Category: Cupcakes

Baking · Buttercream and Frosting · Cupcakes

99 Flake Cupcakes

What Jessica Baked Next2 Comments

Retro 99 Flake Cupcakes! Everyone’s favourite ice cream styled in cupcake form. 

If there’s one particular food that reminds me of the British summer, then that’s a 99 Flake ice cream. If you’re a Brit, then you probably get excited during the spring/summer hearing the sound of an ice cream van arriving down your road.

My order from an ice cream van is always a whippy/soft serve ice cream with a Cadbury Flake and sprinkles. So I’ve created a new cupcake recipe based on my go-to ice cream van order!

The cupcakes consist of a vanilla cake batter. Once baked until golden, they’re topped with a homemade vanilla buttercream – the buttercream itself tastes like whippy ice cream, whilst looking like it too.

I then decorated with a drizzle of strawberry sauce and added some colourful sprinkles. The best part comes last, topping each cupcake with a Cadbury Flake.

You can take out the centre of each cupcake and fill it with jam or even Nutella for a little twist on the standard recipe.

The perfect bake for taking a trip down memory lane. Delicious and they look exactly like they’ve come from an ice cream van! Your family and friends will love these.

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99 Flake Cupcakes

Retro 99 Flake Cupcakes! Everyone's favourite ice cream styled in cupcake form. 
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 12
Author What Jessica Baked Next

Ingredients

Vanilla Cupcake Batter

  • 175 g butter or margarine softened - use the margarine straight from the fridge
  • 175 g caster or granulated sugar
  • 3 eggs at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 175 g self-raising flour
  • 2-3 tablespoons milk enough to loosen the batter slightly

Vanilla Buttercream

  • 200 g butter (salted or unsalted) softened
  • 350-400 g icing sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2-3 tablespoons double cream optional - this lightens the buttercream

Decoration

  • Caramel/chocolate/raspberry/strawberry sauce
  • Sprinkles
  • Cadbury Chocolate Flake bars

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C Fan / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Line a cupcake tin with 12 cupcake cases and set aside.
  • To make the cupcakes, beat the softened butter with the sugar until fluffy and smooth. Add the eggs one by one along with the vanilla and mix until incorporated.
  • Now fold through the flour and mix until no lumps of flour remain. Add enough milk to loosen the mixture slightly - approx. 2-3 tablespoons of milk will do.
  • Evenly divide the cupcake batter between the cupcake cases. Bake the cupcakes for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean without any uncooked batter remaining. Leave the baked cupcakes to cool in the tin for a 5-10 minutes, then carefully remove the cupcakes from the tin and transport to a wire rack and allow the cupcakes to cool completely to room temperature.
  • Once the cupcakes are fully cooled make the buttercream. Cream the softened butter for a minute or two to soften. Add the icing sugar and the vanilla extract and beat gently together until the butter and sugar has combined. Now continuing creaming for another 2-3 minutes until the buttercream is a light pale colour. Now add the double cream or milk and beat until combined fully.
  • Fit a large disposable piping bag with an open star tip nozzle. Fill the piping bag with the buttercream, pipe even swirls on the top of each cupcake, decorate with a drizzle of strawberry sauce and finish with some sprinkles. Finally, place a flake on top of each cupcake.
  • The cupcakes will keep stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

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Baking · Buttercream and Frosting · Chocolate · Cupcakes · Vegan

Vegan Biscoff Chocolate Cupcakes

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Vegan chocolate cupcakes with Biscoff buttercream. These decadent cupcakes are drizzled with melted cookie butter spread and decorated with crunchy speculoos.

Cupcake Day is on June 17th this year and there’s nothing like cake to bring everyone back together. Last year I created a recipe for Marble Cupcakes with Milk Chocolate Buttercream to raise awareness and vital funds for Alzheimer’s Society’s annual Cupcake Day. This year I’ve got another cupcake recipe to inspire you to take part and host your own Cupcake Day for this important charity.

We love cupcakes and any cake for that matter! I’ve added a different flavour to our favourite Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes and that new tasty addition is Biscoff.

If you’ve not tried this dreamy spread before then you’ve been missing out! It has a lovely caramelised flavour with a hint of cinnamon, ginger and other spices. Once I’ve opened a packet of biscuits I find it hard to stop eating them, one is never enough!

I’m going through a bit of a Biscoff craze lately after buying a massive 700g jar and having that in the kitchen made me want to create a new Biscoff bake for the blog. Asides from adding Biscoff to buttercream, I’ve been having it on my breakfast bowl of porridge with strawberries or spread on a couple of crumpets – two breakfast ideas I highly recommend!

The chocolate cupcakes are the same as my original recipe, but instead of chocolate buttercream I’ve made Biscoff buttercream. I use the smooth spread, but the crunchy spread can also be used.

The cupcake is fudgy, moist and rich in chocolate flavour. While the Biscoff element features just in the buttercream and decoration, once the cupcakes are cooled you can cut out the centre and fill with a spoonful of Biscoff spread. I didn’t do this, but I think it’s a great idea!

The buttercream is made like a regular buttercream, but to make sure it’s completely vegan we’re using a dairy-free baking spread, icing sugar, Biscoff spread and some plant cream/milk. It has just the right balance of creaminess and caramelised flavour.

The cupcakes can be decorated however you want. I pipe my buttercream on top of each chocolate cupcake, then drizzle melted Biscoff spread and crushed Biscoff biscuits over the top. I love how simple the decoration is and makes the finished cupcakes look so tempting.

(Makes 12)

Ingredients:

Chocolate Cupcakes:

120ml plant milk (I use soya but any plant milk will work)

1 and 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or white vinegar

200g caster/granulated or dark/light brown sugar

180g plain flour

40g cocoa powder, sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

80ml vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

120ml plant milk + 1 teaspoon instant coffee – the milk will need to be warmed before adding the coffee

Biscoff Buttercream: 

150g dairy-free baking spread

300g icing sugar, sifted

150g crunchy or smooth Biscoff spread

2-3 tablespoons vegan cream or plant milk (optional) – add enough until the buttercream has reached your preferred consistency

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C Fan / 350°F Gas Mark 4. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.
  2. To make the cupcakes: In a jug, mix together 120ml plant milk with the vinegar and leave it to one side – this makes a vegan-style buttermilk and will help the cupcakes rise when baking.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, add the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Whisk together until combined.
  4. Now to the dry ingredients add the oil, the plant milk/vinegar mixture you prepared earlier along with the vanilla extract.
  5. Heat the remaining 120ml plant milk until warm (approx. 30 seconds in the microwave will do or place on the stove top and heat until warm) and add the coffee. Stir to dissolve the coffee in the milk and then add this mixture to the other ingredients.
  6. Whisk until you have a smooth batter free of any lumps. Distribute the cupcake batter between the paper liners and bake for 18 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the centre of one of the cupcakes. Leave the cupcakes to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
  7. To make the buttercream: In a large mixing bowl, cream the dairy-free baking spread until softened – about a minute or two should do. Now add the icing sugar in two batches, mixing well after each addition. Now continue mixing for a further 5-7 minutes until the buttercream is pale and creamy.
  8. Add the Biscoff spread and give that a quick mix. Now add the vegan cream/plant milk (if using) and mix for another 30 seconds until thoroughly combined. Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with piping nozzle and decorate the cupcakes. You can spread the buttercream on each cupcake if you prefer. Decorate the cupcakes further as desired, I decorated mine with a drizzle of melted Biscoff spread and crushed Biscoff biscuits before serving.

The cupcakes will keep stored in airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 3 days.

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Baking · Buttercream and Frosting · Chocolate · Cupcakes

Marble Cupcakes with Milk Chocolate Buttercream

What Jessica Baked Next2 Comments

A perfect cupcake for when you can’t decide whether you fancy chocolate or vanilla cake! This simple cupcake recipe consists of chocolate and vanilla cake batter layered together and decorated with a swirl of milk chocolate buttercream. 

Sometimes I want a chocolate cake and other times I really crave a vanilla cake, but when you combine the two in a cake you’ve created a truly special cupcake treat.

My sister bakes amazing marble cakes and this cake really is a super popular birthday cake choice in our house because you get the taste of chocolate and vanilla together!

I asked on my social media platforms what cupcake recipes you wanted to see on the blog and I had some delicious responses. My friend, Alice, suggested baking marble cupcakes and I figured because I hadn’t shared a marble cake/cupcakes recipe on here yet, it was time to do something about that!

As you know already if you’ve baked/read recipes from this blog you’ll know I only share easy recipes that are totally fail-proof. The last thing I want you to do is waste your time and money on recipes that don’t work and you’re unhappy with. I love putting a big smile on you and your family and friends faces with my recipes!

This cupcake batter is super easy to prepare. It’s made the same way I make the batter for this Classic Victoria Sandwich, but this time we’re splitting the batter into two and adding cocoa powder to one part of the batter. The only bad part is there’s one more bowl to wash up once you’re done baking, but these cupcakes are worth it!

To construct the cupcakes ready for baking, once you’ve filled your cupcake/muffin tin with paper cases, dollop a spoonful of vanilla batter in one paper case, then repeat the previous step this time with a spoonful of chocolate batter on top of the vanilla batter (or do this the opposite way round if you prefer). Then continue to repeat alternating the batters until all the paper cases are 3/4 full and you’ve used up both cake batters. Seriously so easy and these cupcakes look impressive when they’re baked!

The cupcakes suit a whole host of different buttercream recipes. I picked to decorate my cupcakes with milk chocolate buttercream, but cream cheese frosting or even vanilla or white chocolate buttercream would pair well with the cupcakes.

I used my favourite ultra creamy milk chocolate buttercream recipe to top the cupcakes. I had a slight ingredient problem in my kitchen before baking these as I was running low on icing sugar and we couldn’t get any in our shopping and to make things worse I also discovered that my muffin tin was thrown out by accident < every bakers absolute nightmare! So first I had to order a new tin to bake the cupcakes and then I had to improvise by making icing sugar ready for my buttercream! Simply using my blender (which I use to make smoothies) I blended caster sugar with cornflour. I worried how it would turn out, but I’m impressed how easy it was to make my own.

If you’re looking for a new cupcake recipe to bake during lockdown, here’s my super simple and yummy marble cupcakes. These cupcakes lasted less than a day in our house, I think that tells you just how good these cupcakes taste. Enjoy everyone!

(Makes 12)

Ingredients:

Cupcake Batter: 

175g butter (salted or unsalted), softened

175g caster or granulated sugar

3 large free-range eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

175g self-raising flour, sifted

50ml milk

3 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted

Milk Chocolate Buttercream:

125g butter (salted or unsalted), softened

250g icing sugar, sifted

200g milk chocolate, melted and cooled slightly – you can use a mix of dark/milk or use all white chocolate

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3-4 tablespoons double cream or milk (sometimes I add a tablespoon extra to make it creamier)

Small pinch of salt (add a pinch extra if using unsalted butter)

Method: 

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C Fan / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Line a 12-hole cupcake/muffin tin with paper cases.
  2. To make the cupcakes: In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until creamy and pale in colour. Add the eggs one at a time mixing well before adding the next and also add the vanilla – don’t worry if the mixture looks curdled as once you add the flour it will be fine.
  3. Now fold through the sifted flour and once the flour is nearly all mixed through add the milk and mix until combined.
  4. Split the batter into two portions – this doesn’t have to be exactly equal. Then stir the cocoa powder into one batter until incorporated.
  5. Take a spoonful of vanilla batter and add to the paper case, then place a spoonful of the chocolate batter in top. Repeat until all the cake batter has been used up.
  6. Bake the cupcakes for 18-20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the centre of one of the cupcakes. Leave the cupcakes to cool in the tin for a few minutes and then transport them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
  7. To make the buttercream: Cream the butter for a minute to soften. Add the icing sugar and vanilla extract and beat for about 5 minutes until it’s fluffy and has turned pale in colour. Add the melted chocolate along with the cream and a pinch of salt. Mix until just combined.
  8. Decorate the cupcakes as desired, I pipe buttercream on the tops of mine but you can also spread the buttercream with knife on top of the cupcakes. Add sprinkles if you like – I used white chocolate stars from Cake Angels Sweetie Pie Sprinkles which were kindly gifted to me to bake with during lockdown.

The cupcakes will store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

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Baking · Buttercream and Frosting · Cupcakes

Butterscotch Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream

What Jessica Baked Next5 Comments

Indulgent homemade cupcakes with butterscotch and caramel flavour in every tasty bite. Each cupcake is individually garnished with a drizzle of caramel and decorated with fudge chunks. 

I’ve baked traditional British sponge cakes for as long as I can remember – it was the first recipe I learnt to bake and I’m the most confident with baking this kind of cake.

I love the classic sponge cake, but what’s really wonderful is how versatile it is. With this new recipe, I’ve revamped a plain sponge cake batter by swapping caster sugar for brown sugar and added a packet of Butterscotch Angel Delight, which is butterscotch flavoured mousse – I don’t mind it served as mousse, but I prefer mine baked into a cake!

One taste of these cupcakes and you’ll be in caramel heaven. Adding butterscotch mousse/pudding to the cupcake batter brings another dimension, but if you can’t find it where you live or just don’t feel like adding it then omit from the recipe. Also, use up some of the leftover caramel/dulce de leche and give your cupcakes a caramel filling.

The cake itself is beautifully airy, light and moist. I topped these cupcakes with caramel buttercream made from four simple ingredients (butter, icing sugar, a pinch of salt and caramel (homemade or readymade). Whilst the caramel buttercream is super delicious, equally a (milk or white) chocolate, cinnamon or vanilla buttercream would be complementary too.

I might just bake these cupcakes again to try out all the different buttercream ideas I suggested!

Surprise any caramel and cupcake lover with this special treat. Trust me, you’ll be baking a second batch of these cupcakes without hesitation!

(Makes 12)

Butterscotch Cupcakes: 

150g butter (salted or unsalted), softened

150g dark or light brown sugar

3 large free-range eggs, at room temperature

150g self-raising flour, sifted

1 x 59g packet Butterscotch Angel Delight – this is one standard UK packet (optional)

4 tablespoons milk

Caramel Buttercream: 

125g butter (salted or unsalted), softened

350g icing sugar, sifted

Generous pinch of salt

100g caramel or dulce de leche

Method: 

  1. To make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C Fan / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Line a 12-hole cupcake/muffin tin with paper cases.
  2. In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Fold through the flour, butterscotch mousse/pudding (if using) and milk – the cake batter will be quite thick.
  3. Evenly distribute the cupcake batter between the paper cases and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cupcakes are well risen, golden and a cake tester when inserted into the centre of one of the cupcakes comes out clean. Leave the cupcakes to cool in the tin for a few minutes then transport them to a wire rack and allow the cupcakes to cool completely.
  4. To make the buttercream: Cream the butter and icing sugar together until light and fluffy – this should take about 3-5 minutes. Now add the salt and caramel/dulce de leche and continue mixing until they’re incorporated.
  5. Decorate the cupcakes with the buttercream as desired, you can spread the buttercream on with a small palette knife or pipe the buttercream on the cupcakes like I did. Garnish with extra drizzles of caramel/dulce de leche and fudge chunks. I especially love decorating my bakes with Cake Angels Salted Caramel Fudge Pieces or the yummy Zillionaire Sprinkles.

The cupcakes will keep stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

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Baking · Chocolate · Cupcakes

Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes

What Jessica Baked Next37 Comments

The perfect cupcake for any chocolate lover! These chocolate cupcakes are deliciously moist with a delicate crumb and decorated with a swirl of ultra decadent milk chocolate buttercream. 

This recipe was originally published on January 27th 2016. 

These chocolate cupcakes definitely live up to their name and as the title describes, they are ultimately good. I’ll never need to find a new chocolate cupcake recipe ever again and neither will you.

Made with a combination of dark chocolate and cocoa powder for intense chocolate flavour. I usually just add cocoa powder to my chocolate cupcakes, but this time I wanted to elevate the flavour by adding even more chocolate to the mix!

The cake itself has a perfect crumb texture. It’s rich, chocolatey and fluffy and will stay moist for days without becoming dry.

After you’ve baked the cupcakes, the next step is to make the milk chocolate buttercream. It wouldn’t be a cupcake without buttercream after all.

These cupcakes will pretty much suit any buttercream you could think of, but this time I went for a classic milk chocolate buttercream. My milk chocolate buttercream recipe is unbelievably delicious and super simple to prepare – it’s pretty much a standard vanilla buttercream recipe with the addition of melted milk chocolate.

To make it, cream the butter until softened and then add the icing sugar. I get many questions from readers asking me to help with their buttercream dilemmas and the most common question is regarding the texture of buttercream and for example why it’s grainy and not smooth. My top tip is to sift your icing sugar for the best buttercream that’s free of any lumps – I’ve had countless buttercream disasters because of not sifting my icing sugar, so it’s definitely worth not skipping this step! 

Continue to mix the butter and icing sugar for about 2-3 minutes or until the buttercream is fluffy and has lightened in colour. Finally, add the vanilla extract, double cream and the melted milk chocolate and mix gently until all the ingredients are combined and the buttercream is smooth.

This buttercream has just the right balance of sweetness and isn’t too rich. I did in fact eat a few spoonfuls from the bowl before decorating the cupcakes. It’s a hard job being a food blogger sometimes…

I’m addicted to this buttercream and now these chocolate cupcakes. I cannot wait to bake my next batch!

(Makes 12)

Ingredients:

Chocolate Cupcakes:

85g dark chocolate, finely chopped

40g cocoa powder

1 teaspoon instant coffee granules or powder (optional)

180ml boiling water

105g strong white bread flour (can be substituted with plain flour)

150g caster sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

6 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 large free-range eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Milk Chocolate Buttercream:

125g butter (salted or unsalted), softened

250g icing sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3-4 tablespoons double cream

200g milk chocolate, melted and cooled

Method:

  1. To make the cupcakes: Place the chopped chocolate, cocoa powder and coffee granules/powder (if using) in a medium mixing bowl. Pour the boiling water over and whisk until smooth and all the chocolate has melted. Place in the fridge for 20 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C Fan / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Line a 12-hole cupcake/muffin tin with paper cases. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and bicarbonate of soda until thoroughly combined. Whisk the oil, eggs, vinegar and vanilla into the now cooled chocolate mixture. Finally, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until you have a smooth batter.
  3. Divide the batter between the paper cases – I find using an ice cream scoop best for doing this as it makes less mess. Bake for 17-19 minutes or until the cupcakes are well risen and a cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the centre. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes and then transport to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
  4. To make the buttercream: Cream the butter for about a minute or two to soften. Now add the sifted icing in two batches and beat for another 2-3 minutes until the buttercream is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and double cream.
  5. Mix in the melted chocolate until just combined and decorate the cupcakes as desired. The cupcakes will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Recipe Notes:

  • Use the best quality chocolate you can afford.
  • If you’re not a fan of coffee you can substitute the coffee with water. You can’t really taste the coffee, but it intensifies the chocolate flavour so I highly recommend adding the coffee.
  • When making the buttercream, remember to sift your icing sugar and add the sugar in batches to ensure you create a smooth textured buttercream.
  • Feel free to decorate the cupcakes with a different frosting flavour like classic vanilla or something fruity like strawberry or raspberry.
  • I decorated these cupcakes with Cake Angels Chocoholics Sprinkles (using the Milk Chocolate Vermicelli and Milk Chocolate Drops).

Chocolate cupcake recipe from Cook’s Illustrated, milk chocolate buttercream recipe by What Jessica Baked Next

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Baking · Buttercream and Frosting · Cupcakes

Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

What Jessica Baked Next42 Comments

Naturally coloured and flavoured strawberry buttercream made with freeze-dried strawberries. Your summer isn’t complete without a taste of these cupcakes! 

Recipe originally shared July 2015, updated June 2017. 

Fruit based buttercream is a summer favourite of mine and the yummy addition of freeze-dried strawberries creates the beautiful pink colour in this buttercream recipe I’m sharing with you. I’m personally not really into unnaturally coloured foods so often when I want to make a buttercream that’s coloured, I’d rather look for alternative ways of naturally colouring mine.

This recipe is based on a classic buttercream recipe except freeze-dried strawberries are ground to a fine powder in a food processor and then the strawberry powder is incorporated into the buttercream. Incorporating freeze-dried strawberries into buttercream adds amazing natural strawberry flavour and it also tints the buttercream a faint pink colour.

To allow this strawberry buttercream to be the star of show I sat it atop a basic vanilla cupcake. Strawberry and vanilla happen to be my two favourite flavours, so combing the two had to happen sometime! My vanilla cupcake recipe is easy to make as it doesn’t require any out of the ordinary ingredients such as buttermilk or yoghurt, which are ingredients you might not happen to have in your kitchen. This vanilla cupcake recipe however uses your everyday baking store cupboard essentials such as butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and flour.

You might be wondering about why I choose to use freeze-dried opposed to fresh strawberries? Fresh fruit is great to use in some buttercream recipes, but strawberries in particular have a high water content so using fresh could produce a runny buttercream that’s impossible to pipe. The fruit and moisture levels are more concentrated in freeze-dried fruit compared to fresh, so when following this recipe you won’t have to be concerned that your buttercream will curdle or won’t be able to be piped.

What better way to celebrate summer and the strawberry season than with these cupcakes! They’ll be a hit at summer picnics, parties or barbecues or even served as part of an al fresco afternoon tea.

(Makes 12)

Ingredients:

Vanilla Cupcakes:

150g (2/3 cup) butter, softened

150g (3/4 cup) caster or granulated sugar

3 medium or large free range eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

150g (1 and 1/4 cups) self-raising flour, sifted – you can sub with 150g plain flour plus 2 teaspoons baking powder

Strawberry Buttercream: 

170g (3/4 cup) butter, at room temperature

12g (1 cup) freeze-dried strawberries

2 tablespoons double cream (heavy cream), chilled

230g (2 cups) icing sugar, sifted

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to  180°C / 160°C Fan / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Line a cupcake tin with 12 paper cupcake liners and set aside.
  2. To make the cupcakes: Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth and fluffy. Add the eggs one by one along with the vanilla and mix to combine. Using a spatula or large metal spoon, gently fold in the flour and mix until just combined and no lumps of flour remain. Be gentle and try to not over mix the batter.
  3.  Now evenly distribute the cupcake batter among the cupcake liners. Bake for 20 minutes until the cupcakes are a light golden colour and firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then remove from the tin and transport the cupcakes to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
  4. To make the buttercream: In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter on a medium-high speed for 3 minutes. Stop the mixer and using a spatula scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, continue to mix the butter for a further 3 minutes until it’s creamy and pale. In a food processor pulverise the freeze-dried strawberries until finely ground (wait for a moment to allow the air in the powder to settle). Add the strawberry powder to the creamed butter and stir through until combined. Now add the cream along with the icing sugar and again mix until incorporated. Whip the buttercream on medium speed for an additional 2 minutes, then stop the mixer and scrap down the sides and bottom of the bowl and continue to mix for another 2 minutes.
  5. Fit a large disposable piping bag with a piping tip. Fill the piping bag with the buttercream and decorate the cupcakes as desired.

Recipe Notes:

  • Butter will need to be at room temperature for both the cupcake and buttercream recipes. Take butter out from the fridge and allow it to sit at room temperature for an hour. You’ll know your butter is ready to start baking with if when you press your finger gently into the butter it leaves an indentation. Either salted or unsalted butter can be used, typically I always use unsalted, but this time I used salted and it worked just as well.
  • Please note humidity can affect the outcome of your buttercream. The best way of avoiding your buttercream curdling is making sure your butter isn’t too soft (follow my tip above when softening butter).
  • Freeze-dried fruit can usually be located down the baking aisle of most supermarkets or sometimes, they can also be found in some specialist bakeware shops, but if you’ve had no luck looking in store you can order over the internet.
  • If you don’t own a food processor you can crush the freeze-dried strawberries in a resealable bag using a rolling pin until they’ve reached a fine powdery consistency.
  • Cupcakes will store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. If it’s humid where you live I’d recommend storing these cupcakes in the fridge and when ready to serve take the number of desired cupcakes out and allow them to sit a room temperature for a few minutes.

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Baking · Buttercream and Frosting · Cupcakes

Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

What Jessica Baked Next77 Comments

 Moist carrot cupcakes topped with a luscious and tangy cream cheese frosting. 

I first shared these cupcakes a few years ago on my blog back in 2014, it will be nearly three years since the recipe was first published and I still enjoy these just as much as I did the first time round. The older recipe deserved an update and I’ve decided to share it again with brand new photographs. Carrot cake is one of my favourite cakes and if I had to I would definitely pick carrot cake over a slice of chocolate cake any day!

Easter is nearing closer so these cupcakes I am revisiting today will be the ideal recipe to celebrate the occasion with.

The addition of spices in carrot cake is an absolute must and I can’t even contemplate a carrot cake/cupcake without cinnamon added. Along with a teaspoon of ground cinnamon I also like to add a full teaspoon of mixed spice as well. Mixed spice is another spice popular in many Easter bakes, it’s the British equivalent to pumpkin pie spice and it’s frequently used in many of our traditional recipes such as hot cross buns and teacakes.

I wish I could tell you that these carrot cupcakes are healthy because they contain vegetables but unfortunately they’re not! Carrots and other vegetables such as courgette/zucchini are a popular addition in many savoury and sweet recipes. They add moistness and I like to put quite a lot of grated carrot into my cupcakes, this is so I can ensure that there’s carrot in each and every bite. There’s nothing more disappointing than taking a bite from a carrot cake/cupcake and not being able to taste any carrot!

To decorate I decided to top the cupcakes with a classic cream cheese frosting. I’ve trialled several different cream cheese frosting recipes and I’ve found this one to be the best as it holds its shape when piped and really compliments the flavour of the cupcakes.

(Makes 12)

Ingredients:

Carrot Cupcakes:

175g light brown sugar

200g self-raising flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon mixed spice

Zest from 1 large orange

2 large free-range eggs, at room temperature

150ml sunflower or vegetable oil

200g (approx. 2 large) carrots, peeled and grated – weigh to ensure this is correct

65g chopped walnuts, plus extra for decoration

Cream Cheese Frosting:

60g unsalted butter, softened

200g icing sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

400g full-fat cream cheese, softened – I leave mine out at room temperature for an hour to soften

Method:

1.  To make the cupcakes: Preheat your oven 180°C / 160°C Fan / 350°F / Gas Mark 4 and line a 12-hole cupcake or muffin tin with paper cases. In a large mixing bowl stir together the sugar, flour, bicarbonate of soda, spices and the orange zest.

2. In another smaller bowl or jug whisk together the eggs and oil until incorporated. Add the wet ingredients to the dry along with the grated carrot and walnuts and stir until completely combined. Evenly divide the batter between the paper cases. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean without any uncooked batter remaining – mine took the full amount of time to bake. Leave the cupcakes to cool in the tin for a few minutes then transport them to a wire rack and allow to cool to room temperature.

3. To make the frosting: Cream the softened butter in a stand mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes to soften. Now add the sifted icing sugar and vanilla and starting on a low speed mix to combine. Continue to cream for 5 minutes or until really pale in colour – stop the mixer halfway through to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.

4. Once creamed add the softened cream cheese. Turn the mixer up and whisk on high speed for approximately 2-3 minutes or until the frosting is creamy, thick and smooth. You need to use an electric hand mixer or stand mixer with a whisk attachment to make sure the frosting reaches the correct consistency.

5. Decorate the cupcakes as desired by piping or spreading the frosting onto each cupcake. Further decoration is optional, I chose to top each cupcake with extra chopped walnuts and a carrot made from royal icing. The carrot decorations can be purchased from most major supermarkets or online but just be sure to decorate just prior to serving. Cupcakes will keep stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Recipe Notes:

  • To adapt the recipe into cup measurements please see my conversion tables page for help.
  • You can adjust the amount of spice or play around by adding different spices to these cupcakes. If you can’t find mixed spice where you live you can substitute it with pumpkin pie spice or alternatively use a different combination of spices.
  • Adding walnuts to the batter is optional. If you want you can leave them out entirely or swap them for pecans, raisins or desiccated/shredded coconut.
  • Leave the cream cheese out at room temperature for an hour prior to making the frosting. The cream cheese needs to be soft to ensure the frosting is smooth and all the ingredients incorporate completely.
  • Don’t add any additional icing sugar to the frosting as this will make your cream cheese frosting too runny and you won’t be able to pipe it. To get perfect cream cheese frosting my best tip is to measure your ingredients accurately using the metric system for the perfect results every time.
  • If you want you can chill the cream cheese frosting in the fridge for an hour before frosting the cupcakes, I sometimes do this if the weather is particularly humid.
  • The way you choose to decorate these cupcakes is totally up to you. When I shared the recipe the first time round instead of decorating the cupcakes with chopped walnuts as I did this time I sprinkled the tops with coconut and dusted a few of the cupcakes with cinnamon.

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Baking · Buttercream and Frosting · Cupcakes

Apple Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream

What Jessica Baked Next29 Comments

Spiced apple cupcakes with caramel buttercream. A quintessential autumn treat in cupcake form! 

I swear this year has been a complete blur and I just haven’t been able to keep up. I feel like it was only yesterday I was finishing my culinary diploma and straight after that I went on summer holiday. It’s Halloween today, later this week it’s Bonfire Night and very soon after that we will be celebrating Christmas. I’ve already had my taste testers reviewing some recipes I am hoping to share on the blog in time for Christmas. I can’t help myself as Christmas is my favourite time of year with all the sparkly lights and festive food, it’s just a fun and magical time spent with the closest people in my life.

On my last blog post, I spoke about how much I crave summer and warm weather, however I do still enjoy autumn. With cooler and shorter days, the crisp and chilly weather is a great excuse to have a cosy day in front of the TV watching way too many episodes of your favourite box set, sitting back and relaxing with a film and a giant bowl of popcorn or dedicating an entire afternoon to do some baking.

Recently I’ve been enjoying embracing autumn with bakes that combine cosy, warm spices. So today I’ve turned a quintessential autumnal treat into cupcake form. It’s no lie that I like baking cupcakes. I say like, but it’s more like love.

These apple cupcakes are not only fun to bake, but also delicious to make when you’re feeling in need of an indulgent treat. Best of all this recipe includes fruit, so technically these cupcakes are kind of healthy?

The cake itself isn’t too overly sweet, so the caramel buttercream enhances it perfectly. These cupcakes aren’t like the usual cupcakes I tend to make as they have more of a denser muffin-like texture opposed to a buttery, fluffy cupcake. However, they are still delicious and successfully incorporate the taste of apple and subtly warming spice flavour from cinnamon and ginger in each bite. The flavour and texture of the cupcakes is best on the day of baking, but they will keep at room temperature for a few days – we all agreed that the cupcakes were just as tasty, if not tastier after a couple of days.

To decorate the cupcakes I wanted to pick a buttercream flavour that complimented the apple. When considering ideas, caramel buttercream sprung straight to mind, so I stuck with that idea.

This caramel buttercream is made with a smaller quantity of butter, but as caramel/dulce de leche changes the consistency of buttercream, I like to add just a touch extra icing sugar to make sure it was thick enough and would hold peaks when piped. The buttercream requires only three ingredients, plus one extra if you decide to add a pinch of salt like I did. For me, just the smallish pinch of salt evens out the sweetness.

You know what they say, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Well I’m thinking more along the lines of a cupcake a day keeps the doctor away! I’m not sure about you, but I like that logic!

(Makes 12)

Ingredients:

Apple Cupcakes:

175g (1 and 1/4 cups) plain/all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon (5g) baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

60g (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened

200g (1 cup) caster or granulated sugar

1 large free-range egg, at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

90ml (6 tablespoons) buttermilk, at room temperature

2 medium apples (approx. 1 and 1/2 cups), peeled, cored and grated

Caramel Buttercream:

150g (2/3 cup) unsalted butter, softened

375g (2 and 1/3 cups) icing/confectioners’ sugar, sifted

100g (3.5 ounces) caramel or dulce de leche

Pinch of salt

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C Fan / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Line a 12-hole cupcake tin with paper cases.
  2. To make the cupcakes: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and spices until thoroughly combined.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth for about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and continue to mix for a further minute until incorporated.
  4. Add the buttermilk along with half the flour ingredients and mix until a few lumps of flour remain. Add the remaining flour and fold to combine. Finally, fold through the grated apple.
  5. Evenly divide the cupcake batter between the paper cases, fill each cupcake case about 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cupcakes are risen and are starting to take on a golden shade. Check the cupcakes are baked all the way through by inserting a cake tester into the centre, if it comes out clean without any uncooked batter remaining then the cupcakes are ready.
  6. Leave the cupcakes to cool in the tin for a few minutes and then carefully transport to a wire rack. Leave the cupcakes to cool completely to room temperature.
  7. To make the buttercream: Place the softened butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream the butter for 2 minutes until smooth and pale. Add the sifted icing sugar in two batches and beat until combined. Cream on medium speed for 5 minutes, stopping the mixer halfway though and scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl to ensure everything gets combined. Finally, add the caramel and a generous pinch of salt and continue mixing for another minute.
  8. Fill a large disposable piping bag fitted with a large star tip with the buttercream. Pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes and finish by decorating with a drizzle of caramel and some fudge chunks if desired.

Recipe Notes:

  • I used cox apples to make these, however you can use braeban, bramley, gala or granny smith. You want to go for a relatively juicy apple, but not too juicy as this will affect the texture of the cupcakes and they may not bake correctly.
  • If you want you can dice the apple instead of grating/shredding it. Just be sure to cut the apple up into a small dice.
  • Buttermilk needs to be at room temperature. Leave the buttermilk out for at least an hour prior to baking the cupcakes.
  • If you don’t want to get too fancy you can decorate the cupcakes by spreading the buttercream on rather than piping it if you’re not confident enough.
  • Omit the spices if you’re not a fan.
  • Decorating is optional, we loved the extra caramel drizzle on each cupcake and the fudge chunks. You could definitely be decorate these in many different ways, so have some fun and get creative!
  • Recipe can easily be doubled to make 24 cupcakes if you’re wanting to make a bigger batch.
  • Cupcakes will store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Cupcake recipe from Chowhound

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Baking · Buttercream and Frosting · Chocolate · Cupcakes

Double Chocolate Cupcakes

What Jessica Baked Next16 Comments

Dark chocolate cupcakes with creamy, luscious white chocolate buttercream. These are for chocolate lovers only! 

It is National Chocolate Week. This is one of the UK’s biggest chocolate events and I don’t know about you, but I’ll take pretty much any excuse to eat chocolate. To celebrate I baked cupcakes, not just any cupcakes, divine dark chocolate cupcakes with white chocolate buttercream.

If you’re a chocoholic just like me, then these scrumptious cupcakes will definitely be right up your street!

The recipe starts with Cook’s Illustrated ultimate chocolate cupcakes, a recipe I cannot stop raving about it. With rich chocolate flavour, each cake is gloriously fluffy and will just melt in your mouth. There’s no denying that this is my favourite chocolate cupcake and I’m sure it will soon become yours too. The cupcakes also have the perfect flat top and that means you can decorate each cupcake with a nice, generous swirl of buttercream. I have tried many chocolate cupcake recipes, all of which had claimed to the best, but it was Cook’s Illustrated’s recipe that ticked all the boxes for my taste testers and myself.

It wouldn’t be a cupcake without the buttercream after all. A creamy, luscious white chocolate buttercream sits atop a seriously fudgy and moist chocolate cupcake.

To make the buttercream, start by creaming your butter for a few minutes. You’ll want to have left your butter out overnight to ensure it’s really soft. Bear in mind the softer your butter is, the airer and lighter your buttercream will be. Once you’ve whipped your butter add the sifted icing sugar (in two batches) and slowly combine into the butter to avoid a sugar cloud and icing sugar going flying everywhere! Add the vanilla and continue to whip the butter and icing sugar together for an additional five minutes until the buttercream is really fluffy and light. Finally add the melted white chocolate and the cream or milk and try your very hardest to resist eating spoonful after spoonful…

I wasn’t successful resisting eating the buttercream before icing the cupcakes. Yes, maybe I did eat a couple of spoonfuls, but who can blame me because homemade buttercream is addictive!

And the finished cupcakes? It was love at first bite. I did however refrain myself from eating cupcake after cupcake by giving the majority of the cupcakes away to my good friends and a few family members. Anyhow, I know another batch will definitely be happening in the near future!

I’ve listed some tips in my recipe notes, those can be found just below the ingredients and method. Hopefully you’ll find them helpful and enjoy the cupcakes!

(Makes 12)

Ingredients:

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes:

85g (3 ounces) dark chocolate, finely chopped

40g (1/3 cup) cocoa powder

1 teaspoon instant coffee granules or powder (optional)

180ml (3/4 cup) boiling water

105g (3/4 cup) bread flour (can be substituted with plain/all-purpose flour)

150g (3/4 cup) caster or granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

6 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 large free-range eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

White Chocolate Buttercream: 

225g (1 cup) salted butter, softened

250g (2 and 1/2 cups) icing/confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

175g (6 ounces) white chocolate

60ml (4 tablespoons) double cream or milk

Method:

  1. To make the cupcakes: Place the chopped chocolate, cocoa powder and coffee granules/powder (if using) in a medium mixing bowl. Pour the boiling water over and whisk until smooth and all the chocolate has melted. Place in the fridge for 20 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C Fan / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and bicarbonate of soda until thoroughly combined. Whisk the oil, eggs, vinegar and vanilla into the now cooled chocolate mixture. Finally, add the dry ingredients and whisk until you have a smooth batter.
  3. Divide the batter between the paper cases – I find using an ice cream scoop best for doing this as it makes less mess. Bake for 17-19 minutes or until the cupcakes are well risen and a cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the centre. Leave to cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes then transport to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
  4. To make the frosting: Melt the white chocolate over a bain-marie or in a microwave in 20 second intervals. Leave to cool. As the chocolate cools, cream the butter for about a minute or two to soften. Now add the sifted icing sugar in two batches along with the vanilla and beat for another 5 minutes until the frosting is fluffy and light. Mix in the melted chocolate followed by the cream/milk.
  5. Decorate the cupcakes as desired. They’ll keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, I guarantee you these cupcakes won’t last that long!

Recipe Notes:

  • I highly recommend using caster/superfine sugar when making these cupcakes. If you only have granulated sugar on hand, you can blitz it in a food processor for a few seconds to make it superfine.
  • Adding a teaspoon of instant coffee granules or powder adds to the intense chocolate taste. If you’re not a fan of mocha flavour, then just leave the coffee out of the recipe as it will work fine without.
  • For this buttercream I prefer to use salted butter rather than unsalted. This is because the white chocolate is very sweet, if you want you can use unsalted butter, but you might want to add a pinch or two of salt to the buttercream as you mix it.
  • You’ll need to use pure white chocolate and the best quality you can afford. Don’t substitute with white chocolate chips as they have stabilisers added and that will affect the texture of your buttercream.
  • I prefer to use double/heavy cream in my buttercream rather than milk. Cream will make a creamier, fluffier and richer textured buttercream.
  • Decoration is totally up to you, I decorated my cupcakes with triple chocolate curls which I purchased at my local supermarket. I also think decorating with milk or white chocolate buttons, chocolate shavings or sprinkles would look lovely.
  • To decorate these cupcakes I used a large closed star tip. It’s my favourite piping nozzle and makes the buttercream look like a Mr Whippy (soft serve) ice cream.
  • This recipe makes enough buttercream to generously ice 12 standard sized cupcakes. I did have a little buttercream left over, so you’re not a fan of too much buttercream then I would half the recipe.

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Buttercream and Frosting · Cupcakes

Vanilla Bean Buttercream

What Jessica Baked Next23 Comments

The best ever vanilla bean buttercream. Super creamy, fluffy and amazing swirled high on your favourite chocolate or vanilla cupcake! 

Want to learn how to make the fluffiest, most perfect vanilla bean buttercream? If so, you’re at the right place!

I finally have a new bake to share with you. I haven’t been baking much lately so ease myself back in gently I decided to put a spin on these vanilla cupcakes, a recipe that I can always count on to work. The cupcakes are named “perfect” for a reason and that recipe is a must try for baking beginners because it’s straightforward and doesn’t require any out of the ordinary ingredients.

This buttercream is one of first recipes I created for the blog way back when I first started it. I’d always loved making buttercream but I could never seem to get it super creamy and fluffy.

Good old-fashioned vanilla cupcakes are definitely a favourite cupcake flavour of mine. I don’t think you can really go wrong with the classics. This beautiful buttercream suits all kinds of cupcakes, my favourite way is to top vanilla cupcakes with the buttercream but it would also be well suited swirled onto a fudgy chocolate cupcake if you fancy doing that.

As I mentioned, for this buttercream I used my go-to vanilla cupcake recipe as a base. I took the opportunity to do some retesting and update the original recipe ever so slightly. The only changes I made was this time I used margarine in place of butter because I find it gives a more even rise and I also used cake flour instead of regular self-raising flour. Another step I did was I reduced the oven temperature slightly so the cupcakes would rise more evenly and not dome.

Baking is a real science and those adjustments made a definite improvement!

To make my buttercream a touch extra special and treated myself to some vanilla pods. I love adding Madagascan vanilla pods in all kinds of desserts, whether that’s homemade ice cream, cakes/cupcakes, cookies and of course, buttercream and frosting. I particularly love adding it to batches of buttercream because it adds a gorgeous natural vanilla flavour and also I think the flecks of vanilla beans look really beautiful.

I could easily devour this buttercream before decorating the cupcakes – it’s really difficult for someone like me with a massive sweet tooth to resist! 😉 The finished cupcakes taste exactly like something from a high-end bakery, give them a try and you’ll see!

Ingredients:

150g (2/3 cup) unsalted butter, softened – leave it out overnight and allow to soften at room temperature

300g (3 cups) icing (confectioners’) sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Seeds scraped from 1 large vanilla pod

2 tablespoons double cream or milk, add extra if needed

1 x batch Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes

Method:

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk or paddle attachment beat the softened butter for 2 minutes until creamy and pale in colour.
  2. Add the icing/confectioners’ sugar along with the vanilla extract and the scraped vanilla beans. Combine on a low speed and then turn the mixer up to medium speed and continue to beat for 5-7 minutes until fluffy and a light colour. Make sure you stop the mixer halfway through and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure everything gets incorporated evenly.
  3. Finally, add the cream or milk and continue to mix for another minute until it’s combined fully. Use the buttercream to decorate a layer cake or frost 12 standard sized cupcakes.

Recipe Notes:

  • To scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod, simply take a sharp kitchen knife and slice the vanilla bean directly down the middle and pull apart to open. Using the back of the knife, carefully scrape the seeds from the pod. I find this detailed post helpful. 🙂
  • Adjust the consistency of the buttercream with a couple of tablespoons of double/heavy cream or milk. I recommend picking cream over milk as the buttercream will have a more airy and creamier texture.
  • Recipe above yields enough buttercream to decorate 12 standard sized cupcakes or a small two-layer cake such as a Victoria sandwich. Depending on how much buttercream you use to decorate, you could possibly decorate a few more than 12 cupcakes.
  • If you can’t find vanilla pods where you live or they are too expensive for your budget, you can substitute the vanilla pod for an extra teaspoon of vanilla extract in this recipe.
  • If buttercream is too sweet for your liking try adding a pinch of salt or substituting the unsalted butter for salted.

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