Buttercream Bakery Mango, Pineapple & Passion Fruit Mini Cupcake Recipe

This is an unbelievably delicious cupcake recipe and a new favourite of mine.

Since the summer this year has been practically non existent, I am having to get my sunshine in cupcake form. Enter the Mango, Pineapple & Passion Fruit Mini Cupcake.

Mmmm yummy...

These beautiful cupcakes are vanilla bean & mango sponge, dipped in pineapple syrup, frosted with mango buttercream and drizzled with passion fruit glaze. 

Needless to say these cupcakes are immense!

I have used a delicious locally made pineapple jam but you could easily make your own by simmering pineapple puree and sugar together until thickened.

This recipe is one I use at work so it makes 60 mini cupcakes, which I know is a lot if they're just for you but also great if you want to make mini cupcakes for a party. You can absolutely half the recipe, if you wish.

Mango, Pineapple & Passion Fruit Mini Cupcakes

(makes around 60 mini cupcakes)

125g unsalted butter

175g vanilla sugar or caster sugar

1 vanilla pod

2 large eggs

175g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

5 tablespoons milk

1/2 tsp natural mango extract

Mango Buttercream

160g unsalted butter, room temperature

225g icing sugar, sifted

3-4 tbsp mango coulis

Passion Fruit Glaze

2 tbsp passion fruit coulis

4 tbsp icing sugar, sifted

For the Syrup

2 heaped tbsp pineapple jam

2 tbsp water

Preheat your oven to 180 C/ gas mark 4 and line your mini muffin tins with muffin cases.

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, around 3 minutes. Split the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds, add to the butter mixture and beat well. 

 Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, gently fold in to the butter mixture, mixing thoroughly and then add the milk and mango extract.

Spoon the batter into your prepared cupcake cases and bake for around 10 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the centre of one of the cupcakes comes out clean.

Allow the cupcakes to cool in the tins for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

To Make the Mango Buttercream

Place the butter into the large bowl of an electric mixture and beat for about 5 minutes or until significantly lighter in colour.

Add half of the sifted icing sugar and beat on a low speed until fully combined, add the mango coulis and beat until incorporated.  Add the remaining icing sugar and beat on a low speed for a further 3 minutes.

To Make the Passion Fruit Glaze

Mix together the passion fruit coulis and icing sugar until completely blended.

The glaze should be drizzling consistency, if not add a little extra icing sugar.

To Make the Pineapple Jam Syrup

Place the pineapple jam in a small saucepan and add the water, place on the hob over a medium heat for around 3 minutes, until syrupy.

To Assemble

Dip the top of each mini cupcake in pineapple jam syrup, you will have to work fairly quickly as the pineapple jam syrup will begin to set as it cools.

Fit a piping bag with a plain round nozzle and pipe mango buttercream on to each cupcake. 

Place the passion fruit glaze in uncut disposable piping bag, snip a very small hole at the tip and drizzle the glaze over the top of each cupcake.

x x x



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Buttercream Bakery Mango, Pineapple & Passion Fruit Mini Cupcake Recipe

Crumbs Cupcakes New York & Buttercream Bakery Crumbs Inspired Cupcakes Brighton



 Crumbs cupcakes are literally all over New York, on every corner, in every little deli, everywhere you stop for a slice, you will find a huge array of Crumbs cupcakes.

There are two things you immediately notice about a Crumbs cupcake:

1. They look unbelievably delicious. Crumbs cupcakes are covered in glorious toppings, sprinkles, crushed Oreos, peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, coconut, fudge, they look amazing.

2. They are massive! I mean really massive, certainly a two person cupcake.

Please forgive me for not trying one, the last thing I want to eat on holiday is a cupcake and I had already feasted at Magnolia Bakery.  I did however inspect them very closely.

The secret to the massive Crumbs cupcake is of course a massive cupcake case, not muffin sized but double muffin sized!

I vowed to search the Internet when I got home for some massive cupcake cases of my very own but it turns out I didn't need to, I found some in New York, at NY Cake (aka heaven on earth).

So whilst whipping up batches of cupcakes for the hotels this week I finally got around to trying out my new massive cupcake cases.

My Crumbs inspired Buttercream Bakery Super Cupcake.

Now that is a  massive cupcake!

I love the massive cupcakes and will definitely be ordering some more giant cupcake cases.

 I'm using them for an order next week, the cupcakes will have particularly large toppers, so a large cupcake will be brilliant.

My massive cupcakes and indeed the mini cupcakes are lemon drizzle, with lemon buttercream and lemon & lime shortbread crumbs to decorate.

The normal or muffin sized cupcake is of course chocolate.

x x x

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Crumbs Cupcakes New York & Buttercream Bakery Crumbs Inspired Cupcakes Brighton

Coolest Baby Shower Ideas Contest

The fabulous people over at Coolest Baby Shower Ideas are running a fantastic contest, share your awesome baby shower ideas, pictures, decorations and/or cakes and you could win....

....an IPad 2 or $500 in cash!

 Rather excitingly I was asked if I would like to become one of the judges of this years contest.  You can find me and all the other judges here.

To find out more about the contest and how to enter visit the Coolest Baby Shower Ideas Contest Page, it is a great contest and brilliant for those of you who have hidden party planning talents.  Even better it is really easy to enter, just submit the pictures and details of your last baby shower.

I know how fabulous you all are at coming up with genius party ideas and themes so whether you have already thrown an amazing Baby Shower or would like to create something especially for this contest it will be great fun to take part and you may even win!

Good Luck. x

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Coolest Baby Shower Ideas Contest

Ferrero Rocher Macaron Recipe

I have been waiting to post this glorious recipe for a while now. I originally made these chocolate and hazelnut macarons in red weeks ago for some Christmas samples but when I tasted them and realized that they taste exactly like Ferrero Rocher I knew I had to hold of posting them and re-make them in gold.

Despite having to toast and grind the hazelnuts this recipe is actually really easy, this is mainly due to the ease of the Nutella filling. Most of my macarons have weird and wonderful fillings, all made form scratch and they do take a bit of time.

These will definitely be my go to macarons this Christmas, I'm not sure you have Ferrero Rocher in the U.S but over here Ferrero Rocher has been the most popular Christmas present for years, boxes of Ferrero Rocher are always top of those lists they do. 

 Now I hope everyone will be getting/giving Ferrero Rocher Macarons instead.

Ferrero Rocher Macarons

(Makes 30 -50 macarons depending on their size)

170g icing sugar

100g ground almonds

60g hazelnuts

1 tsp cocoa powder

4 large egg whites, separated into two equal batches -

160g caster sugar

1 jar Nutella

gold lustre dust

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Place the hazelnuts in a food processor and blitz to a crumb. Spread the ground hazelnuts on a baking sheet, turn the oven off and place the baking sheet  in the oven for around 10 minutes or until the ground nuts are dry. Place in the clean bowl of your food processor and blitz once again.

Sieve together the icing sugar, ground almonds, ground hazelnuts & cocoa powder into a large mixing bowl. Add the first batch of egg whites (unbeaten) and mix to form a thick paste. Set aside.

Tip the second batch of egg whites into a heatproof bowl and have an electric whisk at the ready. Place 50ml water and the caster sugar into a small saucepan on a medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook until the syrup registers 110C, using a sugar thermometer, at which time start beating the egg whites on a high speed. Once the syrup has reached 118C pour it slowly down the side of the mixer bowl, avoiding the whisk. Continue to whisk on high until the mixture has cooled slightly and you have a shiny peaked meringue mixture - the bowl should no longer be hot to the touch, but still warm.

Tip the meringue onto the almond mixture and gently fold together. It is important not to over-mix the batter - it should fall in a thick ribbon from the spatula. The ribbon should fade back into the batter within about 30 seconds - if it does not, fold a few more times.

Heat the oven to 170C/150C Fan/ gas 3-4. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper. Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle. Pipe rounds onto the prepared baking sheets, leave to rest for 30 minutes on the kitchen counter, or until the macarons have developed a skin.

Bake the macarons for 14 minutes (around 10 minutes for mini macarons). Once out of the oven immediately slide the parchment onto a work surface and cool for a few minutes before gently peeling off the paper.

Pair up your macaron shells and using a clean soft bristle paint brush, dust the macaron shells with gold lustre dust.

Marry up the macaron shells and fill a piping bag, fitted with a plain round nozzle, with Nutella.  Pipe Nutella onto the flat side of one macaron in each pair and sandwich the macarons pairs together. 

The gold lustre dust is of course optional, they will taste fantastic in any colour and decorated in any fashion.  If you are making these as a gift or just want to make something really special, a little edible gold leaf goes a long way and I think would just tip these luxurious macs over the edge into pure decadence.

I hope you all have a brilliant weekend. x

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Ferrero Rocher Macaron Recipe

Lots Of Cupcakes, Loads Of Sprinkles & A Few Doughnuts

It's cupcake time again and I have lots to show you all.

We've been going mini cupcake crazy this week, making more mini cupcakes than regular cupcakes.

I love these mini chocolate cupcakes with milk chocolate ganache and chocolate curls, very cute and totally scrumptious.

We've also been making more mini strawberry shortcake cupcakes, they have been going down a storm and look so adorable.

Mini vanilla cupcakes with strawberry jam, vanilla cream cheese frosting and shortbread biscuit sprinkle, perfect.

I love sprinkles an unnatural amount, they are a wonderfully simple and visually spectacular way to decorate cupcakes and come in so many designs and colours these days. I have been sprinkling all week, all sorts of shapes, sizes and colours.

I love these bright and colourful sprinkles...

...and these tiny little ones.

There will be many more sprinkles coming up but next up is a super sweet kitty cat batch, the cats are adorable and the cupcakes are scrumptious, what more could you ask for?

I thought the pink cat was my favourite but in these pics the white cat is just begging for a cuddle.

The cupcakes are maple, with maple cream cheese frosting.

The kitty cat batch was completed with light pink sugar sprinkle cupcakes, pink sugar is just the best.

I also used the adorable pink sugar for some more mini cupcakes...

Very cute!

Continuing with more mini cupcakes and more sprinkles, we have these lovely vanilla cupcakes with pink vanilla buttercream and bright green sprinkles....

...adorable little Marshmallow covered cuppies...

...and tiny silver sprinkles, perfect for a tiny cupcake.

There are more cupcakes to come but I thought I'd break it up with a few pictures of some doughnut I've been working on.

I still haven't found a recipe I am happy with, hence no doughnut post but these doughnuts look so cute I'm determined to continue the search.

The pink doughnuts are strawberry and kiwi glazed, the glaze tastes like Snapple, I love it.

The chocolate ones are chocolate and praline, also very yummy.

I LOVE doughnuts!

If you have a good doughnut recipe can I have it please? : (

OK enough of my doughnut woes back to cupcakes...

Mmm more sprinkles...

I think this next cupcake should win some sort of cuteness award, The marshmallow ice cream is so sweet and yes they were ice cream flavour! Awesome!

That's it I'm done, lots of cupcakes, loads of sprinkles and a few doughnuts.  I'll be back tomorrow with a Ferrero Rocher macaron recipe.

Happy Cupcaking.

x x x

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Lots Of Cupcakes, Loads Of Sprinkles & A Few Doughnuts

Truffle Recipes: White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Truffles & Milk Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles

I have been making lots and lots and lots of truffles recently.  I shared my Mocha Truffle recipe with you all at the end of last week but today I'm posting not one but two new truffle recipes!

 Gorgeous White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Truffles and beautiful Milk Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles.

Truffles are such a pleasure to make and eat for that matter.

 I'm not a huge white chocolate fan so I'm not too bad with those ones but let me tell you I find it very difficult not to eat all of the milk chocolate hazelnut truffles immediately.

Both truffles are beautifully flavoured and silky smooth, they are pure indulgence.

Milk Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles

Makes 40 - 50 Truffles

65g butter, very soft

1 heaped tbsp chocolate & hazelnut spread (Nutella)

250g best quality milk chocolate

150ml double cream

20g vanilla sugar

50g hazelnuts, crushed or chopped finely

Piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip

Method:

Whisk the very soft butter in a small bowl until smooth, add the chocolate & hazelnut spread and mix until well combined.

Using a sharp knife chop the chocolate on a cutting board and place in a large bowl.

In a small saucepan combine the double cream and vanilla sugar and bring to a boil.

Pour this hot liquid over the chopped chocolate and combine well. Once all the chocolate has melted add the butter mixture and combine.

Pour the ganache into a baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerator for between 45minutes and 1 hour, to cool completely. Remove from the refrigerator and leave to rest at room temperature for around 15 minutes.

Transfer the ganache to the piping bag fitted with a plain tip. Holding the piping bag vertically, pipe small rounds onto a lined baking sheet, using a squeeze and release motion in order to create the kiss shape. 

Sprinkle the truffles with crushed hazelnuts and place the sheet in the refrigerator for 30 minutes until the truffles become firm.

Store truffles in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Truffles

Makes 40 - 50 Truffles

65g butter, very soft

1 vanilla pod

300g best quality white chocolate

150ml double cream

20g vanilla sugar

60g icing sugar

Piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip

Method:

Whisk the very soft butter in a small bowl until smooth. Scrape the seed for the vanilla pod and add to the butter, mixing well.

Using a sharp knife chop the chocolate on a cutting board and place in a large bowl.

In a small saucepan combine the double cream and vanilla sugar and bring to a boil.

Pour this hot liquid over the chopped chocolate and combine well. Once all the chocolate has melted add the butter and combine.

Pour the ganache into a baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerator for between 45minutes and 1 hour, to cool completely. Remove from the refrigerator and leave to rest at room temperature for around 15 minutes.

Transfer the ganache to the piping bag fitted with a plain tip. Holding the piping bag vertically, pipe small rounds onto a lined baking sheet, using a squeeze and release motion in order to create the kiss shape. Dust the truffles with sieved icing sugar and place the sheet in the refrigerator for 30 minutes until the truffles become firm.

Store truffles in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

I've been so busy at work I haven't had a chance to do any home baking for ages! I hope I'm doing a good job of keeping my little blog going with pictures and recipes from the bakery because things don't appear to be slowing down, at least not any time soon. 

This week we have cute cupcakes, kitty cat cupcakes, some pretty gross cupcakes, mini cupcakes, macarons in some seriously gorgeous flavours, signature chocolate layer cakes and some Crumbs inspired cupcakes.

That's a lot of yummy!

x x x



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Truffle Recipes: White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Truffles & Milk Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles

Buttercream Bakery Cupcake Friday

Hello my lovely cupcake people, yes it is finally that time again, cupcake Friday and you know what that means, lots of cupcakes.

First up is an awesome Kawaii Cupcake Set I made early in the week.

I love these cupcakes, the kawaii toppers features miniature doughnuts, cupcakes, macarons, chocolate bars, wrapped sweets, strawberries, bows, roses, love hearts, ice creams and Hello Kitty.

The dozen only contained 3 highly detailed Kawaii cupcakes, the rest were simpler but still just as cute...

Next up are Abigail's Alice In Wonderland Cupcakes.

You have seen my Alice In Wonderland cupcakes before and I don't usually re-post designs you have already seen but I love the lettering on this batch.

The brief was just to do blue lettering but I couldn't help but add the little Alice In Wonderland details, they really tie the batch together and the plain blue against white looked a little too young for a teenagers birthday and would have been more suitable for a baby shower.  I added mini 'Eat Me' labels, mini toadstools, rose buds, mini mad hatter hats and bows.

The Mad Hatter Cupcake was particularly cute this time, I made the hat and label slightly larger than usual.

I love the 'Eat Me' labels both on the cupcake cupcake and the lettering.

I have also been making hundreds of mini cupcakes for the hotels....

Cute little vanilla cupcakes with miniature love heart sprinkles....

....and cute little Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes....

These are so yummy! I start with our signature vanilla bean cupcake, in miniature of course, I add a dollop of warm strawberry jam, frost with vanilla bean buttercream and sprinkle with crushed shortcake biscuits.

Yum!

I hope you all have a wonderful relaxing weekend planned, or at least a wonderfully hectic one, I'm hoping to get a chance to pop to a wonderful local farm shop for some goodies. 

x x x



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Buttercream Bakery Cupcake Friday