We're on the downhill run to the end of financial year at work & we need regular sweet treats to keep us smiling under pressure. So, I've made fruit & nut cupcakes for morning tea.
These are from the
Divine Cupcakes book by Tamara Jane. The recipe called for chopped dates but I substituted sultanas because I didn't have dates & if I had, I didn't have time to stand around chopping them. One of the most tedious jobs in the kitchen, even with the help of a wet knife. I also chose a recipe that didn't need icing or frosting as I was out all morning yesterday & wanted an easy recipe, which these were.
I've been very impressed with this book. All the recipes I've tried so far have worked perfectly. If the recipe says it makes 24 cupcakes, it does. The cupcakes bake flat so they're easy to ice & there are lots of different icings & frostings to try, as well as gluten & dairy free recipes. I'll be dipping in again before the end of June.
Those look scrumptious! Lucky colleagues :-) That book certainly looks interesting and it's great to find receipes that turn out the way they're supposed to. I must check out the dairy-free recipes. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThose look delicious! I generally prefer fruit and nut-based desserts to chocolate ones so these are right up my alley. It's so wonderful to find a really dependable cookbook.
ReplyDeleteI wonder when these little cakes were first called cupcakes? This seems an American name for what we, over here in the UK, simply called "buns" until recent times, or, if the top was sawn off and that top split in two and then anchored on top of the "bun" the "bun" then became a fairy or butterfly cake. It seems that every baking cookbook now has "cupcakes", they are a style thing and whilst some of them may be delicious, they are just a trifle (sorry, pun!) ditsy for my taste (sorry, another pun!) So, let's put cupcakes to bed now, and bring out all those other cakes that have been languishing at in the dustry drawer of baking ... Victoria sponges, rich fruit cakes, tea breads, ginger cake, apple cake, coffee & walnut cake ...
ReplyDeleteMargaret P
Margaret, I make all those other cakes as well! It doesn't really matter what they're called, they're always eaten. When I was a child, we just called them little cakes as opposed to a big cake. Cupcakes are easier for work when there might be nearly 20 people for morning tea. One large cake just isn't enough.
ReplyDeleteI think what I object to is the manner in which these cakes have taken over the planet. Everywhere I look there are cupcakes, recipe books about them, shops devoted entirely to them, websites for them, and so forth. They are the culinary equivalent of chick-lit. Yes, I agree you need 20 or more "buns" for morning tea sometimes. I refuse to call them the c-word. And if you think I'm just an old reactionary, then I also refuse to call biscuits "cookies". Cook(ie) is what you do to the raw paste. It is a biscuit that comes out of the oven.
ReplyDeleteI'm only joking!
Margaret P