Strawberry and Lime Rekorderlig Cider cupcakes

Makes about 25 cupcakes. These are quite amazing. It's delicious and easy and awesome.

200g butter, softened

2 ½ cups caster sugar

4 eggs

250mL Rekorderlig Cider Strawberry and Lime flavour

2 ½ cups self-raising flour

Zest and juice of one lime

500g cream cheese

2 cups icing sugar

Decoration: strawberries

Preheat oven to 180C. Prepare your cupcake tins with patty liners.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs one by one, until just combined.

Mix in the cider and flour in alternating batches until well combined.

Mix in half of the lime juice.

Pour the mixture into the cupcake tins.

Bake for about 12-15 minutes.

Icing:

Beat together the cream cheese, icing sugar and the rest of the lime juice.

When the cupcakes are cold, spread  the icing on, sprinkling the lime zest on as decoration with the strawberries.

Voila!

Carrot, banana, oat and bran cake

A semi-healthy muffin or cake that doesn't need any icing!

125g butter, softened

100g sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

2 cups self-raising flour

1 teaspoon each of cinnamon and mixed spice

½ teaspoon each of nutmeg and cardamom

1 cup milk

¼ cup low-fat natural yogurt

2 carrots, grated

2 bananas, mashed

½ cup oats

½ cup bran

About ¼ cup oats extra, for decoration

Can also add in any seeds like chia, pepitas etc, nuts such as walnuts or LSA. This could be in addition to the bran or oats, or to replace them

This makes one big cake or about 24 muffins.

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a cake tin with baking paper, or grease muffin tins.

Using an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add in the eggs one at a time until well combined, then add in the vanilla.

Put the spices in the flour, and then add this in intervals with milk and yoghurt, in about three sets. Continue to combine well with the beater.

Using a wooden spoon, gently mix through the carrot and banana and then the oats and bran.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tins and sprinkle the extra oats on the top.

Muffins will take about 20 minutes, and the cake will take about 45-50 minutes. Test the cake with a skewer to see that it is cooked all the way through before removing from the oven.  

Banana oat cupcakes

180g butter, softened

150g sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

¾ cup milk

2 ½ cups self-raising flour

1 teaspoon bi-carb

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon  

2 very ripe bananas, mashed

1 ½ cups oats or muesli

You could also add in dried fruit, desiccated coconut or even chocolate chips for a bit of a different flavou as well. Just pop them in at the end. 

This recipe makes about 25 medium to large sized cupcakes. 

Preheat oven to 190C. Place patty tins into muffin trays.

Beat together butter and sugar until it’s fluffy and slightly lighter in colour.

Add in the eggs one at a time, beating well between additions.

Mix the flour, bi-carb and cinnamon into one bowl, and beat this into the sugar-butter batter at intervals with the milk and vanilla.

Beat it all well. Remove beater.

Using a spoon, gently mix in the banana and oats until well combined.

Spoon the mixture into the cupcake tins.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until risen and browned on the top.

I decorated mine with a simple vanilla butter creamfrosting. They also just taste good on their own, kind of like a muffin.

Chocolate zucchini cupcakes

125g butter, softened

1 ½ cups sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

¾ cup milk

2 ½ cups self raising flour

5 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups grated zucchini

This made about 22 decent sized cupcakes. It could also make one big cake, just adjust the cooking time to about an hour and reduce the temperature to 180C.

Method:

Preheat oven to 190C.

Cream together butter and sugar in a large bowl.

Add eggs one at a time until well combined. Continue beating in vanilla.

Mix the flour, cocoa, cinnamon and salt in another bowl, and mix this into the butter-sugar bowl in three batches, alternating with the milk.

Using a large spoon, gently mix in the zucchini.

Spoon the mixture into the patty tins.

Cook for about 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the cupcakes comes out clean.

Decorations:

I made a simple butter cream icing with cocoa and choclettes, but you could also just sift some icing sugar on the top for a lighter dessert. 

Banana and carrot cake

This is good. So good in fact I have gotten two marriage proposals out of this bad boy. On the same day. It's really a pity Julia Gillard hasn't allowed same-sex marriages yet, otherwise I'd be in a bit of a conundrum.

Cake ingredients:

125g butter

½ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract  

3 small bananas, very ripe, mashed

2 carrots, grated

2 cups self-raising flour
½ teaspoon bicarbonate soda

3/4 cup milk

½ teaspoon mixed spice

½ teaspoon cinnamon

(could also mix through some walnuts or pecans, or even blueberries at the end too)

Cream cheese frosting

125g cream cheese, at room temperature

50g butter, at room temperature

2 ½ cups icing sugar

2 teaspoons milk or water

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

(it doesn’t need the lemon rind, it just adds a bit of flavour but it’s more than delicious without it.)

Method:

Beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until pale and creamy.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the carrots and banana, mixing in well with a spoon.

Mix the flour, bicarb and spices together in one bowl, and using a metal spoon, mix into the batter mixture alternately with the milk. You want to mix it so that it is just combined, don’t overwork the batter.

Spoon the mixture into a cake tin, about 25cm round, lined with baking paper.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out cleanly.

Allow to cool in tin for five minutes before turning onto wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing, beat all the ingredients (except the lemon rind, if you’re using any) together with an electric mixture. You’ll need to cream cheese and butter to be quite soft (though not melted) so that it has a smooth consistency. Beat until thick.

Spread onto the cake, and the sides if you wish.

Decoration ideas?

Shredded or desiccated coconut, walnuts, pecans, sliced bananas, passionfruit pulp, berries etc.

I also cut my cake in half lengthways so that I could put icing in the middle because it’s so delicious.

Ginger pecan cake

This is one of the recipes I have stolen off my mum. She makes this one all the time, and it's one of the few cake recipes that she has made successfully several times (sorry mum!) 

You could also use walnuts or even almonds in this one, or a mix of nuts if you're not that keen on the pecans.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups self raising flour

1 tsp bicarb soda

1 tblspn ground ginger

1 tspn mixed spice

100 unsalted butter, chopped

1 large apple, cored and diced

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup treacle/maple syrup

1 cup milk

1 egg

¾ cup pecan, chopped

Glaze:

¼ cup water

2 tblspns caster sugar

½ tspn powdered gelatine

Method:

Grease a 22cm round cake tin, line with baking paper

In a food processor, place flour, bicarb soda, ginger, mixed spice and butter. Process until it resembles a fine crumble. Stir in the apple.

Ina  saucepan, mix the sugar, treacle and milk. Stir over a medium heat until warm and mixed through, but don’t bring to the boil.

Mix in the flour mixture, followed by the egg and half of the nuts.

Pout it all into a prepared pan, then sprinkle with the remaining nuts.

Bake in a 180C oven for about 50 minutes to an hour, or until cooked when tested.

For the glaze, mix the ingredients in a small saucepan, mixing well until the gelatine is dissolved.

Brush over cake.Allow to cool to room temperature before serving.

The easiest chocolate cake

I'm not lying. This cake is easy. And it's pretty good. 

You can either make it as one bg cake, or as a batch of about 20 cupcakes. 

Ingredients: 

125g butter, softened

2 eggs

1 tspn vanilla extract/vanialla essence

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups self raising four

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. 

Grease and line one 22cm cake tin with baking paper, or about 20 patty tins.

Beat the first four ingredients in a bowl until well combined. Then add the last three. Mix to combine.

If cooking one cake, bake for about one hour. For cupcakes, about 20 minutes, but keep an eye on them. 

Basic icing: 

1 cup icing sugar

1 tbspn butter

2 tbspn milk

2 tbspn cocoa powder

Beat well in a bowl. 

Ganache icing

1/2 cup or 125ml cream

200g dark eating chocolate

Bring cream to the boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate until smooth. Stand for at least 10 minutes before smoothing over cake/s. If it's still too runny, pop it in the fridge for a little while but be careful as it gets very thick and hard quite quickly. 

Butter cream frosting (yes, frosting. I'm not American obviously, but this is definitely frosting)
185g butter, softened
2.5 cups icing sugar
2 teaspoons water or milk
any food colouring - add this at the end, not at the start

Beat it all together in a large bowl until it has lightened in colour slightly and is thick, but still spreadable. About two or three minutes. Add more icing sugar or liquid to adjust if necessary. 
Add 2-3 drops food colouring, mix and add more as desired.