Gingerbread man muffins

This recipe comes from 'Cake days. Recipes to make every day special. The hummingbird bakery.'

Ingredients for 18 muffins:

• 140g unsalted butter
• 200g caster sugar
• 60g black treacle
• 60g golden syrup
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 310g flour
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 240 ml hot milk

Preheat the oven to 190C. Line muffin tin with paper cases. This time I had silicone muffin cases so there was no need for muffin tin and greasing.

Sift the flour, spices, baking powder into a big bowl and whisk them together. Put the  butter and sugar into electric mixer bowl and beat them until white and fluffy. Then add the golden syrup, black treacle, eggs and egg yolks. Beat them until all ingredients well incorporated. In a meantime heat up the milk. 

To the mixture in the electric mixer bowl add alternately the hot milk and dry ingredients mixture. Pour the batter into muffin cases 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Leave them in muffin cases fro a while after baking then transfer to the wire rack. Muffins have to be cooled down before decorating them.

Ingredients for frosting:

•  600g icing sugar
• 100g soft butter
• 200g Philadelphia cream cheese
• sugar, chocolate sprinkles

Put butter and icing sugar into electric mixer bowl and beat on low speed until sandy.  Add cheese and beat until soft and fluffy.

With a spoon, knife spread the frosting over muffins' tops and sprinkle with sprinkles. Enjoy !

Cupcakes as gifts/parcels

Making those cupcakes is a great fun for long, dark, winter evenings. As baking the cakes is not so complicated and time consuming decorating them takes a lot of time. Recipe for cake comes from here, although I skipped the cocoa. The fondant and frosting were ready to use.

Ingredients for cake baked in 33 x 23 cm baking tin:

• 380g margarine
• 530g sugar
• 6 tbsp milk
• 6 eggs (yolks and whites separately)
• 380g flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp vanilla sugar

Put the margarine, sugar and milk into a big pot and cook the on low heat stirring occasionally until it bubbles. Set aside to cool down.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Grease and sprinkle with semolina or dry breadcrumbs the baking tin.

When the cake mixture is cooled down add the egg yolks, flour, baking powder and with wooden spoon combine them together. In separate bowl whisk the egg whites with pinch of salt until stiff. Gently fold in the egg whites into the cake mixture. Pour the batter into baking tin and bake for 45 minutes.

When the cake is ready, cool it down completely on wire rack. Then cut into approximately  5 by 5 cm squares. Each square slice into half, spread with cream, I used Betty Crocer chocolate fudge frosting, then cover with top like sandwich. Then crumcoated the small cakes with butter cream, I used Bety Crocer vanilla frosting, and covered with fondant. I used Dr. Oetket's ready to roll fondant and Sugarflair gel colourings.    

Coconut cupcakes with chocolate and rum

Those cupcakes are definitely for adults only. Not only because they contain alcohol but there taste is very chocolaty almost bitter and children might not like that. Those cupcakes are spongy but not fluffy, moisture and rich in chocolate. Coated with chocolate and rum mixture give beautiful scent which make one eat and enjoy. This recipe comes from 'New Italian cuisine. Cupcakes'.

Ingredients for 12 cupcakes:

• 75g dessicated coconut (I used dessicated coconut flakes)
• 125 ml rum
• 150g flour
• 50g baking cocoa
• 2 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 125g melted butter
• 250 ml milk
• 2 eggs
• 150g sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C. line muffin tin with paper cases.

Sift the desiccated coconut into a bowl and pour over the rum. Set aside.

Sift the the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt into a bowl, whisk them together and set aside. Melt the butter, pour it into a jug with  milk and set aside.

Into electric mixer bowl put the eggs and sugar and beat on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce the speed and add alternately the dry ingredients mixture, the milk and butter mixture and the coconut and rum  mixture. The batter is going to be very runny.

Pour the batter evenly among prepared earlier muffin cases. Bake for 20-22 minutes until well risen and spongy. Transfer them to a wire rack and leave to cool down. 

Ingredients for icing:

• 180g chocolate - I had dark one, in original recipe there is milk one,
• 25 ml rum
• dessicated coconut to sprinkle
  

Melt down the chocolate, stir in the rum. Chocolate will harden a little when a cold rum will be added. With a knife spread the chocolate mixture over each muffin top and sprinkle with coconut. 

Breakfast bran muffins

Delicious breakfast muffins. Packed with brans, fruits, seeds give the energy for all day. The recipe comes from 'Cake days. Recipes to make every day special. The hummingbird bakery'.

Ingredients for 7 muffins:

• 90g wholewheat spelt flour
• 25g porridge oats
• 25g All-Bran Kellogg's cereals (or different bran cereals)
• 10g raisins
• 10g sunflower seeds
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 60g brown sugar
• 125 ml milk
• 1 egg
• 40g melted butter

Preheat the oven to 170C. Line muffin tin with paper cases.

Melt the butter and set aside to cool down.

Sift the flour, oates, cereals, raisins, sunflower seeds, baking powder, soda and salt into a  big bowl and whisk them together. In a jug whisk egg and milk together. Pour this mixture and prepared earlier butter into bowl with dry ingredients. Combine all ingredients together. Do not over -stir them. Spoon the batter into paper cases 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes.Serve warm all cooled down.

Chocolate guinness cupcakes

Rich, dark and chocolaty this would be the simplest description of those cupcakes. They were beautiful. Very delicate, spongy and moist with very tasty frosting. The recipe comes from 'Cake days. Recipes to make every day special. The hummingbird bakery' cookbook. 

Ingredients for 12 cupcakes:

• 125ml Guinness
• 125 g unsalted butter
• 40g cocoa powder
• 200g caste sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 70 ml buttermilk
• 140g plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 170C. Line muffin tin with paper cases.

Pour the Guinness into a saucepan, add the butter and gently heat until butter is melted. Remove the pan from the heat and gently stir in the cocoa powder and sugar. 

In a jug mix together the egg, vanilla and buttermilk and add this to the mixture in a pan. 

Sift the flour, baking powder and soda into an electric mixer bowl. On a low speed pour in the contents of a pan. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to mix until all ingredients all incorporated. The batter is very runny.

Pour the batter into baking cases about 2/3 full. If you pout too much into baking case it will spread on a  sides. Because I overloaded few of my cupcakes I cut the cake and crumble it on the top of the frosting. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool them down on wire rack. In a meantime prepare the frosting. 

Ingredients for frosting:

• 25g unsalted soft butter
• 150g icing sugar
• 65g soft cheese (i used Philadelphia)

Using the electric whisk or  the free-standing mixer, mix the butter and icing sugar together until it is fully combine with sugar in a sandy mixture. Add the cream cheese and mix in a low speed , then increase the speed to medium and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy. 

Spread the frosting on top of each completely cooled down cupcakes. Sprinkle with cake crumbs.