I saw a photo of Custard Cream cupcakes on Pinterest last week and just had to try them out. I found the recipe on the Jane’s Patisserie blog.
I haven’t made cupcakes in absolute ages, so they made a lovely change this week.
The addition of Bird’s Custard Powder to the batter mix instead of vanilla essence made it taste like a Custard Cream in cupcake form! They’re perfect for an afternoon snack with a tea or coffee – and great for kids’ parties too.
I think I may try a similar thing soon, next time with Chocolate Bourbons or Oreos – they’re just such fun!
Click here to save this custard cream cupcake recipe to Pinterest for later!
- 225g/8oz butter
- 225g/8oz caster sugar
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 200g/7oz self raising flour
- ½tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 100g/3½oz custard powder
- 50ml/2fl oz milk
- 200g/7oz butter, softened
- 400g/14oz icing sugar, sieved
- ½tsp vanilla extract
- 1-3tbsp milk
- chocolate sprinkles
- Custard Creams
- Preheat your oven to 180ºC/ºF/ Gas mark
- Line a muffin tray with 12-15 cupcake/muffin cases
- With a food processor or hand-held electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy Slowly add the beaten eggs, mixing continuously
- Sieve together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and custard powder before adding to the butter/sugar/egg mixture
- Add the milk one tablespoon at a time until the mixture becomes smooth
- Spoon the batter into the cupcake cases evenly (about ⅔ full) and bake for 15-18 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes away clean
- Remove from the muffin tray and leave to cool on a wire rack
- If you have leftover cake batter, repeat instructions 6 & 7
- Beat the butter until smooth and gradually add the icing sugar stirring all the time
- Add the vanilla extract and the milk until your desired consistency
- Whisk again for 3-4 minutes until light & fluffy
- Spoon the buttercream into a piping bag, affix a piping tip, and decorate each cupcake with a swirl
- Scatter a little chocolate sprinkles
- Top each with a Custard Cream at a jaunty angle!
- Best eaten on the day. You can bake the cupcakes in advance, only decorating with buttercream and Custard Creams at the last minute.
Cakes & Bakes: Sweet potato muffins
Often when we visit Justin’s parents, we’re waved off with a food parcel. It usually consists of chocolate, biscuits and fruit & veg. Sometimes they’re items that were part of multi-buy offers which would be too much for them to consume before going off.
Last week, said goody bag included half a dozen sweet potatoes. Strange, we know. We didn’t have them down as sweet potato fans; we don’t buy them too often ourselves either.
I’ve used some of them this week to make a batch of sweet potato muffins. I’d never tried making them before and I didn’t know what to expect.
I thought they’d be quite heavy and filling, but I was pleasantly surprised.
The addition of both baking powder and bicarbonate of soda meant they were light and airy.
A little sprinkling of demerara sugar just before they went into the oven gave them a nice, crunchy top.
These sweet potato muffins are just the right size for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up with a brew!
Now, what to do with the rest of the bag of sweet potatoes… any suggestions?
If you’d like to save this recipe for later, you can pin it from here.
Sweet potato muffins
Ingredients
- 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes
- 200 g/7oz flaked almonds
- 200 g/7oz caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 120 ml/4 fl oz vegetable oil
- 80 ml/3 fl oz water
- 200 g/7oz plain flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC/355ºF/Gas mark 4
- Grease a 12-hole muffin tray or two 6-hole muffin tins or line with paper muffin cases
- Bake the sweet potatoes, skin on, for about 20 minutes until soft and cooked. Allow to cool before scraping the flesh out of the skins and mashing until all the lumps are removed
- Toast the flaked almonds, shaking a couple of times to get a uniform colour. This takes 5-8 minutes
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the sugar, eggs, oil and water until the sugar has dissolved
- Add the cooled, puréed sweet potato
- In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, bicarb, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the centre
- Pour the wet ingredients into the well of the dry and combine well
- Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins, sprinkle a little demerara sugar on top of each and put in the oven
- Bake for 20 minutes before allowing to cool on a wire rack
- They can be eaten warm or cold and can be stored in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 5 days
Wednesday Wish: Village cake tin
Village cake tin: £40.00, Culture Vulture
Christmas isn’t far around the corner – less than 3 months away. I came across this village cake tin on the Culture Vulture website and thought that it would be perfect for making special festive cupcakes. Something like the lovely ginger cupcake recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook… with white glitter icing dribbled down the roofs to look like snow! Mmmm… I can taste them now!
If I’ve whetted your appetite, here’s the recipe! (Makes 12)
120g plain flour
140g caster sugar
pinch of salt
40g unsalted butter at room temp
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp allspice
120ml whole milk
1 egg
¼ tsp vanilla essence
200g stem ginger in syrup, finely chopped
- Pre-heat the oven to 170°C/325°F
- Lightly grease the cake tin with butter or vegetable oil
- Combine the dry ingredients and butter into a mixing bowl and beat with an electric whisk (or free-standing mixer) on a slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined
- Slowly pour half the milk into the mixture, beating until all the ingredients are well mixed. Beat the egg, vanilla essence and rest of the milk together and add to the batter
- Scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side with a spatula and mix until everything is well combined
- Add the chopped ginger to the batter and stir through
- Spoon the mixture into the paper moulds until ⅔ full and bake for 20 minutes
- While the cakes are cooking, add an equal amount of water to the ginger syrup, then boil down to half quantity. When the cupcakes come out of the oven, turn out of the moulds and spoon some of the ginger syrup on top of the still hot cupcakes (you could pierce the cupcakes a few times with a toothpick to aid absorption!)