Coffee & walnut mini loaf cakes

A little slice of heaven

The perfect size for a naughty treat (bigger than a cupcake!)

And a fantastic idea for afternoon tea

I couldn't help but smother them in coffee buttercream too (and more walnuts)

Makes 4-6 mini loaf cakes

- 2 eggs

- 70g brown sugar

- 120g plain flour

- 100g butter, melted

- 2 tsp baking powder

- pinch of salt

- handful of walnuts, roughly chopped

- 2 tsp instant coffee

For the buttercream

- 50g butter, softened

- 150g icing sugar, sifted

- dash of milk

- 2 tsp instant coffee

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and grease and flour mini loaf tins.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar until a little foamy.

3. Gradually sift in the flour, baking powder and add the salt and melted butter. Mix until combined.

4. Stir in the chopped walnuts. In a mug, add a tiny amount of boiling water to the coffee, then stir into the cake mixture (you can make it as strong or as weak with coffee as you would like).

5. Divide the mixture between the moulds (about 2/3 full), and sprinkle with some grains of instant coffee and some more chopped walnuts.

6. Place the moulds on a tray, and bake in the oven for around 25 minutes, or until a knife in the middle of the sponge comes out clean. Leave in the tins to cool slightly before turning out onto a wired rack for further cooling.

7. While cooling, prepare the icing. Cream together the softened butter and icing sugar, then add the milk and coffee, stirring until smooth and well combined - add more icing sugar if too runny. Taste to see if more coffee needs to be added depending on how strong you like it (but try not to eat all of it!)

8. When the cakes are cooled, roughly spread on top with a knife then top with a walnut in the middle of each, some more chopped walnuts, and some more coffee grains.

Enjoy :)

Valentine's chocolate & raspberry cupcakes

Double chocolate chip cupcakes with a raspberry jam centre, chocolate frosting and a raspberry topping

Perfect for Valentine's day - for your boyfriend, girlfriend, friends, family, or just for yourself!

They taste divine too

Makes 18 deep cupcakes
- 225g margarine
- 225g caster sugar
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 225g self raising flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- dash of milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- cocoa powder
- 100g milk chocolate chips
- raspberry jam

For the frosting and topping
- 200g butter, softened
- 275g icing sugar, sifted
- dash of warm milk
- 150g dark cooking chocolate, melted
- fresh raspberries
- freeze dried raspberry pieces (or red sprinkles or hearts)
- edible glitter (optional)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees and line a cupcake tin with cases. (Use special ones for valentine's day!)

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar until well combined. Whisk in the beaten egg, then fold in the flour and baking powder.

3. Stir in the milk, vanilla essence, enough cocoa powder to change the mixture to a deep brown colour, and the chocolate chips. Mix until well combined and then spoon into the cupcake cases (about 2/3 full).

4. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until a knife comes out clean from the middle.

5. Once cooled, cut the top centre out of each cupcake and spoon in a teaspoon of raspberry jam into each.

6. Place the tops back on (trying not to eat them) and set aside.

7. To make the chocolate buttercream frosting, beat together the butter, icing sugar and milk until smooth (be patient). Then stir in the melted chocolate.

8. Spoon the frosting into a large piping bag with a star nozel and get piping! (you can also just spoon and spread onto the cakes if you prefer)

9. Place a raspberry on the top of each cupcake and sprinkle with the freeze dried raspberry pieces, or whatever decoration you are using, and finish with a dusting of edible glitter.

They will look something like this when you finally get to eat them!

Enjoy :)

Halloween cupcakes

Sorry this post is so late - I'm going to try and post more frequently now although I am quite busy but I will do my best!

I thought I would share with you my Halloween cupcakes anyway, I made chocolate chip cupcakes with chocolate buttercream and they went down a treat. I have posted this same cupcake recipe time and time again so I will link it below for you to follow if these take your fancy and you want to indulge in some delicious, home-made chocolate cupcakes! The only difference is obviously the decorations on top (from Lidl) and that I put milk chocolate chips in the sponge. 

http://eatrainbowlove.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/chocolate-and-vanilla-jam-cupcakes.html

To make the chocolate buttercream just follow the same recipe above but add 100g dark cooking chocolate (I used Sainsbury's Belgium dark cooking chocolate) for a rich, chocolatey flavour. Never stint on ingredients when making buttercream - always use good chocolate and butter, for me, that's always Lurpak!

I just piped on the buttercream using a disposable piping bag and a large star piping nozel. I started to run out of icing though so I just spread the rest on but it still looked good!

Oh and the gold cupcake cases are from Sansbury's.

Enjoy :)

Strawberry cupcakes

In keeping with the strawberry season of Wimbledon, I thought I'd make some strawberry treats. With fresh strawberries in the sponge and strawberry jam in the buttercream, these cupcakes are incredibly light but creamy and delicious. They are exactly what you would expect - sweet and pretty damn tasty.

For the sponges (makes 12)

- 125 margarine

- 125g caster sugar

- 2 eggs, beaten

- 125g self raising flour

- 1/4 tsp baking powder

- 1 tbsp semi skimmed milk

- 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

- handful of fresh strawberries, finely chopped

For the buttercream

- 125g butter (has to be lurpak!)

- 300g icing sugar, sifted

- dash of warm milk

- 2 tbsp raspberry jam

- 1/4 tsp vanilla essence

- pink food colouring

- strawberries, to garnish

- edible glitter

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees and line a cupcake tin with cases.

2. In a mixing bowl, cream the margarine and sugar together until light and fluffy.

3. Beat in the eggs and fold in the flour and baking powder, mixing until smooth.

4. Stir in the milk and vanilla essence, and add the chopped strawberries, mixing until well combined.

5. Spoon into the cupcake cases (about 3/4 full) then bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Cool on a wired rack.

6. Meanwhile, to make the buttercream, soften the butter then cream with the icing sugar, adding a dash of warm milk in to help mix. 

7. When the buttercream is smooth, stir in the jam and vanilla essence until well combined, then add a small amount of pink food colouring to enhance the colour.

8. Using a piping bag with a large star nozzle, generously pipe the buttercream onto each cupcake.

9. Top with a quartered strawberry (or however you prefer) and a sprinkle of glitter!

Enjoy :)

Carrot cake cupcakes

I hadn’t tried carrot cake until the other week and I fell in love with it. I don’t really like nuts or citrus which are all things I thought the cake would taste of but it didn't at all. I decided to make my own mini versions and they worked really well – they are really moist and warming from the cinnamon, and have great texture from the occasional crunch of walnut and soft sultanas. The frosting is to die for and compliments the flavours in the sponge so well. The carrots on top are white chocolate cake decorations from Sainsbury’s. You could also decorate them with walnuts or chocolate mini eggs for Easter time. If you like that citrus twang, then feel free to add some orange zest into the cake mix or the frosting! This recipe will be appearing in my uni newspaper - Redbrick, yay so if you're at the university of Birmingham make sure you pick it up!

*Just a quick apology for the infrequency of posts - I'm busy at uni and my laptops been playing up. I've got lots of posts I want to do though so keep checking back! I really appreciate everyone who looks at my blog*

Makes about 12 cupcakes

275g caster sugar

50g margarine

150ml sunflower or olive oil

4 medium eggs

4 carrots, grated

50g walnuts, finely chopped

50g sultanas, finely chopped

225g self-raising flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp cocoa powder

For the cream cheese frosting:

125g butter, softened

125g cream cheese

275g icing sugar

1.       Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees / gas mark 4. Line a muffin tray with 12 muffin cases.

2.       Mix together the sugar, margarine and oil in a large mixing bowl. Beat in the eggs then stir in the grated carrot, walnuts, and sultanas.

3.        Sieve the flour and baking powder, cinnamon and cocoa powder into the carrot mixture and stir well until combined.

4.       Spoon this mixture into the muffin cases (about 2/3 full) and bake for around 25 minutes. Leave to cool on a wired rack.

5.       To make the frosting, whisk together the butter and cream cheese until smooth.

6.       Add the icing sugar, stirring until combined and smooth. Spoon on to the cupcakes and smooth over with a knife. Decorate as you wish!

Extremely chocolatey, chocolate finger cake

 I made this cake for my friend Mia's birthday (hence why the below pictures say Mia on the cake). I altered a chocolate cake recipe from Lorraine Pascale's Baking Made Easy book (will link at the bottom of the post), and it has worked out really well. It didn't rise as much as I had hoped but once you spread on all the chocolatey buttercream it increases the size, and I love the towering effect that the chocolate fingers have, like a crown on the cake. I used the double chocolate cadbury's fingers to make this cake even more rich and indulgent - a perfect treat for chocolate lovers. The sponge was moist and dense like a brownie, and perfectly complimented by the rich chocolate frosting and crunchy fingers - absolutely delicious! It is also really versatile as you can use whatever you want to decorate the cake. Piling on fruit such as strawberries or raspberries, in the middle would look very classic and add lots of bright colour. You could also top it with marshmallows, or more chocolate such as malteasers, or just decorate it with sprinkles or tons of candles!

Serves 10-12
- vegetable oil
- 125g butter, softened
- 75g margarine
- 150g caster sugar
- 50g golden caster sugar
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 140g self-raising flour
- pink of salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- dash of milk
- 2 packs of cadburys double chocolate fingers
Buttercream
- 150g butter, softened
- 400g icing sugar
- dash of milk
- 75g dark chocolate, melted and cooled slightly


1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees/gas mark 4. Line an 8 inch cake tin with baking paper, and brush with the oil.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar, add half of the eggs and half the flour and beat well. Add the rest of the eggs, four, cocoa powder , salt and baking powder. Beat for a few minutes until smooth and combined. I always add a dash of milk at this stage to make the mixture more smooth and creamy.
3. Dollop the sponge mixture into the prepared baking tin and bake in the oven for 30-50 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean after being inserted into the centre of the cake. Leave to cool in the tin.
4. Meanwhile, to make the buttercream, cream together the butter and icing sugar until smooth, add some milk (optional), and the melted chocolate and stir well until combined and smooth.
5. Once the cake is completely cool, remove from the tin and spread the buttercream generously on top and on the sides of the cake.
6. Gently push the chocolate fingers vertically into the sides of the cake. The decorations are now completely up to you - have fun with it!

Enjoy :)


Happy Birthday!

I modified the recipe for the 'I can't believe you made that' cake in Lorraine Pascale's above cookbook! I changed some ingredients and quantities, and used different decorations. I would recommend this book as even if the recipe isn't exactly to your taste, it provides lots of ideas and inspiration. And it isn't just a book about cakes and other sweet treats, it also has recipes on savoury baking - bread, pies, roasts etc.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Baking-Made-Easy-Lorraine-Pascale/dp/0007275943/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334145605&sr=8-1

Easter cupcakes

I made a combination of sponges - vanilla sponge, vanilla sponge with cranberries in, and chocolate sponge. Then I made a huge range of different frostings and toppings - creamy chocolate, vanilla buttercream, buttercream with various different colourings, mini eggs, crushed twirl bars, and crispy cakes (see previous post!). Although this took a lot of time, attention to detail, and washing up, it was definitely worth it! They look so cute and I think will put a smile on everyone's face on Easter Sunday tomorrow :) I will post all the recipes below, hope you give them a try! Don't forget that these aren't just for Easter, you can make these anytime - they are brilliant, versatile cupcake and frosting recipes!

Sponge recipes - makes 12-14 cupcakes
- 125g margarine
- 125g caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
- 125g self-raising flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- cocoa powder
- dried cranberries


1. Cream together the marg and sugar until well combined. Gradually whisk in the eggs and vanilla essence.
2. Sieve in the flour and baking powder and fold in, stirring well.
3. Fill this vanilla sponge mixture into cupcake cases - I filled 5 cases.
4. Take half of the rest of the cake mixture and place in another bowl. Mix with a few handfuls of dried cranberries, or other dried fruit (put as much as you want in), and fill another 5 cupcake cases.
5. Sieve some cocoa powder into the remaining mixture and combine until brown in colour. Spoon into the remaining cases. (For me, this was another 4 cases)
6. Bake in a preheated oven (gas mark 5/190 degrees) for around 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wired rack.

Frosting recipes


Chocolate cream cheese frosting (used on 4 cupcakes)
- Half a tub (80g) of Cadbury's chocolate Philadelphia 
- small bit of icing sugar
- small knob of butter, melted

Combine everything together in a bowl, fill into a piping bag with a star shaped nozel, and pipe onto the cupcakes. I piped onto 2, and spread on to the other 2. I topped with mini eggs and crushed Twirl bars.

Vanilla buttercream (used on 10 cupcakes)
- 125g butter, softened
- 200g icing sugar, sifted
- 1 tbsp warm milk
- various food colourings

Beat everything together until smooth, and lighter in colour (feel free to add more of anything depending on consistency, flavour and colour). I iced 4 cupcakes with plain vanilla frosting, then used pink food colouring for 2, green for another 2, and yellow for another 2. This requires a lot of different bowls to transfer the icing too! (It is worth it though, so pretty) You can either pipe these onto the cake or simply spread with a knife. For the yellow and the green frosting, I used a piping bag and nozel to dot the icing on making flower shapes - prefect for Spring!

Enjoy :)