A Tale of Two Cupcakes

A friend is soon off to have her first baby, so we decided to adopt that American tradition of showering the mum-to-be in gifts, cards and imitation-sparkling-wine-from-champagne-flutes-so-it-felt-classy at a baby shower .  Claire hosted at her place, and all the girls contributed a little something to our afternoon tea themed celebration. 

Cupcakes were my responsibility (after all, nothing says "you're having your first baby, get used to a reliance on sugar to get you through the day" better than cake) so I turned to my trusty Primrose Bakery cookbook for inspiration.  I knew I wanted cupcakes that were season appropriate, and cranberry, orange, chocolate and peppermint sounded like the perfect combinations (not all in one cupcake I hasten to add!)  After a quick check that the mum-to-be could eat all of the ingredients that go into these rather decadent treats without causing any harm to the baby, I cranked out a couple of batches the morning of the party.

I went for Chocolate with Peppermint Icing and Orange and Cranberry with Orange Blossom Icing

I admit that 24 cupcakes may have been a little excessive for a party comprising of 5 people, but I was counting on my office colleagues to finish of any leftovers and they did not disappoint.  The various men in our lives also managed to help make sure that none went to waste when they came to pick the ladies up post party.

As this suggests, these cupcakes will keep for a couple of days in an air tight container (do not refrigerate), but don't keep for any longer than that!  These are pretty rich cupcakes as well - one per person is normally more than enough!

Chocolate Cupcakes

115g 70% dark chocolate
85 unsalted butter (room temperature)
175g soft brown sugar
2 eggs, separated
185g plain flour, sifted
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
250ml semi skimmed milk (room temperature)
1 tsp good quality vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 170C and line a 12-hole muffin tin with cupcake cases

Melt the chocolate and leave to cool slightly

Cream the butter and sugar until pale and smooth.  In a separate bowl beat the egg yolks for several minutes.  Slowly add the egg yolks to the creamed mixture and beat well.  Add the melted chocolate and beat again.

Combine the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a seperate bowl.  Mix the milk and vanilla extract together.  add 1/3 of the flour mix to the chocolate mix and beat well.  Add 1/3 of the milk mix to the batter and beat well.  Repeat twice more with the flour and milk mixes.

Whisk the egg whites in a separate bowl until soft peaks start to form.  Carefully fold the egg whites into the batter using a metal spoon.  Do not beat.  The batter will be quite liquid/

Carefully spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, filling to about 2/3rds full.  Bake for 20-25 mins until a skewer comes out clean.  Leave to cool in the tin for at least 10 minutes before turning onto a cooling rack and allowing to cool completely before icing.

Peppermint Buttercream Icing.

110g unsalted butter (room temperature)
60ml semi-skimmed milk
1/2 tsp good quality peppermint extract
500g icing sugar
Couple of drops of peppermint green food colouring
Couple of candy canes, lightly smashed up or small peppermint sweets

Beat the butter, milk, peppermint extract and half the icing sugar until smooth.  Gradually add the remainder of the icing sugar until smooth and creamy.  Taste and add more peppermint extract if required.

Add a drop of food colouring and beat well.  Continue to add in single drops and beat until the buttercream is the required colour.

Ice using an icing bag if available and decorate with smashed up candy canes or peppermint sweets

Cranberry and Orange Cupcakes

2 large eggs
200g caster sugar
100g corn oil
135ml sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Grated zest of 1orange
230g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
140g fresh, finely chopped cranberries

Preheat the oven to 140C and line a 12 hole muffin tin with cupcake cases

Beat the eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy and then slowly add the oil a little at a time, beating well after each addition.  Repeat the process with the sour cream and vanilla extract and finally the orange zest.

Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl and then add to the batter and beat well.  Fold in the chopped cranberries gently.

Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, filling to about 2/3rds full.  Bake for about 25 minutes or until slightly raised, golden brown and a skewer comes out clean from the centre.

Allow to cool in the tin for at least 10 minutes before turning out to a cooling rack.  Once they are cool completely, go icing mad.

Orange Blossom Buttercream

115g unsalted butter (room temperature)
Juice of 1 freshly squeezed orange (a big one)
500g icing sugar
2 teaspoons orange blossom water

Beat the butter, juice and half the icing sugar together until smooth.  Gradually add the remainder of the icing sugar and beat until smooth and creamy.  Add the orange blossom water and beat again.  Taste and add more orange blossom if required

Ice using an icing bag if available and decorate with whole cranberries

I've now made a few different cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery book and they have never disappointed!  I love their flavour combinations as well.

Any particular ones that you would recommend?

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Afternoon Tea at Eastwell Manor

One darkening autumnal afternoon, that was flush with the fresh bite you get in country air, the ladies and I decided to escape from the realities of life for a bit with a visit to Eastwell Manor for a spot of afternoon tea.

Eastwell Manor will always hold a special place in my heart; it’s where Steve and I got married.  Returning to it always feels a little like coming home – in fact (unabashed bragging here) my family does have ancestral ties to the Manor, a fact we discovered only after we had booked the place for the wedding.  Unfortunately they aren’t strong enough to boot the current owners out and take up a permanent residency.

Eastwell really is the quintessential country park and estate, originally built over the course of 10 years between 1540 and 1550 as a private residence for Sir Thomas Moyle.  Nowadays the Manor serves as a country house hotel, complete with golf and fishing facilities and the land also operates as a working farm.  

To me, it is just beautiful.  Situated in the village of Boughton Lees, between Canterbury and Ashford, you enter through the great gates and drive up the sweeping track, past the fields of sheep until you reach the Manor proper.  There, you pull in across crunching gravel and cross the courtyard lit by the yellow gleam of the Manor’s windows.  As you are walking, the scent of wood smoke hits you immediately from the great fire in the entrance hall.  It feels like you are stepping back in time. 

Upon entering, we were led into the bar area where our table had been set up in the bay window.  This bar has some seriously impressive spirits and liquors behind it.  When my grandfather offered to buy Steve a drink on our wedding day, he was very, very tempted to opt for the Napoleonic brandy that was encased in a locked, glass cabinet.  It's lucky he didn't - I think it was about £500 a measure!  We weren't interested in the bar though, and instead sank into deep sofa’s, glanced at the menu options, and all four of us ordered the Champagne Tea at a very reasonable £29 a head.  Champagne for myself, Kir Royale for Claire and Ellie and a Bellini for Jo.  

The afternoon tea at Eastwell is seasonal, with the flavours and ingredients being selected to complement the time of the year.  We were treated to sandwiches filled with roast beef and rocket, crayfish and smoked salmon, cream cheese and cucumber and egg mayonnaise.  The scones were fresh baked, some filled with dried fruits, and served with clotted cream, spiced fruit jam and, much to Jo’s delight as it is one of her most favourite things in the world, lemon curd. 

The cake and pastries were the crowning glory though.  Each one invoked the soul of autumn in every flavourful morsel.  There was sticky maple and pecan tartlets, spiced apple trifle with walnuts and brandy soaked pieces of lady finger, moist chocolate brownies and pumpkin cake topped with cinnamon cream.   

I was chatting with The Demon Gin a few days after this, comparing notes on afternoon tea, and she noted that her fella had commented that, for the price of an average afternoon tea, he could get an enormous steak, pile of chips and a few beers.  Well, yes, I'm not going to argue with that, but afternoon tea is more than just the pots of tea and scones.  It's the entire experience - being in luxurious surroundings, waited on hand and foot, spending time with your nearest and dearest and, for a few hours at least, escaping from the real world.  Eastwell manages to carry this off with finesse.

The tea menu is extensive.  I opted for the Eastwell blend, a mixture of Assam and Ceylon teas that was perfect for me.  Ellie, being the only non-tea drinker with us, had an entire teapot of hot chocolate prepared for her at no extra charge.  The solid silver milk jugs added a touch of luxury to the meal.  They were seriously heavy!

Afternoon tea never looks as though it will be enough to sate your appetite, but we had to be rolled out when we had finished, and there were still a couple of items left uneaten.  We had been there for a good few hours and had been left to enjoy ourselves, the tea and the surroundings in peace by the staff, only occasionally being interrupted to see if there was anything else we required.  

Post tea, we went for a stroll around the gardens, partly to walk off some of our excesses, partly to enjoy the surroundings.  It is from the gardens that the most impressive views of Eastwell can be enjoyed.   

I didn’t know the girls when I got married, so I showed them the Italian garden where our ceremony took place.   It looked a bit forlorn in the early evening light; the last time I was there the place had been bursting with flowers and blooms in every colour imaginable.  The views back over the down's are still as impressive as ever though.

The grounds really are beautiful, wide avenues flanked by meticulously trimmed hedges leading onto sweeping lawns and the great fountain presiding over it all quietly in the centre.

However it is the Manor that draws my eye time and time again, the mishmash of neo-Elizabethan and Victorian-Tudor style architecture forming an utterly recognisable silhouette against the skyline, lead piped windows and red ivy covering the grey brick work.

Given the choice, I would happily stay here forever.

If you like (or hate!) what you have read, please do let me know in the comments below or slap me with a cheeky follow, or say Hi to me on my facebook group or twitter!