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SPECIFICATIONSPub date September 2009Price £12.99 plc hardbackISBN 978-1-85626-847-9Word count 40,000Format 240 x 210mmExtent 144ppIllustrations Colour throughoutRights World, Kyle CathieAuthors’ home North London

Kyle Cathie Limited www.kylecathie.com

NB: Dual measurements have been used in this blad, but there will be separate editions of the fi nal book for the UK and the US.

INTRODUCTION 6

BASIC CUPCAKES 10

BASIC ICINGS 24

DECORATIONS 48

FESTIVE OCCASIONS 54

SPECIAL OCCASIONS 88

WEDDINGS 110

BEYOND CUPCAKES 132

INDEX 142

Conten ts

U.S. SPECIFICATIONSPub date 2010Price $19.95 paperbackISBN 978-1-906868-08-6Word count 40,000Format 8in x 9½inExtent 144ppIllustrations Color throughoutRights World, Kyle CathieAuthors’ home London, England

Makes 12 regular cupcakes

Ingredients 110g/1 stick unsalted butter, at

room temperature

225g/1 cup caster/superfi ne sugar,

preferably golden

2 large eggs, free-range or organic

150g/11/3 cups self-raising fl our

125g/11/4 cups plain fl our

90ml/5 tablespoons semi-skimmed/

low-fat milk

30ml/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed

lemon juice

1 teaspoon (roughly one lemon’s

worth) grated lemon zest

EquipmentElectric hand beater

Preheat oven to 160˚C (fan)/180˚C/

350˚F/gas mark 4.

Line a 12-hole muffi n tray with

muffi n cases/paper baking cups

Method

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until fl uffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, to the creamed butter and sugar and beat well.

Mix the two fl ours together. Alternate adding the fl our and milk to the creamed butter mix as follows – add one-third of the fl our and mix well; add half the milk and mix well; add another third of fl our and mix well. Add the remaining milk and all the lemon juice and mix well. Finish by adding the last third of fl our and the lemon zest and beat well.

If the mixture looks like it is curdling slightly, don’t panic – simply add another spoonful of plain fl our and beat well.

Spoon out the mixture evenly between the cases/baking cups and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Insert a cake skewer in the centre of one of the cupcakes to check they are cooked through. They will appear quite a light golden brown colour when cooked.

Leave in the tray for 10 minutes and then place the cupcakes carefully on a wire rack to cool completely.

When the cupcakes are completely cold, they can be iced with fresh lemon buttercream (see page 42) and decorated with a sugared lemon slice (pots of these are sold in most supermarkets) or some grated peel from a lemon.

Serve immediately or store in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature.

basic cupcakes

These fresh lemon cupcakes are always very popular in our bakery and also at weddings

and baby showers, especially when topped with fresh lemon buttercream icing (page 42).

Make sure you use really juicy plump lemons for the best result!

Lemon Cupcakes

23

basic icing s

stepstep!by

Practice makes perfect with icing cupcakes! Strangely, it is much more diffi cult than it

looks. But don’t worry, this step-by-step will help you achieve the perfect result.

1 To keep the consistency of the buttercream icing as smooth as possible, beat the icing with an electric hand beater before starting. Between icing each cupcake, use a palette knife to stir the icing.

2 Start by scooping up the most buttercream you can in one go with your palette knife and place it in the centre of the cupcake (top left).

3 Keeping your knife angled so that its fl at side remains in contact with the buttercream , work the icing out to one edge of the cupcake by gently pushing it using small strokes with the knife (top right).

How to ice a cupcake

4 Take another scoop of buttercream icing and repeat step 3, this time pushing the icing out to the opposite edge of the cupcake (bottom left).

5 Add one more scoop of icing to the cupcake to bring the edges together, whilst making a central peak with the remaining icing.

6 Dip the end of your knife into the centre of the iced cupcake and, in an anti-clockwise direction, drag the knife in a circular motion to create a swirl effect (bottom right).

7 Decorate the cupcake as desired. Make sure to put any sprinkles onto the cupcakes as quickly as possible, otherwise the icing will set a little making it hard for any decoration to stick.

29

Makes 12 regular cupcakes

Ingredients 200g/2 sticks unsalted butter, diced

175g/3/4 cup molasses sugar

3 tablespoons black treacle

150ml/2/3 cup semi-skimmed/

low-fat milk

4 pieces of stem ginger, drained

and chopped

2 large eggs, free-range or organic,

beaten

300g/3 cups self-raising fl our

1 tablespoon ground ginger

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 160°C (fan)/180°C/

350°F/gas mark 4.

Line a 12 hole muffi n tray with

muffi n cases/paper baking cups

Method

Melt the butter, sugar and treacle in a pan over a low heat. Cool briefl y

and then stir in the milk.

Add the chopped ginger to the beaten eggs and then beat into the butter mixture. Sift the fl our, ground ginger and a pinch of salt and add to the warm mixture. Combine thoroughly.

Spoon out the mixture evenly between the cases/baking cups and bake in the centre of the oven for 30–35 minutes.

Leave in the tray for 10 minutes, then place the cupcakes carefully on a wire rack to cool completely.

When the cupcakes are completely cold, they can be iced with ginger fudge icing (page 44) and any decorations you like – have fun with these – if they are for Halloween, the scarier the decorations the better!

These cupcakes are best when they are made and eaten fresh. They tend to dry out a little quicker than some of the other fl avours.

festive occasions

With the bite of ginger and black molasses, these make for great Halloween or winter

treats. Be generous with ginger fudge icing (page 44) to top the cakes and be inspired by

our photos to let your Halloween imagination go wild!

Ginger Cupcakes

58

Rose Buttercream Icing By carefully adding rosewater to our vanilla buttercream you can produce a subtle or

stronger rose fl avour, depending on your preference. Perfect on our rose cupcakes (page 18),

this icing could also be used on vanilla or orange sponge cupcakes – you could even make a

selection for Valentine’s Day or a hen night.

Ingredients 115g/1 stick plus 1 tablespoon

unsalted butter, at room temperature

60ml/21/3 tablespoons semi-skimmed/

low-fat milk

1 teaspoon good-quality vanilla extract

500g/4 cups icing/confectioners’ sugar, sifted

½ teaspoon rosewater, or to taste

1 small drop of pink food colouring

Method

Beat the butter, milk, vanilla extract and half the icing/confectioners’

sugar until smooth. This will usually take a few minutes. Gradually add the remainder of the icing sugar to produce a buttercream of a creamy and smooth consistency. Add the rosewater at the very end and beat thoroughly. Taste to check it is scented enough. To colour, simply add a tiny drop of pink food colouring and beat in. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Beat well before re-using.

basic icing s

30