Cuppa Cakes

No dinner at Grandma’s this week, as she is sunning herself on holiday in Slovenia, but I persevered with trying to make a Mississippi Mud Pie from my brand new copy of The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook.  Suffice to say it looked nothing like the picture (and that when they tell you to use a 23cm pie tin, do not assume that a 26.5cm one will work just as well).  Spurred on by this failure, and my weekly dose of The Great British Bake Off, to bake more, I decided to try something I had been thinking about for a few weeks, and which had a superb chance of not working.  If you are English and like to adhere to stereotypes, what is the best companion for a cupcake?  A cup of tea of course; the two were made to go together.  With that in mind, I decided to try a cupcake flavoured with good, old fashioned everyday English tea.

I had seen a recipe for green tea cupcakes in The Hummingbird Bakery: cupcakes and muffins, which used three tea bags brewed in milk overnight.  I didn’t have the time (or, admittedly, the patience) for this.  I put three tea bags in about 100ml of hot water, added about 20ml of milk, and left it to brew while I mixed the rest of the ingredients.  I took the vanilla cupcake recipe from the ever trusty Tarek Malouf and the Hummingbird bakers, but when it said to add 60ml of milk I added 45ml and mixed.  I whisked the egg and vanilla extract into the tea, then added this to the rest of the ingredients as instructed.  Once they had cooked and cooled, I used the Hummingbird Bakery vanilla icing, topped off with half of a mini chocolate digestive being ‘dunked’ into the tea.

I was a bit apprehensive about how these would work out, but they actually tasted quite good (at least in my very biased opinion).  When I make them next, I will probably use the same number of tea bags but less water, as they ended up being a bit too moist.  Are tea and cupcakes a match made in heaven?  My tea-hating boyfriend assures me that he likes them, but I’m not sure if that means they were not quite flavoured enough, or that they were just right.

The jury is still out, so I may have to test them on Grandma’s unwitting guests next week.  If nothing else, they will be a very English-tasting treat to welcome her home.

P.S. This is why I decided not to write about the Mississippi Mud Pie:

Next time I will aim for something that looks like a less literal interpretation of its name.  However, while it may look like something from Mary Berry's nightmares, the large amount of chocolate and cream drowned out the pastry and it actually tasted quite good.  Good old chocolate: I knew you wouldn't let me down.

Pink Vanilla Cupcakes

My sister's university friend is visiting and I thought cupcakes would be a nice welcome.  Rather than do something unusual which she might not like, I decided to keep it simple and opted for vanilla cupcakes with vanilla icing, both from The Hummingbird Bakery: cupcakes and muffins, by Tarek Malouf and the Hummingbird Bakers.

  However, on further thoughts, cakes made entirely of vanilla, the cake equivalent of whitewash, seemed a bit dull.  Rather than change the taste, I gradually added a few drops of red food dye to the cake mix.  I don't know about other people. but my mum has 'issues' with rightly coloured food (she claims it is a natural response as these are associated with poison, but I think is an excuse for being fussy).  As such, it may be worth not dying your cakes, say, bright blue, unless you are sure you will be feeding more broad-minded people.  I didn't put too much in, and only added it very gradually, until the mixture was pink.  It is not entirely clear in the pictures, but the inside of the cakes are very light pink.  I would probably have wanted it a stronger pink, but they look pretty in real life and at least my mum was happy.

Although they can be used to good effect, I don't really like using hundreds and thousands because they remind me of when, as a child, I would bury bowls of ice cream and tiny fairy cakes in them.  While at the time I probably appreciated this, I want to move on to more sophisticated decorating methods.  So I covered these in pink sparkles.  In the name of colour co-ordination, of course.

For a sparkly, girly treat, you can't go far wrong with sweet pink vanilla sponge and a glittery sugar topping.

Oreo Cupcakes

I felt like making something simple but with a classic, tasty twist, and what better than taking chocolate and adding more chocolate?  I chopped about eight Oreos into chocolate chip-sized chunks, and added these to the Hummingbird Bakery chocolate cupcake recipe by folding them in at the end.  I saved the inevitable crumbs the Oreos made on the chopping board, and dusted them over the Hummingbird Bakery’s vanilla icing.  There weren't quite enough, so I put two more Oreos into a small freezer bag and smashed them up with a wooden spoon, before topping each of the cupcakes with a mini Oreo.

The moist texture of the sponge was quite similar to that of the Oreos in the cake, which may not appeal to everyone.  However, chocolate cookie added to more chocolate can, in my book, only be a good thing.  Even my dessert-hating dad managed two in a row, so they can’t be that bad!

A mouth-watering treat for chocolate fans, these cupcakes are easy to decorate and sure to satisfy a sweet tooth.

Cappucino Cupcakes

Possibly in homage to my days as a waitress/barista, I wanted to make these coffee-flavoured cupcakes resemble little cappuccinos.  I used the coffee sponge recipe from Bake me I’m yours... cupcake by Joan and Graham Belgrove, and the cream cheese icing from The Hummingbird Bakery: cupcakes and muffins by Tarek Malouf and the Hummingbird Bakers, topped off with a dusting of sieved cocoa powder.  For a different effect, I cut a heart-shape into a piece of paper, held this over the cake so it was not touching the icing, while my dad sieved the cocoa powder through this to make a heart.

You can tell from the picture that icing was still slightly runny, although I think this makes them look tastier, in a home-made way.  I put less coffee in than the recipe said, so while mine still had a coffee flavour I suggest following the amount they tell you to use, unless you only want a hint of coffee.  Also, don’t go to o mad with the cocoa powder, as it can get caught on your throat!

These turned out pretty well, and with a few adjustments would make a nice treat to accompany a cup of coffee and a good book.

Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

I made these a while ago in July using the Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcake recipe from Tarek Malouf and the Hummingbird Bakers.  They have the delicious cream cheese icing and suggested topping of digestive biscuits from the same book, and I added quartered strawberries to finish.  Perfect to munch on while watching the tennis, they have strawberries in the bottom which gives the rest of the cake a lovely strawberry flavour.

The recipe tells you to use 200g of digestive biscuits for decoration - nearly all of a small packet.  I wouldn't recommend this, as even with generous toppings we were left with half a freezer bag of biscuit crumbs.  I would suggest that you start with only one or two biscuits, and break more up if you need them, which is common sense anyway.

These were a great hit with the family (I've been asked to make them again a couple of times) and I would recommend the recipe to any strawberry lovers out there looking for a taste of summer.