This past week has been humbling. Talking to friends and family, support for the blog has been overwhelming; finding that my recipes reach people who I never would have picked as bakers is the greatest compliment! I have always been passionate about baking and I hope that Baking with Gab can help to spread the love.
These cupcakes were surrounded by unexpected moments as well.
I only made them because I found some gorgeous dried rose buds (meant for rose tea) when I ventured into an Asian grocery store the other day. None of the packaging was in English, but I couldn’t resist buying them. I presented these cupcakes to people recently without telling them that they were rose flavoured; I figured if I had told them that the icing was rose flavoured then they wouldn’t have eaten them. They were eaten enthusiastically! My brothers enjoyed them as well, despite the fact that they’re sick of me baking flowers into food all the time.
The rose in the icing is gentle and layered, it doesn’t hit you like you’re eating a bouquet of flowers! The rose is complemented perfectly by the soft vanilla of the cupcakes. These darlings look beautiful topped with an extra rose bud and the taste will win over even the manliest men!
Vanilla cupcakes
- 220g butter
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 tspn Vanilla
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup self raising flour
- 1 ¼ cups plain flour
- 250 ml milk
Rose icing:
- Four rosebuds
- ¼ cup water
- 125g butter
- 2 ½ cups icing sugar
Line cupcake tins with patty pans. Preheat oven to 170 °C
Cream together you butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add in your vanilla and eggs, scraping the sides of the bowl to incorporate as much of the mixture in with the eggs as possible. Add in your self raising and plain flours until well combined. If it gets too thick to mix, pour your milk in to make it easier. Pour in the rest of the milk so that your mixture thins out. That’s it! Spoon the mixture out into the patty pans and pop them into the oven for 20-25 minutes or until they spring back when you press them lightly.
Boil your kettle and cover four rosebuds with ¼ cup water, allowing them to infuse while the cupcakes bake.
When they’re baked, remove them from the oven and leave them to cool on a tray. Make a start on the icing by beating the butter until it is pale and creamy. Add in the icing sugar and about 2 tbsp of the rose water and mix until combined. Top your cupcakes with the buttercream icing as you please.
For a lighter option than rose butter cream, consider making a rose syrup by boiling the roses with 1 cup of water with 4 tbsp of sugar and drizzling it over the top.
How beautiful and I love rose flavoring, they sound delicate and perfectly balanced. Just beautiful.
Thankyou! I loved that I was able to make my own rose water rather than bottles flavouring. Thanks for the kind words!
Loving the idea of your rose syrup rather than icing as I find it too much to eat. Have just bought a deep muffin tin so I just might try making cupcakes for the first time!
Ooh do let me know how they go if you make them!! The rose syrup complements them beautifully because it’s nice and light (I agree, sometimes buttercream is too much!) – if you like a thicker, sweeter syrup try putting some extra sugar in the mix.
Hi,
I have an excessive amount of cake flour that I need to get rid of. Would cake floud work on this recipe? If so, how should I alter the measurements? It’ll be my first time baking cupcakes.
Hi Kat, we don’t use cake flour in Australia, but I believe that it would simply produce lighter cupcakes. I can’t guarantee this though, as I’ve not worked with it before, I’m sorry!! Let me know how you go – good luck baking cupcakes for the first time, how exciting 😀