Banana peanut cupcakes with dark chocolate frosting

These cupcakes came about as I found a dairy free chocolate frosting, that did not contain margarine that I wanted to try and while I could eat it from the bowl with a soon this is perhaps not the most elegant solution.

A root round the cupboards yielded a rather ripe banana and a jar of peanut butter. Banana and peanut work well together and chocolate happily marries well with both, thus this cupcake was born.

A moist flavourful cupcake topped with an insanely dark chocolate frosting, what's not to love?

Banana peanut cupcakes with dark chocolate frosting

makes 12

60g butter or dairy free alternative
60g banana40g peanut butter (no added sugar preferably)
125g golden caster sugar
tsp vanilla paste/extract
2 eggs
125g self raising flour
tbsp milk

160ml of coconut cream
75g dark choolate, I used green and black

Begin with the frosting, heat the cream until just below boiling, pour over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate has melted. Set aside to cool then put in the fridge to firm up.

Line a cupcake/muffin tin with liners and preheat the oven to 180C/160C FAN.

Cream the butter,banana, peanut butter, sugar and vanilla paste together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl in-between and beat for a further couple of minutes.

Add the flour and beat on slow until just combined. Finally add the milk and beat for a further minute. Divide the batter between the liners and bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden and springy.

Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool.

Whip the frosting, it will be smooth and shiny and then put back in the fridge for another hour or so. Whip again, the frosting will lose its shine and become fluffier, looking very much like a standard chocolate  frosting.

Pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes and enjoy.

These cupcakes will keep for a few days in an airtight tin. If it is very hot this frosting could melt, so keep in the fridge and allow to come to room temperature before tucking it. 

Butterfly buns

I have a leaky roof and an  unhabitable bedroom, I also have a cold, and its raining. With this in mind I wanted to bake but something very very simple, not tasking and not requiring any ingredients not currently residing in my house.

I was flickiing through my new Mary Berry book and there they were, butterfly buns, the cakes of my childhood. And I felt like being a child just then so these were the perfect choice. 

I did swirl some rhubarb and ginger jam through the vanilla buttercream, mainly for prettiness but it does actually add a nice zing. This is purely an optional twist, you may want to keep your butterfly buns the pure vanilla goodies you remember from your youth.

Butterfly buns

makes 12

100g butter

100g golden caster sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla paste

2 medium eggs

100g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp milk

30g butter

100g icing sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla paste

tablespoon milk

1 tbsp jam, to swirl (optional)

Line a cupcake tin with liners and preheat the oven to 190C/170C FAN. 

Beat the butter and sugar under light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and egg until thoroughly combined. Beat in the flour and baking powder until just combined then finally neat in the milk.

Divide the batter evenly between the cases and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and springy. Make sure you check after 15 minutes, mine were done then.

Transfer the cakes to a wire rack to cool. To make the buttercream beat the butter, icing sugar, vanilla and milk together until light and fluffy. If using the jam take a tablespoon and lightly swirl it through the buttercream using a spatula (or spoon)

When the cakes are completely cold cut a round from the top of the cakes. It does not have to be too big. Divide the buttercream between the cavities you have made in the buns. 

Cut the excised piece in half and insert into the buttercream to look like butterfly wings.

Sometimes the simple things are the best, a butterfly bun is a delicious treat (its really just a precursor to the cupcake), full of memories. Yum.  

Pecan and salted caramel cupcakes

Pecan nuts seem to be a very autumnal nut. They go with all the spicy, apple-y, toffee-y flavours around at this time of year and appear at bonfire night and thanksgiving in varying guises including pecan pie.

I had a cupcake craving so quickly made these with cupboard ingredients, I love the deep nutty flavour the nuts give the cake and love the contrasting crunch of the nuts on the top of the cake.

Pecan and salted caramel cupcakes

makes 12

125g butter
70g golden caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla paste
55g salted caramel
2 eggs
75g self raising flour
50g pecan nuts ground to a flour like consistency in a food processor

50g butter
160g icing sugar
60g salted caramel

Extra caramel and pecans for the top

For my salted caramel I simply gently warmed up some of a tin of carnation caramel in a pan and added salt to taste. Now what to do with the leftovers...

Preheat the oven to 160C/140C FAN and line a cupcake tin with liners.

Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together until light and creamy. Beat in the caramel and eggs until fully incorporated. Finally, with the mixer on slow,  beat in the flour and ground pecans until just incorporated.

Divide the mixture evenly between the cases and bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.

When the cakes are golden and springy remove from the oven and transfer the cakes to a wire rack to cool completely.

When the cakes are completely cool they can be frosted. To make the frosting beat the butter and icing sugar together until very light and fluffy. Beat in the caramel till incorporated. 

Dollop the frosting onto the cooled cakes and swirl with a palette knife. Top with drizzles of caramel and chopped pecans.

Snickers cupcakes

I have to admit that I am a recent covert to the amazingness that is a snickers. This is largely in part to my recent liking of nuts.

Making cupcakes for work I knew I wanted a chocolate-y one, its just what went with the chocolate. That is when I decided to take the snickers and make it into a cupcake. Now I know for a fact that the idea of a snickers cupcake is not original but I came up with this mish mash myself, though like I said there are probably hundreds of similar variations out there.

For this cake you will need your favourite chocolate cupcake recipe. Chocolate cupcake recipes vary a lot and everyone has their favourite way of making them. Make them and let them cool.

You will also need a caramel, you do not need much, a couple of heaped tablespoons at most. I confess to, in this instance, using it from a jar. Some salted peanuts. I also confess to not weighing these. I simply chopped up enough so that once stirred into the caramel there was a good peanut to caramel ratio.

You will also need to make the buttercream. I was just going to make peanut buttercream. Then, whilst looking at other baking books I thought about whoopee pie filling. That marshmallow fluff gives a sort of nougat-y quality so I decided to add that in. It works a dream, it is my current favourite frosting (this changes regularly, it has to be said).

Frosting for 12 cupcakes

50g butter
50g smooth peanut butter
250g icing sugar
2 tablespoons of milk
125g marshmallow fluff. 

Beat the butter and peanut butter together. Add in the icing sugar and milk and beat until very light and fluffy, this can easily take 5 minutes. Finally add in the marshmallow fluff and beat to combine. 

To assemble the cakes, core the middle of each cake and add a good heaped teaspoon of your peanut caramel mix. Replace the cone, trimming to fit as necessary. 

Pipe the frosting on top, if you have no piping bag simply swirl onto of the cakes. 

I decorated the top with a sprinkling of chopped salted peanuts and a slice of snickers.

These cupcakes were frankly amazing. I am a little sad that I gave the majority to work and more are being made soon!

Salted caramel cupcakes

To celebrate my recent engagement (hurrah!) I of course took cakes into work. I decided to make 3 different flavours of cupcakes because there would then be something that hopefully everyone would like, not that my work as ever turned down any cake. Ever.

I made white chocolate and raspberry, the recipe can be found here, snickers, which I will post in a few days and salted caramel.

I'll start with the salted caramel. I used a caramel cupcake recipe by the hummingbird bakery. To convert it to salted caramel I simply gently warmed my caramel, from a tin, and added sea salt until it had that yummy salted caramel taste. I was not convinced the caramel in the cake would have much flavour (and I still think that I was right on this) so I hollowed out the middle after baking and added a generous spoonful of the caramel.

On the top is my version of salted caramel butter cream, a drizzle of more slated caramel and some chopped up caramel buttons. The ones I used were from silver spoon and I found them in the baking isle at the supermarket.

Salted caramel cupcakes

makes 16

for the cake

80g butter
250g golden caster sugar
240g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
240ml whole milk
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla paste/extract
tin of carnation caramel
sea salt to taste

for the frosting

150g butter
375g icing sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk
leftover caramel (from cake ingredients)
caramel drops (optional)

Preheat the oven to 190C/170C FAN and line two cupcake trays with liners. If you only have one, like me, simply bake the cakes in two batches, mine turned out fine. 

Pour all the caramel from the tin into a saucepan and gently heat while stirring. Add sea salt to taste. Make sure the caramel is warm enough to dissolve the salt but it does not need to be hot. Set aside to cool.

Whisk the butter, sugar, flour and baking powder together until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. Whisk the eggs milk and vanilla together in a jug.

Pour about 3/4 of the wet ingredients into the dry and beat until they are incorporated and the batter is thick. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the remaining dry ingredients and 150g of your salted caramel. Beat again until the batter is smooth.

Divide the batter evenly between the cases. Fill your cases no more than 2/3 full, these cupcakes really do grow!

Bake for ~20 minutes util golden and springy. If you are baking more than one tray swap them around halfway through baking. Once baked transfer the cakes to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting beat the butter, icing sugar and milk together for ~5 minutes until very light and fluffy. Add 100g of the salted caramel and beat to combine.

Once cool remove a cone from each cake and fill with the leftover caramel. Place the cone back, trimming to fit. Pipe the frosting onto the cakes however you like. Finish by topping the cakes with caramel drops and a drizzle of any remaining caramel.

These cakes certainly look pretty, they were the ones catching peoples eye at work and everyone said that they enjoyed them.

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.

Toffee bakewell 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 am not entirely sure what to think of the book, It started off well enough and I was enjoying it. By the end though, I am not sure that I entirely liked any of the characters which was rather odd!

The cupcake recipes however sounded delicious. There was one that I had to make otherwise I think Mark would have kicked me out of the house and changed the locks. So I made the toffee bakewell cupcakes but there is perhaps one more I will make before the deadline for this month is up.

These cupcakes intrigued me. I often make cupcakes, and once they are baked, remove a cone and add a filling. This recipe however added the caramel to the centre of the cake before baking. I.e. half fill the case with batter, add a teaspoon of caramel, add the remaining batter to cover the caramel then bake. I could not help wondering would it work?

Answer, yes it did. Saying that, although I put the caramel in the centre, it definitely sank during baking, so I would maybe add the caramel two thirds of the way up to combat this.

The cake is an almond flavoured sponge with a caramel filling. I swirled almond and caramel buttercream over the top.

Its a little hard to tell but the buttercreams are different colours. I finally drizzled caramel on the top. For the caramel, you can make it using condensed milk, or carnation handily sell tins of ready made caramel now.

Salted caramel cupcakes

The book for this months cupcake book club, run by Kelly from american cupcake in London, was 'Cupcakes at Carrington's' by Alexandra Brown.

The main character Georgie works at Carringtons and enjoys nothing more than sinking her teeth into a sweet creation from the cafe, run by her best friend. It was an enjoyable book and I would happily read the upcoming ones in the series.

Georgie's favourite cupcake is the red velvet. I have not made this for a couple of reasons. Firstly it is lent, so no chocolate for me. Secondly I love chocolate and the red velvet never really does it for me, I do not want mild chocolate flavour, I want full on chocolate!

Still there are plenty of other cupcakes and sweet treats mentioned in the book. One cupcake mentioned is a salted caramel cupcake. This is my sort of cake, I love salted caramel!

I made a vanilla cake with a spoonful of peanut butter in the batter to give a salty element. I filled the cake with salted caramel and topped the whole thing off with salted caramel buttercream. I think Georgie would approve of the clouds of buttercream!

Salted caramel cupcakes

makes 12

75g butter
50g peanut butter (no added sugar preferably)
125g golden caster sugar
tsp vanilla paste/extract
2 eggs
125g self raising flour
tbsp milk

75g white caster sugar
75ml double cream
sea salt to taste

80g butter
200g icing sugar
tbsp milk


Line a cupcake/muffin tin with liners and preheat the oven to 180C/160C FAN.


Cream the butter, peanut butter, sugar and vanilla paste together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl in-between and beat for a further couple of minutes.

Add the flour and beat on slow until just combined. Finally add the milk and beat for a further minute. Divide the batter between the liners and bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden and springy.

Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool.

To make the caramel gently heat the caster sugar in a pan until dissolved and deep amber in colour. Remove from the heat and, stirring quickly, add in the cream. Return the pan to the heat and cook until the caramel has thicken and coats the back of a spoon. Add sea sat a little at a time until the caramel is salted to your preference. Set the caramel aside to cool.

When the cupcakes and caramel are cool the assembly can begin! Remove a cone from the cupcakes with a sharp knife. Fill the cavity with a teaspoon of the salted caramel before replacing the cone, it may need trimming to fit. 

Finally for the buttercream beat the butter, icing sugar and milk together until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes or so. Beat in some of the cooled caramel a little at a time until the frosting is well flavoured with the salted caramel.

Pipe or swirl on the frosting with a palette knife.

I am pretty certain Georgie would approve of these cupcakes. The are sweet and salty, with plenty of buttercream. Mark certainly approves, declaring the frosting 'the best ever'.

Lazy rhubarb and custard cupcakes and a thank you

Huh. I have just realised my blog is just over a year old. That one kind of slipped me by. So much for a happy birthday blog post. This post is definitely not one of those. These cupcakes are tasty enough but not at all creative and doomed from the start! Certainly not birthday worthy.

I would like to say a HUGE thanks to anyone who has dropped by at any point during the last year, it is truly appreciated. Hopefully it has inspired you to get baking in your kitchen, and if you have made anything from here I hope you have had success.

Back to the lazy cakes. In my defence they were going to be a little more luscious than they turned out.. I was going to fill them with a creamy homemade rhubarb curd. So I baked my cakes, hollowed them out, then retrieved my curd from the fridge. Alas the curd that had only gone into my fridge a few days earlier was no longer the creamy delight it initially was. No. It was lumpy with bits in and not very nice.

The cakes and frosting were already prepared so a dollop of Rhubarb and ginger jam went in the cavity. Not even my homemade jam, which you can find here, shop bought as I realised I had already devoured the jam I had made.

I am probably not being fair to these cakes, The custard flavour comes through the frosting, the cakes are light and the jam does add a fruity tang. So as the lazy girls rhubarb and custard cupcakes, they are in fact perfect!

Lazy rhubarb and custard cupcakes

(makes 12)

125g butter
125g caster sugar
tsp vanilla paste or extract
2 large eggs
100g self raising flour
25g custard powder
2 tbsp milk

Rhubarb or rhubarb and ginger jam

100g butter
250g icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
20g custard powder
2 tbsp milk

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C FAN and line a cupcake tin with liners.

Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together for 5 minutes until very light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at time and beat until well incorporated. Scape down the sides of the bowl after the addition of each egg.

With the whisk on slow beat in the flour and custard powder until there are no visible streaks. Scape down the sides of the bowl and add the milk. Beat the mix for a further minute.

Divide the mix equally between the cupcake liners and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. The cakes are done when lightly golden and springy when pressed gently with a fingertip.

Set the cakes aside on a wire rack to cool. 

To make the frosting beat the butter with the vanilla until creamy, Add the icing sugar and beat for 5 minutes so it becomes very light. Mix the custard power with the milk and add it a little at a time to the bowl, continuing to beat as you do so.

At this point you may need to refrigerate your frosting to allow it to firm up a little.

When the cakes are completely cool use a knife to remove a cone from the cake. Fill the cavity with jam and then replace the cone, it may need trimming to fit (YOU, the baker, get these off cuts!). 

Pipe the frosting on top of the cakes and voilà, lazy rhubarb and custard, done.

I decided to jazz up my cakes with little stars I found in my baking cupboard. I am aware stars have nothing to do with rhubarb!

Daisy cupcakes

As you may well imagine I received a plethora of baking/ cooking related gifts for Christmas (including a blowtorch!), among them were cute little wafer daisies.

I imagine these daisies could be used in a while number of ways to pretty up your bakes, I myself used them to decorate little orange and lemon cupcakes, these cupcakes are lovely to eat but to look at, perhaps not the most exciting. These little daises are perfect for making them look as fresh and 'springlike' as they taste (Yes I know its January and -2, but I am allowed to dream of spring)

I am going to be a little sneaky and enter these into this months alpha bakes, the letter this month is 'D' and D is for daisy!

Orange and lemon daisy cupcakes

makes between 10 and 12 depending on cupcake liner size

80g butter
50g natural yoghurt or low fat natural yoghurt (not fat free)
125g caster sugar
zest and juice of a lemon
zest and juice of an orange
1 large egg
130g self raising flour
1 tablespoon of milk

125g butter
250g icing sugar
1/2 tablespoon of milk

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C FAN and line a cupcake tin with cupcake cases.

Beat the butter, sugar and zest of the orange and lemon until light and fluffy. Beat in the yoghurt until combined. Add the egg and beat for a further minute. Beat in the flour on slow until just incorporated. Add the milk, 1/2 tablespoon of the orange  juice and 1/2 tablespoon of the lemon juice and beat for a final minute. Divide the mix equally between the cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 full. Bake for ~20 minutes until golden and spring, transfer to a wire rack to cool fully.

For the frosting beat the butter and icing sugar until combined. add the milk and beat until very light and fluffy. Add 1/2 tablespoon of each of the lemon juice and orange juice and beat for a further minute.

Frost the cupcakes and top with a wafer daisy. Et Voilà. 

Chocolate truffle cupcakes

As mentioned in a previous post we have two books in this months cupcake book club.

This is my bake from the first book 'Meet me at the Cupcake Cafe' by Jenny Colgan.

In the book these are called double chocolate cupcakes. I have called them chocolate truffle cupcakes as they are very dark, chocolately and quite dense. Certainly an adult chocolate cupcake.

I have paired them with a light and creamy white chocolate frosting, the perfect contrast to the dark cake.

Chocolate truffle cupcakes

makes 6 (I had to do some serious maths, by my reckoning the recipe Jenny supplies would make 300!)


For the cakes
90g good quality dark chocolate
50ml double cream
1 egg
35g caster sugar
30g plain flour
tsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder


For the frosting
60g butter
125g icing sugar
1 tablespoon milk
50g white chocolate

Place the dark chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir occasionally until the chocolate has melted, set aside to cool slightly.

Whisk the egg and sugar until doubled in volume. Gradually add the chocolate and cream, mixing well. Add the flour,cocoa powder and baking powder and fold in.

Divide the mix evenly between baking cases and bake in a preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

In the meantime make the frosting. Melt the white chocolate, in a heatproof bowl over barely simmering water, and set aside to cool.

Beat the butter with the icing sugar and milk for 5 minutes until very light and creamy. Add in the cooled white chocolate and beat until incorporated. Make sure the chocolate is nice and cool or it will melt your frosting, 

Pipe the frosting onto the cooled cakes and enjoy!

Toffee apple cupcakes

Bonfire night makes me think about, among other things, toffee apples. I have not been to many bonfires, but I seem to remember toffee apple from the ones I have.

In honour of this I made toffee apple cupcakes. The exact recipe is in the love bakery cookbook.

It is an apple and cinnamon cupcake with a toffee frosting and a chunk of fudge on the top.

I will admit I had major issues with the frosting, my fudge did not really want to soften and the second it hit my frosting it solidified again and did not blend in.
So what I actually have is an apple cake with a vanilla frosting studded with chunks of fudge. Its not really the end of the world, it still tastes yummy.

If I were making this frosting again I would either use dulce de leche or find some softer fudge to begin with.

Raspberry and white chocolate cupcakes

This is definitely a staple favourite of mine. There is something very reassuring about this cupcake, it never fails me and always tastes delicious.

This time the cupcake got a special treat, I had a little spare time and this cupcake got extra pretty as well as delicious.

Its a vanilla cupcake filled with raspberry jam and its all topped off with a swirled white chocolate and raspberry buttercream.

Raspberry and white chocolate cupcakes

(makes 6)

For the cake

65g butter

65g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla paste/extract

1 egg

65g self raising flour

1 tbsp milk

6 tsps raspberry jam

For the frosting

65g butter

125g icing sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla paste/extract

tbsp milk

50g white chocolate

1-2 tablespoons raspberry jam

pink food gel (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C FAN and line a cupcake tray with cases. Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla 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 and beat for a further minute. Scrape down the sides 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. 

Transfer the cakes to a wire rack to completely cool.

Once the cakes are cool use a sharp knife to remove a cone from the centre of each. Fill the well with a heaped teaspoon of raspberry jam, and replace the cone, trimming to fit if necessary. 

For the frosting gently melt the white chocolate and set aside to cool. Beat the butter, icing sugar and vanilla together until it starts to come together. Add the milk and beat for 5-7 minutes until the buttercream is very light and fluffy.

Divide the buttercream in half, to the first half add a tablespoon of the jam and a dot of gel food colouring (if using), beat to incorporate. Taste, it may need a little more jam, but be careful the mixture needs to be pipeable, too much jam will loosen the frosting too much. 

Check that the chocolate is nice and cool, it still needs to be melted but if it is too hot it will melt the frosting. Beat the white chocolate into the second half of the frosting until it is fully incorporated.

Fit a piping bag with a nozzle of your choice, and lay flat on a worktop. Layer the white chocolate frosting on the bottom half of the piping bag, next layer the raspberry frosting on top. 

Frost the cakes in decorative swirls and then tuck in and enjoy!

I actually had all the ingredients for these in the cupboard when I decided to bake. They look and taste decadent yet if you are anything like me you will will probably have all the ingredients lurking.

Best enjoyed with your feet up and a hot beverage of your choice, a little luxury in a busy day!

Peach Melba cupcakes

The peach melba is a classic if not often forgotten ice cream sundae. Whether you have had one or not who could argue with the grouping of vanilla, raspberry and peach? Certainly not me, especially when presented in the form of a cupcake.

This recipe is from the fabulous love bakery book. Just tweaked ever so slightly to suit personal tastes.

I do admit that pink raspberries would have made the inside of the cupcake look very petty but I was seduced by the amber raspberries I saw, golden colour with a hint of blush combined with a reduced sticker meant it was a done deal!

I also utilised peaches from a tin, I needed the syrup from the tin and did not see the point of buying a fresh peach when I had all the segments sitting there.

I added a little vanilla to the cake and the frosting, to bring the ice cream flavour to the cupcake.

I am not going to copy out the recipe word for word.

However it is a vanilla cupcake base with 2 tablespoons of peach syrup added. When cooked and cooled a cone is removed from each cupcake and the middle filled with crushed raspberries and peaches before the cone is replaced.

Each cupcake is frosted with a mascarpone cheese frosting, which used 250g mascarpone, 80g icing sugar and 1 tsp vanilla paste all beaten together until thick and creamy. This amount frosts 12 cupcakes.

These were lovely and it was nice to enjoy them in the September sun before raspberries are out of season.

Cardamom, coconut and vanilla cupcakes

I absolutely love cardamom in baking, it adds such a lovely warmth and flavour to biscuits and cakes. The other week I had a fantastic cardamom crème brulee that reminded me just how much I love it.

I had some coconut milk left over from a curry on Friday and an idea was born. Coconut and cardamom are always combined in curries to delicious affect and I saw no reason why combining them in a cupcake would not be as equally delicious.

I only made 6, there are only two of us! The recipe is easily doubled.

Cardamom, coconut and vanilla cupcakes

For the cakes

65g butter
65g caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla paste
seeds of 5 cardamom pods, ground in a pestle and mortar
1 egg
65g self raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp coconut milk

For the frosting

60g butter
125g icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla paste
2 tbsp coconut milk


Preheat the oven to 180C/160C FAN and line a cupcake tin with cases. 

Beat the butter, sugar, vanilla and crushed cardamom seeds together until very light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat for a further minute.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and add the flour and baking powder, beat until just combined. Add the coconut milk and beat for a further minute.

Divide the cupcake mix between the cases and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. When done the cupcakes should be golden and springy. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely. 

To make the the frosting beat together the butter, icing sugar, vanilla and 1 tbsp of the coconut milk until very light and fluffy, add the remaining coconut milk and beat again. Refrigerate for about 20-30 minutes. Once the cupcakes are completely cool pipe swirls of frosting onto each cupcake.

These cupcakes are lovely and light with the warming, aromatic cardamom really coming through. The cake is complemented perfectly by a creamy luxurious frosting.

I am giving these cakes full credit for helping me get through my science report! It is my firm believe that  cake will help any form of writers block/work issue.