Flapjacks

Sticky, Chewy...

As part of my ever yo-yo-ing diet, I am trying to steer clear of wheat based carbs. Not so much because I am a teensey bit intolerant (not as much as some friends are, but enough to make me want to experiment with my best loved recipes)

Oats are a fabulous and tasty way of replacing toast with porridge at breakfast time so, of course, being me, I decided to make a sweet treat to keep things interesting for later in the day. 

This recipe is not so great for those of us on a slimming diet, but is fantastic for the tastebuds. And I avoided reaching for toast, which is what started this whole thing off in the first place!

I replaced caster (superfine) sugar with light brown musgavado sugar but you may like super-sweet, I like mine just sweet. 

250g butter, plus extra for greasing
250g sugar light brown or caster
175g golden (corn) syrup
500g jumbo porridge oats 

Preheat the oven to 180^o C

Grease a 20cm square cake tin
Melt the butter on a low heat in a saucepan, add golden syrup and sugar and stir in
Add oats and stir well.
Take off the heat and pour into the tin and press down firmly

Bake for 20 minutes and golden. Don't let the colour get too dark as the sugar caramelises and your flapjack will become brittle or harder to chew. It sets more as it cools down. 

Cut into pieces before flapjack cools completely. 

Serve with a massive cuppa

https://www.facebook.com/Cupcakesandkeepsakes

Flapjack Recipe

Flapjacks

Sticky, Chewy...

As part of my ever yo-yo-ing diet, I am trying to steer clear of wheat based carbs. Not so much because I am a teensey bit intolerant (not as much as some friends are, but enough to make me want to experiment with my best loved recipes)

Oats are a fabulous and tasty way of replacing toast with porridge at breakfast time so, of course, being me, I decided to make a sweet treat to keep things interesting for later in the day. 

This recipe is not so great for those of us on a slimming diet, but is fantastic for the tastebuds. And I avoided reaching for toast, which is what started this whole thing off in the first place!

I replaced caster (superfine) sugar with light brown musgavado sugar but you may like super-sweet, I like mine just sweet. 

250g butter, plus extra for greasing

250g sugar light brown or caster

175g golden (corn) syrup

500g jumbo porridge oats 

Preheat the oven to 180^o C

Grease a 20cm square cake tin

Melt the butter on a low heat in a saucepan, add golden syrup and sugar and stir in

Add oats and stir well.

Take off the heat and pour into the tin and press down firmly

Bake for 20 minutes and golden. Don't let the colour get too dark as the sugar caramelises and your flapjack will become brittle or harder to chew. It sets more as it cools down. 

Cut into pieces before flapjack cools completely. 

Serve with a massive cuppa

https://www.facebook.com/Cupcakesandkeepsakes

Jubilee Glee

Once every so often, you get the chance to celebrate something big, and this year it is the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Ten years ago, my mum was in the procession down Pall Mall and as we watched on, we celebrated with ribbons on sticks which looked amazing by the way, all the way down the Mall.

This coming bank holiday weekend, I have decided to embrace all the celebrations with gusto! You should have seen me during the Royal Wedding last year, I was telling my, then, one year old all about happily-ever-afters already!

So, regardless of television adverts milking the party element to it, I will be excited to be living in England celebrating our Queen and making the most of that fairytale feeling and i hope we can all get to a street party, even i its not our own.

I will be at Bicester Avenue Big Lunch on the 3rd (Sunday) with some jubilee themed cupcakes and treats.

I hope you are feeling the Jubilee Glee too! More on Facebook

Lucy x

Oxford Bake Off

When I found out that the judges for The Oxford Bake Off included Benoit Blin, is Chef Patissier at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons in Oxfordshire and Kate Shirazi, a baker whose book, Cake Magic, I had been given as a gift about two years ago, I was excited and nervous. 

Shirazi, whose recipes  I had turned to many a cold winter's evening for comforting cookie recipes were down to earth, so I naturally felt a little comfort in that fact but the sheer thought of these professionals merely eating what I had created was a privilege in itself, let alone them judging me winner for Cupcake Connoisseur and overall Star Baker! 

Wedding Cake Finished

I completed the Oxford School of Sugarcraft's Tiered Wedding Cake course a few weekends ago and decided that, since it was for a two tiered cake, I would add a third tier to make it more 'wedding-y'. There wasn't the time, during the two days, to learn to stack and decorate weddings cakes AND add the third tier, so I did it at home.

Website Refresh

www.cupcakesandkeepsakes.co.uk 

is having a bit of makeover. And we will soon be selling our product range on Etsy.com. Its an American based website which sells things in the UK too. This is the next phase! Ok, Luce, calm  down and have (another) cup of tea.

We're moving to Bicester, so it makes sense to update all the information on the website and bring you a little more when it gets re-launched in July.

I'm super excited about the new house and it will be a cake making paradise! With my very own light and airy space ot take pictures and work in the evenings. I can't wait to show you what I've been working on, mum too (keepsakes) and will be posting my wren blacka nd blue bird mini cake How To soon

Love, hugs and chocolate biscuits xxx

Objects of Desire

Pretty things are nice, I've decided.

I thought I'd take the time to show you the Cupcakes and Keepsakes current surroundings in pictures. Its mum's house, so its really the Keepsakes' point of view you're getting this from. Don't worry, she said it was OK.

Don't worry, there are fruit bowls with actual fruit in. What can I say, we're magpies. Attracted to anything shiny

More sparkly stuff

The Big Man

Oh gosh, is that the time?! I use this clock even though its set five minutes fast. I think they moved the minute hand to avoid being late. Its powers as a time saving device are yet to be proved

 This is my Roberts radio, which I mostly have on when I'm at home on UCB Radio. I listen to Scott Mills on my way home from my part time job but I'm not so keen on Radio One DJs in the day and this seems to fill my ears with good things while I bake or wash up.

I've left the cellophane on the handle for when we move into the new house in Bicester. Geek.

There were no toffees in this when we bought it. Not sure what state they'd be in if there were. Mum found it in an antiques shop in Yorkshire. I love old retro kitchen stuff. Tesco have tried to replicate stuff like this, but the originals always win.

A pretty jug for when the queen comes round for tea.

Mum's love of form and colour influences her handmade creations.

This is a corsage brooch with a handmade ribbon rose.

Vanilla Frosting Recipe

Vanilla Frosting Recipe

This recipe is a take on a Hummingbird bakery vanilla frosting, which I have adapted to get the best consistency. I have doubled the book's quantities and I use Sugarflair Claret.

Some people don't sieve their icing sugar as they believe that it doesn't make a difference. I tried this and it does! The finer the sugar (American's refer to it as confectioner's sugar)

The longer you whisk frosting, the fluffier it gets. I've invested in a good handheld mixer by Breville but i've burnt out three in my time! A larger mixer with paddle attachment will work well on high speed but remember to use a rubber spatula to encorporate all the butter from the base of the dish.

The recipe suggests unsalted butter. Some lightly salted butters are a suitable alternative, as you may have bought this for your cake recipe. The end result will not be bitter due to the ratio of sugar to butter. Always use room temperature butter and never margarine. Your frosting would be greasy and will not hold any shapes which you pipe.

Invest in a good bottle of Vanilla extract. I use extract instead of essence. This gives you a deeper flavour and is made from natural ingredients.

If you have made my chocolate cupcakes from my blog, you will have enough frosting from this recipe for these and enough to keep for emergencies. Do as Nigella does and keep it in the fridge for a sweet hit at nighttime, or freeze in an airtight container with cling film under the lid for up to a month. Defrost and re-whisk for a few minutes to get a perfect consistency.

500g Icing sugar, sifted.

160g butter, at room temperature (this is important)

50ml Whole milk (semi-skimmed works if that's all you have)

A couple of drops of vanilla extract

Put the icing sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl.
Use the back of a wooden spoon to work the sugar into the butter. This will take around five minutes.
Add the vanilla extract to the milk and add a few tablespoons to the icing sugar and butter mixture.
Once the mixture all comes together, use an electric whisk to get a smooth consistency.
If using supermarket bought colouring, add your food colouring now, before the rest of the milk mixture until you are happy with the colour. If using Sugarflair colour, add a small amount with the end of a toothpick until you are happy with the colour.
Add the milk mixture a splash at a time until it reaches a soft peak consistency, taking into account the amount of colouring you used. This will avoid a runny mixture.

Cupcakes Traditional vs. Contemporary

I've been thinking about which I prefer in the cupcake stakes and I think it boils down to two types, traditional (i.e. pretty) and contemporary (a bit different) My repertoire has taken most forms, mostly whatever takes my fancy for bake sales and village fairs and then exactly what people want for celebration cakes. What I want to know is, which do people prefer?!

VS.

When it comes to the type of cupcake, I have found a good chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting goes down very well. But! Of course, a cupcake which looks appealing is important too.

 I'm torn, because you get the likes of Hello, Cupcake! who were one of the original ambassadors for the weird and wonderful cupcakes, like the corn on the cob feast for the eyes (above) and the trend at the moment, which is the traditional tea party style. Florals, intricate hand piped patterns require a degree of skill, which I admire, but the funky and head-turning cupcakes seem to be great for the male audience, great for kids and add more colour to the table.

I made these baby cupcakes for an nct picnic

And these Elvis cupcakes got some great comments but weren't as popular as...

Chocolate with a rose or...

hand piped mini cakes!

I asked some friends and the general opinion is that taste is paramount. You can make an OK looking cupcake but if it has a soft, sponge with delicate sweet topping, people are happy. There's nothing worse than seeing a beautiful cupcake and it tasting average. I find this with most supermarket tray bakes and mass-produced cakes. This must be down to quality of ingredients. Free range eggs and god flour make a difference.

Strangely, some comments I have had, such as "they look like ornaments" or some say soaps, even, because they are very neat looking. I sometimes wonder if a more handmade style would appeal more. But I'm aiming for a bit of perfection for your eyes and your tongue!

I'm happy to compromise if it means a good cause gets a look-in. Hosting a bake sale for kids who are affected by cancer is a fab idea. Here's a link to their downloadable marketing pack:

httpwww.cupcakesforacause.orgbakesalebakesale_toolkit.pdf

But I think, after all my research, a mix of the traditional and modern wins every time.

Tiffany ringbox mini cake

www.cupcakesandkeepsakes.co.uk

Peggy's cupcakes on notonthehighstreet.com

Notonthehighstreet is another blog for another day. Is it worth the charges? What do the charges cover and what is the benefit over having your own website?

The Best Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

Hints and Tips:

One way to reduce time when baking, is to use the handheld electric whisk, but I find working by hand with a wooden spoon is fine too.

It describes the milk to be used should be full fat but semi skimmed works fine. I've tried both and I don't notice a big difference.

This recipe is enough for 15 cupcakes, to be baked in muffin sized cupcake cases. My favourite are Morrison's brown for these but metallic gold work well for a more celebratory look.

You can use salted butter and leave the pinch of salt out of the recipe if you need to.

Recipe:

Dry ingredients:
200g Plain flour
40g Cocoa Powder (Cadbury's Bournville if you can find it is best)
280g caster sugar
3 level tsps of baking powder
A pinch of salt

Wet Ingredients:
80g unsalted butter, at room temperature. This is very important.
240ml Whole milk
2 Eggs
1/2 a tsp of Madagascar Vanilla Extract. (Extract gives a richer vanilla flavour, whereas essence uses more manmade ingredients)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170 C (325 F) Gas 3. Adjust for fan assistant ovens (usually 10 C lower is fine)
Put the dry ingredients and the butter ina  bowl and work with a wooden spoon until the butter has been encorporated into the dry ingredients until you reach a sandy consistency.

In a seperate container ( I use the jug that i have used to measure the milk into ) whisk the milk, eggs and vanilla extract for a moment.

Slowly pour half the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until combined, using a rubber spatula to swipe any mixture on the sides of the bowl. Turn the mixer up to full and whisk for a moment to get rid of any lumps.

Slowly pour in the remaining wet ingredients with the mixer on low, scraping the sides of the bowl as you go.

Do not over mix.

Use an ice-cream scoop to evenly measure the lovely brown mixture into the cups. I sometimes use two soop spoons which you give you the same outcome. Making sure each cup has a similar amount in each. If you want a really even batch, put one small scoop in every cup, then return adding small amounts at a time until the mixture is gone.

Lick the bowl. =D

Bake for 20-25 minutes in the middle of the oven, or until the sponge bounces back when touched. A skewer inserted into the cake after 20 minutes which comes out slightly wet needs another five minutes.

Cool in the trays for ten minutes then place on a wire rack.

Storage:

Allow to cool completely before putting the cupcakes into airtight containers to avoid moisture affecting the batch.
Freeze cupcake for up to one month in baking paper, wrapped in foil, in an airtight container ideally. Defrost thoroughly before frosting.