Tuesday 5 June 2012

Golden syrup cupcakes with vanilla cream cheese frosting, Jubilee goodies - part two of two






For the Jubilee I have tried to use what I consider ‘British’ flavours where possible and it doesn’t get much more British than the wonderful thing that is golden sryup.  I could eat this straight from the pot even though it’s sweeter than sweet.  Thank goodness they now make it in squeezy pots so you can get a quick hit without needing to make a spoon dirty!




Using my beautiful cupcake cases and flags from Lakeland (the rest of which I shall use for the Olympics) these little cakes quickly become something very special; fancy cases and decorations are ideal if – like me – you’re not the world’s best decorator and don’t have a lot of patience to try and learn.




I don’t often make cream cheese frosting but decided to go with it here to offset the sweet syrupy sponges; it works really well and its smooth texture in particular is lovely.  Mr CC is going through a phase where every buttercream/frosting I make is his new favourite; this is his new favourite because it ‘tastes like ice cream’.  I can see what he means but I think it tastes more like whipped cheesecake.




The sponge was lovely and light – not dissimilar to a steamed sponge pudding.  It's also sticky and the top develops a muffiny crust, which is always a bonus!




Breaking news: One and a half cupcakes in, this is now officially Mr CC’s favourite ever cupcake.  Jubilee weekend hits new heights!



Ingredients

For the sponges:

115g unsalted butter
100g light muscovado sugar
230g golden syrup
1 egg
150ml milk – I used semi-skimmed
225g self raising flour

For the icing:

300g cream cheese – I used Philadelphia
150g icing sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract


Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C/fan oven 150°C/325°F/Gas mark 3

Line a cupcake pan with paper cases.

Start by making the sponges: place the butter, sugar and golden syrup into a saucepan and melt, over a gentle heat, stirring until the sugar crystals have dissolved.

While the butter mix is melting, combine the egg and milk in a jug and whisk until combined.
Take the butter mix from the heat and stir in the flour.

Add the milk/egg mix and stir until smooth and well combined.  I started out using a whisk to do this before my feebleness made me transfer it to my stand mixer.  The mix will be runny – don’t panic!

Ladle the batter into the cupcake cases and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the sponge comes out clean.  Mine took exactly 20 minutes.

As soon as you can safely handle the cakes, remove them from the tin and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

Now make the icing: Beat together all the ingredients until smooth and whippy.

Spoon into a piping back and refrigerate for 5 minutes to firm up.

Pipe onto the cupcakes and decorate as you wish.

Keep the cakes in the refrigerator, taking care to bring them fully to room temperature before eating – this provides the best flavour.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

21 comments:

Victory Rolls & Mixing Bowls said...

How very regal! Love the cases and the flavours sound gorgeous!! I also could eat golden syrup straight from the tub, no shame!

Nom!

sensibilia said...

I like the sound of a topping that tastes like ice-cream. I bought some cream cheese hoping to make a carrot cake, but spent too much time watching Jubilee specials on TV, so the cake did not materialise. I could use the cheese for cup cakes....

Katie said...

They look wonderful and I love the soun dof the sticky surface. Yum! I bet the slightly sour cream cheese is wonderful with the sweet cake. Bet they would taste yummy warm too :)

Caroline said...

They look delicious! I like the idea of golden syrup pudding in a cupcake! The icing sounds great - like it would cut the sweetness perfecly. I wonder if these would work with a proportion of black treacle instead of some of the golden syrup... mmmm!

Susie @ Fold in the Flour said...

These look wonderful! I love the sound of a golden syrup cupcake, and cream cheese frosting is definitely one of my favourites. I may be deceiving myself but I manage to convince myself it's a bit healthier than using all butter. It certainly doesn't tend to taste as sweet to me. :)

Bugs said...

My word that's an enormous amount of syrup - I know you don't like to give quantities for wholly valid reasons which I completely support...but could you say approximately how many cakes you got out of this mix?

And also could you ever do a short post on how you do your piping? I find a lot of small cake recipes seem to expect you to shovel on the same weight of buttercream (etc) as cake...and while I am not averse to a spot of buttercream I do think cake is the important bit of, er, cake.

It's been lovely to read your posts again :-)

The Caked Crusader said...

Hi Bugs

You get 12 cupcakes from this recipe - yes, it is a lot of syrup but oh so worth it! The original recipe said to brush more over the top when they came out the oven but I decided against that!

Sure thing, re the piping. I always make the amount of buttercream the recipe states but use my judgement re how much actually makes it onto the cake

Happy baking

Gloria Baker said...

Look georgeous and delicious, absolutely nice!

Clare said...

Wow they sound amazing - what a good combination!! And they look lovely too!

Baking Addict said...

wow if these are Mr CC's new favourite cupcake then I MUST try them. Plus I love golden syrup. I made maple syrup cupcakes earlier and paired with with cream cheese frosting as well. Love the flag decorations too - I really must do another Lakeland shop :)

Lisa Marie said...

Oh! Oh! A *GOLDEN SYRUP* cupcake??? I must have been VERY good in my past life!

Two things, though. Do you think these could carry a filling of...say...rhubarb curd? And since when does Mr CC like vanilla things? I thought he was anti-vanilla. :)

The Caked Crusader said...

Hi Lisa Marie

Personally, I wouldn't go with the rhubarb - it's a strong flavour and I think it might intrude.

Mr CC is fickle and changeable. Unless I tell him vanilla's in something he doesn't spot it; if I tell him it is then it's "overpowering". Men, huh?

Happy baking

Little Sparrow said...

They look super yummy!

Gosh, the mess I used to get into before the Golden Syrup squeezy bottles came around! What a pain it was! :)

Kit @ i-lostinausten said...

These Golden syrup cupcakes look elegant with lovely vanilla cream cheese frosting! So inviting & just love to have one right now to go with my tea! :)

Cakelaw said...

A perfect recipe for the Jubilee - hope you are enjoying the celebrations. BTW, I love the Queen and Prince Phillip on your cake below.

Unknown said...

Oh! They look perfect - but I must take issue with your use of the squeezy bottle golden syrup - you don't get to lick the spoon when you use those bottles!

The Caked Crusader said...

Hi KitchenMaid

Good point, but I'm all about ninja stealth!

Happy baking

Liz said...

I've just made these, and they were delicious!!! I got 17 cupcakes from the mix, and I was a bit worried as it was very runny, but it all worked out in the end! Thanks for the recipe.

Maggie said...

Fab cakes and cream cheese frosting is always delicious.

Lucy said...

I really like this flavour combination - it's lovely to see golden syrup taking centre stage! Plus I can never resist cream cheese frosting.

wendy said...

I made these this weekend, and I can say that these are our new favourite cupcakes. I love the amount of golden syrup used, no mistaking the flavour.