Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

I baked these for a third birthday party last month. The recipe is one that has become a favourite of mine, and that honestly seems to work just as well with either butter or sunflower spread. Unusually, the kids finish them in their entirety - rather than just licking off the icing and discarding the cake beneath.

The recipe is based on Marguerite Patten's recipe for sponge cake, which has never failed for me, whether at Victoria Sponge size or tiny fairy cake size. You can't really see from the picture, but the cupcake cases have fire engines on the side - I tried to make bright red icing to go on top, but it tasted bitter, so I reverted to a pale orange instead.

Recipe and Method

Cakes (about 8 fairy cakes or 6 medium cupcakes)

Weigh the egg

Use same weight of sunflower spread and caster sugar, then cream together

Sift 1 tbsp cocoa powder then make up to the weight of the egg with self-raising flour

Beat the egg into the creamed spread and sugar, then mix in the cocoa and flour

Mix in the zest of 1 orange

Divide equally into cupcake cases and bake at 180 C for 8-12 mins, depending on size. They're done when a skewer comes out cleanly

Icing

25g sunflower spread

100 icing sugar

Juice of 1 orange

Beat the sunflower spread well, then stir in the (sieved) icing sugar, using a little orange juice to bring it all together. You shouldn't need more than a couple of tablespoons or orange juice. Makes enough icing to cover the tops of the cakes (as in my photo). If you want swirling icing then you'll need to double the quantity.

For larger quantities, just weigh the eggs and use that weight for all the other ingredients.

Recipe Evolution

This way of making sponge cakes using the weight of the eggs to determine the weight of the other ingredients was designed for use with old-fashioned balancing scales, so you could use the egg(s) as a counterweight for the other ingredients. It works brilliantly with digital scales, as you can be really accurate with the weights.

Weightwatchers

If you make 6 cakes per egg then these have 5 propoints each (using the recipe builder on the website), if you make 8 per egg then they have 4 propoints each

Dairy-free Peanut Butter Cookies

This blog seems to be turning into a 'how-to' for good dairy-free baking - which shouldn't really have come as a surprise to me, as I've spent the last 15 months or so perfecting some dairy-free recipes. My goal is always to bake things that work well without dairy products and that I would be happy to eat even if there was a dairy alternative.

I have experimented with a lot of cookies over the last year or so, and although I've found several combinations that work relatively well, these are the best so far. I'm sure that the peanut butter makes all the difference, and the texture is (if I say so myself) perfect. My son absolutely loved them straight out of the oven, but was less keen once they had cooled down. However my daughter (for whom all this dairy-free baking is done) was not at all keen and wouldn't even take a bite, warm or cold.

Myself and my partner loved them however, so I will definitely be making them again.

Ingredients

170g Sunflower Spread ( I use Pure)

105g Demerera Sugar

100 Gram Caster Sugar

1 Egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

185g Crunchy Peanut Butter

260g Plain Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

Method

Beat the sunflower spread and sugars together, before mixing in the peanut butter. Then beat in the rest of the ingredients.

Roll the mixture into approx 2.5 cm sized balls and place on a baking tray. Press down with a fork. Bake them for about 10 minutes at 170 C

Recipe Evolution

This recipe here is the one I adapted, from the excellent website The Joy of Baking

Weightwatchers

If you make 32 of these, then they will have 4 propoints each (using the recipe builder calculator on the website). Without the chocolate chips they will have 3 propoints each, but I haven't tried baking them without the chocolate. I expect they would still be good though.

Dairy-free Chocolate Fudge Cake

My brother-in-law came to stay a couple of weeks ago and we noticed that it was his birthday over the weekend he was with us. Now, when you reach your mid-fifties you tend not to make such a fuss about birthdays anymore, so we thought we'd make him a surprise cake. Even the 3-year-old managed to keep it a surprise and only referred to a 'special pudding' and at the end of dinner we duly turned off the lights, lit a few candles on the top of the cake and sang Happy Birthday to him. He was properly surprised, and and texted later to say he was really pleased we made the effort - which just illustrates the point that you're never too old for a birthday cake.

For my part, I was really pleased with the cake itself. I adapted it from my grandmother's recipe (which I will I'm sure blog about at some point - it is the family's chocolate cake of choice) to make it dairy-free and I have to say that I think this version may even beat the original.

Ingredients (cake)

8oz self-raising flour

3 oz sunflower spread

7 oz caster sugar

2 tbsp golden syrup

1 cup (250ml) almond milk

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 eggs

4 tbsp cocoa

Ingredients (icing)

12 oz icing sugar

2 tbsp cocoa

2 oz sunflower spread

a little hot water

Method (cake)

Cream the sunflower spread and sugar, add the eggs and mix well. Then stir in the (sieved) flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. Finally mix in the golden syrup and almond mixture. It will seem very runny - that's how it's supposed to look.

Makes enough for 2 8" sandwich tins or 2 7" sandwich tins and about 4 cupcakes.

Bake at 190 C for 20-25 mins, or until a skewer comes out clean. The cupcakes will take 8-10 mins.

Turn onto a rack and ice when completely cool.

Method (icing)

Beat the sunflower spread well, then stir in the (sieved) icing sugar and cocoa, using a little hot water to bring it all together. You shouldn't need more than a couple of tablespoons of water. Makes enough icing to sandwich the two cakes together and ice the top (as in my photo). If you want to cover the sides as well you'll need to make half as much again.

Hints

Keeps in the fridge for at least 4 days. If you don't like cold cake then I can heartily recommend popping a slice in the microwave for 20 secs or so - with amazing results.

I have used soya milk instead of almond milk with good results, but the taste and texture are superior with almond milk.

Dairy-free Pancakes

I experimented with a few dairy-free pancake mixtures until I found the best one - so I thought I'd share it here. They are thick and fluffy, and extremely moreish, and I can honestly say that I enjoy them just as much as my previous efforts with cow's milk.

They are perfect with maple syrup and streaky bacon - both the 3-year-old and the 1-year-old love them and ask for them every weekend without fail. They also work with blueberries in them - scatter a handful of blueberries over the pancake before you flip it for the first time.

Ingredients

1 cup plain flour

1 cup soya milk

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

Method

Whisk together until the batter is smooth, with no lumps. Cook in a griddle or frying pan with a small amount of vegetable oil in it. Serves 2 hungry adults or 4 dieting ones.

Hints

They are best made straight after mixing the batter - if it is left to rest for longer than a few minutes it goes a bit grey and thick (although still tastes ok when cooked)

Recipe Evolution

I must credit this website here - the mixture I started with before tweaking it to my taste.

Chocolate Chip Shortbread

I can't remember ever making shortbread before, as I'm not normally a fan, but I'm very proud of how well my first attempt turned out. I was inspired to make it at the weekend for two reasons - one is that I was saw by this recipe on the Baking Bar blog, and the other is that the partner had mentioned that shortbread was a particular favourite of hers.

It was dead easy to make, and due to the partner's request for plain shortbread I put about a fifth of the plain mixture in the tin before folding the chocolate chips into the rest of the mixture.

I was really pleased with the results - it is indeed rich and buttery, and had a great texture. The 3-year-old was very excited throughout the baking process, and attacked the first piece I gave him with enthusiasm. By the second piece, however, I noticed that he was just picking out the chocolate chips, and thereafter he asked for chocolate chips on their own, which was a little disappointing. The partner loved the plain version and has requested I make it again soon.

It just so happened that we were going to a picnic the next day, so I duly packed a box of the chocolate chip version (as was under strict instructions to leave all the plain at home for the partner to eat during the week) and it was a big hit - with children and adults alike. In fact I had to hide the box from one 3-year-old after I saw him reaching for a fourth piece...

Verdit - I would definitely make this again, although I might try with dark chocolate chips next time.

Spotty Cakes

I made these cakes at the weekend at the request from the 3-year-old. They are based on some he saw in an article in a cbeebies magazine - the Mr Tumble themed issue. (for those who don't know who Mr Tumble is - he's a character in a current children's TV programme called Something Special, and pretty much everything in his show is spotty).

I used my dairy-free version of Marguerite Patten's sponge cake recipe: weigh the eggs, then use equal amounts of Pure sunflower spread, flour and caster sugar. I also added 1 tsp of vanilla essence per egg. The spots in the picture are mini-smarties, so I made the 1-year-old some 'starry' cakes, with fruit stars instead of smarties.

The 3-year-old and 1-year-old were very happy with them, even if they mainly licked off the icing and the spots/stars. As for me and the partner - we weren't as impressed unfortunately - vanilla fairy cakes just don't taste the same without butter. They looked good though, and made the kids very happy.

I've been experimenting with dairy-free cooking for well over a year now but I've not yet made any recipes simultaneously with butter and an alternative, so I've resolved to do just that the next time I do some baking.

Brownies

Some friends of ours had a baby a few weeks ago and I wanted to make them some brownies to help them celebrate the happy occasion. The ones I ended up making were based on those that Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall wrote about in the Guardian this month. However, I wanted to make them dairy-free, so that the 1-year-old could eat them, so I replaced the butter with sunflower spread.

They were comparatively easy to make and worked equally well in the brownie tin and in cupcake cases (where I put the extra mixture that wouldn't fit in the brownie tin, and baked for only 10 minutes). We had plenty to give to our friends and for us to eat at home, without any need to double the mixture.

The 3-year-old and the 1-year-old loved them and would cheerfully have eaten the whole tin. The partner was less impressed and felt they were "too chocolate-ey". I have to say that I agreed with the kids, and would definitely make these again - although I'd be tempted to add walnuts instead of chocolate chunks at the end.

Cherry Ripe Bars

I just couldn't resist trying this recipe from the Guardian this weekend by Dan Lepard. Cherry Ripes were one of the few chocolate offerings in Australia that I used to enjoy, so the idea of making my own version was irresistible.

And the verdict - it was a bit of a faff, and the 3-stage process meant it took an inordinately long time before I was able to try one, but they are rather good. The recipe also made plenty of them, so I was able to take several into work - where they were much appreciated.

The 3-year-old however was less impressed - he loved the chocolate topping and eventually finished the chocolate base, but rejected the filling outright. The 1-year-old wasn't allowed them, as they contain dairy, so she had to make do with some dairy-free chocolate instead.

Would I make them again? Yes, I think I would, but I would use less filling, and I think I would also use artificially coloured glace cherries, to give that pink effect that made Dan's bars look so appealing.