Chocolate and Cherry Cupcakes

I’ve been asked by a colleague at work to make some cupcakes for her daughter-in-law’s baby shower. Now, I've always said that I wasn’t interested in making cakes for sale, however, they only want 12 cupcakes – and I’ve not got plans for next weekend, so I decided to say yes. However, first problem – they would like 6 lemon and 6 chocolate. Lemon - I can do, no problem. Chocolate – now there’s the problem, I don’t generally make chocolate cakes (other than red velvet, which is a generally very light chocolate cake).  The truth is, I’m not a huge fan of chocolate, and less so of chocolate cake – so I just don’t generally make it!

So, I decided that I ought to have a practise this weekend – I turned to my ever reliable Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery book and found their chocolate cupcake recipe right near the start. It is a bit of a faffy recipe – melting the chocolate, creaming the butter and sugar, beating the egg yolks separately (I’m not completely convinced why this is necessary – but hey, the recipe works, so who I am to argue?), whisking the egg whites to soft peaks … And the recipe says that it should be a “fairly liquid batter” – which mine definitely wasn’t – which made me very concerned. However, the cakes turned out brilliantly – incredibly light and fluffy, so all the hard work is definitely worth it!

I made one big mistake – I didn’t check how many the recipe made – and just divided the mixture between 12 cupcake cases. It appeared to fill the cases to about 2/3rds so it looked about right. However, the recipe does say that it makes 16! These cakes rose – lots! And ended up huge and spilling out of the cases – oops!

I did make one change to the standard chocolate cupcake recipe – I had some cherry brandy liqueur hanging around in the kitchen so I decided to replace 50ml 0f the milk with cherry brandy. However, this didn’t really show up in the flavour of the cupcakes – may try adding more next time. I also added a filling of cherry jam and added cherry brandy to the buttercream mixture as well.

Chocolate and Cherry Cupcakes

(makes 16)

Ingredients

1. 115g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
2. 85g butter, at room temperature
3. 175g soft brown sugar
4. 2 large eggs, separated
5. 186g plain flour
6. ¾ tsp baking powder
7. ¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
8. Pinch of salt
9. 150ml milk
10. 100ml cherry brandy liqueur
11. Approx 4 tblsp good quality cherry jam
12. 12 cherries

Buttercream

1. 175g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
2. 225g butter, at room temperature
3. 1.5 tblsp cherry brandy
4. 250g icing sugar

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 170C and line a couple of 12 hole cupcake tins with 16 cupcake cases.
2. Break the chocolate into pieces and melt in a glass bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Stir occasionally until it is completely melted and smooth. Set to one side to cool slightly.  
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy this will take at least 5 minutes with an electric hand mixer – don’t rush this stage).
4. In a separate bowl and with clean beaters, beat the egg yolks for several minutes.
5. Gradually add the beaten egg yolks to the creamed mixture and beat well.
6. Add the melted chocolate to the mixture and beat well.
7. Combine the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a separate bowl.
8. Put the milk in a jug and add the cherry brandy.  
9. Add one third of the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and stir gently to combine.
10. Pour in one third of the milk mixture and stir gently.
11. Continue to add the flour mix and then milk mixture alternately, stirring gently after each addition, until all have been added.
12. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks start to form.
13. Carefully fold the egg whites into the batter, using a metal spoon. Do not beat or you will lose the air.
14. Spoon mixture into the cupcake cases, filling to about 1/2 full.
15. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes. The cakes will spring back lightly when touched, if cooked.
16. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in tin for about 10 minutes, before carefully placing on a wire rack to finish cooling. 
17. While the cakes are in the oven, make up the buttercream:
18. Break the chocolate into pieces and melt in a glass bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Stir occasionally until it is completely melted and smooth. Set to one side to cool slightly. 
19. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, cherry brandy and half of the icing sugar until smooth.
20. Add the rest of the icing sugar and beat until smooth and creamy.
21. Add the melted chocolate and beat again until thick and creamy.

To fill and decorate:

1. Once cakes are cooked and cooled, use a tea spoon to cut a cone out from the centre of the cakes.
2. Cut the top disk off each cone and retain.
3. Fill the hole in each cake with a teaspoon of cherry jam and then replace a cake disk onto each cake to seal the hole.
4. Place buttercream into an icing bag with a star shaped nozzle (I use the Wilton 1M nozzle). Swirl onto cupcakes.
5. Top each cake with a cherry (you could drizzle the cherries with melted chocolate).

Puff pastry mince pies

I love mince pies! I have to admit, we do buy shop-bought – especially early in the season. However, not much beats a home-made mince pie and, once you have made the mincemeat, it is so easy to make a batch of pies. Everyone thinks that you are a domestic goddess – even if you do just use shop-bought pastry!

I made the mincemeat a couple of weeks ago, but only got round to making my first batch of mince pies on Thursday this week:  in time for my mum’s arrival! Having had some pretty good puff pastry mince pies from the Co-op, I decided to make my own. However, even Baking Supremo Mary Berry says that she doesn’t make her own pastry – which is a good enough excuse for me, so my pastry came courtesy of Mr Sainsbury!

The co-op mince pies were flat rather than having a curved base, I’ve never made them like this but decided to give it a go. It was actually a lot easier than trying to put disks of pastry into a bun tin and they worked out pretty well – although I think I could have possibly baked them a little longer - but they tasted great anyway!

Christmas Mincemeat

Makes 3 lb (1.35 kg)

Ingredients

1. 8oz (225g) Bramley apples, cored and chopped small (no need to peel them)
2. 4 oz (110 g) shredded suet
3. 4oz (175 g) raisins
4. 4oz (110 g) sultanas
5. 2oz (55g) currants
6. 2oz (55g) dried cranberries
7. 2oz (55g) dried sour cherries
8. 4oz (110 g) whole mixed candied peel, finely chopped
9. 6oz (175 g) soft dark brown sugar
10. grated zest and juice 1 orange
11. grated zest and juice 1 lemon
12. 2 level teaspoons mixed ground spice
13. ¼ level teaspoon ground cinnamon
14. good pinch freshly grated nutmeg
15. 3 tablespoons cherry brandy or amaretto

Method

1. Combine all the ingredients, except for the alcohol, in a large oven-proof bowl, mixing thoroughly.
2. Cover the bowl with a clean cloth and leave the mixture in a cool place overnight or for 12 hours, so the flavours have a chance to mingle and develop.
3. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark ¼, 225°F (120°C).
4. Cover the bowl loosely with foil and place it in the oven for 3 hours, then remove the bowl from the oven. Don't worry about the appearance of the mincemeat, which will look positively swimming in fat. This is how it should look.
5. As it cools, stir it from time to time; the fat will coagulate and, instead of it being in tiny shreds, it will encase all the other ingredients.
6. When the mincemeat is quite cold, stir well again, adding the alcohol.
7. Pack in jars that have been sterilised (see below).
8. When filled, cover with waxed discs and seal.
9. The mincemeat will keep for ages in a cool, dark cupboard but it is best eaten within a year of making.

NOTE: To sterilise jars, wash the jars and lids in warm soapy water, rinse well, then dry thoroughly with a clean tea cloth, place them on a baking tray and pop into a medium oven, gas mark 4, 350F, 180C, for 5 minutes.

Puff pastry mince pies

Ingredients

1. 6 tsp mincemeat (preferably home-made)
2. 2 tblsp milk
3. 250g puff pastry

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
2. Line a baking tray with baking parchment.
3. Roll the pastry out to approx. 4mm thick.
4. Cut out twelve 8cm disks.
5. Place 6 of the disks on the baking tray and brush with milk.
6. Place a teaspoon of mincemeat in the centre of each disk.
7. Brush each of the remaining pastry disks with milk and then place them, milk side down, on top of the other mincemeat-topped disks.
8. Press down around the edges to seal.
9. Brush the tops of the mince pies with more milk.
10. Cook for 20-25 minutes, until risen and golden.
11. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
12. Move pies onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Christmas Cake

Rather late this year, but at the weekend I finally got around to baking my Christmas Cake.  I love making Christmas Cake – mixing up the fruit and alcohol every day for a week as the fruit soaks up the liquid and becomes plump and juicy; the smell of the cake wafting through the house as it cooks; deciding how to decorate it this year …

This is a recipe adapted from one I found highly recommended on a forum – I used it last year and the cake was delicious! This is my version though – I add lots of different dried fruit rather than just the mixed fruit and add spices and zest to the fruit while soaking. I’m afraid that my measurements for soaking the fruit aren’t very precise – I tend to just chuck in a bit of whatever I find in the cupboard! This year, I mixed in sloe gin, cherry brandy, brandy and amaretto, plus a good slosh of orange juice! I soak the fruit for a week – stirring at least once in the morning and once at night – and adding more alcohol if it looks at all dry.  This year, I miscalculated and did three times the quantity of fruit in the recipe, rather than the double quantity that I need for my 9” square tin – so at the moment I have lots of leftover juicy fruit – although I have plans for it (if I can stop eating it!). 

I doubled the quantity of cake mix (and actually had to use 200g of light brown sugar rather than all dark brown sugar) and this made plenty to fill my 9” square tin and the leftover made 8 fairy cakes. When making the cake mix, make sure that you beat the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, and again beat it lots after the addition of each egg. Don’t worry if it splits slightly after adding the eggs – it will be fine again when you have stirred in the flour. 

This year, I bought Magi Cake Strips and used them to wrap the baking tin rather than corrugated card. They worked brilliantly – the edges of the cake were not over-cooked at all (even after 6 hours of cooking!) and the cake was perfectly level – can’t wait to try them on a normal sponge cake.

So the cake is now cooked and wrapped – I’ll be unwrapping it and feeding it once or twice a week until the week before Christmas. I'm then planning to cut this large cake into 4 small square cakes before marzipanning and icing them. I'll do another post at that point! 

Christmas Cake

Ingredients

To soak the fruit:

1. 650g mixed dried fruit
2. 50g dried cranberries
3. 50g dried sour cherries
4. 50g dried blueberries
5. 100g chopped mixed peel
6. 150 g glace cherries halved
7. (100 g blanched almonds – chopped – optional)
8. 1 tsp ground mixed spice
9. ½ tsp cinnamon
10. ½ tsp ginger
11. ½ tsp nutmeg
12. Grated zest of an orange
13. Significant quantities of alcohol – eg sloe gin, cherry brandy, brandy, amaretto
14. Orange juice

For the cake mixture:

1. 225g plain flour
2. 2 tsp ground mixed spice
3. ½ tsp salt
4. 200g butter
5. 200g dark brown sugar
6. 2 tblsp spoons black treacle
7. ½ tsp vanilla essence
8. 4 standard eggs lightly beaten

(2 x ingredients will make a 9” square cake; 3 x these ingredients will make one 12” square cake)

Method

In advance of making the cake (I do this a week in advance but a couple of days would be fine):

1. Place all dried fruit in a large bowl and scatter over the spices and the orange zest.
2. Pour over alcohol and orange juice so that it covers about a quarter of the fruit.
3. Stir to ensure that all the fruit is covered.
4. Stir a couple of times a day and add extra alcohol/orange juice to ensure that fruit plumps up.

1. Grease 20cm 8” round or an 18cm 7” square cake tine and line the base and sides with double layer of greaseproof paper.
2. Wrap a band of corrugated card around the outside of the tin.
   Pre-heat oven to 150C, 300F, Gas Mark 2
   Sieve together the flour, salt and mixed spice.
3. Cream the butter, sugar, treacle and vanilla essence together until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, adding a tablespoon of the flour with the last amount.
5. Fold in the remaining flour, then all the fruit and almonds.
6. Turn into the prepared cake tin and make a slight hollow in the centre.
7. Bake in a cool oven for 3-4 hours (6 hours for a 9” square cake), testing after 3 hours by inserting a skewer into the centre; when it comes out clean the cake is cooked. You may need to put foil across the top of the cake after a few hours of baking – to stop it singeing on top before the centre cooks.
8. Remove from oven and leave in tin until cold.
9. Use a skewer to make a few holes in the top of the cake and pour alcohol of choice over the cake while it is still warm.
10. Wrap cake in baking parchment and then foil and store.

Once a week, take cake out of wrappings, and “feed” the cake with more alcohol, before wrapping and storing again. 

Here's two that I decorated last year: