There is nothing like a home made cupcake with gorgeous frosting on top. Give my daughter a little frosting, and she is in heaven. Ok yes, the cupcake is still a treat in her eyes, but it is the frosting on top that makes it all the more special.
And while I have been doing a little research on ‘how to frost’ your cupcake, and ‘how to use a piping bag’, it was experimentation 101. Lucky for everyone, these were a big hit.
I found this recipe in the Women’s Weekly Cool Cupcakes book and modified it slightly.
Orange and poppy seed cupcakes
1/4 cup poppy seeds
2 tablespoons milk
125g butter, softened
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
2/3 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 cup self-raising flour
1/3 cup plain flour
1/3 cup ground almonds
1/4 cup orange juice
Butter cream
125g butter, softened.
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
2 tablespoons milk
pink food colouring
♥ Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line a 12-hole muffin pan with paper cases.
♥ Combine seeds and milk in small bowl and stand for 20 minutes
♥ Beat butter, rinds, sugar and eggs in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy.
♥ Stir in sifted flours, ground almonds, juice and poppy seed mixture.
♥ Divide mixture into paper cases and smooth surface.
♥ Bake for about 20 minutes. Let the cakes stand in pan for 5 minutes before turning over onto wire rack to cool.
To make the butter cream
♥ Beat butter in small bowl with electric mixer until as white as possible. Beat in icing sugar and milk. Tint butter cream pink with food colouring, or any other colour that takes your fancy.
And then decorate as you wish. With heart-shaped lollies, 100’s and thousands, or just a sweet little frosting on top. But just remember, decorating the cupcakes with the kids makes for a great afternoon activity. Just as long as they eat it after and don’t leave it on display like every other art creation.
Note: Make sure you do not melt the butter at all for the cream. It will not work properly. I learnt this the hard way. I also use Wilton Icing Colours as I find it does not make the cream runny. The consistency is like a glue, and makes for a more even colouring consistency then what I have found with liquid food colouring.
Do you have a favourite cupcake recipe?
Linking up with Essentially Jess
And don’t forget to enter the awesome giveaway to win a $50 voucher from Stuck On You! Check it out!
