Surprise Centre Muffins Recipe

Here is a recipe for a super quick and easy muffin, which hides a hidden surprise inside its moist, vanilla sponge.  A great recipe for the kids to help with that can be adapted for a whole range of different yummy fillings.  You can use Nutella, fruit pie filling, jam, lemon curd, mini Oreos, a square of chocolate or peanut butter.  Whatever takes your fancy!  We made ours using Duerr's Rhubarb & Custard Jam.

Ingredients

140g golden caster sugar

200g plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

100ml natural yogurt (I used soya)

2 large free range eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

140g melted butter (I used vegan Pure)

12 tsp of filling (I used Duerr's Rhubarb & Custard Jam)

sprinkle of demerara sugar to finish

Method

Preheat oven to 170 degrees/GM5 and put muffin cases in a tin.

Mix together flour, sugar, bicarb in a bowl.

In another bowl, whisk yogurt, eggs, vanilla and melted butter.

Add wet ingredients to dry and fold to combine.

Put a spoonful of batter into each case.

Then add 1 teaspoon of the filling.

Top with another spoonful of batter so the filling is completely enveloped.

Sprinkle demerara sugar over the top before cooking for 15-18 minutes.

Allow to cool slightly before eating....jam can get hot!!  They are delicious warm or served with custard for a comforting dessert.  They are great fun and good for experimenting with different flavours.  For example, you could fill with apple pie filling and swap the vanilla for cinnamon. 

Chocolate, Marshmallow and Cola Cupcake Recipe

Here is a recipe for some quick and easy Sweet Treats that the kids will love to help you to bake and then eat.  They can be decorated using any toppings and decorations you like (we've used a swirl of Betty Crocker frosting topped with the limited edition Brazilian M&Ms to give our cakes a BrasiliaWorld Cup 2014 flavour!)  The addition of Cola into the batter makes them very light.

Chocolate, Marshmallow and Cola Cupcakes

Ingredients

250 g self-raising flour

2 tablespoons of cocoa powder

125g sugar

1 egg

6 tablespoons of rice bran oil

150ml Cola

50g mini marshmallows

50 g chocolate chips

Method

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl.

In a jug mix the egg and oil, then add the cola.

Mix the wet and dry ingredients together until just combined.

Fold in chocolate chips and mini marshmallows.

Spoon into prepared muffin cups (try to make sure the marshmallows are all covered with batter).

Cook in a pre-heated oven at GM5 for about 20 minutes.

Once cooked and cooled you can decorate them if you wish.

This recipe uses Tate & Lyle Granulated Sugar (currently £1.55 for a 2 kg bag) and Coca-Cola (currently £2.64 for an 8 can pack), both of which can be found on the Morrison's Price Checker, which is a handy online tool allowing us to check price cuts every week.

“This post is an entry for the #MorrisonsMum Summer Recipe eBook Challenge sponsored by Morrisons, which has recently cut prices on over a thousand every day products. Find out more here price checker tool”.

Freddy - My Little Adventurer

Freddy is now my little schoolboy and takes a packed lunch everyday.  As part of his lunchbox, he has a Barny bear shaped sponge snack that has a hidden, chocolatey centre.  He loves them.  So much so that I stocked up with loads of multi-packs when they were on offer at our local supermarket.

When I saw Britmums were running a linky in conjunction with Barny about the adventures that our little ones enjoy, I just had to join in.  I wasn't quick enough to get a free sample, but as I had my stockpile, I wasn't too upset - after all we'd aready discovered the exciting world of Barny!

Freddy is my Little Adventurer, a 4 year old on a mission to discover, explore and enjoy the environment around him.  He loves to climb on things, run through things, jump over things, swing on things, look at things and pick up things!

We are so lucky to have a local community farm just a few minutes away from our house.  There are some wonderful walks and discovery trails where he can explore the flora and fauna of the countryside.  He loves being with his family and going on an adventure.  He finds sticks that he pretends are wands and casts Harry Potter style spells on us all, turning us into frogs.  Then the stick becomes a pirate's sword for some swashbuckling action, while fallen logs become planks to walk.  He builds dens, goes on a 'bear hunt' or searches for Grufalo.  The trees are a magical woodland full of mystery and with his imagination anything is possible.

He fills his pockets with leaves, twigs, stones and flowers.  Sometimes I think he's starting his own mini-compost heap!  If I remember, pockets are emptied out and the bountiful contents are examined.  If I forget, the washing machine gets a few extra bits in the laundry.

I love to watch my Little Adventurer at play.  Packing an individually wrapped Barny and a drink in my bag for an emergency snack gives him the energy he needs to keep going on his exciting, outdoor adventures.

This post is an entry for BritMums ‘Little AdventuresChallenge’ in partnership with Barny, the bear-shaped snack providing a little discovery in every bite. Find out more about Barny here” 

Oreo Brownie Traybake Recipe

I absolutely love the Great British Bake Off.  I adore Mary Berry with her old lady jeans and silver fox Paul Hollywood with his smouldering, blue eyes.  Throw a whole load of cakes and bakes into the mix and you get must-see TV.

As I've been dieting I have resisited the urge to join in with Jenny and Helen's GBBO linky. Home baking is just too tempting and my shrinking waistline would not forgive me if I suddenly ate an entire trifle or fruit pie.  But this week, with almost 2 stone lost overall, I think I can afford a little indulgence, so I've joined in with the Great Bloggers Bake Off  for Traybake week.  I've come up with a recipe that combines the kids' favourite biscuits with a decadent, but easy to make brownie.  I also added some milk chocolate (from an advent calendar I bought last year for 10p in the sales -use by November 2013.  I bought about 20 of them for just this sort of thing!!) 

I've also linked up with A Mummy Too's Recipe of the week linky.

Oreo Brownie Traybake

Ingredients

7 oz dark chocolate

7 oz butter

11 oz golden caster sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 oz plain flour

3 oz milk chocolate 

8 Oreo biscuits chopped roughly

Method

Melt chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.

Meanwhile whisk together the sugar, eggs and vanilla extract until thick and creamy.

Stir in melted chocolate mixture.

Fold in flour.

Stir in chocolate and chopped biscuits.

Pour into a foil tray or prepared tin. (approx 8" x 13")

Cook in a pre-heated oven at GM4 for 25 minutes.

Cut into even pieces and sprinkle with icing sugar when cold.

(or grab a slab of it and eat it while it's warm!)

They are rich, moist and have the extra bite and flavour of Oreo biscuits. 

Delicious Personalised Cakes Through The Post

Delicious, fresh cakes through your letterbox.

You can't always be there when a loved one celebrates a birthday or other special occasion.  But you can let them know you are thinking of them by sending them a personalised cake from Bakerdays.com.

This unique gift is designed to be sent through the post and drop through a letterbox without causing it any damage.  As it fits through most letterboxes you don't have to worry about whether anyone is in to take delivery.  It is so much better (and yummier) than just receiving a card!

The cake arrives boxed in its own special tin which protects it and keeps it fresh.  A candle, balloon, gift card and party blower and are also included to help the recipient celebrate.

There are over 400 designs to choose from and five cake flavours: Madeira, lemon, fruit, carrot and double chocolate chip.  You can personalise your cake with a name and a message and even upload a photo.

This week we celebrated Megan's 21st birthday and Bakerdays kindly sent her a cake.  It arrived via Royal Mail in perfect condition.  

The personalised iced top was such a surprise when Megan opened the tin.  It really is a delightful gift to receive.  The double chocolate chip cake itself was "lush" and "fudgy" and a definite huge hit, and there was enough for four slices.  She was really thrilled and loved the idea of getting a fresh, delicious cake through the post. 

A personalised letterbox cake starts at just £14.99 including delivery.   Simply go to www.bakerdays.com to choose and create your own special gift.  If Royal Mail can reach your loved one, so can a Bakerdays cake.

Mini Lollipop Cupcakes

Apple Cakes Recipe

Flora Cuisine recently sent me their new Let's Get Cooking recipe book and the ingredients to make one of the recipes, Apple Cakes.  So we got busy baking and made these delicious autumnal cakes!

Apple Cakes

Ingredients

115ml Flora Cuisine

115g caster sugar

115g self raising flour

2 free range eggs

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 dessert apples chopped

Method

Preheat oven to GM5.

Mix together the Flora Cuisine, sugar, flour, eggs and cinnamon until smooth.

Fold in chopped apples.

Divide between 12 - 18 cake cases.

Cook for 12 - 15 minutes until they spring back when lightly touched.

They were light, moist and had a delicious flavour.  They really are perfect for autumn with the inclusion of apple and warming cinnamon.  They were so easy and quick to make using the Flora Cuisine and the all in one method.  I'll definitely be making these again!

Blueberry Cupcake Recipe

With Kizzy's birthday this week, I have have the perfect excuse for baking lots of goodies to celebrate and share with all our friends and family.  One of the cakes I made were these Blueberry Cupcakes which look really impressive and taste lush!!

Ingredients

4oz Self Raising Flour

4oz Butter

4oz Golden Caster Sugar

1 tspn Ground Cinnamon

4 oz  Blueberries

2 Free Range Eggs

3 1/2  fl oz milk

3oz Butter

6oz Icing Sugar

Blue Food Colouring Gel

Blueberries to decorate

Method

Preheat oven at 180 degrees and prepare a muffin tin with cup cake cases.

Beat together sugar, butter, eggs and milk with a hand whisk.

Slowly add flour and cinnamon.

Fold in berries.

Divide into cases and bake for 20-25 minutes.

When cool make the topping by beating together the butter, icing sugar and blue food colouring.

Pipe in swirls and top with blueberries to decorate.

Enjoy!!

It's National Cupcake Week

Making Baking A Piece of Cake

This week (the 17th - 23rd September) is National Cupcake Week.  Here Inside the Wendy House, we love the odd cupcake or two and here are a couple of our past creations (with links to the recipes)!

Coffee Cupcakes

Bailey's Cupcakes

Baking is such a lovely activity to enjoy with the kids.  So when Wilkinson sent us some baking goodies to try out we were most pleased!  They have a range of durable, colourful and practical accessories which are perfect for encouraging the kids into the kitchen.  The range includes silicone moulds, aprons, scales and utensils, making baking a piece of cake!  It is all such good value.  A pack of 12 bright coloured silicone cupcake moulds cost just £2!  Kids' utensils start at just £1, and have an element of fun that will make them want to help out with cooking.  They are never too young to start!

We received some great cookie cutters in assorted shapes which will make some very appealing, bite size  cookies or gingerbread.  We also have a butterfly shaped cake mould, cup cake cases and an icing bag.  They are all very kid friendly, but also fully functional and good quality. 

So later this week we will be baking ourselves some yummy cupcakes ... how about these delicious Oreo Cupcakes filled with pieces of  Oreo and topped with vanilla buttercream??  It is National Cupcake Week after all!

Oreo Cupcakes

There are four ways to shop at Wilkinsons, the high street 'home of family value' retailer:

In store, from the catalogue, online at www.wilkinsonplus.com or by phone on 08456 080807.

Silent Sunday - Mini Baker

Coffee Muffin Recipe

Coffee Muffins For Father's Day

The two most important and amazing men in my life (excluding my two precious sons!!) are my Dad and my husband/baby daddy Ian.  Father's Day is the time to honour their role in my life and the best way of doing so is through the medium of cake!

Both of them love coffee cake..it is after all a manly flavour!  So in honour of them both I have made my totally delicious Coffee Muffins.  They are the lightest muffins ever and the fudgy  icing is just a little taste of coffee heaven.  Here's the recipe in case you want to make some for the man in your life too!

Coffee Muffins

Ingredients

150g butter

150g unrefined sugar

3 egg whites

4 egg yolks

1 tblspn hot water + 1 teaspn coffee granules

150g plain flour

1 teaspn baking powder

1 1/2 tblspn milk

knob of butter

200g icing sugar

2 teaspns coffee granules

half walnuts and chocolate covered coffee beans to decorate

Method

• Preheat oven to GM4 and line muffin tin with paper cases.
• Melt butter and sugar in saucepan , bring to boil and cook for 2 minutes stirring constantly.  Leave to cool.
• Whisk egg whites until stiff.
• Add egg yolks and coffee to sugar/butter mix.
• Stir in flour and baking powder.
• Fold in whisked egg whites.
• Spoon into muffin cases and cook for 15-20 minutes.
• When cool make icing by heating butter, coffee and milk in a pan then remove from heat and beat in icing sugar.
• Pipe or spread on top of muffins (add a drop more milk if too thick) and top with a walnut half or a chocolate coffee bean.

Step by Step Photos

My Fabulous Mini Baker!

Our Day With The Fabulous Bakin' Boys

Today Kizzy and I headed off to Oxford to visit the Fabulous Bakin' Boys factory where she was going to be working on the production of her new Jungle Jumble cupcakes!

On arrival she was kitted out with an apron and chef's hat before entering the test kitchens to knock up a test run of her recipe.  With precise measurements and timings, the recipe was identical to the huge runs that will be produced in the factory, just scaled down!

With Kizzy's choice of colour and flavour intensities, the cakes were exactly how she had imagined them.  The yellow coloured, banana flavoured sponge is topped with white chocolate flavoured with tropical fruits and coloured in a natural mango-orange colouring!  As these cupcake minis were for her own consumption, she got to decorate them with sprinkles, sugar flowers and other fabulous toppings.  She was totally in her element personalising her cupcakes!  She also had a go at making some swirly buttercream topped cakes and I picked up some expert advice from the Bakin' Boy cooks!

After she'd finished baking, we donned protective gear and had a tour of the factory to see some Mixed Berry Minis and Chocolate Flapjack Fingers being made.  Never have I seen so many cakes in one place!!  Thousands of goodies whizzed by in an impressive feat of engineering and manpower!  The manual chocolate spreaders who spread molten chocolate onto huge sheets of flapjack were amazing!

Kizzy had a photoshoot to take the pictures that will appear on the packaging of her cupcake minis.  Bless her, she is a real pro...patient and accommodating!  I was very proud of her.

A tea party in the Not-So-Bored-Room was thoroughly enjoyed with Kizzy eating her own body weight in watermelon, strawberries, grapes...and of course cupcakes!  It was lovely chatting to the team and the love of the company came across loud and clear.  

Having a sneaky peek at the packaging that will be used was really thrilling!  I won't give too much away but the box design is incredibly cute and has a brilliant jungle theme.  Kizzy was delighted with it.  I can't wait to see the finished packaging with her photo on the front on the shelves of Asda, Morrisson's and the Co-Op when they are launched later in the summer!

Another photo shoot with the local press marked the end of Kizzy's day as a Mini Baker.  Laden down with cupcakes, muffins and cakes to share with the rest of the family, Kizzy was quite exhausted but had loved every minute of this experience.

Kizzy and The Team!

I'll keep you posted on details of the launch of Kizzy's cupcakes from the Fabulous Bakin' Boys!

In the meantime, check out the Fabulous Bakin' Boys Facebook Page for competitions, news, chat and fun!

Fabulous Bakin' Boys Easter Range

When you've had enough of chocolate over Easter, how about indulging your sweet tooth with this range of Easter cupcakes from The Fabulous Bakin' Boys!  The eyecatching packaging has been specially designed for Easter and is rather egg-cellent!!

Fabulous Bakin' Boys Easter Range

The range includes a six pack of Choccy Cupcakes in an assortment of white, milk and dark chocolate toppings on a chocolate chip sponge.  There are also Mini Cupcakes in packs of twelve in Triple Choc, Choccy, White Choccy and fruity St.Clements.  Every cupcake comes individually wrapped making them perfect for sharing!

Individually Packaged Cupcakes

The cupcakes would make a nice addition to an Easter Egg Hunt this year!  Pop some into the kids' Easter baskets for a yummy alternative to chocolate eggs.

Easter Cupcake Hunt

The cupcakes can be decorated with a cake topper to make a fun centrepiece of choccy chick cakes!

Thick Chocolate Topping and Choc Chip Sponge!

The ultimate test is of course in the tasting!  Freddy was a willing guinea pig and loved the cupcakes, eating them topping first!  The toppings are thick and the sponge is light.  Just how Freddy likes it!

Perfect Bitesize Cupcakes

Yummy Big Cakes

The Easter Cupcake and Mini Cupcake range are available for just £1 per pack in Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Asda.  The Chocolate and White Chocolate topped cupcakes with plain sponge are exclusive to Asda.  The Fabulous Bakin' Boys' cakes are nut free, contain no artificial colours or flavours.

*We were sent the cakes to enjoy but no other compensation was provided.*

The Real Cupcake Company

There is nothing in this world as delicious as a freshly baked cupcake topped with lashings of frosting.  Little bakeries and tea rooms have sprung up across the country on the back of the rising popularity of the cupcake, and they are being sold at a premium!  Imagine being able to make your own quality, gourmet cupcakes in your own home for a fraction of the cost!  Well...imagine no more.  The Real Cupcake Company have created a range of dairy free gourmet cupcake kits using real fruit and no artificial ingredients, colourings or flavourings!  Designed with the home baking experience in mind, you just need to add egg.  It is quick and easy to make a dozen gorgeous cupcakes.  I was sent a Strawberry Kit to try out for myself.

The kit arrives by post and needs to be refrigerated until you use it.  Inside is everything you need (except for two eggs) including a ready-to-bake plain cake mixture, ready-to-pipe real fruit icing mix, decorations, 12 cupcake cases, two piping bags, piping nozzles and instructions.

The contents of the cupcake kit.

You add two eggs to the cake mixture which then simply needs to be whisked for 30 seconds on slow then for 60 seconds on high.

Whisk with 2 eggs.

The mixture is then divided into the 12 cupcake cases and then popped into the pre-heated oven at GM4 for 12-15 minutes.  Simple!  Once they are cooked and cold, you are ready to ice them.  The piping bags and nozzles can be used to create a swirl or rose frosting effect with the ready-to-pipe strawberry icing.  To be honest, my skills were not quite up to the illustrations in the instruction book, but once the decorations are on it doesn't really matter!

The Real Cupcake Company

Strawberry Cupcake

The cupcakes were indeed gorgeous, with light, bouncy, airy sponge topped with soft, sweet icing bursting with real strawberry flavour.  They are deliciously fruity and it is so nice to taste real fruit in the icing rather than synthetic flavourings.  It is a touch of culinary genius!!

Yummy!

The Real Cupcake Company stock kits in Lemon, Orange and Strawberry  flavours, each made with real fruit.  Perfect for parties, they will really impress your guests.  For a more decadent treat, there are Strawberry & Champagne and Blueberry & Bourbon cupcake kits available.  They make 12 devilishly delicious cupcakes, made with premium wines or spirits, perfect for grown-ups.  What a great idea for Valentine's Day!!

Prices start at £9.99 with free postage.