Cointreau and dark chocolate cupcakes to bring in the new year!

After a brief hiatus in my blogging career (largely due to the unrelenting study demands of my med degree followed by a whirlwind two-week trip to India), I am back in the blogosphere and more ready than ever to share my passion for cupcakes with you all! Whilst my blog posts of late have been few and far between, rest assured that my baking and cupcake decorating has continued in full force, and in between study, travels and much needed relaxation time, I have been devising many new recipes and decoration ideas. Now, feeling refreshed, rejuvenated and on the verge of a new and exciting year ahead, I am thrilled to share my latest cupcake project, crafted to evoke the celebratory mood and festive charm of New Year's Eve.

Sparkle cupcakes for a festive NYE!

My cointreau and dark chocolate celebration cupcakes embody the classically indulgent combination of rich, dark chocolate and fragrant, zesty orange. Being New Year, I decided to add a naughty alcoholic kick to the recipe with a (very) generous dash of cointreau liquor, once again pilfered from the family liquor cabinet! To further the decadent taste of these cakes, I used the best quality Lindt Orange Intense chocolate, and added creme fraiche to the basic recipe for an even moister, denser crumb. Here is the recipe I used for these cakes...
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line 12-hole muffin pan with silver foil liners
2. Melt 75g of orange flavoured dark chocolate and set aside to cool slightly
3. Cream together 85g of butter with 115g of caster sugar and add two eggs seperately to the mixture
4. Add 3 tablespoons of creme fraiche and mix in the melted chocolate
5. Sift 115g of self-raising flour into the mixture
6. Add 2 tablespoons of Cointreau liquor (or similar orange liquor) to the mixture and fold in
7. Bake for approximately 18 minutes or until risen, then remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack

For decoration, I sought to recreate the sparkle and glamour of NYE in all its glory, using edible glitter and gold and silver cachous to embelish each little cake. The cakes were frosted in a decadent dark chocolate and orange ganache, made using the same Lindt Orange Intense chocolate as was incorporated into the cake batter (simply pour warm cream over the chocolate to melt and create a luxurious, flowing ganache, adding a little butter for extra glossiness).

As a girl known well for my love of bling (no doubt a reflection of my Eastern European heritage, the same lineage which has given me a passion for all things leopard print!!) these cakes are the perfect reflection of the essence of NYE. A final decorative touch when serving the cakes will be provided by lit sparklers, ensuring that these cakes are as much an attraction as the fireworks themselves!

Happy NYE! Hope your new year is filled with sparkle, excitement and most importantly, cupcakes!!

Wishing everyone an amazing NYE and a wonderful year ahead and looking forward to sharing lots of cupcake projects with you all in the near future!!

xoxox
Anne

Turkish delights, to keep you out of harem's way...

It's been quite some time since I last had a chance to post, so it is with great excitement that I present to you my latest creative cupcake endeavour, guarenteed to entice and please with its intensely evocative flavour combinations and exciting contrasts of texture in every mouthful. My Turkish delight cupcakes are inspired by the beautiful fragrances and flavours of Middle Eastern deserts, from the alluring and intoxicating scent of rosewater and the gorgeous green crunch of pistachio nuts, to the sticky sweetness of Turkish delight,enrobed in its delicate dusting of powdered sugar. For me, the essence of these cupcakes is the fusion of the fragrant floral notes of the rosewater with the intense sweetness of the Turkish Delight, counterbalanced by the warmth and subtle smoky flavour of the toasted pistachio nuts.

My Turkish delight cupcakes, the epitome of decadent indulgence! Might I suggest they be consumed after a luxurious Turkish bath and massage for complete relaxation?!

The basis of these cupcakes is a white chocolate, pistachio and rosewater infused sponge. The rich sweetness of the white chocolate is perfectly offset by the aromatic rosewater and the earthy flavour and crunch of toasted pistachio nuts. By means of decoration, each individual cupcake is drizzled in a layer of white chocolate and topped with a mountain of sticky rose-scented Turkish delight and more toasted pistachio nuts, before receiving a final drizzle of white chocolate. Whilst these cupcakes may sound almost excessively indulgent, they make a perfect afternoon tea treat and are equally suited to being served as a decadent dessert finale at the conclusion of a Middle Eastern themed meal with a cardamon-laced black coffee or a steaming cup of fresh mint tea.


My ability to decorate cupcakes is clearly superior to my technological skills, as I was completely incapable of working out how to rotate this photo.....despite it's curious orientation, it does evoke the decorative charm of these little cakes!

I first made these cupcakes as a dessert dish to serve at the end of a Middle Eastern themed dinner party, along with other fragrant Middle Eastern inspired dessert dishes such as cinnamon honey and poppy seed biscuits and a lemon syrup infused poppy seed and semolina torte...



The honey, cinamon and poppy seed biscuits



Semolina and poppy seed cake drizzled in a lime infused syrup and topped with zesty shards of lime...

Stay tuned for more blog posts, hopefullyin less sporadic intervals than my recent track-record would suggest!
xx
Anne

Spring fling treats to tempt...

In honour of the first beautiful days of Sydney springtime, I was inspired to create a batch of cupcakes that combine the fresh and delicate flavours of the Spring harvest with whimsical floral decorations perfect to herald the arrival of the new season. This week, I was particularly inspired by the beauty of Spring blooms, which offer a glorious palette of vibrant colours and enticingly sweet fragrances. Recently, I was lucky to have the chance to see the incredible floral displays at David Jones as part of the Floriography festival, and I dutifully battled the crowds of fellow floral enthusiasts (largely of the octagenerian set...) to capture some photos of the stunning blooms.

One of my favourite vibrantly coloured floral displays from this year's Floriography...

I looked for a fellow floral-enthusiast to capture my photo with the gorgeous floral display but given the average age of Floriography spectators was around 80, I didnt have much luck finding someone with the skills to operate my Iphone camera, so settled on some 'autoportraiture'!!

 When my mind turns to the tastes and scents of springtime, I am immediately drawn to the zingy sweetness of succulent red berries combined with the aromatic sweetness of vanilla. It was this fusion of flavours that inspired me to create my Teddy Bears' Picnic cupcakes, miniature vanilla-infused sponge cakes studded with juicy mixed berries and flecked with toasted almonds.

Teddy Bears' Picnic cupcakes, a celebration of spring-time flavours and colours!

For the decoration, I created a simple but luscious strawberry frosting to complement the vanilla cake and the sweet, slightly tart berries within. I then drew on my considerable passion for all things floral, embellishing each frosted cupcake with miniature sugar flowers, honey-flavoured tiny teddies, and pastel-hued hundreds and thousands!

My first attempt to distill the flavours and colours of the season into cupcake form...

My absolute favourite flowers from the Floriography display

The official season of pastel-coloured floral cardigans is definitely something I can embrace!

As spring has most definitely 'sprung', I am excited by the prospect of all the wonderful things this season has to offer, from delicious sweet flavour combinations, the scent of spring flowers, more days spent in the sunshine, and more chances to sport light springtime cardigans!
xx
Anne

All cupcakes great and small

When I was informed that August is the month of 'Cupcake Day for the RSPCA', I was absolutely thrilled at the prospect of getting involved in an initiative that combines my passion for cupcakes with the chance to get my ever-enthusiastic friends together and support such a good cause. Essentially, the Cupcake Day encourages animal-lovers to host a morning or afternoon tea and collect funds for the RSPCA's various programs. This year, I was inspired to host a cupcake day for my girlfriends, the perfect occasion to create some animal-themed cupcake...

My chocolate-vanilla swirl cupcakes with chocolate and peanut-butter frosting and assorted animal themed decorations!

I felt that it was fitting for this particular cupcake day to create some vegan cupcakes, the obvious animal-friendly choice (also cakes without dairy are suitable for lactose intolerant people like me!) I decided to create a fairly simple cupcake base, drawing on elements from several different vegan cupcake recipes that I have tried and tested over the years. For both visual appeal and taste, I settled on baking a batch of marbled chocolate and vanilla cakes, with beautiful intertwined swirls of cocoa and vanilla scented sponge. Making marble cakes always produces a striking result and is relatively easy to master - just add spoonfulls of different flavoured batters into the cupcake papers and use a knife or a skewer to create a free-form marbled design.

The marbled cakes just prior to icing - the marbled effect is best appreciated when the cupcakes are actually cut in half (or more accurately, when someone takes a bite out of one!), but this still gives a general sense of the technique

For decorations, I went with two different frosting options, a light, fluffy peanut butter frosting, and a richer chocolate one. I then exercised a great degree of creative licence to add all manner of critter-related decorations, from little chocolate cookies depicting Australian native fauna to candy farm animals and the slightly more tenuous 'tiny teddies', not exactly a species of note in Australia but still delicious and worth including on my animal cupcakes!

The finished product, my celebration of all creatures great, small, and largely fictional (tiny teddies), perfectly framed against an animal-print themed serviette!

 

 

I hope to post again an update of the event and also with the vegan chocolate swirl recipe for those interested! I am looking forward to seeing the creative cupcake skills of my good friend Kate tomorrow and also having a chance to embrace the animal loving theme in all it's glory!

xx
Anne

Planning to add some animal-themed flair to the proceedings in a leopard print dress...matching outfits to serviettes is becoming a habit!

Choca-mocha cupcakes, to awaken the senses...

Does the combination of smooth dark chocolate blended with the aromatic fragrance of freshly roasted coffee entice you? My latest cupcake creations sought to capture the harmonious fusion of chocolate and coffee, transforming the tempting flavours of a warm mug of mocha-latte into an edible bite-sized treat. This week, I drew my inspiration from the incredible coffee artistry of my friend Ben, whose beautiful caffeine-based creations would make the ideal accompaniment to a decadent chocolate cupcake (in my case, make it a soy decaf latte..).

My choca-mocha cupcakes, served cafe-style...

Ben's artistic coffee decoration, the creative inspiration for my mocha cupcakes (all credits for Iphone photography skill and coffee decoration go to Ben!)

In designing these cupcakes, I also thought that the anti-oxidant rich and caffeine-ladden combination of chocolate and coffee would provide a good little 'pick-me-up' for the notoriously caffeine addicted and sleep deprived second-year medical students who were to be on the receiving end of these cupcakes...and of course the addition of a dash of alcohol never seems to do any harm either...

The fruitful product of my trip to the liquor cabinet - dark, fragrant Tia Maria, the liquor distillation of intense coffee flavour and a key ingredient of my mocha cupcakes!

Not quite as charming or as perfect a match as my cherry-on-top themed cardigan but I couldnt resist featuring this 'tia maria' bottle inspired outfit

I set out to create a very rich, dense and decadent mocha-flavoured cupcake by infusing a double chocolate sponge with a good dash of tia maria (for a non-drinker, my little excursions to the purely decorative family drinks cabinet have become increasingly frequent!), as well as an additional hit of coffee. In an uncharacteristic display of restraint, I resisted the temptation to add any further flavours to the cupcakes, seeking to foreground the already complex flavour notes offered by the meltingly dark duo of coffee and chocolate. Indeed, the rich aroma of these cupcakes as they baked was quite intoxicating.

My cake baking and decorating skills are clearly a bit more advanced than my food-photography skills! Nevertheless, here are the finished products of my coffee-chocolate cupcake endeavours

By means of decoration, I chose a velvety and luxurious white chocolate ganache created by pouring warm cream over shards of white chocolate. The milky sweetness of the white chocolate seemed an ideal choice here, providing  'un petit clin d'oeil' to the frothy milk topping of a traditional mocha or cappucino. This allusion was echoed by a light dusting of cocoa powder, and, as a final decorative touch, a scattering of  coffee beans, ensuring my classmates would make it through to at least the end of the first hour! I also used some stencils that I have for decorated the top of coffees in order to add some flair to some of the cakes

My cocoa stencilling can be seen in the background

These mocha cupcakes also provided me with the perfect occasion to use my adorable 'cupcake-in-a-cup' moulds, re-useable silicon cases which came in a set of four complete with little saucers. Like many of my most treasured items of cupcake paraphenalia, these were sourced from the amazing home-wares emporium 'Plenty' in Bondi Junction (also the main supplier of all the pretty serviettes that I often feature in photos).An alternative way of presenting these cupcakes would be to remove them from their paper cases and place each little cake in a small espresso cup before frosting with ganache or cream and serving with a spoon to plunge into the cocoa centres...

An example of presenting mocha cupcakes 'disguised' as mini cappucinos, perfect for die-hard caffeine addicts or anyone seeking to embody the joys of cafe culture in cupcake form

For those inspired to create their own mouth-watering mocha cupcakes, here is the recipe I used:
100g quality dark chocolate
165g soft butter
1/4 cup of coffee liquor (any that you fancy)
2 tablespoons of instant coffee granules
1 1/4 cups of caster sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
2/3 cup of water
1 cup plain flour plus 2 tablespoons self-raising flour
1 egg

Preheat oven to 150 degrees fanforced, prepare cupcake tin with paper cases. Melt chocolate, butter, liquor, sugar and coffee over a lowe heat and allow to cool before adding to the dry ingredients. Mix well and spoon into the cases - the mixture will be disconcertingly runny, do not panic! Bake in the oven for an even more disconcerting and lengthy 50 minutes (I have never seen a cupcake recipe with such a long bake-time, but the fluid consistency of the batter calls for this). Leave to cool before decorating, and enjoy!

Bon appetit!

I hope that this post has inspired you as much as Ben's coffee-decoration skills inspired me, and I am looking forward to sharing these little pick-me-ups with my beloved PBL group!
xx
Anne

Step into my opium den...

One of the most comforting and appealing flavour combinations of the baking world that translates perfectly into cupcake form is the classic fusion of orange and poppy-seed. The pairing of a moist, buttery sponge, flecked with shreds of orange zest and speckled with poppy seeds, with swirls of luscious citrus-spiked cream-cheese frosting, creates a cake that is indulgent without being too rich. The sharp freshness of the citrus zest provides a necessary element of 'zing' to the light sponge, offering an ideal counterpoint to the creaminess of the frosting. As for the poppy-seeds, aside from infusing the cakes with a subtle but no-doubt pleasing hit of opiates (!), I adore the hint of crunch that they lend to these cupcakes.

My first batch of orange and poppy-seed cupcakes, frosted with light cream-cheese frosting and decorated with citrus-flavoured jellies and poppy seeds....this photo doesn't quite capture the wonderful poppy-decorated serviette that I presented them on!

In my first foray into the world of orange and poppy-seed, I wanted to use decorations that would enhance the playful qualities of these miniature cakes. To this end, I topped each cream-cheese frosted cake with a candy citrus segment and sprinkled the edges with a poppy-seed border. I have to admit that it seemed a pity to mask the beautiful golden sponge under so much frosting, and on reflection I think I would have preferred a more restrained dollop of frosting, allowing some of the sponge to still be seen.

You can just glimpse the un-frosted cake, in its golden glory, in the background of this photo!

Luckily for me, a second occasion to make orange and poppy-seed cupcakes presented itself to me, allowing me to experiment with a different and perhaps slightly more sophisticated way of decorating the cakes:

Orange and poppy-seed cupcakes, the 'redux'...

In this second attempt, I decided to use  a simple citrus flavoured icing with a fairly fluid consistency instead of the traditional rich cream cheese frosting. This more fluid icing gave the cakes a lovely transluscent glazed effect and ran down the sides of the cakes to produce a classic home-baked look. I decorated each little cake with some beautiful crystalline shards of candied citrus peel, adding another element of textural contrast and also some additional citrus hints of lemon and lime to the orange fragrances of the cake. Other decoration ideas that I think would work well include a simple dollop of cream cheese frosting and a fresh orange or mandarin segment, or, for a more indulgent touch, a sliver of chocolate-dipped candied orange peel, a square of Lindt Orange Intense dark chocolate, or even a segment of Terry's chocolate orange.

Orange and poppy-seed cupcakes - the perfect rainy-day baking project, and even better when enjoyed with a cup of fragrant bergamont-infused earl-grey tea, a good book to read and a warm blanket to snuggle under!

For those keen to recreate these cakes in their own kitchen, here is my recipe for orange and poppy-seed cupcakes:
115g soft unsalted butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 cup self-raising flour
Grated zest of one orange (unwaxed)
3 tablespoons of poppy-seeds
1 tablespoon of milk
Preheat oven to 180 degrees fan forced and prepare a tray with 12 cupcake papers. Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs and sift in the flour. Add the zest, milk and poppyseeds and stir to combine (do not overbeat). Spoon mixture into prepared cases and bake in the oven for approximately 18 minutes or until golden and springy to the touch. Allow to cool completely before frosting as desired, either with cream-cheese frosting (made my combining cream cheese, icing sugar and orange zest), or with a simple icing sugar and fresh orange juice glaze.

I hope you enjoy making these cakes, I am hoping to have more opporunities to experiment with different decoration ideas in the near future!
xx
Anne

Un anniversaire merveilleux!

Having celebrated my 23rd birthday earlier this week, I thought I would post a brief update on some of the cupcake-related festivities that occured, and a couple of the exciting gifts that I received relating to my culinary passions. I had a fantastic day (spending most of one's birthday at the hospital may sound rather grim to most people, but for this med student, being surrounded by many of my closest friends was a definite plus), and I was really spoilt with some amazing baked goods made by my friends (very nice to be on receiving end of baking!), including delicious vegan chocolate brownies made by both Narada and Vanessa. In spite of Narada's own skeptical estimation of his dairy-free baking abilities, his brownie was amazingly light and full of cocoa flavour. Vanessa's incredible offerings (inspired by a classic Donna Hay recipe) were delectably moist and packed with juicy, sweet raspberries. Stay tuned for a future post on creative approaches to vegan baking, a subject close to my own heart!
 
In my tute, I was further indulged with Caroline's incredible mini banana vegan cupcakes and lots of other edible goodies.

Caroline's scrumptious mini banana-flavoured cupcakes, complete with a birthday candle!

My black forest gateau cupcakes also made their debut appearance this week, and I was particularly delighted to find a birthday cardigan that matched the cherry theme!

My black-forest gateau inspired cupcakes deserved a suitably coordinated look!

I was thrilled to see my love of cupcakes and baking was very manifest in some of the presents that I got - a renewed subscription to Donna Hay Magazine will definitely keep my innundated with a steady stream of culinary inspiration over the next year (thank you Daniel!). I am also being sent to a chocolate making course which promises to add new dimensions of technical accomplishment to my cake decorating abilities and hopefully a new hand-made gift to my repertoire. 

One of my favourite signature chocolate-inspired cupcakes, my 'rocky road' cakes - hopefully my chocolate-making course will be the start of many more cocoa-based delights...

In other topical news, I was slightly alarmed by an article in today's Sydney Morning Herald titled 'Cheeky BYO surcharge is icing on cake for restaurants'. This article discussed the growing trend for restaurants to charge patrons 'cakeage', a surcharge for diners who bring their own cake to eat at the end of the meal. As someone who virtually never goes to dinner without a tupperware filled with dessert, I have mastered the art of surreptitiously using side plates, napkins and even chop sticks to serve out my own cakes, and I hope that 'cakeage' is a passing fad which vanishes as rapidly as it has arisen! (On a side note, I did appreciate the several cake-themed puns and metaphors used in the article, particularly the more alarmist allusion to 'double-chocolate thuggery' and the repeated references to the new surcharge 'taking the cake'!!)

Vanessa and I with some incriminating evidence of my 'cake-smuggling' habits...I am glad to report that we were not charged 'cakeage' for this particular meal!

Amidst my rather absorbing studies of renal pathophysiology, I am currently planning some exciting new cupcake ideas for my next post (my desk is virtually covered with well thumbed copies of my two current favourite reads - Donna Hay Magazine and Australian Family Physician, my life in a nutshell!!).

xx
Anne

A soujourn in the black forest...

As the weather in Sydney has taken a slight turn for the worse, perhaps rendering my previous post lauding the beauties of Springtime somewhat premature, I have decided to offer you the recipe for a more appropriately wintery cupcake, one inspired by the decadent German 'black forest gateau'. Traditionally, the black forest gateau, or Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, is an impressive multi-layered creation combining a dense and dark chocolate sponge, rich lashings of kirsch-infused whipped cream, and of course, the glistening ruby sour cherries from which it gets its name. In my extensive browsing of cupcake recipes, I have come across countless variations on this enticing theme, but, true to form, I have set about creating my own uniquely decadent interpretation of this classic.

My inspiration from Susan Blake's cupcake book

In devising my own black forest gateau inspired cupcake, I was reminded of one of the first evenings that I spent in Paris, when I enjoyed a particularly memorable 'chocolat chaud a l'ancienne' in a little cafe near Notre Dame. For the uninitiated, the 'chocolat chaud a l'ancienne' is an incredibly rich hot chocolate drink made entirely from pieces of dark chocolate melted into warm cream, creating a velvety smooth texture and intenstely deep cocoa flavour that no powdered chocolate drink could ever measure up to (Note: it was likely my repeated indulgence in these chocolate drinks that contributed to my current state of lactose intolerance...). What set this particular 'chocolat chaud' apart from the many others which I tried in Paris was the addition of a shot of kirsch liquor, infusing the entire drink with a heady and warming blend of chocolate and cherry...it is this flavour which I sought to encapsulate in my own black forest inspired cupcakes..

The finished product - my black-forest gateau inspired cupcakes in all their cherry-chocolate glory!

First, I settled on a cupcake base - chocolate of course. In order to recreate the depth of cocoa intensity to do this cake justice, I decided to make a triple chocolate cake batter, containing not only melted dark chocolate (lindt 70% cocoa solids, my cooking chocolate of choice), but also cocoa powder and dark chocolate chunks. To this base, I added luscious and juicy glace cherries and a spiking of kirsch for the necessary alcoholic kick (a general tip for non-drinkers such as myself is to buy the tiny bottles of liquor such as those found in hotel mini-bars, as they provide the perfect quantities for baking).

The decorating equipment - chocolate ganache, glace cherries, assorted chocolate shavings and my trusty off-set palette knife for creating free-form swirls of toppings

By means of decoration, I went for a rich and glossy dark chocolate ganache, combining the cream and the chocolate elements essential to this cake. Then, for further embelishment and added depth of flavour, I dusted the top of each little cake with a flurry of cocoa (dutch processed is better as it lacks the bitterness of regular cocoa), and sprinkled with some beautiful chocolate shavings. Of course, no black forest cake would be complete without the 'cherry on top', provided in this case by a gorgeous glace cherry and some shards of cherry ripe bar!!

Here is the recipe for the triple chocolate cake I made as the base for these cupcakes (makes 12):
115g margarine (or butter...a polemic for another time!)
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 cup self-raising flour
2 eggs
100g dark chocolate plus 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chunks (I recommend using a good quality dark chocolate for best results)
1 tablespoon kirsch liquor (I added a generous dash and then some...it never hurts to put my class in a festive mood!)
100g glace cherries, sliced in half (A departure from the sour cherries of traditional black forest gateau but I prefer the sweetness of the glace cherries juxtaposed against the slightly bitter cocoa hints of the cake)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees fan-forced and line cupcake tray with paper cases. Melt chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, set aside to cool slightly. Cream margarine and sugar until fluffy and pale, then add eggs, one at a time, followed by sifted flour (disclaimer: the only kitchen task I find truly arduous is sifting flour, so I usually skip this step, much to the disdain of baking purists). Stir in the chocolate chunks, melted cooled chocolate, liquor, and glace cherries. If you wanted to add something else to the batter like some toasted hazelnuts or white chocolate chunks, now would be an opportune moment. Spoon batter into cases and bake for approximately 18 mins or until cakes spring back to the touch. Allow to cool completely before decorating as desired!

Pretty satisfied with the finished product of my baking endeavours (and likely my last ever baking project as a 22 year old...bring on birthday mania!!)

I am looking forwad to sharing these cakes with my class, hopefully they will go down a treat and hopefully you will have as much pleasure from making them as I have had.
xx
Anne

Honey bee mine cupcakes

In honour of this unseasonably glorious weather, I felt inspired to write a post about baking with honey, a quintessential flavour of Spring. It is true that my love of honey is somewhat ironic in light of my severe allergy to bees (!!), but nevertheless I do adore the sweet, resiny perfume and beautiful amber tones of this kitchen staple. For me, honey will always be associated with images of domesticity and comfort, from the nursery classic of toast soliders spread with honey (still my convalescence food of choice), to the tempting aroma of spiced ginger and honey loaf cake, perfuming the entire house with a sense of welcome. Perhaps my love of honey and the images of comfort it evokes is deeply rooted in my childhood fondness for 'Winnie the Pooh and the Honey tree'...

My beloved little honey-pot, suitably decorated with all kinds of insects clamouring to get at the sticky goodness inside!

 Honey is a wonderful and versatile addition to all kinds of baked goods, from simple honey cakes and classic honey jumble cookies to more elaborate honey-infused cupcakes. A favourite cupcake of mine for those not so fond of traditional frosted cupcakes is an apricot, pine-nut and honey cupcake, inspired by a recipe from my favourite Susan Blake cupcake book. These cupcakes make a delicious treat for morning tea, with a simple yet moist and scrumptious honey-flavoured crumb filled with nuggests of chewy dried apricot and crunchy toasted pine-nuts. Drenched in a honey and spice-infused syrup, and topped with more apricots and pine-nuts, these little cakes are a perfect accompaniment to a cup of earl-grey tea (my favourite).

Along with honey, delicate and fragrant sweet-peas are one of my absolute favourite parts of nascent Spring-time...

 But for those seeking a honey-based cupcake with a little more creative flair, I offer you my 'Honey Bee Mine' cupcakes - honey flavoured cakes, filled with milk chocolate morsels, frosted with a honey butter-cream frosting and decorated (in my classically 'restrained' style!) with home-made honey-comb chunks, shards of chocolate covered honeycomb, and chocolate bumble-bee decorations :

I admit these are perhaps a little on the extravagent side, but, as the French say, 'everything in moderation, including moderation!' These were cupcakes that I baked for my tute group, in honour of the topic of the week - diabetes (I am aware of the deep irony of baking incredibly sweet cakes when studying diabetes, but I was predominantly inspired by the fact that the bumble-bee is, in fact, the logo of the National 'What's the Buzz' Diabetes fundrasing day...but I digress..).

When I devised these cupcakes, I imagined that they would make a very (literally and metaphorically) sweet gift for someone special, perhaps for an anniversary or as a random expression of affection for the 'sweet honey' in one's life. Whilst I often combine honey with more aromatic flavours such as cinnamon, ginger and mixed spice, these little cakes offer something a little more playful in their blend of honey with milk chocolate. The bee decorations were, it is true, quite difficult to source (found eventually in an obscure shelf in David Jones Food hall), but I think these would also be quite effective with bees fashioned from marzipan or fondant icing - I am planning to do a post on using fondant for cake decorations so stay tuned!

So, as the beautiful weather (and the omnipresent pull of renal physiology) call me away, I look forward to the continuation of this early Spring, and to my next baking adventures!
xx
Anne

En guise d'introduction...

Welcome to my blog, a blog dedicated to my love of inventive baking endeavours, intricate cake decoration, and above all, to my passion for creating tempting treats for my friends and family. If T.S Eliot's Prufrock claimed to measure out his meagre life in coffee spoons, I believe my existence could well be quantified by the numerous measuring cups of flour, sugar and cocoa that I sift and stir each week in pursuit of baking perfection.

Mini Easter cupcakes - I am convinced there is a cupcake for almost every occasion!

In particular, this blog will celebrate my deep appreciation of the miniature mouthful of sweet seduction that is the cupcake. For me, the cupcake represents the epitome of cake itself, the last word in gulity pleasure, petite enough to justify repeated indulgence, yet dense enough to evoke an enticing palette of sensual pleasures, from contrasting textures in every savoured mouthful (the crunch of roasted nuts, the moist fudginess of warm cake crumb, the sticky sweetness of fluffy frosting), to the infinite array of flavours (the comfortingly familliar aroma of vanilla, the rich depth of cocoa, and the more exotic and elusive hints of citrus and aromatic spices).

Indeed, what the cupcake might lack in the grandeur of its scale, it decidedly makes up for in the creative scope that it offers a home baking and decorating enthusiast such as myself, providing the perfect edible canvas for exquisite embellishment and creative flavour combinatations. But above all, my affection for the cupcake lies in its diversity of social and even medicinal functions, from cheering the depressed and consoling the recently broken-hearted to comforting the sick and congratulating the well. As my closest friends and family will attest, I am virtually never seen without my signature tupperware containers full of cupcakes, ready to dispense my latest creations.

My friends are a most appreciative cupcake tasting focus group!

One of my infamous tupperware containers being put to good use...

This blog will document some of my baking adventures in the pursuit of new and enticing flavours and decoration ideas, with a sprinkling of my own cupcake-related anecdotes and the occasional flavoursome interlude from my other creative pursuits as well as from my day-time incarnation as a medical student...

I will end this post by stating that the idea of writing a blog has always struck me as an intensely self-indulgent pursuit...(*self-reflexive silence*)...however, I hope that the self-indulgent nature of this blog will be somewhat mitigated if the recipes and ideas I provide inspire anyone else to indulge themselves in less verbose and more delicious pleasures!

xx Anne