Posted in Recipes

Crazy about cupcakes 

Cupcakes are not just for kids any more. These old-fashioned treats – which I used to make expressly for my children's birthday parties (we called them patty cakes) – are now known by their American name and have had a complete makeover. No more plain passionfruit icing – today they can be as fancy as a Christmas tree.

My daughter informs me cupcakes were featured in the TV series Sex and the City, putting a previously unknown cake shop, Magnolia Bakery, in New York's Greenwich Village, on the map. The store has become so popular with tourists it is now part of the Sex and the City Bus Tour.

Cupcakes have even made it on to the Oprah Winfrey Show and Saturday Night Live, and film star Renee Zellweger has been pictured enjoying these sweet treats. The craze has seen the opening of stores dedicated to cupcakes, and not only in America. Britain sports dozens and Rome's first store opened four years ago. Christchurch also now boasts a popular cupcake parlour.

I've never been very creative with an icing bag and it helps that there are now supermarkets and specialty stores selling icing flowers, leaves, carrots and other shapes to decorate the little cakes. New pink food colouring and squeeze tubes for icing writing also make a difference. However, the secret to good cupcakes is the recipe. They need to be moist. And if you find cupcakes too large, bake them in mini muffin pans instead.

DECADENT CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

These cupcakes will keep moist for up to two days provided they are kept in an airtight container in a cool place.

1 Tbsp instant coffee powder

1 cup hot water

250g butter

200g dark cooking chocolate, chopped

1 cup caster sugar

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour

1/4 cup cocoa

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tsp vanilla essencePreheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Line a 12-hole patty or muffin pan with paper liners.

Place the coffee and water in a saucepan and add the butter. Stir over low heat until the butter is melted. Add the chocolate, stirring until melted. Add the caster sugar. Stir until smooth.

Place this chocolate mixture in a large bowl and cool slightly. Using an electric mixer, gradually beat in the sifted dry ingredients. Add the eggs then the vanilla.

Pour into the paper liners, almost to the top.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Stand for five minutes before lifting the cupcakes out to cool on a wire rack. Makes 12.

CHOCOLATE ICING

Use a good-quality dark cocoa powder.

75g butter, softened

1 3/4 cups icing sugar

3 Tbsp cocoa powder

2-3 Tbsp milkCream the butter, until smooth. Sift in the combined icing sugar and cocoa powder. Mix well. Add a little milk if too stiff.

Using a knife dipped into hot water, spread the icing over the cooled cupcakes. Makes enough for 12 cupcakes.

ORANGE AND DATE CUPCAKES

1 orange, with skin but with pips removed

1 cup pitted dates

1/2 cup walnuts

125g butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup low-fat milk

2 cups standard flour

1 tsp baking sodaPreheat the oven to 180C. Line 20 patty or muffin pan holes with paper liners.

Chop the orange then whizz quickly in a food processor. Add the dates and walnuts and process, until coarsely chopped.

Place the butter, sugar and egg in the food processor and process, until smooth. Combine with the fruit mixture, milk and sifted dry ingredients. Spoon into the paper liners.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. When cold, the cupcakes can be spread or piped with orange cream cheese icing or sprinkled with icing sugar. Makes 20.

ORANGE CREAM CHEESE ICING

100g cream cheese

2 cups icing sugar

grated rind 1/2 orange

1-2 tsp orange juiceBeat the cream cheese until smooth. Gradually sift in the icing sugar, beating continuously. Add the orange rind and juice.

Makes enough to pipe 10-12 cupcakes or spread over 20.

BANANA CUPCAKES

 3/4 cup each: sugar, canola oil

2 eggs

1 cup mashed bananas

1 1/2 cups standard flour

1 tsp each: baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp saltPreheat the oven to 180C. Line 18 patty or muffin holes with paper liners.

Place the sugar and oil in large bowl and beat well. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well. Mix in the bananas.

Combine the dry ingredients. Sift into the banana mixture and stir in gradually. Beat, until blended.

Spoon the mixture into the paper liners. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Stand for a few minutes then remove the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool. When cold, spread with cream cheese icing or the icing of your choice. Makes 12.