Ginger Bonfire Cupcakes

As promised I have a Bonfire Night recipe for you. Today is Guy Fawkes Night celebrated annually on November 5th to commemorate the failure of the Gunpowder Plot. The traditional cake eaten today is parkin cake which is a sticky gingerbread cake. I've taken inspiration and come up with a fun cupcake that has flavours of traditional parkin.

These cupcakes are perfect for the occasion and relatively simple to bake. I baked these twice as I had to experiment with the spice levels and different frosting and I think they are now almost perfect. It has a sticky gingerbread cake base topped with  lemon buttercream and orange matchmaker sticks. The flavours work well together as the sweet and zesty lemon frosting sets of the fiery, spiced cupcake. My initial trial I made a golden syrup cinnamon cream cheese frosting which was absolutely delicious but unfortunately the icing was too soft to pipe tall peaks required for the bonfire effect. The lemon frosting worked equally well in terms of flavour pairing and visually it looks much better. 

I'm sending this to a few blog challenges this month.

Treat Petite hosted by Kat from The Baking Explorer and Stuart fromCakeyboi. The theme this month is Autumn.

Recipe of the Week hosted by Emily from A Mummy Too.

#FoodYearLinkUp hosted by Charlotte from Charlotte's Lively Kitchen. Lots of foodies events in November and this is for Guy Fawkes Night.

 adding golden syrup to the cake batter 

 ready to go in the oven 

 I made 2 bags of frosting - 1 yellow and 1 orange and then placed them both in another piping bag with a 1M star tip to create the two tone piping effect.

 Pipe the frosting a high as you can

 Add orange matchmaker sticks so that it looks like a bonfire and add a sprinkling of orange sugar if you have it. 

 This is my initial failed attempt with the cream cheese frosting - absolutely delicious but less visually appealing! 

Makes 15cupcakes 

For the cupcakes

150g butter

130g soft brown sugar

3 eggs

150g self raising flour

60mls golden syrup

2.5 teaspoons ground ginger

1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the frosting

110g butter

zest of 1 lemon

300g icing sugar, sifted

1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

food colouring - orange and yellow

For the decoration

Orange matchmaker sticks

Orange sanding sugar 

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
• Add in the golden syrup.
• Add in the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition.
• In a separate bowl, sift the flour and spices and add it to the butter mixture.
• Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases - I use an ice cream scoop to get an even amount of cake batter per cupcake case.
• Bake for approximately 16-18 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Allow to cool completely. 
• I made a double batch of frosting and it's plenty to frost all the cupcakes - I didn't want to risk running out as it would be difficult to get the same colour again. If you have leftover frosting, you can use it to make cookies! 
• To make the frosting, beat the butter and icing sugar for at least 5 minutes until smooth and fluffy. Add in the lemon zest and slowly add in the lemon juice until you get the required consistency. 
• Add the food colouring and mix well - I use colour paste.
• Repeat for the second batch.
• As shown in the pictures, place each colour of icing in a disposable piping bag and snip the end of the bag off. 
• Place both bags side by side into another piping bag fitted with a 1M star tip ensuring that the ends of the bags go into the piping nozzle.
• Pipe the buttercream on a plate initially to get a good mix of colour then decorate the cupcakes as shown.

Madeira Loaf Cake

The Great British Bake Off is back! Wednesday nights are now strictly reserved for watching the Bake Off. I've always wanted to bake along with the bake off but never really found the time. I will try my best this year but I will probably only manage cake and biscuits! Sadly, my oven has died so I'm not even sure if I can bake biscuits next week. I do have a top oven/grill but it's nowhere as good as my regular oven. Anyway this loaf is inspired by the first episode of the Bake Off. Can you believe this is only the second time in my life that I've baked a madeira cake? I used a Mary Berry recipe (of course) and the cake turned out beautifully. It has two cracks and a dome! Hurrah! However, I didn't have time to make a glaze or any fancy decorations but the cake held it's own. It had a light, lovely crumb and the hint of lemon really lifts the cake. 

 ready to go in the oven 

 two cracks and a dome!

175g butter
175g caster sugar
225g self raising flour
3 eggs
finely grated rind of 1 lemon

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Mix all the ingredients in a bowl until smooth.
• Pour into a large loaf tin and level the top.
• Bake in the pre heated oven for about an hour. The cake is done when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

Lemon Posset with Fresh Strawberries

Hurrah for Friday! It's been a long busy week and I'm really looking forward to the weekend. This is a really quick and easy dessert to make. I had some leftover double cream that was near exipiring so I did a quick search on google and came up with lemon posset. This is actually something I wanted to make for my New Year's Day Afternoon Tea but I never got round to it. I also had some fresh strawberries in the fridge so I did a mini layered dessert with fresh strawberries, lemon posset and more fresh strawberries. It was really zingy and fruity and felt quite refreshing despite the cream in there. 

I'm sending this to No Waste Food Challenge hosted by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary. I used up leftover cream that was near expiring and some fresh strawberries for this recipe.

 cooking the lemon posset 

Recipe from BBC Good Food 

600mls double cream
200g golden caster sugar
zest and juice of 3 lemons
fresh strawberries (optional)

• Place and cream and sugar in a large saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has melted.
• Simmer gently once the mixture is bubbling and turn off the heat.
• Add the lemon juice and lemon zest and stir.
• Allow to cool in the pan before dividing into serving dishes.
• Chill in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.
• I placed a layer of chopped strawberries followed by the lemon posset and more fresh strawberries. 

Banana and Berry Lemon Muffins

The sun is shining and the daffodils are blooming. Spring has definitely arrived. These muffins are perfect for spring as it's full of berries, banana and lemon. They are moist and fruity and you definitely get some of your five a day in this. I adapted a muffin recipe from BBC good Food and used up leftover fruit that I had. It was also a good chance to try out the lemon extract paste from Taylor & Colledge. They kindly sent me a range of their new flavour pastes to try. The range includes vanilla bean, lavender, lemon, coconut, almond and peppermint. They come in a handy tube and it's very easy to use with no mess. The lemon one smells really nice and lemony and the paste is a good consistency - not too thick and not too thin. These are a great way to add flavour to your bakes. 

I'm sending these muffins to AlphaBakes hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes and myself on alternate months. The letter ths month is B for banana and blueberries.

Treat Petite hosted by Kat from The Baking Eplorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is Hello Spring. 

Credit Crunch Munch guest hosted by Michelle from Utterly Scrummy. The challenge is run by Camilla from Fab Food 4 All and Helen from Fuss Free Flavours. This is quite a frugal recipe as it uses up store cupboard ingredients and leftover fruit. I didn't buy anything new for this recipe. If you don't have the lemon paste, a bit of fresh lemon juice and zest will suffice or you can omit it.

No Waste Food Challenge hosted by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary. I used up lots of leftover fruit and yellowing bananas for this recipe. 

  

 adding lemon paste 

 adding berries 

 sprinkle some chopped strawberries before baking

Makes 12 muffins

250g flour
115g brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
3 ripe bananas
125mls vegetable oil
60mls milk
60mls honey
2 eggs, lightly beaten
85g blueberries
220g strawberries - keep aside about 6 or 7 strawberries to put on top of the muffin before baking
1/2 teaspoon lemon paste

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and set aside.
• In a large bowl, roughly mash the bananas with a fork.
• Add the vegetable oil, milk, honey and eggs.
• Add in the flour mixture followed by the lemon paste.
• Stir gently until just combined - be careful not to overmix.
• Add in the strawberries and blueberries.
• Divide the mixture into 12 muffin cases
• Sprinkle the tops with the reserved, chopped strawberries and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

Disclaimer: I was sent a range of flavour pastes from Taylor & Colledge for review purposes. A positive review was not required and all opinions expressed are my own. This is not a sponsored post. 

Passionfruit and Cream Cheese Filled Chocolate Easter Eggs

Happy Friday everyone! Life has been so crazy and hectic lately I'm really pleased that it's a long bank holiday weekend. There's lots planned for the weekend but at least I get to have a lie in and hopefully a chance to bake a few Easter themed treats. I saw this recipe on pinterest and immediately bookmarked it.  Last year I baked chocolate easter eggs with a twist which I also baked back in 2012 so I wanted something a little different this year. This recipe was perfect as it's a really quick and easy no bake treat which looks very impressive. 

You need to get hollow easter eggs - larger eggs will be easier to work with as you can just spoon the filling in. I bought these mini eggs so I used a piping bag to fill the eggs. The cheesecake mixture is really quick and easy to make and tastes great on its own. My favourite part is the 'yolk' which is a passionfruit and apricot curd. I also made some chocolate spoons to go with the eggs using my chocolate spoon mould. 

I'm sending this to a few blog challenges this month. 

Treat Petite hosted by Kat from The Baking Eplorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is Hello Spring. 

Tea Time Treats hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage and Jane from The Hedgecombers. The theme this month is Chocolate! 

We Should Cocoa hosted by Choclette from Tin and Thyme. The theme this month is No Bake which is really fortuituous as I made these before finding out what the challenge was for this month. 

The Biscuit Barrel Challenge which is guest hosted by Alexandra from The Lass in the Apron on behalf of Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... The theme this month is candy so I'm hoping that these ready made easter eggs will count! 

Food Year Link Up hosted by Charlotte from My Recipe Book.

Recipe of the Week hosted by Emily from A Mummy Too

Cook Blog Share hosted by Lucy at Supergolden Bakes

Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes. I bookmarked this as soon as I saw it and patiently waited until Easter to try it out.

Let's Cook for Easter hosted by Nayna from Simply Food.

 chocolate spoon moul, cream cheese, double cream, apricot jam, butter, passionfruit and mini chocolate eggs 

 making the 'yolk'  (This is a double recipe which is why the amount looks more than stated) 

 cut the tops of the chocolate eggs. I left the foil wrapping on so that the eggs don't melt into the container and make a mess. Plus it's quite nice unwrapping the egg and eating it. I used a quails egg tray to hold the eggs. If you have larger eggs then a regular egg carton should suffice. 

 Fill with cheesecake filling 

 Pipe the 'egg yolk' on top 

 This is a half filled chocolate egg (well one that I broke but waste not want not) 

 Happy Easter! 

Recipe from raspberri cupcakes 

Makes enough to fill 18 mini eggs plus extra to eat

For the cream cheese filling 

150g cream cheese

30g icing sugar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

125mls double cream

For the 'egg yolk' 

1 passionfruit - sliced and sieved to get the juice only

1 tablespoon apricot jam

15g butter 

For the chocolate spoon (optional) 

chocolate from the tops of the chocolate eggs

approximately 75g milk chocolate 

• Prepare the chocolate eggs by peeling off the top bit of foil and cutting the tops off with a sharp knife.
• Place the eggs in a suitable tray and place in the fridge.
• (I melted the tops of the chocolate eggs plus some extra chocolate to make my chocolate spoons so there was no wastage) 
• Make the 'egg yolk' by placing the pasionfruit juice, apricot jam and butter in a small saucepan over a low heat. 
• Whisk continuously until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth. 
• Allow to cool completely then place in the fridge to set. 
• Now make the cream cheese filling by placing the cream cheese, icing sugar, lemon juice and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl and beating until it's smooth and fluffy. 
• Beat the cream in a separate bowl until stiff peaks form.
• Scoop the beaten cream into the cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth. 
• Place the cream cheese mixture in a piping bag and pipe into the chocolate shells.
• Place in the fridge to set for about 15-20 minutes.
• Place the chilled 'egg yolk' mixture in a piping bag and pipe on top of each filled egg.