Strawberry, Coconut and White Chocolate Cupcakes

My least favourite icing to prepare? Plain buttercream.
The kind you make with just butter and icing sugar.
I find it too sweet to eat, and too greasy to handle.
Not that you're supposed to handle it, but when you're running buttercream classes - there's no getting around the fact that you're going to have to fill, and refill a couple of dozen bags of the stuff!

And to top it, my KitchenAid mixer  decided to pack up, after 12 years of hard work, just before the buttercream classes. Thankfully though, it was a quick and easy fix, and I didn't have to use my hand mixer to prepare for the classes!  I think I would have cancelled them- no jokes!

 

These were the cupcakes that I made for tea for those buttercream classes.
I specifically chose to pair them with swiss meringue buttercream (SMB), because its silky smooth, light and subtle flavour was an antidote to that other icing we were using.
And beating the meringue in my recently repaired mixer was a kind of celebration!

The cupcakes themselves are just a variation of the basic vanilla cupcake recipe, that I use when I want a light sponge. 

Strawberry, Coconut and White Chocolate Cupcakes 

Preheat the oven to 175'C. Line 2 x 24-hole muffin trays with cupcake cases. 

Ingredients:

320g cake flour
2 tsp baking powder 
60g fine desiccated coconut
120g white chocolate, cut into small pieces (alternatively, use callets or white chocolate chips)** 
4 eggs
360g caster sugar
250ml  milk
120ml vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
8-10 ripe strawberries, cut into small chunks 

(**chocolate chips will remain as distinct morsels; callets and small pieces of chocolate will melt - so the choice depends on the result you are looking for. I like the softness of  melted chocolate in this recipe, because the base cupcake is a light sponge. )

Method:

Mix the milk and oil together in a jug, and heat in a  microwave for 2 min on high. 
Set aside for 15 minutes. 

Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl; add in the desiccated coconut, and set aside. 

Place the sugar, eggs and vanilla extract in a mixer, and beat on high for approx.6 minutes, until pale and fluffy.

Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the egg mix,  followed by the half the warm milk and oil mixture. Repeat the process, ending with the dry ingredients. Fold in the chocolate and strawberries. 

Use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to fill the cupcake cases. 

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until just starting to turn golden. 

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

5 large egg whites

200g caster sugar
250 -300g butter, cut into cubes, at room temp.*
2tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt (omit if salted butter was used)

Put the egg whites and sugar into a mixing bowl, and place that over a  saucepan of simmering water. The bottom of the mixing bowl must not be in contact with the water, and the water should not be boiling.

Whisk constantly, until the sugar granules have dissolved and the mixture is hot to the touch. 

Move off the stove, and to the mixer.
Using the whisk attachment, whip until it forms a thick and glossy meringue.

When the mixing bowl feels neutral to touch (ie, no longer hot), change over to the paddle attachment, and add the butter one cube at a time. (* I stop adding butter when it reaches a consistency stiff enough to pipe.)
It may curdle, but just keep whipping until it reaches a satiny smooth consistency.
Then add the vanilla extract, beat briefly. 

Pipe onto the cooled cupcakes.
Top with a fresh strawberry.

Alternatively, try white chocolate SMB with these cupcakes. Or puree up some strawberries and add them to the icing for an extra strawberry kick - and a prettily speckled icing.  See here for a SMB with pureed raspberry. 

Happy cupcaking!

xxM

Ice-Cream Sundae and Sweet Treat Cookies

For me the jury is still out on the subject of sweet treats that look like savoury snacks - you know the ones I mean: french fries made out of cookies; cakes that look like pizza and hamburgers...
Maybe it's because I'm actually a savoury person (I know, I know!) and the thought of biting into a cheese burger where the cheese is fondant and the tomato sauce is icing,  just isn't appealing 🙈

But sweet treats that are decorated to look like other sweet treats... that's a different story! I loved decorating this set.

Ice cream sundaes, donuts and macarons; cupcakes, ice lollies and cones - all cookie'd. 

Even the donut is iced. Yes, yes, you can see the icing - but that's icing on top of  icing, not just a vanilla cookie. The vanilla cookie is iced to look like a vanilla donut... Are you seeing it?😅

(As I told the ladies in the class, no cutting corners - we're decorating cookies, and that means we're decorating cookies!) Even the sprinkles are iced...!

You don't need a huge variety of cutters to make these cookies. See that flat-bottomed cone and the sundae? It's the same cutter, just trimmed.  And the macarons, donut and bitten choc-chip cookie (oops - you'll have to look on IG for that last one!) are all done with round cutters.

And the best thing about these... if the kids hand you their half eaten ice-cream (usually in the car while you're driving) it's not going to drip all over your hands as you search for somewhere to dump it! 

Happy decorating!

xxM

Dinosaur Party Cookies

It's a good thing that putting together photographic tutorials isn't my day job.
I'd have been fired by now!
Because (once again), I have a couple of snaps of how to make these cookies, but short a few key steps.
The problem is that I either get carried away as I go, or I'm just winging it - and don't know what the final product is going to turn out to be. These eggs being case in point: I hadn't thought to add the dusting and painted-on cracks, but they looked a little bland, and that's when I added those final touches. I wish I had taken a picture before and after,  but I didn't so...

I'll just have to explain. Ok?

Ok...

For the Dino-emerging cookies: 

Use a wide flat brush or pallet knife to apply a patch of flood-consistency green icing* to the cookie. Allow to dry, then flood the egg around the gap. Once that is dry, pipe in an eye. Dust the cookie  to add dimension and paint on some cracks with a fine paintbrush.
*If you are doing claws emerging on a vanilla cookie, then use a background of black icing ( I didn't here because the chocolate cookie was dark enough). 

For the Dino-pawprint cookies:

Use a small sponge or flat-tipped brush to apply brown icing onto the cookie. (The best consistency is slightly thicker than flood-icing.) Allow to dry, then use a template to sketch on an outline of the dinosaur paw. Flood outside / around this area. When the icing outside of the paw-print is dry, pipe squiggles of icing on, and use a sponge to texture it.  Once dry, dust a little green colour onto the cookies for extra interest. 

These cookies were a huge hit with the 10 year old boys at my son's party. They even ate the greens without complaint. 😉

Recipe for the chocolate cookies here:
http://teacakeandcreate.blogspot.com/2013/06/chocolate-cookie-recipe.html


Happy baking & decorating!

xxM

Dinosaur Birthday Cake - with Tropical Leaves

There's a lot of things I could say about this cake - like how I made the dinosaur (head, body and tail moulded as a single unit for stability); or the teeth (done the way I made shark teeth for another of my son's birthday cakes); or even how the wooden gate was constructed (and what a big difference the shading on it makes). 

But ... seeing that I didn't take any progress shots of those steps, I'll just share a quick tropical leaf tutorial with you instead. 

Not the tropical leaves in the background of the photo (which I pulled off the road to cull from a plant on an abandoned verge. Did I hear someone say crazy woman?), but the ones on the cake:

 Because that's what you notice about this cake, right - the tropical leaves...!?!

Ok, maybe they're just part of the background decor, but I was super-pleased with myself for figuring out those wedges!

Tropical Leaves:  

Cut leaf shapes out of green paste (I use my standard modelling chocolate / fondant blend ), use the tip of a petal piping nozzle - e.g. an Ateco 104 - to cut the wedges out of the leaves. (Did I hear someone say brilliant?!) Brilliant!

Add veins with a dresden tool/ leaf veiner,

and some shading with powdered colour 

Yes, that's what he's looking back at and grinning about - those tropical leaves!

If you are more interested in those teeth though - you'll find a quick tip for making them here:

http://teacakeandcreate.blogspot.com/2016/08/shark-themed-birthday-cake.html 

If you want to see this fella without teeth, I shared an edentulous picture of him on Instagram.

Happy decorating!

xxM

Dark Chocolate Banana Muffins

When my daughter asked if she could have one of these dark chocolate banana muffins, I offered her the largest, only to have it rejected. I want one with sprinkles, she said. 
That’s icing sugar, not sprinkles, I pointed out. 

She rewarded me with a look that said  "Spare me the details and just hand it over, woman!" 

So of course I did. You don't argue with looks from 8 year olds!

Regardless of "sprinkles", my children love these muffins; even my son - who isn't a big fan of bananas. 
Well...that's probably because there's enough chocolate in them to make most banana-boycotters change their minds.  But it's antioxidant-rich dark chocolate: you feel yourself growing healthier with each bite 😉

One of these days, I'm going to recipe-test them with coconut flour, as a gluten free alternative (healthier with each bite, I tell you!). But for now, here's the traditional flour recipe ...

Dark Chocolate Banana Muffins

Recipe adapted from chelseasmessyapron.com

Preheat the oven to 180'C 

Line a 12-hole muffin tray with cupcake cases. 

Ingredients:

160g cake flour

40g unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

160g good quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped 

100g light brown sugar
125ml double cream yoghurt - plain, vanilla or coconut flavoured work well
60ml canola oil 
1 large free range egg
3 - 4 over-ripe bananas, well mashed ( to make approx. 1 cupful )

1 tsp vanilla extract

Sift together the dry ingredients, including the sugar. Mix in the pieces of dark chocolate. 

In a measuring jug, whisk together the oil, yoghurt, egg and vanilla. Mix in the banana.   

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Pour in the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. (Over-mixing will result in dense muffins). 

Divide the batter evenly between the 12 cupcake cases. 

Bake at 180'C for approx. 20 minutes. 

If you give these a try with coconut flour (remember to also adjust your liquids in the recipe), let me know how they turn out.  

Happy baking!
xxM 

Honey and Ginger Biscuits

Honey and ginger - just what the doctor ordered for these chilly winter days!

Often ginger biscuits are something that will land you in the dentists rooms, instead - right?!
Don't get me wrong - I love crisp ginger biscuits. But you usually need a cup of tea to dunk them in to save you a chipped tooth  🙈

These cookies, though, are crisp on the outside, chewy in the middle, and delightfully spiced.
My daughter got me to make them 2 days in a row because the first batch was devoured so quickly.

You can substitute golden syrup or molasses for the honey; each will add it's own unique flavour to the mix.


Honey and Ginger Biscuits / Cookies
Recipe by Tea, Cake and Create

Pre-heat the oven to 180'C
line 2-3 cookie trays with baking paper or silicone baking mats


Ingredients:

180g butter at room temp.
150g light brown sugar
1 free-range egg
60ml honey

320g cake flour
2 tbs ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Caster sugar for rolling.

Method:

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg and honey. Mix well.
Sift in the dry ingredients.
Mix until combined.

Roll cookie dough into small balls (about 3-4cm diameter), and roll these balls in caster sugar
(an easy way to do this is to put half a cup of caster sugar in a small bowl, and roll each dough ball around in this.)

Place on the prepared cookie trays and gently press down with a fork.
Bake at 180'C for 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies turn a light golden brown.

I gulped down a huge dose of patience, and had my kids do the rolling-into-balls part of the process. We had a lovely variety of cookie sizes and shapes. And caster sugar everywhere! 

Don't you just love the winter holidays? 😉

Happy baking!

xxM

Orange and Almond Dark Chocolate Biscotti

When I looked up the original recipe for these biscotti, I skim read through the method and completely missed the instruction to halve the chocolate  (50g of chocolate was intended for melting and drizzling over the baked biscotti).
It had been a busy week, and making biscotti was a last minute thought before we left for our Mozambique holiday.

 But when is too much chocolate ever an issue?! (Unless it's being consumed by your three year old before bed-time... Of course I don't have toddlers anymore, so S.E.P ... someone else's problem 🙊)

So, I have kept the chocolate volume un-halved in my version. And added some almond flour too.

My son did make pretty short change of these biscotti while we were away, but seeing as his days were filled with swimming, snorkelling and digging huge trenches in the beach, I wasn't too worried that he'd battle to fall asleep.

Plus they're loaded with dark chocolate (have I mentioned that?), and almonds - so they're essentially a health food...! 

Orange and Almond Dark Chocolate Biscotti 
Recipe adapted from Jamie Oliver 

Pre-heat the oven to 180'C
Line a baking tray with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Ingredients:

200g cake flour
40g almond flour
60g unsweetened cocoa powder
175g caster sugar
100g dark chocolate
60 g raw almonds
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
zest of 1 medium orange
3 large free range eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract


Sift the dry ingredients together.
Roughly chop the chocolate and the almonds.
Place all the above ingredients into a food processor and pulse several times; the chocolate and almonds should be in smaller pieces now.
Add the 3 eggs and vanilla, and pulse again until the mixture just starts to come together.
Remove from the food processor and mix by hand into a ball.
Divide the dough in two. Sprinkle a little caster sugar on your work surface and roll each half into a log approx. 28cm long.

Bake at 180'C for 25 minutes.
Remove from the oven, and allow to cool.
Use a serrated knife to cut the logs diagonally, into 1.5cm slices.

Place cut-side down on baking trays, and return to a warm oven (120'C) until dried out and crispy. 
Cool completely before storing in a sealed container.

Try different variations - Jamie Oliver's recipe called for cranberries and pistachios; and I made a batch with a tablespoon of ground ginger instead of the orange zest. 
Let me know what flavour combinations you use, and how they turn out. 


Happy baking!

xxM