Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cupcakes.

When it comes to food; I don't think there is anything I like more than chocolate and peanut butter. The rich, salty peanut butter against the sweet,decadent chocolate; for me, it is just perfection. As such, this recipe is one of my all-time favourite cupcake recipes and I hope it becomes one of yours too! Again this recipe uses my favourite chocolate cake recipe to create a lovely, moist chocolatey sponge filled with rich, dark chocolate ganache and sweet, creamy peanut butter pudding. Top it all off with a swirl of fluffy peanut butter frosting and a sprinkle of mini Reese's peanut butter cups and you're good to go! So please, go devour them happily! Some things taste just too good to worry about the waistline. 

Recipe

For the Chocolate Cupcakes-

110g unsalted butter, softened

220g dark brown sugar

2 eggs

165g self-raising flour

55g cocoa

1/2 tsp. bicarbonate soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

140ml sour cream

For the Chocolate Ganache-

100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

100ml double cream

For the Peanut Butter Pudding-

30g Golden caster sugar   
1 1/4 tsp. cornflour
pinch of salt 
100ml evaporated milk 
30ml double cream 
30g peanut butter 
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the Peanut Butter Frosting-

220g icing sugar

200g creamy peanut butter

140g unsalted butter, softened

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. salt

160ml double cream

To top the cupcakes- 24 Reese's Mini Peanut Butter Cups (chop 12 into tiny pieces and keep 12 whole)

Method

1. Start by preparing the cupcakes. Line a muffin tin with 12 muffin cases and pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

2. For the chocolate cupcakes, cream together the butter and sugar using an electric whisk. Gradually beat in the eggs and add the sour cream. Sieve together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and delicately fold into the mixture.

3. Divide the mixture into the 12 cake cases and bake for 15-17 minutes or until the sponge springs back when the surface is pressed lightly.

4. Place the cupcakes on a wire rack and allow to cool.

5. While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the chocolate ganache. Heat the cream until it simmers and stir in the dark chocolate until it completely melts and produces a glossy, dark chocolate ganache. Allow to cool until it thickens slightly but, not too much as it will be difficult to fill the cupcakes.

6. Next, prepare the peanut butter pudding. Whisk together the caster sugar, salt and cornflour in a saucepan to blend. Gradually whisk in the milk, then cream. Whisk over medium heat until the mixture comes to the boil. Then boil until thick, whisking constantly for about 30 seconds. Whisk in the peanut butter; boil until thick again, whisking often for about 1 minute longer. Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla. Set the pan aside to cool.

7. Once the cupcakes are cool use an apple corer to cut out a dip/hole in the centre of each cupcake and once the ganache and pudding are cool fill each dip/hole with 1 tsp. chocolate ganache and 1 tsp. peanut butter pudding. 

8. Finally, prepare the peanut butter frosting. Place the icing sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light, pale and smooth. Finish by piping each cupcake with a swirl of peanut butter frosting, scatter with the chopped reese's mini peanut butter cup pieces and pop a whole peanut butter cup on the top.

Mint Chocolate Cupcakes.

Making a cupcake that tastes just like a Mint Aero could never be a bad thing, right? Well, I've only gone and done it! Yesterday, I decided to whip up a batch of my favourite chocolate cupcakes and then I made half into Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cupcakes and half into these Mint Chocolate Cupcakes. I've got to say I am actually really pleased with them and they taste pretty damn good if I do say so myself! The sweet, fluffy peppermint frosting tastes lovely paired with the soft, chocolatey sponge and rich, dark chocolate ganache and the pastel green frosting also looks really pretty against the deep, decadent, dark chocolate sponge which, I'm really happy about. I love a sweet and simple presentation and I really hope you enjoy these Mint Chocolate Cupcakes too! 

Recipe

For the Chocolate Cupcakes-

110g unsalted butter, softened

220g dark brown sugar

2 eggs

165g self-raising flour

55g cocoa

1/2 tsp. bicarbonate soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

140ml sour cream

For the Chocolate Ganache-

100ml double cream

100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

For the Peppermint Frosting-

230g unsalted butter, softened

450g icing sugar, sifted

2 tsp. peppermint essence

green food colouring

crumbled chocolate cupcake or cookie to decorate

Method

1. Start by preparing the cupcakes. Line a muffin tin with 12 muffin cases and pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

2. For the chocolate cupcakes, cream together the butter and sugar using an electric whisk. Gradually beat in the eggs and add the sour cream. Sieve together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and delicately fold into the mixture.

3. Divide the mixture into the 12 cake cases and bake for 15-17 minutes or until the sponge springs back when the surface is pressed lightly.

4. Place the cupcakes on a wire rack and allow to cool.

5. While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the chocolate ganache. Heat the cream until it simmers and stir in the dark chocolate until it completely melts and produces a glossy, dark chocolate ganache. Allow to cool until it thickens slightly but, not too much as it will be difficult to fill the cupcakes.

6. Once the cupcakes are cool use an apple corer to cut out a dip/hole in the centre of each cupcake and once the ganache is cool fill each dip/hole with 2 tsp. chocolate ganache. Reserve the chocolate cupcake centres ready to crumble over the cupcakes for decoration or alternatively you can use crumbled chocolate cookie.

7. Finally, prepare the peppermint frosting. Beat together the butter, icing sugar and peppermint essence until the frosting is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add a few drops of green food colouring to the frosting and beat until the frosting is a nice pale, mint green colour. Lastly, pipe a swirl of the frosting onto each cupcake, scatter with a sprinkle of crumbled chocolate cookie or some of the reserved chocolate cupcake crumbs. 

White Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes.

There are some combinations that you just can't go wrong with like; chocolate and peanut butter, maple and pecan or marmite and beans on toast...(no, just me?). The bloomin' delicious combination of white chocolate and raspberry is no different. To start with; the vibrant pink rasberries paired against the delicate, creamy white chocolate looks amazing but, it also tastes great which, is definitely the most important! The juicy, tartness of the raspberries perfectly accompanies the luxurious, rich, sweet flavour of the white chocolate and I discovered that this lovely flavour combination doesn't disappoint and continues to work perfectly together to create a really lovely cupcake too so, do enjoy if you decide to whip up a batch yourself!

On a side note, I reverted back to my 13 year old boyband obsessed, fan-girl self again on Friday morning and managed to get tickets to see 5 seconds of summer in Birmingham next year which, I am fairly sure I am far too excited about for a 20 year old but, oh well! I had 3 laptops going, recruited my sister to help out and managed to get my tickets which, I am over the moon about. I felt slightly insane refreshing the page every few seconds, panicking that I wouldn't get any, it was really a very stressful time. I am definitely too obsessed for a grown woman but, nevermind, it's a healthy obsession... largely. A group of handsome Australian guys (albeit most are two years younger than me :/ but hey, what's two years?), playing instruments, writing great music, singing great songs, wearing great clothes, having great hair and generally looking gorgeous all the time, what grown woman wouldn't fall slightly in love? Needless to say, next June regardless of whether I am supposed to be a respectable, sensible and adult 21 year old, I will definitely be rocking out with my socks out for 5sos and won't care at all!

Recipe

For the White Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes-

300g plain flour

2 tsp. baking powder

150g caster sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

• 225ml whole milk
• 50g butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 100g fresh raspberries, cut in half
• 110g white chocolate, chopped into chunks
• For the Raspberry Filling-

80g fresh raspberries

1 tbsp. caster sugar

1 tbsp. lemon juice

2 tsp. corn flour

60ml cold water

For the White Chocolate Frosting-

170g white chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

230g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

240g icing sugar, sifted

1 tbsp. whole milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. salt 

To decorate - white chocolate shavings, white chocolate chips or grated white chocolate and 24 fresh raspberries.

Method

1. Start by preparing the cupcakes. Line a muffin tin with 12 muffin cases and pre-heat the oven to 200C.

2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and stir the sugar into the flour mixture.

3. In a separate bowl crack the egg, whisk in the vanilla extract, milk and melted butter (melt for approximately 30 seconds in a microwave and allow to cool slightly before adding to the egg and milk). 

4. Stir the liquid mixture into the dry mixture.

5. Using a metal spoon, fold the raspberries and white chocolate chunks into the cake mixture.

6. Fill each cake case 2/3 full with the mixture, making sure that each case has some white chocolate chunks and raspberries in. Bake for around 17-20 minutes or until the cupcakes are golden and spring back when the surface is pushed lightly.

7. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack and allow to cool.

8. While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the raspberry filling. Combine the raspberries, lemon juice and sugar in a saucepan and begin to simmer over a low heat.

9. Whisk the corn flour into the cold water until smooth, add to the raspberries in the saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly until the desired consistency is reached and set-aside to cool. The sauce will thicken further as it cools.

10. Using an apple corer, dig out a hole in the centre of each cupcake and once the raspberry sauce is cool, spoon 2 tsp. raspberry sauce into each.

11. Finally, prepare the white chocolate frosting. Beat together the butter, icing sugar, milk, vanilla extract, white chocolate and salt until the frosting is thick, smooth, light, pale and fluffy. Pipe a swirl of frosting onto the top of each cupcake and sprinkle with the white chocolate shavings and top with two fresh raspberries.

Blueberry Crumble Cupcakes.

Hello again! Yes I know, yet another cupcake recipe for you. I promise I do do other things and don't just sit in my kitchen baking cupcakes all day, not everyday anyway. I do occasionally make other types of food too I swear, in fact I am actually making some homemade nachos, guacamole and salsa tomorrow. Yum. Does anyone else adore nachos? 

I really wanted to sell my cupcakes at farmers markets this summer to see if anybody would like and buy them but, I haven't had much luck with hearing any good news back from farmers markets yet so I don't think it looks likely now. As I mentioned in my blog post the other day, I'd really like to start up my own little baking business after University and to run a food truck so that I can travel around Cornwall selling my food. I thought that selling my cakes at farmers markets would be a good place to start just to see if people would actually like my food but, never mind. I'll just keep practicing my recipes for now and then hopefully one day CeeJay's Cupcake Cafe will be trundling along from beach to beach in Cornwall serving up ice cream and cakes. Who knows ay? Fingers crossed.  
Anyway, on to the cupcake recipe.

Recipe

For the Blueberry Cupcakes-

300g plain flour

155g caster sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

½ tsp. bicarbonate of soda

¼ tsp. salt

250ml whole milk

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla essence

85g unsalted butter, melted

50g fresh or frozen blueberries, plus extra for decorating

50g fresh or frozen raspberries

For the Crumble Topping-

50g plain flour

40g unsalted butter

30g soft light brown sugar

40g pecans, chopped

1 tsp. cinnamon

For the Blueberry Sauce-

70g blueberries

20ml water

60ml orange or lemon juice

40g caster sugar

20ml cold water

10g corn flour

1 tsp. almond extract

1 tsp. cinnamon

For the Lemon Curd Frosting-

250g icing sugar

80g butter

50g lemon curd

Method

1. First, prepare the crumble topping. In a bowl, rub the flour and butter together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the remaining ingredients and place enough (perhaps 1 tbsp.) of the crumble topping into a tray and bake in the oven for about ten minutes until golden and crunchy, ready to scatter on the tops of the cupcakes. Set the rest aside for later.

2. Next, prepare the cupcakes. Pre-heat the oven to 190°C and line a cupcake tin with 12 muffin cases. Sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, caster sugar and salt and place in a large bowl. Pour the milk into a jug, add the eggs and vanilla essence and mix together by hand.

3. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and mixing slowly, pour in the egg and milk mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to catch every bit of the mixture, increase the speed to medium and continue beating until smooth. Then pour the melted butter in and beat again to incorporate.

4. Stir in the berries by hand, making sure they are evenly spread throughout the mixture, then spoon the batter into the muffin cases, filling each up to two-thirds full and sprinkle with the remaining crumble topping.

5. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the cupcakes are bronzed and bounce back when lightly pressed. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

6. While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the blueberry sauce. In a saucepan over medium heat combine the blueberries, water, orange or lemon juice and sugar. Stir gently and bring to the boil.

7. In a cup, mix together the corn flour and cold water. Gently stir the corn flour mixture into the blueberries so as not to mash the berries. Simmer gently until thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon, about 3-4 minutes.Remove from the heat and stir in the almond extract and cinnamon. Allow to cool slightly.

8. Cut a hole out of the centre of each cupcake and fill with 1-2 tsp. blueberry sauce. 

9. Next, prepare the lemon frosting. Beat together the butter, icing sugar and lemon curd until fluffy, light and smooth and pipe onto the cupcakes using your favorite piping bag and nozzle. Finally, scatter the top of each cupcake with some of the crunchy crumble you prepared earlier and finish with a plump, juicy blueberry.    

Note. instead of using the lemon frosting on these cupcakes you can also top them with whipped double cream and they are delicious, like mini gateau's! Just whip up 600ml double cream and dollop away! 

I also forgot to say the other day but, McBusted were incredible! Oh I do love a good boyband. It was just so much fun and such a great show and all of the guys looked like they were having a great time which, was really lovely to see. They were all hilarious and Danny and Dougie were looking particularly gorgeous too which, was rather nice. Since finding out James spends some of his time living in Padstow I also seem to have become quite attracted to him which, gives me even more reason to trundle to Padstow selling my cakes all in the hope that James will one day fall in love with me and my cooking. It was fun to be able to dance and sing along to every song and at the end of the night I just wanted them to do it all over again. It was honestly one of the best concerts I've ever been to! I definitely need to start going to more concerts, it's always such an amazing atmosphere and really incredible and overwhelming when you see a band you really like.

Death by Chocolate Cupcakes.

I would really love to one day run my own baking business and at the moment I am hoping to start my own mobile food business after university so that I can travel from beach to beach in Cornwall serving up my cupcakes and various other treats such as; ice cream, doughnuts and veggie burgers. I don't know how realistic my dream is right now and I don't know if my business would ever become very popular or if it would even be affordable or worth trying but, nothing makes me happier than baking and I really would love to give it a go.

One cupcake that no cupcake menu would be complete without is a decadent chocolate cupcake and this is my favorite recipe. A moist, soft sponge filled with rich, dark chocolate ganache and topped with a luxurious, creamy chocolate frosting and crunchy maltesers. Perfect.

Recipe

For the Chocolate Cupcakes-

110g unsalted butter, softened

220g dark brown sugar

2 eggs

165g self raising flour

55g cocoa powder

½  tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp baking powder 

140ml sour cream

For the Chocolate Ganache Filling-

100ml double cream

100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

For the Chocolate Frosting:

200g icing sugar, sieved 

100g unsalted butter, softened

140g cocoa powder, sifted 

40ml whole milk

Maltesers for decorating (12 whole and some crushed using a rolling pin)

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°c.

2. Line a muffin tin with 12 muffin cases.

3. For the cake, cream together the butter and sugar using an electric whisk. Gradually beat in the eggs. Add the sour cream. Sieve together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and fold in to the mixture. Divide the mixture between the cake cases, filling about 2/3 full.

4.Bake for 15-17 minutes or until risen and just firm to touch. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.

5. Prepare the chocolate ganache. Heat the cream until it simmers and stir in the dark chocolate until it completely melts and produces a glossy, dark chocolate ganache. Allow to cool until it thickens slightly but, not too much as it will be difficult to fill the cupcakes.

6. Once the cupcakes are cool use an apple corer to cut out a dip in the centre of each cupcake and once the ganache is cool fill each dip/hole with 1-2 tsp. chocolate ganache.

7. Finally, prepare the chocolate frosting. Beat together the butter, icing sugar, cocoa powder and milk until the frosting is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Then pipe a swirl of the frosting onto each cupcake, scatter with crushed maltesers and place a whole malteser on to the top of each cake.

Enjoy!

Lemon Curd Cupcakes.

Hello! Long time no speak. I have now officially finished my exams and also my first year of University which, literally just flew by and I can't actually believe it's already over! I am so happy to be home now though and can't wait to spend my summer at home in Cornwall with my family. As lovely as Liverpool is, Cornwall is home and there is no place I'd rather be, especially in the summer when you can spend your days lying on the beach and munching on clotted cream and jam scones! Lovely.

I don't think there is anything more summery, refreshing and delicious than a lemon cake and last weekend I decided to embrace the gorgeous weather we were having and bake some yummy, zesty lemon cupcakes. I really love this recipe; the lemon and poppy seed cupcakes are so moist and soft, the lemon curd is zesty and delicious (thanks very much Delia!) and this lemon curd frosting, oh this lemon curd frosting is so sweet and velvety. If you decide to give these a go I really hope you enjoy them and let me know what you think!

Recipe

For the Lemon and Poppy seed Cupcakes:

225g self-raising flour

175g golden caster sugar

zest of 2 lemons

1 tbsp. poppy seeds

3 eggs

100g natural yoghurt

175g unsalted butter,melted and cooled a little

For the Lemon Curd:

Grated zest of 1 lemon

Juice of 2 lemons

2 eggs

90g golden caster sugar

55g butter

For the Lemon Curd Frosting:

250g icing sugar

80g butter

50g lemon curd

To decorate- Crushed lemon sherbet sweets, grind in a food processor or crush with a rolling pin

Method

1. Heat oven to 180°C/ 160°C fan and line a 12-hole muffin tin with muffin cases. 
2. Mix the flour, sugar, lemon zest and poppy seeds together in a large mixing bowl. Beat the eggs into the yogurt, then tip this into the dry ingredients with the melted butter. Mix together with a wooden spoon or whisk until lump-free, then divide mixture between the cases. 
3. Bake the cupcakes for 20-22 mins until a skewer poked in comes out clean or the surface springs back when lightly pressed – the cakes will be quite pale on top still. Cool for 5 mins in the tin, then carefully lift onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
4. Next, prepare the lemon curd. Sit a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, but don't let the bowl touch the water. Then place the eggs, sugar, lemon zest and juice in the bowl and whisk together. Now add the butter piece by piece and cook for about 15 minutes, giving it a good whisk from time to time, until the curd has become smooth, glossy and thickened. Allow to cool.
5. Once the cupcakes are cool use an apple corer to cut out a dip in the centre of each cupcake and once the lemon curd is cool fill each dip/hole with 1-2 tsp. lemon curd.
6. Finally, prepare the lemon curd frosting. Beat together the butter, icing sugar and 50g of your homemade lemon curd until the frosting is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Then pipe a swirl of the frosting onto each cupcake and scatter with the pieces of crushed lemon sherbet sweets.

This time next week I'll be queuing up to see McBusted so I can't wait to revert back to my 10 year old self again as I sing and dance along to Year 3000 and Air Hostess. As much as I pride myself on loving rock music, I do love a good boyband and I always will! McFly and Busted are two of my favorites as well so I can't wait to see them, I think it will be a lot of fun and McFly are also singing Shine A Light which, I'm really happy about as it's one of my favourite songs. Dougie Poynter also happens to be one of the most beautiful men alive so, he'll also be pretty wonderful to look at, Ellie Goulding you lucky girl! 

Have you got any exciting plans for the rest of may? How will you be spending your summer?

Creme Egg Cupcakes.

Another yummy treat for the Easter weekend; chocolate cupcakes, butter-cream frosting and two mini Cadbury's creme eggs, I don't think you can really go wrong with that can you? 

Recipe

For the Chocolate Cupcakes:

110g unsalted butter, softened

220g dark brown sugar

2 eggs

165g self raising flour

55g cocoa powder

½  tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp baking powder 

140ml sour cream

12 Cadbury's Creme Egg minis

For the Butter-cream Frosting:

500g icing sugar, sieved

160g unsalted butter, softened

50ml whole milk

3-4 drops of vanilla extract

Yellow food colouring

12 Cadbury's Creme Egg minis

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°c.

2. Line a muffin tin with 12 muffin cases.

3. For the cake, cream together the butter and sugar using an electric whisk. Gradually beat in the eggs. Add the sour cream. Sieve together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and fold in to the mixture. Divide the mixture between the cake cases, filling each half full and place a Cadbury's creme mini egg into the centre of each and cover with more mixture so each case is about 2/3 full.

4.Bake for 15-17 minutes or until risen and just firm to touch. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.

5.Prepare the butter-cream  frosting. Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl, add the softened butter, vanilla and milk and beat until pale, soft and fluffy. You are aiming for as white as possible to form the egg on top.

6. Pipe a swirl of white frosting onto the top of each cake using a large round piping nozzle and then colour the remaining icing yellow. Pipe a yellow dot into the middle of each swirl to form the yolk and place another Cadbury's creme mini egg onto the top of each cupcake.

Note. Although, I had wanted to make a bright, vibrant, yolk yellow I had to use a pale yellow frosting instead as my food colouring just wouldn't go beyond pale yellow and the more colouring I added, the more my frosting became very bitter and chemically to taste. I used Morrison's natural yellow food colouring but, I will deffinately invest in a proper food colouring paste or gel in the future to gain a better colour and flavour. I have heard Wilton colour gels are very good.