Straberries & Cream Butterfly Cupcakes

Its that time of year once again. The for weather is looking very debatable, Royal Ascot is upon us (my aunt lucked out and won a pair of LK Bennett shoes there yesterday ... my envy is sky high!) people are willing the sun to make a more permanent appearance ... it must therefore be time for a spot of tennis at Wimbledon. With the forecast looking good, touch wood, it is time to bake just in time for you to make and take yours to Wimbledon. These are the ultimate pudding for your picnic or afternoon treat, alongside the traditional strawberries and cream...

Makes 12

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C

Bake to Perfection for 18 minutes

You will need the following:

Cupcakes

175g Butter

175g Self Raising Flour

175g Caster Sugar

3 Eggs

2Tbsp Baking Powder

1Tsp Vanilla Essence

Cupcake Cases

Icing

75g Butter

175g Icing Sugar

2Tbsp Double Cream

6 Strawberries

Method: 

Line a muffin tray with cupcake cases

Cream together the butter and sugar

 

Add in the eggs one at a time

 

Next stir in the flour

 

Until it forms a smooth texture

Add a drop of vanilla essence

Add the baking powder

Fill the cupcake cases 2/3 full with mixture

& bake to perfection for 18 minutes

For the Icing Sugar

Mix together the butter and icing sugar

Add in the cream

Add a drop of vanilla essence

Finely dice the strawberries

Then combine into the icing mix

Be careful not to stir in too much, otherwise the strawberries will disintegrate 

18 minutes later ... ta daa your cupcakes will be ready

Leave them to cool before following the next step

You will need a sharp knife to make the butterfly wings

Take the knife and angle it into the centre of the cake at a 45° angle, roughly 1½cm in from the edge of the cupcake

Once removed, cut the removed bit of cake in half to form the wings

Fill the hole in the cake with a tablespoon of icing mix and place the wings on top

Dust with icing sugar to complete the effect

 

Pop in a tuppawear and enjoy on Henman's Hill/Murray's Mount

Enjoy ...

Coffee & Walnut Cake

  

It is Fathers' Day tomorrow (FYI if it had slipped your mind!) ... time for fathers to generally have a day dedicated to them. Its as if when you become a parent, you essentially become like the Queen; you get two days celebrating you! You have your actually birthday and then your official birthday i.e. Fathers' Day & Mothers' Day. In all honestly I think it is a well deserved day, the countless times my daddy' has been there to watch school plays and matches, attend prize givings and parents' evenings, be at my bedside in hospital, be my taxi driver (although this one I blame on choosing to live nearer to livestock than being remotely near to any form of public transport), fix anything that is broken, bail me out when I'm penniless, support me in my decisions, put up with me when I return home after living independently at university and generally just be there for me...it's dedication to the cause in its purest form!

Over the many years I have bought into Fathers' Day from making the card and topical gift when in prep school to the world of consumerism when I could afford to do so; ties, shirts, wash bag, sporting equipment, aftershave, handkerchiefs etc. More recently I have opted out of consumerism and into baking for my daddy. I think it is a far more personal way of giving a thank you; to bake something that he wouldn't usually buy and that is a treat! Coffee and walnut Cake is my daddy's favourite so clearly the bake of choice today...

Serves 10-12

depending on how big of a slice your dad considers the norm

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C

Bake to perfection for 20-22 minutes

You will need the following:

Cake

200g Butter

200g Golden Caster Sugar

200g Self Raising Flour

4 Eggs
2Tsp Baking Powder

2Tsp Istant Ground Coffee Powder (dissolved in 2Tbsp water) 

100g Walnuts

Icing

300g Cream Cheese

60g Soft Brown Sugar
60g Icing Sugar

100g Walnuts

1Tsp Camp Coffee Essence for artistic drizzling

Icing Sugar for dusting

Method:

Remember the Golden Rules of Baking before starting ...

Put all of the walnuts on a baking sheet and roast in the oven at 180°C for 6 minutes

Cream together the butter and sugar

Add in the eggs one at a time...

Ensuring each one is combined before adding the next

Sift in the flour & baking powder

In a separate bowl mix the ground coffee with water


Then pour into cake mixture

Roughly chop the walnuts onto a board 

Into small pieces

Combine into mixture

Pour the mixture into two greased tins & bake to perfection for 20 minutes.
Check your cake at 20 minutes with a skewer, if it comes out clean your cake is done. If there is still cake mixture on it give it another 2 minutes

Whilst the cakes are cooling make the icing by simply combining the brown sugar & cream cheese


Then add in the icing sugar

Until you have a smooth ribbon like mix

Spread a thin layer of icing or fig jam between the two layers of cake

Then spread the rest of the icing on the top of the cake, pile on the walnuts on top of the cake 

Drizzle the camp essence over the walnuts then dust with icing sugar

Offer to your Father as a thank you for everything he does & enjoy a piece or two yourself ...

Jubilee Celebration Cake

This is a celebration cake fit for such a royal affair. I am rather a fan of the royal family having first met the Queen when I was six years old; handing her a bunch of sweet peas from the garden at home when she opened the local university, this combined with a strong influence from my family I have enjoyed celebrating the various milestones enjoyed by the royal family. Most recently I saw the Queen on her Diamond Jubilee tour when she opened the new building works at University in Exeter. So, this is my offering for a celebration cake of the Diamond Jubilee ... it tastes bloody marvellous!

Serves 10-12

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C

Bake to perfection for 20 minutes

You will need the following:

Cake

225g Butter

225g Self Raising Flour

225g Caster Sugar

4 Eggs

1Tbsp Baking Powder

1 Drop of Vanilla Essence

Icing Filling

250ml Double Cream

200ml Crème Fraîche

50g Icing Sugar

3Tbsp Raspberry Jam

Method:

Cream together the butter and sugar

 

Add in the eggs one at a time

 

Next stir in the flour

 

Until it forms a smooth texture

Add a drop of vanilla essence

Add the baking powder

When your mixture is looking nice and combined, pour into two circular greased (removable bottom) baking tins. If the mixture is not of a ribbon consistency the cake will be dry when it is cooked, so it is essential that you have measure out your ingredients precisely

 Good Old Fashioned Advice: DO NOT be tempted to open the oven door whilst the cake is cooking, the oven temperature will drop and your cakes will not rise properly

After 20 minutes baking , let your cakes cool on a wire rack. 

Then run a knife around the edge of your pan and push the cake out from the bottom

Whilst the cakes are cooling make the filling...

Whisk the double cream with an electric whisk for a couple of minutes until it becomes thicker but still smooth

(If you over-whip the cream it will curdle, split & go dry)

Add in the crème fraîche

This is consistency of the cream that you should reach ... it should be stiff enough to stay on the whisk beaters

Stir in the icing sugar

Once the cakes have cooled slice in half with a bread knife

Place the top half of one of the cakes upside down on the plate you will serve your cake

Spoon on three desert spoons of the filling

& spread evenly

Add the other half of the cake on top of the filling and repeat with the filling on top, only this time add two tablespoons of the jam

Next add a third layer (the bottom half of the second cake) and add the filling in the same way as you did for the first layer.

Top with the final layer and finish off with the final layer of the icing filling

Next add your strawberries and blueberries to create a patriotic union jack

Enjoy with a cup of tea, it would be rude not too ...