Marmalade cupcakes

The book for this months Cupcake book club, hosted by Kelly over at American cupcake in London, was Hot cakes by Kim Newman-Wood.

I have already described my thoughts on the book and a toffee bakewell cupcake here.

I like the sound of a number of cupcakes in the book, especially the marmalade. I had marmalade residing in the fridge and so decided why not make them! I was not with the book at the time so used my memory and own recipe to create my marmalade cupcake.

Marmalade 

makes 10

120g butter
120g golden caster sugar
2 eggs
50g marmalade
130g self raising flour
1 tablespoon of milk

1 orange
tablespoon of caster sugar

125g butter
250g icing sugar
2 tablespoons of marmalade

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C FAN and line a cupcake tray with cases. Cream the butter and sugar together until very light and fluffy, this can take a while, be patient the cakes will be so much better for it.

Add the egg, marmalade and zest of the orange and beat for a further minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the flour, beat on slow until the flour is just incorporated. Add the milk and beat the mixture for a further two minutes.

Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake cases and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25minutes. When the cakes are done they will be lightly golden and springy when pressed lightly with your finger. 

While the cakes are in the oven prepare the orange syrup. Put the tablespoon of sugar and the juice of half the orange in a pan, bring to a simmer and reduce the volume until you have a sticky syrup.  

Naked cupcakes ready for bright yellow glaze

As soon as the cupcakes come out of the oven brush the syrup over the top to give a tangy glaze.

Super shiny glazed cakes

Transfer the cakes to a wire rack to completely cool.

For the frosting beat together the butter, icing sugar and a tablespoon of orange juice from the leftover orange, until very light and fluffy. Add the marmalade and beat for a further minute until incorporated. Use the frosting to top the cupcakes.

I could have piped the frosting but something about marmalade screams rustic, and so I simply swirled it on with a palette knife.

The cakes have a beautiful orange flavour, the frosting and glaze make for a really zingy fruity hit.

Orange marmalade cake

I don't like marmalade by itself, it has a bitterness that I am not a fan of. Nor am I a fan of wishy washy cakes. Adding marmalade to an orange cake results in a couple of fantastic things. The marmalade adds a fantastic depth of orangey flavour without any trace of bitterness.

I was a smidgen worried when I put this cake in the oven, as after the addition of marmalade my cake batter appeared to curdle. I need not have worried though. The texture of this cake is a delight, open and very soft. I have already mentioned that the flavour is fantastically deep too.

The icing in the top is not 100% necessary if you do not wish, but it does add another orangey hit.

Orange marmalade cake (from Nigel Slater)

makes 1 loaf

175g butter
175g golden caster sugar
1 orange
3 eggs
75g orange marmalade (fine shred or shred-less)
175g self raising flour
75g icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C FAN and grease a 950g loaf tin.  Line the greased tin along its length and short sides with a strip of greaseproof paper, this will make removing the cake easy.

Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy then add the zest of the orange. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well to combine, scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in the marmalade until well incorporated.

Add the flour to the bowl and fold in gently with a metal spoon. Finally fold in the juice of half the orange.

Tip the cake mix into your prepared tin and level the top. Bake in the preheated oven for ~40 minutes.

Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10-15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the icing simply mix the icing sugar with some of the remaining orange juice. Add just a little juice at a time until it is a thick drizzling consistency. Drizzle on the cake and you are done!