well done Lisa, very pretty x

Well... today I found heaven.

It's a party shop but upstairs they have all cake decorationg stuff including colouring pastes and icing and novelty tins, all the edible sparkles and things... AARRGGHHH Im so excited I can make Tyler lovely cakes now

I have a few cake problems and questions (im loving baking btw why didnt I do this before)

right I would like a nice lemon sponge recipe if anyone has one?

also ive been trying for weeks now to make molten cupcakes - melted chocolate in the centre of the cupcake. Im following the recipe exactly and I have tried several different kinds of chocolate but everytime it sinks to the bottom of the cake mixture while cooking and burns. it barely melts. any tips on what I could do?

is it possible to make black butter icing?

erm I think thats me!

gloworm your cakes are sooo cute.

Im going to make similar ones with ready to roll icing - cover the cupcake with pink icing and roll little legs and use the percy pigs from m&s for the faces

Im going to make them for hannahs nursery for their halloween party and ive bought little ghost and spider decorations to go on my butter icing cupcakes.

Hi Steph, I'll try and answer your questions.

For my lemon sponge I use
250g softened unsalted butter (preferably stork)
250g caster sugar
3 large eggs
250g self raising flour
1 lemon

Mix butter and sugar tofether well, until white, add eggs individually mixing each one before adding next, then fold in sieved flour, grate the zest of one lemon and half the juice of the lemon.
Bake at 175c for 35 mins or until cooked

I don't know about the molten cupcakes, is it like a chocolate fondant?
Maybe google a different recipe

To do black butter icing, make up as normal then just add balck colouring, preferably paste or dust as liquid will make it a bit sticky

the recipe says put a spoonful of cupcake mixture into the case then place a bit of chocolate on top and cover it with more cake mixture. Ive tried it with a smaller bit of chocolate, all different kinds of chocolate, bigger cupcake cases so more mixture in each cupcake. but everytime it falls to the bottom and doesnt melt. my sis thinks put half in bake it for a few minutes then add the chocolate and rest of mixture. I dont know if it will work but it might be worth a go.

where will I get the black dust or paste?

thanks for the recipe x

I guess the danger with adding the chocolate in the middle later is that when you open the oven, it could make your cakes sink. What about melting the chocolate for the middle separately and putting it in after with a long thin piping nozzle or a syringe?

You can get the colour from any cake supply shop, or somewhere like lakeland x

Its so frustrating as why have this recipe in a cupcake book if it doesnt bloody work. I dont like cake much but thats the type of cake I like sponge and chocolate and thats it!

anyway thank you for your advice I never stop asking you questions you have been great dont know what id do without you

Steph these are the only melting ones I've ever made. Done them about 6 times and they're always fab. I don't know how you can fix your own recipe but this one works x

Just to warn you all these are pretty sickly and in no way healthy, ok with the disclaimer out of the way here goes;

400g of dark chocolate
200g of Unsalted butter (chopped up)
200g of Self raising flour
1/4 of a teaspoon of baking powder
2 tablespoon of cocoa powder (go for the best you can, maybe green and blacks)
150g of Caster sugar
125ml of Semi skimmed milk
3 eggs
4 mars bars (thinly sliced) - this can be substituted with pretty much any type of chocolate such as chocolate orange, rolo's or dairy milk.

Put half the chocolate in a bowl with the butter over a pan of hot water and melt.
In a large bowl put the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and sugar - mix together.
Mix the eggs and milk and add them to the dry mix in the large bowl - mix well.
Add the melted chocolate and butter - mix well.
Add the mixture to a muffin case in a muffin tray to come half way up the case, then add a slice of marsbar (or the other choccy you choose) then add more mixture to top up the muffin case (meaning that your choccy is in the middle of the muffin)
Cook in a preheated oven 160 or gas mark 4 for 20mins.
Cool the muffins when cooked.
Melt the remaining dark chocolate and coat the top of the muffin with it, adding more slices of mars bar to decorate the top.

THESE ARE BEST EATEN WARM SO REHEAT THEM IN THE MICROWAVE FOR 15-20 SECS BEFORE EATING.

when I made walnut cake (I know - completely different) but it said to cover the nuts in flour to stop them sinking to the bottom of the mixture so maybe try rolling the chocolate in some flour first?

or try melting the chocolate first then putting it in the middle of the mixture

thank you lisa. I will try that. got a few different things to try first then I will go back to them. they have knocked my confidence

Ok I'm jumping on the bandwagon here!! Now I have my fabby new oven I want to try some cupcakes, I know you say they are the same as buns but bigger....but does anyone have a good recipe? I want to do about 12, also how do you do that lovely frosted topping???

thanking you all muchly!!!

xx

For plain vanilla, I use the same recipe as a large cake and the just divide it up into cases. For 12 large I would use
250g stork or unsalted butter
250g caster sugar
4 eggs
250g sieved self raising flour
1tsp of vanilla extract
cream butter and sugar together well, then add the eggs and mix one by one, add vanilla and fold in flour and cook for 15-20 minutes on 175c or until cooked

For the frosting I use
250g unsalted butter
500g sieved icing sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
1tbsp of semi skimmed milk

whisk together really well then pipe on to the cooled cakes

Oooh lovely thank you Amanada

xx

well Mandy your teaching has paid off. I have my first cupcake job well proud.

how much do you charge per cupcake? x

Yay well done Steph! I charge £1.50 a cake for large £1.20 for medium and £1 for mini ones, that includes basic decoration of buttercream swirl and flowers etc. If they want something more elaborate then it depends on the decoration

Im going to try and work out what it costs me to make one and go from there. I made a big batch for my cousins birthday party today and everyone was really impressed and one of the parents asked me to do cupcakes for her sons 1st birthday. Im so pleased someone would pay for them lol

Bleugh!!! I made a cake earlier using Lurpak instead of Stork cos that's all the local shop had and it tastes yakkie!!!

Anyway quick Q about ovens. I have a fabby new fan assisted gas oven and it's quiet powerful and am just working out baking times etc. Anyway, I put the oven on gas mark 4 (don't know heat) and it seems to cook it quite well done on the outside and still quite runny on the inside.

My question is (and don't laugh ), is it doing this cos a)I have it on too high and it's cooking too quick on the outside and not quick enough on the outside, or b) I have it too low and that's why it's not cooking on the inside properly and the outside is exposed to the heat too long??

I am using the large Lakeland oven dish and I slice the cake into 2 when it has cooled - don't know if this will make a difference, can anyone help??

xx

Aww that's great Steph!!! Wooo hoooo!!!!!!!

I charge £1.50 per cake too but if they want something complicated I increase it based on added materials and time. If I'm doing them for mates rates I start at £1.25. Take loads of pics for us and post them here so we can see! x

Pepper this is the vanilla cupcake recipe from the Primrose Bakery and they're yummy;

Makes 12 muffin case sized cupcakes;

110g unsalted butter (or stork)
225g Caster sugar (golden is preferable)
2 large eggs
150g Self-raising flour - sifted
125g Plain flour - sifted
120ml Semi-skimmed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Pre-heat oven to 160oC (fan), 180oC.

Cream butter and sugar
Add the eggs one at a time and beat well
In a seperate bowl combine the flours
Put the milk in a jug and add the vanilla extract
Add 1/3 of the flours to the creamed mix and beat well. Pour in 1/3 of the milk mix and beat again. Reapeat until all the flours and milk have been added.
Carefully spone the mix into your cases 2/3 full. Bake for about 25 mins until slightly raised and golden brown.

Peps just seen you've posted let me read and get back to you x

It sounds as though the oven isn't quite hot enough or you took it out too soon. Use a sharp knife and stick it in the middle and if it comes out clean it's cooked. Is the oven dish quite thick? That doesn't help. You can pick up a cake really cheap cake tin from Asda or one of the other supermarkets. An 8inch one would be perfect.

I'd be tempted to up the temp to Gas mark 5 and check the cake after 10 mins, then adjust the temp occording to how it looks. It's a bit of trial and error with a new oven. Mine now cook at 20oC lower and in 10 mins less than in my old oven. Good luck hun x

ooh Lisa you are a star!! thank you, I might have to try a cheaper tin. I think I might make a few batches of mixture and just try them slightly differently each time and see what the outcome is.

Ok here is another Q...how on earth am I going to make a Tinkerbell cake???? Lottie has asked for one and I am rubbish at decorating....any ideas on this??? LOL

xx

I saw some cupcakes in a shop that had a subtle glittery sheen on the buttercream icing (does this make sense??) I wondered if anyone knew how you get this effect?

http://makemestudio.blogspot.com/2009/03/tinkerbell-cake.html

I'd do something like this if you're not feeling confident. Make a round cake, buy pre coloured purple fondant icing, and buy a little tinkerbell model from the disney shop to put on the top. You can be as adventurous as you like with the added bits of decoration. Buy a nice thick ribbon to run round the base of the cake as that'll cover a multitude of sins! x