miss cookie’s cupcakes.

So I just recently got a stand mixer for making my beautiful cakes, and all I’ve made with it so far is cupcakes – though I am fully intending to make some shortbread tonight or tomorrow night.

So, here are my pretties:

Double chocolate boysenberry, with boysenberry buttercream frosting.

Lemon yoghurt, with lemony cream cheese frosting.

Spiced carrot cupcakes, iced with cream cheese frosting and garnished with chopped walnuts.

 

As usual, if anybody wants some recipes, flick me a tweet! They’re all based on cookbook recipes, but they’ve all been altered to (in my opinion) improve them.

 

Note: I also use an icing gun, not a piping bag. Hate the damned things (read: I am terrible at using them).

500 cupcakes.

When I bought my excellent recipe book (see the post for the 18th of October) I noted, of course, that it had some lovely cupcakes on it. Naturally, the first ting I thought of was: the first recipe should be a cupcake recipe.

There’s a girl who lives in my hall of residence who seems to be forever borrowing the dining hall kitchen to make cupcakes, so I thought, who better to ask? I facebooked Alli – can you recommend me a cupcake recipe? – and she did me one better. She lent me her cupcake bible.

I really must return it to her … but I just keep copying them out. In fact, I shall copy one here, in case any of the [few] readers of this blog feel the need to make themselves some cupcakes.

Carrot and Walnut Cupcakes

Cupcakes:

225g (8oz) unsalted butter, softened

225g caster sugar

225g self-raising flour

4 eggs

1 tsp mixed spice

100g (3.5oz) chopped walnuts

150g (5oz) freshly grated carrots

2 tbsp sultanas

Icing:

200g (7oz) cream cheese, softened

175g (6 oz) icing sugar, sieved

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 tbsp chopped walnuts

Method:

Preheat your oven to 175C (350F/gas mark 4). Place 18 baking cases in muffin tins. Combine the butter, sugar, flour and eggs in a large bowl and beat with an electric whisk until smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Spoon the batter into the cases. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove tins from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Then remove the cupcakes and cool on a rack. To make the icing, slowly beat the cream cheese and icing sugar in a large bowl with an electric whisk until creamy and soft. Add the lemon juice and vanilla and beat briskly until well combined. Spread the icing liberally onto the cooled cupcakes and garnish with the chopped walnuts.

Store without icing for up to 3 days in an airtight container, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Makes 18.