Banana Pecan & Maple Syrup Cupcakes to make you smile

This recipe was created during a family barbecue. We were making baked sweet potatoes (Americans call them yams???) in the barbecue and I had found a recipe for cinnamon & maple syrup butter to go with them. When I tasted it, I knew it would make a great topping for a cupcake. So, when I found some overripe bananas that needed to be used, I decided on Banana Pecan & Maple Syrup cupcakes, where the maple Syrup replaced the sugar you'd normally use. That would taste just great with Cinnamon & Maple Syrup Buttercream I had in mind. It also meant that these cupcakes can be eaten by people who have to eat sugar free (although they would have to skip the buttercream).

The color of the buttercream would be a bit brownish and boring, so the kids and I used chocolate sunflowers to decorate the cupcakes. And this is how it turned out. 

A little bit of sunshine on a sunny day

This recipe makes about 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes

• 225 grams (8 oz) of gluten-free all purpose flour.  You can use gluten-free rice flour as well.
• 225 grams (8 oz) of over ripe bananas
• 150 ml (5 fl oz) of maple syrup
• 2 large eggs
• 75 grams (2.75 oz) of butter (softened)
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of roughly chopped  pecans
• 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar
• 2 teaspoons of xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon of salt

For the buttercream:

• 200 grams (7 oz) of soft butter
• 3 tablespoons of maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
• 125 grams (4.5 oz) of powdered sugar /icing sugar
• a pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade /350 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Place paper cups in your cupcake tray.
3. Put the bananas with the eggs and the maple syrup in a blender and blitz till it's frothy and combined. Pour it in a mixing bowl.
4. Add the soft butter, the pecans, the gluten-free flour, the cream of tartar, the xanthan gum and salt and mix it all together to a airy batter. 
5. Scoop the batter into the paper cups and place the cupcake trays into the warm oven. Bake for about 20-25 minutes till the cupcakes are all risen and golden. 
6. Let them cool in the tin first, before you transfer them to a wire rack to let them cool completely.
7. Make the buttercream by mixing all the ingredients together and put it in a piping bag. Pipe it on top of the cooled cupcakes and decorate with whatever you want! 

Enjoy!

Lemon and Raspberry Cupcakes with Lemon Curd buttercream

I can make up a whole blog about why I made these cupcakes, but in fact it's very simple: because they are just the yummiest things you've ever eaten. I love to prove to people that gluten free doesn't automatically mean that the food is tasteless and this recipe does just that. So, without further ado, here's the recipe. It makes 12 small cupcakes. 

They are as delicious as they look!

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes

• 115 grams (4 oz) of soft butter
• 115 grams (4 oz) of finely granulated sugar
• 2  large eggs
• 115 grams (4 oz) of gluten free rice flour
• the grated zest of one lemon
• 3 teaspoons of cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum (so your cupcakes won't fall to pieces)
• 1 tablespoon of lemon curd
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of raspberries 

For the buttercream & decoration

• 250 grams (9 oz) of soft butter
• 75 grams (2.75 oz) of lemon curd
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of icing sugar
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of raspberries 

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade (400 degrees fahrenheit)
2. Line a cupcake tray with paper cups.
3. Beat the butter and granulated sugar in a big bowl till it's light, airy & fluffy. 
4. Slowly beat in the eggs. 
5. Sift the rice flour, cream of tartar & xanthan gum above the bowl and fold it in. 
6. Fold in the lemon zest, lemon curd and raspberries and scoop the dough into the cups in the cupcake tin. 
7. Put the cupcake tin(s) in the oven and bake them for about 20-25 minutes until the cupcakes are golden and firm. 
8. Take them out of the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes until you transfer them to a wire rack to let them fully cool. 
9. Take a new bowl and make the buttercream by combining the butter, icing sugar and lemon curd. Put it in a piping bag and pipe it onto the cooled cupcakes. Decorate with the raspberries & wow your guests. Don't forget to have one yourself! 

Gluten Free Apple Crumble Cupcakes

I love apple pie, I love apple crumble and I love cupcakes. So naturally when both my boys wanted to make cupcakes today, these cupcakes were a the way to go. In the original recipe oatmeal flakes are used in the crumble. I wouldn't be Wendy, if i didn't change that. I had some gluten free Honey & Nut Crunchy cereal left over that I used. (it's by Peak's Free From and I love it, but my kids refuse to eat cereal. So if your children or you for that matter, love cereal, and need to be gluten free, I highly recommend it!) 

It turned out to work fabulously in this recipe. 

I often get asked if I eat all that the kids & I bake and the answer is... Yes! I need to know what it tastes like before I post it here and I'll gladly pass on something else to eat an extra cupcake. And to be honest, we don't always make the full recipe. I'm posting the recipe here and it makes 12 cupcakes, but I made just 6, with half of the ingredients (except for the egg. Half an egg is not doable and it worked well.)

Because my boys love decorating, we decorated the cupcakes with bright blue frosting & sugar figurines, but the cupcakes are wonderful without it too!

Without or without frosting, they are delicious! 

Ingredients:

• 225 grams (8 oz) of rice flour
• 35 grams (1.25 oz) of almond flour
• 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar
• 85 grams (3 oz) of light caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder
• 2 apples, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 egg
• 150 ml (5.5 fl oz) of sour cream
• 55 grams (2 oz) of melted butter

For the crumble:

• 55 grams (2 oz) of rice flour
• 50 grams (1.75 oz) of finely ground almonds
• 35 grams (1.25 oz) of oatmeal flakes (or gluten free crunchy cereal)
• 85 grams (3 oz) of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder
• 90 grams (3.25 oz) of butter

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade / 350 degrees fahrenheit. 
2. Line a cupcake tin with 12 paper cupcake cups.
3. Put the flour and the cream of tartar in a bowl. Add the caster sugar, xanthan gum, cinnamon and grated/chopped apples in the bowl and mix well. 
4. Add the egg, sour cream and butter and beat into a lumpy batter.
5. Take another bowl and knead the rice flour, ground almonds, crunchy cereal, sugar, cinnamon and butter into a crumbly dough. 
6. Scoop the cupcake batter into the paper cups, add the crumble dough on top and put them into the oven for 20-30 minutes till risen and golden brown. 
7. let them cool for 5 minutes before taking them out of the tray and let them cool on a wire rack. You can serve them warm as well, with a bit of vanilla ice-cream and you'll have a fantastic dessert!

Enjoy!

Gluten Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes to cheer you up

I always tell people that this gluten free diet that my son is on isn't the end of the world. That it is doable and that, once you get used to it, you get very creative & then anything is possible. But there is something about this diet and this autoimmune disease that makes me cry every now & then. Sometimes it's my boys disappointment when he can't be like everybody else and a week or so ago it was the fact that my son is so incredibly scared of getting sick, that he is overcautious. That he takes his diet so seriously, that he ended up playing all by himself at after school daycare. Why? Because his friends hadn't washed their hands and he was afraid their gluten could contaminate him, so he didn't dare touch the toys they were touching. It broke my heart, because he is such a social kid and loves to play with others. Out of fear he took things a step too far. When he was little, we cleaned all the toys simply because he would put stuff in his mouth, but now that he's older, that is no longer an issue. But suddenly the fear of getting sick was too much for him. It happened after a night where he had had stomach cramps and we couldn't figure out if something had gone wrong (diet wise) that day. So he took drastic measures.

All we could do when he told us he had played all by himself was cry with him & then tell him that there was a very simple solution. As long as he had the discipline (and he has, he has shown that over and over again) to wash his hands before dinner, there would be no problem at all. He could play with his gluten infested friends and then safely eat his sandwich or fruit and not end up sick. He was so relieved, because they always do that, but he had been all by himself for nothing. 

I felt so bad for him that Gijs and I baked him cupcakes a few days later. We made him these carrot cupcakes. And because my youngest can't have that much refined sugar, we used palm sugar instead (thanks for the tip Lisette!). It's a bit different in taste, but in these cakes it works really well. Ok, we ended up topping them with marzipan and sugar figurines, but we limited the sugar intake a bit (this no sugar thing is takes babysteps ;-)).

This recipe makes 12 very large cupcakes.

These really do cheer you up, don't they?

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs beaten
• 175 grams (6 oz) of palm sugar
• 150 ml (5 fl oz / 0.25 of a pint) of olive oil
• 200 grams (7 oz) of rice flour
• 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum
• 2 teaspoons of gingerbread spices
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 300 grams (10.5 oz) of grated carrot
• the seeds of one vanilla pod
• the zest of one orange
• two tablespoons of orange juice

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade or 350 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Line a cupcake/muffin tray with paper cups.
3. Put the eggs, palm sugar and olive oil in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer to a smooth batter.
4. Spoon in the rice flour, the spices, xanthan gum, cream of tartar, cinnamon, grated carrot, orange zest and vanilla seeds till all is mixed. If your dough is a bit dry, add the orange juice, you want a soft, moist batter. 
5. Scoop the batter in the cupcake cups. 
6. Put them in the oven for about 25-35 minutes until golden and risen. 
7. Let them cool for a bit before you take them out of the tray, and then let them fully cool on a wire rack until you decorate them. We used marzipan & sugar figurines, because my son just loves it and it was his treat. But you could make a mascarpone frosting as well with 50 grams (1.75 oz) of mascarpone, 225 grams (8 oz) of powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons of vanilla drops and 2 to 3 tablespoons of hot water. If you want to make the marzipan grass, just squeeze some marzipan through a garlic crusher. ;-)

Enjoy!

A perfect glutenfree Halloween treat: pumpkin and walnut cupcakes

This is the story of a lonely pumpkin that blossomed into sassy pumpkin cupcakes. There once was a lonely pumpkin, lying in my fridge. It had been there a while, waiting to be turned into pumpkin soup or Jamie Olivers pumpkin risotto... 

Don't worry, I won't write this whole story in fairytale style. ;-)
My husband had nearly thrown a perfectly good pumpkin away, because it was not big enough to make soup or my beloved risotto with. I hate to waste food, so I decided to use it to make pumpkin cupcakes. That left over pumpkin was a great reason to finally try a new recipe that had been lingering in my mind for a while. And since fall is here and that means Halloween is getting nearer, I decided to turn them into a wonderful Halloween treat. 

The pumpkins on top are made with a Wilton mold that normally makes chocolate lollipops.

This recipe makes 12 cupcakes and 3 mini-bund cakes.Thank you Lisl, for giving me those. Whenever I make to much batter, those moulds come in handy. :-)

Ingredients:

• 300 grams (10.5 oz) of pumpkin. Peeled, seeds removed and chopped to chuncks so you can blitz them with the walnuts.
• 150 grams (5.5 oz) of walnuts
• 200 grams (7 oz) of glutenfree riceflour
• 150 grams (5.5 oz) of cane sugar (granulated sugar is an option too)
• 3 tablespoons of honey
• 5 eggs
• 8 grams (0.28 oz) of vanilla sugar
• 10 grams (0.35 oz) of fiber husk
• 10 grams (0.35 oz) of xanthan gum
• 12 grams (0.42 oz) of glutenfree baking powder (I used cream of tartar)
• For decoration: powdered sugar and orange melting candy for the pumpkins.

Instructions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade (350 degrees fahrenheit).
2. Blitz the walnuts and the pumpkin to a fine pulp/paste in a blender. 
3. Add the riceflour, honey, fiberhusk, xanthan gum and cream of tartar and mix with a fork. 
4. Beat the eggs, vanilla sugar and cane sugar to a frothy substance and add to the pumkin, walnut, flour mixture.
5. Line the cupcake tins with paper cups and grease the bund cake moulds. Spoon the mixture in and place the capcake tins and the bund cakes in the oven. 
6. Bake it all in 45 minutes till your cupcakes and bundcakes smell delicious and look golden brown.
7. Leave them to cool on a wire rack. 
8. While the cupcakes are in the oven, make the candy pumpkins. I used a Wilton plastic mold that makes chocolate lollipops. Melt the candy in a bowl in the microwave or as I did, in a bowl above a pan with softly boiling water. Pour the melted candy in the molds, place in the freezer until the candy has become firm and take out of the mold.
9. To decorate the cupcakes: dust them with powdered sugar. Make some glazing/frosting with powdered sugar and a tiny bit of water and use it to stick the candy pumpkins onto the cupcakes. To decorate the bund cakes, just dust them with powdered sugar. 

Enjoy!

Glutenfree Toblerone-cupcakes

This recipe was love at first sight for my 6 year old boy. Not only does it have a piece of Toblerone chocolate on top, it has some in the cupcake as well. If you've never had this chocolate with nougat in it, you are missing out! In Switzerland they sell these bars per kilo's, seriously! 
This cupcake is full of chocolate overload. The buttercream is almost pure chocolate and there is cacao in the batter for the cupcakes. It's  chocolate heaven. And it looks as fabulous as it tastes!

Chocolate overload

This recipe makes 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

• 200 grams (7 oz) of glutenfree rice flour
• 25 grams (1 oz) of cocao powder
• 1 tablespoon of baking soda
• 110 grams (3.75 oz) of finely granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 100 ml (3.5 fl oz) of olive oil
• 225 ml (8 oz) of milk
• seeds of one vanilla pod
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of Toblerone chocolate, chopped

For the topping:

• 125 ml (4.5 fl oz) of double cream
• 250 grams (9 oz) of dark chocolate
• the seeds of one vanilla pod
• 125 grams (4.5 oz) of butter (the recipe said two tablespoons, but that didn't make thick butter cream as I wanted)

For decoration:

• glutenfree colored sprinkles
• colored decoration sugar
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of Toblerone chocolate, broken into the tiny pyramids

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade or 350 degrees fahrenheit. Line the cupcake tray(s) with paper cups.
2. Mix the flour, cacao, baking powder in a large bowl and mix in the sugar. 
3. Beat the eggs with the oil in another bowl till it's light and fluffy. Add the vinalla pod seeds and the milk and mix well. 
4. Add the flour mixture and the chopped Toblerone pieces. Mix it till it's combined well, not any longer.
5. Transfer the batter into the cups and bake your cupcakes in the oven for about 20-25 minutes till they are firm and have risen well. Let them cool for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to let them cool further. 
6. To make the topping heat up the double cream in a pan. bring it to a boil and them immediately take it from the fire. Pour it over the chocolate pieces and stir until all the chocolate has melted. add the vanilla pods. 
7. Add the butter bit by bit till it is mixed well. Let it cool till it is firm enough to pipe it onto the cupcakes. 
8. Decorate with glutenfree candy (I used glutenfree mini-smarties) and a piece of Toblerone on top. 

Glutenfree buttermilk cupcakes with figs and walnuts and homemade caramel

Some people stress eat, I stress bake. Whenever my head is in overdrive and my body has the jitters, there is just one thing that will calm me: baking. Somehow my mind slows down as I measure ingredients and mix my batter, the fog in my brain clears up and by the time the cupcakes or cake or bread come out of the oven all risen and golden I can see things in perspective again. And as that happens my jitters disappear too. Beats any nerve calming medicine what so ever.  

But lately I've been so busy that I didn't even have time to bake, hence the lack of new blogs and recipes. This also means that a baking session was long overdue for my shattered nerves. Here's the recipe that turned this headless chicken back into a glutenfree momma.

This recipe makes 12 cupcakes and two mini-bund cakes as shown above. 

Ingredients:

• 225 grams (8 oz) of fine granulated sugar
• 225 grams (8 oz) of soft unslated butter
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 225 grams (8 oz) of riceflour
• 2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum
• a pinch of salt
• 225 ml (8 fl oz) of buttermilk
• 150 grams (5.5 oz) of figs, finely chopped
• 100 grams (5.5 oz) of walnuts, finely chopped

To make the caramel topping:

• 1 tin (400 ml / 14 fl oz) of condensed milk
• 50 grams (1.75 oz) of caster sugar
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of butter

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
• Line two muffin or cupcake tins with paper cupcake cups en grease the mini-bund cake molds. 
• Mix the butter and sugar with a handheld mixer till it's all light and fluffy. Add the eggs and mix till all is blended into one mixture.
• Put the flour, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum into the bowl with the mixture, add the buttermilk and mix again quickly till all is blended. 
• I chopped up the walnuts & figs together in my kitchen aid and kept some walnuts aside (I bought more than the 100 grams) to decorate. 
• Mix in the walnuts & figs and then fill the cupcakecups and the bund cake molds. (It might just make one big yummy bund cake too i think!!)
• Put everything in the oven and bake for 25 minutes till the cupcakes have risen and are all golden and brown.
• While the cakes are in the oven for the last 10-15 minutes, make the caramel topping. Put all the ingredients for the caramel in a pan with a thick base. Put it on a low fire and keep stirring until all the sugar and butter has dissolved and the mixture is bubbling. Don't stop stirring now, and let it boil for about 5 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the heat, let the caramel cool a bit and when both the cupcakes, bundcakes and the caramel are cooled a bit pour some of the caramel on the cupcakes and decorate with a walnut or some chopped up walnuts.

Enjoy!

Glutenfree briochecupcakes with forest fruit topping

As promised after my rather big rant in my previous blog from 2 weeks ago here's a lovely new recipe. In this recipe I get to combine 3 of my food favorites: cupcakes, brioche bread and forest fruits. How's that for indulgence?

The basic, non glutenfree recipe, is from my cupcake inspiration: Cupcake Heaven magazine. I turned it into a glutenfree recipe & combined my brioche bread recipe with theirs. The difference with my brioche recipe is that I've used a bigger amount of butter, because I wanted an (even more) luxurious taste for these cupcakes and I've used less flour.They would make a great addition to a glutenfree high tea or just enjoy them with a great cup of tea.

This recipe makes 12 yummy brioche cupcakes.

Ingredients

• 200 grams (7 oz) of soft unsalted butter
• 20 grams (0.75 oz) of vanilla sugar
• 1 tablespoon of regular granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 375 grams (9.75 oz) of glutenfree breadflour
• 20 grams of yeast
• 1 teaspoon of iodized salt
• 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon of fiber husk
• 200 ml (7 fl oz) of lukewarm milk (use proper milk, not non-fat, it will make your brioche so much more tasteful)
• 1 egg (beaten)

For the topping

• 250 grams (9 oz) of forest fruits
• Powered sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 50 degrees centigrade (122 degrees fahrenheit), put a bowl of water in the oven. The water will help the proofing of the bread.
2. Mix the flour, sugar, vanilla sugar and salt in a bowl.
3. Add the xanthan gum and fiber husk and mix.
4. Add butter, 3 eggs and lukewarm milk and the yeast. Mix it all with an electric mixer till you get a firm yet sticky dough. 
5. Line cupcake trays with paper cups and scoop in the dough. 
6. Put it in the preheated oven for an hour to let it proof. 
7. After an hour, take the trays out of the oven and preheat the oven to 190 degrees centigrade (375 degrees fahrenheit). Brush the top of every cupcake with some of the beaten egg and when the oven is on the right temperature put it back into the oven for another 20-30 minutes until the cupcakes are baked and golden. Leave them on a rack to cool for a few minutes.
8. Make a puree of the forest fruits (I pureed them separately) and sweeten with powdered sugar. Spoon some puree over every cupcake.

Enjoy!

Fairly healthy cupcakes with a fruity twist

In less than two days time I'll turn 37. What? Yes, I'm still a tad bit in denial, but on Tuesday I'll be 37. ACK! ;-)
But a birthday also means treating your colleagues, so I baked two fruity cupcakes for them. A bit of a risk, as i had never made them before, and had to adapt it as the original recipe was a 'gluten recipe'  but... they turned out quite awesome (if i say so myself), so I feel comfortable to share them here. 

Firstly: Blueberry cupcakes with oatmeal (this recipe makes 12 cupcakes)

Ingredients:

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade (400 degrees fahrenheit)110 grams (about 4 oz) of oat flour
• 75 grams (2.75 oz) of rice flour
• 1,5 teaspoon of baking powder
• 0,5 teaspoon of baking soda
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of oatmeal
• 75 grams (2.75 oz) of granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum
• 2 tablespoons of clear honey
• 170 ml (3/4 of a cup) of buttermilk
• 55 ml (about 1/4 of a cup) of sunflower oil or olive oil. I used olive oil. 
• 1 tl vanilla aroma or a pod of vanilla
• 125 grams (4.5 oz) of blueberries

Instructions:

1. Put the paper cups in the muffin or cupcake tray.
2. Put the oat flour, the rice flour, xanthan gum, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl, mix  and add the oatmeal and sugar. 
3. Beat the eggs and honey in another bowl, add the buttermilk and vanilla aroma or vanilla seeds form the pod and whisk well.
4. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and beat it until everything is mixed, the batter can be a bit lumpy. Fold the blueberries into the mixture. 
5. Spoon the batter into the molds. bake them 20 minutes until golden brown. let them cool for about 5 minutes, take them out of the tin and cool on a wire rack. 

Secondly: Banana-dates cupcakes (yes, I want people to have a choice and it's a great excuse to bake more things LOL) This recipe makes 15 tiny cupcakes or 12 big ones. 

Ingredients:

• 2 very ripe bananas
• 175 grams (6 oz) of dates, without kernels and chopped or blitzed to tiny pieces. 
• 2 eggs beaten 
• 125 ml (half a cup) of olive oil
• 175 grams (6 oz) of fine granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla aroma or a vanilla pod 
• 175 grams (6 oz) of rice flour
• 2 teaspoons of xanthan gum

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade (350 degrees fahrenheit). 
2. Put the paper cups in the muffin or cupcake tray.
3. Mash up or blitz the bananas. Put them in a big bowl, add the eggs and oil. Mix well. 
4. Add the sugar, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla aroma, rice flour and xanthan gum. Mix well till the mixture is completely blended. Fold in the chopped dates untiol evenly spread. 
5. Spoon the batter into the paper cups. If you have left over dates, slice them in half and put a half on every cupcake. 
6. Put in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden. Let them cool for 5 minutes, then remove from the tin and let them fully cool on a wire rack. Before serving, dust them with powdered sugar. 

Happy birthday to me! Eeerm... enjoy! :-D

Zingy Piratey glutenfree orange cupcakes

I'm one of those suckers that always buys cupcake decoration magazines because I just love creating something new everytime & I love leafing through them. One of them, Cupcake Heaven, published a glutenfree recipe and I just had to try it. And so I did today and it's just marvellous! So all credit goes to Cupcake Heaven, but I thought I'd share this here too. 

My oldest pirate and his creations! :)

Ingredients:
110 grams (half a cup) of soft unsalted butter
110 grams (almost a cup) of sugar
110 grams (almost a cup) of almond flour
55 grams (half a cup) of mais flour or polenta flour
1/2 teaspoon of glutenfree baking soda
1 teaspoon of vanilla aroma (but better yet, use vanilla pods, one will do!)
1 egg
1 egg yolk
a pinch of salt
1 orange, squeezed & grated (for the orange zest)
4 tablespoons of powdered sugar
Marzipan to decorate

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade (392 degrees Fahrenheit)
• Put 12 cupcake cups in the cupcake tin
• Put all the ingredients (except for the orange juice, zest, marzipan and powedered sugar) into the bowl and beat with a mixer to a smooth dough.
• Add the zest and one tablespoon of the orange juice)
• Beat again. 
• Put the mixture into the cups and put the tins into the oven. Bake for about 12-15 minutes until they are golden brown and firm.
• Leave on a rack to cool. 
• Mix the powedered sugar with another tablespoon of juice. 
• Roll out the marzipan & cut shapes with cookie cutters by choice. Use the orange juice glaze to glue the marzipan to the cakes. 
• Enjoy!

 

And since my little boys are pirates at heart, we put Pirate decorations on the cupcakes, hence the Pirate reference in the tiltle of this recipe blog. :-D

ARGH! ARGH!

Jordan inspired cupcakes

Here's another (glutenfree) recipe of mine based on a totally embarrassing & totally fun Twitter-convo. For those of you who don't know this, i'm a blockhead. A what? A Blockhead. A New Kids on the Block fan. Yes, they are still around. Yes, i still love them. Yes, I think Jordan Knight is the bees knees and I loved Jonathan Knight back in the day (still do actually). Anyway, that conversation started something like this:


@JKfiedJongirl @jordanknight say... if you were a cupcake what flavour would you be? 
Yes, my twittername is NKOTB inspired too. ;-)
(Yeah, truly i asked him that. I know, i was bored, i have no shame & i need a life! :))
Responses came flying, but of course not from Jordan (if he even saw it he must've hit the mute button as fast as a BH who sees a Vip ticket popping up in her computerscreen). But... thank the lord, i am not the only bored weirdo out there. I figured he'd be a double chocolate cupcake with mascarpone frosting. Yummy yet classy.
Of course the majority of my USA based followers figured he tasted like a chocolate cupcake with Nutella frosting. Seriously, what is it with those Americans and the worship of hazelnut flavoured chocolatespread? Here only kids eat that stuff as far as i know. ;)
Progressively the tweets got, how shall we say..., so embarrassing i'd better not repost all of that here? Anyway, we also figured he could be a chocolate cupcake with a peanutbutter frosting. Yeah... don't judge until you tried it!

It gave me enough inspiration to start another baking session on another boring day. It ended up as these cupcakes:


For the (glutenfree) cupcakes i simply used a glutenfree cakemix and added extra cocoa and chocolate chips for good measure and baked them as the instructions on the packet said. So just use whatever you normally use to make cupcakes or cakes. There are many options out there these days. The magic is in the frosting! :)
I let them cool and made my frostings. Here are the amounts. I decorated 4-5 cupcakes per flavour with these amounts:


Mascarpone frosting:
100 grams of mascarpone (roughly half a cup or a little less?)
100 grams of powdered sugar
a few spoonfulls of milk


Nutella frosting:
50 grams of butter
3-4 spoons of Nutella
100 grams of powdered sugar


Peanutbutter frosting:
40 grams of butter
85 grams of peanut butter
100 grams of powdered sugar
30 ml of milk

I decorated the mascarpone & peanutbutter cupcakes with chocolate sprinkles, the Nutella with smashed hazelnuts & nougatine.
All were yummy, but i still hope he'd tasted like chocolate & mascarpone. :) If you completely disagree and you think Jordan would make a totally different cupcake, please don't hesitate to share it here, i might attempt to make it! (Please enable me, ok? )