MagicMum.com

DS2 got a Cupcake recipe book from his Godmother for his birthday.
Here's the link http://www.amazon.co.uk/Super-duper-Cup ... 005&sr=8-1

The cupcakes are amazing....here's a couple of recipes

Deep Dark Chocolate Cup Cakes

4oz of cocoa
8oz of very hot water
2 tsp of vanilla extract
10oz plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp of salt
60z unsalted butter softened
10oz caster sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature

Preheat oven to 180c or gas mark 4.

Put cocoa in a jug, add hot water and vanilla extract and mix. Cool to room temperature.

Mix flour, salt, and bi-carb in a bowl

Beat the butter until soft, add the sugar and beat until fluffy, beat in the eggs.

Add about 1/3 of the dried ingredients to the butter mix, followed by 1/3 of the cocoa and mix until blended.
Repeat this twice.
Then beat until the batter looks satiny.

Pour batter into muffin cases (they look amazing if you use the dark brown muffin cases you get from Asda) and bake in the centre of the oven for 17 - 20 minutes. Test with a toothpick...if it comes out clean they're cooked.

Leave to cool on a wire rack for about an hour before frosting.


Frosting

8oz of unsalted butter
1lb of icing sugar
1 tbsp of vanilla extract
2 tbsp of double cream
Pinch of salt

Beat ingredients until smooth and fluffy then add any food colouring you want.

You can make chocolate frosting by adding 6oz of cocoa and an extra 2 tbsps of double cream.


All a bit of a pfaff to make but the results are immensely worthwhile, although highly-calorific.

hth
m

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Enjoy the book, it has had a great deal of use in this house, unfortunately
It's american so you might have to google some of the terms.
All-purpose flour is plain flour
A stick of butter is 4oz
Confectioners' sugar is icing sugar
Baking Soda is bi-carb
Heavy cream is double cream
And a lot of the measurements are in cups
You could use this conversion table
http://www.recipedelights.com/measurements.htm
hth
m

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Cupcakes are soooo popular, we can't keep them in the shop! Somebody should open a cupcake shop.......

here's the 2 I make at home

chocolate cupcakes

http://italianfoodies.wordpress.com/200 ... -cupcakes/


lemon cupcakes

http://italianfoodies.wordpress.com/200 ... -cupcakes/


maybe have a MM cupcake competition?? everybody post photos of their creations?

L orraine

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dd born Nov '06

http://italianfoodies.ie

http://twitter.com/italianfoodie

http://www.facebook.com/lacucina

I've just been googling recipes, delighted I found this!

There's a little shop in Georges Street Arcade that has lime & ginger cupcakes. They are to die for..I'd kill for one.

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The Boy is 6
The Girl is 2

"A lot of people mistake a short memory for a clear conscience" - Doug Larson

Dunno if it's still there or not but i saw a place like this last month in ILAC center in dublin, think it was called cups n stuff or something like that, and there was just cupcakes everywhere god they looked amazin, didnt actually buy any cuz i was in a hurry to meet other people but id defo be tempted next time i was there to!!

Question for Italian Foodie - your recipes for the lemon cakes says 180 degrees - I have a fan oven. Do I reduce the time or the temperature?

Thanks

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The Boy is 6
The Girl is 2

"A lot of people mistake a short memory for a clear conscience" - Doug Larson

where do you get all the lovely decorations for the top of them, they are lovely

Lou

Happypair I know in Dublin they charge 2 euro per cup cake, and I would have paid that for dd birthday party if I could have gotten into town to collect them but coudnt.

If you are talking the nice big ones with iceing etc i would pay 2 euro, not for fairy cake ones though

lou

HappyPair, there was a stall called Buns at Howth farmers' market today - I bought a cupcake and it was €2.50.

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These are ones I made recently


and

The icing on the buns above looks like butter icing (or maybe American frosting?) but I think butter icing.
Add butter to your mixture (icing sugar and tablspn of milk or water), I used R.Allens recipe for a cake last night and it has piles of sugar, too sweet imo, but recipe is;
3.5oz butter, 7oz icing sugar and 1tblspn milk or water. I reckon 4oz of sugar would be sufficient, maybe 5 if you want v.sweet taste.
Mix butter by hand until really soft, sift icing sugar into butter and mix in stages, add 1tblspn of milk/water and mix, (i added the liquid in drips as you don't want the mixture too wet).
For cake I just used a spatula but for the cupcakes you could use a piping bag and pipe away.
They look gorgeous alright.
The kids decorated the cake here once it was iced, you can imagine the array of buttons and jellybears that were insisted upon. dd's bday today, cake gone, kids wouldn't touch it .

Has anyone ever made the American frosting as in r.Allen's book?
Is it very finicky? I'd love to try it but have not much patience with frosting/icing, I usually opt for the melted chocolate option at all times (only dd wanted a pink cake, hence the icing adventure yesterday ).
C

Rorys Mum they look deadly! Fabulous.
Now what kind of icing is that?
C

Ok ladies can I ask what toppings you are using and are you using piping etc, I usually do a glace icing and am getting a little bored any inspiration ?

Mine are carrot flavoured cupcakes with cream cheese and icing sugar topping. They are piped with a star-shaped nozzle.

160 for a fan oven I think just re the icing sugar for the icing, I think 150g is too much, must change it, I just add it and taste as I go:)

Rory'smum - do you deliver to Limerick? I really need a supplier

happypair - we charge €1.55 in the shop but I think people would easily pay up to €2.50 for them, they look fab!.

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dd born Nov '06

http://italianfoodies.ie

http://twitter.com/italianfoodie

http://www.facebook.com/lacucina

I love the cream cheese icing

lou1 - all the supermarkets have a good selection of the flowers etc. I know there is an online store too that sells absolutely everything. I'll see if I can find the link.

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dd born Nov '06

http://italianfoodies.ie

http://twitter.com/italianfoodie

http://www.facebook.com/lacucina

Italian foodie... thanks for the compliment, i love all types of baking and make novelty cakes too.Unfortunately i am in Kildare and can really only supply the immediate area!!!

No problem, happy pair. Will pm you my website as I have a selection of what i do on it.
ROry's mum

Good woman, and well done for supporting MM cottage industry too!

I read an article about cupcakes recently as it happens, and they recommend a recipe for Classic Butter Cupcakes. I thought the comment about portion size was interesting. I'm not volunteering to bake at the moment, but if anyone tries out the recipe - it looks easy enough - let me know whether it works please

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"...weigh books on a scale and award letter grades for reading done by the pound."
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Rorys mum for the cream cheese icing did you just use philly, butter and icing sugar and what quantities did you use ? Mine always ends up too runny.

Love the cake stand too anyone know where i could get one not too expensive?


The cake supply shops on ebay have a great selection of sugarpaste flowers really cheap.

rorysmum they are amazing, do you have a shop?

Italian foodie, would love that website if you manage to find it - going to go have a search now myself and see what I come up with, they look so nice at a party

lou

CEE Cee, I use 40z of philadelphia cream cheese to 4oz of icing sugar and gradually put in drops of orange juice to get the right consistency.

Lou1, no I don't have a shop. I'm just a SAHM with a huge interest in baking and cakes, make them for friends, neighbours... friends of friends...etc through word of mouth and make a few euros out of it.

Thanks for that how many roughly does that cover?

If you double it... it should do 12, enough to pipe and plenty to just spread.

god i'm hungry looking at all those lovely photos