Venetian Carnival Cupcakes

 

It’s the last day of February, so these are still legitimate…..wanted to use these tiny carnival masks once more. It reminds me of Venice, and makes me wait for the summer even more than I am, because this year we want to go to Italy, not too far from Venice, the land of the carnivals.

Recipe for these cupcakes you can find at my previous post: Lemon Ombre Heaven Cupcakes

 

 

 

Lemon Ombre Heaven Cupcakes

 

Yellow was never my favourite color, but something has changed along the way in the past few years and -even though it still isn’t my most favourite, but I started to like everything yellow.

It could be related to the weather…. I am craving the sunshine, the bright, hot summers, and since I don’t get enough of it ever since we moved to the UK, my mind must associate the yellow with sunshine, and funny, but I always find myself searching for it. I like to dress my girls in yellow dresses, my boy in yellow t-shirts, I have a cool pair of yellow sandals, which I can’t wait to put on again. Whenever we wear these things my spirit lifts me in a better mood. Yep, I am definitely a summer girl, and always will be!

Back to food, for me lemons are also a symbol of summer and sunshine, maybe that’s why I always have some at home.

The other day I was grating fresh lemon zest into a recipe, and then I decided that my next baking has to be related to lemons. Also, it is the last day of the winter, so bring on the sunny spring!

To make these Lemon Heaven cupcakes, I took my good old basic vanilla recipe and boosted with zesty lemons. Hm….they are exactly how I envisioned, but better.

Ingredients:

1 cu brown sugar

125 gr butter, soft at room temperature

2 eggs, room temperature

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp Sicilian lemon extract

zest of 1 lemon, freshly grated

1 + 1/3 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

salt

150 gr finest lemon yogurt

Butter cream:

250 gr butter, soft at room temperature

about 2 cups icing sugar (more or less, depending on your personal taste, also how stiff you want your butter cream)

2 tsp Sicilian lemon extract

Zingy Lemon cupcake filling from Dr.Oetker (from 1 tsp to 3 tsp, depending on how you like it)

yellow color paste

I also inserted from this lemon filling into the centre of my baked cupcakes, under the butter cream. It gives an amazing taste. You know what, I’m going over into the kitchen and grab one right now….hm, this cupcake is actually better the next day!

Method:

Preheat your oven, and put the cupcake cases into the cupcake tin.

In a bowl mix the flour with the baking soda and salt. In another bowl beat the butter with the sugar, adding the eggs one at a time. Then add the vanilla and lemon extract, grate the lemon zest directly into your bowl, mix in the yogurt, finally add the flour and beat only until all combined. Divide evenly into the prepared cupcake tin, and bake for about 20-25 minutes. After baking, let them cool completely.

Beat the butter at high speed adding the icing sugar gradually, and make sure you don’t cover the whole kitchen in dust….man, I don’t like this part! The cleaning sugar dust, that is.

Add the lemon extract and yellow color paste, and mix in the preferred amount of zingy lemon filling. It gives a very nice taste. I promise.

I divided my butter cream in three parts, to make three different shades of yellow, well in fact only two, the third was left at its natural color. When piping on top of the cupcakes, I started with the darker shade.

While photographing the other cakes, I put these on hold to wait by my daughter’s toy baskets…

Spicy Pear & Marzipan Cupcakes with Caramel Cream

I wanted to make apple cupcakes, but then I thought why not bake something with pears instead, it would be a fresh change as I never made cupcakes with pears before. I searched for recipes, finally I found three out there which I liked, but none was 100% what I had in mind, so I came up with my own version. The only thing in common was the use of pears. Some were using spices, some used marzipan, and others used caramel. I combined them all and here I am.

On Sweetapolita site I saw those tiny marzipan pears, and I decided I would make them too. Just love them!

Ingredients:

-1 and 1/2 cup flour

-3/4 cup brown sugar

-4 large eggs

-2 pears diced in small cubes

-200 gr soft marzipan

-250 gr butter at room temperature

-1/3 cup milk

-1 tsp baking powder

-1 tsp mixed spice

-1 tsp cinnamon

-1 tsp almond extract

-freshly grated nutmeg

-salt

Icing:

-600 ml double cream

-100 gr white chocolate

-4 Tbsp canned Caramel

Method:

This recipe yield 24 cupcakes. I only made 12 cupcakes and I baked a 3 layer 5″ cake of the remaining batter. Will freeze and use some other time.

The double cream has to be warmed up on the stove the previous day. Put the chocolate in the warm cream and stir until fully melted. Make sure the cream doesn’t reach boiling temperature, just warm enough to melt the chocolate. Let it cool down, add the caramel then put away in the fridge over night.

Preheat the oven, line the cupcake pan with the paper cases.

Dice the pears in small cubes and mix with the spices, then put aside. Mix the flour with baking powder and salt.

Beat the butter and sugar and add gradually the marzipan. Add the eggs, one by one, beating after each addition.

Add the flour and the milk, and carefully mix until all combined. Finally stir in the pears.

Scoop the batter in the cupcake holes. I always use an ice cream scoop to do this. Bake for about 20-25 minutes.

Beat the caramel chocolate cream and frost the cupcakes after they have cooled.

I made little pears from golden marzipan and brushed them with golden sugar dust.

 

Almond Cupcakes with Raspberry Cream Cheese

 

I wanted something delicate, something feminine, something pink.

 

Almond and raspberry seemed a good choice. I searched for recipes, but I didn’t find anything that I imagined, so I ended up improvising.

 

 

The final result was good, and my cupcakes turned out the way I wanted. They remind me of the Frangipanes  and the Almond Fingers we used to buy in Belgium. And they even crumble the same way, too 🙂

 

 

I haven’t used lot of sugar, I usually don’t make my cakes too sweet anyway. The fresh raspberries from the icing adds an interesting tone to this cake, and is definitely different then the usual sugar from the top of the Belgian Frangipane.

 

 

Ingredients:

-1 cup flour

-1 cup ground almond

-2 egg whites

-125 gr unsalted butter, room temperature

-3/4 cup caster sugar

-1Tbsp almond extract

-1tsp vanilla extract

-1 tsp baking powder

-1/3 cup almond milk, or regular milk

-pinch of salt

—————————–

-200 gr fresh raspberries

-1 or 2 Tbsp powder sugar

-250 gr Mascarpone cream cheese

-300 ml Madagascan Vanilla Double cream, or just plain double cream + vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat your oven, line the cupcake pan with the cupcake cases.

In a bowl mix the dry ingredients and set aside.

In another bowl whisk the butter and 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy, then add the egg whites, the vanilla and almond extract and beat a little more.

Add the flour and almond mixture to the batter and pour in the milk. Stir until all is incorporated.

Divide the batter into the cupcakes tin, and bake for approximately 25-30 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool down before icing.

Blend the raspberries in a small blender together with the powder sugar. You can put 1 or 2, or as much or less sugar as you wish. The complete icing cream will be less sweet after beating the fruit puree together with the cream cheese and double cream.

In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese gradually adding the raspberry puree and the double cream. If you want a stronger pink, you can use pink colouring gel paste.

I wanted my cakes to be as white as possible, and it actually was during mixing, but they were the same brownish colour after I got them out from the oven. Makes me wonder how is that possible to see really white cakes on the Internet….there must be some kind of trick to it, they look almost unnatural, unbaked…

Coconut and Pineapple Cheesecake

 

Here I bring you another cheesecake! As I said earlier, we love cheesecakes.

 

It is probably the most favourite type of desert within our family because it’s creamy, it’s moist, it’s rich, and cheesecake after cheesecake, there is always room for even more.

 

 

I like to experiment new flavours, and I might say that one of my new years resolution was to try as many new recipes and flavors as possible, because why stuck to the boring chocolates and vanillas, which are just as delicious by the way.

The idea to make these came after my last research for the Matcha recipes, and since I used coconut with the Matcha cheesecake, and it tasted so good, I wanted to use it again paired with something else. Coconut and pineapple seems to match really good, and I’ve seen lots of recipes.

This cheesecake is really easy to make, and I think it looks good in the crystal glasses.

To decorate, I made pineapple flowers. I have done them before few years ago and I think they look awesome, and of course totally edible.

Ingredients:

-200 gr ginger biscuits

-50 gr melted butter

-thick coconut cream (about 3-4 Tbsp)

-250 gr mascarpone cream cheese

-300 ml double cream

-3-4 Tbsp powder sugar

-1 tsp vanilla essence

-200 gr pureed pineapple

Method:

Make the ginger biscuits into crumbs and stir in the melted butter. Divide evenly into the glasses (I only made 5 glasses), and put in the fridge to set.

Chop the pineapple into small cubes and transfer into a food processor to puree.

Beat the mascarpone cheese with the sugar, vanilla, then add gradually the pineapple puree, coconut and cream. Beat all together but not for long, only til gets fluffy but not stiff.

Scoop the cream on top of the biscuit base, then put it back to the fridge and leave it to set overnight.

 

Matcha Green Tea Mini Cheesecakes with Double Chocolate Oreos and Coconut Cream Cheese

 

I’ve been playing with the idea of using Matcha in my recipes for a long time. But I didn’t rushed things because knowing that Matcha is such a special ingredient which will define substantially the taste and the look of anything I make, I tried to figure out what exactly should I make.

 

 

I got my first batch of matcha from my Japanese friends, and tasting it, I instantly loved it. I could get used to eat or drink it regularly, if only would be cheaper.

 

 

Finally, I came to the conclusion that cheese cake would be the perfect choice, because it will restore not only the real taste, but the vibrant, healthy green colour of the Matcha as well. Not to mention, that no baking opposed to baking is always a winner 🙂

 

 

I looked up many Matcha recipes. Even though there are hundreds of them out there, I ended up making my own version of matcha cheesecake. I pinched something from here, something else from there, and the final results are Matcha cheesecake with double chocolate oreos and coconut cream cheese.

 

I only made 6 mini cheesecakes.

Ingredients: 

-200 gr double chocolate oreos

-50 gr melted butter

-500 gr Mascarpone cream cheese

-thick coconut cream (I used the Natco coconut milk, and I only used the thick cream from the upper half of the can, so I didn’t mixed it)

-200 ml double cream

-powder sugar (maybe 2 Tbsp, but depends on your personal taste)

-1 Tbsp Matcha powder

–crushed Oreos (optional, but I wanted to have a “dirty” effect, and also the Oreo crumbs tasted good in the cream)

Method:

1. Crush the Oreos, with the filling left in them, then mix it with the melted butter.

2. Divide evenly in the mini cheesecake pan, then press down firmly. Put in the fridge for about 1 hour.

3. In a mixing bowl, mix the Mascarpone with powder sugar, matcha powder, coconut cream and double cream. Finally stir in the Oreos crumbs.

4. Divide evenly on top of the firm biscuit base, smooth the top, then put back in the fridge for overnight.

 

Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes

As I promised few weeks ago, here they are. My husband’s absolute favourite, the strawberry cheesecake.

 

I found the recipe on Good Food, and as the original recipe is for one large cake, I only made some minor adaptation to it (basically using more biscuits, mascarpone and double cream) and transformed the recipe into 12 mini cheesecakes.

I highly recommend this particular strawberry cheesecake recipe to any cheesecake lovers out there.

The only downside to this cakes is the overnight chilling time, it is always a hard job to keep the family (yes, by family I mean my husband and him alone) away from the fridge long enough until it sets properly.

Ingredients:

-300 gr digestives biscuits

-100 gr melted butter

-750 gr (3 pack) Mascarpone soft cheese

-2 tsp vanilla extract

-100 gr icing sugar

-300 ml double cream

-lemon zest (optional)

-400 gr strawberries

-25 gr icing sugar

Method:

1. Butter the mini cheesecake pan in every hole, or use cupcake cases, like I did here.

2. Put the biscuits in a food processor or plastic food bag and crush to crumbs using a rolling pin. Transfer the crumbs to a bowl, then pour over the melted butter. Can be melted in the microwave.

Mix thoroughly until the crumbs are completely coated. Spoon them into the prepared tin and press firmly down into the base to create an even layer. To do this I used the edge of my rolling pin. Chill in the fridge for about 1 hour to set firmly.

3. Make the filling by mixing the cream cheese and vanilla and 100 gr sugar, then using an electric mixer add the double cream and beat only until is completely combined.

4. Scoop the cream mixture on top of the biscuit base. I used a piping bag to do this. Now smooth the top of the cheesecake down with the back of a dessert spoon or spatula. Leave to set in the fridge overnight. Yeah, this is the hard part…..

5. Next day, or about half hour before serving the cheesecakes, make the topping, and also remove the cheesecakes from the fridge to adjust to room temperature.

6. Puree the strawberries in a blender or food processor with 25 gr icing sugar. If you like, leave a few good ones to decorate. Pour the fresh strawberry pure on your mini cheesecakes.

7. Enjoy! 100% satisfaction is fully guarantied! 🙂

Raspberry Mini Cupcakes With White Chocolate Cream

 

I was tossing around these mini muffin cases for a long time in my cupboard, so I figured that the best thing to get rid of them would be to actually use them.

So, I decided to bake little bite size raspberry muffins, then transform them into mini cupcakes by adding a delicious cream on top.

To bake these, I used my favourite vanilla cupcake recipe from Laura Vitale’s Kitchen, but with a different frosting, and I stirred the raspberries into the batter.

The cream on top is a white chocolate ganache, which is basically white chocolate melted in double cream, then whipped (after chilling overnight in the fridge).

I used non edible decorations purchased from Hobby Craft.

 

Mini Orange Cheesecakes

I want to share with you today one of the most interesting recipe I made lately.

I bought a new Mini Cheesecake pan recently and I was eager to try it. We just love cheesecakes, our favourite is the strawberry so far, but we don’t want to stop here, (well, I don’t want to, because my husband would be happy to stuck with it forever), and I’m always looking for new flavours and tastes to try. Funny thing though, I haven’t posted any of my strawberry cheesecakes yet, something that will need to be fixed in the near future for sure.

 

 

Anyways, this time I chose to make Orange Cheesecakes, and the idea came when I saw a pack of Orange and Chocolate flavour Mcvitie’s Digestive biscuits at the supermarket, the ones that have one side coated with chocolate.

Turns out, it was a very good choice! The chocolate-orange biscuits as a base for this cheesecake added an extra richness and complimented the topping perfectly!

Ingredients:

 

-400 gr Orange-Chocolate digestives biscuits

-100 gr melted butter

-750 gr (3 pack) Mascarpone soft cheese

-2 tsp vanilla essence or 1 vanilla pod

-100 gr icing sugar

-300 ml double cream

-lemon zest (optional)

-a few small to medium size oranges

-1 cup brown sugar

-3/4 cup water

-fresh lemon juice

 

 

Method:

1. Butter the mini cheesecake pan in every hole.

2. Put the biscuits in a food processor or plastic food bag and crush to crumbs using a rolling pin. Transfer the crumbs to a bowl, then pour over the melted butter. Can be melted in the microwave.

Mix thoroughly until the crumbs are completely coated. Spoon them into the prepared tin and press firmly down into the base to create an even layer. To do this I used the edge of my rolling pin. Chill in the fridge for about 1 hour to set firmly.

 

3. Make the filling by mixing the cream cheese and vanilla and sugar, then using an electric mixer add the double cream and beat until is completely combined.

4. Scoop the cream mixture on top of the biscuit base. I used a piping bag to do this.

 

Now, smooth the top of the cheesecakes down with the back of a dessert spoon or a spatula. Leave to set in the fridge overnight.

5. Next day, or about 1 hour before serving the cheesecakes, make the topping, and also remove the cheesecakes from the fridge to adjust to room temperature.

With a sharp knife, slice orange into thin rounds , discarding the seeds.

In a deep frying pan or pot over medium-high heat, stir sugar, 3/4 cup water, and lemon juice until sugar is dissolved. Add orange slices and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer 5 minutes. Uncover and simmer gently, keeping slices in a single layer and turning occasionally, until they’re slightly candied and translucent and liquid has consistency of a thin syrup (about 20 minutes), there should be about 1/2 cup liquid in pan. Let it cool in the pan. Cover and chill at least 15 minutes.

 

6. Place an orange slice on top of each individual cheesecake and drizzle some syrup on top as well. Alternatively, just drizzle the orange syrup on top of the cake and place a slice of orange next to it.