.
5. Pop in the oven and bake at 180 degrees C for about 12-15 minutes until a cocktail stick inserted into the sponge comes out clean.
6. When baked, place on a wire rack and leave to cool. At this stage the cakes can be frozen for decorating at a later stage if you wish.

For the icing:

1. Break one of the Caramac bars up into a heatproof bowl and place over a saucepan of simmering water without letting the bottom of the bowl touch the water, or heat on short bursts of LOW heat in the microwave, until completely melted.
2. Add the butter and stir/whisk while gradually adding the icing sugar until a thick, fluffy mixture has formed. If it's too runny, add some more icing sugar.
3. Spread onto the cakes using a palette knife or pipe on using the nozzle of your choice, then spray with the gold Shimmer Spray (I found this works best when keeping the can about 10 ins away from the cake).
4. Carefully break or cut the remaining two Caramac bars into 12 rectangular sections and push one onto the top of each cake as a neat finishing touch.

* You may find that the dark brown sugar stays a bit lumpy; I actually prefer it like this as biting into melty specks of it in the baked cupcake is rather heavenly IMO, but if you want a more even mixture sieve the brown sugar before adding it.

Lemon Sunflower Cupcakes

I made these lovely summery cupcakes for Sunday Baking Club's (@SundayBakeClub on Twitter - go follow them for fabulous baking fun!) 'Citrus Zing' themed competition and they received a lot of compliments from other entrants :) The pretty sunflower design also provoked much cooing in admiration when I took them into work! I'd never used lemon extract before but my mum and I were given a free bottle when we went to the Good Food show back in November and I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised by the delicate citrus flavour it gave to the buttercream without making it taste at all synthetic. Both my dad and brother said that they were not fans of lemon but that these cakes were delicious and not too overwhelmingly 'citrussy'.

The icing technique is a heck of a lot simpler and quicker than it looks - in fact, I personally find it much easier to do than regular swirly piping. Chocolate buttons are a simple and yummy way of creating the centre of the sunflower but you could also add black/chocolate icing using the same piping technique as the petals for a more textured look. The ladybirds were a last minute addition but they make a nice colourful finishing touch and are so easy to create!

When I bake batches of cupcakes to share, I've recently started to include some mini ones because a) they're a bit more diet-friendly to those who are reluctant to splurge and b) I think they're just so cute! So I've included these as part of the recipe but obviously you can just stick to normal sized cupcakes if you don't have the required equipment.

INGREDIENTS - makes approx. 12 cupcakes + 12 mini cupcakes or 18 standard cupcakes

For the cakes:

• 6 oz self-raising flour
• 6 oz caster sugar
• 6 oz margarine/butter
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp lemon extract

For the icing/flower centres/ladybirds:

• 10 oz icing sugar
• 5 oz butter (unsalted if preferred)
• 1 tsp lemon extract
• 2 tsp yellow food colouring*
• 12 large milk chocolate buttons + 12 small milk chocolate buttons
• A few red Smarties or M&Ms
• Small tube dark chocolate or black writing icing

METHOD

For the cakes:

1. Line one baking tray with 12 standard paper cake cases and another smaller muffin tray with 12 mini paper cupcake/muffin cases.^
2. Whisk the margarine/butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until pale then whisk in the eggs.
3. Fold in the flour, baking powder and lemon extract until a batter of a soft dropping consistency has formed.
4. Drop the mixture into all of the cake cases until they're each about two thirds full.
5. Pop the larger cupcakes into the oven at 180 degrees C for about 12-15 minutes until a cocktail stick inserted into the sponge comes out clean, then do the same with the mini cupcakes for about 10-12 minutes.
6. When baked, place on a wire rack and leave to cool. At this stage the cakes can be frozen for decorating at a later stage if you wish.

For the icing/flower centres/ladybirds:

1. Place the butter and lemon extract into a bowl and stir/whisk while gradually adding the icing sugar until a thick, fluffy mixture has formed.
2. Spoon the icing into a piping bag with a rope or star nozzle attached and pipe little rosettes in circles around each cake, working from the outside then moving inwards to the centre, then firmly push a large chocolate button into the middle. Do the same for the mini cupcakes but using small chocolate buttons.
3. Use the dark chocolate/black writing icing tube to pipe a 'T' shape onto each Smartie/M&M then add two dots either side of each line to create the ladybirds' eyes and spots, as per the photo. Place randomly onto your chosen cakes.

* As a rule, less is more when it comes to colouring icing but I used Asda's standard liquid yellow food dye and found I needed quite a lot just to create a pale yellow shade. These measurements may vary depending on which type/brand of colouring you use and how pale or dark you want the end result to be so I'd advise adding a little at a time until you get the desired hue.

^ I'm not sure what the correct type of ovenware would be for these so I used a silicone baking tray with 12 holes designed for mini scones placed on top of a flat metal baking tray for support. This gave the mini cakes a nice even shape as they couldn't expand too much. For added structure and support, a good tip is to double layer the mini muffin cases (i.e. two per cake) - the extra ones can then be removed after baking and re-used.

Edit: I used this recipe to create my stepgrandad's birthday cake - he absolutely loved it! :)

Cream Soda Cupcakes

This is one of my go-to cake recipes as they're so easy to make but never fail to impress. I've always been a fan of the unusual but lovely fragrant vanilla taste of cream soda and I think it's the perfect addition to a cupcake, especially the icing. In fact, I think they should manufacture a perfume with the scent of these cupcakes - it's divine! The little straws were a nifty last minute brainwave for a simple but eye-catching finishing touch and I'm rather proud of them though I say so myself :)

Just an aside, but cream soda makes a delicious addition to the raspberry ripple ice cream flavour squash I mentioned in my post here: http://cloudninepointone.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/raspberry-ripple-ice-cream-cupcakes.html - perfect with ice and a straw on a hot summer's day :)

INGREDIENTS - makes approx. 12 

For the cakes:

• 4 oz self-raising flour
• 4 oz caster sugar
• 4 oz margarine/butter
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp cream soda
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

For the icing:

• 5 oz butter (unsalted if preferred)
• 10 oz icing sugar
• 2 tsp cream soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  
  + 4 stripey plastic straws in colours of your choice (optional)

METHOD

For the cakes:

1. Line a baking tray with 12 paper cake cases.
2. Whisk the margarine/butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until pale then whisk in the eggs.
3. Fold in the flour, baking powder, vanilla extract and cream soda until a batter of a soft dropping consistency has formed. If it's too runny, add a little more flour.
4. Drop the mixture into the paper cases using a teaspoon until they're each about two thirds full.
5. Pop in the oven and bake at 180 degrees C for about 12-15 minutes until a cocktail stick inserted into the sponge comes out clean.
6. When baked, place on a wire rack and leave to cool. At this stage the cakes can be frozen for icing at a later date if you wish. 

For the icing:

1. Place the butter, vanilla extract and cream soda into a bowl and stir/whisk while gradually adding the icing sugar until a thick, fluffy mixture has formed. If it's too runny, add some more icing sugar. The longer you whisk it for, the whiter the icing will become.
2. Spoon the icing into a piping bag with a nozzle of your choice attached (I used a large circular one) and pipe onto the cakes or simply spread it on using a palette knife.
3. Use scissors to cut the four plastic straws into pieces of about 3-4ins in length and push one piece into the side of each cake for a neat finishing touch. You could also add some rainbow sprinkles if you fancy.

Cheer-Me-Up Angel Cake

Of all the cakes I've made this is certainly not one of the most elegant - I even overcooked the sponges (although I seem to have mastered the art of nice even cupcakes my large round cakes always come out abysmally) - but after a horrible week of suffering from a severe chest infection and generally feeling rubbish, by the weekend I had a serious craving for a massive dose of unapologetically sinful sweet, spongey, jammy, melt-in-the-mouth, no-frills CAKE. CAKE just for me!! And the result was blissfully delicious, though unfortunately so much so that my family managed to devour the majority of it! I used my favourite vanilla buttercream icing and, being a sucker for girly prettiness, I made pink and yellow angel cake sponges topped off with rainbow sprinkles for added cheeriness. As I said, this is by no means the most sophisticated of cakes but it's super easy and certainly won't fail to raise a smile!

INGREDIENTS - makes 2 sponge layers of 8in/10cm diameter

For the cake:

• 8 oz self-raising flour
• 8 oz caster sugar
• 8 oz margarine/butter
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• Few drops red food colouring

For the filling/icing:

• 2 tbsp (approx.) jam of your choice (I used strawberry)
• 10 oz icing sugar
• 2 oz cream cheese (at room temperature, full-fat works best)
• 2 oz butter (unsalted if preferred)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Coloured sprinkles, to decorate

METHOD

For the cake:

1. Grease two round cake pans of around 8in/10cm in diameter or line with baking parchment.
2. Whisk the margarine/butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until pale then whisk in the eggs.
3. Fold in the flour, baking powder and vanilla extract until a batter of a soft dropping consistency has formed.
4. Pour half of the mixture into one of the cake pans - it shouldn't be any more than two thirds full.
5. Add a few drops of red food colouring to the remaining batter until it has turned a pale pink colour. Don't worry too much if it doesn't look the perfect shade, it will look different when baked.
6. Pour the mixture into the second cake pan - again, it shouldn't be any more than two thirds full (if you have any leftover batter at this stage why not fill a few cupcake cases? :)
7. Pop in the oven and bake at 180 degrees C for about 15-18 minutes until a cocktail stick inserted into the sponge comes out clean.
8. When baked, remove the cakes from the pans (I still haven't mastered the art of this!!) and leave to cool on a wire rack. At this stage the sponges can be frozen for assembling and decorating at a later date if you wish.

For the filling & icing:

1. Whisk the butter, cream cheese and vanilla extract together in a bowl and then gradually add the icing sugar until a pale spreadable mixture has formed. If too stiff, add a little milk and if too runny, add some more icing sugar.
2. If the sponges have risen up too much in the middle, saw off the tops using a sharp serated knife so that they're nice and flat, otherwise they'll be horribly wobbly when stacked together. See below for an idea of what to do with the offcuts!
3. Place the yellow sponge on something flat that it will not need to be moved from when completed, e.g. a cake board, tray or tin lid (moving the finished cake is best avoided if possible!), then spread a thin layer of jam all over the top of the yellow sponge followed by a thin layer of the buttercream icing. If any bits of the sponges have fallen off these can be 'glued' back on with jam :)
4. Firmly place the pink sponge on top then spread the buttercream icing all over the assembled cake with a palette knife, smoothing out the top and sides as you go, while attempting to resist repeatedly sampling its fluffy, vanilla-y deliciousness.
5. Decorate with rainbow sprinkles for some extra colour.

Leftover sponge and icing...?

Simply layer torn up chunks of pink and yellow sponge and jam in small individual containers (e.g. ramekins or teacups) then top with icing and sprinkles to make some cute little trifle-style angelic desserts!