41st Birthday Cupcakes: Isa & Terry's Banana Split Cupcakes

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

Thunder ~ Higher Ground
Bowes & Morley ~ Sick & Tired
Idil Biret ~ Chopin: Nocturne #1 in B Flat Minor
TOFG ~ The Night That Davey Caught The Train
Patti Smith ~ When Doves Cry
Chris Cornell ~ Can't Change Me
The Pretenders ~ Talk of the Town
Terra Naomi ~ Umbrella
Kid Rock ~ American Bad Ass
Joe Nichols ~ I'll Wait For You
Soundgarden ~ Room A Thousand Years Wide
Natalie Clein ~ Brahms: Cello Sonata#2 Adagio Affetuoso
The Cranberries ~ Show Me
Little Angels ~ I Ain't Gonna Cry


Yesterday...*sighs* I reached the grand age of 41. Where did this last year go...doesn't seem five minutes since I was trying my best to live in denial. However I am always aware of a simple quote I read around that time...

Yep..humbled me greatly, then and now. And even when I am going slightly hinkey about stepping into my early forties (note...early!...lol) I am grateful that no matter how hard this year has been..I have had another year. And at times it's been doubtful. So all happy here.

After all the celebrations last year I wanted a quiet birthday this time. As my birthday is on a Sunday this year, we decided to have a casual birthday lunch with my Mum, sister and little ones on the Saturday...a slightly more fun family day with cupcakes....and happy cupcakes at that. Then on Sunday we are met up with our friends for a lunch at a bar called Goucho's. I'll report back on that later next week. And again...followed by birthday cupcakes. lol.

My choice..well I say mine..with a little help from my sister..lol..was Banana Split Cupcakes. Once again the recipe is the creation of Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero's and from their awesome cookbook Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. My copy of their book is barely in one piece now and has so much tape in it holding pages together..lol.

'We' chose them because our inner child (something that happens a lot when my sister and I get together..despite our 11 year age difference lol) called out to them. I remembered going to a nice (not greasy spoon style..yuck) café when I was a kid and sharing a banana split with my Mum. Happy times.

So once ML got home last night the cupcake production line started. Apparently making them was great fun..as you got to swirl stuff into the batter. lol. And I thought my inner child was bad..lol.

Decadent close up..lol

The cupcakes were very good and despite looking terribly sweet..they weren't as sweet as imagined. The cake was very tasty and the hits of pineapple, banana and dark chocolate were sublime. Then the topping was a heady hit of childhood memories as you waded through the cream, cherry, nuts, chocolate drizzle and sprinkles. OK so there was clearly a way of eating these cupcakes. Take off the bottom part of the cake and enjoy the subtle textures and flavours...then dive into the top of the cake with the toppings and cling on and enjoy the sugar rush ride. lol. Great fun....and exactly what was needed. Thank you once again to ML for making yet another wonderful birthday creation.

ML said this is the arty shot!...lol

Isa & Terry's Banana Split Cupcakes Makes 12

1/2 cup of pineapple preserves
1/2 cup of very ripe bananas, mashed well
1 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup of granulated sugar
1/3 cup of canola/sunflower oil
2/3 cup of rice milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract (we didn't use any..)
1/4 cup of finely chopped dark chocolate

Toppings:
Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting..
Quick Melty Ganache
(recipes below)
fresh sliced bananas if serving immediately or
banana chips
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
chocolate or rainbow sprinkles
6 candied cherries, cut in half optional

Preheat the oven to 350'F and line a muffin tin with liners.

Stir pineapple preserves in a small pan over a low heat till melted and they pour easily when scooped with a spoon. Set to one side.

Push the bananas through a sieve or blender to remove all the big lumps. It should be fairly smooth.

Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl and mix. In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the oil, rice milk, vanilla and almond extract and mashed banana. Create a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and fold in the wet ingredients..mixing to just combine. Do not overmix..small lumps are OK.

Fill liners two thirds full. Top the batter of each cupcake with 1 tsp of preserve and 1 tsp chopped chocolate. With a small knife, carefully stir two or three times to stir in the preserves and chocolate. Bake for 20 - 22 minutes till a knife or toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack before topping.

Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup of nonhydrogenated shortening
1/2 cup of nonhydrogenated margarine
3 1/2 cups of icing sugar, sifted if lumpy
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup soya milk

Beat the shortening and margarine until well combined and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 minutes more. Add the vanilla and soya milk and beat for another 5-7 minutes until fluffy. Store in the refrigerator until ready to top the cupcakes.

Quick Melting Ganache

3 tbsp soya milk
1/3 cup of dark choc chips

Heat soya milk over a medium heat until just about to simmer. Remove from the heat, add chocolate chips and stir till the chocolate has melted and soya milk is combined. Set aside and leave to cool for 10 minutes. With a spatula spoon, scoop into a prepared pastry bag or plastic bag with the corner cut off, or drizzle haphazardly with a fork. This ganache will set when fully cool.

To assemble:

Top cooled cupcakes with vegan buttercream icing that is piped through a large icing bag with a large star nozzle. Drizzle with quick melting ganache and then scatter with nuts, banana and a cherry. Keep until ready to serve.

Enjoy! And as always many thanks to the vegan guru's that are Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your week is a splendid one...filled with Happy.

~Red~

So far..So good..lol

Birthday Play List:

Thunder Play List on iPod

My birthday morning started by having breakfast in bed..cooked by My Love. And it was delicious and filling! lol. Chickpea Pancakes with Broccoli & Vegan Chorizo filled mine and My Love had a Cabbage & Fennel filling.

Chickpea Pancakes with Broccoli & Vegan Chorizo Filling

I didn't try My Love's pancake but I was told it was very tasty...It looked it..

Chickpea Pancakes with Cabbage & Fennel Filling

Then it was card and prezzie time...I am so happy..I have Nickelback tickets!!! They are touring England and I am going to see them in October...Wehoooo! lol. Very excited and it gives me plenty of time to feel better. I also got a lovely shooting star ring and books by my favourite authors..and a calligraphy set...never done that before so it should be fun trying it out. lol

Then it was cupcake time...My Love spent yesterday baking Isa & Terry's Low Fat Vanilla Cupcakes and made then lower sugar too by using half & half sugar. Then it was over to me this morning to top them. I chose three toppings...Raspberry as suggested in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, Strawberry and originally it was going to be Blueberry but we couldn't find any so it ended up being Blackberry..not a hardship eh? lol. I used Reduced Sugar Jams to top and instead of a pool of icing on top, I did a swirl to give the contrast for the berries and then topped them. I think they look just lovely and I am very happy with them.

Low Fat, Lower Sugar Raspberry topped Vanilla Cupcakes

Whilst I was topping them my friend J called in to bring me a very cheeky card and share a cuppa with me as he and his partner can't make it tonight. It was a real treat to see him and hear about his life at the moment..and now have a plan to go to the theatre in a couple of weeks to see his partner D in a play where he is playing a Camp Air Steward and a Drag Queen..lol. J's card made me howl as the picture of a very old lady holding a gun saying
"If you put one more candle on that cake...." lol. Great.

Low Fat, Lower Sugar Strawberry topped Vanilla Cupcakes

I received a lovely card in the post from M and she willed be missed tonight. Didn't get one from my Dad but I guess if he can't get the right date in 40 years he won't start now, eh? Anyway..

Low Fat, Lower Sugar Blackberry topped Vanilla Cupcakes

And one final gratuitous cupcake shot...lol

A birds eye view if you were a very lucky bird..lol

As I was finishing up the final cupcakes there was a hammering on our front door. My Love went to answer and was greeted by a strange man holding a massive box..which was brought through to me and we both did that whole...looking at the box suspiciously, wondering who it was from...you know?..instead of actually opening it?? lol But when I did open it..it was a fantastic surprise from my cousin H, her partner J, my Aunt J and cousin J...a massive arrangement of Gerberras. H & J can't make it tonight so had sent these instead. Beautiful.

Sadly my photo doesn't do them justice..but trust me..they are awesome.

So it's coming up to 1pm and so far becoming 40 has been quite easy..even my pals who have been texting and using 40 in every way they can in the messages, have been kind. lol. But come 4.30 when the do is said start I'm expecting merciless teasing from everyone..so wish me luck..

Now I am away to try and make myself look alive as opposed to grey and corpse like..lol. Where's that trowel??? lol.

Thanks for stopping by...and I hope your Saturday is a fantastic one...

~R~ the *cou-40-gh* year old...Nope still not there yet? ;o) xx

Christmas Chocolate Cupcakes

Kitchen Play List: Bing Crosby ~ White Christmas
                                     Nat King Cole ~ The Christmas Song
                                     Dean Martin ~ Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
                                     Peggy Lee ~ Winter Wonderland
                                     

Christmas Chocolate Cupcakes

Ah cupcakes..there is always an excuse to make some, isn't there? I especially like making them when asked to do so for a gathering. And that is exactly what these were made for. My Love's colleagues were having their Christmas office gathering and everyone was asked to bring something and I was asked to make some cupcakes. And there was an extra request that they be chocolate. I always use the same recipe for chocolate cupcakes and it's a no brainer really..I always turn to Isa and Terry's wonderful cookbook Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World 

I have never been let down by this recipe..it always delivers and everyone always loves it. Even people who aren't the biggest chocolate cupcake fan (Myself included!) seem to enjoy them. I kept it really simple and made a chocolate topping of icing sugar, cocoa powder and water..I mixed and added until I got my preferred consistency. And then topped them with a simple fondant star with a green ball. That's the Christmasy part..don't ya know! ;o) lol 

I think I inhaled more icing sugar and cocoa powder than I put in the topping..*cough cough* This is why I usually get My Love to mix the icing...lol 

Aren't they pretty? I love stars...lol

Christmas Chocolate Cupcakes Makes 12 
(Recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World/Moskowitz&Romero)

1 cup soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp chocolate extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda 
1/3 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350'F/180'C/Gas Mark 4 and line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners.

Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, and vanilla & chocolate extracts to the curdled soya milk mixture and beat until foamy. In a separate bowl sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add in two batches to the wet ingredients and beat till no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are okay) 

Pour into liners, filling three quarters of the way. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely. 

Could not get this angle right..but wanted to show how they looked in the cupcake caddy and how they were displayed.

Top with a simple cocoa powder, icing sugar and water icing. Then using vegan fondant icing..cut out some stars and press a green ball decoration into the centre and then press down gently on the top of each cupcake. Leave to set. 

Once again a huge Thank You to Isa and Terry for a fantastic recipe and cookbook..~R~

Enjoy! 
~R~
 

Green Tea Cupcakes and friends....

It was our good friend D's birthday last week. Health permitting I always offer to make loved ones, friends and family, a celebration cake or heap of cupcakes. And this year D chose Green Tea cupcakes from a recipe I use from Isa and Terry's Vegan cupcakes take over the world

Green Tea Cupcakes for a good pal

I first made these for My Loves 40th birthday party in November 2010 and I just couldn't get the recipe or baking to go right. I made 7 batches of these cupcakes to get 24 good ones to be iced and go on the 40th Cupcake Birthday Table. It was also the first time the oven started to act up! *sighs* For photos of some of my other celebration cakes and photos from My Loves 40th Birthday Cake Table click here!

On the day of the party friends and family came round for a quick meal of wholemeal spaghetti and bean balls in marinara sauce or Potato & Leek Soup with Irish Soda bread...Picture a production line of people (just over 20)  filling various plates with food and 'copping a squat' in any spare spot they could find to eat their meal before we left for the venue. 

Most of the guests had turned up early and helped finished topping, pasting, decorating and generally helping anywhere they could. There were a lot of cakes to finish lol. D saw that the Green Tea Cupcakes needed decorating and offered me the help to ice them. At which point I think I had a minor meltdown and explained that I still needed to make pink little flowers to go on each one after the icing had been done. She calmly took the tools needed, icing and colouring and got stuck in. The next time I saw her, she had my step cousin Jake sat at a table and they were patiently hand cutting tiny little flowers and decorating each cupcake. They were deep in conversation having only met for the first time that afternoon...I watched from the doorway and felt able to leave the cupcakes in their very obviously capable hands. There was a huge bag of reject cupcakes from these batches and D & B took them off our hands lol. They may not have looked good but apparently they tasted just fine! lol


So it wasn't really a shock when D asked for some of these cupcakes this year..lol. And I may be used to the failing oven's quirks now because the three batches I baked off for her celebration came out just fine. I even tried one and enjoyed it very much, after claiming last year to hate the demon cupcakes....two days of baking solid with my pal and not enough sleep were probably the cause of this statement. But I was able to appreciate them this time round. I have to confess I didn't hand cut the flowers...I cheated and bought a little flower cutter. lol 

Green Tea Cupcake Production Line lol

Green Tea Cupcakes Makes 10-12 cupcakes
(Recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World/Moskowitz/Romero)

1/2 cup soya yoghurt
2/3 cup of rice milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup canola oil (I used sunflower)
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3 tsp matcha tea powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar

Green Tea Glaze:
2 tbsp vegan margarine
1 cup icing sugar
1/4 tsp matcha tea powder
2 tbsp rice milk
1/4 tsp almond extract
Drop of vanilla extract

1/4 cup of vegan fondant icing
Tiniest drop of pink food colouring ~ TINIEST! 
1 tsp of vegan fondant icing for the flower centres


Preheat the oven to 350'F/180'C/Gas Mark 4 and line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl add the yoghurt, rice milk, vanilla, oil, and almond extract, beating well to blend in yoghurt. Sift in the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, matcha tea powder and salt. Stir to combine the wet with the dry and to break down the big lumps. 

Fill the cupcake liners to 2/3 full and place in the oven and bake for 20-23 minutes. (Mine took 23 minutes per batch ~R~)  When baked remove from the oven and leave to cool completely before attempting to top them. 

For the icing...With a hand held electric mixer beat the margarine to fluff and mix in the icing sugar and matcha tea to form a crumbly texture. Slowly beat in 2 tbsp rice milk, almond and vanilla extract. If the icing sugar is to spread add additional rice milk a tsp at a time. 

For the flowers..in a bowl place the fondant icing and drip the colouring onto it and then knead the icing until the colour has spread throughout the icing in a uniform colour. Then roll it out between two sheets of greaseproof paper until a 1/4 " thick. Then cut out 12 flower shapes either by hand or by flower cutter. Using a toothpick gently press down onto each petal. Then prick the centre of each flower. Using the tsp of white icing divide it into 12 pieces and roll them into little balls and press into the centre of each flower. 

To assemble...frost the top of each cupcake with the Green Tea Glaze and then place a flower off to one side. Press it down gently to make sure it's attached and repeat with all the remaining cupcakes. Voila! Green Tea Cupcakes...

Enjoy! 
~R~
~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 
I wasn't the only one baking cupcakes for D this year. Her lovely, B, made the most gorgeous giant cupcake cake ~ Chocolate with Vanilla Frosting. Doesn't it look good? I'm told the sheep in the photo is called Bertha. lol. I have a giant cupcake mould and I have never been able to get a decent result from it so major kudos to B for making this fabulous cake. 

B's wonderful Vegan Chocolate with Vanilla Buttercream Giant Cupcake

I love baking for celebrations and hope to do so for many years to come. I think the world is a little nicer place with a little or giant vegan cupcake in the world. And as ever a huge thank you to Isa and Terry for writing the cookbook...

And it would be remiss of me to not say "Happy Birthday D..." Xxx 

Update: Happy to report that cupcakes were enjoyed immensely by all pals who attended the gathering. All had at least 2 each if not more and some took more home. lol. And we were treated to a wonderful Lebanese Banquet for dinner...so falafels, spinach parcels, spiced potatoes, wonderful salads, breads and fruits were enjoyed by all. It was a very lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon and evening. So thanks to D & B for inviting us along... :o) ~R~

Additional Update: My Love just commented that I didn't mention the incident of my nearly choking to death on a falafel as I watched D,  B, My Love and St ballet dancing to Winner Takes It All by Abba on the new ABBA Wii Game. I felt it would be wrong to mention the fact that I was crying with laughter at watching them throughout this song...I even got the Muttely giggles and I'm lucky my eye make up was waterproof or I would of ended the evening looking like Alice Cooper! But I wouldn't be so mean as to mention any of this ;o) lol 

Hope you all had a good weekend? 
~R~

Gingerbread Cup Cakes with Lemon Icing

Kitchen Play List: Nickelback ~ Dark Horse Album

Today is My Love's birthday..the grand old age of 41..lol..I can laugh because I'm not quite 40..yet..but it's coming up quicker than I care to admit. My Love chose this as 'the official birthday cake' for this year. It's the last time I will be able to make these as they are on the Salicylate hit list. Not a great loss to me as I'm not the biggest crystalised ginger fan but My Love is and is devastated at this loss. Shame, eh? We are celebrating by meeting some of our friends in the city and having brunch so My Love can indulge in a large Kipper brunch. (Hey..I think that's gross too..but it's not my birthday..I shall enjoy my Berry Smoothie as I suffer in silence..lol) 

Gingerbread Cup Cakes with Lemon Frosting and Lemon Zest

This recipe was one of the first cup cake recipes I ever made. It is from Isa and Terry's Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. A very excellent baking book. I made them for My Love's birthday that year too. And if molasses, maple, ginger and spices are your idea of heaven as it is My Love's..you should really try this recipe. It's easy to make...unless you are like me and end up wearing more molasses then you use for the recipe! lol I usually top them with the Lemon Buttercream Frosting as suggested in the book but as I couldn't guarantee keeping them cool as we are out on our travels today, I made a simple Lemon Water Icing and drizzled it over the cup cakes and sprinkled with a little lemon zest. 

A gratuitous close up shot..lol

Gingerbread Cupcakes Makes 12 cupcakes
(Recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World/Moskowitz/Romero)

1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup molasses
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup soya milk
2 tbsp soya yoghurt
1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon zest
1/4 cup finely chopped crystalised ginger, finely chopped

Pre-heat the oven to 350'F/180'C/Gas Mark 4 and line a muffin pan with paper cupcake liners. 

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt into a bowl and mix. 

Whisk the oil, molasses, maple syrup, soya milk, yoghurt, and lemon zest in a separate bowl. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until smooth. Fold in the chopped crystalised ginger. 

Fill the cupcake liners two thirds full. Bake for 19-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean..(Usually 22 minutes ~R~) Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting. 

Lemon Water Icing

1 cup Icing sugar, approx
3 tsp Lemon juice, approx
water as needed

Mix the icing sugar with the lemon juice and then add water as required to make the required consistency. Fill a small food bag with the icing and push down to one corner and snip off the corner and drizzle over the cup cakes in desired patterns. Have fun! lol. 

Sprinkle over with a little lemon zest if desired and then try and keep everyone away from them until party time. lol. 

Enjoy..My Love will! 
~R~
 

Strawberry 39ers Birthday Cupcakes

Kitchen Play List: Riotous giggles, shouting, begging and chuckles

Yesterday I turned 39! Yikes...in my head it just can't be so but my Mum assures me that I am indeed knocking on 40's door! I was treated to a lovely breakfast cooked for me by My Love..a lovely Red Cabbage Scramble. 

I really didn't have time to worry about turning 39 before my family turned up to help me celebrate. I was sat in my work room when the front door burst open and my nephews M and J came running through the house trying to find me whilst shouting Happy Birthday Auntie R...and then they found me in my workroom and threw bunches of daffodils at me and gave me great big hugs and kisses..then seconds later my niece caught them up...shouting Happy Birthday at me whilst throwing another bunch of daffodils at me and giving me a quick hug and kiss before she ran off to find the boys to make sure she wasn't missing out on anything! lol. My sister then came in carrying my niece L who was looking very adorable in her matching pink hat and sweater! But sound asleep so I had to wait for birthday hugs there. But others kept me very busy in the mean time. 


They helped me make my birthday cupcakes which I have named Strawberry 39ers...trust me...My Love and I gave this some deep thought...and yes that was the best we came up with..we liked it straight away. lol. 

So sat around my dining table I cut the vanilla cupcakes into little cup shapes, leaving the cut outs on a plate for the kiddies and adults to snack on, J very precisely took 1/2 tsp measures of Strawberry Jam and smoothed it around the cups whilst M sat with a safety knife and cut the strawberries in half. This of course was hard work for the little ones as they were practically drooling over the strawberries. lol. The next part of the assembly was madness as J smeared the whipped cream into the cups and M followed behind him with the strawberries with N running around the table, jumping up and shouting "..Strawberries!!!.." and trying to grab a strawberry...which she did manage once and there was uproar from the boys so more strawberries had to be brought through, cut up and placed...on the cupcakes and in their mouths lol. The results were beautiful and having them help me with them made them even more special. Thank you M and J for your wonderful help and N for just making us laugh so much! 

After they were finished I returned the favour by helping them make their Chocolate Easter Birds Nest Cakes...which translates that I got covered in chocolate and shreddies and had a blast! It was a pure pleasure....

Auntie R's and M, J & N's Strawberry 39ers Birthday Cupcakes! 

Strawberry 39ers Birthday Cupcakes
(Cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World/Moskowitz & Romero)
(Assembly and creative ideas from the Rocket and Roses Vegan Kitchen...and little ones)
Cupcakes
1 cup of soya milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup sunflower oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

In a small bowl stir together the milk and the vinegar and leave for a few minutes to curdle. 

In a large mixing bowl pour in the curdled milk, oil, vanilla extract and the sugars. Whisk until well combined and bubbly. 


Sift in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, soda and salt. Then stir until there are no large lumps left but do not over stir. 


Fill a muffin tin with cupcake liners or using cake release, grease the muffin pan and fill each one two thirds full with cupcake batter. Then bake in a pre-heated oven at 350'F/180'C/Gas Mark 4 for 20 minutes. Then put onto a cooling rack and lift out after a few minutes. Leave to cool completely before topping. 


I usually make mine the day before I need them as they have set beautifully by then. This mix usually makes between 10-12 cupcakes. But as I'm usually catering for at least 25 people I have to make many batches!! lol 


Toppings
1/2 cup reduced sugar strawberry jam
1 carton of Soya Whipping Cream
1 punnet of fresh Strawberries (or two if you have little ones helping! lol)


Taking a completely cooled cupcake carefully cut out the top of the cupcake, leaving a cup shape. Whip the cream until it's good and thick. 


Using a 1/2 tsp measure spoon in the strawberry jam and smooth around the cavity of the cupcake. Then spoon a 'dollop' of whipped cream on top. 


Hull and halve the strawberries and then place one on top of the cream on each cupcake. 


Enjoy!

Cake Memories

As I am busy today icing my nieces birthday cake for her party tomorrow, I thought I would put together a blog about past cake memories. My Love turned 40 last year and instead of having a savoury catered affair..we had a cake table. I busily baked hundreds of cupcakes and a massive triple chocolate birthday cake. A friend, R, sent us some of snaps of the cakes so I'll be putting them in this blog. There are also some other random ones from over the years. If you love cake as the people around me seem to do...lol..you'll love these photos...

I'll be back tomorrow with a new recipe but for now...enjoy as you share these cake memories. And if you would like to know any of the recipes then please leave me a comment...

My Loves 40th Birthday Cake Table 

 Apricot and Almond Cupcakes ~ from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

 Gingerbread Cake ~ can't give the credit to the person who created this..It was an anonymous posting!

 Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes & Gluten Free Vanilla Cupcakes ~ Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

 Green Tea Cupcakes ~ Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

 Lemon Vanilla Cupcakes ~ Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

 Mucho Margaritas Cupcakes ~ Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

G's Chocolate & Raspberries Birthday Cake

My sister is a chocoholic and loves raspberries also. So this cake was a huge winner with her...

 And for the raspberry waterfall.....

 Delicious...the recipe is from The Joy Of Vegan Baking...

Random but very lovely cakes.....

A luscious chocolate chocolate chocolate chocolate cake...lol 

 This isn't the best photo but it's a coconut sheet cake that I made for my Mum's birthday a few years ago. It looked beautiful with the waterlilies candles scattered over it. And very tasty...recipe from Sinfully Vegan cookbook...

This is a Hazelnut, Lemon and Maple Sandwich Cake from Taste of Vegan Baking cookbook. It was so tasty and moist. Very much enjoyed by everyone. 

These are Coconut Rockies from Taste of Vegan Baking..simple and delicious. 

 Well there you go..a few cakes to look at and drool over..lol. Hope you enjoyed them...

Mum's Rose Petal Birthday Cupcakes ~ Or Pistachio Rosewater Cupcakes

Kitchen Play List: Cello Adagios 

Happy Birthday Mum!  It is my lovely Mum's birthday today...could you tell? lol So I'm making her birthday cake/cupcake of choice for this year...Pistachio Rosewater Cupcakes from the Vegan Gurus that are Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero and their cookbook Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World.

When I asked Mum what cake/cupcakes she wanted she said "...Ooh those Rose petal Cupcakes are really good..can I have those?" So, that is what they will forever be known as now...lol  

Now I've had this book a few years and it's in such bad shape that I'm going to have to start taping it together! It's a very popular book and has been used a lot. With the exception of two recipes in this book (because I couldn't source the ingredients in this country...*sighs*) I've made every cupcake and never once have they let me down. You must buy this book.....

I first made these particular cupcakes for my Greek inspired birthday dinner a few years ago and I get requests for this recipe more than any other! And I'm happy to make them as they smell so good when you are putting them together. 

 Pistachio Rosewater Cupcakes Makes 12 cupcakes
(Recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World ~ Moskowitz & Romero)

1/2 cup vanilla soya yoghurt
2/3 cup soya milk or rice milk
1/3 cup canola oil (I use sunflower or safflower)
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp white caster sugar
1 to 2 tbsp rose water
1 cup plus 2 tbsp all purpose flour
2 tbsp cornflour
1/2 tsp baking powder 
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Generous pinch of cardamon
1/3 cup finely chopped pistachios
Rosewater Glaze - recipe to follow
Chopped pistachios for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350'F/180'c/Gas Mark 4. Line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together yoghurt, soya milk, oil, sugar, and rosewater. Sift in the flour, cornflour, baking soda, baking powder, cardamom, and salt. Mix until relatively smooth. Fold in the the pistachios. Fill the liners three-quarters full. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting.  

Rosewater Glaze 

1 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted
1 tbsp vegan marg
2 to 3 tsp soya milk
1/2 tsp rosewater
1 drip of Pink food colouring (optional) 


With a fork, cream together half of the icing sugar and the margarine until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add the soya milk and rosewater, and beat in the remaining icing sugar (You can use a electric hand whisk from this point...I do!) Mixture should have the consistency of a thick batter with a satiny sheen. Adjust consistency if needed by beating in small amounts of icing sugar or carefully dribbling in soya milk. 


Top the cooked cupcakes with the glaze and then sprinkle on the chopped pistachios. 


Thanks to Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Romero for this fantastic recipe!