Playful yummy bakes for modern home bakers
White chocolate and cranberry cupcakes. This is such a beautiful festive bake. Great for anyone that wants an easy, stunning little showstopper. They’re even better for anyone that don’t like mincemeat. White chocolate and cranberries are such a gorgeous combo. The tart brightness of the …
Mince pie Christmas cupcakes. Oh festive baking; in my mind there really isn’t anything better and complete to make me feel all cosy and Christmassy. Mince pies are such a classic staple in the UK, but I have to admit I’ve never been the biggest …
Mars Bar cupcakes, what a joyous trio we have here. These cupcakes make me so happy. Chocolate and caramel is a mighty combo, so delicious. Soft and fluffy vanilla cupcakes, filled with dulce de leche and topped with not one by two flavours and buttercream, epic. Then topped with Mars Bar, I mean these cakes would be such a crowd pleaser at a party and they are incredibly simple to make. A few stages but seriously enjoyable, plus the piping really does all the hard work for you. Oh so impressive but easy going on the cook, that sounds like a winner to me.
170g self rising flour
170g softened unsalted butter
170g caster sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 tin of dulce de leche (I use Carnation)
Makes 12 regular sized cupcakes
250g unsalted butter
¼ tsp salt
500g icing sugar
2-3 tbsp dulce de leche
3 tbsp cocoa powder
½ tsp coffee powder
2-3 tbsp milk (to thin down the icing as needed)
1-2 regular size Mars Bar
Preheat the oven to 170 C.
Line a muffin pan with 12 cupcake cases. Leave to one side while you make the cake mix.
Mix the softened butter and sugar until light and creamy. This will take a few minutes in a food mixer or using an electric beater.
While that is happening, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.
Then once the butter and sugar is pale, light and fluffy, gradually add the eggs one by one. Mix on high speed so that it can really mix into the butter and sugar. To help the mixture from curdling, I add a tbsp or so of flour when I mix in the last egg. Don’t worry if it curdles a bit, it isn’t the end of the world, the cakes might not rise as high but they’ll still be delicious.
Once the eggs are all combined, add the vanilla and stir to combine.
Then add the flour mixture and mix on a low speed until only just combined. Then you can scrape down the sides with a spatula. It’s important not to over mix here because you don’t want the cakes to get too heavy when they are baked and mixing the flour through a lot will activate the gluten in the flour. Nice fluffy light sponges are the aim of the game here.
Using an ice cream scoop or two spoons, put the batter into the cupcake cases and cook for about 17 minutes. These really don’t take long to cook, so I would set a timer for 15 minutes and check how they are getting on from there. If the cakes are lightly golden, the tops spring back when you touch them and a cake tester comes out clean, they’re ready.
Carefully take them out of the tin and place on a cooling rack while you make the icing.
Sift the icing sugar.
Cream the softened butter, stirring every now and then, scraping down the bowl for about 5 minutes or so until the butter is light and fluffy. Then start adding the sifted icing sugar gradually to the mix.
Once the sugar is all combined, add 1 tbsp of milk, vanilla and salt and whisk to combine.
Then remove about ⅓ of the icing into another bowl. Add 2 tbsp of dulce de leche and mix to combine. You can add another tbsp afterwards, but I go gradually on this, you don’t want the icing to split. (I’ve definitely been a bit over generous with the caramel before and all of the sugar has caused this to happen, oops!) If you want a salted caramel vibe, add a little extra salt to the icing here.
With the remaining icing, add in sifted cocoa powder and coffee powder to the icing and whisk to combine. Add a little extra milk if you need to, you want the icing to be thick but smooth and an easy texture to pipe.
By now, the cakes should be cool.
Using a spoon, scoop out a small part of the middle of the cake and then add a tsp of dulce de leche into each one. Be cautious with this, otherwise the filling can spill out a bit when you ice the cakes.
Then with a piping bag, add the chocolate icing followed by the caramel icing. You can use whatever piping nozzles you fancy, entirely up to you.
Place a piece of Mars Bar onto each cupcake.
The Mars Bar cupcakes are best eaten on the day that they are made but they will keep in an airtight container for about 3 days.
Looking for other simple showstoppers, try our Jammie Dodger cupcakes or our Double Chocolate Baked Doughnuts
These lemon and blueberry cupcakes are such a treat. Beautiful, stylish but most importantly delicious. A gorgeous lemon sponge covered in a smooth and vanilla buttercream spiked with a dash of lemon curd and topped with tart and sweet blueberry jam. A gorgeous treat for …
Themed bakes for special occasions, much like costume parties, always get my vote. I just love the theatricality and fun you can have with baking like this and halloween cupcakes are a brilliant way to get in the ghoulish party spirit. The Matcha Mash Halloween …
Jammie Dodger cupcakes are such a playful and stylish little bake. A nostalgic throwback to the childhood biscuits we loved to eat growing up. A simple recipe for vanilla cupcakes with sweet tangy raspberry jam is a winning combination and a crowdpleaser of a dessert.
I’m confident these will be a regular party table fixture. Have a go and let me know what you think.
Looking for other baking inspiration? Why not try Lemon and ginger carrot cake cupcakes or the gorgeous Quality Street chocolate dulce de leche cupcakes
170g self rising flour
170g caster sugar
170g softened unsalted butter
3 eggs
¼ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
For the vanilla buttercream icing:
400g sifted icing sugar
220g softened unsalted butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
1-2 tbsp milk (if needed to loosen the buttercream)
Strawberry or raspberry jam
Mini jammie dodgers (1-2 per cupcake)
Makes 12 cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 170°C, GM3.
Line a muffin tin with 12 cases and leave aside while you make the mixture.
Weigh out all of your ingredients.
In a separate bowl, sift the self rising flour and salt.
Using a food mixer, or free standing whisk, combine the sugar and butter together until it forms a light, creamy consistency. This will only take a few minutes with a food mixer.
Gradually add one egg at a time, leaving plenty of time for the egg to incorporate into the mixture before adding the next and keep the mixer running at a fairly high speed while doing this; this will help the mixture from curdling. You can also add a tablespoon of flour after each egg at this stage to help prevent curdling too.
Once the eggs have all been added, add in the dry ingredients and on a slow speed mix until they have only just combined. Then add the vanilla extract and fold into the cake mixture.
Using a medium ice cream scoop or two spoons, portion the mixture out amongst the cake cases. Take care not to overfill the cases as the mixture will rise more as it bakes. Half fill each case with batter.
Bake in the middle shelf of the oven, turning the pan ¾ way through cooking time to help the cakes cook evenly. This should take between 18-20 minutes.
To test if the cakes are cooked, use a cake skewer and insert into the middle of one of the cakes and if it comes away clean then they are cooked. The cakes should also spring back when touched.
Transfer the cakes to a wire rack to cool completely before icing. Cupcakes cool down really quickly so this will take less than 30 minutes.
While you wait, you can prepare the icing.
To make the icing add the butter to a food mixer and cream it for a few minutes to make sure everything is very smooth before gradually starting to add the icing sugar.
Once the mixture is combined and everything is light and fluffy (the longer you mix, the fluffier the mixture will get) add the vanilla extract and salt and mix for a final time. Add milk to the icing if you think it needs to have a looser, more spreadable consistency.
Using a piping bag, swirl the vanilla buttercream onto each cupcake (or if you don’t have a piping bag you can use a palette knife and smooth it over the cupcakes). In the middle of each cake add a spoonful of jam and then top with 1-2 mini jammie dodgers.
The cakes should keep well in an airtight container for up to 3 days. It is best to add the biscuits onto the cakes on the day you are planning on serving them to help them stay nice and fresh.
For baking, make sure that all of your ingredients are at room temperature, including the eggs, it will help all of the ingredients combine together well.
An ice cream scoop is a great tool to help make your cupcakes the same size when they are baked.
Weigh out all of your ingredients in advance; yes this means more bowls and more washing up, but the positive is that you have everything ready before you start, so you only have to think about the process of making the cake, instead of rushing to find the next ingredient and weigh it out while the mixer is running.
The easiest way to fill a piping bag is to open the bag into a tall glass and bend the top over the sides of the glass, then fill with the icing.
Quality Street chocolate cupcakes are definitely the sort of cake you could make and eat all year round but there is just something very comfortingly and joyously Christmassy about these with the addition of the Quality Street decorations. Any sweets in jewel bright wrappers have …