Wednesday, April 11, 2012

It's Easter! Jammy Dodger Cupcakes and Apple and Cinnamon Hot Cross Buns!

It was the Thursday before the Easter bank holiday weekend and I'd taken a day off to wait for a man to fix the carpet, one to fix two of our radiators and one to deliver a parcel.

A lot of waiting around then :( Or...

An opportunity to do some baking whilst I waited! :)

I'd always wanted to try making jammy dodger inspired cupcakes and...

...as it was Easter I also fancied turning my hand to hot cross buns. In particular, Apple and Cinnamon ones!


First I started on the cakes. I used an almond cake recipe from Kate Shirazi's 'Cupcake Magic'. Its a wonderful book and a lovely recipe. Its the sponge recipe for her cherry bakewell inspired cakes but instead of adding cherry I left the almond cake plain. This is a gluten free recipe and contains no fat (which you can quite convincingly pretend to yourself is healthy, despite the level of fat in all the ground almonds and the slathering of buttercream on top)

I have made these cakes a few times before but I'd forgotten how rather unimpressive they look straight out of the oven.

Quite sad and depleted.

I hollowed out little holes big enough to plop a teaspoon full of raspberry jam into using a teaspoon and tested the sponge within. Yum! Sweet light and moist almond cakes! Like a super duper victoria sponge. Despite their withered and almost dry looking appearance I knew these little beauties were delicious and just needed a little make over involving, jam, buttercream and mini jammy dodgers to get them looking as good as they tasted!

Next I dolloped in some raspberry jam...
Looking better already, Gok Wan would be proud (If he did makeovers for cakes. Which he doesn't. None the less you get the idea.)

By this point the carpet man had arrived and so had my parcel. Hoorah! What a productive day I was having!

I wonder whats in this huge parcel...


Then it was time to swirl the cakes with a generous measure of buttercream, hiding the secret jammy almond treat within!
Now thats more like it! Looking very pretty. Just one finishing touch is needed...

Mini Jammy dodgers!!

This brought me to around lunch time and the surprise arrival of my mum who had popped round for a cup of tea just as I was taking this photo... She became my first cake tester of the day.
I gracefully consumed this jammy little almond treat, reserving the biscuit for tea dipping purposes, carefully slicing into the centre and delighting in the resplendent jammy core, noting the delicate crumb and luxuriating in the vanillary buttercream.


My mum sat on my sofa and chomped her way through three of these delights before being asked to leave the premises.

I found her snooping in the kitchen 'making one last cup of tea before I go' when in fact she was in the process of ravishing this choice morsel of jammy almondy goodness. She did stop to breathe and I took this photo of the gooey insides!
She then resigned to the fact she would have to leave or there would be none of the little jammy bakes left!

Next I turned to the Apple and Cinnamon Hot Cross Buns. I followed a recipe I found here... http://www.spicyicecream.com.au/2011/04/apple-and-cinnamon-hot-cross-buns.html

I had pre-prepared the lemon and apple mixture the night before. I followed the process of mixing, kneading and allowing the dough to rise whilst attempting not to eat the cakes made earlier that day.

I finally got to the point where they were ready for the oven. I made up a couple of trays like this...
and then baked.

The smell was wonderful! Apple, cinnamon, sweet spice and a hint of orange and lemon all perfectly amalgamated with a scent of something that resembled sweet freshly baked bread.

At this point the radiator man arrived.

Two of our radiators haven't been working for months. He went to assess the situation and I glazed the warm buns in my home made lemon and apple syrup.


I was admiring this fine specimen of a bun when the radiator man came into the kitchen to deliver the important radiator news...

Radiator man said we would need to get a further part for each radiator that didn't come 'as standard' on all radiators of this type. He then insightfully said
'Whats that smell? That baking smell? It all cinnamony'
To which I responded 'Would you like a freshly baked apple and cinnamon hot cross bun? I've just glazed them.'
'Yes Please!!!'
It was as he had taken a bite and had time to reconsider the radiator quandary that he announced he had these parts in his van and I needn't pay for them as it didn't matter really and they weren't that expensive and these were spares. (either that or I scared him by taking pictures of him eating hot cross buns in my house for no real reason and he made the tactical decision that if he was to leave alive he would need to fix my radiator sharpish) Still. He enjoyed the hot cross bun.

Anyway. The radiator was fixed for free and I now had 19 freshly made hot cross buns and slightly less jammy dodger cakes than I had originally intended having, sitting in my kitchen!

I quite rightly sat down and had a warm buttered hot cross bun and a mug of hot tea and contemplated what Easter egg I might get this year!


Oh...

and the parcel...

Well the parcel was filled with the Easter Egg I had quite generously purchased for 'Mr' Captain EggCupcake (yes I'm a 'miss' in case the word Captain had originally left you wondering). Quite oddly 'Mr' isn't that into cakes or chocolate (weirdo) so I bought him this...


Thats right! a full English breakfast inside a scotch egg! 14cm wide and 2lbs in weight!

And in case you were wondering. I was lucky enough to get one of these...
Yum!!

Hope you had a happy Easter!!

Little Miss Captain EggCupcake

xxx

2 comments:

  1. As a lucky taster of the jammy dodger cupcakes I would like to say how divine they were, n I will offer my services as a willing taster for all new cakes you bake!
    Love Emma x x

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  2. Emma! A fellow cake maniac and talented cake creator!

    Your ice cream cakes were splendid! I must say, the conditions for cake testing were optimum: lots of pink fizz to drink, fun company and a naked man wearing a small pinny serving cocktails!

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