Pistachio Loaf

Okay so there has clearly been a ridiculous lack of blogging recently, sorry about that! Liv and I have been pretty busy recently what with moving back to university (pretending we're still freshers) and something else which we'll show in a blog post very soon.

Anyway, before coming back to Bournemouth I made the pistachio loaf from the Hummingbird book, this is probably my most used recipe from 'Cake Days', however up until now, I myself had never eaten the loaf as I'd always made it for my friend. This time was no different, apart from the fact that I actually managed to eat some. The fact that I have made it numerous times show that it seems to go down well, the cake itself is quite sweet, however the pistachio aspect means that it isn't too much.
The only thing I'd say which is slightly annoying about the recipe is that it takes much longer in my oven than the book originally suggests. I've tried it on various settings on the oven but the middle always seems to take a while to cook, but this isn't the end of the world and the outcome makes it all okay. 

Recipe
(Cake Days - The Hummingbird Bakery)

Serves 8-10

For the sponge:
190g (7oz) unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
190g (7oz) plain flour, plus extra for dusting
190g (7oz caster sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
25ml (1fl oz) soured cream
1tsp vanilla essence
100g (3.5oz) shelled pistachios, roughly chopped

For the glaze:
120g (4oz) icing sugar
40g (1.5oz) ground pistachios 

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 170C (325F), Gas Mark 3, then grease the loaf tin with butter and dust with flour. 
• Using a hand held electric whisk or a freestanding electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the egg one to a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl to make sure all the ingredients are properly mixed together.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, then add to the creamed mixture in two batches and mix on a low speed until just incorporated . Add the soured cream and vanilla essence, then stir in the chopped pistachios by hand. 
• Pour or spoon the batter int the prepared tin, then lace in the oven and bake for 50-60 minutes or until the sponge feels firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean, with no uncooked batter sticking to it. 
• Allow the loaf to cool a little in the tin, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool down fully before adding the glaze.
• Place the icing sugar in a bowl, add 2 tablespoons of water and mix together. This will form a fairly runny paste; if the glaze seems too thick, add a little more water to thin it - 1/4 teaspoon at a time. Stir in the ground pistachios, keeping a small amount aside to sprinkle on top. Pour the glaze over the cooled loaf and sprinkle with the remaining pistachios. 

Thanks for reading,

Naomi ♥

Vanilla Cupcakes

I recently bought a new piping head and haven't done just piped cupcakes in quite a while so I decided that I would practice piping roses using buttercream icing. The piping head I used for the roses is #104 which can also be used for bows, petals etc...

I used the Hummingbird Bakery recipe for vanilla cupcakes and then piped the vanilla icing on top.  The cakes themselves were really light and moist and had a nice hint of vanilla.  I really like classic sponge and this was definitely a recipe I would use again. I particuarly like using milk with the butter in the icing to make it more creamy and a bit less sickly.

As I wanted to pipe roses I decided to use pink and white icing as I thought these colours go really nice together and went really nicely with some pink and white cupcake cases I have. As the whole point was to practice flowers most of the cupcakes used roses, however I tried them in different ways and the ones that didn't use roses I piped hearts to stay along the theme. To pipe buttercream roses a pin is usually recommended, however, I decided just I'd pipe them straight onto the cupcakes, which I think looked just as nice.

I'm really pleased with how they turned out and I really like the colours together. I like piping and would definitely try out some other designs in the future or even make these ones again for a special occasion e.g. valentines day, anniversarys etc...

Recipe
(Cake Days - The Hummingbird Bakery)

Makes 12-16

For the sponge:
80g unsalted butter, softened
280g caster sugar
240g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
240ml milk
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the vanilla frosting:
500g icing sugar
160g unsalted butter
50ml milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
Food colouring (optional)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 190C (325F), Gas Mark 5 and line a muffin tin.

Using a handheld whisk slowly beat together the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt until the ingredients resemble fine breadcrumbs.

Whisk the milk, egg and vanilla extract together in a jug, then slowly pour about half into the flour mixture, beat to combine and turn the mixer up to high speed to get rid of any lumps.

Turn the mixer down to a slower speed and slowly pour in the remaining milk mixture. Continue mixing for a couple more minutes until the mixture is smooth. Do not overmix.

Spoon the mixture into muffin cases until two thirds full. Pop in the oven and bake for 18-20 mins, until the sponges feel springy. Leave to cool.

To make the frosting whisk the icing sugar with the butter on a low speed until fully combined. Add the vanilla essence to the milk and pour into the butter and icing sugar while mixing on a low speed until light and fluffy.

If you want to add food colouring, add a few drops to the icing, being careful not to add too much and alter the taste.  Wait until the cakes are fully cooled to add the frosting.

Thanks for reading,

Olivia x x

Baby Shower Cupcakes

A friend recently asked me to make some cupcakes for her sister-in-law's baby shower and I of course immediately agreed. This was my first paid order and it's also good experience, as well as being a lot of fun. 

I was only making 20 cupcakes so the task wan't too daunting, we decided on 10 chocolate cakes and 10 lemon, keeping the flavours simple, so we could please as many people as possible. After doing some online research and talking to my friend about her ideas we agreed on the 10 chocolate cupcakes having a babies face on them and the 10 lemon cakes being topped with lemon butter icing and baby themed icing figurines. They know that the baby is a boy which also made the process slightly easier as it meant we could have a definite colour scheme. 

Lemon Cupcakes 

Chocolate Cupcakes

For the icing shapes on top of the lemon cupcakes I used modelling paste and various food colour pastes. I made them a couple of days in advance so that they could dry out properly. The faces on the chocolate cupcakes were just made out of sugar paste and they were very easy to do as the design is simple but at the same time, effective. 

I was really happy with the outcome of both sets of cupcakes and so was my friend and apparently everyone at the shower, so overall my first order was a success!

Thanks for reading,

Naomi ♥

Strawberry Daiquiri Mini Cupcakes

My sister has wanted me to make these cupcakes for a while and i'd recently bought some mini silicone cupcake cases so I thought i'd give them a go. I've made Strawberry Daiquiri cocktails before and really like them so I was looking forward to tasting these.

I think they are really interesting cupcakes as you have the soaked strawberries at the bottom of each case which adds texture to the overall cake as well as giving the strawberry flavour.  You make up a classic sponge batter and then pour a small amount of the rum liquid over each cupake which gives them more flavour and makes them quite moist.

They are really light and taste really good and although they are quite sweet the small size of them means that they're not too much. They're also great because you can alter them to your taste, for example, if you wanted them more alcoholic you can add more rum and vice versa.  Lastly, they look really cute, although most mini things do. I would make these again and would recommend them as well, they're perfect for Summer gatherings especially. 

Recipe
(Cake Days - The Hummingbird Bakery)

Makes 24-30 mini cupcakes

For the Sponge:
          100ml (3.5 fl oz) white rum
          170g (6oz) caster sugar
          150g (5.5oz) strawberries
          40g (1.5 oz) unsalted butter, softened
          120g (4oz) plain flour
          1.5 tsp baking powder
          1/4 tsp salt
          1 large egg
          120ml (4fl oz) whole milk
          1/2 tsp vanilla essence 

For the Frosting:
          80g (3oz) unsalted butter, softened
          250g (9oz) icing sugar
          1/2 tsp finely grated lime zest
          4 tsp whole milk
          sliced strawberries, sprinkles or edible glitter to decorate.

One or two 24-hole mini muffin tins

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 170C (325F), Gas Mark 3, and fill a muffin tin with mini muffin cases. 
• Add the rum and 30g (1oz) of the sugar to a small saucepan and bring to the boil, allowing it to reduce by about half, then set aside to cool slightly. Hull and chop the strawberries into small pieces, then soak in the rum and sugar reduction for 30-40 minutes. 
• Meanwhile, using a freestanding electric whisk with the paddle attachment or a hand-held electric whisk, slowly mix together the butter, flour, remaining sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix until the ingredients have come together and resemble fine breadcrumbs. 
• In a jug whisk the egg, milk and vanilla essence together. With the mixer or electric whisk still running on a low speed, gradually pout the liquid mixture into the flour and butter and mix thoroughly, scraping down the sides of the bowl every now and then. 
• Drain the strawberries from the rum reduction, reserving the liquid and place a few small pieces of strawberry in each cupcake case. Spoon the cake batter on top, filling each case by two-thirds. Any remaining batter can be spooned into one to six more paper cases in a second mini muffin tin.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the cupcakes are a light-golden brown colour and bounce back when lightly pressed. While they are still warm, spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of the rum reduction over each cake, then leave to cool completely before frosting. 
• Using the freestanding electric mixer or electric whisk, set on a low speed beat together the butter, icing sugar and lime zest until combined and crumb-like in texture, then mix together the milk and 4 teaspoons of the reserved rum reduction in a jug. Pour the milk and rum into the butter and icing sugar mixture, still mixing on a slow speed. When all the liquid has become incorporated, increase the speed to high and beat the frosting until soft and fluffy. 
• Smooth the frosting on to the cupcakes using a palette knife. Thee cupcakes can be topped with fresh chopped strawberries, or for a celebratory touch, a scattering of sprinkles or edible glitter. 

Thanks for reading,

Olivia xx