Pickity Picks Giveaway

So for all of you who didn't win anything in my giveaway last week - here's another chance! My Cupcake Bunny is one of the possible prizes in the Pickity Picks giveaway. Click here to enter - and make sure you choose pick 7!

Simnel Cupcakes - my first attempt

I saw a recipe for Sminel Cupcakes on the BBC Food website. They looked yummy and I decided to try making some. Then I found out that you can't buy marzipan here. I decided to make my own and then found out that you can't buy ground almonds either! So I ground the almonds in a coffee grinder. Here is the marzipan:

It doesn't look quite as pretty as it does when you buy it in a shop but it tastes pretty good.

If you look at my first photo you will see that my cupcakes did not turn out as things of beauty! I think I put too much mixture into each muffin case. The tops cooked really well and then started to burn while the insides didn't cook at all. I decided to take the tops off and see what happens so what you see above is a plate of tops!

I had some marzipan left over so not to waste it, or the tops I had cut off, I made these! Everything I made tastes great but I'm not going to win any prizes for presentation this time. Oh and I know there are supposed to be 11 balls on a simnel cake but the balls I bought were kinda big and I could only fit 8!

The Cupcake Bunny

If you're feeling hungry and in need of something sweet, call the Cupcake Bunny and she'll bring you something to eat. She works at the bakery not far from here and her cupcakes are famous for bringing good cheer.

The Cupcake Bunny is available in my Etsy Shop.

Cupcake competition

Some of my friends have started a group on facebook called The Great FB Bakeoff and the idea is to bake stuff in whatever category they choose, post the photos and let people vote. The first category they've chosen is Cupcakes. I've never done cupcakes before. I've done muffins which are similar but the don't require the fancy icing that cupcakes do! These are the cupcakes I've made this evening still in their pre-icing state. I think icing will come tomorrow I'm too tired for that now. They are Banana and White Chocolate Cupcakes from my favourite book How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson.

Interestingly I used rubber reusable cupcake cases for the first time today and as you can see those cupcakes came out flat on top whereas the ones I made using paper cases look more like muffins! I'm sure there's a scientific explaination for that but I have no idea what it is! Anyone?