Easter chick orange and almond flourless cupcakes (GF)

I’ll admit, the title of these cupcakes is a bit of a mouthful, but I just didn’t think there was any part of it that could be missed out.

Obviously the flavour needs to be in there – orange and almond; the type of baked good – cupcake; the fact they can be enjoyed by people with wheat and gluten allergies – flourless; and of course the theme that inspired them and gives them their cuteness – Easter chicks!

I knew I wanted to bake something Easter-themed this week, but also wanted it to be something my wheat intollerant colleague could enjoy too.

I found these orange and almond cupcakes which looked gorgeous, and then the marzipan chicks just seemed to go perfectly, both in flavour and colour!

The cupcakes themselves were really good – dense yet light and kept well for days. The white chocolate topping nicely balances out the slight bitterness from the orange, and the chicks – well, just look at them and their cute little faces!

I made these on Sunday, so was delighted when on Monday Kate from What Kate Baked announced Easter as the theme for April’s Tea Time Treats challenge (following a brilliant scone round up on Lavender and Lovage) – these are my entry!

Easter chick orange and almond flourless cupcakes (recipe adapted from My Food Trail)

Makes 8 cupcakes

• 1 whole orange
• 140g ground almonds
• 1tsp baking powder
• 40g butter
• 150g caster sugar
• 2 medium/large eggs
• 100g white chocolate
• 50g double cream

Boil the orange for an hour and a quarter (bit tedious but worth it) then blitz in a food processor until no lumps remain and set aside. Sift together the almonds and baking powder into a bowl. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time, using an electric whisk. Add half the almonds, then the orange pulp, then the rest of the almonds, beating until well combined.

Line a cupcake tin with 8 cases, then divide the mixture between them – they should fill about 3/4 of the way up as they don’t rise much. Bake at 160 degrees for 45 minutes, until the tops look dry and craggy (don’t worry, they’re not overcooked and will be deliciously moist inside!)

Melt together the chocolate and cream, then leave to cool. Once it’s thickened but still pourable, spread on top of the cupcakes.

For the chicks (makes 12):

• 225g golden marzipan
• 2 or 3 drops red food colouring

Take 1/2 of the block of marzipan and divide into 12 equally sized pieces. Roll each into a slightly long oval ball, then pinch at one end to make tail of the chicks. Take half of the remaining marzipan (1/4 of the original block) and divide into 24 equally sized pieces. Roll each into a ball then press down to flatten out into wings, then press onto the sides of the chick bodies.

With the last quarter of the marzipan, add a couple drops of the red food colouring and mix in well to make an orange colour. Pinch of 12 very small bits to mould into cone shaped beaks, and attach to the faces of the chicks using a little dab of water. Divide the rest of the orange marzipan into 12 pieces, roll into balls and flatten out into circles. Use a knife to cut half way up each circle to create feet, then attach to the bodies again using a dab of water.

Use a cocktail stick to make indentations for the eyes, and there you have it – Easter chick cupcake toppers!

Butterfly cakes

Before cupcakes became so popular, it was all about fairy cakes – and I think butterfly cakes are the ultimate version of the fairy cake.

Light sponge, just a little buttercream, and ‘wings’ proudly poking out the top, I think I’d take one of these bitesize treats over a sugar overloaded cupcake any day.

Butterfly cakes (sponge recipe from The Great British Bake Off book, icing my own)

Makes 12

For the cakes:

• 125g butter
• 175g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 175g self raising flour
• 3 tbsp milk

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs and vanilla. Fold in 1/3 flour, then half the milk and repeat, finishing with flour. Divide between 12 cupcake cases and bake at 180 degrees for approximately 20 minutes, or until risen and golden.

For icing and filling:

• 85g butter
• 210g icing sugar
• 1tbsp milk
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 1tsp lemon juice
• 12 tsp jam, curd or marmalade

Beat the butter and half the icing sugar until well combined, then add in the milk, vanilla and lemon. Beat again, then add the remaining icing sugar and keep beating for 3-5 minutes until really light and fluffy.

To assemble the butterfly cakes, first cut the tops off of each cake with a knife. Don’t throw the tops away, as they will make the wings.

Spoon a small amount of jam or curd on top of each cake (I used blackcurrant jam, raspberry rose jam and orange curd).

Pipe a swirl of icing on top to cover the jam, starting from the outside and working inwards so the jam doesn’t ooze out of the sides.

Cut the cake tops in half, and the place back on top to resemble the butterfly’s wings.

Super cute! Enjoy as an afternoon treat with a cup of tea or coffee.

Marzipan chocolate cupcakes

I made these to take into work on the last day before Christmas, along with the orange shortbread thumbprints I blogged a while ago.

The original recipe was for a loaf cake, but after spooning the cake mix into my ginormous loaf tin, I realised I’d end up with a rather sad flat looking loaf if I carried on, so I decided to turn it into cupcakes instead.

When they came out of the oven I loved how they looked – little eruptions of marzipan oozing out of the top – but I’d already decided that chocolate cupcakes with marzipan and chocolate chips wasn’t QUITE decadent enough, so I added a thick ganache to finish them off.

I was a bit concerned by how heave they were that the cake would be too hard and dense, but i think it must have just been the amount of marzipan and chocolate chips weighing them down – they tasted great and went down a treat at work and with the pony.

Marzipan chocolate cupcakes (recipe adapted from The Chocolate and Coffee Bible):

Makes 12 cupcakes

• 115g butter
• 150g light muscovado sugar
• 2 eggs
• 150g self raising flour
• 3tbsp cocoa powder
• 130g marzipan, chopped
• 100g dark chocolate, chopped

Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Sift in the flour and cocoa powder, and fold in with the marzipan and chocolate chips. Divide the mixture between 12 cupcake cases and bake at 180 degrees for approximately 20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool, then remove from the cases.

For the ganache:

• 100g dark chocolate, chopped
• 75ml double cream

Heat the cream in a saucepan until almost boiling. Pour over the chocolate, then stir until the chocolate has completely melted. Leave to cool, then spread on top of the cupcakes.

National Cupcake Week – apple and cinnamon cupcakes

I’m not quite sure how it gets decided that there will be a National Cupcake Week, but not for one minute does that stop me jumping on the bandwagon and getting my metaphorical baking hat on.

It was pretty easy to decide what type of cupcakes to make, after I was gifted with a lovely bag of apples fresh from my bosses garden…

I found this recipe on What The Fruitcake?! and decided to go with the basic sponge, but skip the caramel filling and swap the cream cheese icing for a brown sugar cinnamon buttercream. As I had lots of apples I also make caramelised apple slices to go on top, which give them a nice bit of colour!

I warn you, these cupcakes smell AMAZING when they are baking and it took a lot of willpower to stop myself devouring them the minute they were baked.

I took these into work and also to visit some family, and everyone seemed to like them. I maybe went a bit over the top with the cinnamon dusting, but I think it’s a good balance to the sweetness!

Apple cupcakes with cinnamon brown sugar buttercream:

For the sponge (recipe from What The Fruitcake?!)

• 1 cup of peeled, cored and finely diced apples (this worked out at 2 small apples for me)
• 45g butter
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup apple sauce
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg

Beat together the butter and both sugars until creamy and smooth. Beat in the egg, then half the apple sauce. Mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and nutmeg and sift half into the batter. Mix well, then add the rest of the apple sauce. Beat until combined, the fold in the remaining flour mix and chopped apples. Divide between 12 large cupcake or muffin cases and bake at 180 degrees for approximately 18 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

For the icing

• 125g unsalted butter
• 125g light brown sugar
• 125g icing sugar
• 2-3tsp cinnamon, plus extra to dust

Beat together the butter (softened) and brown sugar until well mixed. Sift in the icing sugar and beat for a further 5 minutes, until really light and delicious. Add in the cinnamon to taste, then spread on top of the cooled cupcakes. Dust with a bit more sieved cinnamon.

For the caramelised apples

• 1 small apple, cored and cut into 12 slices
• 10g butter
• 1 tbsp caster sugar

Heat the butter in a saucepan until melted, then stir in the sugar until dissolved. Add in the apples and keep stirring until they caramelise, maybe 5 minutes. It seems like it’s going really slowly then all of a sudden they turn golden, so keep a close eye and keep stirring! Tip onto a plate to cool then use to top the cupcakes.

Mini victoria sponges with strawberries and clotted cream

Last weekend as there were a few rare rays of sun, me and the friendly pony decided to have a bbq with our neighbours.

I already had some brownies left over from the previous night, but I wasn’t sure they’d be enough, so inspired by a 50p punnet of strawberries I decided to make some mini victoria sponges (it would have been mini scones but I didn’t have any biscuit cutters, or a scone recipe…)

I used a basic sponge recipe to make 12 cupcake sized sponges (although the keen viewer will notice there are only 11 in the picture below – thanks friendly pony).

The sponges are I guess a slightly more indulgent version of real victorias – clotted cream instead of whipped, freshly sliced strawberries as well as jam – but definitely perfect summer barbecue food!

Mini Victoria Sponges with Strawberries and Clotted Cream

• 115g butter
• 115g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 115g self raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 small tub clotted cream
• 4 tbsps strawberry jam
• Approx. 100g strawberries, sliced

Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs and vanilla, then sift in the flour and baking powder and fold together until combined. Divide the mixture between 12 cup cases, then bake at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

Once the sponges have cooled, remove from the cases and slice each in half. Spread clotted cream on the bottom halves and jam on the top halves, then place the sliced strawberries on top of the cream.

Sandwich the sponges back together, dust with icing sugar, then serve – preferably in the sun with a glass of Pimms on the side!

Nutella Swirl Cupcakes

While browsing around the internet looking for cupcake inspiration, I came across several blog posts about ‘self-frosting’ cupcakes.

Some were made with peanut butter, which I’m not the biggest fan of, but some had Nutella, which I LOVE.

The friendly pony likes his nutella in a sloppy buttered sandwich, whereas I have always prefered it on dry toast; but I’ve never used it in the batter of a cake before, so I decided to give it a go.

Due to not wanting to become a massive fatty, I cut the recipe down to a one egg sponge, which made 4 fairly large cupcakes.

I was actually surpised with how well they turned out – I was expecting the nutella to sink but it actually did stay on top like a ‘frosting’ of sorts.

The recipe is also really easy, and uses ingredients I almost always have in the cupboard, so I can see this being made whenever I feel the need to bake but can’t be bothered to go to the shops!

Nutella swirl cupcakes

Ingredients

• 60g butter
• 40g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• dash vanilla essence
• 70g self raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 4 tsps Nutella

Cream the butter and sugar until smooth, then beat in the egg and vanilla essence. Sift in the flour and baking powder then fold together until well combined.

Spoon the mixture into 4 cupcake/muffin cases, then add a teaspoon of Nutella on top of each one. Swirl the Nutella into the cake mix with a skewer, then bake at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes, until firm and the cakey bits are golden.