Tayto Cupcakes

Now I don't know about all you guy's but the thoughts of a bag of cheese and onion Tayto's with a Dairy milk bar is almost mind blowing. The fusion of the two in your mouth as you sip a cup of tea. wow. It certainly is the small things in life that matter. One food can compliment another just like a partner or a best friend can compliment your life. Your the average of those you surround yourself with so I've taken a stand and surrounded myself with Tayto's and Chocolate. For today's blog I've decided to dedicate it to none other than Mr Tayto himself. Of course if I was to be the theme of a cupcake I'd like to be vanilla so there shall be nothing less for the man himself.

After a little venture to the shop I returned with all my tools ready for action. First off I creamed the daylights out of the butter and sugar.I reckon the poor neighbours thought I was using a drill. I used  2 eggs and gradually added them in. Rome wasn't built in a day so take your time :).Next up was self raising flour which I folded in :) I'm getting very fancy with my baking terms FOLDED. In other words use your spatula to go around the bowl in a circular motion then fold inwards. Add a drop of milk , spoon into cases and pop in the oven.

So whilst the cakes are in the oven why not prepare the Tayto's. Now this bit is fun. Grab a bowl and empty the entire contents of the bag into it. Pick out 12 normal shaped crisps and then start to crush the rest in the bowl. Such fun!!!!! . Place the chocolate over a simmering heat and stir until melted. Add the chocolate to the bowl of crisps and mix.

When the cakes are cooled, spoon the Choc / Tayto mixture on top of each one and for decoration purposes put 1  nicely shaped Tayto on top of each cake. Now for the taste test ENJOY !!!!!!!!!!!

Car Boot Fail

Everywhere I travelled I saw signs for car boot sales here and car boot sales there. I had no idea what all the fuss was about or what people brought to them.. Seen as though my baking levels would feed an army I decided why not bake a few little bits for a local car boot sale.Give it a go and maybe i'd hit the jackpot.

Now as you can see a few little bits turned into a basket of Madeira's, a tray of Cadburies brownies, Madeira bites, and some cupcakes to top it all off..Yes some may say it was a little over the top lol and yes your probably dead right. After a full day on my feet at the kitchen counter I was beginning to dread the 6am start.

6am bright as a button the car was loaded and ready to go. After a short commute we had arrived. Now I don't know diddly squat about these things. I'd imagined fields of cars with the boots open selling all sorts. Well I wasn't far off. This particular venue was in a multi story car park .Story after story was full of people parking up and offloading their possessions. Racing for a table like I was Bolt in the 100m final in London I managed to get one. So I was all set up after a few minutes and ready for action . I brought a few other bits too in the hope it may encourage people over. Men parked up emptying boxes on the ground and that was it presentation complete.A pile on the ground, I sold 1 Madeira but I learnt so much. Regardless of wearing a fresh apron, gloves etc people have no interest in cakes at boot sales. All they want is a deal. at 8.30am the doors opened and the eager beavers arrived. Now these characters would skin you for a fiver. They try and buy the deals before the public are left in. Once the main doors open  the flow is pretty steady. It seems the more rooting  through boxes people can do the more attractive it is to them. I watched grown men and women rummaging like kids under a christmas tree to find a bargin. I saw more dogs and wheelie bags that day but it was all worth it.

Lesson learnt cakes are not for car boot sales :)

Smartin's cake (Sarah Martins Bday Cake)

The day had arrived! I finally had an occasion  to bake for! A friend was coming to visit and it was her birthday. Shur this is brilliant I thought to myself perfect. Then reality struck I'd never actually baked a round cake only cupcakes, cookies an brownies. Right how hard can it be I'll do a Victorian sponge!I hear there all the rage now days.  Who doesn't love a good sponge? A Victorian posh one just for the occasion.

Out came my 9'' round tin now only to find a recipe :)  After a bit of searching & knocking everything over I came across THE ONE. It was love at first sight. I aerated the mixture as much as possible at one stage it was starting to look like a bubble bath. In to the oven and away we go the bottom layer was under way. Then the top layer and thanks be to god some genius invented a spring release tin. So out they popped crack free. While I left them to cool I prepared my Strawberry and fresh cream filling like a pro. One sticky job in itself not for the faint hearted. Once the jam was complete it was time to layer on the cream. Judging the amount was trial and error so I just lobbed it all on. Now a birthday cake isn't complete without some chocolate. So why not do the dog on it and cover it in chocolate and then decorate with chocolate butter icing. The worst part was resisting licking the bowl after melting the chocolate.... yummy, After smoothing out the melted chocolate it was clear plastering certainly wouldn't be a suitable trade for me. Never the less I tore into the butter whisking it like a mad woman. Did you ever get pins and needles in your arm from holding the whisk?.... well I did.It had a mind of its own for a few minutes then I added the cocoa and essence and like magic it was ready. After a short few minutes the cake was piped with the icing as below.

Just in time too :) Loads of sprinkles and it looked super. So if your planning on baking a posh cake ensure you have a spring release tin, a plan and a trade in plastering :)

Don't judge a cake by it's icing

Icing / Fondant  fascinates me. Isn't it amazing how quick people are to choose a cupcake or a cake from a bakery based on it's icing or it's decorations. But what does icing actually say about the rest of the cake or society in general? It's very easy to judge someone from a distance or see the fondant you want to see on the cake but what about the cake or the person underneath. Should you not taste it first before making that all important decision?

Each cake is filled with personality and charisma. But unless you can see beyond the top layer you'll never really know what that cake is like!.Judging can be all too easy in such a fast paced world.  By making the decision not to judge and just try seeing beyond it, you will discover living in a whole new light. We set our own limits so broaden your horizons!

Cakes now days have all sorts of amazing decorations from 3D cakes to themed cakes, cartoon cupcakes and millions more . Just like cakes I find people decorate themselves to protect themselves from this world that's been created in the hope that they will not be judged. If you blind folded yourself for a few minutes and tried any cake put in front of you, I can tell you now you would have a lot more friends and develop a greater love for cake and life. .

Regardless of the colour or taste, each cake is individual.. It would be a very boring world otherwise. Would you judge a cake on its colour? Would you eat a rainbow cake? Love is Love and we all love cake so try them all x

Cupcake Challenge

Cupcakes....what can I say about cupcakes! These mini cakes are like a blank canvas.The type every artist dreams of. The idea that you can turn them into absolutely anything baffles me to this day.There are endless possibilities! Of course choosing the right cupcake case is a life or death situation. What colour or design should I get? Again plain Jane got white (Brilliant white though not just any white :P). Once the case was chosen now I must decide what flavour would I like to make? Chocolate, vanilla the list is endless.

Out with the mixing bowl and let the games begin :). I hadn't felt this excited waiting for the starting gun to go at the National Athletics Champs.Chocolate it is! Decision made. All the dry ingredients flour, cocoa,baking powder,baking soda and sugar must first be chucked into the bowl. Mix all together and watch it turn from a white mixed bag of a colour to a scrumptious cocoa/chocolate mixture. But wait the fun doesn't end here! We have yet to add milk,oil, egg, and water without destroying myself. The dry mixture transforms into a beautiful almost liquid mixture. Getting the aim right to hit the cases is the best part :)Similar to anyone's first paint-balling experience your gonna miss and lose an eye. But once you develop the drop and go technique there's no looking back. Into the oven and onto our blank canvas.

Today I have opted for chocolate butter-icing. of course with added sprinkles. How hard can it be eh? So I then realised I didn't own a piping bag . Until now I thought only the Scots men possessed such a thing. But it's OK I had a great idea why not get a huge sandwich bag cut a hole in the bottom corner, heap the mixture in and ice away. So I heaped and I pumped then bang the entire bag burst everywhere.Beautiful!

Round 2 I decided I better get a piping bag and low and behold it was much easier. The swirl is my favourite option which you can see above. Later I will go onto some of my more adventurous cupcakes.

Cookie Syndrome

Nothing quite says welcome home, come in, take your shoes off and relax by the open fire like a warm cup tea and cookies :). Very fond of the Maryland cookies I was maybe a bit too fond! Going about my daily bits & bobs I came across a cookie cook book.... yes a cookie cook book with no less than 80 recipes!Recipe for disaster some might say. Cookies of all flavours, shapes , dimensions you name it and there it was in the book. Of course being a mammy Chrissie's bacon and cabbage kind of girl I opted for the plain Jane Chocolate chip option.

One glance at the page in the cook book and I spotted 'light muscovado sugar'. O lord I thought what is that? Off to the local Tesco's I went searching for a needle in a hay stack. 25 minutes later there it was among a zillion other fancy sugars. Into the basket and off home I went wondering what this mystery sugar was going to do to my eagerly awaited cookies.

Cookies taste so amaze-balls their bound to be mission impossible to make right? Quiet the opposite actually! I recommend baking cookies to anyone who has a bit of anger or frustration to take out on the world. Just horse the butter, flour, baking powder, margarine,sugar ( both fancy and caster) , egg and chocolate chips into a large mixing bowl and bobs your uncle mix until your hearts content. When stress free spoon the mixture onto a baking sheet. Now don't make the same mistake I made and put them nice and close , my first batch resembled a cookie cake . These dude's expand so be sure and put each spoonful 2 miles away from the next. 12 minutes later and o wow giant chocolate chip cookies are ready only to cool down.

If you like to live life on the edge try what I did chop up some Cadbury's Dairymilk chocolate instead of plain chocolate chips. IT'S SOOOOOO WORTH IT.

Brownie points

After stalking people with Madeira trying to give cakes away just so I could bake more. I figured it was time for a new challenge. But where does one go from here that's never baked before? I've got the eggs, caster sugar, flour and baking powder down but what else is out there? Should I cover my head and say look you did great making that cake now that's  it be happy with that or should I try something new. The answer of course was something new. After training and competing  in international athletics for years I've learnt to never give up. If you lose you get back up and you train harder . Life is just like baking it presents lots of challenges. Its how you respond to them that matters. With that in mind I decided chocolate brownies would be my next mission.Being a chocoholic it seemed only fair :P

Chocolate brownies look so mysterious on the exterior but once you sink your teeth in its like nothing you've tasted before.I also use a cadbury's variation which puts self control to the test! Assembling my attempt at  Gordan Ramsey's kitchen went to plan.Delighted with myself I started melting the butter  and  the chocolate together over boiling water which sent an aroma around the room that was to die for. Risky business of course for an amateur ensuring I didn't set the butter on fire or worse the house :). Mixing the dry ingredients and eggs proved no problem . Then sheer bliss mixing the two together. Stirring till my hearts content the colours blended together forming a rich chocolate mixture.
Once the pan hits the oven watch the magic happen. Little bubbles of happiness rise to the surface as it expands.

You can make all shapes and sizes. The excitement never ends. You can even add flavours and nuts which will follow in my later blogs.