Sticky Ginger Cupcakes

Well, buns really. They were meant to be cupcakes but I had no muffin cases left so I made them in bun cases instead. I LOVE ginger. LOVE it. Ginger bread, ginger in stir-frys, ginger beer, ginger biscuits. It's up there with lemon as one of my favourite flavourings so it will come as no surprise to you all that these buns did not last long in our kitchen...or that the leftover icing was eaten from the mixing bowl with a spoon...


Sticky Gingerbread Buns
(makes about 16 buns, less if using muffin cases for proper cupcakes)
Cake mix
115g plain flour
2tsp ground ginger
three-quarter tsp ground cinnamon
1 piece stem ginger, finely chopped
three-quarter tsp bicarbonate of soda
4tbsp milk
85 butter, softened
70g soft dark brown sugar
2tbsp black treacle
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Frosting
85g butter, softened
175g icing sugar
2tbsp syrup from the stem ginger
1 piece stem ginger, finely sliced, to decorate

1. Preheat oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3. Line bun tins with paper cases (or muffin tins with muffin cases).

2. Sift the flour, ground ginger and cinnamon together into a bowl. Add the chopped ginger and toss in the flour mixture until it is well coated. Place the bicarbonate of soda and milk in another small bowl and stir to dissolve. 

3. Beat the sugar and butter together in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the treacle, then gradually mix in the eggs. beat in the flour mix, then gradually add the milk mix. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cases.

4. Bake in the oven for 20 mins, or until well risen and golden brown. Allow to cool for 2 mins in the trays before removing to a wire rack and allowing to cool fully.

5. To make the icing put the butter in a bowl and beat until fluffy. Add the icing sugar and syrup and beat together until smooth and creamy. Spread the icing on top of each completely cold bun, then decorate with pieces of the stem ginger.

(You can turn these into gingernut buns by adding 40g finely chopped walnuts or pecans to the mix and then sprinkling with a few chopped nuts when iced).

Crumbly Raspberry Oat Slices

Moments before I om, nom, nom...

Sort of a do-it-yourself cereal bar, without all the stabilisers and hydrogenated this and that. Any soft fruit can be used here, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, whatever is your favourite. You could also add some chopped nuts if that's what takes your fancy. If you're using fresh fruits pop them into the freezer before you start, I like to break the frozen raspberries apart with my fingers so I have a fruit crumble, it gives me a much more even layer.

Makes: 16 slices

Ingredients

175g unsalted butter, diced and allowed to soften slightly
100g plain flour
75g extra coarse wholemeal flour
150g porridge oats
175g caster sugar
250g raspberries
zest of one lemon
icing sugar for dusting

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Grease a 10 inch square shallow baking tin.
2. In a large mixing bowl rub in your butter, flours and oats until they resemble a coarse crumble. Add your caster sugar and lemon zest and continue mixing until starting to come together slightly.
3. Put half the crumble mix in the baking tray and pat down firmly. Cover with raspberries in an even layer.
4. Add other half of crumble mix and pat down firmly again.
5. Bake for 45 minutes - 1 hour or until golden brown in colour. Remove from oven, cut into slices and allow to cool in the tray before removing.
6. Dust with a little icing sugar and serve. Delicious!

Maple Bacon Breakfast Muffins

For the last month or so I've been dying to make these muffins but every time I tried to I'd find I was out of maple syrup, or had no muffin cases, or something else would go awry. Finally today I made them, and they were so worth the wait. They've also given me an idea for another type of breakfast muffin...oh well, there goes the weekend!

Ingredients

220g plain flour
1tbsp baking powder
3tbsp golden caster sugar
1tsp salt
4 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled (Marks & Spencer do Crispy Smoked Bacon Strips, 6 of them are perfect!)
225ml milk
2 eggs
125ml rapeseed oil
60ml maple syrup

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. Line a muffin tin with 12 cases.
2. Mix your dry ingredients, including the bacon, in a large bowl.
3. Mix your wet ingredients in a large jug or another, smaller, bowl.
4. Make a well in the centre of your dry ingredients and pour the wet mix in.
5. Fold together with a metal spoon until well combined. There will still be a few lumps and bumps don't worry about them too much.
6. Spoon your mix into your cases (about 3 tbsps a case should do it) and pop into the oven.
7. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden coloured and well risen.
8. Cool on a wire rack. Seriously, they're much, much better cold. Plus you won't end up with a roof of mouth blister from the hot bacon like me...learn from my fail #LFMF

Pineapple upside-down cake

I had never had pineapple upside-down cake until I made this one. You need to be fairly sure that you'll eat something when you're making about 2kgs of it but I figured it had sugar, butter, booze...what's not to like! As it turns out it is delicious, and one I'll certainly be making again. I had no rum when making this so I used whiskey and it was still yum. Kezz describes it as being "like an Irishman having a Caribbean orgy in my mouth". It really is that good!

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

(for the topping)

100g butter

100g light muscovado sugar

2tbsp Irish whiskey (or dark rum if you want to be traditional)

432g can pineapple rings, drained

(for the cake)

50g unsweetened desiccated coconut

100g butter, room temperature

200g golden caster sugar

3 eggs

175g plain flour

1tsp baking powder

2tsp vanilla extract

125ml milk

Method

1. Heat oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4 and butter your baking dish (I used a 9" square tin). 
2. Melt the butter, sugar and whiskey in a small saucepan until all the sugar has dissolved. 
3. Place the pineapple in the baking dish and then pour over the syrup to form an even layer and leave aside.
4. Cook the desiccated coconut in a dry frying pan over a gentle heat until it starts to turn golden. Remove from the heat and combine all the remaining ingredients.
5. Pour into the cake tin and pop into the oven.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden and well-risen.
7. Turn out onto a large plate and allow to cool slightly before serving.