Morning Beautifuls,
I had a craving for cupcakes the other day – not sure where it came from, but all I really wanted was a cupcake. In particular, a vanilla cupcake with some sort of caramel icing.
Which every shop decided they would not have.
And yes, I was been picky.
So I decided to create my own cupcakes, going home and rifling through the cupboards to make this cupcake of my dreams.
Let me tell you, I think I found it!
Just between you and me, I may have eaten between six and eight of them over two days. They were just really good!
So good that I just had to share them with you! Honestly, these cupcakes were super easy to make, and surprisingly fast! The vanilla cupcake itself was the softest and smoothest cupcake in the world (and I may have eaten a few without icing as I iced some).
I did a lot of cupcake eating in those days, let me tell you that!
What you will need:
- 150g butter (at room temperature) or margarine (that doesn’t have to be at room temperature)
- 150g caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 150g self-raising flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
In a mixing bowl, cream your butter/margarine and caster sugar until they turn light and fluffy. That seems to be your basic cupcake step, right? Once its fully mixed, add the three eggs, one at a time. I like to turn my kitchen aid/mix master down extremely low and add one eggs, turn it up to about medium until it is mixed in and then repeat with the remaining eggs. For me, this just seems to be the best way to mix the eggs and create a spongy, light cake (or cupcakes!). Next, add the rest of the ingredients (flour, baking powder and vanilla) and mix until the mixture turns a light, creamy colour. This can take between 3-4 mins!
Then comes the fun part! Pick your super awesome patty cases and spoon the mixture 2/3 of the way of the cases you picked! Pop them in a 180oC oven for 18mins or until slightly browned and ‘bouncy’. Then, if you are impatient, you can munch on one while making the icing.
For the icing, I tweaked a butter cream recipe I used on a regular basis. In this recipe, you mix butter and icing sugar together, adding 10g more icing sugar than however much butter you use. Make sense? I honestly, just measure out some butter and then add however much icing sugar is needed for the icing to form a light, creamy, yummy texture. Then I spooned in two teaspoons of caramel sauce (which is one of the most easiest sauces to make from scratch) and mixed it well into the icing.
Using a star nozzle, pipe some icing onto your cooled cupcakes, then, using a small spoon, feel free to drizzle some more caramel sauce over the top. This adds to the flavour of the cupcakes and creates a more intense caramel taste!
The next step is to enjoy them (all!), or, if you are feeling really, really nice, share them with friends, family or work mates!
How to win friends and influence people – feed them cupcakes! These cupcakes have been the highlight of my week!
Keep smiling,
Kay Anne.
Kay Anne 