Friday Recipe Swap: Variations on Cupcakes

Like many people I have a tried and tested cupcake recipe:

1. Heat oven to 190 C (fan 175 C)
2. Pop papercases into a 12 hole cake baking tray
3. Get a large mixing bowl
4. Sift in 4 oz of self raising flour
5. Add 4 oz caster sugar
6. Add 4 oz margarine or butter
7. Add 2 medium eggs
8. Add pinch bicarbonate of soda
9. Add few drops vanilla essence
10. Mix together until mix drops off a spoon
11. Share between the 12 cases
12. Bake for 15 minutes in the oven
13. Once cooled decorate if required

Sometimes I like to mix things up a bit and vary the recipe. First up chocolate chip I add 2 oz of chocolate chips to the mixture once it is blended:

The cakes are then just a little bit more interesting without too much effort:

My next variation was accidental but turned out delicious! Instead of vanilla essence I dissolved a teaspoon of coffee in boiling water and added to the cake mix:

This makes the cake mix a nice brown colour, you can adjust the amount of coffee powder to suit your taste:

It may have been an accident but it turned out great:

What I had meant to make were mocha cakes inspired by an Usborne children's cookery book! For this recipe you replace 1 oz of flour with 1 oz of cocoa and use the coffee mix instead of vanilla:

These come out a lovely dark brown and are very scrummy:

What are your favourite variations on a simple fairy cake?

Bakerdays personalised cakes

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Before Christmas I was sent a personalised cake from Bakerdays to review. The cake was delivered in a letterbox sized box and when I opened the packaging this is what I found:

The contents were a card, balloons, a party blower and a tin. Inside the tin was a cake that had been well protected against the vagaries of the postal service so it looked perfect.

A couple of days later it was my uncle's birthday party so I saved the cake to take and share as several family members are cake makers! It was only then that I fully unwrapped the cake and saw what it was like on the top:

A lovely girlie choice of decoration and a nice message. The cake itself was a carrot cake and the packaging said it served 3-4 people but we all had a smaller piece just to get a taste. It has a slightly spicy taste and was nicely moist. Some of the testers found it too sweet for their taste. It all get eaten up though!

The basic sponge versions of these letterbox cakes are priced at £14.99 which isn't cheap but it does include first class postage. The carrot cake option is an extra £1.20 there are also fruit cake (£1.80), gluten and wheat free (£1.80) or chocolate versions (£2). If you want a bigger cake then a 8-12 portions start at £26.99 or a 50-60 portion large cake for £45! You can also order a dozen personalised cupcakes from £24.99.

Personally I wouldn't spend that much on a cake but it was very well presented and I enjoyed the cake I ate. If you need to post a cake then this could a good solution. 

#CharityTuesday Yummy Mummy Week

Hopefully lots of you are aware that this has been Yummy Mummy Week in aid of Clic Sargent who do marvellous work with children with cancer and their families. Across the UK lots of activities have been taking place to have fun whilst raising funds for this important charity.

My family are doing our bit this Saturday with a cake and book sale at my home. A couple of us are going to bake up some goodies to sell whilst people browse my Usborne children's books. All proceeds from the cakes and 10% of book sales will be going to the charity. In addition any sales through my web site this month will also go to the charity.

If you have done anything for Yummy Mummy Week then please comment below.

#SilentSunday 3rd April 2010

#SilentSunday: Home Baking

How to cheat at children's birthday cakes!

I had considered making a cake from scratch this year having bought them last year, but knew it would be quite stressful to do 2 for the one party, so I bought a couple of Victoria Sponge mixes from Morrisons. It's a simple case of adding egg and whisking.... 25 minutes in the oven later I had some reasonable looking sponge cakes:

A quick spread of the included raspberry jam:

Grab some Betty Crocker chocolate coating, stir and apply:

Add some toppings to suit kids choice:

 

Finally add the candles, light and sing Happy Birthday:

It did taste pretty good too ;-)