Friday, September 28, 2012

Rainbow Cupcakes!

Hi all!

Today I shall be sharing one of my all time favourite recipes..
Rainbow Cupcakes!


 By 'all time favourite', I mean ' Fun to make since about a year ago', but they're so darn cute that they deserve more love!

 Essentially, they are normal butter cupcakes with an added twist- they are rainbow!
It's a really easy recipe, and the 'rainbow' method is even easier.

So, here we go:



Preheat oven to 180C (350F). 





Line muffin tin with cupcake liners





Place butter, sugar and vanilla essence in a mixing bowl


Use an electric mixer to beat the mixture, scraping down the sides as necessary, until pale and creamy.



Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.







Sift together the flour and baking powder. 
On low speed, mix the flour mixture and milk alternately 
in two separate batches until well combined.









Separate mix into four bowls. (I used four different colours, so I divided the mixture into four parts).


 Add food colouring to your desired colour density (start with a tea spoon and add more if necessary).



 Combine well!


Place one spoonful of each coloured mixture into each cupcake liner.










Bake in oven for 20mins (or until a skewer can be inserted and removed without raw batter sticking)
Allow to cool for around 30mins


To prepare frosting- Use an electric mixer to beat the butter and vanilla on medium speed until smooth and pale.



 Reduce the speed to low and add the icing sugar 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition until well combined.




To pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes, push the nozzle all the way to the end of the bag, and fold end of the bag inside out.

Spoon buttercream into piping bag until half full

Straighten out piping bag

Twist the open end of the piping bag while simultaneously pushing the buttercream to the nozzle end of the piping bag to get rid of any air

Hold the piping bag firmly at the twist, gently squeezing the buttercream out of the nozzle. There are multiple ways to frost a cupcake with a piping bag, I chose to do a normal swirl :P

And there you have it, pretty pretty cupcakes!

Anddd the inside is pretty too :)





Cupcakes
  
185g (6 1/2 oz) unsalted butter, just softened
165g (5 3/4 oz/ 3/4 cup) caster sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
3 eggs, at room temperature
300g (10 1/2 oz/ 2 cups) plain flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
125ml (4 fl oz/ 1/2 cup) milk
Food colouring

Vanilla Buttercream

185g (6
1/2 oz) unsalted butter, just softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
250g (9 oz/ 2 cups) pure icing sugar, sifted


1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. Use an electric mixer to beat the butter, sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl, scraping down the sides as necessary, until pale and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Sift together the flour and baking powder. On low speed, mix the flour mixture and milk alternately in two separate batches until well combined.
4. Separate mix into four bowls. (I used four different colours, so I divided the mixture into four parts). Add food colouring to your desired colour density (start with a teaspoon and add more if necessary).
5. Place one spoonful of each coloured mixture into each cupcake liner.
6. Bake in oven for 20mins (or until a skewer can be inserted and removed without raw batter sticking).
7. Allow to cool for around 30mins.
8. To prepare frosting- Use an electric mixer to beat the butter and vanilla on medium speed until smooth and pale.
9. Reduce the speed to low and add the icing sugar 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition until well combined.
10. Frost cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream, decorate if you wish!
11. DEVOUR!


Hope you all enjoy, and have a sun shining day
Kellie x

Monday, August 6, 2012

Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Hi Everyone!

After posting a picture of my Red Velvet Cupcakes, a few of my friends were curious as to what the recipe was, and the process. So, I decided to make the cake version of the recipe and post pictures step by step :)


Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting



Ingredients:

Red Velvet Cake

185g (6½ oz) unsalted butter, just softened
165g (5¾ oz/ ¾ cup) caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence
3 eggs, at room temperature
300g (10½  oz/ 2 cups) plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
125ml (4 fl oz/ ½  cup) milk
1 ½  tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tbsp red food colouring

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 packages of cream cheese
8 tbsp butter
2½ cups icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
Pinch of salt


Method:


Preheat oven to 170ยบC.


Grease and line a 20cm (8 in) round cake tin.



Add butter, sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl.



Use an electric mixer, beat ingredients until pale and creamy.


Scrape down the sides as necessary.


Add the eggs one at a time, beat well after each addition.


Sift together the flour and baking powder.


On low speed, mix in the flour mixture and half the milk alternately in two seperate batches each until well combined.





Sift cocoa powder in to mixture, and beat well until combined.


Add other half of milk and beat well.


Add red food colouring and beat well.


Pour mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the surface.
Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Now for my favourite part- licking the beaters!


Allow cake to cool, then transfer to a cooling rack (or in my case, plate)
Don't worry too much if the top of the cake is uneven, we'll address that later :)

While cake is cooling, prepare cream cheese frosting.


Place cream cheese and butter in a bowl.



Beat until combined.

 Add icing sugar, vanilla extract and salt.

Beat until combined


Cut cake horizontally in half.
(I also cut the ridiculously poofy bit off the top of the cake too)


Place top half of cake upside down on a serving plate
(I was in such a rush I forgot to bash the air holes out of the cake before putting it in the oven.... so.... you guys do that :) )


Coat bottom half of cake with a thick layer of frosting


Place bottom half upside down on top of frosting




Frost entire cake


Enjoy!