Orange Custard Cream Cupcakes

British people are well known for their preoccupation with the weather. If you randomly listen in on conversations here in shops, at the bus stop and places of work, the likelihood is that someone will be talking about it. Here i am, on a food blog, talking about the weather. 

I think this is largely due to the fact British weather can be so unpredictable and for me strongly dictates what i want to do and eat. When its raining hard and the sky is grey, i enjoy nothing more than to listen to some music and spend time over a cake recipe in the kitchen.

These Orange Custard Cream Cupcakes were perfect for a day like today, where the sky has been dominated by persistent rain. In an unhurried fashion, I happily laboured over the various stages, making the cupcakes, followed by the custard and then the icing.

It was definitely time well spent. The orange extract in it is lovely and the orange zest and juice in the icing provide a summery, aromatic lift to the cupcake. The custard is heavenly, lightly filling the cupcake centres. 

These were a pleasure to eat, as well as bringing alittle bit of sunshine into the home.

Recipe - Orange Custard Cupcakes 

by Dan Lepard from The Guardian

Makes 10-12 cupcakes

Ingredients

175g caster sugar
50ml sunflower oil
50g unsalted butter, softened
3 medium eggs
1 tsp orange extract
100ml double cream
250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder

For the icing
225g icing sugar, ideally the fondant sort
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange

For the custard cream
2 egg yolks
200ml double cream
3 tsp cornflour
2 tsp vanilla extract
25g caster sugar

Line a muffin tray with muffin cases and preheat the oven to 160C (140c fan-assisted)/320F/gas mark 2½. Beat the sugar, oil and butter until light in colour, then beat in the eggs one at a time until smooth. Add the orange extract and cream, beat well, then add the flour and baking powder, and beat again until smooth.

Fill each muffin case about two-thirds full with the mix and bake for 20-25 minutes, mine needed 25 minutes. Remove and leave to cool on baking rack.

To make the custard cream, beat together all the ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a boil, whisking often, then beat until smooth and thickened slightly. Cover and leave until cold, this took about 10 minutes.

Then with a plain 8mm nozzle, pipe the custard deep through the top crust and into the cupcake heart; alternatively, scoop out a little of the cake with a small knife, spoon in a little custard and top with just a slice from the cake plug.

Beat the icing sugar, zest and enough juice (probably 25ml) to make a thick icing and drizzle over the top of the cupcakes, thereby covering your tracks. (Alternatively, omit the cream filling altogether and just ice the cupcakes as they are.)

Notes:

-I used an apple corer to scoop out abit of cake in the middle of the cupcake then spooned in the custard rather than using a piping bag.

-The icing comes out very runny and theres alots of it, possibly due to there being too much orange juice. Next time i will probably halve the amount of juice and icing sugar and add in extra icing sugar to get the right consistency.

Enjoy!