My daughter bought me the Peggy Porschen Cupcake book for my birthday in June – so come school holidays what do you think is the first thing we had to do together?…Yep, you’re right…bake cupcakes!
Such a fun thing to do and they make a super nice desert at the end of a nice meal or great afternoon tea with a glass prosecco for a special occasion – smile. I especially love the strawberry jam surprise in the middle of these!
As it is not my recipe here is the link to the official Peggy Porschen recipe.
My daughter Cassia made the red velvet cupcakes:
The mixture tasted devine – perhaps it was the butter milk or perhaps it was quite simply that Cassia is a very clever cupcake baker 😉
We did do something different here – in the book it says the topping should be with red biscuit crumbs on top and instead we found some raspberry crystals in the supermarket with have the added benefit of a yummy tangy touch to the topping!
Recipe:
For the cupcakes:
- 120g unsalted butter, softened
- 320g caster sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- Seeds of 1 vanilla pod or 1 tb vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 260g buttermilk
- 7tsp (1 38ml bottle) liquid red food colour
- 275g plain flour
- 2 tb cocoa powder
- 1½ tsp white wine vinegar
- 1¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 165°C and line the muffin trays with cupcake cases.
- Place butter, sugar, salt and vanilla seeds in a mixing bowl and cream together until pale and fluffy.
- Beat eggs lightly in a separate jug and slowly add to the butter mixture while beating quickly. If the mixture starts to separate or curdle, stop adding the egg and beat in 2–3 tablespoons of flour. This will rebind the batter.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and cocoa, and in a separate jug thoroughly mix together the buttermilk and red food colour.
- Add half the flour mix to the cake batter, mixing on a low speed, followed by half the buttermilk, then the flour and lastly the buttermilk, being careful not to over-mix the batter. Lastly, add the vinegar to the bicarbonate of soda, and fold this quickly but lightly through the cake batter. Use a plastic piping bag or tablespoon, carefully place the batter into the cupcake cases until two-thirds full.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on your oven. The cupcakes are cooked when the tops look dry and spring back to the touch. If in doubt, insert a clean knife or wooden skewer into the centre of each sponge; it should come out clean.
- Once the cupcakes are baked, let them cool a little in the tin before demoulding onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Topping
Ingredients:
- 250g full-fat cream cheese, slightly softened
- 250g unsalted butter, softened
- 625g icing sugar, sifted
Method:
- Place the cream cheese in a mixing bowl and beat with a spatula or wooden spoon until smooth and creamy.
- Place the butter and one-third of the icing sugar in a separate mixing bowl and cream together until very pale and fluffy.
- Add the next third of the icing sugar and beat again until the mixture is pale and fluffy.
- Add the remaining icing sugar and beat again, making sure to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl to ensure that there are no lumps of butter.
- Add the cream cheese, a little at a time, to the butter mixture, mixing at a low speed until the frosting is combined.
- Chill the frosting until firm enough to pipe and then top each cupcake with raspberry crystals.
I really recommend you all get the book:
Happy cupcake baking
