Here is our second ‘Classic British Dessert’ recipe re-created in cupcake form; the almighty Cherry Bakewell! An afternoon tea favourite of pretty much everyone’s nan this countryside treat combines cherries and almonds perfectly. Our cupcake recipe consists of a light almond cupcake filled with home made cherry conserve, frosted with silky almond buttercream and topped with a glacé cherry. Try our recipe below and enjoy this cupcake with a large cup of tea and an hour to spare!
Cream your butter in a mixer then add the caster sugar. Add in the flour along with half of the eggs for around one minute. Add your almond extract to taste. Once half of the eggs are combined add the remaining and mix for about 5 minutes.
Fill your cupcake cases until 2/3 full and place on the top shelf. Bake for around 20/25 minutes.
In a saucepan on medium heat simmer your cherries with the juice of one lemon and the pectin / jam sugar until a good thickness. Pour into clean airtight jars and leave to cool before using!
Once cooled core your cupcakes with a good cupcake corer and generously fill with your cherry conserve. Try not to eat too much jam before you’ve finished making these cupcakes though.
Almond Buttercream Recipe
250g butter
400g icing sugar
6 – 12 drops of almond extract
70-100g white chocolate buttons or callets
Glacé cherries to garnish
Add half of the butter diced into pieces. Cream the butter in a mixer then gradually add icing sugar and the remaining butter (cut into cubes) until you get a smooth, creamy texture. Melt your white chocolate buttons or callets in a bowl sat in hot water. Once melted add to your buttercream and gently mix. Finally, add the almond extract to taste.
To finished up your batch of delicious Cherry Bakewell cupcakes swirl with your smooth almond buttercream and nestle a rubescent glacé cherry atop just like the original dessert! Enjoy!
Our third ‘Classic British Dessert’ of the week is the elusive Batternberg Cake as a cupcake! The Batternberg was purportedly called Domino Cake originally back in 1898 but supposedly became known as Battenberg Cake after Queen Victoria’s grandaughter married Prince Louis of Battenberg. This cake is originally made of a pink and yellow checked cake then iced in almond marzipan. Our cupcake version is a light and fluffy pink and yellow striped cupcake swirled with light almond and white chocolate buttercream finished with toasted almonds! Try our recipe below for a rather British treat!
Cream your butter in a mixer then add the caster sugar. Add in the flour along with half of the eggs for around one minute. Once half of the eggs are combined add the remaining and mix for about 5 minutes.
To create the pink and yellow ‘stripe’ of the batter fill one piping bag with pink batter and another with yellow batter. Put both bags into another piping bag, snip the ends of ad pipe carefully into each cupcake case until 2/3 full and place on the top shelf. Bake for around 20/25 minutes.
Almond Buttercream Recipe
250g butter
400g icing sugar
6 – 12 drops of almond extract
70-100g white chocolate buttons or callets
Toasted flaked almonds to decorate
Add half of the butter diced into pieces. Cream the butter in a mixer then gradually add icing sugar and the remaining butter (cut into cubes) until you get a smooth, creamy texture. Melt your white chocolate buttons or callets in a bowl sat in hot water. Once melted add to your buttercream and gently mix. Finally, add the almond extract to taste.
Now all that is needed is for you to swirl your Battenberg cupcakes with your almond buttercream and topple toasted almonds atop them! Enjoy!
At Juniper Cakery there isn’t a dessert we don’t enjoy and the humble British custard tart is a sweet that really doesn’t last long in our office! Needless to say we couldn’t wait to experiment in the kitchen and whip up a batch of custard tart inspired cupcakes. Our take on this British classic is a lovely light vanilla bean cupcake filled with custard, frosted with creamy white chocolate and custard buttercream finished with a soft sprinkling of ground nutmeg! This dessert is perfect as a light afternoon sweet with a pot of fragrant Earl Grey tea and a splash of milk.
Vanilla Nutmeg Cupcake Recipe (Makes approx. 12)
226g self raising flour
226g caster sugar
226g butter
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 bourbon vanilla pod
Cream your butter in a mixer then add the caster sugar. Add in the flour along with half of the eggs for around one minute. Add the seeds inside your vanilla pod along with your nutmeg. Once half of the eggs are combined add the remaining and mix for about 5 minutes.
Separate the batter into each cupcake case until 2/3 full and place on the top shelf of a pre-heated oven at Gas Mark 3/325F/170C. Bake for around 20/25 minutes.
Custard Buttercream Recipe
250g butter
250g icing sugar
1 bourbon vanilla pod
3 tablespoons custard powder
Ground nutmeg to dust
70g melted white chocolate buttons or callets
Add half of the butter diced into pieces. Cream the butter in a mixer then gradually add icing sugar and the remaining butter (cut into cubes) until you get a smooth, creamy texture. Melt your white chocolate buttons or callets in a bowl sat in hot water. Once melted add to your buttercream and gently mix along with your custard powder. Finally, add the seeds from your vanilla pod to taste.
All you need to do now is frost your fragrant cupcakes with your custard buttercream and softly dust with a sprinkling of ground nutmeg! Enjoy!
Hurrah! National Cupcake Week has arrived in the UK (though if you’re abroad feel free to join in too)! To celebrate we’ll be sharing five delicious ‘Classic British Dessert’ recipes in cupcake form. Excited? We are too. Our first super tasty cupcake for you to re-create at home pays homage to the crowd pleasing Banoffee Pie. Our cupcake version is a fluffy and light vanilla bean cupcake filled with salted caramel sauce, swirled with creamy white chocolate and banana buttercream, drizzled with more salted caramel sauce and then finished with triple chocolate crisp balls. What a perfect way to begin the week!
Basic Vanilla Cupcake Recipe (Makes 12 Cupcakes)
4 free range eggs
226g self-raising flour
226g caster sugar
226g butter
1 bourbon vanilla pod
Cream your butter in a mixer then add the caster sugar. Add in the flour along with half of the eggs for around one minute. Once half of the eggs are combined add the remaining mix along with the seeds inside your bourbon vanilla pod and mix for about 5 minutes.
Separate the batter into each cupcake case until 2/3 full and place on the top shelf of a pre-heated oven at Gas Mark 3/325F/170C. Bake for around 20/25 minutes.
Once cooled core the centre of your cupcakes using a handy cupcake corer. Now begin making your delicious salted caramel sauce!
Salted Caramel Recipe
175g brown sugar
115ml single cream
60g butter (no low fat or margarine spread)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Add all your ingredients into a saucepan on medium heat. Whilst this cooks whisk your caramel mixture for up to 8 minutes until it thickens. Cook a little longer to thicken further. Finally, remove from your stove and leave to cool.
To add to your cored cupcakes simply use a teaspoon to add into the centre of your cakes! Store the rest of your salted caramel sauce in an airtight container and enjoy drizzled atop of sweets and desserts! This sauce should last for up to 4 days.
Add half of the butter diced into pieces. Cream the butter in a mixer then gradually add icing sugar and the remaining butter (cut into cubes) until you get a smooth, creamy texture. Melt your white chocolate buttons or callets in a bowl sat in hot water. Once melted add to your buttercream and gently mix. Finally, add the banana natural essence to taste.
Swirl your salted caramel filled cupcakes with your silky banana buttercream, drizzle with about a teaspoon of caramel sauce and topple with sprinkles. At last, you should had a batch of banoffee inspired cupcakes ready to enjoy!
Here is a cupcake recipe for all the white chocolate lovers out there! This cupcake is a lovely creamy, soft and smooth white chocolate crammed delight. It’s perfect for the chilliness of the coming months, but if you want something with a bit of bite why not throw in some lemon extract into the batter with a handful of blueberries, raspberries or blackberries. Either way this is a wonderful cupcake for a well deserved treat!
Vanilla and White Chocolate cupcakes (makes approximately 12)
226g self raising flour
226g butter
226g caster sugar
4 eggs
1 Bourbon Vanilla Pod
2 handfuls of white chocolate chips or buttons
Step one: Preheat your oven to Gas Mark 3/325F/170C
Step two: Cream the butter with sugar and once well mixed add in the seeds from the inside of your vanilla pod, flour and then the eggs.
Step three: Set out twelve cupcake cases in your pan and fill each case 2/3 full. Tumble some white chocolate chips/buttons into your batter.
Step four: Bake from around 12-18 minutes or until a golden brown on top and leave to cool on a counter.
White Chocolate Buttercream
We make our buttercream using our own intuition. We’ve tried countless recipes; all of which failed to pass our test (and stability) tests. It’s best that you begin to develop and ‘eye’, ‘feel’ and ‘taste’ so that you know when your frosting is perfect for you. For starters though, the recipe below is a rough guide…
Step one: Cut your butter into small cubes and cream your butter until soft. Gradually add icing sugar until a good consistency and add the seeds from a vanilla pod..
Step two: Melt 100g of white chocolate buttons and once partially cooled add to your buttercream. Mix well. Add a little extra icing sugar if needed.
Step three: Fill a piping bag fitted with an 855 piping tip/nozzle (this tip/nozzle creates lovely ruffled buttercream) with your white chocolate buttercream.
Step four: Now you can pipe lots of generous and tasty swirls of buttercream on top of your cupcakes once they have cooled down and topple some tasty white chocolate chips/buttons on top!
Bergamot has a wonderfully soft floral and citrus taste which pairs perfectly with tart flavours. For this cupcake recipe we teamed it with tangy raspberries baked inside. Another great thing about baking with bergamot extract is the smell; be prepared for a lovely earl grey tea scent travelling through your home when you have these cupcakes in the oven! Why not follow our recipe below for a batch of cupcakes perfect for an afternoon treat.
Step one: Preheat your oven to Gas Mark 3/325F/170C
Step two: Cream the butter with sugar and once well mixed add in the flour and then the eggs.
Step three: Set out twelve cupcake cases in your pan and fill each case 2/3 full. Push your raspberries into each cupcake case full of batter.
Step four: Bake from around 12-18 minutes or until a golden brown on top and leave to cool on a counter.
Bergamot Buttercream recipe
We make our buttercream using our own intuition. We’ve tried countless recipes; all of which failed to pass our taste and stability tests. It’s best that you begin to develop an ‘eye’, ‘feel’ and ‘taste’ so that you know when your frosting is perfect for you. For starters though, the recipe below is a rough guide…
Step four: Now you can pipe lots of generous and tasty swirls of buttercream on top of your cupcakes once they have cooled down and finish with a lovely fresh raspberry!
This tasty little cupcake pays homage to one half of Juniper Cakery’s past addiction to cans of cherry cola. Don’t worry, she’s OK now, but those were dark days fuelled by cherry laced soda. These days she is strictly tea-total and we deemed this cupcake a safer way for her to enjoy her favourite fizzy treat! It’s still pretty addictive, so be careful re-creating the recipe below…
This Cherry Cola cupcake is a subtle cherry flavoured cake swirled with two toned and dual flavoured Cherry and Cola buttercream then finished with bright pink sugar crystals! It’s perfect for the summer; but we think it’d go down a treat at an 80s themed party or shindig! If anyone does this please send us a picture so we can live vicariously through you; we love the idea of a kitsch ‘The Breakfast Club’ themed do!
Step one: Preheat your oven to Gas Mark 3/325F/170C
Step two: Cream the butter with sugar and once well mixed add in the Cherry Essence, flour and then the eggs.
Step three: Set out twelve cupcake cases in your pan and fill each case 2/3 full.
Step four: Bake from around 12-18 minutes or until a golden brown on top and leave to cool on a counter.
For the buttercream…
We make our buttercream using our own intuition. We’ve tried countless recipes; all of which failed to pass our test (and stability) tests. It’s best that you begin to develop and ‘eye’, ‘feel’ and ‘taste’ so that you know when your frosting is perfect for you. For starters though, the recipe below is a rough guide…
Step three: To get a fun two toned/dual flavoured effect scoop your cola buttercream down one half of a piping bag fitted with an 855 piping tip/nozzle (this tip/nozzle creates lovely ruffled buttercream). After doing so the other half of your bag should be free for you to add your cherry buttercream.
Step four: Now you can pipe lots of generous and tasty swirls of buttercream on top of your cupcakes once they have cooled down and sprinkle liberally with sugar crystals.
You should be left with cake stand filled with tempting cherry cola cupcakes! It’s up to you if you want to share them with anyone else… but we wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t!
Rhubarb, Honey & Vanilla Cake in Partnership with The Happy Egg Co.
Welcome to our third cake, recipe and cake decorating tutorial in partnership with The Happy Egg Co.! In our development post we blogged about creating a traditional cake which would fit right in at picnics or at summer fetes. To recreate that sense of tradition we chose a layer cake filled with our rhubarb and honey curd decorating it with lashings of vanilla pod infused buttercream. To add a textured, homemade finish we ensured the buttercream was rugged and imperfect by spreading it on in layers resulting in a fun, quick and easy cake. After the following images you’ll find the recipe and a tutorial on how to make this cake and the decorative bunting. Why not try it for yourself?
Cake and buttercream recipe
To create this cake (a 9 inch circle) you will need the following…
7-8 free range eggs by The Happy Egg Co. depending on egg size
453g self raising flour
453g caster sugar
453g butter
For the buttercream you will need…
453g butter (don’t use margarine as the water content is higher and not suitable for buttercream)
453g - 553g icing sugar (choose your own consistency and taste)
3 vanilla pods
Rhubarb, honey and vanilla curd recipe
400g rhubarb cut into pieces
60g granulated sugar
60g butter
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoons of honey
2 vanilla pods
Airtight jar
To make the cake cream your butter in a mixer then add the caster sugar. Add in the flour along with half of the happy eggs for around one minute. Once half of the happy eggs are combined add the remaining and mix for about 5 minutes.
Pour each colour into separate greased cake pans and place on the top shelf of a pre-heated oven at Gas Mark 3/325F/170C. Bake for around 30 minutes.
Leave to cool and in the meantime prepare your buttercream.
For the buttercream add half of the 1lb of butter diced into pieces. Cream the butter in a mixer. Then gradually add icing sugar and the remaining butter (cut into cubes). Once the buttercream is of a smooth consistency add some the inside of your vanilla pods and mix well.
Now to make the rhubarb, honey and vanilla curd filling! Boil all 400g of rhubarb in a saucepan of water stirring every so often with a wooden spoon. When the rhubarb is ‘mushy’ pour into a colander to remove the water. Lower the heat on the stove to half of what you used to get to boiling point. Pour the rhubarb back into the pan and add the sugar. Stir gently until the sugar is dissolved then add the two tablespoons of honey. Stir again until well mixed then add the insides of your two vanilla pods. Now add the butter and stir until melted.
In a separate bowl beat your egg yolks well. Pour these slowly into your rhubarb mix and keep stirring the yolks in gently. Keep mixing and checking the curd by scooping the back of your wooden spoon into the curd; when the curd coats the back of your spoon thickly then it is ready to pour into a jar and set.
Buttercream technique
The great thing about working with buttercream is that it is easy to change, sculpt and even scrap off and start again. Another selling point to butercream icing your cakes is that it doesn’t matter if it is perfect; buttercream is messy and evokes a rustic charm. The fact that buttercream creates a lovely homemade look is perfect for this cake inspired by traditional flavours!
A very simple and effective buttercream technique to use is to create a pinwheel look on the top of your frosted cake. Once you’ve iced your cake smoothly take a small spatula and using only its tip begin in the centre of the top of your cake. You want to quickly (and not too heavily) drag the end of your spatula from the centre to the edge of your cake. Keep doing this around the cake and you should be left with the below effect! Once finished the edges will just need a quick tidy with your spatula.
How to make the edible bunting
To make your edible sugarpaste bunting you will need…
Step one: Dust the surface with icing sugar and begin to roll out your chosen fondant. Cut it into an oblong shape and put any excess sugarpaste to one side. The size and length of the oblong will depend on how large you would like your bunting to be.
Step two: With a knife or pizza cutter begin cutting out triangular shapes at your required size. See the images for the technique we used and repeat with all of your fondant using your first piece of bunting as a template.
Step three: Now you have your bunting use the quilting tool to add traditional stitching detail to your bunting.
Step four: If the buttercream on your cake is still soft simply stick the pieces of bunting in place.
