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 :)

Jubilee cake and cupcakes!

Most of the cupcakes are filled with raspberry jam so resemble mini victoria sponges (perfectly British for the Queen's Jubilee!), and both the cupcakes and the cake are topped with delicious vanilla buttercream. I am aware that the fruit flag pattern on the cake isn't exactly what the flag looks like, but I didn't have enough blueberries to do triangles or any raspberries for the diagonal lines so I just did what I could... I made these with my friend Leah, and it was so much quicker and more fun baking with someone else! We didn't have any red, white and blue sprinkles, but the union jack cupcake cases make up for it, and multi-coloured sprinkles still look cute. This is a really easy recipe to follow, so give it a try and make someone smile this bank holiday weekend :)

Makes 8 cupcakes and one small sponge

- 125g soft margarine

- 125g caster sugar
- 2 medium eggs, whisked
- 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
- 125g self-raising flour, sieved
- 1/2 tsp baking powder

For the buttercream:

- 150g unsalted butter

- 225g icing sugar

- 2 tbsp hot milk

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

Toppings and decorations

- few spoonfuls of raspberry jam

- sprinkles

- strawberries and blueberries

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees, line a muffin tin with 8 cupcake cases, and grease a small rectangular oven-proof dish or tin for the sponge.

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually whisk in the eggs, vanilla essence, flour and baking powder until there is a smooth batter. Spoon into the cupcake cases (about 2/3's full) and pour the remains into the greased dish.

3. Bake in the oven for around 12 minutes for the cupcakes, and slightly longer for the sponge. Leave to cool on a wired rack.

4. Meanwhile, make the buttercream by whisking together the butter, sugar, milk and vanilla essence until smooth. Set aside.

5. To fill the cupcakes with jam, I used a cupcake plunger which removes the core of the cake. However, you can use a knife to do this it just takes a little longer.

6. Fill the centre with raspberry jam. If you want, you can put the sponge tops back on or leave it as it is.

7. Spread both the cake and cupcakes with the buttercream, use sprinkles and/or fruit to decorate and voila.

Enjoy :)

Buttercream truffles

 Leftover buttercream? The way I see it is that you now have two options - either freeze the buttercream and defrost within a couple of months to use again on cakes, or make some deliciously mouth-watering truffles! (Throwing it away is not an option...) I made a very chocolatey, chocolate finger cake for my friend's birthday the other day with chocolate frosting - the recipe is here. I had quite a bit leftover so decided to have some fun making truffles. Be warned - they can be very rich and sickly, so make them small and only have a couple at a time! The truffles look so cute and way more difficult than they are so they are bound to impress - perfect for any celebration or party.
Oh, and I hope you noticed my new plate (yay) from Matalan, I love the pattern it matches my wallpaper!

Ingredients
- leftover buttercream (can be any flavour) click here to find my chocolate buttercream recipe
- dark chocolate 
- decorations (I used sprinkles and chocolate crunch balls)

1. Make sure the buttercream is really cold from the fridge. This can get quite messy as the buttercream will begin to go soft when you start to handle it (try and make sure your hands are cold first)
2. Gently shape the buttercream into small balls with your fingertips and place on a plate. Put in the freezer for about 20 minutes so they harden and go cold.

3. Melt some dark chocolate and roll each ball in, fishing out with a fork. Place the chocolate covered buttercream balls onto a tray with grease-proof paper on.
4. Immediately decorate with sprinkles or whatever you prefer before the chocolate hardens. If you want to drizzle white chocolate over, or dust with cocoa powder, there isn't as much of a hurry! Have fun with this, experiment with different decorations.

Enjoy :)