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!

Double icing swirly whirly girly cupcakes

Darling boy had his first primary school christmas fair today, and as one of life's 'joiners' I'm on the PTA (parent teacher association) at his school.  Donations were requested for the cake stall- what honest self respecting christmas fair doesn't have a cake stall?) Happy to oblige, I made rocky road, with chocolate, biscuit and marshmallow, topped with more marshmallows and glitter being a perfect winner for children.

I also made these cheeky cupcakes, vanilla with swirly whirly double icing.  I fancied a challenge and so went with the double icing- just what every mum wants to do, late on a school night!  I thought something out of the ordinary might sell well, and I was right.  The lovely receptionist at Darling boys school told me my cupcakes were selling "like the proverbial", which is what every charity baker wants to hear.

Cupcakes for the queen

Like most of the UK, we had our village street/barn party for the Jubilee celebrations in the cold and drizzle.  The great British summer didn't stop us from having a get together, we just wore our cagoules, stylish I know.  It was still good fun, if a bit damp.

Here are the cupcakes I made for the party, lemon with a home-made lemon curd filling and a new one, Earl Grey- which were totally delicious.  I wasn't sure how the Earl Grey were going to go down with a mixed crowd of locals, mostly proper farmers perhaps not so inclined towards the more unusual cake flavours in life.  But the cupcakes all disappeared fairly quickly, so I needn't have worried.  Perhaps the farmers of Devon are more experimental in their tastes than I had imagined.  and of course, I decorated a couple of cupcakes especially for our Lizzie, if she felt like dropping by.

Roll on the street party

The village where the farm is is having a street party (well, more of a winding lane party) I've been volunteered to make the celebration cake and decided to go with classic British flavours with a twist.  I'm making two batches, lemon and earl grey tea.

The lemon curd is made (I love making lemon curd, so simple and super yummy)  The lemon cupcakes are made, now I just need to apply A into B.

I've not made the Early Grey cupcakes before, but I love the flavours as a tea, and am intrigued to see how it turns out as a cake.  I will report back.

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.

Caramel cupcakes

Here is a new recipe I tried, caramel cupcakes.  They have sweet caramel in both the cake and the buttercream and are very, very moreish for it.  Just don't tell your dentist!

Easter cupcakes all grown-up

...And for the grownups, here is my Easter cupcake for you.  This one is an Easter spiced cupcake, with honey cinnamon buttercream icing, topped with a crystallised primrose for added adult sophistication.

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.

Going global, transatlantic love

I have had my first order from overseas- how exciting, I'm now an international business woman.  The customer lived in America and her husband lived in Devon.  She wanted to send him a valentines gift and this is where I come in.

6 Valentines carrot cake cupcakes later, the husband was genuinely touched and delighted with his surprise, and I got to feel warm and fuzzy in helping bring two loves separated by thousands of miles closer together on Valentines Day.

Ahh, love and cake- life's natural partners.

It's a cupcake, but it's healthy...almost

Darling boy's school had a party and I was more than happy to bring along some cupcakes (for the grownups, the kids had more than enough cake!)

Wanting to do something different from the usual treat of chocolate and the crowd pleaser of vanilla, and feeling spicy, I went with carrot cake.  These are topped with a cinnamon buttercream which keeps it cakey, but the cake itself is a low fat recipe and of course the carrots in the cake make them healthy, innit.

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.

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.

Sparkly cupcakes for the bride and groom

Here are the wedding cupcakes as promised.  The bride and groom had 85 vanilla cupcakes with plum and scarlet butterflies.  One giant cupcake in vanilla with a chocolate buttercream icing on the base, also decorated with butterflies. The last photo is of the cakes in the evening, all dressed up and ready to party.

Sparkly wedding cupcakes- a sneaky glimpse

Here is a cheeky glimpse of the cupcakes from this weekends wedding.  More to come soon.

A girl's gotta have tuppaware

I'm very excited.  I've just ordered four cupcake couriers from the very lovely Sugar Shack , a brilliant on-line store that sells all things cake.  I've already chosen what I want, but I'm still mooching around their site looking for more!

A cupcake courier is a specially made plastic tuppaware thingy that has 3 stacking trays with deep insets to hold each cupcake safe and secure.  It can hold 36 cupcakes, or one massive cake if you take the trays out. I already have a stock of white corrugated cardboard cake boxes that have cupcake insets that I use for deliveries, but wanted something more sustainable and sturdy.

The magic cupcake couriers are due to arrive by Thursday, which is perfect as I have a cupcake wedding this weekend.  Should a girl get this excited about tuppaware?  Lets face it, and lets not be shy...I think the answer is probably yes.

Wedding cupcakes

 As promised, here are my most recent wedding cupcakes.  The bride and groom had 6 different flavours, each with a different handmade decoration.  The bride was totally delighted, which is always a real pleasure to see.