Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Give an example of how you deal with stress.



Job interview preparations. Love it. I spend hours by myself thinking of scenarios and examples because I know that if I don't, when crunch time hits my brain will suddenly become empty and I will probably come up with some very poor, weak example. 

So while the proper answer is that I write down everything I have to do, prioritise and just work through it setting time goals, in reality the truth is far more calorific. 

If the stress is emotional and irrational I tend to turn to my Kitchenaid mixer and a viber chat with Alix. At the same time of course.



Anything to distract me and Alix has a magical way of pulling you back down to Planet Normal. Oh and she's great to talk to if you want to complain about boys and how dumb they are and celebrate being on Team Single. Whoop. 

So today whilst chatting away I churned through an entire packet of oreos in the process of making these magnificent creations.



I vowed that every Monday I would bring morning tea to our one fourth year class of the week. Since there are only like ten of us it is a very doable quest. So in practice for next Monday I decided to try out a half batch of these babies from my Home Sweet Home recipe book from the Hummingbird Bakery. My Dad bought be this book as part of a bet/deal we had going. If I get above 80% in a 50% exam I had earlier on in the year he would buy me this book. Between 70-79% I would pay half. Below that and he would disown me. Good deal eh.

Well thankfully I got 82% in that gem so this book was all mine!



But basically all this is just a chocolate cupcake recipe with a few crushed oreos shoved into each one. Preeeety simple. I decided to do an icing with a dollop of cream cheese thrown in there just to make it really lethal. 

I'm really going with the messy cupcake look lately aren't I? I could't pipe these very well anyway, the oreo chunks would get stuck in the nozzle!

So next time you feel like making something that looks epic but is actually really easy, look no further than these babies. 



Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
Adapted from the Hummingbird Bakery's Home Sweet Home

for the cupcake:
70g butter, softened
170g plain flour
250g caster sugar
50g cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
210ml whole milk
2 large eggs
12 oreos, broken into quarters

for the icing:
50g butter, softened
50g cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups icing sugar
couple of splashes of milk
6 oreos, crushed

6 oreos roughly broken to sprinkle over the top

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees on bake.

Mix together the flour, butter, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt until a sandy consistency is reached.

Add in half the milk and vanilla and beat until smoothish then add one of the eggs and beat until smooth. Repeat with the rest of the milk and second egg. Beat until all the lumps have gone.

Spoon into cupcake cases in a muffin pan and bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer come out just clean.





Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.



To make the icing, cream the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth then mix in the icing sugar and a splash of mix to loosen it. Beat until fluffy and voluminous. Stir in the crushed oreo pieces. Spread over the cooled cupcakes and sprinkle with a few extra oreo crumbs.




Prepare to see your friends weep with gratitude.

Enjoy!!!

Jam and Custard Cupcakes

Happy Saturday!

I have been trying to write this post for a few hours now. I have had a micro episode of writers block. It is kind of a gloomy day and I have no one to surprise give these so I guess I am lacking the excited surge I usually have to share recipes with you.



Actually scratch all of that. I just munched into another cupcake, I can feel their deliciousness moving into my finger tips, preparing for a full on keyboard onslaught. YOU NEED THIS RECIPE! LIKE NOW!

A few weeks back when I first spied this recipe in my Mum's new Ripe Recipes (A fresh batch) I knew that it be high up on the list of things to make.

These are actually divine. You take one bit and your soul is filled with joy.



What I think I like about this recipe is the custard powder. Yes custard purists out there (myself included) believe that the only custard consumed should be the custard made from eggs. However custard powder has a fond place in my food memory bank. Obviously childhood custard consumption but more recently I have come to associate it with late night custard feasts with my flatmate Alix last year. We went through about six litres of milk each week just to fuel this custard craze. It was always consumed after 12am as well when neither of us could get to sleep or we just couldn't be bothered getting into bed. Good chats were had over the kitchen table and a huge jug of the vanillary yellow goodness.



So these cupcakes remind me of Alix. She is great. I miss her haha.

The jam filling also reminds me a lot of the eccles cakes Nana used to make. So really these are just little cakes of nostalgia. Which is what I like in a cake. Cakes need to be filled with feeling.

The funny thing about these is that the starch provided by the cornflour in the custard powder gives a funny (not good nor bad, just interesting) texture to the icing. It is the starchy texture that you actually find when you make the custard up in the microwave which in a way is kind of cool. The custard powder also gives the cupcakes themselves a nice crunchy outer layer.



I only had raspberry jam in my fridge but strawberry would also be a dream. Obviously the better the quality of your jam the better these will be. I quite like the Anathoth jams as they are quite runny, not so good for your toast but perfect for filling cupcakes with.



Jam and Custard Cupcakes
(from Ripe Recipes - A fresh batch by Angela Redfern)
Makes 10

50g butter, softened
1 cup plain flour
2/3 cup caster sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon custard powder
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

10 small teaspoonfuls of jam

icing:
2-3 cups icing sugar
50g butter, softened
3 tablespoons custard powder
couple of splashes of milk
1 teaspoon vanilla


Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line a muffin tray with 10-12 cupcake cases.

In a large bowl or free standing mixer, beat together the dry ingredients and the butter until a fine crumb ed texture is achieved. This could also be done in the food processor then transferred back to a mixing bowl.

Beat in the egg and slowly pour in the milk and vanilla whilst still mixing. Beat until a smooth batter is formed.

Scoop using an ice cream scoop, the batter into each cupcake case until it is two thirds full.



Bake for 20 minutes.

Once cool, use a sharp knife to cut cone-shaped holes out of the top of the cupcake.



Spoon in a teaspoon of jam into each hole.



To make the icing, cream together the icing sugar, custard powder, vanilla and butter, using the milk to loosen the mixture until a light and fluffy icing is achieved.



Swirl the icing onto the cupcakes using a butter knife or a small palate knife.



Share with some good friends :)




Enjoy!