Boston Cream Cupcakes II

I decided to try and make boston creams again, since they went well last time but there were just a few small adjustments i needed to make before they were spot on.

So this time round, i put a quarter tsp more of vanilla essence into the custard filling and for the frosting, i put in half cocoa and half drinking chocolate powder (the type you add milk to), just so that the taste was slightly milder and shaved off the bitter after taste you got last time. However, besides the fact that i made these adjustments to make THE PERFECT BOSTON CREAM, turns out the oven was a little too hot, so the outside looked done but the inside could have done with another 3 minutes, but nonetheless still edible (i promise!!). And for the frosting, i noticed i didn't have to use all the whole milk stated in the recipe (after i chucked it all in of course -_-')... the amount of whole milk to be added would be if using the proper hard butter, but since i was using softer butter, i didn't need it all.

It's getting frustrating when i'm learning- just when i think im going to get the perfect bake, there's always something else i need to learn, improve or didn't do that i should have. *sigh*... oh well i guess that's the learning process...

ONE DAY!!

This ranting all originates from my genetic overly pessimistic and perfectionist trait... These cupcakes weren't actually all that bad, but not good enough by my standards!

Caramel Cupcakes

These definitely were not for the faint hearted, or those interested in keeping their teeth. These were sooo sweet!! but nevertheless still tasty.

The original plan was to make these salted caramel cupcakes with a matching frosting, sprinkled with mini honeycomb shards. The problem was, i've only made honeycomb twice, both in primary school. I cannot for the life of me, remember how to make it. So i pulled out a recipe and tried to follow it. Twice. Both were wrong. I was so scared about burning my sugar and syrup that i probably added the bicarb in too early, resulting in a chewy, soft honeycomb, and not the sharp, brittle shards i wanted. I would have made it a third time, had i not run out of golden syrup!! I think i really needed a thermometer, that would have been good for saving the syrup and a bit more accurate than guessing...

So to save the rather plain looking frosting, i found some fudge pieces my housemate gave me for my birthday in the cupboard and popped them on top. It was quite nice for a substitute but i still want to learn how to perfect honeycomb. (perfect?!! do it anyway.)

These cupcakes turned out to have a nice, light, spongey crumb and a very sweet frosting. Everytime i follow recipes for frosting, it always turns out too sweet (for me), maybe i'll do it myself next time and add more sugar as i go along...

Not So Red Velvet Cupcakes II

So there i was, ready to set off with my pennies to finally get my hands on some of that red food colouring paste for some delicious red velvet cupcakes when i was told by (the very moody lady at the shop) that they were all out and they've only just sent out a new order for some -_-'... so i bought the next best colour- Melon- which is like some orangey colour. why?!! (yess well i ask myself that now) because i was desperate.

So the story goes a little like this. I was happily making my cupcakes the next day when i reached the stage to put in the food colouring. How much do i put in?? well, i thought as much as i wanted until i reached the right colour. I dont think it was ever going to reach the right colour since i put in half the pot (bad mistake) and my lovely cake mix was looking a little like a giant baby accidently ate a bad curry the night before. Gritting my teeth, i ventured onwards and it turns out the cakes were a pretty good bake. they looked good, the sponge was incredibly light and well err, spongey. but there was definitely some sort of chemically after-taste and a kind of sugary film that coated your teeth. Oh well.. my cake's were not a glorious red colour, not even an orange i'd settle for. when they came out, they didnt actually look that different to normal cakes which was a bit annoying, since i could have gone without it and not have gotten all those nasty results.

Anyway, they're all frosted now with cream cheese frosting.. and ive forgotten to put them in the fridge so the icing is probably all sliding off. great. they'll be off to the shop tomorrow after another 7am treck.

With a bit of luck, they'll be red next time. stay tuned for part III!!

Oatmeal and Raisin Cookies

These are an old favourite of mine to make. Perfect with a cold glass of milk (whole if you're prone to being a fatty like me)... Crunchy edge, soft buttery centre and warm gooey raisins... these innocent treats have never, ever failed me. 

Mocha Cupcakes

These were the first batch of cupcakes i sent off to be sold at the coffee cup shop outside my uni campus. I was selling 10 of them at £1.50.... After selling only 4, i realised i should probably push the price down since we're all only students after all..

These came out surprisingly well for a first try, The sponge was light and airy with an espresso and chocolate hint, and for once my frosting was stable enough to pipe. Please forgive the piping too, it was my first time, so they look a bit like brown swirly fairy poos. I think i'll need to invest in some better nozzles since this was actually my biggest one...

Unfortunately, my luck kinda ran out there... Since there was some miscommunication when i thought the coffee cup was going to be providing me something to display my cakes on and they thought vice versa. Whoops. So in such short notice, the night before i was faffing around. once again. looking for anything i could find to store some cakes on. I found a cake stand my housemate got me for my 21st and then just put an upside down pyrex casserole dish ontop as a cover :P... it looked a bit rustic but one can't complain when you're about to breakdown and throw every utensil you own at innocent cowering friends. The only problem with this set-up was that i could only store 4 cupcakes at a time due to the tapering shape of the casserole dish, so i had to rely on the staff to restock it. 

So before bed, i made my little sign and popped it in my little photoframe i got from IKEA for 79p ^_^ and got my crap together, before setting off at 7am, to get my cakes to the shop before 8... ugghh, my face was NOT pretty sight.

When i arrived, just before opening time, i was informed that the shop had run out of coffee (that's right) and no delivery had arrived to replenish so they wouldnt be able to open until it had. So i'm hoping the reason i didn't sell too many was because they only opened around 10am... i hope anyway. Either that, or they were just too darn pricey. Maybe a big drop to £1 next week, only because i love my studentkind.

Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes & Millionaire Shortbread

I made these for a BBQ gathering we were having at our house during the amazing indian summer, along with some millionaire shortbread. I thought these would make decent bitesize summery treats for the peckish. 

I made an insane amount of millionaire shortbread as this happens to be quite a few favourites in the house. Unfortunately, due to me being stressed out and flapping around like a headless chicken at the fact there wasnt enough sugar, I made a HUGE layer of toffee caramel, a thick magnumesque marbled dark and milk chocolate layer and a very sorry layer of shortbread. Next time, next time.

The dark chocolate and the overload of caramel was just far too rich, my teeth nearly melted. Obviously the boyfriend will tell you otherwise since he has no teeth now.

As for the cupcakes, surprisingly, these were more of a love it or a hate it. Some loved it so much they bought 5 and eat them one after the other. Some didn't like the squishy texture the strawberries gave the sponge. I personally found them a little difficult to eat but it was worth it in the end. It did made me question whether i'd cooked them long enough by how squishy they were. However, there were no reports of food poisoning so that's always a plus.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Argh!! Remembering these buggers drives me nuts!! I couldnt figure out what was going on half the time, the consistencies were unfamiliar and everything looked a bit of a mess... the chocolate cake base was extremely dense, whilst the "cheesecakey" bit was soo runny, it resembled yoghurt and i was skeptical if it was EVER going to rise. But rise it did. And they looked pretty (well, err..) pretty... for now.

okay well, maybe instagram helped a bit.

Once cooled, i topped them all off with some cream cheese frosting. Mine always seems to be a bit too runny, i'm still trying to figure out how to rectify this. 

I suppose these were edible, but these were definitely harder to bribe my housemates with. The dense cake really stuck the top of your mouth, it reminded me of brownies and next time i may use less cocoa. It was quite strong and even slightly bitter. It needed something sharp to cut through all that rich gooey goodness, maybe some raspberries??

Basically, a bit of a disaster. If at first you don't succeed...

Boston Cream Cupcakes

I made these as a "Welcome back" treat for my housemate who had been travelling around America all summer. So i thought, what could be better than a cupcake that youve probably been surrounded by for the past 4 months?! Boston cream a light vanilla sponge filled with custard (her fave) and topped with a rich dark chocolate frosting. and the stuff that looks a bit like brown pencil shavings was chocolate shavings.

I was quite happy with these actually, they were the first cupcakes i've made with a filling, and therefore the first stab i've had at using the "cone method" of hulling out the middle of the cupcake, filling and then popping the "cone" back ontop. The sponge was light, the frosting was heavy and the custard could have been slightly more vanilla(ry). Feedback from the critical housemates was "We need more frosting!!" and "Can i lick your wrapper?"... well. you can't complain with that can you?

      Boyfee and a boston cream                                                                   .

Green Velvet Cupcakes

Green??! I hear you cry! Yes green, because i couldn't find red and i'm a poor student who couldnt afford red food colouring paste. I was hoping my cupcakes would come out like mini edible Hulks but disappointingly, a 40ml bottle of food colouring did nothing so next time i thnk i might invest in some of that paste. it might mean i wouldnt eat for the next week but at least i'll have a dozen cupcakes to live off of :)

Besides that minor mishap, these cakes didn't stay around for long. Om friggin nom.

Excuse the poor picture. My camera and my phone both ran out of battery so my housemate took it on her blackberry >.<... it was also in the night. Apologies.