Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes

I absolutely LOVE caramel, so, when Mam arrived home from the supermarket with a few tins of condensed milk I had to make something delicious with it. I always tend to go for Millionaire's Squares or Banoffee, but this time I was adamant to try something else. Mam has been raving about these Caramel Cupcakes she saw on Bakery Boss, so, I decided to try something new and invent my own Chocolate Caramel Cupcake. Despite what you may think, the cupcakes aren't heavy in the slightest. Both the sponge and the butter cream are light and airy which allows for the devilish caramel.

Ingredients

MAKES 12 CUPCAKES

FOR THE CAKE MIX

225g Butter (softened)

225g Caster Sugar

225g Self Raising Flour (sieved)

2-3 tbsp Cocoa Powder

4 Eggs

FOR THE CARAMEL

1 x 397g tin of Condensed Milk

1 tbsp Golden Syrup

50g Brown Sugar

30g Butter

FOR THE CHOCOLATE BUTTER CREAM

150g Butter

300g Icing Sugar

50g Dark Chocolate (melted)

2 tsp Boiling Water

Method

FOR THE CAKE MIX

1) Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F/ Gas Mark 4 and line your muffin tray with bun cases

2) Cream the butter and sugar together in the electric mixer

3) Once a pale colour, add in the eggs, one at a time and continue to beat

4) Once combined, add the sieved flour, one spoon at a time as you beat

5) Then add the cocoa powder in beat again until all ingredients are combined

6) Put 1-2 spoons of the mix into each bun case and place in the oven for approximately 15 mins until the cupcakes are firm and spring up when touched

7) Leave to cool on a wire tray while you get to work on the caramel and the butter cream

FOR THE CARAMEL

Firstly, you can cheat a little and buy a tin of caramel - it works just as well.

 But if you feel like going all out follow these simple steps...

1) Melt the butter and sugar together in a pan over a low heat

2) When combined, add in the golden syrup and the condensed milk and stir continuously

3) Bring the mixture to the boil and then allow it to simmer for approx. 5 mins until it becomes thicker

4) Fill a piping bag with the caramel and stick the nozzle into each bun and squeeze

5) Then leave the buns to sit and use any left over caramel for decoration later

FOR THE CHOCOLATE BUTTER CREAM

1) Cream the butter and icing sugar together in the electric mixer (be patient this may take a while)

2) When light and fluffy, add in the melted dark chocolate, one tsp at a time and beat 

3) When combined, add the boiling water, again, a small amount at a time and beat

4) Using your piping bag, pipe the butter cream onto each of the cupcakes, covering the caramel

5) After making sure that the leftover caramel is cool, you can drizzle a small amount over each of the cupcakes for a nice effect.

ENJOY 

Carrot & Passion Fruit Smoothie

I woke up feeling a little under the weather this morning and decided that I needed to make myself some sort of vitamin packed breakfast. I thought of topping porridge with the usual chopped fruit and berries but instead I rooted through the fridge and pulled out a few carrots, pears and passion fruits and decided to whip up a pick-me-up smoothie. Blended carrot didn't sound overly appetizing to me, but, to my surprise this strange creation proved me wrong. This smoothie, packed full of vitamins, left me feeling ready to tackle my final semester assignment mountain.

 I'll just say one thing; don't knock it 'til you try it!

Ingredients 

SERVES 4

2 ripe bananas 

2 pears 

2 carrots

2 passion fruits 

2 cups orange juice

1 cup crushed ice
Mint leaves (to serve)

Method

There's not really much to making this smoothie 
- you pretty much whack everything in the blender, but here goes... 
just in case...

1) Peel and chop all fruit and veg and add to the blender 

2) Add the orange juice and blend on medium speed until smooth

3) Add in the crushed ice, blend again and, hey presto there's your super healthy vitamin packed smoothie - enjoy!

Calling All Coffee Lovers

Coffee Cake is Mam's all-time favourite dessert, so last week for Mother's Day, I decided to try something different and whip up a batch of Coffee Cupcakes. I usually use IREL Coffee Essence which you can only buy in Ireland, to flavour coffee cake, but seens as the number of Yummmmyy's international followers has increased greatly over the past few months, I thought that I better try to create a new way of achieving that moreish coffee taste. I decided to experiment and used instant coffee mixed with a tiny amount of boiling water which formed a coffee paste. To my delight, the paste worked perfectly and the cupcakes tasted just as good, if not better than before. 

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE MIX

225g Caster Sugar

225g Butter (softened)

225g Self Raising Flour (sieved)

3 tbsp Instant Coffee

1 tbsp Boiling Water

4 Eggs

FOR THE COFFEE FROSTING

200g Icing Sugar

100g Butter (softened)

3 tbsp Instant Coffee

1 tbsp Boiling Water

Method

FOR THE CAKE MIX

1) Preheat your oven to 180C/ 220F/ Gas Mark 4 and line your muffin/ cupcake tin with bun cases

2) Cream the butter and sugar together in the electric mixer (make sure you allow it to mix until fully combined and lighter in colour)

3) Add in the eggs, one by one and continue to beat

4) When combined, begin to add the sieved flour, again, one spoon at a time - allow the mixture to beat until it is light and smooth 

6) In a cup, mix the 3 tbsp of instant coffee with the 1 tbsp of boiling water and then add it to the bowl and beat again until combined (you can gibe the mix a stronger coffee flavour if you like simply by making more paste and adding it to the mix, but, be careful not to make it too strong)

7) Fill each bun case with roughly one tbsp of the mix and bake for approx 20 mins until the buns are golden brown

Method

FOR THE COFFEE FROSTING

1) Cream the butter and icing sugar together in the electric mixer until smooth and light in colour

2) Add 1-2 tbsps of boiling water and continue to mix

3) Again, in a cup, mix 3 tbsp of instant coffee and approx 1 tbsp of boiling water and then add it to the bowl and continue to mix

4) Decorate the cupcakes as you wish - I piped the coffee frosting, but, you could just as easily use a spoon to spread it on top.