Well this is my first post to this blog, welcome! Today I experimented with making cinnamon swirl cupcakes.
This was my first attempt at these and the idea was pretty much "suck it and see" as I didn't have a specific recipe for them. I used my current favourite basic vanilla sponge recipe (I say current, it's the only one so far that I have managed to do without going wrong) which is as follows . .
(makes 6 large cupcakes, 12 small)
4oz butter
4oz sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
4oz flour
1. Mix butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla together until smooth
2. Mix in flour until incorporated
3. Spoon into paper cases
Now here is where the cinnamon part happened! I mixed some demorera sugar with cinnamon (don't ask about quantities because I havnt a clue, I just made sure it was edible, not too cinnamony!).
Backtracking slightly to spooning into the paper cases . .
I spooned a dollop of cake mix, enough to cover the base of the paper case, then a spoonful of the cinnamon sugar, then more cake mixture, then used a cocktail stick to swirl it around a little.
Then baked, at about 170 degrees, until golden and a cocktail stick inserted came out clean, about 20-25 Mins.
For the frosting I used the following recipe, although it is very sweet, I have yet to find a better alternative . .
250g sifted icing sugar
80g butter
Milk (a dash or two)
A few drops of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1. Combine the butter and icing sugar (I like to use a handheld electric whisk)
(tip: make sure the buttetis fairly soft, room temperature is great)
2. Add the vanilla essence and milk, add enough milk to get the desired consistancy.
3. Beat in the ground cinnamon, 1/2 a teaspoon is an estimate, I just added it to taste!
Once the cakes were cooled I put the icing on using a plastic spatular and sprinkled a little cinnamon to decorate!
Here is the final result . .
And the swirl . .
Unfortunately I don't think I put enough of the cinnamon sugar in, next time I would certainly use more, and be sure to distribute it a little bit better.
Until next time . .
