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Tag Archives: baking

Blueberry cupcakes with blueberry cream cheese frosting

Look at the pretty blueberries in these cupcakes. They really are nature’s work of art. I have found a frozen brand of Australian-grown blueberries that I am happy with and always ensure I have a bag in the freezer. I bake with them, the Hungry Dad makes Bircher muesli with them, Miss-now-8 adds them to Greek yogurt and Miss9 is happy to eat a bowl of them for a snack #winning

At the moment in Sydney fresh blueberries are plentiful so you can take your pick when making them delectable blueberry cupcakes with blueberry cream cheese frosting (or cream cheese icing, for my fellow Aussies).

Fresh or frozen works fine and if you opt for frozen there is no need to defrost first.

These blueberry cupcakes are really moist and the Greek yoghurt adds a lovely tang. Try not to eat all the frosting / icing before you ice the cakes – a real danger #OrIsThatJustMe

GATHER:

120g unsalted butter, softened

½ cup caster sugar

1 2/3 cups self-raising flour

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup Greek yogurt cream

1 cup blueberries (frozen is fine)

Icing:

180g unsalted butter, softened

250g cream cheese, softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups pure icing sugar, sifted

¼ cup blueberries, extra

LET’S GET TO IT:

Preheat oven to 190°C and line a cupcake pan with wrappers.

In bowl of electric mixer beat butter, sugar and vanilla on medium speed until fluffy and pale – about three minutes.

Scrape down bowl with a spatula then add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined.

Beat in half the flour, then half the yogurt, then rest of flour then rest of yogurt. Using a silver spoon gently stir in the blueberries.

Fill the wrappers two-thirds full and bake for 15-ish minutes or until a skewer inserted into a cake has only a few crumbs clinging to it.

Remove to wire rack too cool completely.

Meanwhile, make icing: In bowl of electric mixer beat cream cheese, vanilla and butter together until pale and creamy – about two minutes. With beater on low beat in icing sugar then increase speed to medium and beat until thoroughly combined. Use a silver spoon to stir through and break up most of the berries, leaving enough for decoration. Scrape icing into ziplock bag, snip off the corner and pipe icing onto cake, then top each one with a single blueberry.

Tags: bake, baked, baking, blueberries, blueberry, cooking, cupcake, cupcakes, easy, eggs, food, from scratch, kid-friendly, sugar, vanilla

Comments 28 Comments
Categories Cupcakes

Red wine chocolate cake

6 Nov

I know what you’re thinking – red wine IN chocolate cake? Red wine while eating chocolate cake – sure. Red wine while cooking cake, of course. But red wine IN chocolate cake? Trust me… red wine chocolate cake is amazing! Continue reading →

Tags: alcohol, bake, baked, baking, cake, chocolate, easy, food, from scratch, red wine, sugar, treat

Comments 46 Comments
Categories alcohol, Cakes

Choc chip chai cookies

2 Nov

Up until a year ago I could take or leave chai. As a coffee lover I often don’t have time for tea. But after discovering some amazing chai tea leaves, rather than the awful powdery stuff favoured by some cafes, I am a chai convert.

Another reason for my love of chai: it melds so well with butter, sugar and flour. It is the perfect pairing for many baked goods, as it adds a lovely depth and flavour. Need proof / inspiration?

Here’s my chai tea sultana cake: https://thehungrymum.com/2015/10/07/chai-tea-sultana-cake/

And my chai tea bundt cake recipe: https://thehungrymum.com/2015/08/30/chai-bundt-cake-from-scratch/

I recently had the idea of mixing chai with chocolate and my recipe for chocolate chip chai cookies was born. The tea leaves and the dark chocolate are just made for one another, and the ginger creates a warmth that you will love.

Miss9 took over the making of these bickies! They are large and rustic – next time I would probably make them a bit smaller. Either way, these choc chip chai cookies taste amazing.

I was inspired by a recipe from the Australian Women’s Weekly called basic vanilla biscuits.

GATHER:

200 grams unsalted butter, diced, at room temperature

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup icing sugar, sifted

1 egg

½ cup dark chocolate chips

1 ¾ cups plain flour

½ teaspoon bicarb soda

2 teaspoons chai tea leaves

½ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon cinnamon

LET’S GET TO IT:

Preheat oven to 170C and grease and line a baking sheet with non-stick paper.

In bowl of electric mixer beat the sugar, butter, egg and vanilla together until creamy and smooth.

Stir in flour, bicarb, cinnamon, ginger and chai leaves and mix until combined. Using a silver spoon mix in the chocolate chips until just combined.

Roll into balls, place on tray and gently flatten.

Bake for 11-14 minutes, depending on size of your bickie. Cool on trays for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Tags: Australian Women's Weekly, AWW, bake, baked, baking, biscuits, chai, choc chip, chocolate, cookies, food, from scratch, recipe, sugar, treat

Comments 21 Comments
Categories Biscuits and Cookies

Chocolate rum bundt cake recipe

28 Oct

I had such an urge to bake a chocolate bundt cake this morning. I was planning to bake shortbread but some invisible force was telling me to create a cake with chocolate and rum that I thought – who am I to argue with the Jedi-minefield that is permeating my kitchen? Continue reading →

Tags: alcohol, bake, baked, baking, bundt, cake, chocolate, dessert, food, home-made, rum, sugar, treat

Comments 27 Comments
Categories alcohol, Cakes, chocolate, Dessert

Burnt butter brown sugar cupcakes

26 Oct

Until you have tried burnt butter, either as a sweet or savoury dish, you cannot imagine how wonderful it tastes.

Simple kitchen alchemy transforms it into a creation heavenly enough to eat with a spoon – although don’t tell your cardiologist I said that.

Burning your butter is an easy peasy way to elevate baked goods into rich, decadent treats. These burnt butter brown sugar cupcakes are sophisticated enough to serve at an adult party – no sprinkles or food colouring here. Miss9 highly rated them, saying they were light and fluffy and less sweet than my usual vanilla cupcake recipe.

Serve these cupcakes au naturel, with a dusting of icing sugar, or a smothering of my all-purpose chocolate ganache – see below. This recipe was adapted from Nigella Lawson’s iconic ‘How To Be A Domestic Goddess.’

GATHER:

150 grams unsalted butter, diced

1 cup self-raising flour

just over ¼ cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons of milk

LET’S GET TO IT:

Preheat oven to 180C and line a 12-hole cupcake pan with wrappers (my batch only made 11).

In a small pan over low heat stir the butter frequently until it turns dark golden – this will take some time but don’t walk away or you will end up with a ruined pan and butter that will end u p in the bin. When it starts foaming like crazy is when you when to remove it from the heat.

Place all ingredients into a food processor and whiz until combined – it is quite a thick batter.

Spoon into the pans and bake for 16 minutes / until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE:

In a small saucepan over low heat melt 125g dark chocolate [broken into chunks] with 1/2 cup pouring cream. Stir until melted, thick and glossy. Allow to stand 15 minutes until thick. Use knife to spread over cakes.

Tags: bake, baked, baking, brown sugar, burnt butter, butter, chocolate, cooking, cupcake, cupcakes, food, How to be a Domestic Goddess, Nigella Lawson

Comments 35 Comments
Categories Cupcakes, Fast & simple

Blueberry pudding cake (egg-free)

23 Oct

This blueberry pudding cake is such a moist, easy-to-bake, delicious cake that you’ll throw away all your other blueberry baking recipes.

The fact that it is an egg-free cake recipe is a bonus, especially if you buy 36 eggs at a time but plough through them so quickly you often are left with just one solitary egg in the carton. Or is that just me?

Before our chooks went to hen heaven – RIP Kaitlyn and Jakeson – we always had a stash of perfect, huge, delicious eggs at our disposal. Now, I only buy free range eggs but what with all the scandal and court cases RE certain egg producers lying about their free range status it is really hard. I often leave smaller supermarkets empty-handed if I can’t find my brands. Farmers markets are the best but that doesn’t help if it is Tuesday night and the market isn’t until Saturday!

This cake is perfect when it is just under baked so it retains a pudding-like consistency. I think lashings of custard would make a wonderful friend for this cake – try my easy recipe here: the best custard recipe from scratch

GATHER:

2 cups self-raising flour

250 grams unsalted butter, diced, softened

¾ cup caster sugar

3/4 cup milk

1 cup Greek yogurt

1 cup blueberries – frozen is fine, don’t defrost

1 tsp vanilla extract

LET’S GET TO IT:

Grease a 20cm by 20cm square baking pan and line with non-stick baking paper and preheat oven to 180C.

In bowl of electric mixer beat the sugar and butter until pale and creamy.

Scrape down sides with a spatula then beat in vanilla and yogurt.

Add half the milk, then half the flour, then repeat. Beat until mixed – do not overbeat.

Use a silver spoon to stir in the berries carefully – you don’t want to stain the batter blue.

Scrape into tin, level the top with offset spatula and bake in oven for around 45 minutes – insert skewer to check, you want it moist but not raw.

Leave in tin to cool, then slice into squares to serve. Sprinkle with icing sugar to serve.

blueberry

Tags: bake, baked, baking, blueberries, blueberry, cake, dessert, easy, egg-free, eggless, from scratch, homemade, no egg, pudding, sugar

Comments 31 Comments
Categories Cakes

Pretzel chocolate brownies recipe

19 Oct

For reasons yet to be fully understood I recently bought a huge packet of pretzels at the supermarket. I’m not a fan of pretzels at all so just chalk this purchase up to momentary madness. I don’t even think they were on sale. Every time I open the pantry they wink at me, taunt me, as if to say – now what? Continue reading →

Tags: bake, baked, baking, brownies, chocolate, eat, food, from scratch, recipe, sugar, treat

Comments 23 Comments
Categories brownies

Lemonade birthday cake with cinnamon buttercream recipe

17 Oct

It was my BFF’s birthday recently and a celebratory picnic was in order. Families and kids were rounded up, cheese was purchased, Pimms organised, rugs placed in cars. And a cake was baked. Continue reading →

Tags: bake, baked, baking, birthday cake, cinnamon, food, from scratch, lemon, picnic, recipe, recipes, sugar

Comments 27 Comments
Categories Cakes

Nutella coconut bars / slice

15 Oct

Sometimes you want to bake something technical, intricate and delicate. Other times you want something you can throw together with pantry staples in mere moments. Or your sugar craving needs to be address – stat. Or a child comes home with an until-this-moment forgotten about request for something sweet as a friend is coming over for a play. This is the recipe for you.

This easy to bake Nutella coconut bars / slice/ squares recipe is so delicious – the crunch of the base contrasts so well with the lush chocolate filling. Make these and try and stop at just one piece!

GATHER:

125 grams butter, at room temperature, diced

100 grams brown sugar

1 teaspoon best vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups self-raising flour

½ cup Nutella

topping:

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups desiccated coconut

1/3 cup caster sugar

LET’S GET TO IT:

Preheat oven to 180C.

Grease and line a rectangular slice pan, allowing a 3cm overhang of paper.

In bowl of electric mixer beat sugar, butter and vanilla until pale, then using a spoon stir in flour.

Scrape into pan, distributing evenly, and cook for 12 minutes or until lightly golden. Set aside until completely cool.

Meanwhile, mix all the topping ingredients together in a small bowl.

Spread Nutella over cold base, sprinkle over topping – ensure it is even.

Return to oven and cook for 20 minutes.

Leave in pan until cold, then cut into squares to serve.

Tags: baking, bars, chocolate, coconut, food, Nutella, recipe, slices, squares, sugar, treat

Comments 36 Comments
Categories Bars

Chocolate peanut butter cookies (no chill, no roll dough)

25 Sep

I am the whitest girl you will ever meet but I feel that the addition of the brackets to this blog post sound like something Snoop Dog would rap. Or not – see previous comments RE white girl.

The reason I added these key words is when I’m on a mission to find a new baking recipe I am often hobbled by the little words that are usually hidden two-thirds of the way through the recipe ‘allow dough to chill in fridge for 2 hours.’ Ain’t no-one got time for that when school pick-up is looming. Continue reading →

Tags: baking, biscuits, chocolate, cookies, cooking, easy, fast, food, peanut butter, recipe, snack, treat