Quick and easy vanilla cupcakes

Sometimes you just want comfort food and you don't want to make a huge fuss, or you just don't have the time. Its been a busy few weeks and I have been up and down the country going to weddings(!), then it was Easter and yet I haven't done much baking. Shameful! But, to be honest, I have been trying to sort of be good; my jeans just don't fit like they used to and I need to start getting fit for the 10km run I've volunteered myself for in the summer...

But the fact that this awful English weather is hanging about just makes me want to stay indoors and avoid the outside world. Seriously, getting caught in heavy downpours aint fun. I couldn't go for a run so instead made my all time favourite vanilla cupcakes and played with some purple colouring.  This pleases me. I hate being in the kitchen cooking but get me some flour and sugar and eggs and I'm in there pronto! Surely I can't be the only one....

'Wear It Pink' ribbon cookies and cupcakes in aid of breast cancer campaign

I don't really care for pink, I'm more into darker colours like black and purple - but this was for a good cause, so i thought, heck why not. So instead of wearing a pink cardigan or shirt like everyone else, I wore pink floral tights and black shirt and skirt, ha!

I thought I'd get involved this year - I did the 'Race for Life' like erm.. a few good years ago, so this is my contribution to fighting cancer - with cupcakes and cookies!

I don't have a proper ribbon cookie cutter, but its quite easy to make a stencil and just use that to cut around the cookie dough. But it does take aaages! That's dedication or so I've been told...

I could have used the standard sugar cookie recipe, but I wanted these to be crisp and crunchy and also because the royal icing on these cookies can make the sugar cookies a bit soft, which you don't really want. I had lots of fun with these as you can see...

Homemade Custard Creams

Crunchy!

The beloved custard cream - a very typically British biscuit that is an all time favourite, with its identifiable ornate design and shape. Apparently this biscuit is so adored, it was voted Britain's favourite biscuit in a recent poll, I can't remember but I probably voted for them at the time.

I did some investigating just to find out about the history of the custard cream - but there really wasn't anything much on the internet. Isn't that just so sad, I mean this biscuit looks posh, admit it, its been around for a long time and it must have been created for some purpose. I can just imagine a Victorian tea party with a few of these biscuits on the side of a rather elegant gold rimmed teacup saucer. I've always wanted to recreate these and I don't know why it took me so long, they're quick and easy and absolutely delicicous, with just the right amount of crunch. Addition of baroque pattern optional!

Ingredients for the biscuits:-

115g unsalted butter
75g castor sugar
175g all-purpose flour
8 tblsp custard powder
1tsp vanilla extract

Filling:-

75g unsalted butter
1tsp vanilla extract
150g icing sugar
3 tblsp custard powder
2 tblsp milk

Method:-

Preheat the oven to 180C Gas Mark 4.

Cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Fold in the flour, custard powder and vanilla essence until you have a dough that you can roll out. You will need to get stuck in and use your hands for this!

Flour a worktop surface and roll out your dough to a thickness of 1/2cm. Cut the dough into whatever shapes you want ensuring that you have an even number of each shapes. Custard creams are traditionally square but I just used a round cutter - it was either that or a heart shape, which probably isn't that appropriate!

Other brand baking trays are available..

Place your biscuits on a baking tray, I just greased the tray with butter and flour and then bake for 10 minutes until just before golden brown. Leave to cool for a couple of minutes before transfering to a cooling rack.

To make the filling, cream the butter and vanilla together and gradually add the sugar and custard powder until you have something with the consistency of buttercream icing or frosting. Add milk and transfer to a piping bag, this is so much easier to make the sandwiches filling. When the biscuits are cool, gently sandwich them together, I started on the outside and worked in a swirl with the filling. This makes them neater when joined with the other half - presentation and all that!

Ready for my close-up..

Best enjoyed with a strong cup of tea! These absolutely went down a treat at work and I am rather pleased with them. I will definitely be making these again, I'm just not so sure I can actually eat the real custard creams now!

Why yes, I do like this plate thank you!

Vanilla and Rosewater Macarons (my first ever attempt)

Ahh, the mystery that is the macaroon or is it macaron?! Now, since the English word macaroon can also refer to the coconut macaroon many recipe books have adopted the French spelling of macaron to distinguish the two items in the English language. However, this has caused confusion over the correct spelling of the meringue-like biscuit.

Slightly cracked, but still lovely

Nonetheless, this delicacy is recognised by its smooth, domed top, ruffled layer (often referred to as the "foot"), and flat base. If you have 'feet' on your macaron, then you have the perfect macaron. It is mildly moist, crunchy on the exterior and easily melts in the mouth.

There are several ways of making these finicky little treats – the Italian version which involves some boiling of sugar until the right temperature which I just don't have the patience for, or the French version which incorporates some ‘folding’ for the right amount of times... I went with the french version.

I wanted to use a different flavour for the filling of the macarons, and rose water is just that, quite a very distinctive flavour and has been known to be used heavily in Iranian cuisine - especially in sweets such as nougat and baklava. In some parts of the continent rose water is sometimes used to flavour both marzipan and madeleines; a petite light French sponge cake.

This recipe is adapted from the Baking=Love foodblog I adore.

Ingredients for macarons:-

3 egg whites
50g white sugar
200g icing sugar
110g ground almonds
1 tsp vanilla extract

 Method:-

Age(!) the eggs whites in a container either in the fridge for 24 - 48hrs in advance or heat gently in a microwave on a medium-low for bursts of 10 seconds or so, to get that 'aging'
process. This is to dry out the egg whites to prevent the mixture getting too wet as this can cause the cracks. Its supposed to make a huge difference apparently. I just put them in an oven for a few minutes to dry out.

Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, not like meringues just yet, but just foamy. Add the sugar gradually beating continuously till it gets glossy and shiny, like a meringue. Add the vanilla extract.

In a large separate bowl, mix together the icing sugar and ground almonds and sieve to remove all lumps, this will give the macarons that smooth texture. Umm, I don't have a sieve so I skipped this section, big mistake.

Macaronage stage:

Add half the almond/icing sugar mixture into the egg whites. Fold in gently for around 20-25 strokes. Add the rest of the almond/sugar mixture and vanilla and fold for another 20-25 strokes. So, I don't know, but apparently you only know when it's ready with experience but the mixture should look like lava and it should take no more than around 50 folds. I think I over did it, nevermind, I have learnt now.

Scoop mixture into a piping bag and pipe on to lined cookie trays into roughly 1 inch circles. Tap the trays on to the tabletop a couple of times to get the bubbles to come to the surface and pop them. Leave the trays of piped cookies to air for 30-60 minutes for the shells to form skins (this will help the cookies get the highly sought after feet).

Bake at 150 C or gas mark 3 for 10-12 minutes. Cool completely before piping buttercream and making into sandwiches. Put into an airtight container in the fridge overnight to mature before eating. Its supposed to improve the flavour and allow the macarons to absorb some moisture from the filling to get the perfect chewy texture. But i couldn't wait that long.

Buttercream:-
150g Icing sugar
100g butter
2tblsp milk
1tsp rosewater
Food colouring

Method:-
With the beater on medium, beat the butter and icing sugar until fluffy. Add food colouring to your desired pinkiness and add the milk. Further beat. Add the rosewater - not too much, this is quite strong!

Pipe onto a macaron shell carefully using a round tip and gently squish it down with a second shell. Enjoy!

Cracked, yet chewy and full of flavour, I'm still pleased with them!