~airy fairy cupcakes~

christmas shortbread stars...

2011-12-24T01:03:00.001+08:00

you just have to make star-shaped biscuits for Christmas. it really is a must because they just look so pretty. I got this recipe from a friend as when I tried her biscuits they just seemed to melt in your mouth. the recipe is incredibly simple...2 cups of flour, 1/3 cup of icing sugar, 2 tablespoons of rice flour and 250g of butter. you rub in the butter and then knead into a dough and roll out the dough. it's super easy and great to make with kids. you bake them for about 15 minutes until lightly browned and then dust with icing sugar. pop in a jar and serve to Christmas visitors...Merry Christmas everyone!

apple streusel bundt cake...full of surprises...

2011-12-14T11:01:00.001+08:00

this was absolutely delightful. it came about due to a sincere craving for something that tasted like my nana's apple pie but yet had a cinnamon swirl going through it. so I used dorie's double apple bundt cake recipe, with apple butter and grated apple in it. I omitted the cinnamon and instead hunted down a streusel recipe so that I could but the streusel in the middle of the cake. I found a recipe with butter, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts. easy peasy! naturally I was extremely worried, as one always is with bundt cakes, that the streusel topping would stick to the pan and I'd be left with half a cake. thankfully though it came out pretty clean with only a bit of the skin missing. once it was iced with a vanilla bourbon glaze, it was ready to be delivered to the barbecue I was attending. the cake was delicious, however as it had only been baked that morning I feel it didn't have enough time to settle and the flavours to emerge. it also crumbled a bit, again I think in hindsight it would have been better to cook it the night before. the streusel swirl was delicious and gave a real intense kick to the cake. just wish I'd got a photo of the middle!

chocolate ganache topped devilish cupcakes...

2011-12-07T12:21:00.001+08:00

so, i have always wanted to try making ganache but for the longest time thought it was a really difficult process. how wrong was i? it really couldn't be easier. you just make sure you have decent dark chocolate...I like 70% or more for the flavour and some cream. you melt the chocolate. heat up the cream. mix the two together and there you have it. the best part is how the consistency changes as it cools. if you want a thin glaze you pretty much pour it over your cake straight away. if you want butter icing type consistency you let it cool for twenty minutes or so. or if you'd like to make some chocolate truffles, pop it in the fridge until it is a thick fudge like consistency. it's wonderful and I can't believe I shied away from using it before...as you can see it make a perfect topping to my devil's food cupcakes...

a bundt full of rainbow...

2011-11-30T10:01:00.001+08:00

what do you make someone on their birthday that guarantees a smile and exclaims of surprise? why, Rainbow Bundt Cake of course! the reaction to this cake is the same every time...just real looks of joy at a rainbow in a cake. followed by questions 'how did you do it?'. the procedure is surrisingle simple really...just takes a wee bit longer to add in the colours to the separated batter. the best part is that from the outside it just looks like regular cake. it's when the recipient cuts into it that the real surprise takes place. i like the colours to be really vivid to bring out the effect of the rainbow. you can't have a pale rainbow! this was made for Sarah's birthday and i'm so glad it filled her special day with rainbows :)

Lovely light lemon bundt cake

2011-11-27T00:23:00.001+08:00

there is nothing like lemon. it just has a lovely zing to it that makes you feel fresh ad alert. it must be one of my favourite scents. and although i haven't posted for a VERY long time, i still have been baking. i'm particularly enjoying bundt cakes and have baked many over these past months. part of the reason i've been offline is because my domain expired and i have been to hell and back to try and get it back. however, i am without success and am now contemplating a name change. so it's back to my blogspot address until i figure out my next move. meanwhile, here is something to wet your taste buds...this is deliciously light. made with yogurt and real lemons, it was moist and fluffy. i made it to bring into work and it was gone in 5 minutes with hungry teachers slicing off doorstep slices and coming back for seconds :)

Marbled Banana Chocolate Bundt Cake...now there's a mouthful!

2010-12-04T10:08:00.003+08:00

banana and chocolate, chocolate and banana...always a good combination in my book and in this bundt cake a little bite of perfection in every piece. i've been making this recipe for a while now and it is a firm favourite in my household and is frequently requested...again i am blessed to be living in a country where when you go to the supermarket there is a selection of maybe 5 or 6 different types of bananas on sale and each variety perfect for different uses. i think this is the secret that makes this cake so good. i use pisang ambon, which means banana ambon, ambon being a place in Indonesia where the banana comes from. the bananas are deliciously sweet and soft and the longer you leave them the more sweeter the taste. the original recipe calls for 4 mashed bananas, i use 6 when i make this because the bananas gives such a lovely moistness to the cake as well as the addition of a cup of yoghurt. there's something about bundt cakes...they just look so comforting and adorable that i love making cakes in my super-expensive but most worth it bundt pan...ABSOLUTE comfort food!

cupcakes dressed as rainbows...for halloween...and much more...

2010-11-01T11:01:00.010+08:00

so i needed a challenge for this year's Halloween cupcakes and what better challenge than to attempt 'rainbow cakes'...because let's face it...anyone who is insane enough to go to all that trouble of dividing up batter, adding food colouring, then spooning each colour patiently into each cup in layers...well it takes time, patience and a whole lotta love for rainbows. and thankfully i have all those ingredients...as well as the ones necessary for the cupcakes! i just used a regular vanilla cupcake recipe that i'm sure is lurking around my site somewhere and then i divided it up and added the food colours. easy to make but time consuming to complete...but so fun when they come out of the oven and you see rainbows baked into cakes and then you take a bite...and wow! you just feel sunshine and love oozing out of you. unfortunately the one in the photo was not the best specimen, the rest had to be divided up amongst party guests so this one was the 'extra' photo model that i made but unfortunately didn't have quite enough batter for...hence the uneven lopsidedness to it...!

these were made for a halloween party last night, and not just to celebrate halloween because every year halloween has a special meaning for me now, for not only is it my favourite celebration of the year, it is also the day exactly a year ago when i met a very special someone who has cascaded into my life with such grace and brought all the colours of the rainbow with him back into my days. and so these were made for halloween, for a one year anniversary and for love...

i would absolutely make these again, even with all the time it took because the look on people's faces as they bit into them was joy unrivalled in itself. they are just such happy little cakes and next time i might attempt a big cake if it's someone's birthday because i think the effect of the rainbow might just be a little more perfect in a big cake.

sunshine and joy in a cup...on sale NOW!

2010-10-21T19:37:00.005+08:00

ok today is a super happy, sunshine-y, joyfilled day...my cupcakes went on sale today at Green Ginger House in Jl. Pantai Brawa, Canggu, Bali...the flavour of the day...lemongrass-lime cupcakes...a lemongrass cupcake with lime cream cheese frosting and little candied limes to decorate. may this be the beginning of a beautiful realtionship and may airy fairy cupcakes be instantly snapped up and orders abound...here they are all happily lined up in their transportation case waiting to go...don't they look happy...i can almost hear them chirping...'we're going on sale, we're going on sale, hey-ho the merry-oh, we're going on sale'...:)

cheesecake brownies...a perfect combination

2010-08-28T22:42:00.000+08:00

i totally forgot i made these while i was in ireland and was browsing through my photos and found them. cheesecake brownies...don't knock 'em till you've tried them...the combination of chocolate and cheese together is so incredibly good and these were so delicious hot, straight from the oven with a big blob of vanilla ice-cream. i could have eaten them all (and probably nearly did!) because i fell blissfully in love with these two paired together, so as to create a cozy little love-triangle between us. i think, if i also remember correctly there was guinness mixed in with the chocolate batter because i was on a guinness kick, what with being back at home. and i remember now that the guinness enhanced the chocolate particularly well, making it rich and fudgy. don't ask me where the recipe is...i think scribbled on a piece of paper down the back of some table in my parents house in ireland. i know i scoured the internet for a couple of recipes and then did a bit of a merger between them. it might reappear though...at some point

a return to the old country with Guinness Brown Bread

2010-06-25T21:39:00.004+08:00

so how does one celebrate stepping back into the Emerlad Isle after an absence of 2 years? well what better way than with some Guinness Brown Bread. when it comes to Guinness, i am very proud to say that us Irish are a bunch of snobs...yes, that's right, there is such a thing as a Guinness snob...basically no Irish person would ever really enjoy a pint of the 'black stuff' beyond the Emerald Isle...and even within the Emerald Isle itself there are certain pubs where we would go purely to drink Guinness because of the way the pint is 'pulled' from the tap. it is a culture here...so to really enjoy my return to the 'old country' i needed to incorporate some of the black stuff into my baking to truly get back into the mood...the bread turned out delicious. it was rich and full of the flavour of the Guinness. if i made this again though, i wouldn't add the demerara sugar because i think it made it too sweet and less bread-like and with the treacle already added i think it provides enough sweetness to the bread. and according to others who have tasted Guinness bread, it should be a tad darker...so i would need to re-think how to darken the bread some more because it didn't appear dark enough for my liking. but overall i was really pleased with the result...with no eggs or yeast in this recipe, it both rose and was of a traditional irish bread density.

Guinness Brown Bread

450g coarse wholemeal

2 level teaspoons bread soda

25g pinhead oatmeal

4 tablespoons demerara sugar

50g margarine

1 tablespoon treacle

400 ml guinness

preheat oven to 190C and lightly grease a 2lb loaf tin

put margarine and treacle in a saucepan and allow margarine to melt

meanwhile put wholemeal, oatmeal and sugar into bowl. sieve in bread soda and mix well

when margarine has melted add guinness and stir

add liquid to dry ingredients and mix well

transfer to tin and bake for about 40-50 minutes until risen

wrap in a clean cloth and allow to cool.

eat slathered with good creamy butter...you know you want to...

kek batik...

2009-10-17T21:10:00.004+08:00

so this is batik...indonesia's famous fabric designs that they are very proud of...

and this...

is kek batik or batik cake...which i am very proud of...

and no, it wasn't baked in my antique oven...i seem to be having a bit of a blockage with the oven for the moment and found out about this delightful cake when i was in Singapore recently. a friend had it at their house for Hari Raya and when i tasted it i fell instantly in love with the taste, flavour, the whole deal...the cake was very chocolately, with a fudgey-cake like consistency and yet the sweetness of the biscuits mixed in there too. a perfect combination! so when i got back to Bali i had a search on the internet and found a few recipes and decided to just take my chances, pick one and hope for the best. making the cake was easy. it's all done on the stove top - eggs, butter, sugar, milo, cocoa, condensed milk and vanilla extract. then when you reach the right consistency you mix in the broken up biscuits, put it in a baking tin and stick it in the fridge overnight. i was worried that it wouldn't set and firm up properly. but it set wonderfully and was easy to slice too. i made this for a get-together at a friend's place and it went down a treat. seconds all round and lots of lip licking and tongue smacking! oh, the joy to be able to add another no-bake to my repertoire!

an absolute MUST to make and try yourself!

italians do it better...with italian brownie muffins

2009-07-21T21:12:00.006+08:00

i came across this recipe on a blog called italialicious and it just kinda caught my eye in that it had a whole cup of olive oil in it! i mean first of all, i have NEVER used olive oil when baking muffins so i was curious to see what the effect was. the blog itself is a delightful array of italian recipes from pasta to tiramisu. i have thoroughly enjoyed reading through the many recipes.

so anyway, i got everything together and was surprised at the texture of the batter. i mean it was pretty dense and kinda had a gelatinous quality to it...i had a moment of...'oh no' but pushed on because one of the many joys of baking (thank god) is that don't always be fooled by the batter.

i deviated from the original recipe a bit in that i don't trust essences here in indonesia. mostly because, most of them look like substances you might have used in chemistry lab experiments when you were at school...bright orange, yellow...thick, scary, flourescent...you get the idea...(i'll take a picture next time i'm in the supermarket just in case you don't!) so i didn't add any orange essence or zest. but everything else i kept to.

popped them in the oven and they rose really well. still need some fiddling with the oven though, because a couple were a tad too well done on top for my liking - someone mentioned i should go to the beach and get some sand and spread it on a tray and leave it at the bottom of the oven to distribute the heat more evenly, it could be time to do this as the muffins on the sides of the tray are baking faster than the ones in the middle.

anyway out they came (i'd also sprinkled some chocolate chips on top) and cooled off.

then came the taste test...these were very cake-like, as opposed to fudgey (which some more american brownies can be, but often i find fudgey textures to be very heavy) and had a very good strong chocolate flavour (which probably had a lot to do with the one cup of ghirardelli cocoa that went in - carried with love from singapore as not available in indonesia!) i really enjoyed them and found them to be rich, without being heavy and moist without being fudgey. a nice combination both of flavour and texture.

in this case...i might just have to agree that italians definitely do it better :)

experimenting with jam doughnut muffins...

2009-07-16T18:09:00.008+08:00

ok, so experimentations continue...i baked some lemon drizzle muffins two days ago and decided not to bore you with the photos as i believe i baked them before and they are lurking somewhere in the depths of the archives. however, jam doughnut muffins, now there is something that i haven't tried before and completely fell in love with the idea when i found them on Nigella Lawson's website. after a little more web research, i located two different recipes that both said they were nigella's and not being 100% sure about either one i decided to try both...

Jam Doughnut Muffin Recipe #1

125ml milk
85ml vegetable oil
1 large egg
1/2 t. vanilla extract
200g self-raising flour
100g caster sugar
12 t. jam

you know the drill for muffins, right? dry ingredients + wet ingredients = muffin batter. don't over mix or you're gonna be in trouble. bake until it looks done and a sharp implement comes out clean...i can't give baking times right now...if you see my oven post you'll understand why, ok!

well, when i started spooning this batter into the muffin cases...it was really runny. so naturally as i plopped a teaspoon of jam on top...it instantly sank to the bottom...you know this cannot be a good thing because jam is sticky and this means your muffin is probably going to stick to the bottom of the muffin case. so as i was going along i was adding more flour to the mixture to thicken it up. i stopped when the jam wasn't sinking anymore. so when they baked, the ones with more flour in them rose more (not sure why i found this so interesting...but hey!)

the recipe called for to brush with butter and roll in granulated sugar but i'm not so sure about that...i kinda like the idea of dusting them with icing sugar (maybe in some very distant memory i ate a doughnut like that?) it seems more delicate and less sugary.

ok so after the all important taste test, disappointingly, the jam sank to the bottom in all the muffins (no i didn't eat them all myself to check!!!!! - i tasted the first and the last) the first muffin with the runniest batter, the jam had seeped through and was all over the bottom and on the muffin case...for the last muffin, with the thickest batter, the jam hadn't seeped through but had sunk to the bottom of the muffin with just a thin layer of cake separating it from the case.

taste-wise the muffin was good...slightly reminiscent of jam doughnuts but definitely not the best likeness i've ever had...and so on to...

Jam Doughnut Muffin Recipe #2

2 c. self-raising flour
1/3 c. caster sugar

1/3 c. vegetable oil

1 egg

175ml buttermilk

1 t. vanilla

8 t. jam

pinch of salt

dry + wet = muffin batter

don't overmix

i started spooning the batter in and putting in the jam...and lo and behold it sank again (this bloody jam thing is going down faster than the titanic, for goodness sake!) and then i realised that in the recipe it said make an indentation in the batter once you have spooned into cup...oops...i think i added too much milk cos mine definitely wasn't indentation-able!

anyway...onwards onwards...i kept going...not adding more flour...just wanted to get the darn things in the oven.

and of course when they came out...the jam had sunk faster than the titanic all the way to the bottom...and taste-wise...not much different than the first one.

maybe jam doughnuts just aren't for me (honestly i currently am in love with the black forest doughnut from J.Co here...but that's for another day)

bakin' it old skool style...

2009-07-13T20:58:00.003+08:00

ok, so today the emphasis REALLY isn't on what i baked it's the fact that i BAKED...this was an experiment in going back to basics and baking old skool and seeing if i could really pull it off...and wow! i did. i mean that crazy contraption i bought actually works...and for nostalgias sake i decided to bake the very first recipe i kick-started my blog with...chocolate chip muffins. and i mean let's face it, muffins are quite hardy...i can just imagine them in there in the contraption, muscling each other out the way, vying for the heat and then doing their utmost to rise (unlike the delicate cupcake which might not be very impressed at being baked in such a contraption and stay stubbornly flat) - what? food doesn't talk to you? really? you've never walked down the aisle in the supermarket and had the chocolate call out to you tempting promises, the chilli whisper spicy secrets...maybe it's just me?

so the long and short of it is, that you don't need fancy contraptions...ok, i hid under the table for most of the cooking time (for fear of explosions), the oven got freaking hot on the outside (well it is made of aluminium) and i narrowly avoided some third degree burns and heat control could be a potential issue...but this is a huge step up from no oven and no baking which let's face it equals up to a big fat NO LIFE for me!

so i reckon a few more experiments with the muscly, hardy muffins before i take the plunge and try some delicate little angelic cupcakes. but seriously, i'm beaming from ear to ear...onward fellow bakers...onward...

and then there was an oven...or was there?

2009-07-12T08:54:00.004+08:00

ok so basically 'mission accomplished'...i mean i set out to buy a traditional oven and buy a traditional oven i did. however, i must admit i was not quite expecting it to be THAT traditional and THAT back to basics...so all you bakers out there, with your fabulous ovens, that you take for granted...think of me fondly every time you open yours as i return to what can only be a time before the caveman...when one was expected to bake in an overgrown coca-cola can with a window cut in it (wait a minute...the cavemen did drink coca-cola, right?) and actually STOP...i'm not being fair here...this contraption called an oven is far more advanced than the meagre coca-cola can...let us take a closer look...

we have the super advanced heat indicator

the up-to-date safety locking system

and let's not forget...the hole in the bottom for us to pop it on the gas stove to blast the heat in

yes that's right my friends...this modern invention needs no plug, socket, cable...you just turn on the gas, pop it on the stove and off you go! and all for the bargain price of Rp. 325,000 that's $32.50 for all you peeps who chose to deal in hard currency!

ok ok, i'm being totally unfair here...it's not like i paid a fortune for it, right. it's not like i haven't been dying to get back to baking. it's not like i can actually afford right now to buy a swanky-wanky top of the range oven...so this is the way i have chosen to go and go i must. the (mis)adventures will begin shortly and are sure to be entertaining...meanwhile i might just need to re-think the name of my blog...i mean how does airy fairy can-cakes or airy fairy tin-cakes sound? any other suggestions gratefully received...

on a mission...

2009-07-11T09:02:00.002+08:00

right...this is it...i'm suffering SERIOUS baking withdrawal symptoms as it has been over how many months since i last baked something (as opposed to cooked!) due to lack of access to an oven...ovens are expensive here in Indonesia...well at least when you are earning a salary comparable to what minimum wagers might earn back home and while i have waited and waited for one to miraculously drop from the sky via a stork or grow on my tree, it appears neither are going to happen anytime soon. so i have heard through the grapevine of a 'traditional' oven that is available here. that looks like a portable microwave and you put it on top of the stove and you can bake in it. ok, so i'm thinking it sounds either completely ingenious or a serious experiment in disaster...either way it is sure to be entertaining and provide the possibility for untold blog posts. so today, i am taking matters into my own hands and i am off on that very mission...to find myself a traditional oven...no idea where to look but will ask some friendly people by the roadside to point me in the right direction (after a correct explanation of what it is i'm actually looking for!) fingers crossed and if it all goes the way of peaches and cream...i'll be happily back in the land of baking all over again...and even prouder for doing it the 'back to basics' method...wish me luck...

es dawet...da what?

2009-03-26T13:06:00.003+08:00

so on a recent trip to Yogyajakarta in Central Java, i simply had to try a local traditional drink...and here it is...it's called es dawet. it was absolutely delicious...a mixture of coconut milk (santen), palm sugar syrup (gula melaka or gula jawa) and rice flour. when it arrived it was all in it's layers...so you could see the dark brown of the palm sugar syrup, the white, creaminess of the coconut milk and the little bits of rice flour floating around...you give it a good stir and with a good serving of ice, this must be one of the most refreshing drinks i have had in a long time...slurp! very easy to make but with those delicious asian flavours...yummy!

home-made vanilla extract

2009-03-18T17:50:00.002+08:00

what to do, when you live in a country, where the only vanilla extract you can buy in the supermarket is red and smells like banana? (really it does!) well, you go to Google, do a bit of research and find out how to make your own...and the best part? it's easy-peasy!

recipe

take one small glass bottle with a cork. wash thoroughly. leave to dry.
take 3 vanilla pods and cut lengthways leaving a little bit still intact at the bottom.

take one cup of any alcohol you like...vodka, rum, grappa, or in my case the local brew, arak and pour into little glass bottle.

stuff in the 3 vanilla pods.
cork.
store in a cool, dark place for 2 months to allow flavour to infuse.

use generously in baking...when levels deplete, top up and re-store.

could anything be simpler? who needs rocket science after all!

thai pineapple curry banana bread...devilishly divine!

2009-03-16T14:43:00.004+08:00

so what do you do when you read on another blog, in this case the fabulous Not Quite Nigella, about a recipe that seems sure to tantalise the taste buds in a variety of ways? why you get out your mixing bowl and start making it, that's what! i mean how could i resist this recipe...curry pineapple banana bread??? the name itself conjures up a mixture of reactions ranging from the thoughts in your head...how can there be curry in a cake? to the impending taste on your tongue...hmmm, curry and banana...ok, ok...there's a possibility it could work...so i jsut had to find out for myself. the recipe originally came from an entry by Catherine from Clever Monkey Studio in a competition that was held on the blog...a banana bread bake-off, where everyone submitted entries based on their favourite banana breads. i entered it but don't remember seeing this recipe until it popped up last week on Not Quite Nigella's blog and my curiosity was piqued...i knew i had to give it a go.

and what a treat...i mean really, this has to be one of the nicest banana breads i have tasted in a long time. from the moment i started making it, there was surprise after surprise. i mean, the way you mix the ingredients for starters seems to be all back-to-front...start with the wet ingredients, end with the dry? but i have faith so i followed and the final batter was lovely and thick, with that beautiful orange tinge that can only come from the addition of the curry powder. and then 3 tablespoons of curry powder, i mean it seemed so excessive? could it really need that much? but in it went...as per instructions...

well, the smell of it baking in the oven was really enough to produce enough saliva to...umm, not sure where i can go with that...but you know what i mean. it was heavenly. rich and spicy and aromatic. and then when it came out...all golden and cracking open...oh, did i really have to wait for it to cool. i mean where was my brother when i needed him?...the one who always demands instant cutting of cakes...

and once i had a peek inside...oh it was better than opening the cover of a brand new book...those pieces of pineapple had become little blobs of soft, jammy, gooey stuff and the bread was rich and dark, and the smell...the bananas came through so wonderfully but then there was that faint hint of the curry. and that first mouthful...oh, divine upon divine...i loved it. not too sweet, but oh-so-flavourful...this is definitely to be made again...and if you know what's good for you...you'll get those mixing bowls out and be inspired to make one too!

Thai Pineapple Curry Banana Bread

3 ripe bananas
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp coconut milk powder (or unsweetened coconut)
1 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp curry powder
1/2 cup chopped pineapple
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 325F. Spray Mix with spoon in a large bowl, melted butter, mashed bananas and coconut milk powder. Mix in sugars, egg, lime juice and curry powder. Add pineapple and mix. Mix in baking soda. Add the flour and mix. Pour into greased 4x8 loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on rack before removing from pan.

a very Happy (un)Birthday to Me!

2009-03-01T15:34:00.007+08:00

yes...it's my birthday...and for my party i just HAD to make my own cupcakes...cos let's face it...i'm such a freaking cake snob that i am so fussy about eating something i haven't made myself. i mean it has to be really good...so to avoid disappointment...i D-I-Y it! Being such an Alice in Winderland fan, i decided to throw a MadHatter's Tea Party and what better cupcakes than these...colourful vanilla cupcakes...decorated with those all important words 'eat me'. the very words that get Alice into all that trouble in the first place!

Happy Birthday to Me!

tutu cakes...the singapore answer to cupcakes??

2009-01-03T14:01:00.004+08:00

so, i spent a lot of my childhood growing up in Singapore and one of my most favourite things to eat as a child, were tutu cakes or kueh tutu. i guess whilst most other children were growing up having cupcakes or fairy cakes (depending on what part of the world they were in) i grew up eating these. tutu cakes are basically little steamed cakes made from rice flour and with a filling of either sweetened coconut or chopped peanuts. often it's the simplicity of things that most appeals to me and these little cakes couldn't get much simpler. they are prepared on the spot and steamed in a couple of minutes and can be eaten while they're soft and warm straight from the steamer. so today while i was out, i found a counter selling them and just couldn't resist a trip down memory lane and a chance to experience a childhood favourite snack. i think generally it was being able to watch the whole process that fascinated me most and of course the fact that they could be eaten straight away. see for yourself...

the process of making the cakes - rice flour put first into the mold, the coconut is put on top

the cake is then covered up with more rice flour - you can see the chopped peanuts and the sweetened coconut...i've always been a coconut kinda gal!

the cakes are popped in the steamer

steamed for mere minutes in the very serious looking steamer...

then taken out and placed on a small square of banana leaf to stop them sticking together

you get 5 for $2.00 - in a plastic bag, no less!

and most importantly they must be instantly enjoyed, while still warm...a perfect little light fluffy cake...soft and delicate just like a tutu!

and inside...moist, sweet coconut...5 of these little guys are never enough!

you can find these little cakes in most food courts and hawker centres in Singapore...a local delight...made on the spot and not to be missed!

the cheesecake cafe, singapore

2009-01-02T11:24:00.003+08:00

so, i went for coffee with a friend and we ended up at the cheesecake cafe at Siglap. and wow, what a surprise when i walked in the door. the decor of the inside was very baroque...but kinda overdone for me. i love concept cafes...don't get me wrong but this was a little too much. all that gold, all those statues...more like a renaissance brothel, perhaps, than a cheesecake cafe. anyway, then to my surprise we were handed a menu...which was a DVD cover! it was like huh? you decide on a concept cafe...but then you don't follow through...you make the menu a DVD cover which just doesn't blend with your theme...have a scroll, have something velvet-y...

ok so, after peering in the glass case i decided on a peanut butter cheesecake and my friend on a strawberry oreo cheesecake. the selection was a tad disappointing - i was expecting more...more cakes, more experimental flavours, more temptation. you're a cheesecake cafe, pretty much only selling cheesecake, so surprise me! tempt me! shake things up a bit!

the cheesecakes came and presentation was simple...the cake on the plate with not too much decoration on top, nothing additional on the plate...but then i shouldn't complain...i mean it's a cheesecake cafe so you serve it straight up because it's all about the cheesecake, right.

the strawberry oreo cheesecake was good - very light and i liked the oreo in the middle of it. the strawberry wasn't too overpowering and was more like a mousse and the plain cheesecake below was just nice, also light...the flavours blended together well and it was a good combination, even though personally i'm not a big fan of strawberry-flavoured things. i liked also that there was an oreo biscuit base...i've made one of those before and they're yummy!

then i had the peanut butter cheesecake...oh dear...it was a little too much. i thought the combination would be interesting but it the peanut butter combined with the cheesecake which seemed very thick and heavy, left a very pasty sensation in your mouth...so that you kinda felt like your mouth was sticking together and you needed to follow each mouthful with a gulp of water. for me, cheesecake needs to be light and even more so when you pair it with peanut butter - which is ntaurally quite heavy and gooey. i was obviously a little disappointed with this. i think i might have swirled the peanut butter through the cheesecake...rather than a layer on top and definitely lightened up the cheesecake itself.
finally, i must add, that as i attempted to take photos of both the cakes and the decor, i was swiftly informed by a staff member that photography of the cafe was only allowed if a member of the party were in it! huh? but by then i'd taken the shots i'd needed...but that's a first time for me to receive a warning like that...interesting...

the cheesecake cafe
685 East Coast Road Singapore 459054 (Near Siglap Centre)

lovely bubbly...pink champagne cupcakes for New Year's Eve!

2009-01-01T02:14:00.009+08:00

so what is the perfect kind of cupcake for New Year's Eve? obviously something with sparkly bubbly in it...because that is the festive drink of the evening. everyone raises their glasses full of fabulous champagne and wishes for a year ahead full of health, wealth, happiness and prosperity. so how about taking said fabulous champagne and using it to make some cupcakes...i mean it has to be possible, right? people put all kinds of alcohol into cakes so why not champagne...surely all those bubbles would make any batter light, airy and ever-so-fairy!

so i set to searching the internet for recipes and found a few that interested me...so i did a bit of a mish-mash by combining a couple of recipes into one...it was so fun working with pink champagne...i just loved the way it bubbled up as it was poured into the batter. and the result...absolute fascination by all when they heard my reply as to what i had baked for the evenings festivities...'pink champagne cupcakes...really?' 'can you put champagne in cupcakes?' the answer is most definitely a resounding Y-E-S to both questions. the champagne seemed to add this whole other-worldliness element to the cupcakes. they were so light and fluffy but with this delicate aroma and taste of the rosy champagne...so perfect! i topped them with cream cheese champagne icing and some delightful chocolate squares that had those ever so important words printed on them. everyone was very taken with them and most, i noticed, had two all to themselves. and that for me is truly the sign that they taste good. i mean it's polite to eat one...but two...that's pure enjoyment! i just love when things go exactly according to plan...when you have an idea...you see it through to fruition and it is shamelessly devoured down to the last crumb...
may i take a moment to wish all my fantastic readers and fans a very very Happy New Year. may all your dreams come true in 2009 and may i continue to bake, create and please...don't break those resolutions now with too many cupcakes...unless they're mine, of course!

peanut butter-y goodness in a cup!

2008-12-29T18:53:00.003+08:00

so a friend of mine is a mad, crazy peanut butter fan...so when we were invited over to his place for a hot dog extravaganza...how could i not make something with peanut butter in it. so a lot of the time when i think peanut butter...i think Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, i don't know why, but they are just the epitomy of peanut butter-ness in a little cup. and it just so happened that a certain candy store here in Singapore in Vivocity were having a one for one deal on aforementioned product...so how could i possibly pass up a bargain like that! 12 peanut butter cups for the price of 6! i'm a sucker for bargains and especially the sweet variety...
so anyway...i thought i'd try and drop the Reese's cup into the bottom of the cupcake and hope for the best that it would bake in. i used my brownie cupcake recipe - which is always a hit and dropped the peanut butter cup in first then topped with the batter. baked as usual...and the result...well, once they had actually been allowed to cool off properly (a few suspects couldn't wait and ate them while still cooling and the result was that the peanut butter cup dropped straight off the bottom...duh!) the Reese's cup held quite nicely and the cupcake was this yummy chocolate-y delight with a lovely layer of peanut butter at the bottom. very very more-ish! all you peanut butter fans out there...this is NOT to be missed!

mulberry spelt tart...a pie full of goodness!

2008-12-21T08:28:00.006+08:00

what better way to get this super food than in a tart-full of them! this was made as a special request for a dear friend, and again, who am i to disappoint? so this is the result. i think i left the tart in for a little longer than i would have liked so would keep that in mind for next time...30 mins is definitely sufficient to ensure the crust is not too hard. but the taste with the mulberries and the earthy texture of the spelt was delicious. this is definitely a keeper!

toffee bread and butter pudding...get sticky all over!

2008-12-20T08:05:00.004+08:00

bread and butter pudding is such comfort food...i love it...and what better way to enjoy it than with the bread spread thickly with toffee rather than butter...oh so good! and then to make sure you cover with a huge scoop of vanilla bean ice-cream and really there is never going to be a need to leave home again...! the best part of bread and butter pudding is that it is so easy to make and uses up all that few day old bread that no-one ever wants to eat any more...so what do you do? take about 8 slices of any old bread (no, really!) spread thickly with homemade toffee (the recipes on here somewhere), place in a pie dish, sprinkle lovingly with raisins and then add your custard mix consisting of 4 eggs, 3 cups of milk and 2 tblsp of honey on top...make sure bread is pressed into custard mix...pop in the oven in a bain marie...ya know the one where you have to put the dish in a tray of water...bake until golden brown on top and set...about 40 minutes...and then bob's your uncle, fanny's your aunt (well, not really!) it's done!

enjoy shamelessly...especially after all that intense hard preparation work!

charming chocolate mulberry cupcakes!

2008-10-08T08:08:00.000+08:00

'here we go round the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush..' except today we're going round the mulberry cupcake - the chocolate mulberry cupcake! i was given some mulberries to play around with and felt the tartness of the berries would work well in the smooth, richness of chocolate.

mulberries are considered a kind of 'super food' because they are full of anthocyanins which are edible pigments which hold potential use as dietary antioxidants providing potential health benefits against a variety of diseases. i found a list of 10 health benefits of mulberries according to traditional medicine and although not scientifically verified, it makes for an interesting read...

Cancer Prevention

Mulberries are a good source of resveratrol, a potent phytonutrient also found in grapes that researchers believe can prevent cancer and aid in the fight of existing cancers.

Life Extension

Because of their resveratrol content, mulberries may be a tool in one's life extension arsenal, as resveratrol has shown in several studies to extend the life of mice.

Blood Tonic

In Chinese medicine, mulberries are considered a blood tonic, meaning that they cleanse the blood and increase its production, strengthening the entire system.

Kidney Strengthener

In Chinese medicine, mulberries are believed to strengthen the kidneys.

Liver Cleanser

In Chinese medicine, mulberries are believed to be effective in cleansing the liver.

Better Hearing and Vision

In China, tea made with mulberry paste is believed to strengthen one's hearing and vision.

Constipation Cure

In Turkey, a treatment for constipation is to eat white mulberries on an empty stomach with a glass of water.

Anemia Treatment

Because they are quite high in iron, mulberries are a great food to use in the treatment of anemia.

Cold and Flu Treatment

In Turkey, mulberry molasses is used as a treatment for colds and flu. Their effectiveness in this way may be due to their high vitamin C content.

Premature Gray Hair Remedy

In several countries, mulberries are considered an effective remedy for prematurely gray hair.

so what did i do...i used a previous recipe...one for black forest cupcakes and just swapped the mulberries for the black cherries. then i topped them off with some melted chocolate and a pecan! they were delicious. the mulberries provided these little bursts of tartness amidst the sweetness of the chocolate. and with all those anti-oxidants in there...what a perfect excuse to eat more!

coconut spelt and wholewheat loaf cake

2008-10-07T14:47:00.003+08:00

ok, this was a serious venture into the unknown. an experiment into true healthiness. i have had next to no experience with spelt flour and pretty limited experience with wholewheat flour so this really was a journey into virgin territory. my friend who's kitchen i have been commandeering requested a healthy alternative to my loaf cake and who am i to refuse, i mean after all i am using their oven, mixer, sieve and spatula!

so i stuck to the usual loaf cake recipe with some alterations - instead of self-raising and plain flour, i worked with spelt and wholewheat. added some baking powder. then replaced sugar with agave syrup and added freshly grated coconut and vanilla powder (i never even knew there was such a thing!) and the end result...a lovely looking loaf cake! taste-wise this was very interesting. the texture was slightly crumbly and i think next time i would add more agave syrup because it could also have been a little sweeter. it was still moist and had a slight chewy consistency with the presence of the coconut. the spelt flour adds a very particular taste but it all comes together and when you know that it is a healthier alternative, you enjoy it even more. it certainly encourages me to experiment more with healthier flours and sugar alternatives and make some of those ever-so-fattening cupcakes a tad more gentle on the waistline!

the recipe...

250 g soft unsalted butter

5 Tbsp agave syrup

3 large eggs

200 g wholewheat flour

100g spelt flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla powder

150g fresh grated coconut

4 tablespoons milk

loaf tin

cream the butter, adding the syrup when it’s really soft, and creaming both together till pale and smooth and light.

sift together the flours and baking powder.
beat in the eggs one at a time, folding in a spoonful of the flour after each addition, then add the vanilla.
fold in the rest of the flour and finally add the coconut.
thin the batter with the milk - you’re after a soft, dropping consistency - and pour into the waiting greased tin.
pop it in the oven, and cook for 45 mins, or until a cake-tester comes out clean.

leave to cool on a wire rack in its tin, unmould and devour shamelessly - this time you can because it is more healthy!

i'm entering this for the culinarty original recipe round-up so check out the event if you have a favourite original recipe!

at long last...back in the kitchen with lemon chamomile cupcakes!

2008-10-06T06:46:00.006+08:00

lucky me, lucky me...i was invited to a close friend's place over a long weekend we had here and guess what? he has an oven. it was like christmas, easter, birthday and all the other yearly celebrations coming in one great thigh-slapping whammo of an extravaganza. i was ecstatic! and so i was given free-reign in the kitchen to create, bake, explore and just enjoy the feel of the soft flour, cold butter and grainy sugar between my fingers again! ahhh, i have missed it so much. i contemplated just chaining myself to the oven and never leaving but alas, the call of duty forced my return back to my ovenless abode.

so my first creation...lemon camomile cupcakes. i adore the relaxing effect camomile has and i have often squeezed a bit of lemon into a cup of the tea to enhance the flavour. so i figured that a combo of lemon and camomile has got to go well together! and these were...light and fluffy with the tangy lemon icing...these are similar to the previous camomile cupcakes i made the only difference was the icing which was simply icing sugar and lemon juice mixed together until the desired consistency was reached. simply spoon it on...enough so that you get that mouth-watering drip effect as the icing hardens on it's way south. perfection in every bite!

a caramel-icious surprise!

2008-08-26T11:55:00.003+08:00

i love surprises...and never more than when they come in the shape of something delightfully edible like these caramel cinnamon cookies! they were left at the gate of my house yesterday all wrapped up in tin foil by Toby, one of the staff children residing on the campus and his one request was that i might put them on my blog...so how could i possibly disappoint and even more so after i tasted them! they were delicious! buttery and moist, with just enough of a hint of cinnamon but then that sticky caramel on top that was just something i could have eaten on its own (my teeth might not have enjoyed that though!)

so thank you, Toby for ending my day with such a lovely wrapped up surprise and i look forward to sampling many more of your yummy creations!

oreo cheesecake...still 'no baked'... but still good!

2008-08-19T19:11:00.004+08:00

a variation on a theme for you...this is similar to the previous post in that the basic cheesecake recipe is the same. the only difference - substitute the digestive biscuits for the oreos...and add a little more butter as the oreos are very dry and need more butter to keep them together and stop them from crumbling. make the cheesecake itself the same with the cream cheese, ricotta and honey and add chopped oreos to this. spread on top and bob's your uncle (well he probably isn't) and fanny's your aunt (most definitely not) but you get the idea, right?

i sprinkled some cocoa on top and i must say that this was a very rich cheesecake. it was good that i cut it up into bars because a moderate square was ample enough for dessert. the cheesecake seemed to set better this time and i wonder whether the addition of the oreos helped this. it was yummy and really hit the spot...filling a huge chocolate craving. the best part - i invited several teachers over after lunch and shared it all with them...when you're living in the jungle, it's all about the treats...and with the nearest cake shop about 30 minutes away, well you can imagine it went down pretty well!

no bake strawberry cheesecake

2008-08-10T21:11:00.005+08:00

so the 'no-bake' mission continues with gusto...and what's on the menu for today? well who can resist a bit of cheesecake now and again! i do love cheesecake and have tried a few flavours and variations in my time. so i found a no bake cheesecake recipe and thought i'd give it a go. the recipe again was pretty basic...you can't go too wrong. just cream cheese, ricotta, honey and some lemon rind (which i didn't have and so had to replace with lime rind), a biscuit base and strawberries on top. easy-peasy! pop it in the fridge and leave to delicately firm up and it did too! very nicely. the taste of the cheesecake was incredibly light and creamy - so don't go looking for your super firm baked cheesecake texture, this is more on the side of mousse consistency or the cream sheese part of tiramisu. but the whole thing comes together so nicely - the crumbly biscuit base (for which i splurged and bought digestives for...they are SO expensive here!) the light creamy cheese and the sweet strawberries. a perfect afternoon tea delight!

No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Bars

Time: 20 minutes, plus 1 hour’s chilling

10 digestive biscuits, crushed
5 tablespoons melted butter
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons honey, or to taste
Rind of a lemon, freshly grated
Pinch salt
About 1 1/2 cups strawberries

1. Combine crushed biscuits with melted butter. press into a pan to form a crust about 1/4-inch thick. Put in refrigerator until ready to use.
2. Using a standing or hand mixer, or a whisk, combine cream cheese, ricotta, honey, lemon rind and salt, and blend until smooth.
3. Spread cheese mixture carefully and evenly over crust, using a spatula or butter knife to smooth top. Cover with fresh strawberries and chill for at least an hour, or until set.

Cut into squares or bars and serve.

Yield: 8 to 12 servings.

no bake fudge biscuits

2008-08-07T15:13:00.004+08:00

so what does one do when one cannot bake...one doesn't bake but instead scours the internet for recipes that involve 'no baking' and what a plethora of recipes there are out there! i wanted to start with something simple, but yet that would have the maximum enjoyment factor and seriously taste good! so i went with a no bake fudge biscuit recipe. ok so naturally it was easy...no prizes for getting through this recipe without a hitch but it was just comforting to be able to be in my kitchen and create something.

so what do you do...

No Bake Chocolate Fudge Biscuits

3/4 c. butter

1/2 c. sugar

4 T. cocoa powder

2 T. milk (i used soya milk)

1 large packet of marie biscuits

melt the butter, sugar, cocoa powder and milk in a saucepan until the ingredients are combined. add biscuits and then spoon into a baking tin. pop in the fridge (or freezer depending on how long you're willing to wait!) and then cut into squares. devour shamelessly, of course!

yes, it's that easy! and the taste? very good, seriously more-ish and just a great chocolate pick me up to have in the fridge at those moments when you need...well a pick me up! you could definitely experiment with these by adding raisins, peanuts or chocolate chips. it might also be fun to try and make some healthy granola versions that would be good for breakfast. i could see this happening by using honey instead of the sugar. there's definitely a lot you can do with it! but fear not, i shall not bore you with posts of the next 20 different versions that i try...nope, i shall be moving onto other no bake investigations until the staff village here where i am living in Bali has built the communal oven that we have been promised. it's going to be an amazing project - an adobe oven that will be built by the community and will use wood. i can see there being a few disasters but otherwise it will be exciting to experiment with a truly earthy oven!

cupcake-shaped brioche!

2008-08-06T13:46:00.001+08:00

a new-found friend followed a recommendation for a restaurant in Sanur and as a 'thank you' for a most enjoyable dinner there, brought me back a gift. And you know what's weird, she had no idea i am a cupcake freak, but guess what she brought me? some cupcake-shaped brioche! they are too cute for words and were absolutely deliciously divine. soft and buttery, and to make it all so much more sinful, i toasted them over my newly bought toaster and sliced thick chunks of butter and popped them inside. oh yummy-ness! they made such a perfect breakfast treat!

more indonesian kue...

2008-08-05T17:10:00.004+08:00

the fun and deliciousness continues with more indonesian kue...and again a combination of sweet and savoury for you to inspect. someone asked me today whether i preferred the sweet or savoury kue and to be honest it is a really hard choice. both in my humble opinion, are equally enjoyable and cover a different taste bud...

first up we have kroket. this is a lovely potato cake type of kue that has some pureed vegetables mixed in and a green chilli padi stuck in the top. the outside is coated with breadrcumbs and the whole thing is fried. the taste is fantastic. a lovely little savoury potato cake that is given a real kick with the addition of the chilli on top.

then there is kue pisang, which is banana cake. a lovely moist little cake that even has a slice of banana on top. the cake is speckled with banana bits and is a perfect sized bite of cake!

last but not least we have another type of kue sus...similar to the one in my previous post this has a custard in the middle, but rather than the choux pastry of a profiterole, this one is a kind of puff pastry. it's sprinkled with sugar and shaped like an ice-cream cone. the custard is light and creamy and combines perfectly with the more dry puff pastry.

so what's next...

little cakes - indonesian style

2008-08-04T16:44:00.005+08:00

i am fascinated by the whole aspect of indonesian 'kue' here. kue is the word for cake in bahasa indonesia - the language spoken here and it encompasses a vast array of cakes, from your regular kind of birthday-type cake to the weird and wonderful, savoury and sweet, all shapes and sizes! so today i had the opportunity to get my fingers on some and thought i'd share with you how they eat cake on this side of the planet...

kue here in indonesia are often served wrapped up in banana leaves. and this is not purely for the aesthetic aspect but rather the kue are prepared, wrapped up in the banana leaf and then steamed. the first one i tried was called lemper ayam. and although ayam means chicken and thus this is a more savoury delight, it is still called kue. the spiced chicken was surrounded by sticky rice and the overall taste was surprisingly pleasing - the blandness and sticky consistency of the rice was immediately uplifted by the soft, spiced chicken in the centre. very tasty!

next up was kue dadar gulung and this was almost like a spring roll but sweet - it involved a thin black rice pancake with sweet banana inside. again it was interesting the contrast of the rather bland pancake with the sweet banana filling. the consistency of the banana was quite chewy and i believe it is a certain kind of banana they use for this. here in indonesia there is a vast array of bananas available at the market and each one used for a different purpose.

next came the kue sus and this was rather like a cream puff...a soft choux pastry exterior and a creamy custard like filling. it was soft and very melt in your mouth. delicious!

and there you have it...some charmingly delicious local delights for your consideration!

a little cupcake caper!

2008-07-28T20:05:00.005+08:00

oh, i had such great plans for a huge blogoversary celebration - with dreams of tasting as many cupcakes as i could get my fingers on but alas, i did not get them on as many as i would have liked! the time flew by in singapore and with so many things to do, i missed out on testing all those cupcakes i wanted to. so, with a hint of regret, i share with you the ones that didn't get away. i visited two places and tasted two cupcakes in each. so please accept my humble mini blogoversary celebration instead...

first stop...
Paisley & Cream #01-09 The Central (above Clarke Quay MRT Station)
Tel: 6534 7962
Opening Hours :10am to 9pm (Sunday to Thursday) and 10am to midnight (Fridays and Saturdays)

first thing that struck me was the decor...very...umm, 'twee' if you get what i mean - there was a chandelier and interesting alice in wonderland-vinyl covered type furniture. most of the tables were only for two people so it would not be conducive to going with a group. there was a good array of cupcakes and flavours on offer, but for me presentation was very poor. the cupcakes did not match the 'poshness' of the decor. i mean, come on, some of the cupcakes were sprinkled with dinosaur sprinkles and what looked like conjoined pumpkins! so weird and very kid-like. i would definitely have preferred some sophisticated swirls as an adult eating a cupcake. i tried two flavours - the double chocolate (because i heard it was to die for) and the peanut butter. other flavours included oreo, toblerone, red velvet, mango and caramel - i felt the labels displaying the flavours could have been typed out, they were handwritten and looked unprofessional and messy.

the peanut butter cupcake was not a big hit with me - the cupcake itself was dry and did not taste of peanut butter at all while the icing, if you can call it that was mildly flavoured and the consistency rather than being icing-like seemed more like pastry cream. i wouldn't bother with this again.

then came double chocolate - and believe me this lived up to every single word of the favourable reviews i read about it. it was delicious - a rich chocolate flavour, a soft moist cake and a delicious chocolate cream piped on top. the decoration for this was also simple but effective and i must say that presentation was good, with the little bit of piped cream on the side and a sprinkling of cocoa. i would eat this 10 times over - if i had the appetite for it!

second stop...
Cedele Bakery Frankel Avenue 115 Frankel Avenue
Tel: (65) 6243 2056 Fax: (65) 6243 3272
Opening hours : Mon - Sun/Public Holidays:8.00am to 7.00pm

this was a very simple bakery. no flamboyant decor to detract from the food. there were some tables and chairs both inside and out. the walls were a bit dull and the floor was just concrete...a simple splash of colour wouldn't have gone astray. there was a variety of baked goods on offer ranging from scones and muffins to loaves of bread. i choose a blueberry crumble muffin and a vanilla sand cupcake.

the bluberry crumble muffin was good. it had a fantastic crumble topping that i simply have to replicate when i'm back in the kitchen. i liked the way it encompassed pecans in it and was moist. i think there was a lot of brown sugar in it. the muffin itself was loaded with blueberries and very more-ish. a great breakfast treat that would keep you going until lunch.

the vanilla sand cupcake was interesting. the cake itself was a little dry and a rather crumbly texture. it was overall quite sweet and this was enhanced by the icing. i did like the sprinkling of coconut on top and this was perhaps the saving grace. not sure where the name came from though...does the coconut look like vanilla sand?

i'm leaving on a jet plane...

2008-07-22T15:06:00.000+08:00

ok my fellow cupcakers, great bakers and master creators...it seems i have been keeping a secret from you all and that big news is that by the time you read this post i will have left the gloomy shores of Ireland for the forseeable future. yes that's right! i have accepted a job at an amazing school called Green School in Bali, Indonesia. i am spending 3 days in the Lion City that is Singapore to pick up my employment visa for Indonesia and i will arrive in Bali on the 26th july. so i'm all packed up and ready to go.

naturally there will be some settling in and adjusting to new life, it's been 10 years since i last lived in Bali and lots of things have changed, so until i can get my spatula and whisk out again and get baking (there might even be the opportunity for me to sell some cupcakes while i'm there - a good friend owns a cafe in Bali - but more about that later) i will still try and post about visits to restaurants and food in general in Bali. and hopefully it won't be long before i'm back in the kitchen and baking up a storm.

meanwhile, if you want to see what i'm up to in Bali then you gotta come over and check out my blog charting my adventures there ~always look on the Bali side of life~ and learn a little bit more about the Beautiful And Lovely Island that is Bali.

so please forgive the hiatus in cupcakes for now, but know that my itchy fingers will be just dying to experiment with all those wonderful asian fruits, spices and herbs and i promise i will not let you all down. it will be worth the wait!

quinoa and apple cupcakes...a healthy kickstart to the day!

2008-07-20T06:54:00.012+08:00

quinoa is a powerful little seed. its nutritional value is superb and i think everyone should find their own way of including it in their diet. as wikipedia says...

quinoa has come to be highly appreciated for its nutritional value, as its protein content is very high (12%–18%), making it a healthy choice for vegetarians and vegans. Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source.[5] It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten free and considered easy to digest.

i usually eat it as part of a salad with chopped tomatoes, cucumber and spring onion and lots of fresh herbs like coriander, mint and basil. add to this some fresh lemon juice, soya sauce and salt and pepper and i have a salad that i can eat with anything or just eat on its own. however, i have wanted to experiment with it in a sweet dish and of course the natural choice is a cupcake.

i searched on the internet and thought i would try something already tested for my first go. so i followed a recipe i found on the blog, Cupcake Project. the recipe was pretty straightforward and i didn't really alter much - just used regular flour instead of rice flour, mainly because i didn't have rice flour and wasn't fussed about making these gluten-free. i liked the idea of including stewed apples in the middle of each cupcake. a cooked in filling sure beats the time it takes to cut out cones, fill and then ice. the recipe called for cooked quinoa which i proceeded to do using the rice cooker. quinoa is really simple to cook and you just use the ratio of 1:2 that's 1 cup of uncooked quinoa to 2 cups of water.

so what was the result...hmmm, i'm a little undecided on this one. i can't say that it ranks up there with my favourites. the taste is interesting...the quinoa adds a real texture to the cupcake that i guess i'm just not used to. the stewed apples were barely tastable and this was disappointing - if i make these again i would definitely make more stewed apples and have a bigger spoon of it in each cupcake. i did find the cake texture quite dry and definitely think the suggestion on the recipe to perhaps add the stewed apples straight into the batter a good idea. it might just add that little bit more moisture to the finished result. i definitely think i will experiment again with cooked quinoa but next time i might try it in a chocolate cupcake...i could never give up so easily on such a nutritionally powerful little seed and ways to include it in my diet. these however would definitely start your day off with a serious blast of protein and a huge sugar rush. i used the recipe for the icing also given called penuche icing which was made with brown sugar...but again i cannot say that i am a big fan. i found it very sweet and might have preferred a cream cheese of even a vanilla buttercream. however, it is good to experiment and explore new flavours and so i look forward to more explorations with the wondrous quinoa.

lovely lavender-licious cupcakes!

2008-07-17T20:58:00.006+08:00

i love lavender...i have always, always found it so incredibly relaxing. i love a few drops sprinkled on my pillow to help me sleep at night, i love lavender body cream, i love english lavender perfume every so often sprayed in my wardrobe and delicately scenting my clothes. lavender is pure goodness, uninterrupted serenity, the height of calmness and peace. in making these cupcakes and perusing the internet i have found so many uses for lavender and i am so excited because i would just love to make my own lavender facial scrub, lavender salt, lavender sunburn treatment...i want to be more in charge of what i am putting in and on my body. i think making your own herbal remedies and cosmetics is really empowering. it feels good to scrub your face with something that is pure and natural. i really want to do that more.

so my journey in baking and experimenting with herbs continues...and with such a love for lavender i have wanted to make lavender cupcakes for so long. so i started a couple of days ago with making the lavender sugar. so what did i end up doing? i just blitzed sugar and lavender buds in the food processor until it resembled fine powdery sugar. perfect! and then just used as normal sugar. i was disappointed that there wasn't a stronger aroma of lavender filling the kitchen...but then again i don't want the cupcakes to taste like soap so perhaps that was a good thing (anyway i got the aroma later on when i dried sprigs of lavender in the oven on a baking tray to put on top...bliss!)

for the icing i just decided on a very simple icing sugar mixed with milk and almost had a cupcake-tastrophe when i initially spooned on icing that was too runny and it started to drip down INSIDE the paper and cause the paper to peel itself off...yikes...couldn't have that...so thickened up the icing and it was fine (this of course wouldn't have happened if i'd used my regular cupcakes cases...but sometimes the traditional frilly ones are so cute.)

i popped the dried sprigs on top and the result...so simple but so pure. i love the deep purple of the lavender against that lovely white icing. i'm feeling calm just looking at the cupcakes. these cupcakes are for everyone out there this week who is in need of tender loving care, peace, serenity, calm and relaxation. take some time to enjoy a quiet moment. be kind to yourself. you are a child of the universe and deserve nothing but the best. with lots of lavender love x

Lavender Cupcakes (adapted from Forever Summer)

1 cup self-rising flour

1/2 cup very soft butter

9 tbsp. lavender sugar, sifted (I recommend returning some of the petals to the batter)

2 eggs

1-2 tbsp milk

1-2 cups icing sugar

milk

culinary lavender to decorate

Preheat the oven to whatever works best for you.

Mix together the butter and sugar until smooth, then add the eggs one at a time, until completely blended.

Add the flour and mix gently.

Add the milk as needed to reach the right consistency.

Line a muffin pan with 10-12 paper liners and distribute the batter equally.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until done.

When the cupcakes are cool, decorate with icing made by mixing icing sugar with milk so that it is a thick consistency...enough so it will just drop from the spoon (not too runny).

sprinkle with lavender petals.

eat, relax, unwind...you know you deserve it!

the countdown to my first blogoversary...

2008-07-16T18:39:00.006+08:00

i've just found the most fabulous widget...a countdown for your blog's 'blogoversary' and do you see, do you see? mine is coming very, very soon - 12 days to be precise. so plans are already in the making on how i will be celebrating cupcake blogging for a whole year! can't say too much now, but it definitely won't be all about me in the kitchen...so tick off those days and stay tuned...

meanwhile if you wanna countdown to your blogoversary...click the little widget above and start counting down to your blogs special day!

lavender sugar in the making...

2008-07-16T18:03:00.008+08:00

i have wanted to make lavender sugar for ages now and just recently got round to picking some fresh lavender growing in the garden and popping it into a cup of sugar. now here is where the dilemma starts...after searching through various recipes for making lavender sugar i see there are quite a few alternatives. some recipes just call for letting the oils of the lavender infuse into the sugar and then removing the flowers while others state that you can blitz the flowers and sugar and create the lavender sugar that way. or i'm wondering if i can just add the sugar into a cupcake recipe as is so the cupcakes will be specked with lavender buds.

anyone out there who can provide any feedback on any method that they've tried? spill the beans, ok and let me know what has worked for you.

meanwhile the little buds are happily nestling amongst the sugar grains...permeating...ommm!

*update...a few hours later...i have just opened the jar and taken a sneaky whiff...and the smell is enough to start me levitating...it's so relaxing!*

chinese five spice chocolate loaf cake

2008-07-14T04:40:00.008+08:00

chinese five spice powder is amazing! i mean the spicy aromatic smell of it is already enough to warm the cockles of your heart, no mind actually adding it to your food. it's a combination of fennel, star anise, cinnamon, black pepper and cloves. well this one is! i've seen other combinations where the black pepper is replaced with cardamom. anyway, i've seen it paired with chocolate once or twice and wanted to give it a go myself. i also wanted to use up that one remaining bar of salted chocolate that i still had in the cupboard. so i settled on a chinese five spice chocolate loaf cake.

i used the recipe that i've used in past loaf cake creations but with a few minor alterations - most obviously replacing some of the flour with cocoa powder! then i chopped up the salted chocolate and put it in as chocolate chips. i added about 2 tablespoons of five spice powder - i always get that moment of...is it too much or too little? but cross my spatulas and hope for the best. in this case, 2 tablespoons was just right for my liking. the flavours in five spice powder are pretty strong individually - when you put them altogether...whew! too much and you might just be five-spiced out for the rest of the year.

i topped it off with some melted dark and white chocolate. and had so much fun hoping that each drip would cool before they reached the bottom of the cake!

overall, i was quite content with the cake...it did seem to take longer to cook than the rosemary loaf cake i have made before and as such i might have left it in a tad longer than i wanted too. i felt the texture of the cake should have been a little moister and less crumbly. perhaps i could have also added a few more tablespoons of milk to the batter before baking to compensate for the addition of the cocoa powder. i'm thinking that even if this had not been baked until the tester came out clean, it still would have been fine as it would have been extra moist and maybe slightly gooey and that can only be a good thing when it comes to chocolate. however, everyone at home enjoyed it immensely, commenting on how the five spice powder seemed to enhance the flavour of the chocolate and bring a nice spiciness to the cake.

Chinese Five Spice Chocolate Loaf Cake

250 g soft unsalted butter
200 g golden caster sugar
3 large eggs
300g plain flour (minus 4 T flour)
3 T baking powder
4 T cocoa powder
2 T chinese five spice powder
1 t vanilla extract
4 T milk
half cup chocolate chips
loaf tin

cream the butter, adding the sugar when it’s really soft, and creaming both together till pale and smooth and light.
combine and sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and five spice powder into a bowl.
beat in the eggs one at a time, folding in a spoonful of the flour mix after each addition, then add the vanilla.
fold in the rest of the flour mix.

add chocolate chips.
thin the batter with the milk - you’re after a soft, dropping consistency - and pour into the waiting tin.
put it in the oven, and cook for 1 hour, or until a cake-tester comes out clean.
leave to cool on a wire rack in its tin, unmould and devour shamelessly!

an ever so pink kinda distraction...

2008-07-12T18:37:00.004+08:00

oh, what to do when you have a fabulous new 'bubblegum pink' laptop? spend hours upon hours exploring and investigating and pressing all the wrong buttons and probably forever tainting it's virgin pristine condition, of course! yes, oh yes, sad but true...i have been completely neglecting cupcakes for my new toy. shame on me, i know but it's just too pink to resist!

when i opened the box and my brother saw it was pink, he cheekily told me i'm such a cliche (hmph, no more cupcakes for him!) and maybe i am but hey, what the cupcake! i love it and am totally smitten with the fabulous colour which is having such a magnetic effect on me that it's becoming hard to leave the house!

hooray for Dell and their rainbow-coloured array of laptops...they certainly have made me one happy customer! now back to the recipe book...i promise...

rhubarb & passionfruit crumble cupcakes...fabulously light and summery!

2008-07-05T19:31:00.003+08:00

when the summer weather doesn't appear as hoped for, one has to make do with creating their own taste of summer and this is where the idea for these cupcakes came. i love rhubarb...my grandma used to make rhubarb pie when i was younger and home in Ireland for summer holidays and we'd eat big slices of it with fresh cream or ice-cream and i just loved the tartness of the rhubarb with the sweetness of the cream. for the cupcakes though, i wanted it to be more of a crumble taste but still have that contrast of tartness and sweetness. so i settled on a rhubarb cupcake, with a passionfruit filling, a thin layer of vanilla buttercream icing and a layer of biscuit crumbs.

i used sauces that i had bought at the local market that runs every sunday in Howth - the passionfruit curd was the same as the one i used as the topping for the brownie cupcakes i made recently and the rhubarb was a gingered rhubarb jam. i mixed the rhubarb jam straight into the batter exactly like the marmalade cupcakes i made some time ago so click through to that for the recipe. they were really moist and soft. using the cone method for each cupcake i cut out a piece and filled it with the passionfruit curd. the vanilla buttercream went on top in a thin layer as buttercream can often be overpowering and i didn't want it to be such a predominant flavour in the cupcake. then the biscuit crumbs (crushed up digestive biscuits...about 4) were pressed on top. i piped a little buttercream on top and popped a sugar swirl to decorate.

the taste was fantastic. i loved it! the flavours combined together to make a lovely light, summery cupcake that you felt you could easily eat 4 or 5 more. the great thing was that no flavour was too dominant - they all kinda blended together perfectly.

so if the summer isn't going the weather-way you want it...create your own little bite of summer!

millionaire's cupcakes!

2008-07-02T05:17:00.014+08:00

ok, so i'm a BIG fan of millionaire's shortbread. they sell it in the shops here and it's basically a biscuit/shortbread base, layer of toffee, layer of chocolate. it is so good! i could sit and eat square after square with no thought of expanding waistline because the sheer pleasure in the eating eradicates any other negative thoughts.

so i thought i'd like to try and recreate it in cupcake form hence millionaire's cupcakes! i figured a thin layer of biscuit base, then a vanilla cupcake on top with more bits of biscuit in it, then some homemade toffee popped into the middle of the cupcake and finally a nice topping of melted chocolate! perfect!

for the biscuits i used a mixture of ginger snaps and oatmeal biscuits, because i wanted the hint of gingery taste and also the chewy consistency of the oatmeal. i pressed the ground up biscuits mixed with melted butter into the bottom of each cupcake. the batter was pretty straight forward but i liked the addition of some more ground up biscuits in there. while these were baking in the oven, i started on the toffee.

hmmm, the toffee...there was a moment when i thought it was all going to end in disaster. i decided on making the toffee myself this time, rather than using pre-bought stuff. i figured that since i use toffee quite a lot i might as well figure out how to make it. well, when i loaded everything into the saucepan and put it on the heat, everything started bubbling up and getting really hot and splashing everywhere. i got a few burns courtesy of said toffee but it was worth it in the end because after it seeming to stay thin and runny for ages, it finally began to thicken up. after leaving it to cool it was nice and thick and the perfect consistency. phew!

everything came together nicely. once the cupcakes had cooled, using the cone method, i made some space in each cupcake and filled it with the thick toffee. replaced the lid and topped it with the melted chocolate and a marshmallow. i was hoping the chocolate would set...but strangely it didn't...mind you, i haven't checked them in awhile so maybe it has by now.

then came the taste-test...obviously these cupcakes had a lot to live up to as i have had more than my fair share of millionaire's shortbread and might be somewhat of a connoisseur on the delight! but yes, these lovely little creations completely passed the test. the biscuit base was lovely and moist and not hard and crunchy. the mild gingery taste was there and the oatmeal provided a little more texture which was good. the cupcake was moist and the toffee simply lovely - thick and creamy. the chocolate topping (although not at this point set) was perfect. all in all a very pleasing re-creation of a favourite treat.

Recipe

Base
8 oatmeal biscuits, ground up
8 ginger snaps, ground up
1/4 c. melted butter

mix the butter and biscuits together and then put one heaped tablespoon into each cupcake case. press down to form a thin base.

Cupcake
1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 c. plain flour
1 t. baking powder
1/3 c. ground biscuits
1/8 t. salt
2/3 c. milk
1 t. vanilla extract

mix together flour, baking powder, salt and ground biscuits. set aside.
beat butter in a mixer until soft. add sugar and beat until fluffy.
add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
add flour mix alternately with milk and vanilla extract mix in three additions, finishing with the flour mix.
pop into cupcake cases and bake for 25 minutes.
let cool on a wire rack.

Toffee filling
175g butter
175g caster sugar
1 can condensed milk
4 T. golden syrup

put the ingredients in a saucepan and heat over a low heat until butter melts. turn up the heat and bubble mix for 5-8 minutes until it has turned a golden brown and consistency is thick and fudge-like. leave to cool.

Topping
bar of plain chocolate, melted

Assembly
cut a cone in the top of each cupcake and remove some extra cake. fill with toffee mix and replace lid of cupcake. top with melted chocolate and marshmallow.
devour shamelessly!

*update*
the chocolate did set and i managed to snag a few pics of one of the last remaining cupcakes....

i've also decided to enter this for a blog event i found...Original Recipes : Culinarty Round-Up as this is my very own translation of a popular recipe to cupcake form!

salted chocolate chip rosemary loaf cake - sweet and salty come together for a perfect contrast!

2008-06-27T00:36:00.013+08:00

every time i've opened my baking cupboard this past week, i've seen the bright blue wrapper of the dark chocolate with sea salt peeping out at me, begging to be used.

so today, i capitulated. i wanted to make something that would really bring out the salty element of the chocolate but yet contrast it with something sweet so there would be that nice sweet/salty taste in every bite. and then i remembered the delicious loaf cake of posts past. the batter has a delicious sweet vanilla flavour to it and with the sprinkling of sugar on the crust making it a little more sweeter, i felt the dark salty chocolate and the added savoury aroma of the rosemary would be a perfect complement.

and it was! i just chopped up the chocolate bar into nice chunky sized chips and popped it into the usual batter. again that aroma from the oven is enough to just make you imagine you are sitting on the porch at grandma's (that statement is obviously heavily influenced by Hollywood as in Ireland my grandma neither had a porch nor do we ever even have the weather that would encourage sitting outside on anything - porch, footpath, hammock or whatever!) it's just really good...since baking cakes with rosemary, i think it has become one of my favourite herbs. i never really experimented with it much before apart from pairing it with lamb so it is so refreshing to discover how good it is in sweet foods.

and again it didn't fail to satisfy, it was perfect in this loaf cake. each bite was a delicious combination of sweet, salty and savoury. the dark chocolate was perfect - the taste rich and smooth, the vanilla cake sweet and moist and the rosemary warm and aromatic. this loaf cake is really the perfect recipe to experiment and have fun with and so far every time i have made it the result has been delightful!

tennis anyone? how about strawberry, champagne & cream cupcakes instead?

2008-06-23T18:00:00.002+08:00

so today is the first day of my favourite tennis tournament...Wimbledon. for me, Wimbledon has got class. everything is so old school there...the white outfits, the lack of advertising invasion and that lovely green grass. it inspired me to think of a cupcake that would be perfectly at home there amongst the lords and ladies...and so instantly strawberries and cream come to mind as that is what is rumoured to be eaten there and champagne of course...nothing like a tipple of the ol' bubbly dah-ling to enhance watching the gentleman's game!

so when i took out the strawberries, and listened carefully to them...they seemed to be crying out to be blanketed in something delicious, something sinful and who am i not to grant such a humble wish. so i dipped them in chocolate...don't they look content now?

so what did i do? well for the cupcakes, i pulled out the strawberry & champagne jam that i bought at Avoca recently and remembered that some time ago, i made marmalade cupcakes where i just put the marmalade into the batter. so i thought that instead of using the cone method and cutting a disc out of each cupcake, inserting the jam and so on, i'd use the exact same recipe and just add the strawberry champagne jam straight into the batter and see how that worked out. the batter seemed to support the jam pretty well and yet was light and airy enough that i figured it wouldn't collapse into a sticky mess when baked. the batter was a lovely pale pink when it was being scooped into the cupcake cases but this was lost in the baking. the aroma when in the oven was really interesting...it reminded me of the smell of rice pudding baking (not sure why?) and even smelled like that when it came out too. it was such a warm, homely smell...maybe the smell of jam being baked? who knows why these things pan out the way they do and why our olfactory senses react the way they do...i love though the way certain smells evoke such strong memories for us.

then for the icing, i settled on a vanilla mascarpone cream icing which basically consisted of mascarpone cheese, icing sugar, vanilla extract and fresh cream all whizzed together in the whizzer and piped on top. it was so delightful! sweet, creamy and light. this recipe was the same as the one used for the rose tiramisu cupcakes icing.

in case you haven't noticed at the moment...i am a bit obsessed with photographing my food in sunlight. it could be a passing fad...or it could be just that sunlight falling on food casts these amazing shadows and lights up the food in a way that seems to make it look very appetizing(to me!). or it could be that in this country we are generally very sun-deprived and, so when the sun does come out simply everything has to soak it up...including my cupcakes!

anyway, then the taste-test. the whole cupcake came together very nicely. for starters, that chocolate-coated strawberry set you up for a real pleasure to the palate. then came a bite of vanilla mascarpone cream and soft strawberry champagne sponge...a delightful contrast! the sponge had a slight stickiness to it that also made it incredibly moist. this really is the Wimbledon of cupcakes - game, set and match-made in heaven!

REAL gourmet burgers to satisfy a REAL serious craving!

2008-06-21T07:09:00.005+08:00

ok ok...so shoot me, ya! when i'm not stuffing myself with cupcakes i generally eat quite healthy but when i heard from a friend about the REAL gourmet burger cafe in Dun Laoghaire i simply had to go and check it out and eat a nice healthy burger (well that's what i convincingly tell myself all the way to the restaurant - i mean how can a gourmet burger be anything but healthy!) when we arrived it was early evening and although there were a few busy tables generally the place was quiet and we were able to choose a table in the outdoor section and bathe in the rays of sun. my mouth seriously started to water when we were handed the menu - there were beef, lamb, venison and chicken burgers on offer and under each different kind of meat there were very interesting varieties. i decided on a 'holy moly' which was a beef burger with swiss cheese, red peppers, chilli and jalapenos...and hubby settled for an 'oriental' which was a chicken burger with chilli, ginger and lemongrass sauce. we ordered a portion of chips with rosemary salt and a chilli relish for dipping and while hubby selected the safe choice of coke for his drink i decided on an apple and raspberry soda...

and it was pink! i love pink drinks and this was very refreshing...definitely tangy, perhaps could have been a tad sweeter but still drinkable.

after a short while the food came and it didn't fail to disappoint...

the 'holy moly' was very nicely stacked up on the plate - so much so that at first i couldn't figure out how i was going to get my mouth around it (i managed somehow...it's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it!) and it was delicious! the beef burger itself was soft and succulent and the combination of cheese, red pepper, spicy chilli, hot jalapenos and crunchy lettuce with the succulent beef just gave such an array of flavours and textures in the mouth that one had to stop oneself from madly devouring it and instead focus on enjoying the gastronomic experience held in your hand! i loved every inch of it!

the 'oriental' which was a chicken burger seemed to pale a little in size when compared to the 'holy moly' and although hubby said he enjoyed it, he didn't seem as enraptured as yours truly. he should have gone with a beef burger. for me chicken burgers are never going to match up to their rather beefy brother counterparts!

the chips were delightful - homemade style with the skins still on the potatoes but thinly cut. the rosemary salt was a fantastic discovery and added such a lovely aromatic flavour to the chips. the rosemary had been fried with the chips and the texture of it was light and crisp so that it kinda melted in your mouth as you ate the chip. fabulous!

the chilli relish was rich and red...a lovely complement to the chips and although it had a 'kick'...well after 18 years of living in Asia and eating 'sambal'...no irish chilli is EVER going to match up! sorry guys...

and finally a nice bowl (handle-less mug?) of cappuccino to finish off the meal - nice and frothy and smooth coffee. total bill came to a little over 30 euros. well? what do you expect for gourmet, dahling? but in my opinion money well spent on the satisying of a craving for a REAL burger.

Real Dun Laoghaire, The Pavilion, Dun Laoghaire. tel : 01 284 6568

dark chocolate and sea salt...did i hear correctly??

2008-06-19T22:06:00.008+08:00

so this morning i received a most welcome package in the post...because let's face it whenever i receive anything in the post these days that doesn't resemble a bill, it is most welcome. i knew this wasn't a bill because it was a padded envelope...chubby and fat with goodies inside...

and what were those goodies...you might ask? can it really be what is mentioned in the title of this post...dark chocolate and sea salt...now why would anyone send me a bar of chocolate and a packet of sea salt? well of course they wouldn't...this is chocolate with sea salt in it! amazing right! the whole idea of the flavour just tickles me pink. it's so kooky and cool. and yes, you heard correct dark chocolate and SEA SALT! here's a close up to prove it!

and the story behind this wondrous delivery is in part due to my down right cheekiness! yup, you've seen chocolate like this before on my blog...if you scroll back to the rose tiramisu cupcakes i made a while ago you'll see that i topped them off with some very delicious rose and pistachio chocolate squares made by this very same company. so in a moment of...cheekiness, i emailed the company and told them how much i loved the chocolate and to just let them know what some of us crazy bakers get up to with a bar of chocolate and well, they offered me some of the dark chocolate and sea salt bars! hooray for me! so this post is hugely due to Emily at Cocoa Bean Chocolates a big chocolate-y smudged thank you to her for the chocolate that i have promised to bake into something fabulous!

and don't you just love it when people are thought-full. i mean not only does she send TWO big ol' bars for me to bake with, but she also sent me a little one for tasting too! which i did already and loved it! the chocolate is lovely and rich and the sea salt provides a hint of saltiness that just sets off the whole experience into something quite wonderful. and i must say that i do love the mix of sweet and salty together.

so now it's decisions, decisions, decisions...no, not what to bake, but whether i just eat it all now myself or actually use it for baking? with this now being the second bar i have tried i can honestly say that i am quite smitten. the rose and pistachio whicked me away to somewhere exotic and this...has brought me back to the salty shores of ireland.

get passionate about brownies - brownie cupcakes with passion fruit topping!

2008-06-16T01:46:00.006+08:00

well by now, most of you who read this blog will know that i am a HUGE chocolate fan...i just adore the stuff and one of my favourite ways to enjoy chocolate is in the shape and taste of the humble brownie...

A chocolate brownie, also known as a brownie, Bangor brownie or Boston brownie, is a small, rich, chocolate baked cake-slice, named after its brown colour.

crikey - what rocket scientist decided to name brownies brownies after its brown colour!!!! here i was hoping for some great story to go with my post and instead i'm left with this...well let's move on to the creation itself...

i was at the sunday market...again...(well it is one of my favourite haunts to pick up delicious delicacies for my cupcake creations) and spied that passion fruit curd made by the same company whose sauces i used for my cheeky chocolate cupcakes and in my butterscotch bananan bread. they have sample jars of all the sauces open on the stall with crackers in a bowl so you can try before buy...and it works a dream. the passion fruit curd just kinda melted in my mouth. honestly i could just eat the curd out of the jar...no need for anything else...it's that good!

so i snapped it up and brought it home and figured it would be the perfect complement to some brownie cupcakes that i've been dreaming of making for awhile now.

i'm sure you'd agree that the lovely yellow of the curd with the deep brown of the chocolate topping is almost too good to resist...almost but of course, i had to have my taste-test. LOVED these. the brownie was yummy. dense and fudge-y. i just topped these with melted chocolate...added nothing...i like my chocolate to remain as chocolate! and then the spoon of passion fruit curd and a cranberry. i like it...it's kinda like a lovely exotic accessory to the brownie!

take a peek outside and inside...i just love the way the chocolate topping has set and kept its lovely cupcake shape!

so the recipe...

Brownie Cupcake

4 oz dark chocolate ( i like to use 70%)
1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
3 eggs
3/4 c. plain flour
1/8 t. salt

melt the chocolate in a double boiler with the butter until combined.
remove from heat and leave to cool.
whisk in sugar until incorporated then add vanilla extract.
add the eggs one by one, beating each one before adding.
add flour and salt a few tablespoons at a time until fully combined.
batter will be runny and quite difficult to navigate into cupcake cases!
bake for 20 mins at your usual baking temperature.

Topping

a bar of baking chocolate

melt chocolate, leave to cool then spoon onto cupcakes and leave to cool and set. pop a teaspoon of passion fruit curd (if you're lucky enough to have it!) on top and a cranberry. yummy!

la vie en rose with rose tiramisu cupcakes!

2008-06-10T22:37:00.006+08:00

so what could possibly be better than seeing life through rose-coloured glasses? taking it one step further of course and enjoying it with rose-flavoured tiramisu cupcakes, of course!
i'm off to a friend's house later to help her celebrate her birthday and what better than something slightly pink, pretty and rose-flavoured? as you know i have been dying to use that new rose syrup i just bought and the thought of light, delicate tiramisu tickled with the delicious heady aroma of rose...well it seems to me a perfect summer birthday treat.

and for toppings well...when you read the back of this chocolate wrapper how could you not let it adorn a rose-flavoured tiramisu cupcake...i mean, the words themselves had me seriously salivating!

i had to have a sneaky taste of the chocolate on its own and it really was lovely...subtly rose-flavoured (and let's face it...that's the way you have to go when using rose...otherwise i think you might running the risk of inebriating yourself...it's just so heady...yeah, i know i keep saying that but i can't think of any other word to aptly describe the effect of roses). the pistachios offered a subtle crunch...will definitely buy this again just for the pure eating enjoyment!

so now for the recipe...this is similar to the tiramisu i made before a long time ago and of course the only real alterations were the substitution of rose syrup for vanilla essence or anything else that seemed a flavouring. i contemplated whether to use the coffee syrup to flavour the sponge but then thought that it would give a nice contrast...the bitterness of the strong coffee and the aroma of the rose. it did! was really happy with the final result. there was a strong enough hint of rose and yet the cupcake remained light and airy and delightfully delicious!

Cupcake

6 eggs, separated
3/4 t. cream of tartar
1 c. sugar, divided into 2
3 T. water
3 t. rose syrup
1/8 t. salt
1 c. sifted plain flour

in a mixing bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy.
using 1/2 cup of the sugar add the sugar 2 tablespoons at a time, beating the egg whites constantly until glossy and they stand in peaks.
in a small bowl, beat egg yolks until thick (about 3-5 mins)beat in remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, water, rose syrup and salt.
sprinkle sifted flour over whites and fold in gently.
add beaten egg yolk mixture and fold in.
fill cupcake cases 2/3 full and bake in a preheated oven for 15 mins.

Coffee Syrup

1/2 c. icing sugar
1/2 c. water
5 t. coffee powder

in a saucepan, combine water, icing sugar and coffee powder.white stirring, bring to the boil, then remove from heat.
allow to cool.

Icing

2 c. mascarpone cheese
1 c. icing sugar
3/4 c. double cream

beat together the mascarpone and icing sugar until well combined.
add cream and beat until fluffy.

Assembly

poke holes into cooled cupcakes...i find a fork doesn't make big enough holes.
the syrup has trouble seeping through so i use a knitting needle!
spoon 3 teaspoons of coffee syrup over each cupcake...allowing syrup to soak through.
ice with mascarpone cheese icing and drizzle with rose syrup.
top with chocolate bits, shavings, sprinkles or whatever takes your fancy!

for those of you interested in finding out more or ordering the chocolate used in this recipe, you can go check them out at Skelligs Chocolate Company - check out their other amazing flavours too!

thirst-quenchingly delicious lavender, lemon & mint ice tea!

2008-06-09T22:37:00.004+08:00

so what DOES one do on a sunshine-y summery day when one is forced to exchange spatulas for paint brushes and help paint the house exterior??? (apart from be over-protective of one's hands and complain non-stop about the untold damage that this job is doing to fingers that should be insured for millions, like Fred Astaire's legs, simply because of the delectable delights they are capable of creating!)

well, when site foreman (aka dad) is not looking, quickly nip off to the kitchen, reach into cupboard for newly bought and much treasured lavender syrup, find a jug, pop in two tea bags, pour in hot water add 2 tablespoons of honey, let sit for a few minutes (while trying to pretend that you're looking for some painting gizmo or other!), then add mint leaves, sliced lemon, lots of ice and enough cold water to fill up the jug add 3 tablespoons of lavender syrup. stir not too vigorously and pour yourself a giant glass full. decorate with real lavender sprigs plucked from the garden, find a nice cosy spot (away from site foreman!) and enjoy the lovely sweet aromatic coolness in peace.

fanciful flavours to tantalise the taste buds...

2008-06-08T03:23:00.005+08:00

so it was a lovely sunny summer's day this morning and decided to pack a picnic and head to the Powerscourt Waterfall in Co. Wicklow. just spectacular! anyway after full bellies and copious sun-kisses enjoyed by the side of a babbling brook, i just simply had to arrange a stop off at Powerscourt House to check out the Avoca Shop...it is a must because it is always stocked with such amazing delights. every time i go i always feel like there is never enough time to properly explore...there's really THAT much stuff in the shop. and today, it did not disappoint...so here i am to tantalise your taste buds with a hint of future flavours of cupcakes...

lavender...syrup and chocolate...how divine...and i have been aching to make some lavender cupcakes since just about ever...i love the relaxing aroma of lavender...so soothing and calming

and from one fragrant flower to another...yes, with summer in the air, everything IS coming up roses, as we have been blessed with beaming sunshine these past few weeks and it just puts you in the mood for all things flower-y and flour-y! rose cupcakes...hmmm...scent-a-liciously divine!

and this final jar of goodness...strawberry and champagne jam...sounds almost too good to be true and with Wimbledon tennis tournament just around the corner, these sound like the perfect ingredient for another heady summer treat.

stay tuned, my friends and you know you won't be disappointed!

(now where do i hide all this stuff so it is not sneakily devoured by a hungry brother on a midnight snack hunt...?)

variation on a loaf cake in cranberry, macadamia and white chocolate minor!

2008-06-07T01:41:00.005+08:00

ok so you're probably figuring by now that the rosemary loaf cake went down a treat. in fact it went down such a treat that most of it disappeared shortly after it was made...i tried to swat off grabbing hands while it was still cooling as long as i could, otherwise it would have just crumbled away while knives were shamelessly used to (what i can only describe as) hack it apart. hungry stomachs often have no thought for the gentle procedure of slicing a cake and no concern whatsoever for the mess of cake crumbs and chunks they leave behind!

anyway, always one to experiment with something new, when i remade the recipe today, i wanted to try adding something different. so i left out the rosemary and instead added cranberries, macadamia nuts and white chocolate. i like that combination and have used it before in cupcakes. again it was super easy to make and with just the different ingredient being added at the end. smelled lovely in the oven and when it came out. took a bit longer than the rosemary loaf and i think i ended up leaving it in there for about an hour and 15 minutes.

the taste was fabulous...a charming melody of melted white chocolate, tangy cranberries and lovely crunchy macadamias. it all went together harmoniously with the moist vanilla flavour of the cake. this is definitely a recipe to experiment with more and try out some different combinations...i can feel the urge to make a nutella swirled one coming on...let the next symphony begin...

more rosemary goodness with a rosemary loaf cake!

2008-06-04T22:36:00.006+08:00

so what does one do when it appears that the rosemary growing in the garden is going to completely conquer all other plant life? use it up of course! so there is this rosemary loaf cake recipe by nigella lawson that i have been eyeing for awhile in my recipe book and thought with all that fresh rosemary i really should try it...

the recipe was really simple to follow, as i find most nigella recipes to be...she doesn't beat around the bush and i like that. it stated to use 2 teaspoons of rosemary, to be honest i didn't measure. i just chopped up however much was on the sprigs i cut and popped it in. another reason i wanted to try this was because the lemon rosemary cupcakes i made were very lemon-y and although i could mildly get the aroma of the rosemary, this recipe appealed to me because apart from the 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, the rosemary was the strongest flavour to the cake and i thought this would really give me an opportunity to taste the essence of it.

so the final step of the recipe called for sugar to be sprinkled on the top of the loaf. and the result of this can be seen above...it formed this beautiful crust on top that cracked and just looked so fabulous and earthy as the cake came out of the oven. i loved it!

final step after cooling, was the taste-test. eager family members were hovering with intent around the loaf, looking for a sample so, i think once i started cutting almost half of it was gone (they're big into 'doorstep-sized' slices in this house!) the test was lovely - the rosemary was the dominant flavour and provided a lovely almost musky aroma and taste to the cake that also combined so well with the mild vanilla flavouring in the cake. i really enjoyed the moistness and texture of the cake. i think a slice would be lovely smothered with butter too or even an apple jam.

Rosemary Loaf Cake

250 g soft unsalted butter
200 g golden caster sugar
3 large eggs
210 g self raising flour
90g plain flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
needles from a 10cm stalk of rosemary chopped small, but not too fine (about 2 teaspoons)
4 tablespoons milk
1-2 tablespoons rosemary sugar or caster sugar
loaf tin

cream the butter, adding the sugar when it’s really soft, and creaming both together till pale and smooth and light.

beat in the eggs one at a time, folding in a spoonful of the flour after each addition, then add the vanilla.

fold in the rest of the flour and finally add the rosemary.

thin the batter with the milk - you’re after a soft, dropping consistency - and pour into the waiting tin.

sprinkle the top with a little sugar before putting it in the oven, and cook for 1 hour, or until a cake-tester comes out clean.
leave to cool on a wire rack in its tin, unmould and devour shamelessly!

from How To Be A Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson

anyone for a cuppa cupcake?

2008-06-04T02:32:00.005+08:00

today i got a precious little gift...it came in a delightful cylindrical box with...yup, you guessed it...cupcakes all over it!

so me thinks you might be wondering...what mysteries might this charming little box hold within...

ah ha!...a little clue on the lid might hint at the contents...

yes! a mug...but not just any old mug...oh no! that would never do for a cupcake lover such as yours truly...

but a CUPCAKE mug...look at all those darling little treats all over it! just perfect! almost too perfect to use, but i am sure deep down i shall be tempted to make myself a cuppa in it...

the little words written on the inside of the mug say 'hundreds and thousands' and 'with a cherry on top' and that's just the way i like my cupcakes!

available for all cupcake lovers from debenhams

herbal essences - lemon and rosemary cupcakes

2008-06-03T02:16:00.005+08:00

i have been eyeing the beautiful rosemary plant growing in the garden for a few weeks now. it has grown so well and is just flourishing in this warm summery weather we've been experiencing these past few days. so what better thing to do than pop it in some cupcakes. for me, rosemary and lemon are a perfect combination and i have seen a lot of recipes calling for those two ingredients together.

so i gently clipped some rosemary...the smell was lovely, so aromatic and flavour-full...it tingled the senses all the way back to the kitchen! once there, i gave it a good washing and plucked the leaves from the sprigs. then i set about chopping them up as fine as my fingers and knife would allow...quite a challenge as the leaves are quite tough and hardy (i did have that moment of panic where i thought that if they stay that way in the cupcake it's not going to be very tasty...but then i remembered the tea experiment and relaxed!)

i made the lemon cupcakes...with the juice and rind of the lemon in there to really bring out the 'zing' of the lemons and just added the chopped rosemary to the batter. the smell of them baking was just fabulous...again that lovely aroma that i had smelled whilst picking the rosemary in the garden. it just filled the whole kitchen!

i couldn't bring myself to ice them with a buttercream or fancy icing...not sure why, maybe because they seemed to earthy and good with the fresh herbs in there. i figured a lemon glaze would do nicely and again emphasise the 'zing' of the lemon flavour. drizzled the glaze on top and then came the taste-test.

the rosemary had softened beautifully and consistency-wise was unnoticeable when actually eating the cupcake, but the flavour was definitely there and allowed for little pocketfuls of rosemary goodness throughout. the cupcake was incredibly moist and the lemon was refreshing and light. the glaze added that lovely sharpness to the overall eating experience and i think this is why i wanted to go with the glaze...sometimes having that lovely sweet and tangy drizzle is preferable to just the sweetness of buttercream icing.

it feels really great to have used some home-grown herbs in my cupcakes...nothing like being able to go outside to your culinary garden for an ingredient. these were delightful and i think would make a lovely gift...maybe you could give them to someone as a housewarming with a rosemary plant. there is so much that can be done with herbs on so many levels that really we ought to explore using them more and growing our own too.

Cupcake
1 3/4 c. flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
2 t. finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. butter
2 eggs
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 t. lemon extract
1/2 t. vanilla
2/3 c. milk
2 t. lemon peel
3 T. lemon juice

Combine flour, baking powder, rosemary and salt in a small bowl.
In a large bowl, beat butter, then add sugar. beat until fluffy. add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. add lemon extract and vanilla and beat until well combined.
Alternately add flour mixture and milk in three additions.
Stir in lemon peel and juice and then scoop into cupcake cases.
bake for 20-25 mins until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Lemon Glaze
1 c. icing sugar
5 t. lemon juice
2 t. lemon peel

combine icing sugar, lemon juice and lemon peel. stir until runny consistency and drizzle over cooled cupcakes.

blog of the day on a beautiful day!

2008-05-31T17:37:00.003+08:00

what a nice surprise this morning...opened my email and i had received a message from the lovely people at Fuel My Blog who informed me that my blog was being featured as the Blog of the Day for today! And sure enough when i clicked through...there it was...at the top of the page...my humble space! and they even sent me the little piccie above to put on my blog. what a great way to kickstart a fabulous sunny summery day, blue skies up above, not a cloud in sight...i'm off out to soak up the rays.

coconut cream pie cupcakes...a culinary memory recaptured from the past

2008-05-27T05:25:00.014+08:00

i had the wondrous good fortune of living in Bali for a year and a half from July 1998 - November 1999. and while i was there i fell in love with this fabulous restaurant called the 'Dirty Duck' or 'Bebek Benggil' in Indonesian. it was located in Ubud, where i was living and although this was certainly a good thing, it didn't do well for my waistline as my favourite food to eat there was their coconut cream pie. it was simply divine. pie crust, coconut custard filling and meringue topping. the absolute perfect dessert and i went back there time and time again to have a piece even on holiday trips i always made sure i stopped in for a piece of coconut cream pie...if you're ever there then make sure you do too...there is really nothing better than sitting in that amazing restaurant eating delicious pie and gazing out over the rice fields of Bali.

so i have been thinking of how i could re-create it in a cupcake form (of course) and have searched around for recipes but couldn't find anything that really fit the way i wanted it to go. until the other day when i found a recipe for coconut custard that sounded perfect for the filling. for the rest i settled on a vanilla cupcake and for the topping a meringue sprinkled with dried coconut. and the result...

just perfectly coconut cream pie-ish. i couldn't have asked for a better re-creation. the first mouthful brought back such memories of that coconut ceam pie i devoured so shamelessly on so many occasions in Bali! it was light, flavourful and oh-so-floaty! the whole combination just went together so perfectly...ok enough descriptions...now down to the nitty-gritty of making these...

the most time-consuming part is of course the coconut custard...but then you have to figure that in for any custard you make. but it definitely tastes better when you do it yourself. this custard turned out light and creamy.

Filling

4 large egg yolks

3 cups coconut milk

2/3 cups sugar

5 T. cornstarch

1/4 t. salt

prepare an ice bath and set aside.

in a bowl, whisk egg yolks and set aside.

in a saucepan whisk together coconut milk, sugar, cornstarch and salt. bring to a simmer and cook for about 3 mins, whisking constantly.

whisk a quarter of the hot milk mix ito egg yolks and then whisk in remaining mixture.

strain into a clean saucepan and cook over medium heat for about 4 mins, whisking constantly until custard is thick.

transfer to a medium bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing directly onto surface.

set in ice bath until completely chilled - about 45 mins.

for the cupcake i thought a plain ol' vanilla would suffice, after all we don't want anything overpowering that fabulous coconut flavour now do we....?

Cupcake

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 eggs

1/2 t vanilla

1/2 cup milk

in a small bowl sift flour, baking powder and salt.

in a large bowl, whisk together sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla until smooth. alternately whisk in flour mixture and milk. beat until smooth.

scoop batter into prepared pan and bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 mins until golden brown. cool on a wire rack.

and finally the topping...a perfect white meringue. i just love the look of it all shiny and white when it comes out of the mixer...

Meringue

1/4 t. cream of tartar

reserved 4 egg whites

1/3 cup sugar

add cream of tartar to egg whites and beat with electric mixr on high speed until frothy (about 45 seconds).

add one tablespoon of sugar and continue beating on high speed adding one tablespoon at a time until the whites for stiff peaks. pipe on to the cupcakes and return to the oven for 5-6 mins.

what a perfect cupcake and even more so because of the fond memories it brings back to the tastebuds...i love when you manage to re-create a favourite dish...

calming camomile cupcakes...perfect for a tea party!

2008-05-21T00:07:00.002+08:00

so i recently saw a food blog event that seemed to tie in perfectly with my camomile tea project that i've been thinking about for a few days now. it's hosted by Skinny Gourmet and is all about tea. so if you're a big fan of the stuff then get over there and check out the event before it closes!

some time ago i discovered the most wonderful blend of tea by Twinings...camomile, honey and vanilla tea. this stuff is pure calmness in a cup and the smell of those three flavours together is enough to send you into a meditative state simply by inhaling the aroma.

then recently i managed to pick up some camomile chocolate...and i figured i'd like to incorporate it into the cupcake...a perfect garnish! so let's talk about the benefits of camomile...

Health benefits are:

1. Help induce sleep.
2. Calm nervous stomach and improve digestion.
3. Soothe skin irritations, including sunburn, heat rash and haemorrhoids.
4. Relieve toothache.
5. Improve bronchitis.
6. Help with bladder troubles.
7. Treat eye inflammation and infection
8. Heal mouth sores and prevent gum disease
9. Treat irritable bowel problems and various gastrointestinal complaints
10. Help regulate menstrual periods.
11. Reduce menstrual cramps.
12. Good for the kidneys and spleen health.
13. Help alleviate symptoms of the common cold.
14. Promote relaxation and alleviate stress.
15. Help to expel worms and other parasites.
16. Improve liver function and relieve jaundice.
17. Help prevent gangrene.
18. Relieve back pain.
19. Improve rheumatism.

so armed with two fabulous inspirations - tea and chocolate, i set to making my camomile cupcakes. i followed the recipe for the earl grey cupcakes that i made previously that began with a vanilla cupcake recipe and used camomile infused milk to incorporate the flavour of the tea. the only difference for this one is that i happened to have a burst camomile tea bag and i wanted to use those tea leaves for something. i had read in recipes before how you can just rip open the bags and use the tea leaves in the batter. well for ages, i thought this might be really weird, i figured the tea would stay all grainy and gritty in the cupcake and make for a nasty texture. oh, how wrong i was. the tea just kind of blended in to the cupcake and there was hardly any trace of it at all, instead just dark flecks of yellow were all that hinted that it was there. perfect! so this cupcake is almost a double camomile cupcake because it has camomile infused milk in it and camomile tea leaves. it made for a lovely rich strong flavour of the tea - which is exactly what i wanted.

i iced the cupcakes with a vanilla buttercream flavoured with a tablespoon of honey, and again the combination was perfect and just brought out those flavours in the cupcake. the whole cupcake was then garnished with a triangle of camomile chocolate. could you possible think of anything more relaxing than that?

my great taste-tester, my brother, immediately gobbled down three. he is a big fan of the tea and said the whole experience was like eating the tea in a cupcake. i did my usual one cupcake taste test and yes...it was sublime. mouthful after mouthful of absolute calm and serenity. i just loved it.

nana's rice pudding...a secret recipe...shhhhh!

2008-05-20T00:07:00.003+08:00

as a child i grew up overseas and usually spent my summers in Ireland visiting my grandma (affectionately called nana). those summers remain very fond memories for me and something that i always associate with those summers is rice pudding. and not just any old rice pudding, this is the secret recipe rice pudding that my nana would make for us and it would be instantly gobbled up as fast as it came out of the oven. yes, that's right...you read correctly...the oven. my nana's rice pudding was baked. and it's funny because for years when i would be in the supermarket and i'd see tins of rice pudding for sale, i would wonder how it was possible that baked rice pudding could come from a tin (my nana forbid us to buy it, muttering a string of opinonated comments on the sheer disgrace of buying rice pudding in a tin!). it was only years later that i realised that the rice pudding in the tin was usually made in a saucepan and a different process altogether! i grew up believing baked rice pudding was THE only kind of rice pudding out there and in my honest opinion it still is. i could wake up in the middle of the night to eat this rice pudding! and the best part...it is so easy to make. a recipe that has never been written down (probably until now) and so i have no idea about exact quantities but just go by what i remember my nana doing when i would watch her preparing it for us and be badgering her with my unceasing questions of 'when will it be ready?' and it goes on! yesterday, as i was making it, my brother began those very same questions as he waited also not-so-patiently for it to come out of the oven. it's the simple things in life that truly bring the best pleasure!

the rice pudding as it looks when it comes out of the oven...lovingly sprinkled with nutmeg, and if you don't like nutmeg, well, for this you have to just go with it, because it makes the whole experience taste so much better!

the inside of the rice pudding - i have tried this with all different kinds of grains of rice. here in Ireland you can buy such a thing as 'pudding rice' which obviously is perfect because it is very short grain and white in colour, but any short grain rice will suffice. i used basmati rice for this version and it worked fine.

all served up in the bowl and almost ready to be eaten...photographing the pudding was quite a challenge as inbetween photos my brother was digging into the pudding and devouring it at a speed that one might consider to be well above the average rate of eating.

and finally, in my family, baked rice pudding has always been eaten with milk poured over it. does that seem strange? well, it's just how we've always done it. it's a perfect contrast - the hot rice pudding just out of the oven and the cold, fresh milk. yummy!

and now for the recipe...

choose a pie dish and cover the bottom with uncooked rice. wash the rice until the water runs clear. cover the rice with milk and put in the oven for about 20 minutes until the top of the rice is lightly browned and the skin has burst (my grandma called this stage the bursting the rice stage!) remove from the oven and scrape the rice from side of the dish and break it up. put about 3 tablespoons of butter, 3 tablespoons of sugar and half a cup of raisins into the rice. mix it up. pour in enough milk to cover the rice and sprinkle a generous amount of nutmeg on the top. bake in the oven for about 35 minutes or until the milk has all been absorbed and pudding is firm. remove...don't bother cooling, eat immediately with cold milk straight from the fridge.

there really is nothing better than recipes your grandma taught you...not written down but passed down through the generations by word of mouth. hence the amounts in the above recipe are guestimates.

enjoy a little bit of old-fashioned tummy-warming love courtesy of the loveliest nana in the world!

an award from a fellow faery!

2008-05-18T17:34:00.004+08:00

a very special thank you to faery over at Faery's Kitchen for her gracious and much appreciated award she bestowed on me and my blog. it is naturally a great pleasure to be recognised by a fellow faery and i shall do my best to continue to live up to the standard that it suggests!
now who shall i pass it on to...well for starters it must go to Not Quite Nigella who i think must be currently buried under mounds of bananas as she bakes as much banana bread as she can possible stand to select her winner for the Banana Bread Bake-off! what a task...but can't wait to see the results!
and the other blog i'd like to give it to is Fifi la Cupcakes, who is a relatively new food blogger and i really wanna send her some cupcake-y love and support in her baking ventures. i'm enjoying reading her adventures.
that's it for now...

bring back banoffi! bring back banoffi!

2008-05-16T16:48:00.004+08:00

so these are the words i have been hearing for the longest time from family...bring back banoffi! they have unanimously decided that this is their absolute favourite cupcake of all...the diva of all cupcakes simply because it is so luscious and rich and just oozing attitude! my hubby has been telling me that friends at work were wondering whether i am on strike as they haven't tasted any cupcakes in a while and i guess i kinda have been. it felt like my baking mojo had left me there for awhile...but it seems to be back in all its splendour and that can only be a good thing as far as all my fans are concerned!
so it seems the friends at work also wanted to taste the magnificent, diva-licious banoffi cupcakes and so i set to work yesterday making them using the same recipe as before which you can find here. these really are easy to make...the cupcake recipe doesn't involve any of that creaming butter shenanigans and the most time consuming part is actually cutting the cone and filling with toffee sauce. there's no icing as i prefer to use cream to make it more like a real banoffi pie so you just have to whip up the cream in the mixer and pipe it on. and yes, this time i did pipe it on (as opposed to last time when i just kind elegantly dumped it on!) and it did look so much nicer...like a 99 ice-cream that i used to buy here when i was on holidays in the summer months (maybe i need to make a tribute to one of those!)
well, hubby has just sent a message and said that his colleagues all had to take one out and share so they could do a taste test..they couldn't wait for break time and they absolutely loved it. just the kind of feedback i like to hear!

i'm still waiting for my amano chocolate to arrive so hopefully it hasn't melted en route...and hopefully will have something nice and chocolate-y to brew up with that. plus i recently managed to pick up some chamomile infused chocolate and am mulling ideas for a chamomile inspired cupcake.

a change of domain...and chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!

2008-05-07T17:25:00.000+08:00

i've been away for awhile hence the lack of cupcakes and now i'm in the process of switching domains so within the next few days, y'all can update the address for my blog and follow me to www.airyfairycupcakes.com
blogger will apparently post a message to let all those know to follow me there, so don't get left behind now!

on another note, i just found out that i won another treat courtesy of BlakeMakes and Amano Chocolate yup, yup, i won chocolate! my favourite creation...the very substance that i could quite happily walk around with being fed into me by an iv drip! might get some looks, mind you, but if it meant that i would forever be high on chocolate for the rest of my life, well what better thing than that! i won 3 bars of Amano chocolate and it should be on its way pretty soon so again i shall be checking the post box regularly to make sure that the current heat wave we are experiencing here doesn't melt it away before i get to it! and of course, shall be scratching my head and thinking about what to make and trying not to think about eating it all instead!
stay tuned!
and while we are on the subject of chocolate, the reason i'm away from the kitchen for so long is because i am in the midst of helping out with a production of none other than...Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. i do some part-time work with a drama school here and they are performing their end-of-year production at the Civic in Tallaght. so anyone in the area...get on down and check it out. last night was opening night, and though i spent it all back stage, controlling packs of oompa-loompas. i believe it went really well! the perfect play to get me in the mood for my soon to be arriving chocolate, no?

showin' some nutella lovin'...decadent nutella banana bread

2008-04-27T20:45:00.004+08:00

life without nutella is well....just not worth living in my opinion. nutella is definitely one of those things i cannot live without. i used to work in a school in singapore with a great bunch of girls who were all nutella-addicts. it was so great...when we'd have breaks they'd go around with the nutella jar and a loaf of bread and let everyone get their fix.
so my family are still talking about that amazing banana bread that i've been making recently so i wanted to make some last night to have ready for Sunday morning. and of course, the full nutella jar sitting in the cupboard came to mind...i mean nutella jars are just not meant to be full EVER (except of course when they are on the supermarket shelf!)
so i used the avoca banana bread recipe you can find here except this time just swirled nutella through the batter and then because i had some left, drizzled butterscotch over the top. totally decadent! i mean totally, but gosh, just so good. the nutella was fabulous with that nutty chocolate flavour and completely complemented the bananas and pecans.
it was just such a great start to Sunday morning!

go savoury with cheesy chutney muffins!

2008-04-25T20:26:00.009+08:00

so, today was the day to test out my McQuade's Celtic Chutney that i received through Blakemakes and use it in a recipe.

i located a recipe from the Nigella Bites cookbook for cheesy welsh rarebit muffins and modified it to fit what i wanted to do. the cheese used had to be a good one and when a recipe calls for good cheese, i use great cheese - Dubliner vintage irish cheese...it rocks the planet...my favourite cheese ever. anything else just pales in comparison...

followed the recipe with a few substitutions - read how another blogger had replaced the rye flour in the recipe with crushed weetabix. i couldn't find any rye flour in the supermarket so i did the same...perfect...worked like a dream! and here was the end result...

the texture of these was lovely...light and airy - definitely due to my being diligent with not over-mixing. then the chutney that i had mixed into the batter had all softened up inside the muffin and kinda exploded into these little pockets of chutney flavour. the cheese lived up to all expectations and provided that wonderful sharp, mature cheddar taste that only comes with really great cheese. the combination together was brilliant. fantastic as an alternative to bread with a lovely salad.

would definitely make these again...i think they'd be perfect to bring over for a savoury afternoon tea party or even to have at home to pop in lunch boxes to go with salads...but what am i going to do now that i have run out of fabulous chutney??? i shall have to resort to what i can locate locally...i suppose...but this sure was a fun challenge. loved getting the jar, loved baking with it, certainly loved sampling it. i'm just having too much fun all round!

now for the recipe...

Welsh Rarebit Muffins Recipe
adapted from Nigella Bites by Nigella Lawson

INGREDIENTS:

* 1-1/2 cups self-rising flour

* 1/3 cup rye flour (i used 2 crushed weetabix)

* 1 teaspoon baking powder

* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

* 1 teaspoon salt

* Generous 1/2 cup sharp Cheddar cheese, grated

* 6 Tablespoons vegetable oil

* 1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons plain whole-milk yogurt

* 1/2 cup whole milk

* 1 egg

* 4 generous Tablespoons of McQuade's Celtic Chutney

1. Mix the wet ingredients in a jug
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl
3. Add the wet to the dry, mix quickly with a fork until just combined
4. Divide between 12 muffin cases and bake for 20 minutes.

a chutney-licious special delivery for moi!

2008-04-23T15:45:00.001+08:00

'ding-dong' there was a goodie-laden ring at the door yesterday morning by the postman, who reluctantly handed over my jar of chutney (he knew so because it was written on the box - seems like i needed to worry less about the garden leprechauns and more about him!) which comes to me courtesy of McQuade's and Blake Makes

i enjoyed the sight of it nicely packaged up in the box, before i took the plunge and delved in to discover what lay within...

and there it was...in all it's fabulous glory...my jar of chutney and you can't imagine how thrilled i was because basically this stuff is not available on our little plot of the planet and so to be able to get my hands on some...well....suuuuu-weet!

the ingredients listed on the jar were dried fig, cider vinegar, brown sugar, ginger, raisins, apples, lemon zest, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, chilies and cayenne...mouthwatering...

i opened it up and took a peek inside...LOVED the look of the chutney at first glance...it's big, bold and very organic looking...just the way i like my chutney (and we are big on chutney on this plot of the planet) not all pulverised down to baby food consistency but chunky, meaty and so you can see what actually went into it. the smell was very tantalising...a great aroma that seemed to capture all the flavours listed on the jar...i was smitten...

so there is only ONE way to first and foremost test a chutney and that is the good ol'-fashioned way...some home-made bread, mature cheddar cheese and the chutney on top...add to this a sprinkle of sunshine and really...it just doesn't get any simpler and better than this...

i absolutely loved it! it was so tasty...i particularly enjoyed the sweetness of the fig contrasting with the tang of the ginger and the acidic taste of the cider vinegar. it perfectly complemented the maturity of the cheese and the homemade tomato bread. fabulous! the problem now is finding a decent hiding place to store it until i can bake it into a cupcake...i live in a household of serious cheese and chutney fans (our favourite flavour of crisps is...Walkers Sensations Vintage Cheddar and Red Onion Chutney). so need i say more...

now what did i say i was going to make with this again?...oh ya...the next weeks supply of mature cheddar cheese and chutney sandwiches, right? RIGHT? oh so tempting...but no...i've got to decide between my sweet ricotta chutney cupcakes or savoury goat's cheese (or mature cheddar) chutney cupcakes...so what do you think? maybe you can help me decide...

chocolate orange cupcakes - a humble tribute to the great Terry!

2008-04-22T21:13:00.009+08:00

oh Terry, Terry, wherefore art thou, Terry? you are always there when i need you, through thick and thin, in celebrations and commiserations in good moods and bad and so, in humble tribute, i offer you the chocolate orange cupcake, in thanks for all those moments when i have taken pleasure from your delicious chocolate orange...

for those of you already acquainted with Terry, well then, you will COMPLETELY understand the need to pay tribute to such a fabulous creation as the chocolate orange. for those of you not yet acquainted with dear Terry, well, let me just say that once tasted never forgotten. you will become rather dependant on Terry. Terry will be there to see you through many a difficult moment in your life!

so of course, with such a history together, i set about today making a cupcake in tribute to the very yummy, and very more-ish, Terry's Chocolate Orange. it is a clever creation, because it comes wrapped up in foil like an orange, packaged nicely in a box. when you take the chocolate orange out of the box, you are met with the instruction to 'whack and unwrap' - which of course you do with delight (or frustration depending on ones mood) and when you unwrap, each little chocolate orange segment delicately falls away and nestles on the foil waiting to be devoured. so perfect - no peeling, no seeds - just delightful chocolate orange!

so what did i come up with...well, i started with a chocolate orange cupcake that incorporated delicious dark couverture chocolate as well as orange juice and rind. this was then topped with a hint of orange buttercream icing and topped with a lovely segment of chocolate orange! final result...so good. there was a nice richness to the cupcake and the hint of orange buttercream was just enough so as not to overpower the overall taste of the cupcake...and the chocolate orange segment, well one is left in a quandry as to whether to eat it first or save it last. such are the tough decisions of the day!

and what might Terry say?...one can only hope he feels honoured and pleased and continues to grace our planet with his little chocolate orange delights!

the recipe....

Chocolate Orange Cupcake

2½ oz semi sweet chocolate - coarsely chopped
1 tsp orange rind, grated
2/3 c. orange juice
3½ oz butter - softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2/3 c. self raising flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/3 c. almond meal

1 Pre-heat the oven.
2 Line a 12 cupcake pan, with cupcake papers.
3 Place the chocolate, orange rind and juice in a small saucepan.
4 Stir over a low heat until melted and smooth.
5 Put the butter, sugar and eggs in a bowl and beat with electric beaters until fluffy.
6 Sift the flour and cocoa into the butter mix. Add the almond meal and chocolate mix.
7 Mix until just combined.
8 Divide the mixture evenly between the cake cases.
9 Bake for about 25 minutes - until firm to touch.
10 Allow to cool for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack.
Makes 12 cakes.

A hint of orange buttercream icing

4 oz butter
2 c. icing sugar
¼ c. orange juice

cream butter until light and fluffy.
slowly add icing sugar, alternating with orange juice until preferred consistency is reached.
colour accordingly.
pipe and decorate.

a delicious combination of flavours...palm sugar cupcakes with vanilla rice pudding

2008-04-18T23:35:00.008+08:00

so there has been this bag of palm sugar sitting in our cupboard for ages (because i think hubby bought it to use in an asian dish and just never did) and every time i open the cupboard i see it looking like little bee hives sitting in there patiently waiting to be turned into something scrumptious! it just also happened that i discovered that the Sugar High Friday food event was having Asian Sweet Invasion as their theme so it seemed right to do something with palm sugar.

what is palm sugar i hear you ask? well according to the great wikipedia...

Palm sugar was originally made from the sugary sap of the Palmyra palm or the date palm. Now it is also made from the sap of the sago and coconut palms and may be sold as "coconut sugar." The sugar is a golden brown paste, sold in tubes, blocks or tin cans. It may be light-coloured or dark, soft and gooey or hard. As a lightly-processed product of cottage industry, it varies greatly from batch to batch.

so, i searched around trying to find a recipe out there already for palm sugar cupcakes. but couldn't find one to my liking. got my baking cap on and thought about how i wanted it all to fit together. so basically, what i did was i just replaced my usual amount of sugar with palm sugar and added coconut milk instead of regular milk to enhance the 'asian' flavour of this combination. it seemed to work pretty well, because they smelled great when they came out of the oven and had this lovely golden brown colour to them that i had been hoping for.

then i needed to think about what to put on top? i felt like a change from regular icing and had seen this packet of arborio rice lying at the bottom of another cupboard (i swear that my mum's kitchen is like this treasure trove of undiscovered ingredients. one only has to seek and they shall discover a plethora of goodies to inspire baking hands!) so i thought that it might be interesting to make a vanilla rice pudding with the rice and put it on top of the cupcakes. the arborio rice was really easy to cook with. first you had to boil it in water until all liquid had been absorbed...

then, add the cooked rice to a saucepan of milk, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. the recipe i found did say vanilla extract but i found (yet again!) a vanilla pod lurking with intent and thought...that's going to make it taste SO much better!

after boiling it until almost all liquid was absorbed, i left it to cool and then began the filling up of each and every glorious cupcake! when each one had been 'stuffed' i sprinkled with some nutmeg (my grandma ALWAYS put nutmeg in her baked rice pudding and for me rice pudding just isn't the same without it!)

then came the moment of truth...the TASTE test! yes, i always allow myself one cupcake of every batch i make because i need to be able to judge the taste, consistency, texture, etc. otherwise how can i compare? well, this one i think is probably one of my favourites in the taste department. the flavours went so well together i was so pleased. there was this lovely almost burnt sugar taste of the cupcake that palm sugar often gives off (that's not a great description but hopefully you get what i mean here!) that contrasted so well with the sweet, creaminess of the vanilla rice pudding. i really couldn't have asked for anything better. just adored it! this would be a perfect choice for an asian dinner party because the flavours are not too strong of ginger or cardamom but still exotic and a joy to eat with the different textures of the spongey cupcake and the creamy rice pudding. i am, of course, seriously considering another one of these!

and the recipe...

Palm Sugar Cupcakes

1 3/4 c. all purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
200 g palm sugar, grated
2 eggs
1/2 c. butter
2/3 c. coconut milk
1 t. vanilla extract

preheat your oven to usual temperature. line your cupcake pan.
in a mixer, beat butter and palm sugar until light and fluffy (note : this will not be the same texture as when you use regular sugar)
add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
combine coconut milk and vanilla together.
sift flour, baking soda and salt together and add to the batter alternating with coconut milk mixture until fully incorporate.
spoon batter into cupcake cases and bake for 20 mins. cool on a wire rack.

Vanilla Rice Pudding

1 c. water
pinch of salt
1/2 T. butter
1/2 c. arborio rice
2 c. milk
4 T. sugar
1 t. vanilla extract or 1 vanilla pod
few dashes of ground cinnamon

bring water, salt and butter to the boil in a saucepan. add rice and return to the boil. reduce heat and using the lowest setting, cook the rice until rice has absorbed the water but is still al dente - about 15 mins.
bring milk, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon to a simmer in a separate saucepan. add cooked rice and simmer over medium-low heat until rice absorbs most of the milk and mixture starts to get thick and silky - about 15 mins.
transfer to a bowl to cool.

Assembly

using the cone method cut out a section from each cupcake, scooping out more cake if necessary. trim the top. fill each hole with the rice pudding and replace the top or put to one side. sprinkle with nutmeg.

i'm also going top enter this for Master Baker's event this month - where the special ingredient is vanilla. perfect!

cheeky chocolate cupcakes!

2008-04-16T17:33:00.005+08:00

so what DO you make with cheeky chocolate sauce? CHEEKY CHOCOLATE cupcakes, of course! this were a whizz to make (i seem to be on a bit of an easy-baking trip after all that banana bread!) i used the magnolia bakery vanilla cupcake recipe (but any favourite vanilla cupcake recipe will do) and after i had spooned the batter into the cupcake cases i then just swirled on the top a tablespoon of cheeky chocolate sauce! this could be replaced with your own favourite chocolate spread/sauce of course!
the result was really pretty darn good. some of the chocolate sauce had seeped through the cupcake batter and formed a layer of chocolate on the bottom of some of the cupcakes. this was a nice surprise (note : when i made something similar to this with nutella, the nutella stayed only on top so it would depend on the density of your sauce!) the cheeky chocolate sauce was everything i could have hoped for...rich, flavour-full and was like baked on icing on the top of this cupcake! i liked the effect on the top of the cupcake...they looked marbled. again when i made these with nutella, it was easier to swirl the batter/nutella together and it stayed like that when baked. for this sauce because the consistency was runnier, the sauce and batter mixed together a little more and i lost the lovely swirly look. not to worry. it's all about the taste for these cupcakes and the taste was definitely there. so when you're feeling cheeky, make some of these cheeky chocolate cupcakes...what ya waiting for?

i think i'm going banana-nanas!

2008-04-15T21:00:00.007+08:00

can you imagine?...i was ordered last night to make ANOTHER banana bread and believe you me, i am never one who is very good at orders...but it was that good and disappeared that fast that some of the unhappy population of the household felt that they would like some more. of course, me being me, i couldn't make it exactly the same as the day before (i really couldn't...i had no more of those honey roasted pecans!) so i thought i would experiment with something else i picked up at the market on sunday...some bewitching butterscotch sauce! i just had to get a jar of this (along with another one called 'cheeky chocolate'!) because not only did the packaging look so cute, but they had open jars for tasting and i was able to experience first hand the lovely buttery toffee flavour...scrumptious...

i especially liked the little warning on the side of the jar...

so, being the huge glutton that i am (well, at least i admit it!) i decided to make the basic recipe same as yesterday with just regular pecans but this time swirl some of the butterscotch sauce through the batter once it was in the mould. then of course, being the even bigger glutton that i am, i thought how lovely it would be to drizzle some (lots!) over the chopped pecans on TOP of the banana bread. so i did...and when it came out of the oven last night it was so shiny and glistening from where the butterscotch had heated up and attached the pecans very stickily to the top.

ONCE AGAIN, i was driven near mad to cut the bread before it had properly cooled (younger brothers, huh! who'd have them?) and he gobbled down two slices with a nice tall cold glass of milk. i thought i would refrain and have a nice piece for breakfast in the morning, when it had set properly and i sure am glad i did. this was lovely...bananas and butterscotch...do you really need to ask for anything more after that? i shall be back to pick up more of that butterscotch sauce for sure and perhaps some others i spied there including a passionfruit spread!

for the recipe please see below...i really am going bananas and think i have probably had my Recommended Yearly Allowance of bananas in the past 2 days! blame it on the Banana Bread Bakeoff, that's what i say!

cupcakes take a back seat while Banana Bread rides up front to the Banana Bread Bakeoff!

2008-04-14T16:23:00.010+08:00

ok, so i'm ALWAYS up for a foodie event and when i encouraged my friend in blogdom, Not Quite Nigella to host a Banana Bread Bakeoff...well i couldn't very well NOT participate. so the event was for Banana Bread and to be honest, i've never made it before in the loaf form...i've made banana cupcakes but it didn't really feel like the same thing. there is something so wholesome and good about slicing up a loaf of bread. so i hid the cupcake cases away and dusted off a silicone loaf mould that i found abandoned and long since unused at the bottom of one of the cupboards. i also thought about what recipe i wanted to use. i searched the internet and found many, many recipes...how to choose? then i thought about looking for a recipe from closer to home. one of my favourite places to eat in Ireland is at the Avoca Cafes. there are a whole string of them around our island and the food is just so good and homely (you might remember that i posted about the one in Powerscourt which i visited on my birthday) so i figured their recipe in the Avoca Cafe Cookbook has got to be good.

so i located their banana bread recipe and set to work. the recipe was SUPER easy to follow and do...no mixer, nothing...just a little bit of arm work and then again, not much of that either. i must admit though that i started to freak out a bit when i saw the consistency of the batter...it was so...THICK! this serves me right for being a cupcake addict...i have obviously forgotten that one consistency does not suit all! i had this moment of 'oh no, my banana bread is going to be a banana brick...heavy and dense!' but was i ever wrong? the recipe called for pecans and i was lucky that while at the market (buying up the fudge store) i also spied the nut stall and bought some honey roasted pecans which really were to die for. they were crunchy, sweet and just perfect for putting in banana bread. you might just be able to make them out in the second row, extreme right of the photo.

the pecans were so good that as well as putting them in the batter i also sprinkled them on top of the banana bread before baking. the result when the bread came out of the oven was lovely!

then came the taste test...(it is so hard to leave anything to cool properly in my parents house, because there is a horde of hungry feasters who are always just dying to dig into the lastest creation!) i think i probably could have left it to cool longer, but as mentioned, there were tongues hanging out (after the amazing aroma that filled the house) waiting in anticipation. when i sliced in, the bread was still very soft and warm but very moist and again the aroma was fabulous. a rich banana smell twinged with cinnamon, take a peek-a-boo inside...

the taste was really really good. my brother demanded a second piece straight away! the amount of banana was perfect (i mean c'mon, i want my banana bread to taste of banana!) and with that bit of cinnamon, it gave you such a warm feeling. the honey roasted pecans were perfect! they made the outside of the bread crunchy and provided a lovely little crunch throughout the bread as well as a fantastic flavour. i'm guessing you could do these yourself in the oven, but i'm imagining mess and goo and everything else that usually comes with honey! i didn't mash up the bananas to the point of baby food, so there were still some obvious bits of banana throughout the bread. i like that! to me it feels more wholesome. i will DEFINITELY get that silicone mould out again to bake this because it was so good. i mean, really, anything that was baked by 9pm last night and was gone by 10 am this morning must be good. i'm also going to go back to the nut stall and experiment with some other varieties and maybe try some white chocolate chips in there too. oh, it could be so much fun! the possibilities are endless!

and now for the recipe...

Avoca Cafe Banana Bread

80z plain flour
1 t. salt
1 heaped t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon
4oz sugar
1 egg
3 oz butter, melted
few drops of vanilla essence
2 1/2 oz pecan nuts, chopped
4 medium bananas, mashed

preheat your oven to whatever usually works best for you.
sift flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl, stir in sugar.
mix in egg, butter and vanilla essence, but do not beat.
fold in pecans and mashed bananas, using a fork. again do not beat.
spoon into loaf tin and bake for 50-60 mins. leave for 10 mins in the tin and then cool on a wire rack.

it doesn't get much easier than that! devour shamelessly!

a-fudge-tasting we will go!

2008-04-13T20:40:00.009+08:00

woke up this morning to a lovely spring day, with blue skies and bright (not warm though!) sunshine. hubby said he wanted to treat me to brunch so we headed out to one of my favourite local lunch spots - the country market in howth. after i was well-fed and content, i naturally wanted to make my way down to the local market that runs there every sunday. it's a great little market with lots of homegrown produced goods and for me, i always believe that it is good to support local producers.

anyway, let me get to what this post is really about...FUDGE, FUDGE GLORIOUS FUDGE! now, many of you might not be that familiar with fudge. but according to wikipedia...

Fudge is a type of candy, usually extremely rich and sometimes flavored with cocoa. It is made by mixing sugar, butter, and milk and heating it to the soft-ball stage at 240 °F (116 °C), and then beating the mixture while it cools so that it acquires a smooth, creamy consistency.

sounds good, right? well, at our local market there is a stall there every week called Man of Aran Fudge and i have been eyeing it for some time because the fudge looks amazing...more like bars of fragrant soap than fudge. i guess i have grown up thinking of fudge in the traditional sense with that creamy brown colour so to see it like this is a real wonder and stimulation for the senses!

peppermint & choc chip fudge

cappucino fudge

strawberries and cream and banana chocolate twirl fudge

maple nut, nutty choc fudge and vanilla rum raisin

so i took the plunge today and bought a box. you get a box for 9.50 euros and you get to choose 4 different flavours to fill the box up with. it's a real tough decision...REAL tough as there is so much that catches your eye that you just constantly seem to get distracted. because we were buying it as a gift for my mum, i went with flavours that i felt she would enjoy and eventually settled on - banoffi fudge, cappucino fudge, bailey's fudge and maltesers fudge. the pieces were sliced up and fit perfectly in the box.

then came the taste test. it was hard to choose which one to try first because they all looked so creamy and delicious...but we went for the malteser fudge first...

this was quite sweet, but definitely had a distinct malteser taste off it. the fudge was very luscious and creamy and had a delightful melt-in-your mouth quality to it. this was my favourite. we then moved on to the cappucino fudge...

this was my mum's favourite. she loves cappucinos and will always have one when we are out and she felt that this had a lovely strong taste of cappucino. we both also really liked the way it looked...like an actual cup of cappucino! next came the banoffi fudge...

this looked delightful with the caramel coloured swirls in the yellow fudge. when you tasted it, initially you received an overwhelming taste of banana...i mean, i like banana and all, but when the taste is really overpowering sometimes i find it a bit too much. but then as the fudge started to melt, you tasted the toffee flavour coming through. i would have preferred to taste more of the toffee though because that's the part i really like about banoffi! finally we moved on to the bailey's fudge....

this was perhaps the least interesting taste-wise out of all the fudge. the baileys flavour definitely could have been stronger. to me it tasted rather bland and as if there wasn't much baileys in there which was kinda disappointing when that is the flavour it's being sold as.

all in all, the fudge was very enjoyable. however, i don't think i could eat heaps and heaps of it at a time because it is sweet and luscious. a box like this would probably last me awhile and i could enjoy a cube with a cup of tea or coffee. or maybe i might try chop some up in a cupcake...now there's a thought :)

butterscotch butterscotch cupcakes...yup that's right...double helping!

2008-04-11T23:21:00.006+08:00

i love, love, love butterscotch but unfortunately here, in ireland, we seem to be rather deprived of those butterscotch chips that i see so many recipes using when butterscotch is called for. shame, shame! but not one to be deterred from a mission, i shall always seek out and explore with any alternative i can get my hands on.
some time ago i made banoffee cupcakes and in that recipe i used this amazing butterscotch spread for the filling of each cupcake. i really liked the taste of it...rich and creamy and very very devourable! so i figured i'd try this time just mixing it in with the batter to make some butterscotch cupcakes and then use some to add into the icing (many family members are also butterscotch fans so a double helping of the stuff might not seem so out of context if you know this!!!)
result...the cupcake smelled absolutely divine coming out of the oven...so much so, that the 13th cupcake i got out of the batter that i overfilled and spilled over, was used for an immediate taste test. it was so good warm. lovely butter-y taste with the caramel kick. soft, moist and speckled with dots of what i presume is the butterscotch (i didn't mix in the spread that much).
of course, while they were baking i tackled the icing. this was a tad more tricky. of course, the butterscotch is VERY sweet on it's own...add to this icing sugar and well, when i tasted it i worried that it was too much. so i cut back and tried to mix in as little as possible necessary to get to piping consistency. but so much for piping consistency...when i dolloped it all in the icing bag and actually started piping i noticed the icing started going a bit pear-shaped and looking like it was melting...gulp! i piped on, trying to get the stuff on as fast as possible. i think next time i'd need to re-think this...but on the other hand, the icing was so yummy...again that lovely butter-y taste and darn it! if only it didn't look so weird! not to worry...most probably won't notice as they gobble them down. so hurrah for that!

the recipe...

Butterscotch Cupcakes

1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
3 eggs
2 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
2/3 c. milk
1/2 jar butterscotch spread

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla together until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time until fully incorporated and mixture is light and creamy.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt together in a separate bowl and add to the creamed mix, alternating with the milk until fully incorporated.
Stir in butterscotch spread. do not overmix. it's nice if there are some butterscotch swirls in there.
Scoop into cupcake cases and bake for 25 mins at whatever your usual temperature is. Remove and let stand for about 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack.

i'm not going to post the icing recipe because i am not entirely satisfied with it and would need to re-do before i can finalise the quantities.

even Martha Stewart likes my cupcakes!

2008-04-11T17:40:00.003+08:00

so, remember this lovely creation...? well now it has a claim to fame...it's loved by Martha Stewart! Yes, THE Martha Stewart. recently there was a competition on her website for the cutest cupcakes, so i entered my easter nest cupcake and just saw today that it made it to one of the finalists! i was so excited and thrilled and....and.... (ya, ok that's enough, i know!)
anyway please click here and check out some of the other amazing entries. i feel in very honoured company!

it's all about the chocolate...gooey chocolate cupcakes to die for!

2008-04-09T04:27:00.008+08:00

so, do you remember that charming old-school bar of handmade dark couverture chocolate i posted about here? well i finally found THE perfect recipe for it's true test...yes, gooey chocolate cupcakes! i found the recipe while browsing many of the baking blogs that i frequently haunt as this is a recipe from dorie greenspan's book 'baking from my home to yours'. and there is a food blogging group out there called 'tuesdays with dorie' who are currently working their way through this book baking all the recipes and this was one of them. well, when i saw this...i just knew...this would be the perfect recipe and it was! my gosh, if you don't bake this recipe at LEAST once in your lifetime, you are truly missing out on one of life's pure joys. this was to die for!!!! the delicious irish chocolate completely lived up to its baking and taste test and rose to the occasion. the flavour of the chocolate is rich and smooth and velvety in the mouth and just perfect in this little cake (and i'm so proud to be using irish chocolate!). i was so pleased with the result that i would definitely buy the chocolate again and will certainly be making these cupcakes again. i couldn't get them out of the wrappers fast enough and into bowls for everyone in the house to eat. and there were groans and sighs as mouthful after mouthful was devoured and enjoyed!

i served them with some strawberries (important to get those designated servings of fruit into the menu!) and honeycomb ice-cream which i discovered by accident in the supermarket and thought would be fun to try. it was! it tasted like cadbury's crunchie!

i really cannot sing the praises of this recipe enough. it was SO easy to make, SO fast to bake and even faster to eat! by the time i got around to photographing the one remaining cupcake, the gooey middle had firmed up a little (i guess it continued to bake even after coming out of the oven!) but everyone elses had their chocolate just ooze out like a lovely molten flow of lava. unfortunately i was so busy serving everyone that i didn't get to capture this on camera.

and the recipe...

Gooey Chocolate Cake

Recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From my home to yours

INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

5 oz bittersweet chocolate

– 4oz coarsely chopped

– 1oz very finely chopped

4 oz unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

6 tablespoons of sugar

INSTRUCTIONS
Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Use 6 paper soufflé cups or buttered ramekins.
Sift the flour, cocoa and salt together.
Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, put the coarsely chopped chocolate and the butter in the bowl and stir occasionally over the simmering water just until they are melted. Remove the bowl from the pan of water.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and yolk until homogenous. Add the sugar and whisk until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add the dry ingredients and, still using the whisk, stir (don’t beat) them into the eggs. Little by little, and using a light hand, stir in the melted chocolate and butter. Divide the batter evenly among the cups and sprinkle the finely chopped chocolate over the batter.
Bake the cakes for 13 minutes. Transfer them, still on the baking sheet, to a rack to cool for 3 minutes. (There is no way to test that these cakes are properly baked, because the inside remains liquid.)
After the 3-minute rest, unmold the cakes onto a plate. Serve with ice-cream, strawberries or whatever takes your fancy!

the airy fairy gets her wings on a SOOPER delight from Blake Makes and McQuade's!

2008-04-06T06:27:00.008+08:00

recently i signed up to be a part of the SOOPZ network on Blake Makes which as Blake himself describes it...

"I started SOOPZ as a way to give food bloggers free food. I, myself, am a food blogger, and I love getting free food. SOOPZ is a way for me to share the love. I like the fact that the idea is very simple: “Food bloggers get free food. Food companies get free publicity. Everyone’s happy."

this sounded perfect to me especially when i found out that anyone who signs up is called a "SOOPER HERO"...so cute! i love baking and have no problem trying something new out especially if it arrives at my door in a nicely wrapped package. no fuss but lots of fun tasting and experimenting!

anyway, on thursday, Blake had a giveaway planned for jars of McQuade's Celtic (Fig & Ginger) Chutney. you can read about the giveaway here. all you had to do was post a comment about what you wanted to make with the chutney. of course, i quickly put my baking cap on and came up with two suggestions involving both a sweet (ricotta and chutney) and savoury (goat's cheese and chutney) cupcake and guess what? it must have hit a tastebud with Blake because i was picked and shall be expecting a jar of the lovely stuff in the post sometime next week. you can read more about the other winners here and what they are going to cook up.

meanwhile, i shall be anxiously checking the post box every morning to make sure that the leprechuns don't steal away my SOOPER delight from me first!

cupcakes with a message go on film set again!

2008-04-05T00:32:00.006+08:00

oh, god forgive me if i have committed some kind of insane sin by theming my precious cupcakes for a movie shoot about drugs...but what is one to do when one's younger brother asks for such a thing? so last week it was his movie shoot and this weekend it is one of his classmates. they are filming out in Co. Wicklow, in the middle of nowhere and because the cupcakes went down so well at the last shoot, he hinted wildly at the most welcome prospect of some for this weekend - to get that sugar kick and keep everyones energy up.

so, when he produced the script and i read a story about a drug dealer in an accident on a country road...i scratched my head. how to do something themed but still tasteful! the drugs involved in the story, heroin, were being transported in the dealers car in brick form (hence my three little bricks on one cupcake!) and involves the dealer being injured and getting out of the car and eventually leaving a trail of heroin behind him...hence the trail across the cupcakes. the one and only saving grace, i think, was the message to 'just say no'.

i used a caramel cupcake recipe for these ones, simply because they always turn out well and they are also my brothers favourite flavour. plus last week they all had chocolate ones so nice to have something different. iced them with vanilla buttercream. it's interesting because my brother specifically requested for the traditional cupcake cases, rather than the funky paper souffle cups that i have been using recently. he says the souffle ones are way to difficult to get the cupcake out of and make your fingers all messy with icing. so figuring where the crew will be i used traditional papers for ease of eating!

these are definitely the most 'interesting' theme i have ever had to work with, but hopefully, the crew will enjoy getting their hands on them out there in the midst of filming!

a surprising discovery - irish handmade dark couverture chocolate bar

2008-04-03T07:28:00.003+08:00

i have just come back from the supermarket with a most surprising discovery...an irish handmade dark couverture chocolate bar! i'm sure most of you are probably wondering why this would be surprising...well, i do the rounds of dublin supermarkets looking for interesting ingredients to enhance and explore in my cupcakes and i have never seen this before in any of them. furthermore, in this day and age when most reputable chocolate comes from ghirardelli and valrhona, it was most encouraging to find a bar of couverture chocolate that was 'home' made here in Ireland (it's only available in Superquinn).
first and foremost let me say how impressed i am with the initial once over...the wrapping is absolutely lovely...a beige paper wrapper with brown writing that has an almost faded look and underneath this a gold foil wrapper covering the chocolate. it reminds me of what a bar of chocolate might have looked like 50 or 60 years ago. a real old-school feel to it. the bar itself is huge. very chunky and substantial so that you feel like 'hey, i'm gonna get a good few creations out of this!'
the company that make it, O'Conaill, are based in Co. Cork. no website that i could track down which again makes me feel like these guys like to kick it old-school style! brilliant, i love that concept...especially in this day and age where chocolate is all shiny-wrapped and comercialised to attract the customer by the way it looks on the outside with its fancy packaging. this bar definitely appeals to the traditional me.
nope, i'm not getting paid by them to blatantly promote their product - i'd never subject you all to that kind of treatment. i'm just so excited to be able to find irish chocolate that i just had to share it with you. and of course, i'm even more excited to start creating with it. hmmm, what shall i do first? maybe some good ol' fashioned chocolate cupcakes to really discover what irish chocolate tastes like.
stay tuned for taste-test, appearance-test and ultimately baking-test!

perfect party (cup)cake - my first 'daring bakers' challenge!

2008-04-01T05:39:00.008+08:00

so this was my very first Daring Bakers challenge and the recipe was for the perfect party cake. the daring bakers are a group of bakers willing to challenge themselves to bake a recipe every month and post about their results on their food blogs. the group offers support and help throughout. definitely worth considering joining if you are interested in expanding your baking horizons.

so as this was my first challenge i wanted to do a good job. the recipe called for making a 'cake' but of course, me being me, wanted to make the recipe in cupcake form. wasn't sure if this would work so i really put myself to the challenge of being a true daring baker! i halved the recipe so as not to have gajillion cupcakes. initial results were interesting...the batter seemed very like my usual cupcake-type batter (there was no need for me to smooth it with a spatula) also the batter was a tad yellow for my liking. other photos i saw posted by other daring bakers showed a cake that was VERY white. i think this was due to the lemon rind. i might have added a tad too much and it turned the sugar very yellow. i'm bummed i didn't get that pristine white cake...shall definitely have to try again for that one! baked the cupcakes and took them out to cool. then removed the papers and let them cool some more. once they were cool enough. i sliced them up. this was a little tricky but definitely do-able.

then i attempted the icing. to be honest the last time i tried icing that involved egg whites, sugar and heat, it all ended a little disastrous. however, not to be deterred i began the process. things seemed to be going ok until it reached the point where i needed to beat the icing for 6-10 minutes. i was talking to my mum and then heard a strange clicking sound coming from the mixer. when i turned to look at the mixer there was smoke coming out. SERIOUS! i immediately switched it off and had to do the rest of the icing by hand. again, the final result was not a lovely pristine white buttercream icing (but then again i never seem to be able to achieve this with buttercream of any sort...could it be to do with the butter?) the icing tasted pretty lemon-y...so maybe i added too much lemon juice. but i soldiered on and iced the cupcakes and decorated them with the coconut and a fresh strawberry.

all who have tasted so far, said they really liked them (which is 4 willing candidates!) so that was good to hear. when i finished photographing, i tried the one i cut up for the photos. i cannot say it is the most delicious cake i have ever tasted and this makes me think that perhaps it wasn't made properly. i thought it was going to be really light and airy and actually it felt a little heavy and i was definitely more than satisfied with one cupcake. i think that my mixer dying in the midst of making the buttercream didn't help and mixing it by hand was quite a challenge. how intense...the first daring baker challenge challenged my mixer so much it died! now of course, i am without mixer...but the good news is that my mum just same into a little bit of money and has promised me that she is going to get me a kitchen aid...you cannot imagine the effect that the mere thought of this is having on me. i really am head over heels happy!

anyway, i am glad i gave this a go and put myself to the test. and i will definitely be looking forward to the next challenge. thanks to the daring bakers for this challenge though and the opportunity to bake outside my comfort zone!

PERFECT PARTY CAKE

For the Cake

2 ½ cups cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (I prefer buttermilk with the lemon)

4 large egg whites

1 ½ cups sugar

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

For the Buttercream

1 cup sugar

4 large egg whites

3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Finishing

2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently

About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut

To Make the Cake

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.

Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.

Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.

Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.

Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.

Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.

Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.

Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean.

Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.

Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up.

To Make the Buttercream

Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.

The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.

Remove the bowl from the heat.

Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.

Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.

Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.

During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.

On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.

You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream.

Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

To Assemble the Cake

Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.

Spread it with one third of the preserves.

Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream.

Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover).

Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top.

Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.

lights, camera, action...devil's food cupcakes go to the movies

2008-03-31T05:46:00.005+08:00

i am so tired that i can hardly keep my eyes open to post this. i have had such a hectic weekend but still managed to squeeze in some cupcakes...how do i do it??? if this isn't love then i don't know what is.

my reason for being so tired is because i have spent the weekend with my younger brother and his college classmates on a movie shoot. my brothers movie was chosen as one of the films to get made out of his class as part of his final year in his degree and in his script were two boys. and so, well, being a speech and drama teacher he thought i would be an ideal candidate to be their chaperone as well as coach them on the set to help them perform. so saturday and sunday, i have been with these two boys non-stop and taken care of them. however, it was great fun. the boys were fun and pretty easy to look after and they performed really well on both days. the shoot on saturday was at one of his classmates house, but today it was here.

so when i got home last night (despite starting to feel tired) i took out my mixer and thought i'd make some themed cupcakes to give all the crew and cast for lunch (along with an excellent chicken curry made by my hubby!) the cupcakes went down a treat and were just what the doctor ordered for a cold, long day of filming outdoors with the unpredictable irish weather - we had sun, rain, hail and wind! chocolate is so good for keeping energy levels up! and of course, i couldn't help but make them a little movie-themed with some sugar fondant and those famous words that seemed to be so associated with movies. i even had a part as an extra in a funeral scene!

i really admire all of the crew. they worked so hard and i really had the opportunity to see what really goes into making a movie and this was just a short movie...so imagine what the big guys have to do! and so, they were certainly deserving of some movie cupcakes. next stop the oscars...

black bottom cupcakes...are we being politically correct?

2008-03-28T22:20:00.008+08:00

i've always thought 'black bottom cupcakes' were very interestingly named. i mean, why black bottom and not white top or heaven forbid, white breast? in this day and age of political correctness perhaps they are in need of a rename!

my personal reason for making these is much more rude and naughty...you see i'm married to a malay singaporean who comes from boyanese ancestry. the boyanese have their own language which my mother-in-law speaks fluently with her relatives. it's pretty different to regular malay and when i first met my husband i asked him to teach me some. well, boys being boys (or should i say boy-anese being boy-anese) he taught me the very things that one should never say to ones mother-in-law in their native language! the first thing he taught me was black bottom!!!!! (and yes, i still went ahead and married him) so the boyanese for black bottom is burik na celeng. well, we're going to chill out with some friends of ours later this evening and she is also singaporean (not boyanese though) anyway when i first told her that my husband was of boyanese descent...what did she say? but burik na celeng! amazing! it's like the ONE phrase that anyone who is not boyanese knows in boyanese. so, in my own deranged, weird sense of humour way, i have made burik na celeng cupcakes to bring over to her place! i'm sure she'll enjoy them because she has a great sense of humour.

ok, now down to the nitty-gritty of making them. i read a bit on the internet about black bottom cupcakes and the various disasters that can occur (always best to be prepared for the worst!) but actually they didn't really help that much. i made the recipe from vanilla garlic's blog as it was and divided up the cream cheese mix...adding blackberry jam to one half and white chocolate chips to the other. spooned the cream cheese on top of the chocolate cupcake batter and popped them in the oven. the cupcakes rose up nicely and then when i took them out depressed a little in the middle (which i was expecting) but overall i think that these are not the most attractive looking cupcakes that one can make - maybe i added too much cream cheese to the top of each one. but they sure make up for the lack of beauty in the taste department. chocolate and baked cheesecake is just so good together. really really good. my brother just polished off three straight, one after the other...i wish i had a high metabolic rate...some things are just not fair!

afternoon tea cupcakes with earl grey, raspberry jam and lemon cream...yummy!

2008-03-27T01:08:00.007+08:00

don't know about you...but i simply LOVE earl grey tea and have done for years. i just love the distinct flavour of it explained by wikipedia :

Earl Grey tea is a tea blend with a distinctive flavour and aroma derived from the addition of oil extracted from the rind of the bergamot orange, a fragrant citrus fruit.

i also thought i'd check out the benefits of drinking earl grey tea and found some interesting ones :

Key health benefits of Earl Grey

· Bergamot has been documented as a useful and healing fruit in 12th century Europe

· The Italians used bergamot for treating fever and intestinal worms

· Bergamot's main properties are as a disinfectant and an antidepressant

· The esters and alcohols present in bergamot reduce anxiety by calming the nervous system

· The active components in bergamot are antiseptic, germicidal as well as relaxing

· The catechin and fluoride content of black tea prevent tooth decay, while the antiseptic properties of bergamot can alleviate halitosis and oral infections

· Contains beneficial amounts of caffeine that helps you to think clearly

· The bergamot content fights flu, fevers and colds

so seeing as i'm such a fan the thought of earl grey infused cupcakes would naturally appeal to me. once i thought about how i would like to infuse the earl grey tea into the cupcakes, then i had to think about what i would like to go with the flavour...and that's when it struck me...afternoon tea cupcakes with all the elements of a good afternoon tea encompassed in the cupcake itself! and this is the result...my afternoon tea cupcake consisting of an earl grey cake, raspberry jam filling and lemon buttercream icing! simply perfect!
i tried to use the middle bit to make the cupcakes more like butterfly cakes! this is an homage to my youth when i usually always had butterfly cakes for birthdays. somehow though, my butterfly wings seemed a tad more chunky than those of my youth (maybe due to the fact that i was being greedy and cut such a big cone out wanting to fill it up with lovely raspberry jam - that will teach me!)
i used my vanilla cupcake recipe which you can find here but infused the milk with the earl grey tea. i did this simply by warming up the milk, putting two earl grey tea bags into the milk and then leaving it aside for 10 minutes. two tea bags gave a subtle result, but next time i'd probably use three or four just because i love the flavour. then i made the recipe as written. the tea turned the batter a darker colour which i liked and i could smell the earl grey distinct aroma as they came out of the oven. this has been a great experiment for me because i think using this method, you can probably infuse the flavour of any of your favourite teas into a cupcake...the possibilities on this one are endless so i must get out there and buy some boxes of all those amazing tea flavours they now sell in supermarkets.
the rest was easy...leave them to cool, cut out your cone shape from the top of the cupcake, fill with a teaspoon of your favourite jam and top with lemon buttercream. don't forget to replace those wings!
lastly but most importantly...enjoy with a dainty little cup of your favourite tea. and so, at that, i'm off to stick the kettle on. earl grey anyone?

a return to the traditional - easter simnel cupcakes

2008-03-23T22:30:00.013+08:00

so, i wanted to bake something traditional for easter and saw a segment on one of the morning tv shows on how to make simnel cake. when i delved a little bit further i found this about simnel cake on wikipedia...

Simnel cake is a light fruit cake, similar to a Christmas cake, covered in marzipan, and eaten at Easter in England and Ireland. A layer of marzipan or almond paste is also baked into the middle of the cake. On the top of the cake, around the edge, are eleven marzipan balls to represent the true apostles of Jesus; Judas is omitted. In some variations Christ is also represented, by a ball placed at the centre.

The cake is made from these ingredients: white flour, sugar, butter, eggs, fragrant spices, dried fruits, zest and candied peel.

Simnel cakes have been known since mediaeval times, and were originally a Mothering Sunday tradition, when young girls in service would make one to be taken home to their mothers on their day off. The word simnel probably derived from the Latin word simila, meaning fine, wheaten flour with which the cakes were made. A legend, however, attributes the cake's creation to the English pretender Lambert Simnel, who supposedly devised it during the time in which he was forced to work in Henry VII's kitchens.

this sounded perfect and i liked the idea that it was used traditionally for easter. my mum is a big fruitcake fan and she especially wanted some. i found a recipe from Odlums that looked good and set to work. the recipe was easy to follow and easy to make. once i'd made the batter i rolled out the marzipan and cut out shapes to put into the middle of the cupcake. divided up the batter, spooned in a tablespoon of batter, placed the rolled out marzipan and then another tablespoon on top. the cupcake case was pretty much full to the top at this point because these do not rise very much so make sure you fill them to where you want them to end up! this is what they looked like when thy came out of the oven....

they smelled so good, really rich and spicy and filled the whole house with their aroma. wonderful! i must admit that i was a bit worried about the baking time because it is hard to judge when these are done. i just went by their golden brown-ness on top because the toothpick test doesn't really apply here as the cake is so full of fruit. while they were cooling i rolled out the second batch of marzipan and placed these on top. then popped them back in the oven to bake the marzipan for about 5 minutes. it said in the recipe that you should bake them until the tops are brown but i didn't want the marzipan to be brown-looking. that didn't seem to appeal to me and i thought it wouldn't look so pretty. so i took them out just after 5 minutes to make sure.

once out of the oven i decorated them my style. again the original recipe said that you can make 11 marzipan balls to decorate the top, to represent the disciples and leave one empty for Judas, but i didn't wanna overkill on the marzipan, so i used chocolate eggs instead and added some little sugar decorations around the edge. it definitely made them more easter-like too.

we were supposed to save these for after easter lunch today but i went out for a walk and came back and was feeling a tad peckish, so in cahoots with my mum, we cut one up and tried it...oh, it was just delicious. oh, so, fruity and moist and just enough marzipan to enhance the whole flavour of the fruitcake. i loved it, but then i DO like fruitcake and yet i know that a lot of people are not big fans. but this, rather than tasting like rich christmas cake, reminded me more of christmas stollen - especially with that layer of marzipan in the middle. it was light fruitcake, not heavy and alcohol-laden. so good with a nice mug of tea and just delightfully fruuuuuuuuuity! Happy Easter!

Easter Simnel Cupcakes

Ingredients
150g/5oz Odlums Cream Plain Flour
125g/4oz Butter (room temperature)
125g/4oz Light Brown Sugar
3 Eggs (beaten)
1/2 teaspoon Mixed Spice
Grated Rind of a Lemon
1 tablespoon Brandy or Rum (optional)
500g packet Shamrock Luxury Fruit Mix (consisting of currants, raisins, candied peel, cherries)
2 tablespoons Apricot Jam to glaze cupcakes (i used marmalade and it was fine!)
2 x 250g packets of Almond Marzipan

Method
Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5. Line muffin tins with paper cases.
Cream butter and sugar together until smooth. Gradually beat in the eggs.
Add flour, lemon rind and mixed spice. Gently stir until well combined.
Finally mix in the fruit and brandy or rum.
Divide half the mixture into the paper cases. Take half the marzipan, roll out and cut into circles, place onto the fruit.
Top marzipan circles with remaining mixture. Bake for about 25 minutes until risen and golden brown.
Meanwhile, roll out other half of marzipan and cut out 12 circles and shape out 11 balls.

easter nest cupcakes - a celebration of all things spring!

2008-03-22T19:53:00.015+08:00

so there are a number of easter baking challenges this month in the world of food blogs and i wanted to submit an entry....ta da! here it is...my easter nest cupcake. i had so much fun making this and hey, that's what it should all be about. plus it was so fun finding all those beautiful spring flowers to photograph it with too!

i'm entering this for Master Baker March Challenge, Easter Cake Bake and the Spring Funny Cuppy. Seems a lot but, what the heck, might as well max the little delight out seeing as it was so much fun to make.

now for the recipe...

Caramel Cupcakes

cupcake :
100g white chocolate
125g butter
2/3 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. golden syrup
2/3 c. milk
1 c. plain flour
1/3 c. self-raising flour
1 egg

preheat your oven to whatever usually works best for you. line your cupcake pan.
combine chocolate, butter, sugar, syrup and milk in a double boiler. stir untel melted and combined.
allow to cool.
sift flour and mix into caramel mixture.
stir in egg.
divide the mixture and bake for 30 mins.
makes 12 cupcakes.

icing :
4oz butter
1 t. vanilla extract
2 - 2 1/2 c. icing sugar, sifted
1/4 c. milk

in an electric mixer beat butter until soft. add vanilla essence. add in icing sugar gradually making sure it is properly combined, alternating with milk. add enough to reach a good spreading consistency.

decorations :
chocolate mini eggs
cadbury's flake
fondant roses and leaves

assembly :
spread a layer of icing on the cupcake. break up the flake and pile around the outside. use some icing to attach roses and leaves to edges of nest. put in the mini eggs and sprinkle remaining flake to cover any empty spots.

dare to devour! it's hard because it looks too pretty!

p.s. read what Baking Delights had to say about these cupcakes here! thanks for the special mention :)

that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet - easter cupcakes to go!

2008-03-22T19:37:00.005+08:00

lo and behold, my little pink roses finally grace cupcakes. these were ordered by a friend for her easter sunday lunch tomorrow. i'm so happy with the way they turned out. i used a caramel cupcake recipe, vanilla buttercream icing and sugar fondant and chocolate eggs for the decorations.

i shall be meeting her later to pass them to her and hope she likes them! i'm still really enjoying the look of those pink roses...not bad for a first time using fondant, me thinks!