Iron Cupcake Bake Off for MS Society

It’s not often that I allow my work and blog life to combine. After all, one of the main reasons I started this blog was to distract me from my hectic work life and help to achieve that work/life balance that I’ve heard so much about! But on this occasion I have to make an exception.

As many will know, I am a fundraiser for the MS Society in Scotland and cover everything from Perth to the Borders. I’m the one you’ll see in your local paper in my orange t-shirt accepting comedy giant cheques from people who have jumped out of planes, walked across fire, ran marathons or even baked cakes. The latter is of course my favourite type of event!

I am also responsible for promoting the MS Society’s flagship event: Cake Break which takes place on Friday 4th May this year (or whenever suits you).  The idea is simple: bake (or buy) some cakes, put the kettle on, invite some friends round and ask them for a wee donation towards a few slices of delicious cake.

I couldn’t possibly promote a cake-themed event for work without getting involved personally. That just wouldn’t be right! So….. together with Katey and Victoria from the Edinburgh Cake Ladies we’re holding a Cupcake Bake Off on Sunday 22nd April in Sofi’s Bar, Leith.  Both bakers and tasters are welcome to attend for a donation and you can buy cupcakes after the judging, with all proceeds going to the MS Society. Bakers are asked to donate £2 and tasters are asked to donate £5. Please email edinburghbakeoff@gmail.com to let us know if you’ll be baking!

For more information and to let us know that you’ll be coming along, check out our Facebook event page.

In the meantime, if you fancy getting involved and holding a Cake Break of your own, pop over to the MS Society website where you can sign up for your free host pack. If you’re looking for inspiration or recipes check out MadeByFi; I’ve heard its pretty good!

About me, about the MS Society

I haven’t had my arm twisted into writing this post by my boss or anything like that. I’m just excited about lots of events that will allow me to eat even more cake!  As part of my job, they make me (haha!!!!) pop along to a few Cake Breaks on 4th May so if you see a woman in an orange t-shirt, buzzed on sugar and caffeine bouncing from one place to another on that day, come say hi! I’ll no doubt have cake somewhere on my person!

Scotland has one of the highest prevalences of MS in the world, with over 10,500 people in Scotland living with the condition.  The MS Society is the UK’s leading charity dedicated to enabling everyone affected by MS to live life to their full potential and secure the care and support they need, until we ultimately find a cure.  As a voluntary organisation we rely on the generosity and support of people like those attending the Cupcake Bake Off.

Rose and lemon cupcakes

I’ve written a recipe for Mother’s Day rose and lemon cupcakes for the Broughton Spurtle.  Check out the full recipe here.

Margarita cupcakes – warning contains tequila!

These margarita cupcakes are my attempt at ramping up the flavour in the key lime cupcakes I tried a little while ago. While the key lime version lacked the punch that I was looking for from a citrus cupcake, these margarita cupcakes seem to slap you across the face – but that could just be the amount of tequila I put in them!

I decided to use our housewarming party as an opportunity to try these out on an open-minded audience. Unfortunately, this meant that I started making them at 10am on a Saturday morning and by midday, I’d been sampling both the cakes, the icing and the odd sip of tequila to ensure quality control! It also became apparent very quickly that I have a different idea of how much alcohol is acceptable in a sweet treat to my other half but this may also have been due to my regular quality control tests!

I took the decision not to put tequila into the cakes themselves and instead made a tequila sugar syrup to drizzle over them.  Convinced that this wouldn’t flavour the cakes enough, I also brushed them with tequila and put a couple of teaspoons of tequila into the icing.  I know it sounds like a lot of tequila but all in all it was probably only 3 teaspoons – honest!

They definitely has the ideal hint of tequila and lime with just a tiny bit of warmth from the tequila to remind you that there is just a wee bit of alcohol in the cakes.  The fact that they disappeared quite quickly also indicates that I’m not the only fan of cocktail cupcakes.

Margarita cupcakes
Makes 12

Ingredients
For the cakes
85g butter
100g sugar
1 egg
100g self raising flour
zest and juice of 1 1/2 limes

Sugar syrup
1 tbsp tequila
30g caster sugar
juice if 1/2 lime

Icing
500g icing sugar
juice 1 lime
140g butter
2 tbsp tequila

(optional) extra tbsp tequila to brush cakes

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (170 degrees fan) and line a muffin tin with small cupcake cases.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and mix to combine.
3. Mix in the flour, lime zest and juice and fill each cupcake case until half full. I was a little overenthusiastic with my measures so actually only managed to make 11 out of this recipe!
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cakes comes out clean.  Leave the cakes to cool.
5. Meanwhile, heat the sugar, tequila and lime juice in a pan over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves.  The syrup may boil but it doesn’t necessarily have to.
6. Pierce the cupcakes in several places (I used a fork) and pour a teaspoon of syrup onto each cake. For an extra kick, brush the top of each cake with tequila once the syrup has sunk in.
7. Put the cakes to one side to leave the tequila to soak in.  In a large bowl, beat together the butter and icing sugar.  Add the lime juice and tequila and mix. You may want to taste the icing at this stage! Go on! You know you want to!!
8. Pipe the icing onto the top of the cakes and top with the grated zest of a lime.
9. Serve and watch people’s eyes light up!

Quick chocolate cakes

If you’re anything like me, you hate throwing out food, whatever it may be.  When we had Mexican food for dinner the other night, we were left with half a tub of soured cream which I knew would sit in our fridge for days before going off and finally being flung out.  This time I decided to do something about our inevitable food waste.

The recipe below is great if you’re in a hurry or if friends or relatives are descending on you at short notice.  It only takes half an hour to bake up a batch and I promise no one will know that you haven’t spent the day before slaving over a hot stove!

Quick Chocolate Cakes

Makes 12
Preparation time 15 minutes, baking time 15 minutes

Ingredients
50g butter, at room temperature
115g light brown sugar
2 eggs
115g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
30g cocoa powder
125ml soured cream

For the icing:
125g dark chocolate, plus extra for decoration
1 tbsp caster sugar
50ml soured cream

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C fan/ 180 degrees C and line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
   

   Measuring soured cream with my latest Pampered Chef purchase

3. Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa powder and mix to combine before folding in the soured cream.
   

   Quick chocolate cakes ready to go in the oven

4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared paper cases and bake for 15 minutes.
   

   Bakes cakes - I think I may have added a bit too much bicarbonate of soda!

5. Once cooked, place the cakes on a cooling rack to cool.  While the cakes are cooling, melt the chocolate slowly on a medium heat (I use the defrost setting) in the microwave.
6. Stir in the caster sugar and soured cream and spread the icing over the top of the cakes.  Use a teaspoon to create swirls in the icing and top with grated chocolate.
7. Place in the fridge before serving.

Oreo Cupcakes

Oreo Cupcakes

Here they are: my America-trip inspired oreo cupcakes with cream cheese frosting! I have so far consumed a lot of the icing, several cakes and a good few oreos and am now well and truly converted to cream cheese frosting.

I was slightly worried that the cakes wouldn’t be chocolatey enough but any more chocolate may have overpowered the oreo flavour.  My icing was also slightly too soft as I took inspiration from an American cream cheese frosting recipe and it seems that Philidelphia in the States has a different consistency than in the UK.  I’ve modified the numbers in the recipe below to change this.

Mini Oreos - the perfect way to decorate cupcakes

Oreo cupakes
Makes 12

Ingredients
For the cake:
50g butter, softened
115g dark brown sugar
2 eggs
115g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
25g cocoa powder
125ml buttermilk
6 oreos

For the cream cheese frosting:
200g cream cheese
500g icing sugar
175g butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 oreos

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180 C/ 350 F. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with cupcake cases.  Twist the oreos until they separate. Place one half of an oreo in the bottom of each of the cupcake cases.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.  (If the mixture starts to curdle, simply add a tablespoon of the flour and mix until combined).
3. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa powder into a separate bowl.  Add the dry ingredients to the mixture and mix until just smooth. Fold in the buttermilk.
4. Spoon into the cupcake cases and bake for approx. 20 minutes or until the cakes are well-risen and firm to the touch. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
5. To make the frosting, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth. Sift the icing sugar into the cheese mixture and mix until combined. Whisk on a high speed until light and fluffy.
6. Crush 6 oreos until they form crumbs and mix into the frosting.
7. Pipe onto the cakes and top with a mini oreo or quarter of a full-sized oreo.

Key Lime Cupcakes: Attempt 1

Taking advantage of a rare day off yesterday, I decided to try a recipe from Cox, Cookies and Cake which I found in the recent issue of Foodies Magazine: Key Lime Cupcakes.  I am having something of an affair with citrus fruits at the moment so I was very enthusiastic about a break from my usual lemony flavours. In the magazine, the recipe is accompanied by an impressive photo of an exotic, spiky-iced, green cupcake atop a disco ball.  Unfortunately, my cakes did not turn out quite like the cupcake Adonis in the recipe.  I have however promised to share my successes and my other exploits in the kitchen because I certainly don’t get it right every time!

Key Lime Cupcakes: Attempt 1

The cakes themselves were moist and beautifully bitter sweet. I was even able to make around 20 from a recipe which should only make 12.  Drizzling lime syrup over the cakes when they are still cooling adds even more moisture but unfortunately failed to add much more flavour to my cakes.

The icing was also a slight let down as I just couldn’t achieve the consistency that was promised in the recipe. With 200g melted white chocolate and 125ml whipping cream already in my bowl, I still had to add 175g butter and only 350g icing sugar. Having memorised various different buttercream recipes over the years, I was soon aware that my icing was never going to reach a suitable consistency for piping.  Admittedly I did get a little too excited and perhaps didn’t leave the chocolate and cream mixture to cool enough but I could be tempted to substitute one of my own icing recipes in my next attempt.

As a result of my icing “problems” and somewhat to my relief, the design of my cakes had to change to a rather simpler design as per the photo above.

In my next attempt, I’ll definitely be experimenting with one of my own icing recipes and I’d like to try to inject even more of a bitter sweet punch to the cakes. I’m not entirely sure that I’ll be able to source key limes (which are a lot more tart than regular limes) but I’ll do my best to give my cakes a bit more gusto and therefore feed my addiction to citrus fruits!  Watch this space!

Sachertorte cupcakes

I’m continuing on the German-speaking theme this week by delving into the complicated and secretive world of Sachertorte.  Sachertorte is an Austrian speciality first baked by Franz Sacher in 1832. Nowadays it is made up of two layers of chocolate sponge, separated by apricot jam and topped with a thin layer of chocolate icing. The “Original Sachertorte” recipe is closely guarded by the Hotel Sacher in Vienna and typically looks like the example below.

In order to provide bite-size treats for my colleagues at work and with a lack of a definitive Sachertorte recipe, I decided to attempt Sachertorte cupcakes.  I do not pretend that my recipe below is the definitive Sachertorte recipe.  It is merely an interpretaion of various recipes I have come across over the years.

Sachertorte Cupcakes(makes 18)

Ingredients

For the cake:
120g unsalted butter, at room temperature
80g caster sugar
100g icing sugar
80g plain flour, sifted
40g cornflour, sifted
6 eggs, separated
120g dark chocolate, at least 60% cocoa solids

For the icing:
3 tbsp apricot jam
125g chocolate, at least 60% cocoa solids, grated
125g caster sugar
60ml water

Method:

1. Melt the chocolate in a large bowl over a pot of boiling water and leave to cool.
2. Once cool, add the butter and icing sugar and beat with an electric whisk until light and fluffy.   The chocolate should not be hot enough to melt the chocolate.  Separate the eggs and add the egg yolks, beating after each addition.
3. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until fluffly and beat in the caster sugar. Gently fold into the chocolate mixture with a metal spoon.
4. Mix the two flours together and fold into the mixture as gently as possible.
5. Spoon the mixture into baking cases until each is half full. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 200°C or until the cakes have risen and are springy to the touch.
6. Turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack and leave to cool.

It has been said that Sachertorte icing is the key to the Hotel Sacher’s secret recipe.  Many modern recipes suggest using a mixture of melted chocolate and butter in equal quantities.  This would be my personal preference as it’s not too sweet but it may also not be thick enough to cover the sloping surface of the cake.  Instead I opted for the recipe below:

1. Once the cakes are cool, warm 3 tbsp apricot jam and cover the top of each cake.
2. Place the caster sugar and water in a pot and boil for two minutes until syrupy.
3. Remove from the heat and add the grated chocolate.  Stir until melted and smooth and keep stirring until the mixture begins to thicken.
4. Pour approximately 31/2 tablespoon of icing onto the centre of each cake and allow it to spread out over the cake, covering the entire surface.