We are very excited to have our first guest post on the blog.
This is the winning recipe from our first Twitter Bake Off by Anne Whiteside. The brief was to make something for Halloween. We had a number of fabulous & gory entries but the judges chose this one for the professional decorations & because they sound really tasty. Now we can see for ourselves.
Many thanks to Anne for sharing her lovely recipe with us. You can see more of her work on Twitter (http://twitter.com/chunkypeanuts).
Another of Anne’s marvellous creations
We hope Anne will be baking with us on our next Twitter bake off on 3rd December at 9p.m. We are currently taking suggestions for what to bake so please get in touch with any suggestions for a Christmas bake.
Drumroll please for our first bake off winner….
Orange Cardamom and honey Cupcakes
This recipe was inspired by my summer trip to Morocco where they have the most amazing oranges and selection of spices I have ever seen and the aroma is out of this world!
They also inspired by these Arabian nights themed cupcakes
Arabian nights cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cakes
200g self-raising flour, sifted
125g ground almonds
150g golden caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
280g greek yoghurt
150ml olive oil
Finely grated zest of an orange
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp honey
2 tsp orange blossom water
For the Sugar Syrup
50g Caster sugar
50ml Water
Juice of one squeezed orange
For the buttercream
700g icing sugar
200g unsalted butter room temperature
Finely grated zest of an orange
1 teaspoon orange blossom water
200g cream cheese
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C. Line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake cases.
2. Combine the flour, ground almond, sugar and baking powder in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, yoghurt, honey and oil until its combined, then stir in the dry ingredients.
4. Fold in the orange zest, spices and 2 teaspoons of orange blossom water.
5. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cases ¾ full.
6. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until cakes feel firm and springs back to the touch. Allow to cool slightly and place on a wire rack.
7. While still warm brush on the orange sugar syrup with a pastry brush then allow too cool completely.
8. While the cakes are cooling make the buttercream. Whisk the icing sugar and butter until sandy in texture.
9. Mix the cream cheese, zest and orange blossom water until smooth and then add to the icing sugar and butter. Beat everything fast until smooth.
10. Pipe this over the cooled cupcakes.
The winner in our second #TWGBBO bake off was a gorgeous cardamom loaf cake with rosewater icing by Becksbakes. I am keen to try this one too. You can find the recipe on Funkilicious Food.
Cardamom loaf cakes with rosewater icing. YUM.
