Iron Cupcake London June Challenge - Celebration

It’s the 1 year anniversary of Iron Cupcake London (ICL) so the theme was ‘celebration’.  Happy Birthday ICL! I was surprised that it was probably the quietest event I’ve attended so far especially since it’s a celebration for ICL.

There were definitely more eaters than bakers this time which didn’t help when it was time for the mad scrimmage for cakes. Unfortunately there was a problem with the flooring this time (it was raised) which meant a row of chairs placed to prevent people tripping over them thus creating an obstacle course of sorts. It was near enough impossible to get to the cakes as only a few people could actually fit by the bar where the cakes are. I didn't even get anywhere near the bar when I went to refill the tray as people just grabbed the cakes off my tray en route.

Luckily I had lots of friends with me this time and we managed to get a good selection of cakes. I got there really early as I needed to finish decorating my cakes (with flake bars and cherries) I therefore managed to take photos of just about every entry which is probably a first for me. So be prepared to be dazzled with lots and lots of photos of cake here. I’d suggest making a cup of tea :)  

Special mention to my fellow baker friend, Karen who made an amazing ‘choc velvet’ cupcake. This is her secret recipe chocolate cake (I’ve already asked for the recipe but it’s a secret) topped with a wonderful cream cheese frosting. Love her icing technique.

You can read the label quite clearly for most of the cakes so I won't repeat myself. Will make a few notes here and there. Enjoy :)

Do check out the caked crusader website in a few days time for a full write up and more pictures.

L to R :Best decorated cupcake, Winner of amateur category, runner up of amateur category.

My ice-cream cupcakes.

These were delicious. I love the little umbrellas. They were made by Anne of I heart cupcakes

Only managed to taste a crumb of this but it was good. These were made by Andrea of Made With Pink

Definitely got my vote for best decorated cupcake. Absolutely stunning! Made by the same baker, Andrea of Made With Pink

One of my favourites (there are many!)

They're so cute!

Love the look of these. Tasted good too. Everyone keeps asking about these. They were made by Kelly of An American Cupcake in London

These were yummy, love the caramel cream cheese frosting. How cute are the champagne candles?

Runner up in the professional category. Another favourite of mine. I have a weakness for peanut butter.

Karen's entry - choc velvet. Definitely a winner in my book.

Praline cupcake, yet another fav

I really liked this as well - it had celebrations chocolate baked in it.

Loved the profiteroles

Didnt get to try this one but looks quite impressive

Winner of professional category. I personally don't like apricots or rice pudding but I really liked this cake. It was really delicious!

Cant remember what berry was in the cake with elderflower but it was yummy

Chocolate orange cake

Still amazed by the decoration

Brownie cupcake with popping candy in the chocolate balloon. I had a taste of the cake which tasted like brownie - yum! Sadly I didnt get to try the chocolate as it was gone by the time I got back to the table :(  These were made by Gem of Cupcake Crazy Gem

Thanks again to everyone who voted for me :)

Ice Cream Cupcakes

Where does the time go? Can’t believe it was time for Iron Cupcake Challenge again. The theme this month was 'Celebration' as ICL celebrates it's 1 year anniversary. I was thinking and debating what to make for a while. Unfortunately I was too busy to try out different recipes but I bounced a few ideas off friends. Chocolate immediately came to mind, specifically celebrations chocolate. I thought about popping candy but wasn’t sure how to make it work and as I didn't have time to experiment, I quickly binned the idea. I also thought about cocktail cupcakes but I'm not much of a drinker so left this to one side. Clearly other bakers had the same ideas as we had a good selection of these on the night (more on that later)

I then got inspiration from Fiona Cairns book Bake & Decorate (my new fav book) to make ice cream cupcakes. I love ice cream and it definitely says celebration to me :) I also thought it would be really fun and cute. I followed her recipe by making an orange drizzle cake (rather than a plain vanilla sponge) and made different coloured vanilla buttercream frosting. The result was simple yet effective. I made a quick test batch and brought it to work and it was definitely a winner! The cake was moist and citrusy and the cone added a little extra crunch. The frosting was a little sweet but I needed it to be thick so I could pipe it on the cakes.

On the Sunday night when I was baking for the actual challenge, I had quite a few mishaps along the way but fortunately it all worked out in the end. I baked the cakes in the cones and some of them overflowed but it was salvageable. The cake to frosting ratio is good as there's cake all the way to the bottom of the cone. The cone didn’t burn or become too soggy which was also good. However, I created a right mess in the kitchen whilst frosting and decorating. It took ages to pipe the frosting as I only have 1 piping bag so had to wash and dry between colours. By the time I got all the cakes frosted, the icing had dried which made it difficult for the sprinkles to stick. Fortunately I managed to get some on most of the cakes (with a lot of wastage) and I topped with flake bars and cherries just before plating. Next time, I'll decorate as I frost the cakes. (I'm still cleaning the kitchen!)

Next challenge was how to transport the cakes. They were too tall for my cupcake carrier so I tried putting them in cake tins but a few fell over. I ended up using a cake carrier box I have and piped icing on the bottom of each cone to act as a 'glue' I also had to pack one of the boxes with lots of tissue and bubble wrap so the cones wouln't fall on top of one another. It was definitely a challenge and a half travelling through London in rush hour with these cakes. So pleased that most of them made it there in 1 piece.

I was really pleased to win runner up prize in the amateur category :) Quite unexpected! Thank you to everyone who voted and especially to my friends who came to support me. More on the challenge itself in the next post so do check back later.

Back to the cakes....

Cream butter, sugar and zest until pale and fluffy

yummy cake batter

cones waiting to be filled

This was the fun albeit messy part :)

testing out the cherry

This was a result of me being too lazy to wash the piping bag when changing from white to pink frosting. It made a 'raspberry ripple' effect which i really like. Should have done a few more of these! I'll know for next time :)

They look much better with flake and cherries on top :)

Orange Drizzle Cake

250g unsalted butter, softened

250g golden caster sugar

grated zest of 2 large oranges

75ml orange juice

4 eggs, lightly beaten

250g self-raising flour, sifted

(I made a double recipe which yielded 35 cones and 3 cupcakes)

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (adapted from Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery)

110g butter, softened

400g icing sugar

~4 tablespoons milk

Food colouring (optional)

(I made 2.5 recipes which frosted all my cakes plus some extra)

35 flat based ice cream cones

Sprinkles, flake, cherries - anything that takes your fancy :)

To make the cake batter: 

• 
  
  Preheat oven to 170C
• 
  
  Cream the butter, sugar and zest until very pale, light and fluffy (see picture)
• 
  
  Add the eggs gradually, beating between each addition, along with 1 tbsp of the flour to prevent curdling. 
• 
  
  Fold in the remaining flour and lastly, slowly mix in the orange juice.

To make ice-cream cupcakes:

• 
  
  Place ice cream cones on a baking sheet.
• 
  
  Divide the cake batter evenly between them and bake for 15-17 minutes, or until they spring back to the touch.
• 
  
  Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

• 
  
  Make the buttercream frosting by combining all the ingredients together, preferably in a mixer.
• 
  
  If using different colours, divide frosting and colour each portion accordingly.
• 
  
  Pipe buttercream on top of each cake using a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle.
• 
  
  Decorate as desired.

Baked Alaska

Baked Alaska also known as glace au four, omelette à la norvégienne, Norwegian omelette and omelette surprise is a dessert made of ice cream placed in a pie dish lined with slices of sponge cake or Christmas pudding and topped with meringue. The entire dessert is then placed in an extremely hot oven for just long enough to firm the meringue.The meringue is an effective insulator, and the short cooking time prevents the heat from getting through to the ice cream. February 1 is Baked Alaska Day so I'm a few months late but better late than never, right?
I have never made one of these before but I saw it on TV and decided to try it out for a dinner party as it looked like a wow dessert. It certainly did not fail to impress!
I made 2 miniature and 1 large one and was really pleased with the final result. Another bonus was that I made this in my mum's kitchen. It's slightly disconcerting baking in someone else's kitchen as you're not familiar with equipment etc but definitely a bonus for me because she has a stand mixer which I desperately want. I think there may be a post about this later. Watch this space :)
Back to the dessert. First step is to make the sponge cake. I used a basic sponge cake recipe. You can use a store bought cake to save time or flavour the cake differently to suit your taste. I saw a version using a chocolate brownie base which looked good too.

Next step is the ice-cream. You need to freeze the ice cream in the shape of your cake base. Line the bottom of your bowl with clingfilm for easier removal. I made 1 large round one and 2 smaller shaped ones. 

 

Make sure your shaped ice cream is well frozen - at least 2 hours. Place the shaped ice cream on top of your cake base.

Vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice-cream

Coffee cream

I got to use one of my favourite kitchen gadgets - this nifty egg separator to make the meringue.

Working quickly, cover the ice-cream and cake with a generous layer of meringue. Make sure it completely encases the dessert as the meringue acts as an insulator.

Should have just made these round to save time as you can't really see the shape under all that meringue! Live and learn :)

Place in the freezer again for a minimum of 30 minutes so that it's nice and firm. Bake in a very, very hot oven for a few minutes until brown or you can use a blow torch if you have one.

I love the effect of the tri-coloured ice cream.

For the sponge

225g butter, softened

225g caster sugar

225g self-raising flour

3-4 eggs (depending on size of eggs)

Grated zest of 1 orange (optional)

1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed orange juice (optional)

For the meringue

8 egg whites

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

• 
  
  To make the sponge :
• 
  
  Combine all the ingredients (ideally with a mixer) until smooth.
• 
  
  Pour into a lined cake tin and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
• 
  
  Allow to cool in tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool completely.

• 
  
  To make the meringue :
• 
  
  Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until frothy.
• 
  
  Slowly add the sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form.

• 
  
  To assemble dessert:
• 
  
  Shape ice cream if desired (using moulds) and freeze until solid.
• For the traditional dome shape, line a bowl with clingfilm. Fill with softened ice cream until it's packed tightly with no air bubbles. Ideally the diameter of your bowl should be slightly less than the diameter of your cake base. Freeze until solid.
• 
  
  Place shaped ice cream on top of cake base.
• 
  
  Cover the ice-cream and cake fully with meringue ensuring the bases are fully covered. You need to work quickly to prevent the ice cream melting and making a mess.
• 
  
  Freeze again for a minimum of 30 minutes, ideally a few hours or overnight.
• 
  
  Preheat oven to 240C or as hot as your oven will go.
• 
  
  Place frozen dessert on a baking tray and bake for 3-5 minutes until browned.
• 
  
  Remove from oven and serve immediately.
• 
  
  Tip :use a sharp knife dipped in hot water to slice dessert.