There's a huge amount to write about the Thinking Digital conference which took place this week, the amazing people and incredibly inspiring ideas. However I think other people can do that better than me, so I thought after all the positive responses we got for the cupcakes yesterday the least I could do would be to share the recipe.
We created two flavours for the conference, each showcasing a different local ingredient - Coffee cupcake with Mocha Icing, made using Pumphreys delicious Daterra Bruzzi coffee and Banana Cupcake with Honey and Cinnamon Icing, made using Chain Bridge Farm's incredible Heather Honey. Once we're up and running you'll obviously be able to buy all these fantastic ingredients through us, but in the meantime you can either get Pumphreys Coffee from their shop in the Grainger Market, Newcastle or through their website - http://pumphreys-coffee.co.uk/. Chain Bridge Honey is available in good delicatessens or they sell a limited range through their site - http://www.chainbridgehoney.co.uk/
It was great meeting you all and I hope you had as fantastic a time as we did. If you'd like us to let you know when the site will be going live click on the 'Join our mailing list' link above and put in your email address.
I hope you enjoy the cupcakes, let us know how you get on!
Mocha Mini Cupcakes - Makes approx 30
Ingredients:
For the Cupcakes
125g Self Raising Flour
125g Soft Unsalted Butter
125g Golden Caster Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 tbsp Coffee - Make it nice and strong, either using a Espresso Machine (if you have one!), Mocha pot or Cafetiere
2-3 tbsp Milk
For the Icing
125g Soft Unsalted Butter
100g Icing Sugar
2 tbsp Coffee
Method:
1. Pre-Heat your oven to 200C
2. Cream together the sugar and butter, use a food processor if you have one
3. Add the eggs, vanilla extract and coffee - mix well - you should have a thick, creamy batter
4. Mix together the flour and baking powder, make a well in the centre and then pour in the batter
5. Using a spoon mix together until all the flour has been absorbed. You should now have a thick batter with a dropping consistency (when you lift a big dollop with the spoon it should slowly drop off). If it's still a little thick add some milk, a tablespoon at a time and mix in until it's just right.
6. Get all your cupcake cases out, either placing them in a cupcake tray if they're paper, or if they're foil they'll probably stand up on their own.
7. It can be really messy to get the mix into the small cases, so I fill up a freezer bag with the mix then cut a corner off and use it to pipe the mix in. You only need to half fill the cases otherwise they'll overflow in the oven!
8. Put them into the oven, they'll take between 13-15 minutes. Poke them with a skewer to check they're done, it should come out clean without any sticky batter attached. Leave them to cool on a rack whilst you get your icing ready.
For the Icing;
9. Cream together the butter and icing sugar, a food processor makes this much easier!
10. Add in the coffee, mix and taste. Taste again. It's good isn't it? Add some more coffee if you think it needs it. Now stop tasting or you won't have enough to ice all your cupcakes!
11. Depending on how soft your icing is (and how warm your kitchen is) you might need to put the mix into the fridge for a few minutes. It needs to be soft enough to pipe onto the cakes, but hard enough to hold its shape. Room temperature should be fine unless it's a really warm day.
12. For the next step you'll really need an icing bag and nozzle. Get a star shaped nozzle, they'll make even the most amateur icing look great (that's my tip of the day!). I use a size 8 for the mini cupcakes.
13. Spoon some of the mix into your icing bag, close the top and start icing. Make a nice little spiral working into the middle, lift up at the very end and you'll get that little peak in the middle.
14. For a really great decorative finish try grating some very dark chocolate and sprinkling it over the top!
The banana recipe is pretty much the same method, but I'll copy it out anyway for clarity.
Banana Mini Cupcakes with Honey and Cinnamon Icing - Makes approx 30
Ingredients:
For the Cupcakes
125g Self Raising Flour
125g Soft Unsalted Butter
125g Golden Caster Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 a Banana (reasonably ripe)
2-3 tbsp Milk
For the Icing
125g Soft Unsalted Butter
100g Icing Sugar
2 tbsp Honey
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 Dessert spoon of Cream cheese
Method:
1. Pre-Heat your oven to 200C
2. Cream together the sugar and butter, use a food processor if you have one
3. Add the eggs, vanilla extract and the half banana - mix well - you should have a thick, creamy batter
4. Mix together the flour and baking powder, make a well in the centre and then pour in the batter
5. Using a spoon mix together until all the flour has been absorbed. You should now have a thick batter with a dropping consistency (when you lift a big dollop with the spoon it should slowly drop off). If it's still a little thick add some milk, a tablespoon at a time and mix in until it's just right.
6. Get all your cupcake cases out, either placing them in a cupcake tray if they're paper, or if they're foil they'll probably stand up on their own.
7. It can be really messy to get the mix into the small cases, so I fill up a freezer bag with the mix then cut a corner off and use it to pipe the mix in. You only need to half fill the cases otherwise they'll overflow in the oven!
8. Put them into the oven, they'll take between 13-15 minutes. Poke them with a skewer to check they're done, it should come out clean without any sticky batter attached. Leave them to cool on a rack whilst you get your icing ready.
For the Icing;
9. Cream together the butter and icing sugar, a food processor makes this much easier!
10. Add in the honey and cinnamon, mix and taste. Taste again. It's good isn't it? Add some more honey or cinnamon if you think it needs it (careful with the cinnamon - if you add too much it can taste a bit gritty!). Now stop tasting or you won't have enough to ice all your cupcakes!
10.a. At this point stop using the food processor and beat in the cream cheese. It seems to go too soft if you use the processor for this bit.
11. Depending on how soft your icing is (and how warm your kitchen is) you might need to put the mix into the fridge for a few minutes. It needs to be soft enough to pipe onto the cakes, but hard enough to hold its shape. Room temperature should be fine unless it's a really warm day.
12. For the next step you'll really need an icing bag and nozzle. Get a star shaped nozzle, they'll make even the most amateur icing look great (that's my tip of the day!). I use a size 8 for the mini cupcakes.
13. Spoon some of the mix into your icing bag, close the top and start icing. Make a nice little spiral working into the middle, lift up at the very end and you'll get that little peak in the middle.
14. Take a pinch of cinnamon and rub it between your fingers over the frosting to lightly dust them.
