It's been a while since I've done a baking post as I have been on a bit of a health kick, and baked goods like this are just too much of a temptation to have lying around the kitchen, and also because I just haven't really been feeling up to it.  If you follow my blog though you'll know how much I love to bake and over the last few weeks I have really been missing it, so I decided it's time to put my mixer to good use again and get my baking mojo back.  This past weekend it was a special little girl's birthday and as she is lactose intolerant I was set with the task of making her some dairy free cupcakes.  I'm always a bit wary when making "free from" or "healthy" cakes as all the ones I've attempted have never really been up to scratch but these ones actually turned out pretty good.  So I thought I'd share the recipe as I know how hard it can be to find a good dairy free cake recipe and even if you can have dairy these are lower in fat and taste just as good as the real thing.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

250g caster sugar

250g Vitalite dairy free (or an alternative diary free spread)

3 eggs

290g self raising flour

1tsp vanilla essence

145ml sweetened soy milk

For the buttercream:

250g Vitalite dairy free (or an alternative diary free spread)

500g-800g icing sugar

1-2tsp vanilla essence

Makes approx. 20 cupcakes

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°c and line tins with cupcake cases.

2. Beat together the caster sugar and dairy free spread until light and fluffy.

3. Add the eggs one at a time and beat together with the mixture after you have added each one.

4. Add the vanilla essence and beat again until well combined.

5. Sift the flour into the mixture and beat again until it is fully combined.

6. Add the soy milk and mix well.

7. Spoon the mixture into the cases until they are about 2/3 full and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until they are golden on top and bounce back when gently pressed. Then leave on a cooling rack to cool completely.

8. When the cakes are almost cool you can make your buttercream.  Start by beating the spread until pale (about 5-8mins).

9. Sift in 500g of the icing sugar a little at a time and beat after each addition until it is well combined.  This will make a nice buttercream but as we are using dairy free spread rather than butter for me it is a little too soft, especially for piping.  So add the rest of the icing sugar a little at a time until it reaches the consistency that you prefer, this can vary depending on the type of dairy free spread you are using.

10. Add the vanilla essence and mix well.  Again the amount you will use depends on the type of dairy free spread you're using.  To me the dairy free spread has a strong margarine like taste so I tend to use about 1 and a half teaspoons of vanilla essence but you can use a little more or a little less to suit your tastes.

11.  Pipe or spread onto cupcakes and decorate however you'd like.

Let me know if you give these cupcakes a try or if you have any other great dairy free recipes.

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One of my biggest weaknesses is cakes, especially with how much I love to bake, but as I am on a mission to get fit and healthy I'm especially trying to cut down on cakes and chocolate.  I have such a sweet tooth though and constantly find myself craving both.  So when I saw these cupcakes in my Hairy Dieters cookbook I thought I'd give them a try to satisfy my cravings in a healthier manner.

Ingredients

For the cakes:

200g Self Raising Flour

1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

75g Golden Caster Sugar

100g Blueberries

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

2 Large Eggs

150ml Fat Free Natural Yoghurt

2 tbsp Semi-Skimmed Milk

50ml Sunflower Oil

For the icing:

100g Icing Sugar

4-5 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice

Makes 12 cupcakes

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°c/Gas Mark 6 and line a muffin tin with 12 cases.  Beat the eggs, yoghurt, milk and oil in a large jug with a whisk until well combined.

2. Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl and stir in the sugar, blueberries and lemon zest.  Make a well in the centre.  Pour in the egg mixture and stir into the flour mixture with a large metal spoon.

3. Divide the mixture between the cases and bake in the oven for 16-18 minutes until the cupcakes are golden brown and well risen.  Leave to cool.

4.  Mix the icing sugar and lemon juice in a bowl until smooth and runny.  Drizzle the icing over the cooled cupcakes and leave to set for at least 30 minutes. 

Now I'm not going to sit here and pretend that these cupcakes are as good as the real thing, but all in all they are not bad and satisfy my sweet tooth, especially with the tangy lemon icing.  If your not a big fan of lemons though you can just replace the lemon juice with water for a simple sweet icing.  I also recommend eating these the day they are baked or the next day at the most, as they do harden fairly quickly compared to normal cupcakes.

I am always on the hunt for healthy treats to bake so if you know of any please share them with me in the comments.

I hope you're all having a lovely Easter and have indulged in plenty of chocolate.  To celebrate I made these delicious Easter cupcakes and thought I'd share it with you in case you have any Mini Eggs or Easter chocolate you need to use up and want to give them a try.

Ingredients 

For the cakes:

100g dark chocolate, chopped

100g unsalted butter

125g soft brown sugar (dark or light)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

50g self raising flour, sifted

2 packs of Rolos

Dulce de leche

Topping:

125g unsalted butter

240g icing sugar, sifted

2 tbsp milk

2 tbsp Dulce de leche

100g dark chocolate

Shredded Wheat

Mini Eggs

Makes 10-12 cupcakes

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°c/gas mark 4 and line a muffin tray with cupcake cases.  Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the chopped chocolate and gently melt together.  Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.

2. Beat together the sugar, eggs and vanilla extract, then add the melted chocolate and mix until fully combined.  Add the flour and mix again.

3. Chop the Rolos into quarters and stir into the cake mixture.  Fill the cases until they are about 2/3 full and bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes.

4. Leave the cupcakes to cool fully.  Then cut out the centre of the cupcakes to about 2/3 of the way down, I use a metal icing nozzle to do this and save the pieces of cake you have cut out.  Fill each cupcake with approximately 1tsp of Dulce de leche and then pop the piece of cake you cut out back on top.  This pushes the caramel down so you have a nice gooey filled centre with no gaps.

 5. To make the buttercream, cream the butter until light and fluffy.  Add half the icing sugar and beat until fully combined, before beating in the milk then the rest of the icing sugar.  Beat for a few minutes for a nice light buttercream and then mix in the Dulce de leche (you can add as much or as little caramel to the buttercream as you like but as the cupcakes are filled with caramel I like just a subtle hint of it in the buttercream).  Then pipe around the edge of each cupcake.

6. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water.  Then break up the Shredded Wheat and add gradually to the chocolate until it is fully covered by the melted chocolate and holds together.  Top the centre of each cupcake with the Shredded Wheat mixture and sit the Mini Eggs on top.

7. Leave to set and enjoy!

If you've been making or indulging in any Easter treats this weekend let me know, and I'd love to see if you give these a try, you can tag me on instagram or twitter.

Happy Easter!

When it was Father's Day a couple of weeks ago I was browsing Pinterest for a little inspiration of what to bake and stumbled across a pin of alcoholic cupcakes.  Which lead me to these boozy cupcakes and when I scrolled down and saw the Irish Car Bomb cupcakes I knew these would be just perfect for my dad with his Irish roots and love of Guinness and Whiskey.  Now if you've not heard of an Irish Car Bomb it is a drink where a shot of Whiskey and Baileys is dropped into a glass of Guiness.  Doesn't sound too yummy right?  But I can promise you these cupcakes are so yummy!  Coming from someone who doesn't like Baileys, I can honestly say the Bailey's buttercream is one of the most delicious buttercreams I have ever tasted.

I hunted high and low for an English recipe as it's quite difficult to convert cup measurements into grams but couldn't find one anywhere, but don't be put off as these cupcakes are well worth the effort. I wasn't too disappointed anyway as it gave me an excuse to buy these super cute measuring cups that I've had my eye on for a few months now.

Measuring cups, £8 - Wilkinsons

Ingredients 

(makes 15-20 depending on the size of your cases)

Cupcakes:

1 cup of Guinness or other Irish Stout

1 cup of unsalted butter

3/4 cup of cocoa powder

2 cups of plain flour

2 cups caster sugar

1 and a 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

2 eggs

2/3 cup of sour cream

Whiskey Ganache Filling:

225g dark chocolate

2/3 cup of whipping cream

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

2-3 teaspoons of Irish Whiskey (depending how strong you'd like it to taste)

Baileys Buttercream:

2 cups of unsalted butter

5 cups of icing sugar

6 tablespoons of Baileys or other Irish Cream

1. Preheat oven to 180ºc/Gas Mark 4.  Put the Guinness and butter in a saucepan on a medium heat until the butter is melted and the mixture is simmering.  Add the cocoa powder and stir until smooth.  Leave to cool slightly.

2. Whilst the Guinness mixture is cooling combine the flour, sugar and baking powder in a large bowl.  Using an electric mixer or whisk beat together the eggs and sour cream, then add the Guinness mixture and combine.  

3.  Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture.  Once fully combined divide the mixture between your cases, filling them just over half full and bake in the oven for 17-20 minutes.

4.  Whilst the cakes are cooling finely chop the chocolate into a heatproof bowl for the whiskey ganache.  Heat the whipping cream in a small saucepan until simmering, then pour over the chocolate and stir until all the chocolate has melted.  Stir in the butter and whiskey, then leave to cool until it thickens but is still soft enough to pipe.

5.  Once the cupcakes have cooled cut out the centres using a small round cutter or the bottom of a large decorating tip.

6. Fill a piping bag with the whiskey ganache and snip off the tip, then fill the cupcakes.

7. To make the buttercream use the whisk attachment on an electric mixer or an electric whisk and beat the butter on a high speed for 5 minutes, scraping down the sides occasionally.  Reduce to a medium speed and gradually add the icing sugar.  Add the Baileys and increase to a high speed for 2-3 minutes until it is light and fluffy.

8.  Fill a piping bag with the buttercream and pipe onto the cupcakes and decorate however you like.  I used some little chocolate crunch balls from Asda.

Delicious!!

I definitely recommend giving this recipe a whirl, even if like me you're not a fan of Baileys or Whiskey, but somehow it just works as these are some of the yummiest cupcakes I've baked.

It's no secret that I love to bake so I thought I'd use Easter as an opportunity to cook up some chocolate-y goodness and decided to bake some yummy Mini Egg and Creme Egg cupcakes.

Ingredients

For the sponge:

70g unsalted butter

210g caster sugar

105g soft light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

255g plain flour

50g cocoa powder

2tsp baking powder

240ml whole milk

Milk chocolate chips

Frozen Cadburys Mini Creme Eggs

For the frosting:

500g icing sugar

160g unsalted butter

50ml whole milk

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Yellow food colouring

Dark Chocolate

Cadburys Mini Eggs

1.First of all pre-heat your oven to 190ºc/Gas mark 5 and fill your muffin tins with cases, this recipe usually makes around 16 cupcakes.

2.Using an electric whisk or freestanding mixer cream together the butter and sugar, then add in the eggs one at a time on a medium speed, followed by the vanilla essence.

3. Sift together the dry ingredients and add a third to the mixture, mix on a low speed, then add a third of the milk and continue to mix on a low speed.  Repeat twice until the flour mixture and milk has all been used, then raise to a medium speed until the batter is smooth and well mixed.

4. Fill half the cases with the chocolate batter and put a frozen mini creme egg in each case.  Freezing the creme eggs overnight before hand helps them to keep their shape whilst the sponge bakes so it doesn't melt into the batter.  Mix half of the pack of milk chocolate chips into the remaining batter and fill the rest of the cases and bake in the oven for 18-20 mins.

Whilst the cupcakes cool on the side you can make the frosting.

1.  Mix together the butter and icing sugar with an electric whisk until fully combined and has a sandy consistency, then mix in the milk and vanilla essence.  Whisk on a high speed until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

2.  Separate the mixture into two bowls and add yellow food colouring to one half of the mixture little  by little until you reach your desired colour.  Fill a piping bag with a large star tip nozzle with the yellow icing and pipe onto the Creme Egg cupcakes.

3.  Break the dark chocolate into pieces in glass bowl and place over a pan of simmering water to melt.  Drizzle over the Creme Egg cupcakes and leave to set.  Whilst they are setting, add the rest of the melted chocolate to the other half of the frosting and mix well.  Then pipe the chocolate frosting around the edge of the chocolate chip cupcakes to create a nest and then pipe a small dot into the middle to sit the Mini Eggs in.  You have to work fairly quickly when doing this as the chocolate cools and sets the frosting faster making it harder to pipe.

Here is the end result...

Let me know if you decide to give these a try, I'd love to see how yours turn out, or if you have any yummy Easter recipes of your own to share.

Yesterday was my Nan's birthday so she has come to stay with us for the weekend.  As it was a lovely sunny day we went for lunch at a pub which is about a 2 minute walk from my house and is right by the riverside.  We sat outside by the river and I had the yummiest chicken burger with pesto and parmesan.  Unfortunately I forgot to take any pictures but I did get a quick picture of my outfit before I left.

Dress and Bracelet - New Look

Necklace - Matalan

Watch - Michael Kors

I also baked her some birthday cupcakes.  I've been very naughty and eaten two of them already.

I have no idea why the buttercream has come out cream in the pictures as it's actually a mint green colour.

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend and enjoying the sunshine.