Peanut Butter and Jam Cupcakes

So staying with the theme of cupcakes I decided to make these American style cupcakes! (The next blog won't be cupcakes I promise!) I love Peanut Butter and Jam together, it's a match made in junk food heaven! I have never baked with Peanut Butter before and thought it might make a nice weekend treat.

I based the cupcake sponge on Jessica's Sweet Addictions  recipe for Peanut Butter and Nutella Cupcakes (which look amazing!) This recipe worked so well! I had crunchy Peanut Butter at home at the time and I think that really added to the cake. To make the icing I made a Jam flavoured Butter Icing using a small amount of butter, icing sugar and a berry Jam.

Peanut Butter and Jam Cupcakes

Peanut Butter and Jam Cupcakes

Cupcake Recipe

Ingredients

(From Jessica's Sweet Addiction )

2oz Butter

8oz Caster Sugar

4oz soft Peanut Butter

2 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

8oz Self Raising Flour

Half tsp Baking Powder

100ml Semi-Skimmed Milk

Butter Icing

50g Butter

500g Icing Sugar

2 tble spns Jam

Method

• Preheat oven 180C and prepare muffin tin with cases (recipe makes 24 cupcakes)
• Mix together Peanut Butter, Butter and Sugar until combined.
• Add one Egg at a time and then add the Vanilla Extract.
• Fold in the Flour and Baking Powder. Once combined at the Milk gradually and mix.
• Bake until golden brown ( 20 minutes).  
• For the Butter Icing mix the Butter with half the Icing Sugar. Add the Jam and mix before adding the other half of the Icing Sugar. Pipe onto cooled cakes! 

Apologies for the measurements changing! I wanted to put Jessica's Sweet Addictions recipe as it is on her blog, but I work in grams! This is a lovely recipe and made fantastic, fluffy cakes! The Icing Sugar has the potential to become to wet with Jam, so add the Icing Sugar in two parts. Seen as I have gone Cupcake mad I thought I would also put this forward to Calender Cakes (Laura Loves Cakes and Dolly Bakes) and share another Cupcake.

Peanut Butter and Jam Cupcakes were so much better that Peanut Butter and Jam on toast! Enjoy! 

Almond and Raspberry Cupcakes

This is something I have wanted to try for a while, I thought the flavour and sweetness of almonds and the sharpness of raspberries would be a nice combination and using berries was fittingly autumnal. The original point of the blog was to try my hand at new things and to learn new skills... but I just LOVE cupcakes! They are fun and easy to experiment with, also it was cupcake week so my hands were tied! ;) 

For these cupcakes I used the recipe for vanilla cupcakes in the Primrose Bakery Cupcake Cookbook. I find their cupcakes really fluffy which I think is to do with the milk. I replaced the vanilla with Almond Essence and used double the amount. I then made an almond infused butter cream and decorated with raspberries. I didn't want to put raspberries in the sponge as they may have been too wet and I like the idea of biting into a raspberry with the butter icing! Really simple, really sweet and they look cute. 

Almond and Raspberry Cupcake
Cath kidston Crockery 

Almond and Raspberry Cupcakes

Ingredients

Almond Cupcakes

(Adapted recipe from 'Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery' cookbook)

110g Butter

225g Golden Caster Sugar

2 Eggs

150g Self Raising Flour

125g Plain Flour

120ml Semi Skimmed Milk

2 teaspoons Almond Essence

Raspberries to Decorate

Butter Icing 

(Also adapted recipe from 'Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery' cookbook)

110g Butter 

500g Icing Sugar

60ml Semi Skimmed Milk

1 teaspoon Almond Essence

Method

• Preheat oven to 160c and prepare muffin tray with cases. (Makes 12 regular or 36 mini cupcakes).
• Mix Butter and Sugar until pale and smooth and add the Eggs one at a time.
• Combine the two Flours in a separate bowl. Also combine the Milk and Almond Essence in a jug.
• Add one third of the Flour mix and fold followed by one third of the Milk and mix. Repeat until all ingredients are combined.
• Spoon mixture into prepared cases and bake for 25 minutes for regular and 15 minutes for minis. They should be raised and golden.
• Cool on a wire rack!
• Once cooled completely, mix Butter, Milk and Almond Essence with half the Icing Sugar. Once mixed add the remaining half until thick. 
• I decorated with a palette knife and added three Raspberries to each and some with a sprinkle of Almonds. 

Almond and Raspberry Cupcakes

If anybody tries them I hope they turn out as well, let me know via twitter (@josieroberts88) if you have made anything interesting or tasty for cupcake week! I think they are my favourite thing to bake and this is something I am definitely doing again! In the meantime I hope everyone is loving the GBBO as much as me! Glen For the Win! Ruby is also fab! Although I would love to able to bake as well as any of them. 

Another reason for making cupcakes this time was for Calender Cakes, something I have wanted to make a post for for ages! So this month its ... Cupcakes! This fun blogging activity is put on by Laura Loves Cakes and Dolly Bakes. Looking forward to the next month! 

Date and Walnut Tea Bread

This is my first blog for a few months... That doesn't mean to say that I have not been baking, I have tried my hand at a few things over the past weeks, some caramel short bread and made a cake for my a colleagues leaving party which was fun! I was so busy I ended up making the cake, which was a fat less sponge with fresh cream and fruit, at midnight! Something went horribly wrong! The cake was flat and hard! So I did what any baker would do at that time of night... I made a 'posh' Victoria Sponge! HA! It seemed to go down well anyway! If I have learnt anything about baking in the time I have been writing this blog is that time is everything and patience comes in a close second!

Anyway, although I have been doing the odd cake here and there, I have had next to no time to blog! But, that ends here!! The Great British Bake Off has started it's new series and it is all we can talk about!! (as far as the circles I swim in are concerned) Between having a bit more time lately and the added inspiration coming from watching cake telly I am back on the blogging! Also with the weather beginning to cool I can bake with out bursting into flames in my flat!

This is a cake I made fairly recently for a staff picnic, everyone brought something with them, made for a lovely day out. For this I made Date and Walnut Tea Bread. This a lovely autumnal recipe, I saw tea was in the recipe I thought it would be a winner and also ties in with the GBBO and Howard's lovely tea biscuits! this was taking from 'Baking Day' a lovely little baking book from Marks and Sparks! :)

Date and Walnut Tea Bread

Ingredients: 

100g Chopped Dates

1/2 tsp Bicarbonate soda 

Rind of 1/2 a Lemon

100ml Hot Tea

40g Butter

70g Light Muscovado Sugar

1 Egg

125g Self Raising Flour

25g Walnuts

Plus a few more to decorate. 

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180c and line a loaf tin with baking parchment.
• Soak the Dates, Bicarbonate Soda and Lemon in  a bowl with the Tea for 10 minutes.
• Mix the Butter and Sugar then beat in the Egg. 
• Stir in the Date mixture.
• Fold in the Flour and Walnuts and spoon in to prepared tin and top with the decorative walnuts.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool on wire rack and enjoy with Tea! 

Mini Coconut Macaroons

As my parents and grandparents were visiting over the weekend I decided I wanted to make something that would be small enough to eat before we went out for dinner in The Champion in Notting Hill (if you haven't been, its a lovely pub, great food and lovely atmosphere). It was the first time my family were visiting us in our flat and as we hadn't been all together since February, we were in need of a big catch up! And for for 'catch up's'... baked goods are essential! Also baking for my family proves that I am now a domestic queen... which of course I am not! Had they popped over on a Sunday morning the flat would have been in a very different state! 

Anyway, I was looking for something simple and easy to make that was light and bite-sized! I am in no way ready to make almond macaroons but fancied good, old fashioned coconut macaroons! I got the recipe from BakingMad.com and I am not exaggerating when I say it is the most straight-forward recipe I have ever made! But they were visually quite impressive and tasted really sweet. I made the mistake of making them one night when we had a few friends round for a movie... lets just say I assumed they were pretty good as I had to hide the remaining macaroons! I was happy to see everyone enjoying them! 

Mini Coconut Macaroons

I made chocolate chip short bread to go with them. For these I use my previous short bread recipe.  I would definitely recommend this recipe to anyone looking for an addition to bake sale or for guests as they are perfect with a cup of tea! My family were... well... quite frankly, I think they were surprised I could make anything, as before university I could barely boil an egg! But they thought they were lovely and ate the lot!

I hope you liked this brief blog! I can't stress enough how easy and tasty these were, let me know if you try this recipe out and think the same! Also you can follow my baking shenanigans on twitter if you like @josieroberts88.

Mini Coconut Macaroons

White and Dark Chocolate Cheese Cake

I chose this recipe because I wanted to make something from my brand spanking NEW Merry Berry Cookbook, 'At Home'. This was extra amazeballs because my boyfriend got me a signed copy as a gift! I know, I am a lucky girl.... However, he is really the lucky one as he got to meet Mary Berry!  : O

I discovered on #Skintlondon  (if you are not already following this then do it, so useful!) on twitter that she was doing the book signing whilst I was away with friends and was gutted! ( I know, sad fan). I am very happy with my new book, its great to have lots of new recipes and to have had such a thoughtful gift :) Inside it reads, 'To Josie, Hope to see you next time, Keep on baking. Love Mary' ... It is officially my most prized possession!

This recipe looked decadent and really chocolatey! So I immediately wanted to make it! Also I had never made a cheese cake before. Like all Marry Berry recipes, it was really doable and the ingredients were easy to get hold of. It worked out really well although I REALLY need to work on my marbling technique and just decorating and presentation in general! Something to work on for the next bake. If you feel like a treat or have a dessert to make for some reason, I would highly recommend giving this a go :)

Ingredients 

Base

600g Dark chocolate digestive biscuits, crushed.

50g Butter melted.

Filling

200g Belgian white chocolate, chopped.

300ml Double cream.

300g Full-fat cream cheese.

1/2 Teaspoon vanilla extract.

100g Dark chocolate (39 per cent cocoa solids)

Line the base of a 20cm tin with baking parchment.

To make the biscuit base mix the crushed digestives with the melted butter and press into the bottom of the tin using the back of a spoon.

For the filling, melt the chopped white chocolate over a pan of simmering water. Don't let it get too hot and stir occasionally, then set to one side to cool.

Pour the cream into a large mixing bowl, but save aside 3 tablespoons. To the large mixing bowl, add the cream cheese and vanilla. Whisk with an electric whisk until smooth. Add the white chocolate and whisk until thick. 

Spoon 6 tablespoons of the mixture into a separate mixing bowl and spoon the remaining into the prepared tin, smooth over and chill for thirty minutes. 

Add the reserved cream to the reserved mixture and mix the two together until smooth and spoon over the set mixture in the tin. 

Melt the dark chocolate as before ans drizzle over the top. Using the blade of a knife swirl the topping together. (I think I added to much chocolate too fast and it has turned out darker than I would have hoped)

Chill for two hours then turn out and try not eat all at once ;) 

Hope someone else has a go at this one, its simple, fun and easy to make and tasted great! I have not had any time to do any blogging lately, but I have a back log of baking experiments that I will post soon and a lot of things I want to try very soon! Feel free to comment on the blog itself or follow me on twitter, would love some feed back, especially on my own recipes to see if anyone has tried them out at home! :) Happy Baking. 

P.S If anyone happened to pick up a copy of Time Out magazine today, there is some great baking related pieces as it is all about the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory show. I particularly liked reading about some of the Willy Wonker esque bakers and chefs! If you like the sound of experimental jelly and chocolate sculpting, check it out! :) 

Charity Bake Sale

Earlier this month I mentioned in a previous blog entry that a colleague of mine was holding a charity bake sale to raise money for The Alzheimer's Society, for which he will be climbing Ben Nevis in June. I am sure you will all agree, this is a very worth while and important cause. To support Peter in reaching his target many of us donated a home made cake (and many of us also purchased a huge amount of cake!!). This got everybody baking! Putting their cake-baking skills to the test to produce tasty treats!

The bake sale was a fantastic success not only did it raise a huge amount of money for the charity, it  was great fun to be involved with and got everybody chatting, providing a fun day at work for everybody. It was lovely to see what other people bake at home and some of their family recipes.

Peter and his collogues worked extremely hard on organising the event and many members of staff contributed by baking something. Money was raised through buying all varieties of home made cakes, pastries, cookies and puddings, as well as a very successful printed recipe booklet, containing recipes from all the bakers involved. The cakes sold out at rapid speed! To the extent that myself and a friend ran to get some cake before it was too late! There was so much to choose from, from sausage rolls to ginger cake, waffles to brownies, cup-cakes to slices of lemon drizzle cake and all manner of sponges, all served with tea or coffee and supplied to you in a lovely little cake box with a napkin.

Cleverly, for those who had been eagerly awaiting the cake sale but the day happen to fall on their day off, Peter took orders and pre-boxed cakes for those people to pick up the next day. This meant no one missed out and Peter got the chance to raise yet more money! Brilliant!

If you are thinking of holding a bake sale to raise money for charity the here is some of Peter's Top Tips!

"Hello! My name is Peter Elia. I recently had a very successful Cake Sale at my place of work with the help of two of my friends. We raised almost £400 (for the Alzheimer’s Society) in an organisation which only has around 100 staff. So, here are my……………….

Top five Tips on maximising profit for a charity Cake Sale!

1. Try to get as many people baking as possible. Explain the importance of your chosen charity and how their contribution will make a difference.

2. Make sure you have a variety of cakes, perhaps some savory and one or two gluten or nut free cakes.

3. Get your friends/colleagues to send you their recipes and put them all together in a booklet. You can also sell the Cookery Booklet for £2. This will also assist with your cake sales as customers will be keen to try as many cakes as possible.

4. Charge £1 a slice for the cakes and 50p for smaller items eg Cookies, Cup Cakes. Make sure you have plenty of cake boxes. You want to encourage your customers to buy as many cakes as possible.

5. Give yourself plenty of time to organise your cake stall. Make it as attractive as possible. Have paper plates, plastic forks at the ready. You can even sell tea and coffee for 50p a cup, so have some cups too. I managed to obtain paper for the cookery booklet, cake boxes, paper plates, forks and cups for free, when I explained to local business that all profit from my cake sale would go to the Alzheimer’s society.

Finally, don’t forget to enjoy the day, make lots of money for a great cause and have lots of fun eating lovely homemade cakes."

Here's Peter himself, Apron and all! 

I Hope this helps anyone who is thinking of baking to raise money for charity and I think Peter did exceptionally well in making it a great day for everyone involved! If anyone who reads this blog and has appreciated Peters tips  and would like to donate, you can via this link for his Just Giving Account.

For the bake sale I wanted to make something summery and fruity in the spring weather. I decided to make something I have been wanted to try for a little while. It is a Mary Berry recipe (of course!) called Wimbledon Cake as it made and decorated with strawberries and cream! Wimbledon Cake is like a gateaux, in that it is a fat less sponge with layers of cream in the middle, strawberries and passion-fruit and then decorated with another layer of cream and halved strawberries. It turned out very well and was very quick and easy! Making this cake also pushed me to finally buy an electric whisk! (yaaayyy) So expect some summer pavlovas cropping up over my summer blogs!! Anyway, I did end up making two Wimbledon cakes before the bake off, as my first one caught a little and I added the cream before realising I had no room in my fridge! So... unfortunately Tom and myself were forced to eat it! HA! It was nice to know what it would taste like too, it was very light and fruity. Here's the recipe for you to try if you like :)

Wimbledon Cake

Ingredients:

Butter for greasing

3 eggs

90g caster sugar

90g self raising flour

Filling and Topping:

300ml whipping cream, whipped until thick.

1 passionfruit 

Strawberries halved.

Method:

Lightly butter the cake tins (20 x 18 cm), line with baking parchment, the butter the parchment.

Put the eggs and sugar into a large bowl. Whisk with an electric mixer at high speed until the mixture is pale and thick enough to leave a trail when the whisk is lifted out.

Sift in half the flour and fold in gently. Repeat with the remaining flour.

Divide the mixture between tins. Tilt to spread the mixture evenly.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 190c for 20-25 mins until well risen, golden and beginning to shrink away from the sides of the tins. Turn out on a wire rack, peel off the lining paper and leave to cool.

Spread half of the whipped cream over one of the sponges. Top with sliced strawberries and passion fruit pulp. Put the other sponge on top and press down gently.

Spread the remaining cream on top of the cake, smoothing it neatly with a palette knife. Decorate with halved strawberries.

Wimbledon Cake Take 1

In the panic that the Wimbledon cake would be rubbish and because I was in the baking mood, I also made some basic vanilla cupcakes with pink butter icing. They turned out lovely, but got squished on the bus ride to work carting too much cake! Got some weird looks...maybe they just skipped breakfast! 

I hope the Bake Sale Tips have been useful and that the fruity Wimbledon Cake gets you in the mood for summer! Let me know if you have enjoyed this blog by leaving a comment or Tweet me, I appreciate any feed back and would love to know if anyone is finding the recipes useful : ) 

Rocky Road

So recently I visited the famous London Borough Market with my lovely friend Olivia! Being a London newbie I need a little help finding the good places! If you are visiting London or just haven't been yet its a great place to go and shop for speciality food and for a GIANT lunch! The market has everything from home-made cakes and pastries to organic vegetables, wild game and artisan foods from all over the world. We decided to grab a enormousness, spicy, meat-filled sandwich followed by an equally massive brownie. The market is reasonably priced and a great visit for inspiration as well as buying beautiful gifts. The surrounding coffee bars and cafe's are also wonderful, supplying great food and original brands. For example, Monmouth Coffee Company or, the one we chose that day, Elliot's Cafe, which was friendly and warm with a great range of unusual and fragrant coffee, which, for me was wasted as I am a baby and don't like coffee!

Recently I have been having a bit of a no-baking phase as my scales have been broken, tragically! However, this made me think what I could make without scales and I decided to make Rocky Road or Fridge Cake. I thought this would be easy enough without scales as the chocolate bars have the grams on the packet and then you put in whatever you fancy! This is my recipe and it was very indulgent and chocolatey, a great recipe to make if you fancy something very sweet and gooey! and something that would be fun for children to make as they can add anything they like and be creative!

Ingredients:

200g Milk Chocolate
150g Dark Chocolate
50g Butter
2 Tblespns Maple Syrup
Marshmallows
Raisins
Mars Bar pieces
Crushed Digestive Biscuits

Method:
Melt chocolate and butter in a bowl over bowling water.
Mix together melted chocolate mixture and maple syrup in a large bowl and add all other ingredients until combined. (other ideas might include pecans, walnuts or malteasers)
Pour into tray prepared with parchment paper and leave in fridge until set (about 2 hours)
Then finally cut into squares and enjoy!

 I have been tuning into Paul Hollywood's Bread, which I am really enjoying. I have always been afraid of making bread, but it seems a little less daunting now and I think it may be something I will try very soon. Although the slow motion kneading and sexy music did make me laugh...a lot! So far he has covered great British breads and this week was surrounding flat breads, one of which I have (sort of) made before. On a trip to India a few years ago, Tom and I took a cooking class in Kerala. We went to a very welcoming family who opened their home to tourists and taught us all how to cook our own traditional Indian meal, complete with South Indian barbecued fish and Pathara flat bread to go with it! It was VERY difficult! but really fun to try! If you ever visit Kerala look for Bar-B-Que cooking classes in Kumily.

One last thing for today, this week a friend at work, Peter, is holding a larger-than-life Bake Sale for all the employees to buy cake and raise money for a great cause that see's him scaling Ben Nevis in Scotland in the summer. I am taking part, with many other bake-happy colleagues, by donating a cake. I will be doing a blog all about the bake sale with details of Peters charity and some great recipe ideas as well as tips on how to hold your own bake sale from peter himself! So stay tuned for that!