Cola Float Cupcakes

This bake was a flavour experiment.  The idea came from a recipe for cola cupcakes in  Hummingbird Bakery: Cake Days, though I didn't actually use that one for mine.  I just took the idea of using cola syrup for flavouring.  So yes, the original idea was for cola cupcakes.  I wanted to try and take it further though and make them cola float cupcakes.  Cola floats, for those who do not know, are a drink of coca-cola, with a scoop of ice cream on top, usually vanilla.  It can be strange but is also quite delicious.  Hence, cake versions.  The cola bit would be the cake obviously, but the 'ice cream' was really where my experimentation lie since I thought it up by myself, no inspiration from anywhere.

Having made ice cream, I know that one of the main ingredients is custard, as well as cream and your flavourings.  But how to make a custard flavoured cream that was nice and pipe-able.  Add too much of a wet something to whipped cream and it tends to collapse, at least in my experience anyway0.  Then it hit me: custard powder!  So that's basically what I went with: whipped double cream, with custard powder and vanilla extract.  It was surprisingly effective.  The fiancé and I think it tastes almost like a Mr. Whippey ice cream (a slightly firmer version of the ice cream you get from an ice cream van).

It took me a while to find cola syrup.  Later on I was browsing through a Nigella book and saw she also had a cola cake recipe, which used actual coke, but I had my syrup by then.  I admit I got it somewhere I would not have expected, and that was Argos.  After much searching, I concluded I was going to have to buy syrup meant for those Sodastream machines, the ones that make fizzy drinks at home.  But the bottles seemed to be at least £8 wherever I looked, which was a bit much for an experiment, and that's not even considering postage.  Then I found it on Argos, via Google.  Only £4 and was free delivery.  Well, I jumped on that offer and it arrived in time to make them for the fiancé to take to Dundee tonight.  Yay!

So what did my willing testers think?  Well, it was mixed results.  The fiancé and one of his friends liked them.  The fiancé also really enjoys the cream topping.  Someone didn't like the cream.  They didn't quite taste cola like though.  It was sort of there but not very obvious, which is weird because I used twice the amount the Hummingbird recipe did.  The icing was very cola-y though.  I figured this one would be an acquired taste though.  I don't like cola flavoured things (except actually Coke) and so I didn't want to try.  So that's fair enough.    

Recipe - Makes 12

Cakes:

• 140g/5oz butter
• 140g/5oz caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 170g/6oz self-raising flour
• 2 tbsp cola syrup

Cola icing:

• 55g/2oz icing sugar
• 1-2 tbsp coca-cola

Vanilla 'Ice Cream' Cream

• 284ml/10fl.oz double cream
• 1x 75g/2.6oz packet instant custard powder
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract 
• 12 cola bottle sweets to decorate

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and line a 12 hole muffin tin with cases.   Use dark cases to look more like cola floats, or red for a striking contrast.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. 
3. Add the cola syrup and beat in. 
4. Add the eggs one at a time, and beat until fully incorporated after each addition. 
5. Sift in the flour and fold into the mixture.
6. Spoon into the cases, trying to distribute the mixture equally and making sure to fill the cases 2/3 of the way up.
   
7. Bake for about 20 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
8. Leave to cool on a cooling rack.
9. Make the cola icing, by mixing the coca-cola and icing sugar together.  Add the cola a little at a time to get the right consistency.  You don't want it too runny but you want to be able to spread it easily.
10. When the cakes are cool, top with a thin layer of cola icing.
11. Make the 'ice cream' by first whipping the double cream to stiff peaks.
12. Add the custard powder and vanilla extract and fold into the cream.  The custard powder will make the cream stiffen a bit more.
13. Put into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle and pipe a nice swirl on top of each cake.
14. Top with a cola bottle sweet. 

 

Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies with Cinnamon Filling

So last week the game my fiancé was for going to see his friends was cancelled.  This meant he didn't take the cakes I made to Dundee.  He was not too upset by that part, because it meant he got to eat two thirds of them (I took some into work with me).  But I felt a bit bad about them missing out on cakes and because I wouldn't usually make them this week due to working Monday.  So I caved to my own feelings and whipped up something for him to take this week.  I'm a big softie apparently.

Last week I also acquired some new books for my cookbook collection.  The shop I work in sells books (among other things) and we have loads of good deals on.  We're also getting a small period of extra staff discount so I was taking advantage of it.  One of the books I snapped up was The Hummingbird Bakery: Cake Days.  It is quite a nice book and it's where today's recipe comes from.  I found it whilst flicking through and thought my fiancé would enjoy them (I always base what I make for him and his friends primarily on what he likes).  They were based on carrot cake, which he likes, and has a cinnamon filling.  It was also for something I had never made before: whoopie pies.  It was certainly interesting.  And really I should read recipes all the way through because otherwise I start mixing up timings.  I was finishing off the filling at midnight last night and really I needed to let it set for 30 minutes before using it but I wanted to go to bed.  So I just put it in as it was and then put the whole cakes into the fridge.  Next time I'll do it the right way around.  

As for the final result, I have no idea what a whoopie pie should feel like so I don't know if I was successful...I admit I was expecting something more biscuit like but the book said cake so I think I am at least on the right lines.  Taste wise they were apparently very yummy and well received and all gone by the end of the night.

Recipe - adapted from The Hummingbird Bakery: Cake Days

Makes 8-10 

Sponge:

• 1 large egg
• 150g/5.5oz caster sugar
• 125g/4.5oz plain yoghurt
• 25ml/1fl.oz milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 75g/2.5oz unsalted butter
• 275g/10oz plain flour
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 100g/3.5oz carrot

Filling:

• 170g/6oz unsalted butter
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 280g/10oz icing sugar
• 175g/6oz vanilla marshmallow fluff (I made it from the recipe I used here)

1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and then set aside.
2. Whisk the egg and the sugar together in a large bowl until pale and fluffy.
3. In a jug, mix together the yoghurt, milk and vanilla.
4. Pour into the whisked eggs, followed by the melted butter and mix to combine.
5. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, ground spices, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and sea salt.
6. Add half to the egg and yoghurt mixture and beat in until just incorporated.  Repeat with the second half.
7. Peel and grate the carrot. 
8. Put into a sieve and press down to drain out any liquid.
9. Add the carrot to the batter and stir in (if using an electric whisk or mixer up until this point, do this by hand) until it is spread evenly throughout the mixture.
10. Put the batter in the fridge to cool and set for 30-40 minutes.
11. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 170°C/325°/Gas Mark 3 and line 2-3 baking trays with greaseproof paper.
12. Once the batter is cool, spoon small mounds of butter onto the trays.  Make sure you have even numbers of mounds since each pair makes a pie.  The mounds should be about 3-5cm/1.25-2inches in diameter and spaced well apart (at least 2.5cm/1inch) because they will spread out when cooking.
13. Bake for 10-15 minutes.  They should be lightly golden all over and will spring back when you touch them.
14. Remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool. 
15. Whilst the cakes cool, make the marshmallow fluff (if not already done so) and then make the filling.
16. Mix together the butter, icing sugar and ground cinnamon until the butter and sugar combine together.  
17. Add the marshmallow fluff and mix until mixture is light and fluffy.
18. Put the filling in the fridge for half and hour.
19. When sponges are cold, it is time to fill them.  Spread 1.5 tablespoons of filling mixture on the flat side of one of the cakes then place a second one on top, with the flat side touching the filling, to make a sandwich.  Press together gently.
20. Repeat until all pies are sandwiches together.

Blueberry Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream

More cakes for the fiancé and his friends.  I've had to reduce when I make them to every other week because I'm too tired to do it after work.  So I can only really do them when I'm not working Mondays.  Being so tired really does impact on how often I bake.  It's a shame because I enjoy baking.  Should be some more bakes towards the end of this month though, with Hallowe'en coming.  I intend to make cakes to give out to any of the kids that come by.

Anyway, that's getting off topic.  Last week as I arrived at work, my manager pulled me back to the front of the shop, saying there was a magazine I had to get because it came with a free cupcake book and was only 92p.  I admit, I was a bit dubious but I did cave and buy it the next day.  It was well worth it.  It's a lovely little book with some nice sounding and interesting recipes in it.  Today's bake is one of them, which combines two things my darling fiancé enjoys: blueberries and lemon.

The cupcakes came out nice and big.   I did make more buttercream than the recipe suggested because I wanted to do some fancier piping rather than just covering the tops using a palette knife.  I didn't do the usual swirl either, since one of the photos from a different recipe in the book looked really pretty with it's curved layers.  I didn't quite pull off the effect but it still looked really cute.  I'll have to practice a bit more.

I really like the cases I used.  They are really nice and thick so the fats from the cake didn't make them go see-through during baking.  A good looking case adds to the overall appearance of a cake after all. 

The verdict was that they are delicious.  The fiancé gets to eat the one I cut up for photos.  He really enjoyed it. 

Recipe - adapted from Best Baking Delicious Cupcakes

Makes 12 

For the cakes:

• 225g/8oz self-raising flour
• Pinch of salt
• 125g/4oz butter
• 150g/5oz caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 100ml/3.5fl.oz milk
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 125g/4oz blueberries

For the lemon buttercream:

• 170g/6oz butter
• 340g/12oz icing sugar, plus 1 tbsp for dusting
• 2 tsp lemon extract
• 24 blueberries for decorating

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and line a 12 hole muffin tray with muffin cases.  Wash and dry the blueberries.
2. Sift the flour and salt together in a bowl.
3. In another, larger, bowl, beat the butter until smooth and creamy.
4. Add the caster sugar and vanilla extract and beat to combine.
5. Fold in the eggs one at a time, making sure they are well incorporated.
6. Pour in the milk and mix well.
7. Keep beating the mixture whilst gradually adding the flour and the cinnamon.  Make sure it's all mixed in really well.
8. Add the blueberries and fold in so the blueberries are evenly distributed throughout the mixture.
9. Spoon the mixture into the cases.  Try and not get all the blueberries at the bottom.  You can always mix the batter a bit in the cases to move the blueberries about.  You should be able to get about two heaped teaspoons of batter per case.
10. Bake for about 25 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
11. Leave to cool.
12. Make the buttercream by beating the butter, icing sugar and lemon extract together until smooth and creamy.
13. Put the buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle.  To pipe the curved layers, start by piping lines from the centre of a cake to the edge to create a sort of star.  For the second layer, start at the centre, pipe halfway towards the edge and then lift the nozzle up and over and pipe back over what you just did to create a nice, shell look.  Do this four more times.  Then point the nozzle directly above the centre and pipe a quick blob of buttercream for the final layer.  If you want, you can fill in any gaps around the edge in the same manner as the top layer.
14. Top each cake with two blueberries and then dust with icing sugar.