Get Creative: March 2013

So for this first cake post, although these babies look fantastic, they are very simple to make.

I've chosen this recipe first as it is the basic sponge cake mix and buttercream recipe that I use as the base for the majority of my cakes.

As far as sponge goes I follow a really simple, easy to remember recipe that my Mum taught me when I was a little girl! It's basically a ratio of eggs, self-raising flour, caster sugar and butter that you can scale up or down depending on how much cake mix that you want to make.

For every egg you add to the mix add 2oz (55g) of self raising flour, caster sugar and butter

Easy, right?

So the ratios I tend to use are:

12 cupcakes: 2 eggs + 4oz each SR flour/caster sugar/butter
Single layer cake (i.e. too thin to slice and add a filling): 3 eggs + 6oz each SR flour/caster sugar/butter
Large cake (i.e. suitable for slicing and adding a filling): 4 eggs + each 8oz SR flour/caster sugar/butter

To this basic mix you can add whatever you fancy in terms of flavourings and spices to create a wide range of cakes, all from the same base.
For instance in the case of these cakes I've swapped caster sugar for dark brown sugar to give the mix a richer taste and added vanilla flavouring.

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Strawberry and Buttercream Topped Vanilla Cupcakes

Preheat your oven to 180C for fan assisted ovens, 200C for non-fan ovens

Ingredients

For the cakes :

2 large eggs
4oz self raising flour
4oz dark brown sugar
4oz unsalted butter (room temp)
Chef's strength vanilla paste (can usually get this at most large supermarkets in the baking aisle)

A cupcake oven tray and some cupcake cases

For the pink buttercream topping:

approx 6oz icing sugar
approx 3oz butter (room temp)

These measurements are only approx as I never measure out anything for buttercream!

Milk
Some lovely big strawberries!
Red food colouring

Icing piping bag and icing nozzles

1. Cream the sugar and butter together in a large bowl. I usually do this using a fork or a spatula. Add your eggs one at a time and mix them in. Don't worry if the mix looks a bit horrible, it's all part of the process!

2. Next sift in the self raising flour. If you have one, then use an electric whisk to mix the egg/sugar/butter mix with the flour, it'll make your cakes nice and light. If you don't have an electric whisk then use a spatula or wooden spoon to mix the ingredients together until the mix is smooth.

3. Put a large spoonful of cake mix into cupcake cases and bake at 180C for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown on top. Leave to cool.

WARNING! Don't try and add the buttercream while the cakes are warm, the buttercream WILL melt and you'll have a soupy mess on your hands! Only add the buttercream once the cakes are cold!

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Pink buttercream

Add a large chunk of butter (I guessed that I used about 3oz for 12 cakes) and sift in the icing sugar (again, I guessed that I used about 6oz).

The icing needs to be stiff enough to keep it's shape but not so dry that it crumbles. You can just add a little milk if it's too dry, or a little more icing sugar if it's not stiff enough to ice with.

This is why I never usually measure this part, as you can easily fix it if the mix is not quite right.

Add the pink food colouring a few drops at a time.

When it comes to using food colouring in icing, always err on the side of caution, after all you can always add more colour, but you can't really take it away! Add it a few drops at a time until you achieve the color you are after.

2. For this topping I used a 6 star icing nozzle, but use whichever you like/have available. If you don't have nozzles then fear not! If you cut a small corner off a sandwich bag you can use it to pipe onto your cakes.

Add the icing to the bag and starting from the centre of the cake, pipe in a tight spiral til you reach the edge of the cake.