Tag: sabh

baking · food + drink · posts

Victoria Sponge Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream

Moya17 Comments

A fond memory recalled from childhood, the familiar words called out by my parents… “your tea is ready,” a signal letting us know our evening meal was on the table. High Tea or as we called it our “Tea,” was a light savoury meal that would be eaten somewhere between the hours of 6pm to 7pm.

Afternoon tea (3pm to 5pm) reserved for special occasions usually involved serving a selection of delicious home-baked cakes, light fluffy scones and crustless sandwiches, all washed down with copious amounts of freshly brewed tea.

I love how this quote sums up afternoon tea and I believe it is a special ceremony, a visual feast, a time to take out your pretty china cups, decorative plates, quaint cutlery, antique tiered cake stands and linen napkins…  and spoil all the lovely people in your life.

“Under certain circumstances there are few hours more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.” ― Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady.

Afternoon tea would not be complete without a selection of cakes, so you might like to try other recipes such as, Rocky Road Chocolate Cakes, Matcha Tea and Lemon Cupcakes , Mini Pavlova Bites, Chocolate Guinness and Blackcurrant Cupcakes or Welsh Cheese Cakes.

Victoria Sponge Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream

Ingredients:

  • 110g butter, softened
  • 110g caster sugar
  • 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 25g self-raising flour
  • 75g all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons of fresh orange juice

You will need a 12 hole cupcake tin lined with paper cases and a piping bag and nozzle.

for the buttercream

  • 110g unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/4 teaspoon of finely grated orange zest
  • 200g icing sugar, sieved
  • 1 or 2 teaspoons of fresh orange juice
  • sugar flowers and strips of candied orange peel, to decorate (optional)

How to make:  Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4/Fan 160°C.

Add the butter, caster sugar and orange zest into a mixing bowl and using an electric mixer, beat ingredients together until light and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs (a few tablespoons at a time) to the cake mixture, beating well after each addition.

Add in the sifted flours and fold into the cake mixture with a spatula until the mixture is smooth, stir in the milk. Divide the cake mixture evenly among the prepared baking tin. Bake cupcakes for about 18 to 20 minutes or until the middle of the cupcake springs back when lightly pressed with fingers. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes before transferring the cupcakes to a wire cooling rack.

For the buttercream: Add the butter and orange zest into a mixing bowl,  beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add the sifted icing sugar into the butter, beating between additions until all the icing sugar has been incorporated. Beat in the orange juice. Spoon the buttercream into a piping bag fitted with the desired nozzle,  pipe the buttercream on top of each cupcake. Decorate with edible sugar flowers and candied orange peel, if desired.

[\recipe]

This post has been part of the High Tea Sweet Adventures Blog Hop hosted by Jennifer from Delicieux where you will find all the other delicious High Tea entries on her blog!

baking · food + drink · posts

matcha tea and lemon cupcakes frosted with a matcha tea buttercream

Moya26 Comments

The Sweet Adventures Blog hop theme this month is “What’s your cup of Tea,” and hosted by 84th and 3rd.  A perfect opportunity  to use my new muffin tin which I bought on a recent trip! Why buy another cupcake or muffin tin when I already have so many? Well, the shape caught my eye!  Baked muffins and cupcakes in this cake tin take on a different appearance, tall and narrow  with some having domed shaped tops depending on the recipe being used! What ever way they come out they all look really cute!

 With some lime green cupcake liners (also my new muffin pan), matcha tea in the cupboard and lemons in the fridge, it was decided… matcha tea with lemon cupcakes! Matcha tea is a high quality Japanese green tea which has many health benefits,  guess using this in the cupcake recipe is a good thing…  might just think these cupcakes are really good for my health… right!

My matcha tea probably could have been fresher,  it had been already opened for a few months and the powder was not as green as when first opened, guess I will have to stock up again and use the older matcha tea for this face mask!  Usually I buy matcha tea from Asian supermarket which is beside the Oriental supermarket, both opposite the Central Market for those living in Bahrain.

Matcha Tea and Lemon Cupcakes with a Matcha Tea Buttercream Topping

Ingredients:

  • 110g salted butter, softened
  • 110g caster sugar
  • zest of one lemon rind
  • 1 teaspoon of matcha tea
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten together
  • 75g all-purpose flour
  • 25g self-raising flour
  • 1 heaped tablespoon of home-made full-fat plain yogurt or shop bought

for the matcha tea buttercream:

  • 25g cream cheese, softened
  • 50g unsalted butter, softened
  • 200g icing sugar (a little more if needed)
  • 2 teaspoons, whipping or single cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon match tea
  • green edible glitter dust (optional)
You will need a 12 hole cupcake tin lined with 12 cupcake liners
Note: These cupcakes have a light flavour of matcha tea (I am not the green tea drinker in the house), but you can increase the flavour (and colour) by adding another 1/4 teaspoon of matcha tea into the buttercream frosting.

Useful Kitchen Jewellery:                    

  • cupcake pan
  • measuring spoons
  • mixing bowls
  • spatulas
  • electric whisk
  • sieve
  • microplane zester
  • wire cooling rack
  • piping bag and nozzle
  • kitchen scales

How to make:

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4/Fan 160°C.

Add the butter, caster sugar and lemon zest into a mixing bowl. Sieve in the matcha tea. Using and electric mixer, beat ingredients together until light and fluffy.

Add the beaten eggs (a few tablespoons at a time) to the cake mixture, beating well after each addition.

Sift in the flours and fold into cake mixture with a spatula until the cake mixture is smooth, stir in the yogurt.

Bake cupcakes for about 18 to 20 minutes or until  middle of cupcake springs back when lightly pressed with fingers.

Let the cupcakes sit in the baking pan for a few minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.

For the buttercream frosting:

Add the cream cheese and butter to a mixing bowl, beat  together with an electric mixer until soft and smooth.

Gradually sift in the icing sugar and beat until all the icing sugar is incorporated.

In a small bowl mix the cream and matcha tea to a paste and then beat this into the buttercream.

Spoon the matcha buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a rosette nozzle,  pipe a small swirl on top of each cupcake. Dust lightly with edible glitter dust, if desired .

 Tip: Dry your washed baking tins up-side down in the residual heat from the oven after baking, Mum used to always do this!  The heat will dry your pans completely and stop rust forming on some pans.

This post is part of the Sweet Adventures Australian Blog Hop, “What’s your cup of Tea,” click here to see all the other entries!

Keep a lookout for more cupcakes and muffins using this baking tin!
desserts · food + drink

lemon and fresh thyme posset shooter

Moya20 Comments

Once again Jennifer (Delicieux) is hosting this months “Sweet Adventures Blog Hop” and the theme,“lemons.”  I was ready to submit an earlier post on the magical stages of a developing lemon... when I just realized no older posts would be accepted on the blog hop…darn!

A quick re-think and a scan over some ingredients already stocked in the kitchen… lemon posset came to mind.

Lemon posset is a dessert based on a very old British medieval drink called a posset. This drink was made by heating milk, then curdling with an acid such as wine or ale. The hot posset was also used for minor aliments such as the common cold and was often spiced with ginger and aniseed.

Even William Shakespeare’s Macbeth makes reference to this medieval drink when Lady Macbeth uses poisoned possets to knock out the guards outside Duncan’s palace

“The doors are open, and the surfeited grooms

Do mock their charge with snores. I have drugg’d their possets

That death and nature do contend about them,

Whether they live or die.”

Fast forward to the 20th century and posset is a smooth and  luxurious tangy-sweet lemony thickened cream that is chilled and best served in small quantities. A super easy do-ahead dessert for dinner parties. Like Lady Macbeth I hope to knock out (figuratively speaking) my guests by “drugg’d their (my guests) possets“ with this deliriously lemony dessert shooter with a hint of fresh garden thyme.

Lemon and Fresh Thyme Posset Shooters

Ingredients:

  • 250ml double cream or whipping cream (min fat 35%)
  • 75g granulated sugar
  • 5 sprigs of fresh thyme (optional)
  • zest half of a lemon
  • juice of one lemon
  • thyme leaves to garnish and/or some grated lemon zest

You will need 6 small shot type glasses, the recipe can easily be doubled if you require a larger quantity.

How to make:

Pour the cream into a heavy based saucepan. Add the sugar and fresh thyme. Over a medium heat dissolve the sugar in the cream while stirring continuously. Let the cream come to a gentle boil (do not let the cream boil over), reduce the heat and simmer the cream for three minutes.

Remove the saucepan from the heat, stir in the lemon juice (this will thicken the cream) and lemon zest. Let cool for about 5 minutes, remove the thyme sprigs and pour into 6 small shot glasses. Once cool cover and refrigerate for about 4 hours (will thicken further) or overnight.

Before serving (straight from the fridge) scatter over a few thyme leaves and/or grated lemon zest.

Note: Do not use cream that has a lower fat content than 35% or the cream will curdle when you add the lemon juice. Ideally double cream which has a much higher fat content should be used which will result in a creamier and thicker setting posset.

Using a microplane zester (my star zester) will give the best results for obtaining a very fine grating of lemon zest.

This post is part of the “Sweet Adventures Blog Hop,” click (here) and check out all the other lemon dessert entries!