Blackberry and Sage Cheesecake Cupcakes

Dear readers,

Blackberries have been available all over the place and I thought it would be a shame not to include them in a recipe, especially since they are abundant and free! I wanted to make something which would encourage the gorgeous juices of the blackberries to run and show off their colour, so I decided on a cheesecake cupcake.

As always, I like to create recipes with unusual flavour combinations. I especially like adding herbs to sweet treats because they can create very intriguing flavour combinations even though they are more commonly used in savoury recipes. I wandered around the garden and came across sage. I have seen a couple of sage and blackberry recipes before, so decided to go for it. One could call these "foraged cupcakes" since both the blackberries and the sage have been foraged. But I'm sure that there are plenty of other "foraged cupcake" flavour combinations out there!

 

Blackberry and Sage Cheesecake Cupcakes

2 medium eggs

100g caster sugar

100g self raising flour

100g butter

8 sage leaves, finely chopped140g cream cheese

60g caster sugar

1 medium egg

75g blackberries

Cream together the sugar and butter, then add the flour and eggs and whisk. Mix in the finely chopped sage leaves and fill the cupcake cases up by two thirds.

 

Whisk together the cream cheese, sugar and egg then stir in the blackberries. Add a tablespoonful of the cheesecake mixture with the blackberries on top of the cupcake mix and bake at 180°C for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown, depending on the size of the cupcakes.

 

Unfortunately, most of the cheesecake mixture migrated to the bottom and the sides of the cupcake which left the gorgeous purple colours to only be seen through the cases! I'm glad that I used white cases so that the colours of the blackberries were visible. However, once one opens the case, the gorgeous purples are unveiled to reveal their true colours!

 

These cupcakes had an interesting mix of reviews. Some found the sage flavour quite dominant, while others thought that it was very subtle. Personally, I think that they have just the right amount of sage, but the recipe can be adjusted according to one's taste!

Painkiller Cocktail Cupcakes with Pineapple Flowers

Dear readers,

I have been experimenting with this recipe for a couple of months now (between various other baking activities) and I think that I have finally cracked the recipe.

A few years ago my brother went to the British Virgin Islands and brought back the recipe of one of his favourite cocktails that he sampled at the Soggy Dollar Bar, Jost Van Dyke Island - the "Painkiller".

The Painkiller cocktail consists of pineapple juice, orange juice, dark rum, coconut cream with grated nutmeg on the top. My brother and I enjoyed making these cocktails at home. We used coconut cream that is sold in cartons (essentially for making curries) which made them quite indulgent!

I wasn't sure whether to decorate these cupcakes with a cocktail stick and fresh fruit, with a cocktail umbrella or perhaps with a straw. I then remembered reading a post by Maggie from Kitchen Delights on Pineapple Flowers. I thought that these were stunning and would be the perfect decoration for my Painkiller cocktail cupcakes, and even more so once I discovered the caramelised and almost rum-like flavours in them.

The pineapple flower recipe is adapted from Kitchen Delights and Martha Stewart.

Cupcake sponge

2 large eggs
120g self-raising flour
120g butter
120g caster sugar
30 desiccated coconut
zest of 1 orange
1 half of a nutmeg, grated

Icing

50g coconut cream

200g sieved icing sugar

2 cap-fuls dark rum
Grated nutmeg

Pineapple flowers

1 whole pineapple

This recipe will make 12 cupcakes.

Cream the eggs and butter together, then add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases and bake for 20 minutes at 180°C.

Mix the sieved icing sugar, coconut cream and rum together until it forms a smooth and even mixture.

Slice the skin off the pineapple and use a melon baller or a knife to cut out the "eyes". Thinly slice the pineapple (as thin as you can without the slices falling apart) and place the slices on a baking tray. Cook at 120°C in a fan oven for 30 minutes, then turn the slices over and cook for 1 hour, or until the slices have completely dried but remain flexible. The cooking time will vary dramatically according to the size of the slices, the ripeness of the pineapple and oven conditions. Place the slices in cupcake cases and allow to set over night in the oven (turned off!) to set the flower shape.

Frost the cupcakes with the icing using a piping bag. Add a light grating of nutmeg, place a pineapple flower on top and serve.

Notes & tips:

Initially, I thought that the coconut in the sponge would be enough for the cupcake and I tried to create a rum-infused meringue butter icing. The icing was delicious, however, it was lacking the creaminess of the coconut cream, so I decided that this ingredient had to be part of the icing.

I understand that pineapple juice is a key part of the cocktail, but I found it very difficult to incorporate this flavour into the sponge. I tried pineapple juice and I also tried chunks of tinned pineapple, since I struggled to get hold of dried pineapple. Yet, overall, I am happy with the flavours contributed by the pineapple flowers.

I used silicone cupcake cases to help the cupcakes hold their shape. I have found, many times, that paper cases tend to spread out during baking and form rather flat cupcakes. Using the silicone cases really helps to keep their shape.

The pineapple flowers can be stored for up to 2 weeks in an air tight container. Do not store the cupcakes once they have been decorated because the moisture from the icing will cause the pineapple flowers to wilt.

I hope that, one day, I will be able to taste a real Painkiller cocktail from the Soggy Dollar Bar in the British Virgin Islands. However, these cocktail cupcakes will have to suffice for now!

Lime Drizzle Cupcakes

Dear readers,

Lime has such a refreshing, tart and aromatic flavour and is so versatile across the world of cuisine. I was so surprised at the lack of "lime drizzle" recipes, as there are many lemon drizzle and some orange drizzle recipes out there, that I decided to test the idea myself.

I used a simple sponge recipe with equal weights of eggs, flour, butter and sugar. I actually made a crucial mistake when making these cupcakes - I forgot to use self raising flour! I was quite surprised by how much the cakes rose without any raising agent involved. One almost couldn't tell!

As I mixed the lime juice, sugar and lime zest together, the beautiful bright green of the lime zest started to fade (see photos) to a less attractive olive green colour. This is due to the replacement of the magnesium ions in the chlorophyll with hydrogen ions in the acidic lime juice. Unfortunately, this didn't come to mind before I made the cupcakes! Despite the colour change, I very much enjoyed these cupcakes and they make an interesting yet subtle change from the infamous lemon drizzle cakes!

Lime drizzle cupcakes

2 medium eggs

120g self raising flour

120g butter

200g caster sugar

Zest of 3 limes

Juice of 1 lime

This will make around 12 medium-sized cupcakes.

Mix the butter and 120g of sugar together until well-combined, then add the flour, eggs and zest of 2 limes. Fill the cupcake cases and bake for 20-25 minutes at 180°C, or until golden brown.

Mix the zest and juice of 1 lime with the remaining 80g of sugar. Drizzle on top of the cupcakes while they are still warm. Then enjoy!

The Hummingbird Bakery

After drooling all over my Hummingbird cookbook, two of my friends and I decided it was about time that we took a trip to the big city, to check out The Hummingbird Bakery for real.

My friend Ben went for a Rocky Road Cup, and my friend Kate went for a Red Velvet Cupcake.

And I went for the Cheesecake Brownie.

A rather hungry and excited Kate went for cupcake number two... The Carrot Cupcake.

The brownie was pretty heavy, so filled me up for a good while. However, I decided, as I had come all that way, that it was necessary to get a "cake-away".

I took home a Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pie and a Black Bottom Cupcake.

My Black Bottom Cupcake got a little squished on the way home...

But it still tasted INcredible. I think it may be my favourite treat by Hummingbird, as it's dark and rich and not too sweet, with two treats combined into one! (Cheesecake top and chocolate bottom)

Mocha chilli cupcakes

Chilli and chocolate has become an increasingly popular flavour combination. The main reason I enjoy chilli is because it's heat takes mouth sensations to that extra level. Texture and flavour are the most important aspects of a food to be considered on an organoleptic level, so if you have incredible flavours and textures, why not excel the mouth party where possible?!

Chilli and chocolate have been presented in both sweet and savoury dishes. There is your simple chilli chocolate, chilli and orange chocolate, chilli and chocolate mexican sauces and many more. Recipe books of today include many chocolate-containing dishes accompanied by meat, poultry, chicken and vegetables.

But chocolate, chilli and coffee? At first I thought the flavour combination may be a little too much, should I just stick to chilli and chocolate? Or maybe just stick to mocha? I did a little research and found minimal recipes containing the three proposed ingredients. I did, however, find a treat produced by Whittards which contained all three flavours - chilli chocolate coated coffee beans.

This was a relief as I thought perhaps the prospective trio had been attempted and proved unsuccessful. These coffee beans are awesome, and pack quite a punch with the chilli. So I decided to go ahead and make mocha chilli cupcakes...

The cupcakes themselves had more of a mocha taste with a sublte trace of chilli that emerged a few seconds after your first bite. The chilli chocolate coated coffee bean provided the stronger kick.

Nutella, Speculoos and peanut butter cupcakes

My three favourite spreads incorporated into cupcakes. Nutella-and-Speculoos and Nutella-and-peanut-butter. I had minimal Speculoos left so only managed to make a couple with the Speculoos and was also running low on the peanut butter! The Nutella, however, was abundant in my kitchen so used this bad boy in both types of cupcake. I also used Nutella to frost them.

Unfortunately I can't exactly post a recipe for these on here, due to the fact that I actually guessed the quantities of each ingredient because there are no scales in my house in Leeds! I used a basic chocolate cake recipe for the cake mixture, then literally added a small spoon of Nutella with a smidgen of Speculoos or peanut butter. I then added a little more cake mix on top and baked until they looked as though they were done!

The filling of the cupcakes seemed to have sunk during the baking process, probably due to its high density compared with the cake mix. The first cupcake below is Nutella and Speculoos, the second is Nutella and peanut butter.

Speculoos has a stronger flavour than peanut butter, so although there was a smaller portion, there was still a significant taste. I think that personally, I preferred the peanut butter cupcakes, but loved both.

Perfect for an afternoon treat with your favourite cup of tea or coffee. Hazelnut coffee or Earl Grey for me, please!

This last photograph may seem completely unrelated to the rest of the post, but I made these cupcakes for my friend Hana's birthday and this was the card I bought for her.

Hahaha....!

Chai cupcakes

Since I discoverd chai I have always wanted to experiment further with it. I developed a recipe for chai cupcakes in my head and to my disappointment found out the recipe already existed! I decided to roughly follow a recipe and create my own as part of a cupcake party...