Swirly chocolate and vanilla cupcakes

Here at Adventures in Cake, we love swirly whirly cupcakes, the mix of flavours and the prettiness of the icing makes us all very happy here on the farm- shame these weren't for us to eat, but for some other lucky fellows!

Hot chocolate cupcakes

Here are the latest cupcakes from the Adventure in Cake kitchen... hot chocolate cupcakes, topped with marshmallows to complete the tasty hot beverage theme.  The cake and buttercream icing are both infused with hot chocolate in place of the usual milk which gives the cupcakes their perfect blend of chocolately-ness and milky sweetness.

Salted caramel and chocolate tart

This is the second time I have made this for Sister in laws birthday  Its her most favourite combination and what the birthday girl wants, the birthday girl will get.

We had this in the evening, when the boys were in bed- it is definitely not food for children.  Too salty, too sweet, too chocolately, too good!

I also made a day-time birthday cake that Darling boy and Little brother could join in with.  After all, it was a special big birthday (but don't tell Sister in Law, I don't think she is too pleased about turning this particular number) and therefore deserving of not just one, but two birthday cakes.  I will be posting about the day-time cake soon.

This one went down a storm with Sister in Law and her Lunnun chums- they were all down in Devon helping with the celebrations and larking about on the farm.  All that fresh air and quad bike action meant we were hungry.

photo by Dancing Steve

Easter = chocolate

Here we are Easter egg hunting on the farm with Little brother and the bump.  The walk up the (tiny) hill to the orchard justifies the unbelievable amounts of chocolate we put away that day.  Little brother is very much a 'now' kinda man.  When he finds a chocolate egg, he eats it straight away, seeing little point in the basket that silly mummy keeps going on about.

The day before, Darling boy had drawn a map for the Easter bunny (so the easter bunny would know where to come of course) and we left it outside the kitchen.  We then walked around the house ringing the school bell and when we got back to the front door, the map had gone! Eye witness reports feature seeing a flash of white running across the fields- which must surely have been the Easter bunny.  Darling boy was totally caught up in the excitement and magic of the Easter bunny, Little brother remained focussed, like an olympic athlete on the consumption of chocolate. Clever boy.

photo by Dancing Steve

90 years of birthday cakes...and here is the 90th

It was Handsome husband's Granny's 90th birthday last week and we went on a (super long) road trip to see her.  Oxford and back in one day from Devon is no joke, especially with two under 4 year olds and a big bump in tow.

Great Granny eats like a bird, but has a legendary sweet tooth and so a super-mega chocolate birthday cake was called for.  It also had to be something relatively compact as although we were taking the big car, we were also taking my in-laws too.  Our 7 seater car was to be carrying 6 people, 3 changes of clothes (small boys need wardrobe changes much like Lady Gaga does, though for reasons of water, mud and chocolate, not high fashion so much) plus toys and books to provide suitable distraction for the aforesaid little ones, and, of course the cake.

I wanted to go feminine, but not too girly.  So I opted for a simple round shape, and went with the ribbon effect chocolate buttercream and pastel flowers, with matching glitter.  The cake recipe is one I hadn't tried before, but will definitely be doing again.  Chocolate cake is often not all that chocolately, and more often that not, a cocoa disappointment, but this was everything you'd want a chocolate cake to be, rich, moist, and actually chocolately.

The birthday girl seemed keen on the cake and half of it was eaten on the day by us partygoers, and the rest was carved up and taken home by the rest of the family, wrapped in napkins and stashed in handbags.

I asked Great Granny if she liked being 90 years old, and in true Great Granny style, she quickly said 'No'.  I asked her is she preferred being 89 and she said 'No'...Though she did say her favourite age was 40 years..so as I'm 33 this year, it means I've got something to look forward to!

Onwards and upwards I say.

Easter cupcakes

Here are some yummy cupcakes from my kitchen...Chocolate cupcakes topped with a double layer of buttercream icings, the bottom layer is a honey cinnamon buttercream, and the 'nest' is made with chocolate buttercream studded with mini eggs- it is easter after all.

Happy chocolate season everyone!

Chocolate and orange cupcakes- approach with speed

Here are my most recent batch of cupcakes, baked for a grown up birthday.  Who can resist the combination of chocolate and orange zest.  Positively yummy.  I took them along to a tea party Darling boy and Little brother were having with some local friends, and the cakes nearly all got snaffled before the  grown-up birthday boy arrived, the cupcake version of 'you snooze, you lose' I guess.  Luckily we dived in and rescued the last cupcake from sticky fingers.  Speed is of the essence where chocolate is concerned.

How to become an accidental husband poisoner

Imagine the scene, you are due to visit a new friends house (these lovely people with their own fantastic farm and wonderful rare breed products) and then some more friends the following day.  Baking is needed and something chocolately.  Mums are always in need of chocolate.

Step 1. Begin one of your favourite recipes - Rocky Road- without fully checking you have all the required ingredients

Step 2. Get to the bit where you add the crushed biscuits and find you haven't enough. Get in a flap and say rude words (both boys are in bed, so I quite enjoy having a jolly old swear apres bedtime)

Step 3.  Feel relieved and smug when you find a stash of amaretti biscuits at the back of the cupboard. Add the almondy biscuits, complete the recipe, put in the fridge to set and toddle off to bed.

Here comes the crucial bit...

Step 4. The next day, dust with icing sugar, slice and box up in 2 batches and then, go out for the evening without thinking to mention to Handsome husband about the unusual addition of the amaretti biscuits...

The following morning Handsome husband mentions that he really doesn't feel very well at all.  I ask him what he ate (as I was out for the evening he was self catering)  The food he lists all seems pretty normal, apart from 'oh and two of those chocolately things in the cupboard'

Oops. Handsome husband has a nut allergy.  Two visits to the emergency out of hours doctors and a prescription of mega ultra antihistamines, an unbearable rash, constant nausea, nearly a week off work and an aching restricted throat, Handsome husband has just about forgiven me.  Though not without checking e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g I now offer him is nut free.

And, by the way, if you were wondering, the addition of the amaretti biscuits to the Rocky Road was actually very tasty, just the teeniest bit toxic to those who are anti-nut!

The chocolate bourbon

Here is chapter one in the cannon of classic biscuits...the chocolate bourbon.  Much more chocolately and  satisfying than the shop version.  Pretty easy to make and with a chocolate buttercream icing in the centre, it makes the biscuit something more of a treat too.  It's more squeezey to eat, but worth making again.  Little brother chose the home-made one over the shop one when offered both- clever boy.

I'm sure you can play around with the flavours too, and go all spicy and cinnamony, should you be so inclined.

Swirly whirly, double icing cupcakes

I have been practising and perfecting my swirly whirly cupcakes.  It's a tricky technique, but well worth it.

These beauties are chocolate cupcakes, with a raspberry pink and chocolate buttercream icing.

BOO!

Boo! Halloween cupcakes for the school party.

I made these chocolate beauties with orange and green  or orange and chocolate vanilla buttercream icing for the kids at the school Halloween party, but the PTA decided to auction them off instead for the Bille Butterfly fund.

The lucky auction bidder who won them was a mum from Darling boys school who is also a nurse.  It's nice to know that my cakes have supported such a great local charity, as well as feeding hungry nurses (i.e., people with proper jobs!) who are in professional need of chocolate.

Dark chocolate cake truffles

When is a Cakepop not a Cakepop?  When it doesn't have a stick... 

Darling boy, little brother and I went for a lovely visit to the marvellous mum and dad.  Whilst there we had a family dinner to which I bought along some 'dark chocolate cake truffles'...I knew that something chocolately would always go down well after a big dinner.  So, simply make your cake pops are usual, but eschew the stick and pretend they are a grown up treat instead.  Oh, and if you do a double coating of dark chocolate, it's all the better.

A minnie mouse birthday cake for a grown up girly

After making the caterpillar cake recently, one of the mums at the party got in touch and asked me to make a cake for her little sisters 21st birthday.  The brief was 'anything chocolate, Spice Girls, or Disney-she loves Disney'.

Off I went and brainstormed.  I couldn't find anything in my imagination that could represent the Spice Girls via the medium of buttercream.  The Disney idea had more possibilities.  As it was a 21st, I wanted to keep it playful, but a bit sophisticated.... or as sophisticated as you can get with giant chocolate ears.

It's always slightly nerve-wracking presenting a cake (will they like the design? will they ike the flavours?  will it get there in one piece?....actually, I'm normally fairly confident about the design and taste- its the logistics of transporting that gives me the willies), but I delivered the cake this morning and it was happily received...phew.  I've never really made anything like this before, but I'm learning all the time.

The ears are giant cake pops made in the form of flat discs moulded onto 2 bamboo skewers, then coated in dark chocolate and then a layer of buttercream and golden chestnut glitter.

Mini cupcakes for the big church bells

Our church bells need re-hanging.  This is super duper mega expensive and funds need to be raised.  Before you can qualify for funding from the big boys, you need to prove you have raised a certain percentage locally.  This is where I come in, in a very small way of course.

Now I’m not a religious person, but I recognise the brilliant space that a church has, both physically as an ancient building, and also emotionally within a community.  All that history, the atmosphere, the acoustics, the dazzling stained glass, the stylish pews (do you think I could sneak one home for my new kitchen in the barn??), but mostly the sense of cohesion and pulling together.

A concert was arranged in the local church to raise money, and we merry bell ringers were to be providing the half time snacks (as the poster promised wine and nibbles)  I had been asked if I could possibly bake some cupcakes, and of course I agreed.

I decided mini ones would be best, more like a cocktail pudding snack, than a full on slice o’ cake which is what mine more usually are.

I kept it classic and went with chocolate and vanilla decorated in shades of cream, blue and purple and only had empty cake stands to take home.  Happy concert goers and happy me.

Chocolate birthday cupcakes

I know I have my most recent wedding cupcakes to show you, but I'm still sorting through the squillions of photos.  In the meantime, take a look at one of my recent birthday orders.  Girly chocolate cupcakes.  Something pinky was requested, and I happily baked and designed something fitting.

I've got such a lovely collection of edible glitters now that I can't help going to town and using a blend of different colours.  These cupcakes had about 5 different variations of pink through to violet purple and a gorgeous iridescent white one, so pretty.  If only everything we ate could be covered in glitter.

 

Wedding cupcakes sneak preview

The last few days have been a frenzy of crystallising rose petals, stamping out daisy shaped decorations, baking, icing and decorating- all in a haze of pink purple and burnished gold glitter.  I have a wedding today that I have baked the cupcakes for (and lucky little me gets to go to the wedding too!)

The bride has chosen a selection of 6 different flavours (the wonderful benefit of cupcakes being just this- lots of flavours!)  And so along with these different flavours are different toppings and different decorations.  Marvellous mum has been on hand to help with the decoration stamping, champion washing up and entertaining Little brother who was extremely keen on being chief taster.

I'm so excited for today, I'm quite giddy.  I woke up this morning and looked out of our window at clear blue skies.  Lucky bride and groom.

On the menu today we have:

* Vanilla, with dusty pink vanilla buttercream, with crystallised rose petals
* Chocolate with pink daisies
* Sticky toffee pudding- with a secrete toffee sauce inside and a toffee buttercream, topped with purple daisies
* Lemon cupcakes with lemon daisies
* Carrot cake cupcakes with dusty orange daisies
* Cherry and almond, topped with a good old fashioned cherry.  Quite a combination.

More photos to follow later on, after the big day.  But here is a sneak preview

Adventures in Cake goes Whooppeeeeeee

Handsome husbands cousin is off to China for a whole year to do something terribly clever in design.  So, before she left, she came down to Devon for a visit to keep her 'topped up' on Devon loveliness whilst she was away.

In honour of her exciting trip, I wanted to bake her something very very un-chinese...the thinking being she was about to have a year of missing all her favourite things, so before she goes, she needs to stocked up, to keep her reserves going.

My new Hummingbird Bakery cookbook suggested these cheeky fellows; chocolate and peanut butter whoopee pies.  A few tweaks with the recipe and the method were required...but they turned out pretty well, and were soon gobbled up.  Cups of hot tea were the best accompaniment, with a glass of cold milk a cool second.

These were my first whoopee pies (yes, I know I am late to the party)  and I think they need some further refinement, but not bad for an early try out.

Ridiculous brownies

Me and the boys are currently having a mini holiday with my marvellous mum and dad whilst Handsome husband is off in America visiting Wagyu farms (more on this later) So, taking the advantage of being nearer to London than normal, we scheduled a much needed visit to our dear friends.  Its so great to meet up with old friends, especially when various bumps are due to turn into babies any time soon.

  

We sat around and chatted and the kids romped around and played.  Darling boy and Little brother were delighted to rush in and out, playing in the garden and with the girls, or rather 'ladies' as Darling boy put it.

Naturally, one does not arrive empty handed when visiting.  A hand-tied bunch of hot pink roses, gerberas, and some other handsome looking blooms were bought from the local florist and I had made a batch of double chocolate brownies.  I was feeling in the mood to pimp my brownies, and so added some glace cherries, and then a mix of almonds and cranberries were thrown in too, as well as a smashed up bar of dark chocolate too.  They went down well, and the cherries added a juicy fruitiness which would easily pass as one of your five a day.


Incidentally, my favourite line of the day went as follows

Darling boy:  'Where are the ladies?'
The Mini greek: 'I'm not a lady, I'm a princess'

...Too true, the mini greek is a properly beautiful creature, with eyelashes that just won't stop. And at this point was wearing an irresistible Disney princess dress that calls out to all little girls to be worn straight away, over whatever they are already wearing and flounced around in, in a way that all grown ups only wish they could too.

i HEART brownies

When going for dinner with the Girls and one has volunteered to take pudding, what does one take?  Chocolate of course...After I made these brownies, I thought it would be a cute idea to cut them into heart shapes.  Hooray for brownies.  Hooray for my extensive collection of cookie cutters.  These were served up warm from the oven, with raspberries and ice-cream.

These are my double chocolate brownies, that I made into triple chocolate brownies.

Little Brothers birthday

It was Little Brothers 1st birthday this weekend.  We can hardly believe he is now one year old. Amazing.  He is such a cool little man, very smiley and he had a brilliant time at his party.  He managed to squeeze in a record 2 sausages, 2 strawberries, 1 crisp and a piece of bread all into his mouth at the same time, like a hamster.

We had the usual party fare, and as usual, all the cake and biscuits were gobbled, and naturally most of the sandwiches remained.  After all, under fives definitely have their priorities right.  Sugar first, vitamins second.  

I was pleased to have sourced everything from local shops and managed to continue my going local campaign.

Little brother had chocolate cupcakes, and lemon cupcakes, with a secret home-made lemon curd filling. And centre place was Little Brothers very first birthday cake, a two tiered duck cake, iced in yellow buttercream icing and complete with eyelashes and a baby duck.

A brilliant time was had by all, prosecco for the grown ups and running around outside for the kids.  Perfect.