Welcome Back!!

Sorry that there has been a severe lack of posts for a while...University definitely got the better of us! but as second year has finished there will be plenty of baking to be getting on with, especially as our parents can now buy the ingredients!

Even though there haven't been any posts lately, we've still been baking so we've got plenty of posts lined up! and with our collection of baking books growing, our 'to do' list is getting quite long!

So we hope you enjoy our new posts!

Thanks for reading

Olivia and Naomi xx

Marbled Cupcakes

 

Both Naomi and I have been wanting to make Marble Cupcakes for a while and since our exams and assignments were over we decided we would finally get round to making them. We really liked the idea of mixing vanilla and chocolate sponge together.

We made the sponge mix as instructed, they took a little longer to cook than suggested but we just put this down to our Uni ovens. When it came to the frosting we decided to pipe some of them using a duo-icing piping bag.  The ones we pipe did look quite good although we don't think the frosting was quite piping consistency as it was quite hard to pipe. For the rest of the cupcakes we decided to use a palette knife to spread the frosting.

Apart from them taking slightly longer to cook, everything else went well and they were quite straight-forward to make.  Overall the cupcakes were really nice, all of our housemates enjoyed them! The sponge was really light despite it being chocolate sponge and frosting and I think the vanilla and chocolate flavours went really well together

Recipe 
(Cake Days - Hummgbird Bakery)
Makes 12-16 cupcakes

For the chocolate and vanilla sponges:
80g (3oz) unsalted butter
280g (10oz) caster sugar
240g (8 1/2oz) plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
20g (3/4oz) cocoa powder
2 large eggs
240ml (8 1/2fl oz) milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

For the chocolate frosting:
200g (7oz) icing sugar
50g (13/4oz) cocoa powder
80g (3oz) unsalted butter
25ml (1fl oz) whole milk


For the vanilla frosting:
250g (9oz) icing sugar
80g (3oz) unsalted butter
25ml (1fl oz) whole milk
1/4 tsp vanilla essence

one or two 12-hole deep muffin tins

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5 and fill a muffin tin with muffin cases.
• First make the flavoured sponges, beginning with the chocolate one. Using a handheld electric whisk or freestanding electric mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together half each of the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt,along with the cocoa powder, on a low speed until they have the texture of fine breadcrumbs.
• Break the eggs into a jug, add the milk and whisk by hand, then pour half of this mixture into the second jug a set aside for the vanilla sponge.
• Take the first jug with the egg mixture, pour three-quarters of this mixture into the dry chocolate sponge ingredients and mix on a low speed to combine.  Increase the speed to medium and keep mixing until smooth and thick. Scrape down the side of the bowl, add the remaining milk mixture from the first jug and continue to beat on a medium speed until all the ingredients are mixed in and the batter is smooth.
• For the vanilla sponge, repeat step 2 with the remaining half of the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt, but this time no cocoa powder.  Take the second jug of the egg mixture, whisk in the vanilla essence, then repeat step 4, pouring into the dry vanilla sponge ingredients and mixing as described.
• Divide the chocolate batter between the muffin cases, filling each by about a third.  Top with the same amount of vanilla batter and use a teaspoon handle to swirl the two mixtures together. If any batter remains, use it to fill more cases in a seperate muffin tin.
• Place in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes or until well risen and springy to the touch. Let the cupcakes cool in the tin for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely before you frost them.
• To make the chocolate frosting, whisk the icing sugar with the cocoa powder and butter on a low speed in a freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment, or using the electric whisk, until the mixture is sandy in consistency. Pour in the milk, still mixing on a low speed, then increase the speed to high and whisk the frosting until soft and fluffy.
• Repeat this step for the vanilla frosting, but omitting the cocoa powder and mixing the vanilla essence with the milk before adding it to the frosting.
• When the cupcakes have cooled, spread 1 tablespoon of each frosting on to each cake using a palette knife, then swirl the two for a marbled effect.

Thanks for reading,

Olivia xx

Snickerdoodles

Okay so I don't think Liv and I can maintain a blog at the same time as getting a degree aha, we're just not good at multi-tasking. When we woke up to snow on Friday (all be it quite a pitiful amount) as well as a text from uni saying our lectures were cancelled Liv and I thought we'd bake. We went to the Christmas section of Cake Days so it fitted in with the Winter weather outside of course and picked Snickerdoodles, these are a cinnamon based cookie. 

We put a bit more cinnamon in than the recipe originally suggests and I think that the outcome was just right. The biscuits are coated in a cinnamon sugar as well, so these aren't really for cinnamon haters. 

Recipe
(Cake Days - The Hummingbird Bakery)

For the Dough:
60g (2oz) unsalted butter
160g (5.5oz) caster sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
1 large egg
240g (8.5oz) plain flour
3/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/8 tsp salt 
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 

For the Coating:
1 1/2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

Method:

• Using a hand-held electric whisk or a freestanding electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla essence until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix well, scraping down the sides of the bowl to make sure all the ingredients are fully incorporated. 
• Sift together the remaining ingredients and add these to the creamed mixture in two or three batches. Mix well using the mixer or by hand until the dough forms a smooth ball. Place the dough in a bowl, cover with cling film and place in the fridge to chill and rest for approximately 40 minutes. 
• While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 170C (325F), Gas Mark 3, and line two to three baking sheets with baking parchment. 
• Next mix together the caster sugar and ground cinnamon for the coating in a small bowl. 
• Once the dough is ready, break off small, walnut-sized pieces of the dough and roll these in the cinnamon sugar, making sure each ball is completely coated. Place the dough balls on to the prepared baking sheets, allowing five or six cookies per sheet and arranging them 4-5cm apart to give them space to spread during cooking. 
• Pop in the oven and bake 10-13 minutes or until the cookies are a light golden colour. Allow to cool and set on the sheets for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack. 

Thanks for reading, 

Naomi ♥

Eggnog Cupcakes

As it was Christmas, I really wanted to try the Eggnog cupcakes in the Hummingbird Book and also thought it was a perfect opportunity to use my new snowflake cutters. I've never had Eggnogg before so I don't really know what it tastes like but I liked the sound of the rum and nutmeg used in these cupcakes.

The eggnog cupcakes use a plain sponge but put rum and nutmeg in the frosting to give the cake the eggnog flavour.  As usual the sponge was really nice and light and as it was plain sponge it allowed you to add lots of flavour to the frosting and it not be overpowering.  When I started baking, I realised I didn't have any rum essence, so I just used rum instead to give the cupcakes the flavour. The nutmeg and rum worked really well together and the nutmeg gave the frosting a really nice colour.

Nutmeg is quite a strong flavour so I would recommend to stick to the amounts that the book says to add as it's not for everyone's taste and adding too much would overpower the frosting.

For the snowflakes I used royal icing that I coloured blue as I didn't have any sugarpaste. I used the smallest of my snowflake cutters and was really pleased with how they came out. A few of them didn't quite come out as snowflakes as the edges are really delicate and sometimes hard to get out of the cutter but overall I was pleased with how they turned out.


Recipe 
(Cake Days - Hummgbird Bakery)
Makes 12-16 cupcakes

For the sponge:
80g (3oz) unsalted butter
280g (10oz) caster sugar
240g (8 1/2oz) plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
240ml (8 1/2fl oz) milk

For the frosting:
500 (1lb 2oz) icing sugar
160g (5 1/2oz) unsalted butter
2 tsp rum essence
1tsp freshly grated nutmeg
50ml (1 3/4fl oz) whole milk
Edible christmas themed shapes to decorate

one or two 12-hole deep muffin tins

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5 and fill a muffin tin with muffin cases.
• Using a handheld electric whisk or freestanding electric mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt on a low speed until they have the texture of fine breadcrumbs.
• Break the eggs into a jug, add the milk and whisk by hand, then pour three-quarters of this mixture into the dry ingredients and mix on a low speed to combine.  Increase the speed to medium and keep mixing until smooth and thick. Scrape down the side of the bowl, add the remaining milk mixture and continue to beat on a medium speed until all the ingredients are mixed in and the batter is smooth.
• Fill the paper cases two-thirds full with the batter.  If any remains, it can be used to full up to four more cases in a second muffin tin.  Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes or until risen and springy to the touch.   Leave in the tray for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before adding the frosting. 
• Using the electric whisk or a freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment, whisk the icing sugar with the butter, rum essence and grated nutmeg on a low speed until no large lumps of butter are left and the mixture is crumbly.  Gradually add the milk, then increase the speed to high and whisk until light and fluffy.
• Once the cupcakes are cold to the touch, smooth the frosting on top of each cake using a palette knife and add a decorative swirl.  Decorate with shop bought edible Christmas themed shapes or make your own from sugarpaste.

Thanks for reading,

Olivia xx

Chocolate Baileys Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes for my friend as part of our secret santa but have only just got round to posting about them. She loves Bailey's so I thought I'd incorporate it into some baked goods, a standard present from me (as well as giving her a bottle of it). The recipe is from 'Making Cupcakes with Lola' and I've been wanting to make them for a while. The sponge is chocolate with both whiskey and Bailey's added to it and on top is a Bailey's buttercream. After piping the icing onto the cakes I topped them off with a simple florist paste flower which I made using the large blossom cutter.

I was a little disappointed with myself for these cupcakes as I got carried away with Christmas T.V and over baked them slightly, however my friend was still very happy with them. The buttercream was really nice as it had just the right amount of Bailey's in it without it being overpowering or sickly.

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year, hopefully Olivia and I can keep up with our baking this year but bare with us as we sometimes find it hard to balance both university work and baking. I got a lot of baking goodies for Christmas so I might write a post about those this week at some point.

Recipe 
(Making Cupcakes with Lola - Victoria Jossel & Romy Lewis)
Makes 12 regular or 24 tiny cupcakes

For the sponge:
100g (31/2 oz) milk chocolate, chopped
125g (1 stick) butter, cubed
220g (1 cup) plus 1 tbsp caster sugar
120ml (1/2 cup) Baileys
2 tbsp whiskey
1 egg
a pinch of salt
150g (1 cup) plus 3 tablespoons plain flour
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder

For the buttercream:
125g (1 stick) butter, cubed and soft
500g (3 2/3 cups) icing sugar
3 tbsp Bailey's
1 tbsp milk

muffin pan lined with 12 muffin cases or mini-cupcake pan lined with 24 mini cupcake cases

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
• Put the chocolate, butter, sugar, Baileys and Whiskey in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Do not let the base of the bowl touch the water. Heat, stirring, until the chocolate melts and you have a smooth, glossy mixture. Remove from the heat and let cool for 10 minutes. 
• Now add the egg and salt and beat with an electric hand mixer. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder into the bowl and beat until blended. 
• Divide the mixture between the muffin cases. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or a little less for tiny cupcakes. They should be well risen and a skewer inserted in the middle should come out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack before decorating. 
• While the cupcakes are cooling down, make the Baileys buttercream. 
• Put the butter in a bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer until very soft and smooth. Sift half the sugar into the bowl, beating until incorporated. 
• Add the second half of the sugar and beat on a low speed. Slowly pour in the Baileys and milk and when they are all mixed in, beat for 3-5 minutes on a higher speed. 
• Spread the frosting over the cold cupcakes using a spatula, or spoon the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle/tip and pipe it on top of the cupcakes. 

Thanks for reading,

Naomi ♥

Christmas Cake

Having a Christmas cake in my house is a yearly tradition and nowadays I volunteer to make and decorate it myself. This year I decided to keep it quite simple by covering it with marzipan and sugarpaste and then making a wreath pattern from some florist paste ivy leaves I made. The good thing about this cake is the fact that it lasts such a long time, being a fruit cake this means that it keeps much better than most others. 
You can also make mini fruit cake cupcakes which I now do regularly for my brother as his wife doesn't like fruit cake but he loves it, meaning that he wouldn't go through a whole cake making cupcakes a perfect gift. 

Hope you all have a lovely Christmas and over-eat and indulge just like i'll be doing!

Thanks for reading,

Naomi ♥ 

Rustic Mince Pies

After finishing the mound of assignments which I've had in recently I can eventually relax and start to engage in some mandatory Christmas activities such as of course baking mince pies. This time however I decided I wanted to make the mince pies slightly differently and when I found this recipe in my Jamie Magazine  I had to give it a go. I love mince pies, however sometimes I find that the traditional ones have a bit too much mince meat in for my liking and these ones eliminate that problem perfectly.

The pies are made out of two types of pastry, a soft puff pastry filling encased in crunchy filo pastry and not only do they taste good they are ridiculously easy to make as well, you can find the recipe here. Basically you spread the mince meat onto a sheet of rolled out puff pastry and add whatever flavours you want, I added lemon and orange zest, brandy and some dried cranberries, you then roll it up into a giant swiss roll and refrigerate it for half an hour. When you take it out the fridge you cut them into discs and place them into a filo pastry lined muffin dish and bake for 25 minutes. They might not be the prettiest looking mince pies however they taste amazing and are definitely a different take on the same old mince pie.

Thanks for reading,

Naomi ♥

Lola's Cupcakes

A while ago Olivia and I paid a visit to the Lola's Cupcakes bakery in Topshop Oxford Street, I have their book so have been wanting to check out their cakes myself for a while now. We both loved the fact that there were so many different flavours available, from peanut butter to fresh mango, the range of cakes really reflected their cookbook. The fact that the bakery is in the middle of one of Oxford Street busiest fashion shops does make the visit that little bit less personal as you can only take the cakes away really, which in a way puts even more pressure on the cakes themselves as they do not have anything to fall back on. 

Another thing that Olivia and I liked about the selection is that you can get either a standard sized cupcake or a mini one, allowing yourself to try various flavours without feeling like a pig. We got a mini coconut cupcake as well as a mini peanut butter one. The coconut cupcake is shown below. 

We enjoyed both the cakes however for different reasons, we found that the coconut cake lacked flavour however the texture was really good, and in reverse, the peanut butter cupcake tasted great but was a little bit dry, if you put both these benefits together then they would have a perfect cake.

Olivia and I would definitely go back to Lola's Cupcakes again as there are just so many exciting flavours we want to try, and maybe next time we will receive both a light and flavorsome cupcake, we'll let you know! 

Thanks for reading,

Naomi ♥

S'moreanne Cupcakes

Sorry about the lack of posts recently, assignments have been getting in the way of blogging and baking but now everything is handed in, we can get back to baking.

Around Bonfire night it was Naomi's house mates birthday so we thought we would combine the two events and make S'moreanne cupcakes, which we had both wanted to make for a while anyway.
S'moreanne Cupcakes are a chocolate sponge, sprinkled with crushed digestive biscuits and topped with meringue, so we thought that with all the different textures and flavours, these would be a good choice.

We attempted Italian meringue for the topping, however, we don't think we let the water and sugar get hot enough as the meringue didn't hold it's shape. When that went wrong we decided to resort to French meringue and have decided that we will practice Italian meringue a bit more in the future, which will hopefully work next time!

The cakes themselves were quite interesting as there was a lot of different textures, however, we both found the sponge slightly dry. They looked quite nice and our housemates liked them though, so that's the main thing but if we were to make these again we might change the sponge recipe to see if we could improve it a bit.


Recipe
(Cake Days - The Hummingbird Bakery)

Makes 12-16 cupcakes

For the sponge:
          30g (1oz) dark chocolate
          5 digestive biscuits
          80g (3oz) unsalted butter, softened
          280g (10oz) caster sugar
          200g (7oz) plain flour
          40g (1.5oz) cocoa powder
          1 tbsp baking powder
          1/4 tsp salt
          240ml (8.5fl oz) whole milk
          2 large eggs

For the topping:
          200g (7oz) caster sugar
          4 egg whites
          100g (3.5oz) dark chocolate, broken into squares
          one or two 12-hole deep muffin tins
cooks blow torch (optional)

Method:

•  Preheat the oven to 170C (325F), Gas Mark 3, and line a muffin tin with muffin cases. Use the finest blade on a cheese grater to grate the chocolate and then set aside. Crush the biscuits in a food processor using the blade attachment or in a plastic bag using a rolling pin.
• Using a hand-held electric whisk or a freestanding electric mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt on a low speed until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• Mix the eggs and milk by hand in a jug, then pour three-quarters of this into the dry ingredients and mix on a low speed to combine. Increase the speed to medium and mix until smooth and thick.  Scrape the sides of the bowl, add the remaining milk mixture and keep mixing until all the ingredients are incorporated and the mixture is smooth.
• Spoon the batter into the paper cases, filling them by two-thirds. Any remaining batter can be spooned into more cases in another tin. Sprinkle the chocolate shavings and three-quarters of the crushed biscuits on top of the cupcakes, reserving the rest of the biscuit crumbs for later.
• Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes or until well risen and springy to the touch, then leave to cool completely. 
• Put the sugar in a small saucepan with 150ml (5.5 floz) of water and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, using the electric whisk or freestanding mixer with paddle attachment, whisk the egg whites until foamy. 
• When the sugar has boiled for 5-10 minutes and reached the soft ball stage, pour on to the beaten eggs while mixing on a medium speed.  Once added, adjust the speed to and whisk until the underside of the bowl feels lukewarm.  At this stage the meringue should have increased in size and become white, smooth and quite shiny.
• Smooth the meringue onto the cooled cupcakes, then swirl or mould into decorative spikes or waves using a palette knife.  With a cooks blowtorch, lightly brown the meringue to give it a baked appearance. Alternatively - pop the cakes under a hot grill - but only for a few seconds as the meringue will brown quickly and you don't want it to burn.  Decorate the cupcakes with biscuit crumbs and squares of chocolate.

Thanks for reading,

Olivia x x

Boston Cream Cupcakes

The majority of our baking nowadays is due to housemates or family birthdays, this time it was Olivia's housemates birthday again and after looking through the book in the past he'd mentioned that he liked the look of the Boston Cream Cupcakes, so of course it was these we made. These cakes are actually much simpler than you may first expect from the title and the picture in the book. The sponge is a plain vanilla, then filled with vanilla custard and topped with a chocolate buttercream.

We only had limited time to make the cakes due to afternoon lectures and the flatmate getting home so it was definitely time for teamwork and multitasking! I made the custard whilst Olivia made the cakes, therefore once the cakes were cooked and cooled the custard was cold enough to put straight into the cakes. The end result was good, the sponge was a really nice texture and the vanilla custard balanced out the rich chocolate frosting well. All the house seemed to like them and especially the boy whose birthday it was so overall they were a success!

Also, you guys should check out this new website I found, Bakery Box, it's basically like a baking version of a graze box. You choose a recipe from a large selection and they send you the ingredients you need for it, it's perfect for beginner bakers and people who want to bake but don't have much time on their hands to do so! They have a blog and facebook page too  which are both on their website so check those out too! 

Recipe
(Cake Days - The Hummingbird Bakery)

Makes 12-16 cupcakes

For the sponge:
          80g (3oz) unsalted butter, softened
          280g (10oz) caster sugar
          240g (8.5oz) plain flour
          1 tbsp baking powder
          1/4 tsp salt
          240ml (8.5fl oz) whole milk
          2 large eggs
         1 tsp vanilla essence

For the filling:
          250ml (9fl oz) whole milk
          1/2 tsp vanilla essence
          2 large egg yolks
          50g (1 3/4oz) caster sugar
          1 tbsp plain flour
          1 tbsp cornflour

For the frosting:
          400g (14oz) icing sugar
          100g (3.5oz) cocoa powder
          160g (5.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
          80ml (3fl oz) whole milk
          Finely grated dark chocolate, to decorate

one or two 12-hole deep muffin tins
piping bag (optional)

Method:

•  Preheat the oven to 190C (375F), Gas Mark 5, and line a muffin tin with muffin cases
• Using a hand-held electric whisk or a freestanding electric mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the butte, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt on a low speed until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• Place the remaining ingredients in a jug and whisk by hand, then pour three-quarters of this mixture into the dry ingredients and mix on a low speed to combine. Increase the speed to medium and keep mixing until smooth and thick, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally.Add the remaining milk mixture and beat until combined and smooth.
• Spoon the batter into the paper cases, filling them by two-thirds. Any remaining batter can be spooned into more cases in another tin. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes or until well risen and springy to the touch, then leave to cool completely. 
• While the cupcakes are cooking, make the filling. Pour the milk and vanilla essence into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, whisk the remaining ingredients together by and in a bowl until smooth and well combined. 
• Once the milk is boiling, remove from the heat and pour 4-5 tablespoons into the egg-yolk mixture to loosen, then return this mixture to the pan of hot milk, stirring to incorporate. 
• Return the pan to the heat and bring to the boil, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Boil for at least 1 minute to ensure the flour is properly cooked. Once thickened, tip the custard into a bowl and cover with cling film to prevent a skin forming, then leave to cool completely for 30-40 minutes. 
• To make the frosting, use the electric whisk or freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment to slowly beat together the icing sugar, cocoa powder and butter until sandy in texture. Gradually pour in the milk, then increase the speed to high and whisk until soft and fluffy. 
• Using a sharp knife, make a hole in the centre of each cupcake about 2cm (3/4in) in diameter and 3cm (11/4in) deep, reserving the scooped out pieces of sponge. Pipe or spoon the custard into the hole in each cake, then replace the sponge lid, trimming it if necessary to ensure the top i fairly level. Divide the chocolate frosting between the cupcakes, smooth the tops with a palette knife and add a swirl. Sprinkle with grated chocolate to decorate. 

Thanks for reading,

Naomi ♥

Calvin Klein Birthday Cake

It was recently my brothers birthday as you know from the previous post, so I obviously had to make a cake. As it was his 18th I wanted to do something a little bit different and like most teenage boys he's really into designers and especially Calvin Klein underwear so I made him underwear cake.

I made a three layer vanilla sponge filled with buttercream and strawberry jam and then carved it into the shape I wanted.  I used bright pink royal icing that I bought and white royal icing for the top and then piped round the seaming and the "Calvin Klein" waistband.

It's quite a simple shape with block colours but I was really pleased with how it came out.  My brother really liked it too so that was the main thing! I've made the vanilla sponge before and blogged about it and it turned out just as nice, it's really classic and simple but tastes really good and everyone likes it which is always a bonus. 

Thanks for reading

Olivia x x

Cookie Monster Cupcakes

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

Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

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 ♥

Birthday Carrot Cake

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

Espresso Cupcakes

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,

Naomi ♥

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 ♥