Images Vanilla Cupcakes with Caramel Drizzle

Cupcakes are probably the things I make the most, and yet for some reason I had absolutely zero pictures of any cakes. Not only that, as much as cupcakes are renowned for being pretty or cute, these were the hardest shots for me to take out of pretty much everything I have done.

For some reason I just couldn’t take a picture that showed how delicious these looked in real life. I had ok lighting but the pictures still felt ‘cold’ for some reason. It wasn’t until I ate one (that’s the empty red wrapper at the front of the shot) that things started coming together.

I think there are a couple of reasons for this:

1. I was probably hungry. It’s as simple as that. I think cupcakes are to me as spinach is to Popeye. They make the magic happen!
2. I was probably trying to make the shot too perfect. I think sometimes there is a tendency to try and take some ‘magazine style shot’ and it’s easy to forget about the actual food you’re photographing. If it happens to naturally come out looking picture perfect, great, but sometimes less is more. That caramel was actually supposed to be a perfect swirl that mirrored the curve of the buttercream. That would have, undoubtedly, showcased my talent, but would it have as tasty as that picture right there? I think not!

Now the recipe is one that I've used for years and I honestly can't remember where I got it from. I do think it's quite common though as I've seen very similar recipes in various places all over the web. It's great for add-ins and as a standard Vanilla cake recipe it's light, moist and flavoursome.

The recipe is:

1/2 cup of Butter
1 cup of Sugar
2 Eggs
1 & 1/2 cups of Plain Flour
1/2 cup of Milk (I use Almond Milk as it's what I drink most, so usually have plenty in the house)
1 & 3/4 teaspoons Baking Powder (NOT BICARB!)
3 teaspoons Vanilla

First Place your butter in the mixing bowl along with your sugar

You would usually mix after that step,, I didn't as I was losing light and needed to move quick if I wanted to mix, bake, ice and photograph them in time.

Next (once you've mixed!) add the eggs

Flour...

Milk...

And finally (because you forgot to take a picture of the vanilla), the baking powder

Then just mix. Once I'd realised I'd forgotten I added the vanilla, though I've done these as chocolate chip, crushed Oreo and lemon in the past. They were all amazing, this cake is a great base.

Divide the mix between your cupcake cases

Make sure to only fill the cases 1/2 to 2/3 full as they WILL overflow otherwise. Also, this mix will make 12 cupcakes if you use margarine but, strangely, 11 if you use butter. Seriously, I've made these numerous times and every time the number differs depending on what I've baked with.

Anyway, place these on the middle shelf of your preheated oven at around 240. They take around 20 minutes and, as with all cakes, will be done when a cocktail stick or knife inserted comes out clean.

I used my standard Vanilla Buttercream on half of these and added Cocoa Powder and a little melted dark chocolate to it to ice the rest.

Vanilla Buttercream:

250g Butter at room temperature
Icing Sugar
Milk
Vanilla

If the butter is too hard it's best to microwave it for a couple of seconds. The softer it is the more icing it will yield. How much Icing sugar you add will then depend on how soft the butter is and how firm you want the icing to be. Clearly to use this on cupcakes you'll need it to be firmer so just keep adding a little sugar at a time until it's right. Add 1-2 tablespoons of milk but be careful as they may split your icing.

Then divide the mix in half and add cocoa powder, melted choc and more milk until its the consistency you want/need. Then Ice!

I couldn't be bothered cleaning the bag/using a new bag in between flavours which is why my icing is striped. It looks and tastes awesome though, so here's to laziness! I then covered the cupcakes on a homemade caramel sauce which, while not perfect, does make the cakes look amazing. It's a simple recipe but I'm using a lot lately so I'll try and post the recipe soon. In the meantime...

Little Beauties...

Images Cocktail Cupcakes: TGI Fridays's Barnamint Baileys

Today I had my first day off work since the New Year (not counting being of sick!) and having nothing to do I decided to bake! Woohoo!

I don't have much in the house in the way of fancy ingredients at the minute but I had most of the basics so figured I could make something work. I have had an idea in my head for the longest time about making a range of cupcakes based on cocktails and, though I have no eggs, was determined to start today. I know some of the more everyday cocktails have been tackled in this way already but what I aim to do over the next couple of weeks (or months or however long it takes) is make a much wider range. The having no eggs and being to lazy to go to the shops part was my only stumbling block so I set about finding an eggless cake recipe. I'll be honest, I didn't look for long because I really couldn't be bothered. I mean, I really wanted to make the cupcakes but I'm damned if I'm going to spend all morning researching then spend all afternoon experimenting then spend all evening icing and typing. Like I said, first day off this year people!

I love the Barnamint Baileys Cocktail served at TGI's and practially drink it like a milkshake whenever I get one (drink responsibly!). It seemed like the obvious place to start. This is the recipe I used and slightly adapted to make the cupcakes. Whilst they are delicious I will definitely be making this again using an adapted version of my regular vanilla cake recipe. There was just something...lacking. They were moist, fluffy and tasty but...they lacked punch. This recipe has vanilla, peppermint and Baileys but I don't think the eggless cake mix had enough 'grab' to really let the flavours 'do their thing'. It's still tasty, don't get me wrong. I'm fasting today (Intermittent Fast) and I've eaten two (and nothing else, promise!) so they can't be all that bad. But I think the right vanilla cake base will take these from a 7 to a 10.

So without further ado, food porn!

Recipe adapted from Madhuram's Eggless Cooking

The Ingredients

For those of you not very good at guessing, or too damn lazy to make up your own recipe, this was:

2 Cups Plain Flour
2 & 1/4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Cup Caster Sugar
1 Can Condensed Milk
3/4 Cup Baileys
1/4 Cup Water
2 Tablespoons Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Vanilla
1 Teaspoon Peppermint
1/2 Cup Melted Butter (or Margarine)
5 Crushed Oreos

I know most people have a method, but I'm just not that type of lady. If I can do this quickly and still have it be tasty, that's how it's going down.

First you need to preheat the oven to 230. This is one area you really shouldn't cut corners when baking. You'll get crappy cakes. I don't know why, you just will. Now take all of the ingredients up to, and including,  the sugar and put them into the bowl of your mixer. Or just a mixing bowl, whatever! Mix for two or three minutes on low to medium. Once combined add all of the wet ingredients and mix again, starting on low then increasing to medium and then high once there is no chance of you getting a face full of cake mix.

Finally, the Oreos. I like mine quite chunky and, again, I was feeling lazy, so I just used my hands and crumbled them roughly into the mix. You could beat them, chop them or even blend them. I honestly don't care. Once in the mix beat again on high for approximately 5 minutes or until everything is combined.

Then either divide into cupcake cases or pour into you cake pan. This made me 18 cupcakes and I have no idea what size cake pan should be used. Just experiment like I did, it's fun. 

I cooked these on the middle shelf at 230 for approximately 15- 20 minutes. You should really be checking your own oven though since, I'm assuming, you're a responsible adult that doesn't wish to burn his/her house down or eat undercooked cupcakes. A pack of toothpicks are relatively cheap, poke the cakes in the centre when they look brown and if it comes out clean and dry (albeit with crumbs), you got yourself a good ol' time.

Once out of the oven, set aside to cool and crack on with making your icing. Now this was a lot more guessing than the actual cupcake mix as I knew a large part of the "Barnamint Baileys" taste would come from here. It was basically a case of tasting and adding and mixing until I thought it tasted right.

I used:

1 Block of Butter (NOT Margarine) slightly melted but not pourable. You'll get more icing this way!

Icing Sugar

Baileys

Peppermint 

Vanilla

Oreos

Add the butter to the bowl and beat for a couple of seconds. Next add the icing sugar and beat til combined.  The amount of icing sugar you add will depend upon two things. Firstly how much of the above liquids you add. The more liquid, the more icing sugar you will need. Secondly comes how you plan on using your icing. If you will be piping you will need to make sure it's firm enough to stand so may need slightly more icing sugar. This brings me onto my next point, how to add the Oreos. If you are planning on piping you will need to make sure the crumbs are small enough to pass through your nozzle. I threw mine in the blender to be on the safe side.

And finally, garnish and serve!