DAY 3 - Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes

Today see's us halfway through our Cupcake Journey, so when I started this I really wanted to try and make Red Velvet Cupcakes. During the last few years I've heard about Red Velvet cakes and I wondered what ingredient made it sooooooooo red. So while I was searching I came across this recipe at 'tasted by two' by Sydney couple Zina and Felix. I was really surprised to find out that the special ingredient was red food colouring, so all this time I'd been missing out on making Red Velvet Cake because I wasn't adding food colouring.

I fell in love when I did an image search for cupcakes. I wanted to make this because the picture looked good, yummy while also looking pretty. The recipe came from Manhattan's well known Magnolia Bakery. When they were in New York they saw a long line leading into the bakery. I'm really grateful that they shared their recipe, this marvellous picture and the story behind how they discovered it.  I was drawn to this picture straight away and I knew I had to try to replicate it. I had to race out and buy a pipping bag because you guessed it mine is in storage. I tired using baking paper and a plastic bag to pipe the icing onto each cupcake but neither method worked. So here's the recipe for these little beauties.

Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes

Ingredients:

3 ¼ cups of plain flour

¾ cup unsalted butter, softened

2 ½ cups caster sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

6 tablespoons red food colouring

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 ½ cups full cream milk

1 ½ teaspoons cider vinegar

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 175°C. Grease and lightly flour 2 cupcake pans.

2. In a small bowl, sift the cake flour and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar on a medium speed until its very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. In another small bowl, whisk together the red food colouring, cocoa and vanilla. Add to the creamed mixture.

5. In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the milk. Add to the batter in three parts alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, don't over beat.

6. In another small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well.

7. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.

8. Divide the batter among the prepared pans. Arrange the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.

9. Bake the cupcakes, switching positions of the pans halfway through baking, until a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

10. Cool the cupcakes in the pan 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool completely on a rack before icing.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

300g cream cheese (spreadable cream cheese or mascarpone are both fine)

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups icing sugar, sifted

Method:

1. With an electric mixer, blend together cream cheese and butter until smooth.

2. Pour in icing sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Turn mixer on high and beat until light and fluffy.

3. Fill a piping bag with icing and spread over each cake. Big and swirly is the key.

They look pretty. The kids and adults will love them. They are worth the wait.

So if you missed the previous cupcakes you can find them here and here. Come back tomorrow and you'll get to see my Strawberry Yoghurt Cupcakes.

Megan

Date cupcakes - why did they fail

So I thought I'd give you an update on the Mini Easter Egg Surprise Cupcakes that I made yesterday. I was really happy with how the cupcakes looked, how they photographed and how they tasted. The only negative aspect was that the Easter Eggs sank to the bottom of the tin, this made it quite difficult to remove them from well greased cupcake tin. In the future I'll use cupcake cases and if I want to make these cupcakes again at any other time of the year I'll use different lollies e.g. Jersey Caramels or Rollo's instead of solid Easter eggs.

So my cupcakes today have been inspired by Mr Opoes's favourite dessert 'Sticky Date Pudding' minus the butterscotch sauce. I knew Mr Opoes would like these however I had to look into what type of icing to use because the butterscotch sauce would be too heavy.

I found the recipe I wanted to use on a whisk & a spoon. Stephanie's blog has beautiful images, easy to read instructions and although the pictures are intimidating she uses everyday ingredients. I did make a few changes to the recipe because I wanted the cupcakes to be a mixture of the pudding and the cupcakes. So here's a picture courtesy of Stephanie's blog of what my Date Cupcakes should look like.

This looks delicious I'm thinking you could dust
each of them with icing sugar.

I haven't added any of my own pictures because I made mistakes while I was making these. My little girl picked up some type of tummy bug and I was concentrating more on her than on what I was doing. So my apologises but at least you can have a look at Stephanie's yummy picture above to get an idea of what the cupcakes should have looked like.

Date Cupcakes with Buttermilk Fudge Icing

Ingredients:

200g pitted dates, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup of boiling water

1/3 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup caster sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 cup self-rising flour

1/3 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

pinch of nutmeg

1/3 cup of buttermilk

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to180°C. 

2. Line cupcake pan with 8 regular sized paper liners.

3. Place dates and water in a medium saucepan over a high heat. Bring to the boil. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool slightly.

4. Cream butter and both sugars for approximately 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix well.

5. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.

6. To the butter and sugar mix add a third of buttermilk and a third of the flour mix. A start with the buttermilk and finish with the flour mixture. Mix lightly until blended.

7. Fold the date paste into the batter with a rubber spatula.

8. Divide the batter among the cupcake cups, filling each one to 3/4 full.

9. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 - 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

10. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans. Cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Buttermilk Fudge Icing

Ingredients:

1/2 cup caster sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon light corn syrup

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/3 cup buttermilk, plus an additional 1 tablespoon, for thinning the icing

1/3 teaspoon baking soda, sifted

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

1. Combine the sugar, corn syrup, butter, buttermilk and baking soda in a large heavy-bottomed pot.

2. Stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat slightly and bring to the boil. Stir one last time as it comes to the boil, then DON'T STIR AGAIN.

3. Boil the syrup until it reaches 118°C on a candy thermometer (soft ball stage). Pour immediately into a mixing bowl and allow to stand for 5 minutes.

4. Stir in the vanilla, then beat on a medium speed until thick enough to spread, about 5 minutes.

5. If the icing is too thick, add the additional buttermilk, one teaspoon at a time.

6. Cover the tops of the cupcakes with the icing and cool before serving. Refrigerate to set the icing if it seems loose.

NOTE: If its too loose to work with, you can try chilling it for 10 minutes or so and re-whipping it before covering the cupcake top.

If this all seems to difficult just dust each cupcake with a little shifted icing sugar and serve. Remember to enjoy these cupcakes especially with the amount of time you have spent making, baking and icing them. I hope that your efforts pay off especially when mine didn't work.

Megan

Mini Easter Egg Surprise

After the kids had their annual and rather small Easter Egg hunt in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard I had 12 small Easter Eggs left. Not long after marrying Mr Opoes I found an Easter egg inspired recipe that I was meaning to try. As everything we own is in a storage shed I thought I'd have a go and try to remember what I'd read years ago. I've also seen a heap of rainbow cakes on Pinterest and other talented peoples blogs so I thought I'd try to create the layered rainbow effect instead of having a marbel cake effect. I ended up only using three colours (white, purple and red) to create my Mini Easter Egg Surprise Cupcakes. I have since learnt that the Rainbow Cake to made up of several coloured layers of cake that are then joined together with frosting.

So here is the recipe I used to make my cupcakes. I wanted to see if I could make the batter a little more creamer so I added 1 tablespoon of vanilla yoghurt and 1 tablespoon of apple sauce. I used the apple sauce as it add sweetness, I reduced the amount of brown sugar to ½ a cup because of the apple sauce. If you aren't using apple sauce still use ¾ cup brown sugar.

Easter Egg Surprise Cupcakes

Ingredients:

125g unsalted butter, softened

¾ cup brown sugar, firmly packed

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cups plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¾ cup milk 

12 solid chocolate Easter eggs, foil removed

blue food colouring

red food colouring

Icing:

50g unsalted butter

2 cups icing sugar

Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 180°C.

2.  Using an electric mixer, beat butter for 2 minutes until pale in colour and creamy. Add sugar one third at a time, beating well between each addition. Add eggs one at a time, beating for about a minute between each addition. Add the vanilla essence and beat until combined.

3.  Add half the shifted flour and baking powder to the butter mixture. Then add half the milk to the butter mixture. Mix well.  Repeat with remaining flour and milk. Mix the batter well until its well combined.

4.  Divide the cake mixture into three separate bowls. Add the desired amount of food colouring to two of the bowls. Make sure that the colour is stirred through the mixture really well.

5.  Spoon 1 tablespoon of vanilla mixture into each cupcake holder. Place the Easter egg in the centre of the cupcake pan.

6.  Using the two remaining mixtures spoon them over the egg. Fill each greased cupcake pan so that its ¾ full (an ice cream scoop is perfect for this).

5.  Bake muffin size cupcakes for 20-25 minutes and mini cupcakes for about 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.

6.  Transfer to wire racks and allow to cool completely.

Icing:

1.  Cream butter and icing sugar until pale and smooth. Beat until well combined.

2.  The mixture should be light and fluffy. The mixture should be a spreadable paste; if it is too dry add a little bit of milk, if too wet add more icing sugar.

3.  When the cupcakes are cold, generously spread icing over the top. Alternatively, you could pipe the icing onto each cupcake. Decorate as desired.

The finished cupcake with hidden Easter egg.

Megan

5 days of Cupcakes

Recently I started sharing some of my recipes on various link parties and the lovely Carolyn from Homework featured my 'Yoghurt and Apricot Cupcakes' on her Inspiration Pinboard Springtime Cupcakes. So now I have the privilege of putting her featured button on my blog for all to see. Yah. I'm so happy because there are people out there beside my family who are looking at what I'm doing, they are liking it and I'm getting a pat on the back. So thank you Carolyn.

After this happened I decided that I'd save you from all the boring building things that are happening and I'd do '5 Days Of Cupcakes' starting on Monday. So because it's Easter and chocolate eggs are all the rage I'll start with an Easter egg inspired cupcake. To enable these cupcakes to be used in school lunches there will be a couple of mini cupcakes, large one for hubbies' lunch or morning tea with friends and lastly I try to make a large cupcake that's suitable for a birthday party.

Here is what I'm planning to do during the next five days.

Monday:                  Mini Easter Egg Surprise

Tuesday:                 Date Cupcakes

Wednesday:           Red Velvet Mini Cupcakes

Thursday:               Strawberry Yoghurt Cupcakes

Friday:                     Cookie Monster Cupcakes

I'm going to show you the good, the bad and the ugly. I'm still learning how to use this gas oven and when we move into the new house I'll have another gas oven to learn how to use. I'm hoping that by using this older model gas oven I'll be an expert when we move into the new place. My plan is to get the cooking done the day before, ice them after the kids go to bed and then write up my blog before posting it the next day.

That's the plan whether or not it works out that way I guess we'll have to see. I'm sure that babies will need feeding, nappies will need changing and then there's things that might happen with the build. I know I have to meet with the tiler but that'll only happen after he contacts me.

Here are some really beautiful cupcakes. Leave a comment and let me know what cupcake you or your family like the most.

find the recipe here

 find the recipe here

So I'll see you tomorrow with the first of my cupcake creations. I hope you are having a safe, happy Easter and I'll see you tomorrow with my Mini Easter Egg Surprise.

Megan

Decorative Collars

I was looking at Erin's link party over at 'How to Nest For Less' when I came across a link to a DIY fancy collar. It looked very similar to one my youngest sister had spent hours hand sewing each pearl bead on to. She is in the process of trying to launch her own fashion label Caitlin Grace and she has created a few one off pieces that she wears around town. The fancy collar was created by Joyce over at 'Sip-n-wear' and she even provides a tutorial to help you create your own.

I'm not one who follows the latest fashion trends but when I saw the collar created by 'Caitlin Grace' at the end of February I knew she was onto something.  She has since branched out and made a few different collars, one is made entirely of lace and the other collar uses purple pearls. I found a few examples of 'decorative collars' after doing a Google search and I noted the majority of collars were decorated with pearls, beads, press studs and sequins.

I like how you can use something as simple as ribbon or a hook and eye to join the collar together before adding to your outfit and you have created a whole new look. Overall, I love the idea of being able to dress up one outfit simply by using a different collar each time you go out.

When I have some money I'm going to ask my sister to design and make a collar for me. I'll get something simple, elegant and pretty so that I can easily dress up a plain white t-shirt or singlet top without going overboard. One thing I'll have to remember is to not make it too delicate I don't want Quinlan pulling on it and ruining the look I'm trying to create. 

This collar is covered in pearls with a few champagne crystals
that give it a brown/cream effect.

The gold collar uses individual hand sewn sequins to create
 a solid, sparkly and uniformed effect.

The pearl collar created by Joyce.

                  Simple Black Lace Collar by Caitlin Grace.

                                       Price $39.00

  

Although this collar is half finished you can see that Caitlin 
has gone for a two tone effect. She is using small
and large pearls in creams and purples.
Simple Elegant.

Megan

My New Kiitchen - I can't wait

Well I promised kitchen photos yesterday and instead I delivered a lovely little cake recipe. So I hear you say why did Megan give us the 'yoghurt apricot cakes' recipe. I left the camera at home. I remembered 5 minutes out from the block, turning around would have meant a 30 minute return trip not forgetting the trip back to the block. So instead I organised it cross off one of today's job's off my to do list, that way Mr Opoes gets to see the house and I don't have to run all over Brisbane with the kids.

I also learnt that my bathroom/ensuite cabinets had arrived and neither one was in the correct spot. It amazes me that I hadn't seen them or that the cabinetmaker hadn't told me they were there. So I have a few photos of what's been happening in the house over the last 2 days that I thought I'd share with you.

Looking at the back of the kitchen.



Close up of the back kitchen section.

I don't have any close up pictures of the front section of the kitchen but I do have a picture that sort of shows it. The picture looks out towards the linen cupboard so you can get some idea of what it'll look like when everything is completed.

Looking down to the linen cupboard.

Close up of my door handles in the kitchen. I'm not going
to get my clothing caught on these.

It's moving along but I just wish Mark could give us more idea of when he thinks it'll be finished. Especially when the weekly updates don't include all the details and he books a meeting with the tiler on Good Friday and then on Easter Monday. All I have to do now is wait for the tiler to ring me, tell me what date and time suits him. So its just a game of wait and see.

So I'll leave you with a few pictures of the ensuite cabinet and the handles.

Both the ensuite and bathroom unit look the same.

Front view of the handles.

Looking down at the handles, they are the right size for the unit.
Not bad when you don't get to hold up the handle against
 the unit. I did good.



Here's hoping that the house gets closer to being finished much quicker. I'd love to move in by May but I'll even settle for the end of May. I'm picking up the last of the wet area tiles on Thursday so that I'll have everything organised and ready to go when I meet with the tiler next week.

Megan

Healthy Lunch Box Fillers

It seems silly to be thinking about school lunches but I thought I'd test a few lunch box recipes out while the kids were on Easter holidays. I'm trying to limit the amount of hidden sugar that the kids are getting in their lunch box so this term I'm going to do more baking. The other week I found a recipe for these Yoghurt Apricot Cakes but I can't remember where I saw them and what's even better I didn't take any photos of the process.

So I'll share the recipe with you and the picture I took at the end before I had the kids come and taste them. I'm also looking forward to getting into our new house and trialling our new gas oven and taking advantage of the large bench area I'm going to have. So here is the recipe.

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups of plain flour

¾ cup of caster sugar

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1 teaspoons of baking soda

¾ cup of chopped, dried apricots

80g melted butter

2/3 cup of skim milk

2/3 cup of plain yoghurt (you could use a fruit yoghurt e.g. strawberry and add additional strawberries to make the cakes more fruity)

Icing Ingredients

2 tablespoons plain Greek yoghurt

1 ½ cups of icing sugar

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 200°C (180°C fan forced). Lightly grease 24 patty pans (2 tablespoon capacity) or line with paper cases. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and apricots.

2. In a small bowl, combine butter, milk and yoghurt. Pour into the dry ingredients, mix until just combined. Do not over mix.

3. Distribute batter evenly between cases and bake for 12-15 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool on a wire rack before icing.

4. Once cooled you can freeze them inside a plastic bag or ice them.

5. Combine yoghurt and icing sugar in a bowl. Beat until thick and smooth. Add a small dollop of icing to each cake and finish off with a few pieces of dried apricot pieces.

6. ENJOY.

Megan