Perfect icing and more unbirthdays!

sliceIf you read the last post, all about the unbirthday party I threw, you would have seen the cake that I posted. I’ve put up the recipe for the the cake before (here), but I haven’t posted the Swiss meringue buttercream recipe for some reason. This buttercream is gorgeously silky in texture and makes your cake look super professional.

This recipe makes enough to generously cover a sandwich cake – it will fill the gap in between the two layers and then cover the cake entirely. Continue reading “Perfect icing and more unbirthdays!”

Lime and raspberry cupcakes and unbirthdays

scene (416x640)I know too many people who were born in the last three months of the year, October is particularly packed. Lots of people, including the Boy, must be celebrated in such proximity to one another that I decided to throw another unbirthday party. It’s not that I dislike birthdays (quite the opposite, actually), it’s just there are not enough days to celebrate people properly!

The last unbirthday party I threw was mainly for one person, whereas this one was aimed at three people. It is worth noting that anyone can claim an unbirthday – as long as their birthday doesn’t fall on the say that it is celebrated!

I feel as though I’m becoming a bit of an unbirthday expert…

please

 

Norman, meanwhile, is an expert unbirthday crasher. He’s got his puppy dog eyes look sorted!
Continue reading “Lime and raspberry cupcakes and unbirthdays”

Raspberry cupcakes and food obsession

close upMy last post was about giving in to the gym. It’s day four of me signing up to the gym and I’ve been good so far. Except for the fact that I spend my entire life pinning, instagramming and Googling baked goods.

To say I’m obsessed is an understatement. I’m fairly sure I was dreaming about eating these cupcakes last night, because I was awoken by a sharp pain – I’d bitten the inside of my lip hard enough to draw blood!

These gorgeous little cupcakes came about by accident. I was actually trying to create cupcakes with bubblegum icing; the cupcake was supposed to be a platform to raise my glorious bubblegum icing to dizzying sugary heights.

But the icing never really made it. It didn’t taste as bubblegummy as I’ planned (don’t get me wrong, it was delicious, it just wasn’t bubblegum flavoured), but it didn’t matter, because the cupcake outshone it!!

The cupcake is light and airy. It’s delicately fruity and a little bit like eating a raspberry cloud. Or how I imagine that would taste. The icing is sweet and soft, the perfect complement to the raspberry cloud!

biteRaspberry cupcake clouds

Makes 24

  • 120g butter
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • ¾ cup raspberries
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups flour
  • ½ cup milk
  • 1-2 tsp pink food colouring (optional)

Icing:

  • 50g butter
  • 50g cream cheese
  • ¼ tsp strawberry essence
  • ¼ tsp orange blossom water
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups icing sugar

raspberriesPreheat your oven 180°C and grease a 12 capacity cupcake tin.

Cream your butter and sugar together until pale. Add in your raspberries and blend until smooth. This should take 1-2 minutes to eliminate all of the lumps and bumps. You can leave chunks of raspberry in if you’d like, but I prefer them all mixed in, it makes for a smoother batter.

mixAdd in the teaspoon of vanilla and then the eggs, one at a time.

Scoop your flour into the mixture and mix well, ensuring no pockets of flour remain. Add in the milk and combine.

At this point, the raspberries will have added a slight tinge of pinky-purple to the mixture, so you don’t have to add colouring. If, like me, you can’t resist a pop of colour, add in some pink food colouring!

That’s it! These cupcakes are so simple, but the result is so impressive.

lolliesSpoon the mixture into your prepared cupcake tins and bake for 16-18 minutes.

Once the cupcakes are out of the oven, allow them to cool for ten minutes. While they cool, mix the butter and cream cheese together until there are no lumps and the mixture is pale. Add in the strawberry essence, orange blossom water and vanilla, followed by the icing sugar. Keep blending until all are combined and smooth.

sceneDecorate using a piping bag, or just spoon it onto your cupcakes and smooth with a knife. I added little chewy lollies to the top of mine, but don’t worry if you don’t have any they’re sweet enough without them!

Serve with a strong black cuppa to balance out all of that sugar.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes and Tea Parties

skyI felt like it had been a while since I’d held a tea party, so I set about fixing that today. I had a beautiful table runner that I’ve been wanting to use, and I didn’t just want to use it in any old run-of-the-mill photo shoot. I received the runner from Ria from Zambella Gifts, and she’s so passionate about her beautiful linen that I couldn’t help but get excited about it too. The runner has the recipe of a chocolate cupcake on it written in a beautiful script, so it didn’t take much for me to be in love with it! (Ps. You can buy Ria’s linen here.)

Ria is currently offering my readers a free gift with purchase (I’m not sure what, it’s a surprise!) just enter “Baking with Gab”into the comments section when you checkout…get shopping!

This recipe is a cupcake version of the rich chocolate cake that I posted here – the sheer amount of cocoa and the addition of milk and coffee make it decadent and dense, but smooth at the same time. Continue reading “Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes and Tea Parties”

Jam doughnut cupcakes and more giveaways

biteThis week I received a little parcel from Bonne Maman. Not only did I get a few jars of jam to play with, they were lovely enough to include some mini jam jars for my readers! The FIVE raspberry jams that I have to give away are in 30g jars, and they’re so cute I actually want to just frame them. To win, all I ask is that you share this post on Facebook to go in the running*. Unfortunately for my overseas readers, I’ll only be able to post Australia-wide…I think customs would wonder why I was trying to send teensy jam jars out of the country. Continue reading “Jam doughnut cupcakes and more giveaways”

Banana cupcakes and product endorsement

unicedIn the last few weeks I’ve been presented with some opportunities to feature various products on Baking with Gab. Some I have simply refused because they don’t suit what the blog is about – others are pretty awesome! In the interest of being completely transparent, I’ll always tell you guys when I’ve been given a product. In saying that, however, I’m really excited to share some of the amazing products with readers! Continue reading “Banana cupcakes and product endorsement”

Golden syrup cupcakes and Englishness

syrupA few weekends ago, the boy and I went for breakfast together; yep, we’re pretty cute. Coupley cuteness aside, the café that we ate at had a whole wall of organic and interesting products. One such product that we found was Lyle’s golden syrup…he almost lost it! Being English, Lyle’s golden syrup has a special place in his heart. I don’t think it’s too different to normal golden syrup that we can get here, but the tin it comes in is so iconic and tempting that this simple sweetener has snuck its way into my good books as well. Continue reading “Golden syrup cupcakes and Englishness”

Mini lemon thyme cakes and discoveries

thyme in handLast post I mentioned re-discovering a fabulous carrot and poppyseed cake. I realised that I don’t proclaim my discovery of things often enough. It would be remiss of me to write any further this week without mentioning my two new loves – lemon thyme and cake stands.

Of course, I’ve always known that both existed, but this week I have seen them in a new light. So I guess you could call these sort-of-discoveries It was an abundance of lemon thyme in the garden that drew me to seek out new recipes to harness it. The smell of lemon thyme is absolutely enchanting. It’s like lemon’s cooler older brother – lemon thyme  is a little more mature and mellowed out where lemon is really loud and abrasive, too busy trying to prove himself. Continue reading “Mini lemon thyme cakes and discoveries”

Vanilla cupcakes with elderberry and elderflower icing

allAs promised long ago in my weekends away post, here is a recipe using the local produce that I foraged for in Orange. I chanced upon a shop called A Slice of Orange (which was completely adorable, given we were in Orange in NSW) and found an array of locally sourced foods. They ship all across Australia as well, which could be dangerous for my bank balance!

The purchase I was most excited about was the Elderflower and elderberry cordial! Having only learned that elderberries existed when I lived in England three years ago, they still have a shiny novelty factor for me. The boy’s mother spoke of making elderberry wine and picking elderflowers – to my knowledge, Sydney-siders miss out on these delightful escapades! Continue reading “Vanilla cupcakes with elderberry and elderflower icing”

Lemon lavender delights (cupcakes)

previewI have had dried lavender in my pantry for an eternity – I bought it when I was feeling particularly adventurous and it has sat there, unused ever since. I love the idea of it, and I have a fantastic recipe for lavender shortbread that I want to try…but something always holds me back.

I worry that people won’t eat lavender infused food, that they will think I’ve turned away from my normal approach to baking, which is making food that anyone can replicate and enjoy. I bit the bullet today. I had delicious leftover lemon curd which I’ve been dying to use and lavender and lemon are notoriously good bedfellows. Continue reading “Lemon lavender delights (cupcakes)”