Chocolate & Orange Blossom Cupcakes
Hello there! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! This is what I got up to yesterday, and as promised, here is the recipe for my Chocolate & Orange Blossom Cupcakes.
These were really easy to make, but score big marks on looks and the subtle hint of orange in the frosting really compliments the two types of chocolate in the cake. Enjoy!
Chocolate & Orange Blossom Cupcakes
Don't forget to refer to my Conversion Chart for your temperatures and weights.
Makes 10-12 cakes
Prep 20 mins
Cook 20-25 mins
What you will need:
For the cakes:
6 oz caster sugar
6 oz caster sugar
6 oz margarine
3 medium free-range eggs
6 oz self-raising flour
2 heaped tbsp cocoa powder
6 squares of white chocolate, grated (optional - but really yummy!)
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the buttercream frosting:
7 oz icing sugar
5 ½ oz unsalted butter, softened
dash Wilton creamy peach icing colour
1 tsp Neilson Massey Orange Blossom Water
2 tbsp water
Edible embellishments of your choice, I used: Bronze crunch &
Silver stardust, both from Waitrose
Edible diamonds from Hobbycraft
Spoon into your muffin cases, about a third from the top, and place in the middle of a pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Once out of the oven, transfer the cakes onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
3 medium free-range eggs
6 oz self-raising flour
2 heaped tbsp cocoa powder
6 squares of white chocolate, grated (optional - but really yummy!)
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the buttercream frosting:
7 oz icing sugar
5 ½ oz unsalted butter, softened
dash Wilton creamy peach icing colour
1 tsp Neilson Massey Orange Blossom Water
2 tbsp water
Edible embellishments of your choice, I used: Bronze crunch &
Silver stardust, both from Waitrose
Edible diamonds from Hobbycraft
What to do:
For the cakes:
Start by pre-heating your oven to 160°C (325° F, Gas Mark 3) and line a 12 hole muffin tray with muffin cases.
Cream the sugar and butter together with an electric whisk or wooden spoon until combined and fluffy.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Then, with the electric whisk set on low, carefully pour the eggs into the sugar and butter, a bit at a time, ensuring each dash is well mixed in before adding more egg. Add in the vanilla extract and grated white chocolate, then mix one last time to combine.
Next, sift in the flour and cocoa powder in stages, gently folding into the mixture as you go, using a wooden spoon or spatula.
Spoon into your muffin cases, about a third from the top, and place in the middle of a pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Once out of the oven, transfer the cakes onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
For the frosting:
Combine the icing sugar, softened butter, water and orange blossom water in a food processor or with an electric whisk. (With a whisk the icing sugar may make a bit of a mess but it still works).
To apply the food colour, I dipped the end of a teaspoon in the pot and rubbed it on the frosting mixture, then blended once again with the whisk. Use as much colouring as you like for how dark you want the frosting. To achieve my creamy peach colour, I only needed a dab.
Spoon the frosting into a piping bag and roll the top over to create a lock. I propped up my piping bag in a jug to make filling easier, as it usually requires more than two hands if you want to keep a frosting-free kitchen!
Now pipe your buttercream swirl using your own method, or mine: Pipe one circle starting from the centre of the cake then 'cast off.' (Stop piping). Pipe a second swirl on top of this and bring to a point in the centre, pushing down into the frosting slightly, then pulling away gently, to cast off.
Lastly, sprinkle with the edible embellishments of your choice. I sprinkled the bronze crunch on first, then the silver stardust and finally topped each cake with an edible diamond, placing at a slight angle.
I'm totally loving peach this summer, I can't get enough of the colour. Something fresh and warm about it, don't you think?
Yesterday's weather surprised all of us so I decided to take the cakes outside and shoot in the garden. It was a gorgeous day and the cake numbers quickly diminished in between shots as we had four visitors while I was doing the shoot!
I hope you all had a glorious sunny weekend and I hope to see you back here soon.
4 comments
Oh! I love the colour combo of coral and chocolate. Beautiful - and yummy!
ReplyDeleteThanks Brownwyn, I'm totally in love with peachy tones at the moment. And chocolate cake, of course! :)
DeleteOh, I bet these are delicious - I can just imagine how the orange blossom water and the chocolate combined - how good that must be! Divine! I do appreciate you sharing with Home and Garden Thursday,
ReplyDeleteKathy
Hi Kathy, thanks for the comment! They do go very well together, and it's now got me thinking of more chocolate & orange combinations I can do in the future. Watch this space, I guess! :)
DeleteThank you for stopping by!