Fat little dumplings

Today we attended an RSPCA fundraiser hosted by our good friends Cathy and Andy.  What a day for us!  So many great cupcakes to be tasted, and Lexi with such a tenuous grip on the diabetes free life.  Doctor says he’s gonna take her foot if she don’t stop eatin’ sugar!  Cathy made some spectacular cupcakes and we foolishly did not get a picture of them – but they were sugary and delicious.  Here is a link to Cathy’s blog: http://www.friendswithcandy.com/blog/

I made Lemon Lime Meringue cupcakes.  They were very tasty and looked good (if a little burnt on top). 

The recipe is from ‘500 cupcakes’ by Fergal Connolly (a great book!).

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes

225g Unsalted butter, softened

225 g Caster sugar

225g S.R flour

4 Eggs

1 Tsp Vanilla essence

For the filling

75 ml Lime Juice (I used half lemon half lime)

400 g tin condensed milk

For the Meringue

3 egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

75 g granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 175’C.  Place all cupcake ingredients together in a bowl and beat until smooth and pale (about 2-3 mins).  Spoon the batter in cases and bake for about 20 mins.  Remove tins from the oven and cool for 5 mins – then remove cupcakes and cool on a rack.  For the filling combine the juice and condensed milk in a bowl.  Remove the top of each cupcake and hollow out a small hole.  Spoon the filling into the hold and replace the top.  For the meringue, beat the eggs and cream of tartar until soft peaks form.  Add one third of the sugar and beat for 1 minute.  Repeat until all sugar has been added.  Increase the oven temperature to 230’C.  Spoon or pipe the meringue on top of the cupcakes.  Bake for 5 mins until golden (be careful here – mine were almost burnt within 3 mins).  Store for no more than a day in an airtight container.

Tom made white chocolate and strawberry cupcakes (from the same book).  Lexi and I decorated some of these with a cream cheese and strawberry icing (which was ace). 

Mostly they looked ok, and the cupcakes were very tasty (good work Tom!) – icing very well executed by Lexi.

Tom decorated some as well, this one is a Cthulhu.  Apparently a Cthulhu is a Lovecraftian horror from beyond time and space.  This doesn’t look horrible though.  Tom made excellent use of Pashmak Persian fairy floss, a house favourite.

This is another “Tom special” – an Evil Dead cupcake! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

White chocolate and strawberry cupcakes (also a recipe from ‘500 cupcakes’ by Fergal Connolly)

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

225 g unsalted butter, softened

225 g caster sugar

225 g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

4 eggs

1 tsp strawberry essence

100 g white chocolate chips

For the icing

200 g cream cheese, softened

175 g icing sugar, sieved

1 tsp vanilla essence

3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

Strawberries, to decorate

Preheat the oven to 175’C. Place 18 paper baking cases in muffin tins. Combine the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, eggs and strawberry essence in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric whisk until light and creamy. Stir in the chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into the cases, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the tins from the oven and cool for about 5 minutes, then remove the cupcakes to cool on a rack.

To make the icing, beat the cream cheese, icing sugar, vanilla and butter together until smooth and creamy. The longer you beat the mixture, the lighter and creamier it will become. Ice the cupcakes, and decorate with strawberries.