Vintage Victoria Sponge Cupcakes

Hey guys and girls! 

I hope you are all well this evening? 

I'm so sorry that I haven't posted in a while, on any of the pages! Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and on here, but if you pop over to the life page, you can find out on what is taking me so long!

Now, I don't know about you; but the weather has been going up and down like a rocket! What with it being warm one week, blistering hot the week after, then dropping all the way back down into the singles nearly! 

If you have only just got here, we we're just talking about the typical British weather! 

Recipe: 

Start by weighing 2 large eggs, whatever the eggs they come too,

weigh the same for the following ingredients: 

Self Raising Flour

Butter

Caster Sugar

You will also need: 

1 x Punnet of Fresh Strawberries

300ml of Double Cream

1 tsp Vanilla

1-2 tbsp Milk

3 tsp Caster Sugar

1tsp Baking Powder 

Cupcake Cases

Let's get started!

1. Firstly, set your oven to 170 C, 350 F, Gas Mark 4 so it can heat up in the meantime.

You can also lay out the cupcake cases into the tray. 

2. Place the butter and sugar into a bowl and give it a good whisk until the butter goes a bit more pale. Then in a cup, crack open the eggs and give a good beating, once beaten, slowly but gradually add in the eggs a bit at a time. The mix will go all runny and may look curdled, but don't worry!

3. Next, sieve the flour and baking powder together in a separate bowl, once you have done this put it back through the sieve one bit at a time and gradually add it to the egg and butter mixture. I like to mix with a wooden spoon first - Just so none of the flour shoots out!

4. After gradually adding the flour and mixing in between, your mixture should be well incorporated. Once it is add in the milk and the vanilla, then mix again until soft and pale.

5. Spoon the mixture into the cases just below half, don't over fill as they will flood over the cases and we don't want that! Once you have used all the mixture, place into the oven for 10 minutes. After the 10 is up, check the cupcakes if they are still wobbling, leave them in for another 5-10 mins. 

6. Once the timer is up, take them out of the oven and leave them to cool IN THE TRAY.

DO NOT take them out of the tray, as they are still warm and can easily lose their shape. Leave them in until completely cool, then remove.

Topping

If you saw my post for the Vintage Victoria Sponge, the recipe and the guidelines for the fresh cream topping can be found on this post. 

If you don't want to click the link or don't have time, I have still posted a quick how to below, but it has been taken from the Vintage Victoria Sponge cake post. 

7. Whilst the cake is cooling, place the 300ml of double cream into a bowl, add 3 tsp of sugar and give it a good whisk on a medium - high speed.  

You will soon see the consistency of the cream start to change, keep going until you have soft speaks. Once you get to this stage, place some clingfilm over the top and place into the fridge to keep cool until the cake has fully cooled. 

8. When the cakes are cool, add a dollop of the cream onto each of the cupcakes, then after the strawberries have been washed and the tops are off. You can either cut them in half or place them whole on top of the cupcakes. And there you go! Once the cream is on, be sure to keep them the fridge to save the cream from going off. 

Enjoy!

Vintage Victoria Sponge Cake

Hi everyone! 

How are we all today? I'm sorry I haven't been posting as of late, I've been super busy with things!

Head on over to  - The Life Of Sprinkle, Sparkle & Magic - Where you will find out why I have been so quiet and what has been happening with the world that I live in. 

In other news, see that big and beautiful cake above? I'm going to give you the recipe on how to create it, perfect for a lovely and warm summers day or as a comfort cake! The recipe has been adapted in some ways from the recipe by Cupcake Jemma, go and take a look at her page and youtube channel! - Cupcake Jemma's Youtube Channel 

Right! Let's get started!...

You will need: 

3 Eggs

Self Raising flour

Softened Butter

Caster Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Extract 

1 tsp Baking Powder

1-2 tbsp Milk

--------------------

300ml Double cream

3 tsp Caster Sugar

Punnet of Fresh Strawberries and Blueberries 

Icing Sugar 

(Can opt out of the fresh fruit and change it to whatever you wish!) 

1. Set the oven to Gas Mark 3 / 170°C / 140°C (Fan)  

2. First off we need to weigh our eggs - I recently learnt this from Cupcake Jemma and have done it ever since, it's such a good thing to do and don't know why I've never heard of it before! 

3. So weigh the eggs and whatever they come too, weigh the same for the butter, caster sugar and the self raising flour. This will give you the prefect fluffy and soft cake! 

4. Once you have all your ingredients, place the butter into a bowl and whisk on a medium speed - If you don't have an electric whisk, no need to worry! You can always use the old good natural whisk! - Just be careful with those arms ;) Once the butter has been incorporated and changed colour - it should go a paler colour compared to when you first put it into the bowl, and should be nice, smooth and fluffy. 

5. Sieve in the sugar and whisk again on a medium speed until everything is incorporated. 

Next, get a spare bowl or cup and add all the eggs into it, give them a good whisk! Once you have done this, add in the eggs in three stages, like you would do if you we're cracking them into the bowl. Add in a bit of egg each time, whisking on a low - medium speed in between until it has all been mixed in. 

6. Once all the eggs have been mixed in, get the Self-Raising flour and add it into a fine sieve, or any sieve! Add in the Baking Powder too, gently shake the flour into the mix until it's all into the bowl - You may do this in stages to stop flour spilling over the edge of the bowl! I like to use a spatula or a spoon to gently fold in the flour first, instead of going straight to the whisk as I don't want it to fly everywhere! Once you have got some of the flour folded in and it looks like none will come out over the bowl, get whisking on a medium - high speed until it's all mixed in! 

5. Add in the milk and the vanilla extract and give it another good mix - If you think there needs to be more milk or flour just add it in - everyone has their own preferences! I know that the mix is the right consistency, by getting a big dollop onto the spoon and holding it above the bowl, it should take a few seconds for it to drop back into the bowl, if it falls off quicker than this or won't budge at all, it's the wrong consistency and you will need to add a bit more milk if it's too thick or a bit more flour if it's too thin. 

6. Grab two 8" cake tins and grease them with some butter using some greaseproof paper, then add a little bit of flour into the pan and move it around, getting onto all the sides and in the groves. Once this is done, evenly dispatch the cake batter into both tins, then grabbing a spoon or a pallet knife evenly smooth the tops of the cakes; this will cause them to be nice and flat when they come out of the oven. 

Place in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes. Check to see if the cake is done by placing a knife into the centre, if it comes out clean and the top of the cake springs back once pressed gently, it is ready. Only take the cake out to test after 20 mins, DO NOT take out any sooner. 

7. Whilst the cake is cooling, place the 300ml of double cream into a bowl, add 3 tsp of sugar and give it a good whisk on a medium - high speed.  

You will soon see the consistency of the cream start to change, keep going until you have soft speaks. Once you get to this stage, place some clingfilm over the top and place into the fridge to keep cool until the cake has fully cooled. 

8. Cut the tops off the strawberries and then cut them all in half, give the strawberries and blueberries a good wash and then leave them to dry a little. 

9. Finally, face one of the sponges down onto a plate or board, add some of the cream onto the cake and then place some strawberries on top. Creating a circle of strawberries with the pointed end sticking in the centre, imagine an open flower. Place the other layer of sponge on top and press lightly, then add some more of the cream on top, then some strawberries and blueberries (you may place blueberries in the middle of the cake too! completely up to you!) Then add a dusting of icing sugar to the cake! 

All there is left to do, is cut yourself a big slice of cake and dig in! 

Hope you enjoyed this recipe! Once again, ideas where taken from Cupcake Jemma, I just adapted it a little bit, go check her out!

 Tune in next time!

Much Love, 

Going beyond the traditional Battenberg...

This was my first attempt at making Battenberg and I loved it! I've always been a big fan of this sweet cake since I was a little girl, when my Granddad and Nanan used to buy me it as a treat instead of sweets sometimes and I loved it. Or for an afternoon snack with juice when we would all sit together and watch You've Been Framed or Strictly. 

So I decided it was time to make my own and it worked! Probably not the best square shape, but it's homemade and not batch produced by Kipling so what do you expect? ;) 

I made three batches, one for my family, one for Nan and Granddad and one for Sam and his dad. I also decided to rock things up a bit and made a Green and Yellow one, straying away from the traditional pink!

- Em xx