Lemon and Raspberry cupcakes!

Apologises for my lack of posts this weekend but it's my last few weeks of term so I've been pretty busy, not too busy though to fit in a little baking for one of my classes. So I made Lemon and raspberry cupcakes! 

I thought you all might like these spring lovelies as much as I do.. 

This recipe will make you 10-12 cupcakes. 

Ingredients:

120g self raising flour, 

150 caster sugar, 

2 teaspoons lemon zest, 

2 tablespoons lemon juice, 

40g butter, 

120ml milk, 

1 egg, 

Icing ingredients: 

250g icing sugar, 

80g butter, 

2 tablespoons milk, 

200g raspberries, 

3 tablespoons lemon juice, 

3 teaspoons caster sugar, 

Splash of water, 

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees before you start. 

1. Add the sugar, flour, lemon zest and butter into a bowl and mix with an electric whisk until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. 2. Add the milk and lemon juice gradually and mix until fully combined. 3. Add the eggs slowly while whisking the ingredients. 4. Whisk for a few minutes until the mix is fluffy and soft.

5. Fill your cupcake cases 3/4 full and pop in the oven for 20-25 minutes, check at 15 minutes to make sure they're not burning. 

6. Grab your icing ingredients!

7. To make the buttercream taste deliciously of raspberry we're going to add a raspberry reduction. 

So add the lemon juice, water and sugar to a pan and dissolve the sugar slightly then add the raspberries. Hint! Mush down some of the raspberries to speed up the process. After you've got a syrup like consistency sieve the raspberries seeds out and you'll be left with a thin puree. 

8. Next put your icing sugar (sieved) and butter in a bowl and cream the two together. It's good to start this off with a spoon to reduce the crazy mess you get if you use a whisk straight away. 

9. Once your buttercream is smooth add the raspberry puree and whisk again until combined and fluffy. 

Next up.... Add your buttercream to the top of your cupcakes and finish with a raspberry. 

Enjoy! The dreary Friday weather we had yesterday was brightened up by these spring treats. 

I hope you enjoy them too!

Katy

Mother Day gift ideas:

So I thought you all might appreciate a few ideas for Mother's Day, I love to make my gifts because I think it's so much more personal. But I don't just restrict myself to the actual gifts, cards and wrapping can all be personalised too! I love to receive a gift that's so beautifully wrapped I can barely bring myself to open it, so I make sure that if I give a gift it's wrapped all pretty.

Here's some quick and easy ideas for presents and also for wrapping:

1. Cupcakes!

This must be one of the simplest ways to make your Mum something delicious and pretty. Try this recipe for Jammy Cupcakes and personalise with you Mum's favourite flavour of jam. 

2. A wall print.

Is there a quote your Mum loves or just want to tell her how much you love her? Try this wall print you can draw yourself for her. 

3. Hand embroidery.

My constellation embroidery can be personalised for you Mum too! Either choose her star sign or maybe her name and favourite colours, leave it in the embroidery hoop and she can easily hang it as a reminder of how much you love her. 

4. Hand painted plates.

Hand painted plates look wonderful and have that lovely handmade quality your Mum will love. Choose a pretty pattern, write her name or paint something she loves like a cupcake or a book. 

5. Personalised cards

Make your Mum a card, for these I dug out all my crafty bits and pieces and got creative. Hint: Washi tape is a lifesaver for jazzing something up! It'll go from simple to creative in just a few seconds!

6. Pin cushion. 

Is your Mum big into sewing try a home-made pin cushion, just grab 2 squares of fabric and sew along 3 of the edges, stuff full of wadding and sew the final side. Pretty, useful and simple! 

7. Pretty packaging. 

I'm posting my Mum's present home to her and wanted it to look pretty and inviting. So I grabbed a simple box and painted some polka dots on. 

8. Gift tags. 

Luggage tags can be a transformed into wonderful gift tags with a few simple ideas. 

Try grabbing some paint and roughly covering one side with a colourful lick of paint, once dry write on top of the paint for a cheerful tag. 

Or put to use that Washi tape collection covering tag with pretty patterns or edging with a floral flourish! 

Need more ideas? Well listen to your Mum, I'm sure she's mentioned things she'd love even if it's just a few nights off making dinner or time alone to relax with a book. 

What are you giving your Mum this year? 

Katy

Jammy Cupcakes

I'm cupcake MAD!
If there's one thing I couldn't live without baking it would be cupcakes. They're easy and delicious!
Cupcakes are adaptable and you can always find something in your kitchen to throw in, chocolate chips, lemon, there's so many options.

This jam cupcake recipe is no exemption and can be adapted for every kind of jam you have in your cupboard. Today I used my Mama's homemade Elderberry jam which G loves! We only had a little left so I thought I'd whip it up into something sweet.

Ingredients-

Cake:
120g unsalted butter,
340g self raising flour,
1/2 teaspoon of salt,
4 large egg yolks,
360g soft brown sugar (can be substituted with caster sugar for a lighter coloured cake)
180ml milk,
1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar,
150g of your jam,

Frosting:
450g icing sugar,
120g soft butter,
50g of your chosen jam,


How to:

Add your flour, butter and salt into the mixing bowl and combine together until it form the consistency of crumbs.

In the jug add half of the jam, the egg yolks, milk and white wine vinegar. Whisk until it's all combined thoroughly and turns the colour of your chosen jam.

Add half of the mixture from your jug to the dry ingredients whisk until fully combined. Then slowly add the rest of the mixture until the mix is smooth.

Fill your cupcake cases 3/4 full.

Put a drop of your jam on top of the filled cupcake cases and use a skewer to swirl the jam into the top of your cupcakes. 

Set your timer for 20 minutes but peep in the oven at about 10 minutes to check they aren't burning on the top. If they are pop a layer of tin foil over the top. 

To check your cupcakes are ready insert a skewer into the centre, if it comes out clean then they're ready if not put them back in for a 5 more minutes and check again. 

Once they're cool enough to touch take them out and leave them on a rack until cool to the touch. 

Now for the best and most delicious part (of course) the frosting! 

I could just eat a bowl of frosting on it's own to be honest but I suppose it should go on the cupcakes. 

Add your icing sugar and softened butter to a bowl and use a spoon to cream this together slightly before we bring out the hand whisk. 

Once it's all combined, and you won't get a sugar shower when you turn your whisk on, mix until fluffy and soft looking. 

Add your jam to the frosting and again whisk until fluffy and thick icing. You want it to hold it's own so if you lift your whisk out of the mix and it stays in a peak then it's perfect. 

Take your piping bags and fill with all your frosting. I use disposable ones because no fabric ones have been able to stand the test yet. 

Decorate in any way you like, swirls, slicks or dots of icing all look perfect because really the important part is how they taste. 

Last but not least. Eat!