Delicious Nutella and Snickers Cupcakes

So a couple of weeks back I did a 2.5km swim to raise money for sport relief and in all fairness it went pretty well! I beat my personal best and I’ve raised over £700 so far- good times. A part of that fundraising of course had to involve a good old fashioned bake sale. I got so many donations of delicious baked goodies and it was a real hit; my contribution consisted of my super gooey chocolate brownies and two versions of a delicious chocolate cupcake. It’s the same base mix but then different fillings and icing to make it that little bit different. Let me introduce to you Nutella and Snickers cupcakes!!

Both went down an absolute storm – in fact the Snickers cupcakes disappeared before the stall had even been set up with one woman claiming she’d had a ‘cake-gasm’. Now that’s a compliment if ever I’ve heard one!

For my birthday last month I received the most marvellous gift of a new kMix hand whisk (ultimate dream is a KitchenAid stand mixer but I think I’ll have to work up to that one!) so I think I have to partly thank that to how fluffy these guys were but seriously I don’t think I’ll be trying another chocolate cupcake recipe again unless it’s had some super crazy reviews or something.

I hope you like them! Enjoy!

Chocolate Cupcakes

·         100g plain flour

·         20g coco powder

·         140g caster sugar

·         1 ½ tsp baking powder

·         1 pinch of salt

·         40g butter at room temperature

·         120ml milk

·        1 egg

Instructions:

1.       Preheat the oven to 170°C/Gas Mark 3.

2.       Mix together the dry ingredients and butter until well combined on a low speed with a hand mixer.

3.       Add the milk and beat again until properly mixed together.

4.       Add the egg and beat well. The mixture should be a light and fluffy texture.

5.       Spoon the mixture into 12 cupcake cases and bake for 20 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

Now for the good bit!

Nutella Cupcakes

·         Nutella – 120g (filling), 80g (topping)

·         250g icing sugar

·         80g unsalted butter

·         25ml milk

Instructions:

1.       Take the centre out of the cupcakes either using a cupcake corer or a teaspoon making sure to keep them. Spoon in Nutella until your heart is content and place the centres back in.

2.       Make the icing by beating the icing sugar and butter together until well mixed and smooth.

3.       Pour in the milk and beat slowly. Once combined beat on a high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy.

4.       Stir in the Nutella using a spatula until it is evening mixed.

5.       Using a piping bag, pipe the icing onto each of the cupcakes and voila! Gorgeous nutty chocolate cupcakes!

Snickers Cupcakes

Ingredients (topping):

·         2 Snickers bars chopped into 12 pieces (I eat the ends as they don’t look too pretty!)

·         160g unsalted butter at room temperature

·         2 tbsp smooth peanut butter

·         1 tsp vanilla extract

·         60ml double cream

·         450g icing sugar

·         1 jar of marshmallow Fluff

Instructions (topping):

1.       Combine the butter and peanut butter together with a hand whisk until well combined and light.

2.        Add the vanilla, cream and icing sugar and beat gradually from low to high speed until well combined and fluffy.

3.       Add the Fluff using a spatula until completely mixed in and then spoon into a piping bag ready to pipe.

Ingredients (filling):

·         1 tin Carnation caramel

·         80ml double cream

·         1 tbsp butter

·         70g salted peanuts, roughly chopped

Instructions (filling - Only start making this filling once the cupcakes are cool and you’re ready to use it):

1.       In a saucepan on a low heat add the caramel, butter, cream and peanuts.

2.       Stir occasionally until everything has come together into a smooth mixture.

Assembly:

1.       Take the centre out of the cupcakes either using a cupcake corer or a teaspoon making sure to keep them. Spoon in the peanut filling and place the centres back in.

2.       Pipe the topping onto each of the cupcakes and finish with a slice of Snickers. Delicious!!

A Sport Relief Swimmer

Before I start I should say I fully intended to post at least once a week so I am quite ashamed that two weeks later I’m only just getting round to doing my second post – I’m sorry!

So anyway I LOVED the Great British Bake Off for Sport Relief, I think my favourite bit being Johnny Vaughan realising he’d been grilling everything!  I’m a big supporter of raising money and every year I do something for Comic Relief/Sport Relief. Last year I baked for Comic Relief and raised money by having my friends and family give me baking requests which I then fulfilled. I’m not going to lie some of them didn’t go too well (people ask for weird things!) but it definitely meant I got some practise in!

Some of my creations last year for Comic Relief. Left to right: maple and pecan cake, coffee and walnut cake, chocolate brownies, 8 plait loaf, blueberry muffins, bakewell tart, lemon kisses, Easter cupcakes (strawberry, blackcurrant and lemon)

This year I am (stupidly) doing a 2.5km swimathon but I don’t want to lose all sight of my baking efforts so, inspired by GBBO I have made my very own Show Stopper! Now before you think I’m copying Doon Mackichans tiered cake from one of the episodes - I had this idea after the Mondays show I swear!! As this is an attempt to raise money for my swimathon I have made a 3D novelty cake in the shape of a swimming pool (well I have attempted to). In my mind there was going to be little people swimming in it wearing red swimming hats but I’m afraid that plan went rather wrong. It’s what it tastes like though right?! And it got very good reviews when I took it into work – so much so that someone has actually asked me to bake a cake for their wife! Result!

The finished article (minus my swimmers!)

Blueberry Cake with Lemon Butter Icing

For the cake:

·         250g butter, at room temperature – it’s just easier that way!

·         100g caster sugar

·         ½ tsp salt

·         2 tsp vanilla extract

·         4 egg yolks

·         400g plain flour

·         2 tsp baking powder

·         160ml milk

·         4 egg whites

·         8 tbsp caster sugar

·         225g blueberries

·         1 tbsp flour

·         2 tbsp caster sugar

For the lemon butter icing:

·         500g icing sugar

·         125g butter, at room temperature

·         Zest of one lemon

·         Juice of one lemon

·         Milk (amount completely up to you)

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Grease and line two rectangle cake tins (mine were 18cm by 29cm or you could halve the quantities above and use one 20cm square tin instead, baking for 20 minutes longer).
2. Cream the butter together with the sugar until it becomes light and fluffy and then add the salt and vanilla extract (my new favourite is Dr. Oetker Madagascan Vanilla – I have a bit of a sweet tooth and it hits the spot nicely!).
3. Add your egg yolks to the mix and beat until creamy. If your mixture starts to curdle (I hate that!) - add some of the flour and that should fix it.
4. In a separate bowl combine the flour and baking powder. Add some of this to your mix and combine using a slotted metal spoon, followed by some milk. Continue until it’s all in there. If you sieve the flour mixture in from a height this can help get some air into the mix and give you a light cake.
5. Coat your blueberries with 1 tbsp of flour and then stir them into the mixture, trying to get an even distribution.
6. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until you have soft peaks (I take this to mean still a little bit floppy – I wouldn’t trust tipping it upside down yet!). Add one tablespoon of sugar at a time and continue to beat in between each spoonful. Beat until stiff peaks form (you can tip it upside down over your head now!). Fold these egg whites into the cake mixture and then pour into the tins prepared earlier.
7. Bake for 20 – 30 minutes until the cake has a golden brown top and is cooked through. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
8. In the meantime, cream together the icing sugar and the butter. I like to do this with a wooden spoon to start with because if I go straight in there with the electric whisk my kitchen gets covered! Add in the zest and the juice and then start beating the mixture. Add milk when you think appropriate, adding a tablespoon at a time until you get it to the right consistency. Cover the cake. I used the lemon icing for around the sides and then made a vanilla icing with blue food colouring for the swimming pool aspect but I must say the lemon icing is very yummy!!

If anyone fancies sponsoring my mad activity then please follow this link:

Sophie's Swimathon

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