Vanilla Cupcakes
It can't have escaped anybody's notice that the 12th June 2014 saw the start of the month long '22 men kicking a football around on a green pitch' marathon, otherwise known as the World Cup. To be honest, I have very little interest in 'the beautiful game', but when it comes to this tournament, I can get as excited as the next person. Maybe it is because it comes around only every four years and therefore makes it something special, or maybe it is because I just enjoy all of the razzmatazz that goes along with it. I suspect it is the latter.
It is the only time in which I will actively sit and watch a football match, even though I couldn't tell you the finer points of the game, and please don't ask me about the offside rule! Not every match however, only those in which my two teams of England and Germany are playing. Of course I would like both to do well, but I think I can safely say that one team will get much further than the other, and won't go out on penalties. However, should both teams play one another, then I become like Switzerland. In other words: neutral. It is the only way not to upset either parent.
As I think you all may have realised by now, I do like a theme, and something, anything, makes me want to celebrate it with something sweet. Therefore, why not mark the occasion of the World Cup with a cake? Or more specifically, represent your favourite team's colours in edible form? I chose the English flag over the red yellow and black of the German because the colours are prettier and, if I am honest, I prefer it.
I chose cupcakes simply because I thought I could have a bit of fun decorating them. Mini fondant flags, red flowers (not quite the red rose of England, but you get the idea), and red and white buttercream sitting atop a vanilla cupcake is my interpretation.
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To be honest, I don't make cupcakes very often, but there is definitely a place in mine, and your baking repertoire for a good, simple vanilla cupcake and buttercream, which you can make to celebrate any occasion. These are my favourite recipes out of all of those I have tried over the years, and are actually fairly recent discoveries. Why? Because the cakes are light, moist, and delicious with vanilla, and the buttercream, although sweet, is not so sweet that you have to leave it uneaten on the plate.
I think I first became aware of the cupcake during an episode of the New York set, US
comedy show 'Sex and the City' when two of the characters, Carrie and Miranda, were munching on one outside of the now famous Magnolia Bakery. This was like the dainty British Fairy Cake on acid. It was huge. Triple the size of said Fairy Cake with buttercream so high that it had to be eaten sideways if you didn't want your nose in it. This episode was at least 10 years ago, and with like so many things Stateside, the cupcake landed on our shores and never left.
My feeling is that often they promise much more then they actually deliver. I have bought many a cupcake (and from well known bakeries) in the name of (ahem) 'research', but often I am disappointed. The cake is either too dry, or tastes of.....not much, and the amount of buttercream is too much, and so sweet that it is rendered inedible. But, they always look so beautiful, and the flavours so enticing that it is hard to resist that little piece of indulgence. And I know that I will always keep on 'researching' in the hope that one day, the taste will match the look.
My preferred cupcake option is therefore more cake with enough icing to set off the decoration. I would say that my piping skills (in the words of many a school report) are satisfactory, at best, so I take the alternative option of using a small palette knife with which to spread on the buttercream. My cupcakes will therefore never look like those in the bakeries, but there is nothing wrong with that homely artisanal look. Indeed, they can look just as inviting as those professionally finished.
For the Cake
(adapted from The Cake Book by Cupcake Jemma)
This recipe will make 24 cakes
250g self raising flour
250g golden caster sugar (or use regular white caster sugar)
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
250g unsalted butter, softened
4 large free-range eggs, at room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp whole milk, at room temperature
Preheat the oven to 170C (fan) / 375F / Gas 5
Line a 12 hole muffin tin with your choice of cupcake cases
1. In a large bowl sift together the dry ingredients, and then add in the butter and eggs.
2. Mix together until well combined, but don't over mix, and then add in the milk and vanilla extract and beat again until all mixed in.
3. Fill the paper cases about 2/3 full with the cake mixture and bake for 20 minutes until they spring back when touched. I also insert a cocktail stick and if it comes out clean then it is cooked.
4. Leave to cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes and then put on a wire rack to get completely cold before decorating.
For the Vanilla Buttercream
300g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp whole milk, at room temperature
675g icing sugar, sifted
1. Put the butter into a large bowl and using an electric mixer beat for 5 minutes until it becomes very soft, pale and fluffy.
2. Add the icing sugar in 3 batches, beating well after each addition, and then mix in the milk and vanilla extract.
3. Beat for a further 5 minutes until the icing is very smooth, and again, very pale (almost white), and fluffy.
4. Decorate the cakes with the icing either using a piping bag and nozzle or a small knife.
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Baking Notes
Having made these two recipes a few times now, I would say that for best results, the butter needs to be very soft in both cases for two reasons:
1. The cake is made by the all in one method and soft butter will enable you to mix it in super easily.
2. The softness of the butter is crucial to a smooth buttercream. You may think that to beat the icing for what seems like an eternity is unnecessary once all the icing sugar is mixed in, but please don't omit this stage as it is the only way to ensure a light, airy and fluffy (almost whipped in texture) buttercream, which is just as lovely to use as it is to eat.
If you try these cupcakes, I would love to know what you think of them, and how you decorated them.
