Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Having book marked Orangettes recipe for Cinnamon Buns almost 6 months ago, i thought it was time to face my fear of anything involving yeast. After all, i dont think you can legitimately call yourself a food blogger without the ability to bake bread. Or at least attempt to. For someone who enjoys baking, not knowing how to bake bread is sort of like being a driving instructor who has never changed a car tyre, missing an integral skill needed to do the job better.

So with enthusiasm and abit of anxiety, i followed the first step in the method for making the Cinnabon Buns. I wont bore you with the details, but needless to say, something went wrong and the dough was so sticky i couldnt roll it.

I'm not sure what went wrong, but being inexperienced in all things dough related (damn my fear of yeast!), i was unable to salvage it.

Feeling very disappointed in myself and massively craving cinamon and cream cheese frosting, I googled a recipe for cupcakes involving the two ingredients. I came across Stephanies Kitchens recipe for these cupcakes. 

These cupcakes were quite nice, but they didnt rise very much. That might have been somthing to do with the size of the cases. I used Muffin cases as they were the only ones i had in the cupboard. I also used the pretty silicone cup and saucer cases my lovely friend Kay bought me for my birthday.

Furthermore, the frosting was very sweet and ultimately put people off eating more than one. 

So all in all, not a very successful day in the kitchen. In the days before this blog, I would have taken it very personally that both recipes were abit of a flop. 

However, I have done enough baking now to know that sometimes, good recipes turn out bad. The way i see it, there are so many variables involved in baking, its a case of learning from each attempt and adapting things the next time.

I'm definitely going to try the Cinnamon Buns again and overcome my fear of yeast. And no, I have never changed a car tyre. But luckily for me, i'm not a driving instuctor.

Recipe - Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting by Stephanies Kitchen

makes 18 cupcakes

1 1/2 cups cake flour (or add 1 tablespoon cornstarch per 1 cup all purpose flour to make your own cake flour)
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup milk

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside. Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla. Slowly add the flour and milk, alternating between the two until well incorporated. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl whenever needed. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. You will need 18. Evenly distribute the batter between the cups. Bake at 350 degrees for about 18-20 minutes. Top with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting and sprinkle a bit of cinnamon-sugar on top for extra prettiness.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
4 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Cream the cream cheese and butter until creamy and smooth. Add half the sugar, milk, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix until smooth. Add remaining sugar and beat until light and fluffy and creamy.

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!