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Cupcake Club London Holiday Meetup

Last night the second Cupcake Club took place! There were cakes, prizes and good company. The tube strike kept a few people away but we didn't let that stop us.

The prizes to be won

My gingerbread cupcakes

Anne's Quality Street Cupcakes

The inside. I love cupcakes with stuff in the middle. The Bailey's frosting on these was so nice. It really went well with the chocolate cake

Anne also kindly made us some of her award winning Sprout Cakes! I really liked these. They had raisins, walnuts and grated sprouts inside. I couldn't really taste them but Anne insisted she could.

Ellie made the biggest cupcakes I've ever seen. I really liked these black bottom cupcakes. They were very rich.

Ellie also made some Salted Caramel cupcakes. I was impressed caramel is very hard to make. I've never made it from scratch before.

Here's some of the happy people. Marcus kindly made brandy snaps but I stupidly didn't take any photos of them

I love how happy Manny looks. Wonder how bad his sugar crash was later? He ate A LOT of cupcakes!

Marcus was super pleased with his cupcake ice cube tray

Anne already has big plans for her jumbo cupcake! She's such a trooper. She had a really bad cold but came and stayed the whole time anyway.

We all ate a lot of cupcakes!

Me after I got home already feeling the sugar crash

I was going to plan another Cupcake Club, January 18th, at Tart Bar (a cocktail bar in Clerkenwell). If anyone is interested in future Cupcake Club events let me know if you prefer the casual setting of a pub over a fancy cocktail bar or if we should wait until February.

I want to thank everyone that came! I hope you all had a good time. I had a great time and I can't wait till our next "meeting"!

· Christmas, cupcake club, cupcakes

Gingerbread Cupcakes

This is my second offering for Cupcake Club tomorrow. I've been waiting for Thanksgiving to be over so I could use my new mini gingerbread man cookie cutter. I think anything in mini size is automatically cute!

I also made Chocolate Mulled Wine Cupcakes

I made the cookie dough the night before so it could chill overnight. I made one batch so I had some for toppers and then loads for munching on later. You can also buy already made gingerbread men to use as toppers.

Gingerbread Cookies

adapted from Joy of Baking (makes loads)

Ingredients

3 cups plain flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

2/3 cup unsulphured molasses (I only found one kind in the UK at Holland & Barratt/Black Treacle could also be substituted)

1. In a small bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon and cloves.

2. In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and molasses and beat until well combined.

3. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat until incorporated. Divide the dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C and flour your work surface and rolling pin. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out one half of the dough to 1/4 inch thick. Using a cookie cutter to cut out shapes and place on the lined baking sheets. For super small gingerbread men bake for 6-6 1/2 minutes and let cool for a minute before removing. For medium sized men bake 8-10 minutes. Repeat rolling and cutting out dough (use scraps and remember to re flour your surface and rolling pin).

Gingerbread Cupcakes

adapted from Martha Stewart (makes 24)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups self rising flour

2 tbs ground ginger

1/4 nutmeg

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 tbs molasses

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 F/180 C and line muffin tray with paper liners. Sift together the flour and the spices.

2. With an electric mixer on high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the molasses, and beat until combined.

3. Add eggs one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla.

4. Reduce speed to low and gradually add in the flour mixture, beating until incorporated.

The dough was really sticky and pretty thick but once in the oven it formed perfect cupcakes

5. Fill each cup three quarters full and bake for 25 minutes (rotating tray halfway through). Transfer to wire rack and let cool before frosting.

Fluffy Vanilla Frosting
adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients
500g unsalted butter at room temperature
100g vegetable shortening
2 pounds icing sugar sifted (I cheated and put it in a big Tupperware container and shook it furiously. Has the same effect as sifting and is less messy).
2 tsp vanilla

1. With an electric mixer, beat the butter and shortening on medium-high until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.

2. Reduce speed to medium. Add the icing sugar ½ cup at a time, beating after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed; after every two additions, raise speed to high and beat 10 seconds to aerate the frosting, then return to medium. This should take about 5 minutes. Frosting will be pale and fluffy.

3. Add vanilla, and beat until frosting is smooth, pipe swirls on each cupcake and top with a gingerbread man before serving.

· Christmas, cookies, cupcake club, cupcakes, holidays

Chocolate Mulled Wine Cupcakes

I wanted to make two Christmas flavor cupcakes for cupcake club. Mulled wine is pretty much as Christmas as it gets. The spices in the wine are very subtle but you can really taste the red wine in the chocolate. It would be a good idea to add a few teaspoons to the ganache as well (I unfortunately ran out).

If you want a chance to taste these make sure to come to Cupcake Club tomorrow (Monday November 29).

Mulled Red Wine Cupcakes

adapted from Life in a Peanut Shell (makes about 18)

Ingredients

Cupcakes

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 cup self rising flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

2/3 cup sour cream

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup + 3 tbs mulled red wine (1 packet of mulled wine spice meant for 2 bottles of wine, 2-3 cups of red wine and 100g of sugar)

Gancahe

200g dark chocolate (I used Green & Black's 85% I think ended up being a little too rich though)

1 cup whipping cream

2 tsp mulled wine

dash of salt
chopped pecans for decoration

1. Preheat oven to 350 F/180 C and line muffin tray with paper liners. Make the mulled wine first by mixing the spices, wine and 100g of sugar in a small sauce pan and simmer for 20-30 minutes. It should reduce a lot and you will be left with just over half a cup. Strain out the spices and set the wine aside to cool.

2. Combine the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a bowl.

3. Cream the egg, sour cream, oil and wine together on medium speed for 2 minutes.

4. Stir in the flour mixture until well combined. Fill each cup about 2/3 full and immediately put in the oven and bake for 17-20 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.

5. To make the ganache pour the whipping cream in a saucepan and heat until boiling. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate melts. Add the mulled wine and salt and stir to combine. Spoon over top of each cupcake and decorate with chopped pecans.

UPDATE: At Cupcake Club we discussed baking with alcohol and most of the time the flavor tends to bake out. Anne suggested that brushing the cakes with some mulled wine would also be a good idea.

· Christmas, cupcake club, cupcakes, holidays, nuts

REMINDER Cupcake Club: London Holiday Meetup

Just a reminder that London Cupcake Christmas Party is taking place Monday November 29! Bring some cupcakes, bring some friends, come hang out and have a good time! Only one week left to decide what to make! We don't discriminate, any food bloggers and bakers are welcome!

Who could say no to FREE cupcakes and the chance to win a few prizes? You could win what's in the box!

When: Monday November 29th

Time: From 6pm
Location: Barrowboy & Banker
Cost: £0 (everyone can buy their own drinks at the bar)
What to bring: 12 cupcakes (or more if you like) and some friends (optional)

You don't have to RSVP but if you know your coming drop a comment below. We've already got one confirmed home business baker. Come swap stories and share ideas!

Click here for map and some extra details. Any questions whatsoever email me kellylovescupcakes at gmail dot com.

· cupcake club

Cupcake Club: London Holiday Meetup

Christmas is nearly here and to celebrate I've planned a very casual pre holiday meet up at the Barrowboy & Banker pub in London Bridge.

When: Monday November 29th

Time: From 6pm

Location: Barrowboy & Banker

Cost: £0 (everyone can buy their own drinks at the bar)

What to bring: 12 cupcakes (or more if you like) and 2-3 cupcake loving friends (optional)

Just because the meetup is casual doesn't mean the cupcakes are casual! Blow us away with something holiday themed!

If you plan on coming please drop a comment below the post! Hope to see you all there.

P.S. There is also a meetup scheduled to celebrate the New Year on Tuesday Jan 18th at Tart Bar.

View Larger Map

· cupcake club, cupcakes

Thank You

According to Google stats this is the most popular recipe on the blog by far!

I started blogging 7 months ago today! I'm not sure where all the time has gone but I'm sure glad that people read my blog. I appreciate every comment and email. I love reading all of them! So please email me recipes that you think I might like or comment on what I've posted. I'd also love to hear from you if you've made something from the blog and let me know how it turns out. I wanted to take time out and say thank you to everyone.

I've accomplished a lot in 7 months. The many highlights include entering every single Iron Cupcake London, winning the Iron Cupcake 10th challenge, being featured on Cupcakes Take the Cake twice (here and here), hosting a cupcake get together, making cupcakes for Starlight children's charity, hosting a giveaway and I got married.

The blog has undergone 4 redesigns in 7 months as well! I really love the new layout and there won't be 4 more redesigns in next 7 months I promise!

I'm very excited that I'm nearing 50 "followers" on the blog and almost at 100 posts. Hopefully the next 100 posts will be as great as the first 100!

My next set of goals is to stretch and improve my cooking skills, try new things, definitely improve my photography skills now that I have a fancy camera and to eventually get something accepted on Tastespotting!

· cupcake club, cupcakes, misc

Cupcake Club: London Bloggers Meetup

Hi Everyone,

I'm really sorry but I don't think I will be able to plan an August Cupcake Club meetup. My wedding date has crept up much faster than I thought it would and I just don't have the time to organize something.

If anyone has any suggestions for something to do in September leave a comment!

Cupcake Kelly

*from cuteoverload.com

· cupcake club, cupcakes

Cupcake Club: London Bloggers Meetup

Yesterday was the first time the Cupcake Club had a get together. It was an intimate get together with the hardcore cupcake lovers showing up. I had a great time and it was nice to just relax and chat with other fellow cupcake lovers and bloggers.

The pub knew we love cupcakes

There are the girls deep in discussion about cupcakes

Everyone made fabulous cupcakes. I left that evening feeling very full and Lisa from Yummy Boutique brought cupcakes as well! I did my best to take photos of all the cakes.

Andrea made a chocolate peanut butter cupcake. There was even a Resses peanut butter cup on the bottom! Andrea's cake are always so beautifully decorated. I'm jealous of her skills.

Tamara made a Lemon and Lime Cupcake. The flavor was amazing! Her day job is developing flavors for a local dessert company. I can see why they hired her!

Gemma made these Snickers and Rocky Road Cupcakes. This picture doesn't do them justice. It only has half the rocky road on top. I loved these because they were filled with caramel and peanuts!

That's my kind of filling

Here are my Coconut Hi Hats

I found these cute paper plates at Robert Dyas. Gemma brought matching napkins!

Now for the best part

This is Lisa. She is the founder of Yummy Boutique. She came and spent the whole evening chatting to us, answering our questions and telling us what it's like to own your own cupcake business.

I found everything Lisa had to say fascinating. She does everything herself. She started the Yummy Boutique with the help of the Prince's Trust. If you didn't know by now she's at Partridges Market every Saturday selling her Whoopie Pies. Look at her website she has countless flavors (they rotate each week).

These are the Fluffernutter cupcakes Lisa brought to share. She only sells cupcakes by special order (I would definitely recommend them).

To get ready for the market she starts baking on Thursday and then bakes through the night on Friday without sleeping. Everything is fresh and she never freezes her cakes. I would definitely encourage everyone to visit her stall. Get there early she sells out every Saturday!

Thanks to everyone who came and especially to Lisa for coming and staying to chat. I had a fabulous time! I really can't say enough great things about Lisa and Yummy Boutique. Her cupcakes were amazing, she was so nice and you can tell she is incredibly hard working.

If anyone is interested in another get together let me know of any ideas you have. I really enjoyed the smaller get together and maybe we could do something different next time! I was thinking of when the summer holiday period is over.

Thanks again to everyone that came!

· cupcake club, cupcakes, whoopie pies, yummy places

Designer Hi Hats

I decided to make Hi Hats for cupcake club tomorrow. The last time I made them I hadn't started my blog yet. This time I wanted to use these posh cases and pink candy melts to make a fancy looking Hi Hat.

I made a coconut cake from Cupcakes from The Primrose Bakery. They're good but I'm not as amazed with them as I was with the Peanut Butter ones I made last week. They're not dry but they could have been just a little more soft. With all the marshmallow frosting on these it's enough to get cake and frosting in each bite.

I bought these in Richmond. It was £4.25 for one small bag! I haven't seen them in other shops before and there doesn't seem to be anything similar made locally. They only had about 3 colors. I want to experiment with these more but not for £4 a bag. I'll have to stock up when I got to the US in August.

I bought these from Bake it Pretty

Coconut Cupcakes
adapted from The Primrose Bakery (for 24 cakes)

Ingredients
220g unsalted butter at room temperature
360g caster sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
250g self raising flour, sifted
240g plain flour, sifted
250ml coconut milk
50g dessicated coconut

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C and line 2 muffin trays with cases. In a large mixing bowl cream the butter, and sugar until pale and smooth, with an electric mixer. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition, then add the the vanilla.

2. Combine the 2 flours in a separate bowl. Add one third of the flours to the creamed mixture and beat well. Pour in one third of the coconut milk and beat again. Repeat these steps until all the flour and milk have been added. Fold in the coconut with a spatula.

3. Spoon the batter into the cases, filling them about 2/3 full. Bake 20-25 minutes until slightly raised and a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes.

Seven Minute Frosting
adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes (makes enough to frost 24)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tbs sugar
2/3 cup water
2 tbs light corn syrup (I used golden syrup)
6 egg whites at room temperature

1. Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar with the water and golden or corn syrup in a small saucepan. Clip a candy thermometer to the side. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Boil without stirring until syrup reaches 230 F.

2. While the sugar is boiling whisk the egg whites in a large bowl on medium high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer running, add the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, beating to combine.

3. As soon as the syrup reaches 230 F remove from heat. With mixer on medium low speed, pour syrup down the side of bowl in a slow, steady stream. Raise speed to medium high, whisk until mixture is completely cool (touch the bottom of the bowl to feel) and stiff (not dry) about 7 minutes. It will look like marshmallow.

To get the nice 3 tiered look. I use three separate motions

I put them in the fridge to firm up for about 10 minutes

I melted the pink candy melts in a double boiler

and dipped 12 of them in

I thinned out the pink chocolate since it was a little thick for dipping even though the package said not too. It just didn't set as firmly as the milk chocolate ones. I drizzled milk chocolate over the pink ones and pink over the milk chocolate ones.

Can't wait to see what everyone else made!

· cupcake club, cupcakes

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