RSPCA Cupcake Day 2011

Today was my third year of participation in the RSPCA Cupcake Day, and it was a success once again... Thanks to the support of my family, friends and colleagues I raised $360 for the RSPCA! Hurrah, and a big thank you to everyone for their support of this wonderful cause :)

Vanilla cupcake with vanilla buttercream

This year I decided to keep my cupcakes simple, but no less delicious. I made my usual favourite chocolate cupcakes topped with ganache, as well as something new - a lovely Nutella cupcake which went down a treat with my fellow Nutella-addict friends. The recipe comes from this The Crabapple Bakery Cupcake Cookbook - if you are keen for me to do a post on this recipe, please let me know!

'Nutella Lovers' cupcake

I also offered vanilla cupcakes with four different butter cream flavours - vanilla, strawberry, lavender and passionfruit. And because I'm not at all a fan of essences (oh don't even get me started!), I used all natural ingredients to create scrummy flavours. My favourite of the four was the strawberry buttercream - Mmmmm!

Vanilla cupcake with lavender buttercream

Vanilla cupcake with passionfruit buttercream

Vanilla cupcake with strawberry buttercream

Here is my recipe for you, my lovely readers...

Ladybird's Strawberry Buttercream (enough to generously top a dozen cupcakes)

an original Diary of a Ladybird recipe

125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
pinch of salt
2 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
250g punnet strawberries, washed and hulled
2 tablespoons caster sugar, plus extra to taste
1 tablespoon lemon juice, plus extra to taste
pink food colouring (optional)

1. First start on the strawberry syrup that will flavour the buttercream. Blitz the strawberries to a fine puree. Combine in a a small saucepan along with the caster sugar and lemon juice. Stirring occasionally, bring to a simmer over low-medium heat. Reduce to low heat and stir frequently until the liquid has reduced to a thick syrup. Taste as you go, adding more lemon juice / caster sugar as required. Pass the syrup through a fine sieve and set aside in the fridge to cool.

2. Now start on the buttercream. Using an electric mixer, beat together the butter, vanilla extract and pinch of salt for a minute. Then beat in the icing sugar a third at a time, mixing well and scraping down the bowl after each addition to keep the mixture light and fluffy.

3. Finally, mix in the cooled strawberry syrup until well combined. If the mixture is a little wet for spreading/piping, simply add extra icing sugar. At this point you could also add a little pink food colouring if you wanted to enhance the colour, but I find that the syrup itself gives colours the buttercream nicely.


Till next time, dear readers

Ladybird x

Cookbook of the Month - August 2011

With RSPCA Cupcake Day fast approaching, my kitchen (and dining room!) have quickly become a crazed cupcake workshop this weekend. As I type this, my laptop is surrounded by trays of freshly baked cupcakes cooling  before they can be iced and adorned ready for sale on Monday. It's a lot of work, but I do love it.. there's just something about cupcakes that I will never tire of, and when it's for a good cause, how can I resist?!

With cupcakes on my mind, I am pleased to announce the cookbook of the month for August - The Crabapple Bakery Cupcake Cookbook by Jennifer Graham. Published in 2007 this book has been around for a little while, but there is good reason behind its popularity. Written by the famed founder and director of the now closed Crabapple Cupcake Bakery in Victoria, I would have no hesitation in recommending this book to any cupcake lover. I recently received this cookbook as a gift and I am absolutely in love with it. It is filled with delicious and easy to follow recipes, both classic and imaginative.

I am looking forward to trying all the book's recipes, but as a litmus test I have already tried the book's basic vanilla and chocolate cupcake recipes twice now. Both get the big thumbs up from me, but below I have included both recipes so that you can make up your own mind if you like. I feel that both produce a great flavour and texture, as well as that highly sought-after smooth domed top.

Each of the following recipes is supposed to make 24, but I seem to get around 27 out of each recipe when I use a levelled off ice cream scoop to divide the batter among the cupcake papers. They will keep for 2 days and freeze for 2 months. For best results, start with all ingredients at room temperature. And as I always say, choose your eggs wisely! :)

Crabapple Bakery's Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients

2 & 3/4 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
200g softened unsalted butter
1 & 3/4 cups caster sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius. Line two 12 hole muffin trays with cupcake papers.

2. Sift together the flour and baking powder. In a separate bowl, cream the butter for 1-2 minutes. Add the caster sugar a third at a time, beating for 2 minute after each addition. After the last addition, beat until the mixture is light and fluffy and the sugar has almost dissolved. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

3. Add a third of the flour to the creamed mixture and beat on low speed until combined. Add half of the milk and beat until combined. Repeat this process. Add the remaining third of the flour and beat until thoroughly combined; do not overbeat as this will toughen the mixture.

4. Spoon mixture into cupcake papers, filling each about three-quarters full. Note: I use a levelled off ice-cream scoop to divide the batter quickly and evenly. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a fine skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from the trays immediately and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before frosting.

Crabapple Bakery's Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

3 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons instant coffee granules
1 cup hot water
1 cup cocoa
1 cup cold water
200g softened unsalted butter
2 & 1/2 cups caster sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius. Line two 12 hole muffin trays with cupcake papers.

2. Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl whisk together the coffee, hot water and cocoa until you have a smooth paste. Add the cold water and whisk until evenly combined.

3. In a separate bowl, cream the butter for 1-2 minutes. Add the caser sugar a third at a time, beating for 2 minute after each addition. After the last addition, beat until the mixture is light and fluffy and the sugar has almost dissolved. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

4. Add a quarter of the flour to the creamed mixture and beat on low speed until combined. Add a third of the cocoa mixture and beat until combined. Repeat this process twice more. Add the remaining quarter of the flour and beat until thoroughly combined; do not overbeat as this will toughen the mixture.

5. Spoon mixture into cupcake papers, filling each about three-quarters full. Note: I use a levelled off ice-cream scoop to divide the batter quickly and evenly. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a fine skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from the trays immediately and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before frosting


Till next time, dear readers!

Ladybird x

Coming soon - RSPCA Cupcake Day 2011!

RSPCA Cupcake Day is set to be held again this year on August 15th - that's only a 5 days away! As an animal (and cupcake) lover, this fundraising event is definitely something I look forward to each year - it is such a wonderful cause!

I am so looking forward to this event that I even decided to pen a little poem about it!

Bakers for the RSPCA

Support creatures great and small

Host a morning tea, or set up a stall

All you have to do is register and get baking

Let bakers unite – it’s history in the making!

RSPCA Cupcake Day – it’s an excellent cause

Get involved, and raise your paws!

Tell me, dear readers, will you be cupcaking this RSPCA Cupcake Day?


If you are, that's fantastic!!! Remember to choose your ingredients wisely when baking for this worthy cause.. Using caged eggs really defeats the purpose of supporting the RSPCA's work, so please choose free range eggs :) For more information about how to choose your eggs wisely, please click here.

Not a baker? No problem! Simply support a friend / family member / colleague by buying a cupcake from them on the day, or by sponsoring them through their RSPCA fundraising page. If all else fails, you can sponsor me if you like! To sponsor me, please click here.

So do support RSPCA Cupcake Day 2011 in any way that you can - the animals will love you for it!

Ladybird x