Mum's new sous chef

For the first time ever mum let me help make cupcakes.  We had so much fun. I even helped clean up, the mixing bowl that is.  Because it was Melbourne cup day we thought we'd make Melbourne cup themed cupcakes, but i let mum do the fun stuff The decorating. I picked mudcake with butter cream frosting, a kids favorite. Mum sprinkled coconut that had been coloured green and topped it with white chocolate melts that had been decorated with cups, hats, horseshoes and flowers. When we were done, I/we took them down to the park to share with my/our friends.  I did eat a few though...

Paddy Mac, Sous Chef, Cupcakes of Kensington

New website coming soon!

I'm doing it! The new website/blog upgrade wheels are a turning!! I have engaged the services of a cool young bloke with the cool young name of Jonny. Jonny is going to revamp cupcakes of Kensington as we know it. Logo, Website, Fonts, perhaps even a tattoo(?!?) The whole kit and caboodle. So be on the look out for the new and improved cupcakes of Ken. It wont be long but in the meantime I promise to try to blog more often.

Enjoy!

Jacinta

Hummingbird Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I've been using this recipe for years and years, but as a layered cake. Originally the recipe was in an old Queenscliffe community cookbook but I did change it to suit some likes and dislikes as well as add some directions that made it easier for other's to use. I have to admit I have donated several of these cakes for silent auctions and as prizes to raffles and they were highly sought after so it can be too bad!!

I've been wanting to try it as a cupcake for a while but just haven't had the time to until finally over the weekend I made the time! They came out exactly as i hoped and have been a great hit. I'm happy to share my recipe with you, I'd love to see some of your pics too!

Hummingbird Cupcakes w Cream cheese frosting Makes 24

Preheat oven to 180 deg Celsius

2 cups Plain Flour

1 cup chopped Walnuts

1 1/2 cups Vegetable oil

1 tsp Salt

2 tsp Bicarb Soda

3 Mashed Banana's

1 cup Grated Carrot

1 1/2 cups Castor Sugar

4 Eggs

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

Frosting

230g Soft Butter or Margarine

230g Pure Icing Sugar

230g Soft Cream Cheese

1 tsp Vanilla Essence

1. Beat the eggs in large bowl, with sugar and oil until well mixed.
2. Add carrots, nuts and banana's until blended.
3. Sift all the dry ingredients together and gradually add to the wet mixture until combined.
4. 3/4 fill cupcake papers in a cupcake pan and place in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until tested with skewer that comes out cleanly.
5. Beat together Butter/margarine and cream cheese until very pale in colour then add sifted icing sugar and vanilla essence.

Just a little note on the frosting; This recipe makes plenty, it just depends on how you would like to frost the cake. If you just want to place a dollop of frosting on the cupcake, like in the picture shown above then you would only need half the amount so halve the ingredients. But if you wish to pipe the frosting on you may need the full amount.

Enjoy!

Jacinta

RSPCA cupcake day

It's seems like it has been ages since my last post, it probably has been really! I've been very busy cupcaking for birthdays, charity days, family gatherings as well as just for fun. Recently the RSPCA cupcake day was held and it was decided that we would hold our cupcake day at my son's primary school. We held a colouring competition in the lead up to the event with awesome prizes donated by the Keren at the cupcake courier. Thanks Keren, the children were so excited to win their cup-a-cakes!!

It was great fun, we had lots of children come into the kitchen and help us throughout the day, with such wonderful ideas and so enthusiastic too! We made lots and lots of Vanilla and devil's food cupcakes but still it wasn't enough, we ended up selling out in 3 minutes!! My wonderful partner(in-crime) Ros and I both agreed that we would just have to do it all again the next week so as to ensure that everyone got a cupcake. All in all we raised hundreds of dollars for the RSPCA, a very worthwhile cause. Special thanks goes to Annie for being our official photographer!

latte cupcakes

Two of my favourite things ever, of course aside from my little darlings, Latte's and Cupcakes!!

A few tips before you start, if using espresso, make a short black, should be the right amount for both icing and cupcake. Always use unsalted butter when baking cupcakes. Don't overfill these cupcakes if you want a nice flat top for feather icing. Preheat oven to 190deg.

Latte cupcakes (makes 12)

1 Tblspn espresso (brewed! Instant will suffice dissolved in boiling water if necessary

115g softened unsalted butter

115g soft brown sugar

2 eggs

115g self-raising white flour

1/2 tspn baking powder

2 tbspn sour cream

Icing

225g pure icing sugar

4 tspn warm water

1 tspn espresso

-Line cupcake pan with papers.

-Place butter, sugar and eggs in bowl of a mixer. Sift in combined S/R flour and baking powder, then beat until smooth. Add cooled coffee and sour cream and beat until well mixed.

-Spoon mixture into paper cases

-Bake cupcakes in the preheated oven for 20mins or until risen and golden brown.

-Leave to cool on a wire rack

-To make icing, sift 85g of the icing sugar into a bowl and add 1 tspn of coffee. using a wooden spoon or silicon spatula stir until smooth. Fill piping bag using a writing tip.

-Using the remainder of the icing sugar and as much of the warm water that is needed make a smooth paste and spread over cupcakes.

-using the piping bag draw straight lines across the cupcake then quickly drag a skewer through the lines across ways up and down creating a feather effect.

Icing will set quickly so you need to work fast and be organised!!

Enjoy with a latte or cup of tea

Juice

xx

Girly cupcake fest!!

All right so we all know i need NO excuse to make cupcakes and try new cupcake recipes. Today I actually had the perfect excuse, a couple of little princesses visit, Milla and Chloe. Milla requested any cupcake other than chocolate and Chloe demanded chocolate so i had to compromise, my way, and make both!! I made Vanilla cupcakes with pink icing topped with marshmallow flowers for Milla and Choc on Choc for Chloe.
I used my Devil's food cake recipe for the base itself but i tried a new way of making my Ganache and I'm proud to say, although very rich, it is delicious and I'm willing to share!

Jacinta's Ganache, Makes 2 cups

250g Custard (i used Woolworth's select brand custard)

400g dark chocolate, chopped (please don't skimp on the quality of this one!!)

-Bring Custard to near boiling point, then stir in chocolate until the choc is melted and there are no lumps.

-Allow to completely cool then whip with electric mixer.

-Pipe on to cupcake

-Lick bowl!!(don't let the kids do it, shove a cupcake their way, IT'S ALL YOURS!!)

Cupcakes for charity

I was most excited by a VERY recent message i received telling me about the TV ad for this;http://www.rspcacupcakeday.com.au/. WOW!! This is the kind of challenge made for me. Already i have visions of the cupcakes i will be baking to sell for this day as well as the event I plan to hold! Boy oh boy!!
BTW look out for Tiramisu cupcakes this week as well as a little girls cupcake baking day!!

Juice x

cupcakes for the heart

Don't get me wrong, i love preparing, baking & decorating cupcakes! However,when it is for someone special it is so much better... Over the last few weeks I've made space bugs, eye balls, spider webs & flowers, all for special children. All were requests. Children ask for the funniest things, eyeballs??? What made space bugs space bugs? Blue icing of course!! Unfortunately i didn't take any pictures, but every child that ate one enjoyed it and that was enough.
At the moment i have sore arm from an ice skating slip and the 1st thing i thought of when i worked out that I'd be out of action was that i wouldn't be able to bake cupcakes for a little while. Maybe it will give me some time to think up some new ideas? I am very much looking forward to my next bake...

Lemon & Ricotta Cupcakes

Makes 12 Cupcakes

200g Plain Flour

150g Castor Sugar

150g Ricotta

120g Butter

1 Egg

2 Lemons

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

125g Pure Icing Sugar

extra 200g Castor sugar

200ml water

Things you might need:

12 hole cupcake pan; 12 cupcake wrappers; electric mixer or beaters; saucepan; peeler; sharp knife; zester; sifter; juicer.

Firstly some housekeeping...

preheat oven to 180deg. Using a peeler, peel 1 lemon carefully as to avoid the pith (white inner peel) keep the lemon juice for the glaze to be made later. Slice these strips finely and add to saucepan that contains the 2oog Castor sugar dissolved in the 200ml water. Simmer for 20mins and then allow strips to cool in the syrup.

1. Melt butter and zest, then juice 1 Lemon.

2. Sift together baking powder and flour.

3. Using an electric mixer beat egg and sugar together for 2-3 mins, then add the melted butter, then ricotta and zest and finally juice, all while still beating the mixture.

4. Add spoonfuls of flour/baking powder at a time on low speed, then a quick burst to make mixture well combined.

5. 3/4 fill cupcake pans and bake for about 20mins. Should be light golden when done. Allow to cool on a rack.

6. Sift icing sugar into a mixing bowl. Drizzle reserved lemon juice into bowl while mixing on low speed. Icing should be very thick. Nest candied peel on top.

TIP- You can keep syrup for all sorts of things, it can be used as a syrup for citrus based cocktails or as a glaze over cakes or desserts.

This also makes a beautiful dessert, if you use well greased dariole moulds to bake mixture in place of cupcake wrappers, then serve drizzled with icing glaze and dollop of thick cream and garnished with candied zest.

Juice

xx

When is a cupcake a cupcake?

I follow lots of other cupcake blogs and i am a recipe book & website junkie! I have a large collection of beautiful recipe books of which some are in different languages, French, German & Gaelic!! Often i have to translate both language and measurements! It is a lot of fun though. However the one thing that doesn't tend to translate or have any sense of logic is what makes a cupcake a cupcake not a muffin or a patty cake, then throw in Texas muffins and mini muffins, just to confuse even the most even-tempered chef. I feel that i must comment after making 70 cupcakes over the weekend using 3 different recipes. I made 24 of my devil's foodcake recipe, which is adapted from an old American recipe book. It should have made 30, when filled to 3/4 of the paper casing. Another gluten-free recipe should have made only twelve but could have easily made 16!
So, does size matter or is it a case of, what i have always been suspicious of, it's all about the topping??? Personally i'll quite happily look at a cupcake for a long time, maybe photograph it & then eat it, devouring it, pretty quickly!

Devil's Food Cake

A few years ago i found this recipe in an old American cook book. I have changed it a bit to adapt to Aussie grocery availabilities. It's really simple but VERY popular. It tastes great with any type of frosting, but rich ganache is a decadent match. Plain glace icing is just so easy and affordable, and tastes great!




Devil's Food Cupcakes
Makes 18 Cupcakes

50g unsalted butter
115g Plain flour
115g Soft brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda
25g Unsweetened Cocoa powder
125ml Sour Cream



First make sure all ingredients are at room temp, this makes mixing easier and means mixture won't be be over beaten. Oven should be preheated to 180deg Celsius.

Beat all ingredients except for Sour Cream until just smooth then fold through Sour cream.

Gently spoon mixture into cupcake pans so they are no more than 3/4 full.

Bake for 15-20 Min's.

Pipe, spread, drizzle some sort of frosting, preferably a decadent ganache sprinkled with some choc shavings!!!

Vanilla on vanilla cupcakes

My favourite cupcakes are Vanilla on vanilla. They look fantastic in silver foil pans with a single white flower on top. Silver cachous MUST be involved!!! The white flowers, which i also make, look great with a dusting of either red or yellow food colouring powder in the centre with a silver cachous. These cupcakes are great for any special occasion or just for a decadent afternoon tea. They look beautiful on a tiered cupcake stand, are easy to pop into a noodle box to give away after a party.

The cupcake itself is vanilla buttercake and the topping is vanilla american-style frosting. The flower decoration is white royal icing.