Fireworks cupcakes

I remember remember the 5th November, but I don't get any particular joy from this tradition, especially after being ill all this week. So today I'm going to do my bit to celebrate with some delicious fireworks cupcakes.

I searched for recipes but didn't find much inspiration...so I decided to improvise.

Here is what we will be making:



I found the recipe on cupcakerecipe.co.uk which is marvellous. I seem to spend a lot of time converting recipes which serve the wrong number of people. The ultimate timesaver, this website allows you to choose how many people you need to serve and gives the appropriate amounts without wasting time working it out yourself.

Enjoy!

Ingredients (makes 18 cupcakes)

• 150g butter or margarine
• 150g caster sugar
• 150g sieved self-raising flour
  
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 teaspoon baking powder (optional)
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla essence (optional) (I replaced this with 1/2 tablespoon hot white chocolate powder)

Decoration

• Food colouring
• Silver balls
• Tubes of icing
• Sugar stars
• Multi-coloured sprinkles
  

How to bake Fireworks cupcakes

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (Electric oven | Electric fan oven 160°C | Gas Mark 4) and place 18 paper cases into a cupcake tin.

• Beat the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy. (I found a nice gentleman to stir the mixture with a large fork which worked just as well as an electric whisk).

• Add the eggs one at a time, beating each one in well before adding the next. Add the vanilla essence / hot white chocolate powder if using.

• Carefully fold in the flour (and baking powder if using).

• Alternatively, you can mix the ingredients together using a food processor. Use the pulse button to mix together in between adding the ingredients in the order above.

• To create multi-coloured insides follow this next part of the recipe. If you would prefer your cupcakes to be plain inside continue to baking instructions.

• Spoon mixture into separate bowls and add food colouring.

• Layer the coloured mix.
  

• Bake in the oven for 10 - 20 minutes. After 10 minutes, check to see if the cupcakes are ready by inserting a cocktail stick into a cupcakes. If it comes out dry then the cupcakes are done. If not, then back in the oven for a few minutes more. Don't overcook the cupcakes otherwise they will dry out. Lift the cupcakes out of the muffin tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.

• Decorate to taste.
  

TRACK TO BAKE CAKE TO:
We spent the time it took to bake these cupcakes dancing to Galvanize by the Chemical Brothers. It makes the cakes rise better.


NEXT TIME: Tea Pigs

Fullertons Brighton

Brighton stationers Fullertons puts the soul back into occasions that buying a Hallmark card from Clintons can take away. They sell a wide range of cards for all tastes as well as decorations, balloons and those kinds of necessities.

But what we're interested in are their cake tins for hire.

It was my boyfriend's milestone 18th birthday, so I decided to bake him a cake. I went to college around the corner from Fullertons and remembered their cake tin hire service.

You can order tins in the shape of numbers from 0-9, which was perfect for me.

There's a £10 deposit for hire and a £2.50 charge for each tin, so even if you somehow destroy the tins, it's still cheaper than ordering a cake from a bakery. (I know this from working at one). Plus it's so much fun to do!

The tins come with a recipe for sponge cake or chocolate sponge cake (which involves adding cocoa powder to the sponge cake recipe).

This is the first cake I've ever baked for anyone else and I had a limited budget so it's far from perfect.

However, it tasted wonderful! I added some white hot chocolate powder from Whittards for my own twist.

One thing that was annoying was their the fact that the bottoms weren't flat.

They look like this, but as they've been used before they were slightly bent and didn't sit flat on the baking tray.

This resulted in half of the cake mix escaping...

One advantage of this was being able to try the cake by eating the parts that had seeped out, but this is outweighed by having half as much cake.

Nevertheless, it's still great value and no one else knows about this little catastrophe unless you tell them!
















There were red smarties on the metal balls in the 8 holes, but they were eaten before I could take a photo!

Find Fullertons at: 151 Dyke Road, Brighton BN1 3JE / 01273 325508

NEXT TIME: FIREWORKS CUPCAKES