I saw these cupcakes quite a while back and have wanted to make them ever since, so I thought they would make a perfect accompaniment to my brother's birthday cake. It may have been his 18 but these are so cute and everyone loves the cookie monster!
I've seen quite a few different ways of making these but I used a blue frosting and then dyed some desiccated coconut blue for the topping. I really liked the texture that the coconut made, although my brother doesn't like coconut so I made some with blue sugar strands, they didn't look quite as good but they still did the job. I used white chocolate buttons for the eyes and piped on melted milk chocolate to make the pupils, although you can also use icing. I then just cut a small hole for the cookie to go into!
They are a bit more time consuming than a regular cupcake but I think they are definitely worth it as they look really cute. Everyone liked them as well so they were clearly a hit.
The cupcakes are classic chocolate sponge, which doesn't go great with buttercream icing, but my brother really likes chocolate cake so I improvised!
I would definitely recommend giving these a go though, they're fairly simple but are pretty impressive.
Thanks for reading,
Olivia x x
I love the flavour combination of chocolate and orange and those two combined in cakes is just too good. I made these cupcakes after seeing the recipe on one of my favourite cake blogs, 'Sweethearts Cakes and Bakes'. The recipe stood out to me and the cakes all looked perfect so I thought i'd give it a go, although I still need to make the chocolate orange cupcakes in the hummingbird book so when I do I can compare them.
The cake mixture is flavoured with orange essence and cocoa powder and they are topped with chocolate orange ganache. Yet again though, this means that the cakes have to be stored in the fridge which really ruins the texture of the them, so leave them out for around an hour before hand. I had some sugarpaste flowers left from the birthday cake Olivia and I made a few days before, so I decided that instead of throwing them away I'd put them on the cakes to make them look that bit prettier. I was really happy with how the cupcakes turned out, although I look forward to making the hummingbird ones and seeing which, if any, I prefer.
The recipe for these cakes can be found here, I really recommend giving them a go. All the cakes on Sweethearts Cakes and Bakes look amazing and i'm excited to try some more, especially the mint chocolate ones.
Thanks for reading,
Naomi ♥
It was my housemates birthday this week, so Naomi and I decided we obviously had to make her a cake. After suspiciously throwing quite a few cake related questions into casual conversation I found out that she loves carrot cake, so that was the sponge sorted. I then discovered her favourite colours are duck egg blue, peach and lilac (she had to have picky taste ha), but as it was her birthday we tried our hardest to create something along these lines.
The carrot cake recipe is a simple hummingbird one, it was made up of three layers and then sandwiched and covered with a cream cheese frosting. A couple of days before making the cake, Naomi and I made some blossom flowers and roses from florist paste. The reason why you make them in advance is so that they can dry out effectively, making them easier to put on the cakes at a later point. Lastly, we piped '20' on top of the cake in a slightly pink colour, just in case she forgot she'd gained a year and was no longer a teenager.
The cake went down really well with all the rest of the house and her friends, although i'm not sure if students eating free cake really shows how tasty it actually is.
Recipe(The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook - Hummingbird Bakery)
Serves 10-12
For the sponge:
300g Soft Light Brown Sugar
3 Eggs
300ml Sunflower Oil
300g Plain Flour
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon, plus extra to decorate
½ tsp Ground Ginger
½ tsp Salt
¼ tsp Vanilla Extract
300g Carrots, grated
100g Shelled Walnuts, chopped, plus extra, chopped and whole, to decorate
For the frosting:
600g icing sugar, sifted
100g unsalted butter, softened
250g cream cheese frosting
Three 20cm (8in) diameter loose-bottomed sandwich tins
Method
- Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F) Gas 3.
- Put the sugar, eggs and oil in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) and beat until all the ingredients are well incorporated (don’t worry if the mixture looks slightly split). Slowly add the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt and vanilla extract and continue to beat until well mixed.
- Stir in the grated carrots and walnuts by hand until they are all evenly dispersed. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tins and smooth over with a palette knife. Bake in the preheated oven for 20–25 minutes, or until golden brown and the sponge bounces back when touched. Leave the cakes to cool slightly in the tins before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- Beat the icing sugar and butter together in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) on medium-slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed.
- Add the cream cheese in one go and beat until it is completely incorporated. Turn the mixer up to medium-high speed.
- Continue beating until the frosting is light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes. Do not overbeat, as it can quickly become runny.
- When the cakes are cold, put one on a cake stand and spread about one-quarter of the Cream Cheese Frosting over it with a palette knife. Place a second cake on top and spread another quarter of the frosting over it.
- Top with the last cake and spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides. Finish with walnuts and a light sprinkling of cinnamon.
Thanks for reading,
Olivia x x
Okay, I know Olivia and I have been awful at posting recently, we're just trying to get used to blogging whilst at University (it's actually surprisingly hard). Also, apologies for the lack of photo's for this post.
Anyway, let's get on with it. After telling my housemates that i'm going to be baking a lot this year, I thought it was about time I actually started doing this. Olivia and I decided we were going to make the Espresso cupcakes from the Hummingbird book, we both love coffee cake and thought the idea of an espresso one would be a bit more interesting, and being students they seemed quite a cheap option. However, we may have taken the student route a bit too far as we definitely picked the cheapest espresso powder in the shop, which didn't turn out the best way texture wise. Although, this could also be due to our slight lack of coffee knowledge. The coffee didn't dissolve in the milk the way we wanted it too, meaning that it was slightly gritty (which you can see in the photo). However, they tasted really good and all the flat seemed to like them! The icing was quite a strong coffee taste, we think this might be to do with getting the wrong type of coffee. Therefore, if we did make them again we'd probably invest a bit more money and knowledge into buying the right espresso.
Recipe
(Cake Days - The Hummingbird Bakery)
Makes 12-16 Cupcakes
For the sponge:
240ml (8.5fl oz) milk
20g (3/4oz) instant espresso powder
80g (3oz) unsalted butter, softened
280g (10oz) caster sugar
240g (8.5oz) plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
For the frosting:
50ml (11/3fl oz) whole milk
16g (1/2oz) instant espresso powder
500g (1lb 2oz) icing sugar
160g (5.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
36-48 chocolate-coated coffee beans, to decorate
One of two 12-hole deep muffin tins
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 190C (375F), Gas Mark 5 and fill a muffin tin with muffin cases.
- Lightly warm the milk, without boiling it, and dissolve the espresso powder in it. Using a hand-held electric whisk or a freestanding electric mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt on a low speed until they are like fine breadcrumbs in consistency.
- Pour the coffee-flavoured milk into the jug, add the eggs and whisk by hand until combined. Pour three-quarters of this milk mixture int the dry ingredients and mix together on a low speed, then increase the speed to medium and keep beating until smooth and thick. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then pour in the rest of the milk mixture and continue to beat on a medium speed until everything is mixed together and you have a smooth batter.
- Divide this between the muffin cases, filling each case by two-thirds. If any batter remains, use this to fill up to four more cases in a separate tin. Bake int he oven for 18-20 minutes or until risen and springy to the touch. Leave in the tin for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before adding the frosting.
- As before, slightly warm the milk and dissolve the espresso powder in it. Set aside to cool completely before using.
- Using the electric whisk or freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment, set on a low speed, whisk the icing sugar with the butter until they are fully combined and the mixture is sandy in consistency. Slowly start to add the coffee-flavoured milk, then, once mixed in, increase the speed to high and whisk until light and fluffy.
- Place spoonfuls of frosting on to the cold cupcakes, smoothing the tops with a palette knife and swirling to finish. Decorate each cake with three chocolate-coated coffee beans.
Thanks for reading,
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