RECIPE | Coconut & Raspberry Cupcakes

 A simple, but gorgeous flavour combination that tickles any taste buds. I was first asked to make Coconut & Raspberry cupcakes for a baby shower on the weekend - and in my opinion, it is the perfect flavour combination to welcome a baby girl into the world!

Raspberry and coconut allow you to include the perfect colours for a girls baby shower. It gave me the perfect excuse to decorate them a littler differently too - taking inspiration from @milkandwaterbakingco for the multi-coloured beauties.

I even added a raspberry coulis and coconut centre for the extra hit of flavour - and it's easy to do. Simply cut out the centre of the cake with an apple corer or knife (or you can buy a cupcake corer from Lakeland) and then fill it up!

Raspberry Cupcakes with Coconut Buttercream

Servings: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the Raspberry cake:

• 150g Stork butter (room temperature)
• 150g Caster sugar
• 3 Eggs
• 150g Self-raising flour
• 1tsp Vanilla extract
• 36 Fresh raspberries

For the coconut buttercream:

• 250g Butter (softened)
• 500g Icing sugar
• 1tbsp Coconut extract/flavouring
• 1 - 2tsp Tonic water/Sparkling water
• Pink food colouring (optional)
• Desiccated coconut (for decoration)

For the secret cupcake centre:

• 100ml Raspberry coulis
• 150g Desiccated coconut

Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180ºC and line a cupcake tin with 12 cupcake cases.

2. Measure the Stork butter and caster sugar into your mixer and place on a medium-high speed for 3-4 minutes until you have a light and fluffy mixture.

3. Keep your mixer on a medium speed and add your eggs one at a time, ensuring each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next one. Add the vanilla extract.

4. Add the self-raising flour and mix on a low-medium speed until incorporated and then increase the speed of your mixture to high for 3-4 minutes which will leave you with a creamy batter (a lot of bakers may read this and think - WHAT ARE YOU DOING? But I prefer this method as opposed to folding in the flour. It leaves you with an extra creamy batter and makes a better tasting cake in my opinion!).

5. Place one fresh raspberry in the centre of each cupcake case - then fill the cases 1/2 - 3/4 full with the batter. Then spike two further raspberries into each cupcake - this will give you lovely bursts of raspberry flavour as you bite into the cupcake - yum!

6. Place your cupcakes in the oven for 15 minutes. This will vary depending on your oven so start checking after 12 - either poke a skewer into your cakes until they come out clean or lightly push on the top of the cupcake - if it bounces back then they're ready! Remember they will also continue to cake when you take them out of the oven - you don't want to over bake them.

7. Whilst your cupcakes are cooling, you can start to make your icing. Place the butter in your mixer along with the coconut extract and mix on a high speed until light and fluffy. Usually 3-4 minutes.

8. Put all of the icing sugar in the mixer and mix on a low speed until incorporated. Add 1tsp of Tonic water/Sparking water (something with a little fizz makes the icing extra creamy and fluffy - something I discovered when I first started making G&T cupcakes). Be careful not to add too much and it will depend on your mixture as to whether you add the second teaspoon.

9. Turn the mixer up to high and continue to mix until you have a light and fluffy consistency. The longer you mix the whiter it will get - which will mean pretty cupcakes. Rather than a yellow tinge from the butter. I normally mix my buttercream for at least 5 minutes on a high speed for a fluffy consistency (and better flavour - not too heavy). At this point - add your food colouring (optional).

10. Place a floral tip onto a disposable piping bag and be creative!

10 secrets to cake baking

 It's time to throw the store bought cake to one side and take on the challenge of baking fresh, delicious, moist, airy creations for your family and friends. My 10 secrets to baking will help conquer all fear and mean you are the best baker on your street.

1. All good cakes start with accurate measuring

It may seem obvious, but the quantities are there for a reason. Be accurate and you'll be on the way to a great tasting cake! A cake is a chemistry experiment, and the quantities are perfect to get the right 'reaction'. You should ensure each stage of the cake making is perfect - and this is the start.

2. The order is everything

Whatever cake you are making, be sure to follow the order of adding ingredients carefully. If you are making a butter cake (e.g. pound cake/most layer cakes) make sure you first cream together the fat (e.g. butter) and sugar. This is how cakes get their soft, fine texture and moistness - then add the eggs one by one mixing thoroughly between additions before incorporating the dry ingredients whilst alternating with a liquid e.g. buttermilk.

3. Know your oven

Since starting to bake professional, I have moved house three times - that's three new ovens to get used to. My advice would be to get an oven thermometer to prevent an under or over done cake. Also, bake the cake on your middle shelf and gently close the oven door - slamming will cause the cake to lose air bubbles. To check if the cake is done, press lightly on the centre and if it springs back, it's ready. Or a skewer should come out clean.

4. Use the correct tin sizes

Your recipe calls for two 8" cake tines, and you only have one 10" cake tin. What do you do? You buy two 8" tins. Tin sizes are specified in the recipe because a cake increases in volume 50 to 100 percent during baking; if your tin is too small, the cake will overflow, if it's too big, your cake will look flatter.

5. Consider the colour and material of your cake tins

You're probably now thinking, why on earth does the colour of the pan matter? Believe me - it does! Glass or dark non-stick tins usually require a 25 degree reduction in baking temperature versus silver-coloured aluminium tins.

6. Use the right flour for your recipe

The flour in your recipe is that flour for a reason. Different types of flour have different percentages of protein - the more protein, the more gluten.

7. Try not to open the oven door unnecessarily

I know that sometimes it is hard to resist, but the more you open the oven door during the baking, the more the temperature of the oven will drop meaning an under baked cake.

8. Don't take too long to cover a cake when working with fondant or sugar paste

If you are covering a cake in sugar paste or fondant, the longer it takes, the more the paste will dry out and the more likely you are to get cracks. Try to avoid re-rolling the icing if you can. Rolling it out to the correct thickness first time will give you the best results.

9. Make the cake perfect at every stage

I referenced this in the first point and it may seem obvious. Don't cut corners. Bake the cake as perfect as you can, roll the icing as perfect as you can, spend time smoothing out the icing for a flawless look and to avoid bubbles. It's a hell of a lot more difficult to fix things later down the line.

10. Know your limits

I'm not being patronising here at all. I've been asked to do many different and 'out there' cake designs and it's easy to say 'Yeah, no problem' but sometimes, things are just out of your reach. Push yourself, challenge your ability. But if you push yourself too much, then it could cause you to stress out rather than enjoying the creative experience.

The proof is in the pudding

A tasting is vital when you are ordering a cake for such a special event, and I wouldn't want to accept a wedding cake order without one.

Whether you pick your flavours in advance, or I create a few flavours for you to chose from, it is absolutely essential to ensure you get exactly what you want on the day.

Think about what your guests want, but ultimately, it should be flavours that you want. Whether that's a four tier chocolatey masterpeice, you want to surprise your guests with some 'out there' flavours or you want to stick to traditional fruit cake, it's YOUR decision.

Things to think about when ordering a wedding cake:

• Flavours – some say this is the most important. As beautiful as the cake looks on the day, you’ve still got to eat it!
• Venue – the cake has to stand out in the venue but at the same time suit the venue’s decor. Think about this when choosing either a fondant covered lacey number or a rustic naked looking cake
• Guests- how many do you need to feed? Not all guests will want cake, but many will. My recommendation would be to cater for three quarters of your guests
• Colours – what is your colour theme? Do you want the cake to be flawless white, or match your colours?
• Stand – does the wedding venue provide a dedicated wedding cake stand? Most do, but others don’t. I will provide the cake on an iced board, but any stands will come at an additional cost. A popular stand these days is a tree stump for that rustic feel
• Detail – do you want any ribbon on the cake? Any beading or fresh flowers? Do you want real flowers – perhaps those that you are using in your bouquet? Or would you prefer fondant/sugar paste flowers? Perhaps a combination of the two? Don’t go too over the top though, too much detail can detract from the elegance
• Flowers – if you decide to use real flowers, will these be provided by your florist so that they are matching or would you like the baker to provide them? I am always happy for the florist to provide them as that ensures the same flowers are used. I am also always happy for the florist to help assist with the arrangement. After all, they are the flower expert!
• Covering – fondant, buttercream, sugar paste, naked….the possibilities are endless. All of my cakes are bespoke and made to your requirements and what you want for your wedding
• Additions – do you want a bespoke topper? Do you want additional cupcakes?

There are many things to think about when looking to order a wedding cake and worth thinking about these before you meet with your chosen baker so they can live your vision with you.

10 tricks to bring your baking fail back from disaster

 I know how it feels when baking turns into a disaster, we've all been there! The fondant icing that splits when you are just about to ice a three-layer rainbow cake because you've taken too long to roll it out, the biscuits that spread into one giant slab on the baking tray, the curdled mixture that you just don't know how to fix. Sometimes, we just have to accept that things have gone wrong, and make what you have into something different (or sometimes just start again!), but here are my top 10 tricks to help you come back from the baking 'Hall of Lame'.

1. Use your broken cake for the bottom of a trifle

You were going to serve a gorgeous and elaborate cake for your dinner guests but the cake falls apart as you're taking it out of the tin. Yes - sticking together cake with buttercream may be fun, but it doesn't look that pretty. So, break the cake up and use it as the base of a trifle. Everyone will be none the wiser AND they will be impressed that you've made a whole trifle from scratch!

2. The key to fixing a mixture that is curdled is just adding a little of the dry mixture you were using e.g. flour

Your cake mixture can curdle if you add your liquid (in most cases, eggs) too quickly without ensuring it is fully incorporated, but it is easily fixed! Simply take a little of your dry mixture and fold it in - problem solved! The same trick can be used for frosting.

3. Use your broken cake for cake pops

Crumble your cake into a food processor, add your icing and blend to get a consistency that you can mould into balls, freeze and dip into melted chocolate or candy melts. Simple.

4. Call your sinking cake a torte

You've taken your cake out of the oven and it starts to sink. What do you do? Pour chocolate over the top and call it a torte - don't tell anyone and they will never know.

5. Cut the middle of your sunken cake out

Another option for a sunken cake, simply cut out the centre and your cake turns into a successful ring cake so that you can keep your smugness! Don't waster the centre either - use it as the bottom of a Baked Alaska - or cover your cake in icing and sprinkle cake crumbs over the top.

6. Cut your slab of biscuit into thin strips

Your biscuits have baked into a huge slab and your elaborate shapes are no more. But do not fear, cut your biscuit into thin strips and serve with a warm chocolate sauce. It doesn't get much better than that!

7. Fix a burnt cake by using a metal sieve to rub off the burnt bits

This means you can remove the burnt bits without cutting and changing the shape of the cake too much.

8. Pierce a dry or stale cake and pour alcohol or fruit juice over the top

Leave the cake wrapped for 24 hours and it will be as good as new.

9. Fix a broken Swiss roll by rolling flat and cutting out shapes

You can then fill in between the slices of Swiss roll with cream and fruit and turn it into a sort of mille feuille.

10. ALWAYS have a no-fail recipe in reserve

If you get into such a disaster that there really is no coming back (it happens, trust me!), always have a recipe that you know won't fail and that won't take too long to create. A recipe that mixes in one bowl is great, like Nigella's Old Fashioned Cake recipe https://www.nigella.com/recipes/old-fashioned-chocolate-cake.

Always learn from your mistakes. Every day is a school day! Baking is an art and mistakes are all lessons in perfecting - I have certainly had my share in the past.