Little Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes

I've baked alot of chocolately based cakes recently and I thought as it was the end of our first term here at Bournemouth I would treat my ever so lovely class to a last bake of the term. Not wanting to cause death-by-chocolate I thought I would bake something a little lighter and sweeter and what could be more fitting than a little bit of lemon?!

I simply adapted my favourite Lemon Drizzle Cake recipe and made cupcakes instead to make smaller bites of yumminess! Here is how they turned out...

Had I been making the original cake recipe, I would not usually have frosted them, but made an icing with icing sugar and some fresh lemon juice, to drizzle over the top. But I decided with the cupcakes a lemony frosting would add to the whole look as well as taste- seemingly it worked and I was pleased to see that some members of my class had multiple cakes, so I must be doing something right!

Fancy having a go? Here is the recipe you will need:



For the Cake:

• 120g of plain flour
• 150g of caster sugar 
• 1½ teaspoons of baking powder
• 2 tablespoons of grated lemon zest, plus extra to decorate
• 40g of unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 120 ml of whole milk
• 1 egg

  

 For the lemon frosting:

• 250g of icing sugar (sifted)
•  80g of unsalted butter (at room temperature)
•  2 tablespoons of grated lemon zest
•  A few drops of yellow food colouring (optional but pretty!)
•  25 ml of whole milk

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 170°C.  
2. Sift the flour and put it in a large bowl with the sugar, baking powder, lemon zest and butter. Then beat them on slow speed until all the components are combined.
3. Gradually pour in the milk and continue beating so that everything is mixed in well.
4. Add the egg to the first mixture and beat it in with the rest for a few minutes until it formed a nice, smooth blend.
5. Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until they are about 2/3 full.
6. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes. If you pop a skewer through them it should come out clean and they spring back when touched. Leave in the tray to cool slighty before putting them on the cooling rack to cool completely before they are iced.
7. Whilst my cupcakes were cooling I started making the frosting. First beat the icing sugar, butter, lemon zest and food colouring on medium-slow speed until the ingredients were well combined.
8. Slowly pour in the milk and if like me you want a little extra tang, squeeze in a bit of fresh lemon juice. Then return to a high speed and beat the mix for atleast 5 minutes, until the frosting becomes light and  fluffy.
9. Once you're happy and the cupcakes are cool, it's time to frost the cakes! Take a decent amount of the frosting with a spoon, a knife or a small spatula and spread it evenly while rotating the cupcake. This gives you more control and a better finish on the cakes. I then decorated with the left over lemon rind, but you could use lemon sweets, other cake decorations or even leave then plain.

Christmas Gift Guide: £500 & under

As Christmas gets closer by the day, those of us who have yet to start our christmas shopping (definitely not me...) are beginning to feel the pressure. Finding the right gifts for family and friends is not an easy task and to try to ease the pain here is the final Christmas Gift Guide edit! This last installment draws upon the almighty £500 and under category where I have attempted to bring a range of higher-priced gifts to solve your present-buying dilemmas. Personally, I can't help but lust over the glittery purple Miu Miu heels, glittery soles are every girls dream, right?!

 

 

 

 

 

1. Beats by Dre headphones: £249.99

2. Michael Kors watch: £229

3. Charlotte Olympia christmas pudding clutch: £430

4. Miu Miu glitter-sole heels- £445

5. KitchenAid mixer: £250

6. Ipad Mini: From £269

7. Mulberry clipper: £265

8. Mary Katrantzou scarf: £340

 

Super-Easy Chocolate Sponge Cake

As a Radio Production Masters student at bournemouth we are expected to run a student radio station solely for the radio masters course- BIRST as it is formally known. It will showcase our features, documentaries and anything we produce during the next year. It's our vision, our station. So, for our first BIRST meeting of the year I thought Iwould bake a batch of brownies to mark the occasion. As it happens they went down so well that I seem to have taken the role of class baker and a tradition seems to have formed that I am the chosen individual who bakes for any momentous occasions, birthdays, end of terms, etc.

So after chocolate brownies were demolished I thought that bar Christmas, (where I would probably be baking something christmassy anyway) my baking efforts could be rested for the remainder of the year. Well, that was until our BIRST station manager went and turned 23, and we all know what that means- a celebration calls for a celebration cake and before I knew it, it was time to get my bake on once more. Fortunately for me I could bake all day and love an excuse to get away from any dreaded essay and into the kitchen!

As I had such success with the chocolate halloween cake, I thought I would stick with what I know and created an extra, extra chocolately double layered, ganache sponge. The ganache gives a lovely shiny finish and the smartied added a little bit of colour.

Here is the recipe!

• 50g/2oz cocoa powder
• 6 tbsp boiling water
• 3 free-range eggs
• 4 tbsp milk
• 175g/6oz self-raising flour
• 1 rounded tsp baking powder
• 100g/4oz baking spread or soft butter
• 300g/10oz natural caster sugar

 

For the icing and filling

• 150g/5oz dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
• 150ml/5fl oz double cream
• 3 tbsp apricot jam
• icing sugar, to dust

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and grease and line two 20cm/8in sandwich tins with baking parchment.
2. Put the cocoa powder and boiling water into a large bowl and mix well to make a paste. Add the remaining ingredients and beat again until combined. This can also be done in a food processor, but take care not to over whisk. Divide the cake mixture between the prepared tins. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until well risen and shrinking away from the sides of the tin.
3. Meanwhile, for the icing and filling, measure the chocolate and cream together in a bowl and stand the bowl over a pan of simmering water for about 10 minutes, or until melted. Stir from time to time. Set aside and leave until cool and almost set.
4. Once baked, remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool completely. Spread the tops of each cake with apricot jam. I decided against the jam and just filled mine with the chocolate ganache which was just as yummy. Fill the cakes with half of the icing and spread the remainder on top. Draw large “S” shapes over the cake with a palatte knife to give a swirl effect. Dust with icing sugar and serve in slices.
5. I chose to simply decorate mine with some smarties, but you can use whatever sweets you like, or leave it plain as suggested above. 

Halloween Cake

Although this is a couple of months late, I still can't help but share this years Halloween recipe with you. I've never really been a huge Halloween fan however, this year I decided was the year to put my baking skills to the test and make a cake for our Halloween house party!

I decided upon a simple chocolate cake but put a Halloween twist on it by turning the icing and toppings into a graveyard; gravestones and creepy critters galore. It went down a treat with our hungry guests even if I so say so myself! Please excuse the awful phone quality picture but if you fancy re-creating this spooky sponge then here is the recipe you'll need.

 

For the cake

• 250g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
• 250g caster sugar
• 4 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 200g self-raising flour
• 50g cocoa powder

 

For the ginger biscuit tombstones

• 350g plain flour
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 100g butter, cut into cubes
• 175g light soft brown sugar
• 4 tbsp golden syrup
• 1 free-range egg, lightly beaten

 

For the decoration

• white icing (such as royal icing), for decorating the biscuits
• 125g butter, softened
• 250g icing sugar
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp milk
• ½ pack Oreo cookies or bourbon biscuits or rich tea
• 1 pack chocolate sticks (such as Matchmakers or chocolate fingers)
• halloween sweets

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. Grease and line a 20x30cm/8x12in rectangular cake tin with baking parchment.
3. Beat together the butter and sugar with a hand-held mixer until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Add the eggs a little at a time, beating well between each addition, adding the vanilla extract with the last of the egg.
4. Sift together the flour and the cocoa powder into a bowl. Fold the flour mixture into the butter mixture until fully incorporated.
5. Spoon the cake batter into the prepared tin and smooth the surface with the back of a spoon.
6. Bake for 30 minutes until firm to the touch (a wooden skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean).
7. Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
8. For the ginger biscuit tombstones, place the flour, ginger and bicarbonate of soda into a mixing bowl. Rub the butter in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
9. Add the sugar, syrup and egg and mix together until it forms a soft dough. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
10. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4.
11. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut out your shapes – you will only need a few for the cake so cut out some other Halloween shapes for extra biscuits.
12. Place the shapes on to greased baking sheets and bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the sheets with a palette knife and place onto a wire rack to cool completely before decorating with white icing.
13. For the buttercream, beat the butter in a large bowl with a hand held mixer until creamy then add the icing sugar a spoonful at a time beating well between each addition. Add the cocoa powder and milk and beat again for a further five minutes until light and fluffy.
14. Blend the Oreo or bourbon biscuits to fine crumbs in a food processor.
15. Spread the buttercream over the cooled cake, covering the top and sides – a few lumps and bumps will make it more mud-like.
16. Break the chocolate sticks in half unevenly, then stick around the sides of the cake to form the fence.
17. Sprinkle the biscuit soil over the surface before sticking in the tombstones and decorating with spooky sweets.

Christmas Gift Guide: £100 & Under

Christmas is gradually getting closer and closer so here is a gift guide with a slightly larger budget for those who are looking around the £100 mark. The big £500 is still to come, but this should keep you considering those gift ideas for a little while longer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Michael by Michael Kors scarf- £94

2. Marc by Marc Jacobs laptop case- £55

3. Ugg sheepskin ear muffs- £68

4. Kenneth Jay Lane cocktail ring- £65

5. Nike high tops- £68

6. Creme de la Mer moisturiser- £100

7. Lomography Diana camera- £99.95

8. Ted Baker purse- £60

 

Christmas Gift Guide: £50 & under

As promised, here is the £50 and under Christmas Gift Guide hopefully with a little something for everyone. If you haven't started your shopping yet, you only have 20 days left so take a look below, get inspired and get shopping!!
 

 

 

 

1. Daisy Eu So Fresh by Marc Jacobs- £48

2. Paisley cake stand- £36

3. Jack Wills cotterell hat- £29.50

4. Jo Malone Candle- £38

5. Wah Nails book- £9.99

6. Bobbi Brown eye palette- £47

7. Melissa Odabash bracelet- £45

8. Owl cushion - £20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November In Pictures

November has been and gone and mine has been filled with some of the greatest memories that I will remember forever. I officially graduated from Winchester at the Cathedral. Spending the week with my closest family and friends which I've made over the past three years, some of whom I hope will be friends for life sure made up for the chilly weather. Re-exploring Winchester and the picturesque buildings behind the cathedral. Gucci the rabbit kept me company in my friend's room and was too cute not to feature! Two new sparkly Pandora beads, my present for graduating. A batch of brownies made especially for us graduates. Freshy painted raspberry nails. My first Christmas cup of the season filled with a delicious praline mocha.

 Cosying up in my favourite snood. More baking, a chocolate cake this time for one of my classmate's birthdays. A trip back home to Northamptonshire with Caitlin. winter walks in our wellies. Chanel treats from mum and the view from my bedroom, it may be foggy but it's always home. Trips to Bournemouth's German Market, the lights twinkling. The christmas tree in all its glory in the twon centre. Wimborne Minster looking glorious in the sunshine.