Just Cupcakes

This is the cupcake, or I should say fairy cake as they were then, recipe that my Mum taught me when I was about 5 years old. We used to finish ours as butterfly cakes with a little bit of butter icing. These ones have evolved more in the style of cupcakes. I usually measure everything in metric when baking but when it comes to these cakes it's in my head in ounces.

The Recipe

60z butter

60z caster sugar

60z self raising flour

3 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 180c.

2. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat. Finally add flour and mix until smooth.

3. Put into individual cupcake cases and bake until golden springy to the touch (around 15 - 20 mins).

Topping

Icing sugar

Butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

I don't have the exact quantities for the topping - I just adjust until it all tastes right! I finished with mine with some Rainbow Sugar sprinkles that I got in Dean & Deluca in NYC.

A Claridge's Christmas

I got given a Claridge's Christmas pudding - I am so excited! They have only made 100 so feel very lucky! The big question is though - will the rest of the Christmas Day lunch live up to the pudding....

No Pastry Pear Tarts

I came across this recipe in Easy Living. I think these tarts look quite sophisticated but were so quick and easy to make. I like the fact they don't have pastry as it makes them lighter than some tarts.

The Recipe

180g unsalted butter

50g plain flour

180g icing sugar

100g ground almonds

2 tsp finely grated lemon zest

5 egg whites

2 small ripe pears, peeled, cored and sliced

1. Preheat oven to 200c. Lightly grease 6 tart tins (7cm) with removable bottoms.

2. Melt butter in small saucepan and gently cook for 1-2 mins until it has turned golden.

3. Sift icing sugar and flour into a mixing bowl. Stir in ground almonds and lemon zest.

4. Lightly beat the egg whites with a fork until just foamy and pour into bowl with dry ingredients. Add warm butter and mix with a wooden spoon until smooth.

5. Pour mixture into tart tins, filling each to 3/4 full and top with pieces of pear. Bake for 5 mins then reduce heat to 180c and cook for a further 10-15 mins until golden and risen.

6. Allow to cool in tins for 5 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Banana & Walnut Cupcakes

The cupcakes have a muffin like texture to them - the topping is very sweet but is nicely counter balanced by the actual cake. I found this recipe in The Cupcake Book by Susanna Tee.

The Recipe

225g plain white flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp bicarb of soda

2 ripe bananas, mashed

115g butter, softened

115g caster sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

4 tbsp soured cream

55g walnut pieces, roughly chopped

Topping

175g butter, softened

350g icing sugar

some walnut pieces, roughly chopped

1. Preheat oven to 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5. Line a cupcake tine with 14 paper cups. Sift together the flour, baking powder and bicarb of soda.

2. Whisk the butter, caster sugar and vanilla extract together in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, then stir in the mashed bananas, soured cream and walnuts. Fold in the flour mixture.

3. Put the mixture into the paper cups and bake for about 25 mins until risen and firm and golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin for about 10 mins before transferring to a wire rack to cool properly.

4. For the frosting, beat the butter until light and fluffy, then sift in the icing sugar and mix well together. I added a little bit of vanilla extract too.

5. Decorate the cupcakes when cool with the icing and chopped walnuts.

The Prettiest Macaroons

La Duree do the prettiest macaroons. I love this selection, especially the gold leaf ones!

Slightly over the top 60th Birthday Cake

I made this cake with my nieces and newphew - I had the best fun baking it with them. I think Barbie would like it......!

Custard Cake

Sorry for lack of posts - I've been on holiday in Ibiza. I had a fantastic cake there 'Flao' - I'm trying to track down a recipe for it.

When I was young my Mum used to make a Custard Cake which was amazing - it was in fact legendary as I remember friends used to come round and ask for it. Last night I found a recipe for this cake but I'm not sure where it's from as it was written on a piece of paper. So I made it and it definitely took me back to those childhood days! I didn't get the chance to speak to my Mum before I made it but have done so since. She used to make a buttercream and mix it with actual custard for the filling. This recipe just puts the custard powder into the buttercream with some hot water. Next time I'm going to try my Mum's version of the filling. The custard powder makes the cake so light and fluffy.

The Recipe:

200g plain flour

3 tbspns Birds Custard powder

2 tspns baking powder

1/2 tspn bicarbonate of soda

4 eggs

225g soft butter

200g caster sugar

2-3 tbspns milk

1. Preheat Oven to 180c

2. Butter & line 2 x 20cm sandwich tins.

3. Mix all ingredients except milk together until a smooth batter. Add the milk tbspn at a time to make soft dropping consistency. Put in 2 x cake tins and bake for around 20mins until skewer comes out clean.

Once the cake has cooled add the filling.

125g icing sugar

4 tspns Birds Custard powder

75g soft butter

1 1/2 tspns boiling water

1. Process the icing sugar and custard powder. Add butter.

2. Feed boiling water into mix while running.

Ricotta & Tomato Tarts

I thought I'd bake something savoury for a change. These would be nice picnic food....if we get some nice weather....

The recipe:

375g puff pastry (ready rolled/ready made)

250g ricotta

100g grated Gruyere

2 egg yolks

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

slices of baby plum tomatoes

olive oil to drizzle

fresh thyme leaves

1. Heat oven to 200c/180c fan/gas 6. Roll the pastry out. Cut out 10cm diameter circles and place into a greased muffin tray. Make sure the pastry doesn't overlap and there are no holes in the base.

2. Mix the ricotta, Gruyere, egg yolks and mustard together. Season and spoon into the cases. Finish each tart with 2 slices of tomato and a sprinkling of thyme leaves. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 20-25 minutes until pastry is brown and filling is set.

Lemon Polenta Cake

I have to say the thought of baking this afternoon and heating up an already overheated flat further with the oven didn't really appeal. However 75 degrees + or not I made the pact to bake something every weekend I was at home. So it got me to thinking that I wanted to bake something that smells of summer - or should I say an Italian summer. This cake, even in its raw mixture form, evokes freshly picked Sicilian lemons. I think it originated at The River Cafe but this recipe is a variation that I found in a weekend supplement. Anyway I soon found this afternoon that with a glass of something cold and white in hand and some chill out tunes on, sunny baking can be lovely....

The Recipe:

175g unsalted butter, softened (another bonus of baking on a hot day - butter softens v quickly....)

225g caster sugar

200g ground almonds

3 eggs

zest of 4 unwaxed lemons and juice of 1 of these

115g polenta

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 160c/gas mark 3.

2. Line a 20cm tin with baking parchment.

3. Put all the ingredients in a food processor and whizz to a smooth batter.

4. Spoon into the lined tin and bake for 45-50 mins. Cool in the tin.

Tarte aux Pommes

I was in France this weekend so didn't actually do any baking myself. However our lovely friends did make a very French, very delicious Tarte aux Pommes. I asked them for the recipe and here is what I got.

Recipe:

1. Peel, core and slice 3 apples (eating). Then fry the slices in butter with a couple of teaspoons of sugar until slightly soft (do this slowly and gently so they don't burn).

2. Roll out the pastry and put in a tart tin. (They used ready made sweet dessert pastry.)

3. Drain the apple slices and then lay them on the pastry so they overlap.

4. Bake for about half an hour at approx 200c.

5. Before serving brush with apricot jelly to glaze.

Picture on its way.....

I'm having camera problems and the pic won't load.....

Oatmeal & Raisin Cookies

I worship at the altar of Bill Granger and this is one of his recipes. His recipes always work!


The recipe can be found in his wonderful Bill Granger Everyday cookbook.

Raspberry & Lemon Torta

Recipe

This is a Tana Ramsay recipe - I've never tried any of hers before but this came out really well. It was easy to make - it's quite 'pudding like' in that is is quite dense and moist so would be nice served warm as a dessert. Haven't tried it yet cool as I've just had some after it came out of the oven.

115g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

450g raspberries (I used frozen ones defrosted. I used about 350g though and thought that already seemed like quite a lot)

juice 1/2 lemon

225g golden caster sugar

3 eggs

250g plain flour

2 tsps baking powder

finely grated zest 1 unwaxed lemon

1. Preheat oven to 160c/140c fan/325f/gas 3. Butter a 20cm round tin and line base with greaseproof paper.

2. Place raspberries and lemon juice in a bowl and put to one side. In another bowl whisk the sugar and eggs until pale and thick. Carefully fold in the flour, baking powder and lemon zest then stir in the melted butter.

3. Put the batter in the tin and then add the raspberries including juice on top. Sprinkle the top with sugar.

4. Bake for 70 mins (I had to bake mine for more like 90-110 mins). Cool in tin and then on rack.

Rhubarb Friands

I found this recipe in You Mag. They are friands although I don't have a special friand tin so baked mine in a normal muffin tin. Friands are little French tea cakes similar to the rectangular Financiers (Bars of Gold). These ones have rhubarb in although I reckon you could put loads of different types of fruit in instead. Maybe blueberries or fig? I just had mine with a cup of tea but would be great with ice cream as a pudding.

The recipe can be found here on the Daily Mail website.

Pumpkin & Coconut Cake

The jury's out on this one. It's a really moist cake, all in one recipe so easy to make but can't decide if I really like it or not! The recipe comes from weekend supplement so not sure of it's origins. It's sweet and unusual and so different to any other cake I've tried. I'm thinking it would probably work well baked in individual muffin tins.

The recipe

350g butternut squash flesh, grated (put in food processor on grater setting if have one as much easier)

120g desiccated coconut

200g self-raising flour

150g demerara sugar

4 eggs, beaten

butter for greasing

Preheat oven to 180c.

Grease a loaf tin and line with baking parchment.

Basically just combine all the ingredients together in a bowl and mix well.

Spoon into prepared tin and bake for about 1 hour.

Cool a little in a tin and then on a wire rack.