Just a quickie to say thanks to all those who have followed me – I’m up to 10 followers! A tiny number to some people, but to me it’s my first milestone!
I hope you enjoy my blog and keep reading, please feel free to comment on anything you feel I could change or do better on.
Kim xx
So excited was I to use my new toy (see my previous post about my new KitchenAid), I hot-footed it down to my local supermarket and stocked up on baking supplies in preparation for a mammoth session.
I searched through all of my recipe books looking for the perfect recipe to test out and decided on some yummy caramel cupcakes. I’d never made these before so just had to give them a go!
I also had some posh purple cupcake cases which I had for a Christmas present last year (!) which I hadn’t got round to using yet. I kept waiting for a special occasion, and what better than this.
They are from the Bath Cake Company on Lansdown Road in Bath, a fantastic little find well worth taking the short walk out of the centre to peruse their shelves. Not only do they sell an abundance of baking supplies, but you can also treat yourself to some freshly baked cakes as well!! Om nom nom.
You can check them out here: http://www.bathcakecompany.co.uk/
Anyway, onto the recipe.
Ingredients
Cake
175g butter, softened
175g light muscovado sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
175g self-raising flour
2 tbsp milk
Frosting
397g can Nestle Carnation Caramel
200g tub soft/cream cheese
100g salted butter, softened
450g icing sugar
Method
— Heat oven to 180 degrees and pop your cupcake cases into a muffin tin. This recipe should make about 12 cupcakes.
— Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl. I used the KitchenAid on level 2, rising to 4 and then 6. Beat until soft and pale. Add a handful of the flour to stop the mixture from curdling, then with the mixer still going, add a little of the eggs at a time.
— Next fold in the flour and milk until fully incorporated. Divide the mixture between the cases (fill them up to about two thirds full) and bake for approximately 18 minutes (the exact amount of time will depend on your oven – check them after 15 minutes). The cakes should be golden brown and spring when you touch them. Leave to cool fully.
— Mix half of the can of caramel with the cheese, butter and icing sugar with your stand mixer or electric whisk. **TIP – Cover your stand mixture bowl with a tea towel or your kitchen may end up looking like it’s snowed… Like mine did!!)**
— Chill in the fridge. Meanwhile, cut a small section out of each cupcake using a knife and drop a half-teaspoon of caramel into each one. Put the cut bit of cake back on top.
— Ice your cupcake with the frosting however you want! I used a Wilton 1A piping nozzle, the big round one, and a disposable piping bag.
— I had some caramel left over, so I dropped spots of it onto the frosting, and swirled it with a skewer to make a nice pattern.
— Make yourself a nice cup of tea and feel smug 😀 Then eat a cupcake and feel slightly sick!
NOTE! I found with the original amount of icing sugar that the frosting was far too runny so added some more sugar to the mix. Although the cupcakes were delicious, they were VERY sweet and you definitely couldn’t have more than one! (Probably a good thing). Next time I will add a few flakes of sea salt to balance the flavours out a little… And who doesn’t like salted caramel?!
Also – this makes a LOT of caramel frosting so I have a load left over which I have put in the fridge and now need to bake something else to use it up! Any suggestions? Have any of you tried this recipe? I’d love to hear how you got on!
I had a very exciting delivery today – my first ever Kitchenaid! As a keen (but very amateur) baker, and a slightly obsessive fan of The Great British Bake Off, the Kitchenaid is the holy grail of baking equipment. I got the Raspberry Artisan Kitchenaid, and oh. It. Is. So. Pretty. Bright pink with a lovely sheen to it. Not everybody’s cup of tea in that colour, granted, but absolutely perfect for me. Yay!!
Kitchenaids are not cheap at the best of times, normally retailing at around £430, however there are a few really good deals at the moment. Most places (for example John Lewis, Debenhams and Lakeland) are giving away a free Kitchenaid Ice Cream Maker Attachment worth £77 when you buy the Artisan Stand Mixer. I haven’t used this yet but have read a few reviews and it is apparently one of the best ice cream makers on the market.
Harts of Stur are doing an amazing deal, some of the mixers are as little as £349.00. The delivery is free and not only do you still get the free ice cream attachment, on top of all this you get a free knife block with 6 knives! Could you need any more incentives?! I got my mixer from this website, so I know it’s no con. The freebies are fab and the item was delivered with no issues the very next day.
If you’re interested click on the link below. The offer is valid until 24th December 2014, or until stocks run out. Hurry!!
I’ve been searching through my recipe books trying to decide what to make first and will make sure I post my first cake made with my new toy! Any suggestions?!
http://www.hartsofstur.com/acatalog/Kitchenaid_Artisan_Mixer.html
FYI – This post isn’t sponsored, I just thought it was an amazing deal 🙂
So… Here it is! My first ever, nervously typed, blog post.
I’m not quite sure what I’m doing or whether I’m doing it right, so please be patient and kind (and feel free to leave comments and give me advice – I’ll need it for sure!).
A little about me – I’m 27 and live with my fiancé in Bristol. I love baking (although sometimes have more disasters than successes), my bulldog and eating nice food. I dislike bad grammar and being cold!
This blog will mostly be recipes, baking and craft, with a few beauty reviews thrown in for good measure. I’m also getting married in 2014… A right old list of things to blog about then!
My lovely fiancé has just bought me a (drumroll…) bright pink Kitchenaid – yay for me! So standby for lots of cake related blogs coming soon.
Until then, thanks for reading and I hope you stick around for more.
Eat Sleep Bake Repeat 