Tuesday 7 January 2014

Baking Escapades #1 ~ Raspberry and Coconut Iced Cupcakes

This Christmas, quite a few of my presents were baking themed, which is absolutely perfect, as there's nothing better than baking some yummy treats to cheer yourself, or someone else, up.

I received cake tins and cookie cutters from my housemates at uni for secret santa and for my birthday, however the most amazing of all the presents, which rendered me momentarily speechless, was a standalone cake mixer from my parents. So I can guarantee that a lot of baking will happen in the future! (One of the main things that limits the amount I bake at uni is how much longer it takes when you have to do everything by hand - it might be more satisfying but when you want to whip up some cupcakes or brownies and don't have a whole evening to dedicate to it, it's not exactly ideal).

Obviously not my photo...it's from the Morphy Richards website.

It even folds away (minus the bowl) into something that can easily fit in my share of the kitchen cupboards!

I've also semi-recently treated myself to two new recipe books, The Primrose Bakery Book and The Hummingbird Bakery Home Sweet Home book.


For the first of my baking adventures for 2014, I decided to use a recipe from the Primrose Bakery book for Raspberry and Coconut Ice Cupcakes, something I've made once before at uni, as I knew mum would be a fan.



This photo is from the first time I baked them (in November) as they didn't last long enough in this house for me to get a proper picture.

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes
225g golden caster sugar
225g unsalted butter
210g self-raising flour
25g cornflour
1 tsp baking powder
4 large eggs
150g crushed fresh raspberries (I used frozen this time round and couldn't tell the difference)

To Decorate
Approx. 12 tsp raspberry jam
115g unsalted butter
60ml coconut milk
500g icing sugar
75g desiccated coconut
1 tsp vanilla extract
A few drops of pink colouring

The Method
The method for the cupcakes themselves is pretty similar to any other cupcake recipe, although it's best to mix in the raspberries by hand after everything else. Likewise, the buttercream icing is pretty self-explanatory, make it as you usually would, but with the addition of the coconut milk and desiccated coconut. If you're after an exact method then I highly recommend you buy the book.

To decorate, hollow out a well in the middle of each cupcake, fill it with raspberry jam, and then ice. It's also worth noting that muffin cases are used rather than standard bun cases, which I'm certainly a fan of - who doesn't like a bigger cupcake?!

The Verdict
Most definitely a baking success! The combination of raspberry and coconut has proved popular with the family, and the jammy surprise under the icing was definitely a good one. They are a pretty simple bake, no more complicated than most cupcake recipes, so almost anyone would be able to give these a go. I'm certainly looking forward to trying out more recipes from Martha Swift and Lisa Thomas, and I'm pretty confident I'll be baking these again!

The Primrose Bakery Book, including this, and so many other amazing recipes, can be bought from Primrose Bakery's website: http://www.primrose-bakery.co.uk/gift-shop/ or from most other places you'd choose to buy your books.


Hannah-Rose x