What Maddie Baked

Wow, wow, wow

So, earlier this morning I got into battle with a high hat (the cymbal shaped thing on a drumkit ya know?). Anyway, between you and me, things were said, and somebody got a bit out of hand and I came off with a bashed-up toe (and the High Hat, annoyingly, scarless). So I was ranting and raving, charging around the house a bit. Mum, with her usual knack for calming the waters put The Crabapple Bakery Cupcake Cookbook into my hands and told me to 'get on and bake something before you do yourself a damage'. I was greatful, and refrained to tell her that I'd sustained an injury already this morning.

So, without further ado I present to you : Ginger Fluff Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Although, being English, should I perhaps call it 'Cream Cheese Icing?', ho hum!

This recipe is a little adapted, like most favourites. I've fiddled with the frosting to make it paler and more snow-like, and I've used salted butter cause that's what I had to hand , a bit of the syrup that goes with the ginger also improves it. But that's all beside the point. These are SO yummy. The kind of 'mouthfeel' they talk about in books, that you never really believe in. And i'm SO pleased that I happened to come accross them just as I was planning my next post. Sometimes, life is lovely!

How to:

4 cupsPlain white flour
2 tsp ground ginger
400g butter
1.5 cups dark muscavado
3/4 cup black treacle
1 1/4 cup milk
4 large beaten eggs
1 heaped tbsp ginger in syrup

Oven at 180 degrees C,

• Melt the butter, sugar, treacle slowly- or else it catches and burns at the edges. Nightmare to clean!
• Keep stirring, and don't let it boil.
• Once it's all melted, then you can turn the heat off, give it a final stir and leave it to cool a bit.
• Meanwhile, you can sift together the flour, ginger and a pinch of salt
• Stir the milk carefully into the buttery treacle (It'll begin to smell oh-so-divine, I'd like to see you try to resist a lick!)
• Now stir in the eggs, make sure you keep stirring until well combined.
• And stir in the ginger- you can stir as much as you like at this point but once you've added the flour, ease off a bit or It'll toughen up.
• So now add the flour, softly softly now!
• Pour into cupcake papers, any size you fancy really. The one above is a little tiny mini one (which means you can eat five, of course)
• Bake for 15 mins. Do not open the oven until the time is up! They'll probably need about 5 more mins, but prod them lightly on the top with your finger to test. If the sponge doesn't spring back, it's not ready. If it does, get them out!
• Pop them on a wire rack to prevent them carrying on cooking in the tins residual heat.

Note: They have to be cold before icing! Don't risk it. I did, and it was such a fail I didn't even bother taking a picture! You have been warned.

Icing

Cream 125g of butter, soft at room temp, until it is pale and fluffy. Add in 400g cream cheese and 3 cups of icing sugar and cream until it is light and airy. Add 3 more cups of icing sugar, a cup at a time. It'll be of a 'dropping' consistency, you'll see when you make it. Use a pallet knife, or a butter knife and free-form swirl it whichever way you fancy! I topped with another piece of preserved ginger, but you could sprinkle with powdered ginger, or leave the snowy peaks just as they are.

B.e.a-utiful