banana cuppies for sale

yup, first time i bake cakes for sale..not to raise money for my holiday but for little missy & her school friends.   the infant school is having a cake sale day tomorrow to raise money to buy new playground equipment.  nasib baik lah mummy ada jugak bakat terpendam buat cake.

its a shame i cant join them tomorrow cos i've got classes all day. hopefully the sale goes well. 

recipe taken from tesco real food website. its dead easy to make and taste really nice..will definitely use this recipe again in future.

Ingredients

• 125g (4oz) butter, at room temperature
• 125g (4oz) caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 125g (4oz) plain flour
• 2tsp baking powder
• 2 small/medium bananas, mashed

1.  Preheat oven to Gas 4, 180ºC, fan160ºC. Line a bun tin with 12 cupcake cases. ( i managed to get 12 normal sized + 9 mini size cuppies from this mixture)
2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
3. Gradually beat in the eggs until mixture is smooth. Fold in flour, baking powder and bananas.
4. Divide between cases and bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool. Can be stored for up to 3-4 days.

icecream cone cake

i made these for big missy's birthday, as requested by the birthday girl. she found the recipe from goodtoknow magazine; also available online. i was a bit skeptical at first, worried that the cones would get burnt in the oven or cones would topple even if  i put them in the muffin trays.

found some links on youtube - best to cover the muffin tray with aluminium foil, then make small holes in the foil and put the cones and pour the cake mix. once the cakes are baked, poke the base of the cones with a fork to release the steam so that the cones wont get soggy and leave them on the wire rack to cool before decorating.

Ingredients (for 12  cakes)

• 12 wafer cup cornets
• 125g (41/2 oz) unsalted butter, softened
• 125g (41/2 oz) caster sugar
• 1 vanilla pod, cut in half and seeds reserved
• 2 eggs
• 125 g (41/2 oz) self-raising flour
• 3 tbsp milk

Equipment

• muffin tray
• aluminium foil
• disposable piping bag
• large star nozzle

To decorate:

• buttercream icing (i also made chocolate fudge icing)
• multi-coloured sugar strands, smarties etc

To make the cakes:

1. Preheat the oven to 190/Gas mark 5
2. cover  the muffin tray with aluminium foil, make small hole in the foil.
3. Stand the cornets in a 12-hole muffin tin − one in each muffin hole.
4. Whisk the butter, sugar and vanilla seeds together using an electric hand whisk or beat with a wooden spoon until pale and creamy. Gradually whisk in the eggs until just combined. Add the flour and milk and whisk again until combined and fluffy.
5. Divide between the cornets and bake in the oven for 20−25 minutes until golden and risen.
6. using a fork, poke the base of the cornets to release the steam. then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
7. Put the buttercream into a piping bag with a large star nozzle. Pipe a large swirl on to the top of each cupcake. Scatter over the sugar strands or smarties or whatever decoration,

Buttercream icing (enough to cover 12 cakes)

150g butter, softened

250g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp hot water

put butter and icing sugar in a bowl and beat well until smooth and creamy. add vanilla extract and hot water and beat again until smooth

Chocolate fudge icing (enough to cover 12 cakes)

100g plain chocolate, chopped and melt in the microwave or using double boiler

100g butter, softened

125g icing sugar

2 tbsp cooca powder

beat together butter, icing sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl until smooth and creamy. stir in melted chocolate. pipe/swirl the icing oer the tops of the cakes.

banana choc cupcakes

my cousin Suzie wrote a note of thanks to her friend Aida (whom i made acquaintance with way back in 2008) for the  superdelicious chocolate banana cake. "I just cannot have enough of it. YUmmmyyyy!!! Thanks Tip!".  inspired by the sound of the yummylicious-ness, i bought some over ripe bananas and tried the recipe from Joy of Baking as recommmended by Aida or Tip to her close friends. 

 
and... for the first time ever, i suceeded in swirling the icing/frosting or whatever you call it and i was really proud of my achievement hahaha!!

i like this recipe cos it uses CUPs instead of GRAMs. the website is from US, so they still measure in cups or ounces/imperial. it seems funny to me cos i would have thought the americans are more modern hence should measure in metric. 

i'm just too lazy to type the recipe; so just go to this link  http://www.joyofbaking.com/cupcakes/BananaChocolateCupcakes.html#ixzz1S6zLql3U 

i made some adjustments though..
for the choc frosting, i didnt put the chocolate in the bowl over hot water. i cheated a bit - i chopped the choc and put it in the microwave at 30 seconds intervals.
the cocoa powder - i used Tesco cocoa powder, not really bothered whether it is unsweetened or not.

choc fudge cupcakes

i made these for big missy's best friend's birthday party. Lauren's parents have taken them and few others to a water park for the afternoon and later on they are having a BBQ birthday party; tracy has bought halal chicken & burgers for big missy.

as usual, i just used house brand (tesco) ingredients and stork butter - dah mahal sikit sekarang, the 1kg tub used to cost £1.50 now dah naik £1.90.

 i sprinkled sugar strands over the frosting to cover some imperfection and used cake toppers.. cant remember where i got them from.

for the cuppies

ingredients

125g lightly salted butter (softened)

100g light muscovado sugar

2 eggs

100g self raising flour

50g cocoa powder



method

line 12 section bun tray with paper cake cases

put all ingredients in a bowl and beat with a hand held electric whisk for about a  minute until light and creamy

divide the cake mixture evenly between the paper cases

bake in preheated oven 180 deg C/350F/Gas mark 4, for 20  inutes or until risen and just firm to the touch

transfer to wire rack

spread with frostling over the top of cakes while still warm

for choc fudge frosting (enough for 12 cucpakes)

ingredients

100g plain or milk chocolate (chopped)

2 tbsp milk

50g unsalted butter

75g icing sugar (sifted)

method
put chocolate, milk and butter in a small heavy based sauce pan/milk pan and heat gently, stirring until the chocolate and butter have melted
remove from heat and stir in icing until smooth
spread the frosting over the top of cupcakes while still warm

chocolate peppermint cupcakes

i love them... taste like aero mint chocolate bubbles!! easy to make and simply delicious..made them couple of times and didnt last that long in the cake tin.

this recipe comes from Nigella (the sultry kitchen goddess)'s website.

Ingredients

• 

• 225g self raising flour
• 4 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 225g caster sugar
• 225g unsalted butter
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp mint essence
• 100g plain choc chips

For icing:

• 115g unsalted butter, softened
• 225g icing sugar sieved
• 1 tsp mint essence
• green food colouring
• 100g plain choc chips (or use choc sprinkles)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160 deg. C. Place 18 paper cases into muffin tins
2. In a bowl sieve flour, baking powder and cocoa.
3. Beat butter and sugar together in another bowl. Add eggs one at a time and beat together. Add flour mixture gradually.
4. Stir in the mint essence and choc chips.
5. Spoon mixture into cases and bake for about 25 mins.

To make icing,

1. beat icing sugar and butter in a bowl stir in the mint essence, and just enough food colour to turn the icing mint green.
2. Ice the cooled cupcakes and decorate with choc chips or sprinkles.

Serves: 18

note:

i didnt have to modify anything...well, except for the butter. i'm not really bothered whether i use unsalted butter or lightly salted butter because i always use Stork for baking. i like nigella's recipes simply because they are fuss free and quick to make.