#89) Strawberry Surprise Mini Cupcakes

Wow!  So much to share...  and not just the delicious little cupcakes in the picture :)

Husband and I have welcomed our own little sweetie into the world!  Our little man is already 9 weeks old and is perfect in every possible way :)  He has changed our lives in so many ways, but it seems like things are just how they were always meant to be - a truly amazing feeling.  It blows me away how much he changes each and every single day... before you know it he'll be making sweet treats of his own, maybe like these cute little cupcakes :)

Now, for anyone who reads my recipes, you know I am a chocoholic at heart - there's no denying it.  So the thought of a simple vanilla cupcake doesn't really excite me all that much, but throw some homemade Strawberry Rhubarb Apple Jam in the middle of that thing and I am all over it!  Top it all off with some fluffy Strawberry Rhubarb Frosting and I will devour it :)  So that's just what I did.  Give it a try and let me know how many you chow down before sharing!

Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup vanilla sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup Strawberry Rhubarb Apple Jam, recipe found here

Steps

-Preheat oven to 350F.  Line mini cupcake pan with paper liners.
-Cream butter and sugars.
-Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
-Whisk together dry ingredients in small bowl.
-Alternately add dry ingredients and milk, stirring to incorporate after each addition.
-Divide half the batter between 24 mini cupcake liners.
-Spoon 1/2 teaspoon of jam into each liner.
-Cover jam with remaining batter.
-Bake for 7-9 minutes.
-Let cool completely.  Frost and enjoy!

*makes 24 mini cupcakes

Strawberry Rhubarb Frosting

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup icing sugar
2-3 tbsp Strawberry Rhubarb Apple Jam, depending on personal taste

Steps

-Cream butter.
-Slowly beat in icing sugar.
-Stir in jam.

Sweet & Simple Bake #2 - Vanilla Apple Cake.... Errr, I mean Vanilla Blueberry Cake :)

Alright folks, here it is - my attempt at this month's truly scrumtious Sweet & Simple Bake. This recipe is generally a simple recipe, but the end product is worth it's weight in gold! I am telling you, one bite of this thing and you are not going to want to share. I made some alterations to the recipe, some intentional, some not so much, but I will get to that later. Thanks ladies for another worthwhile experiment and I look forward to the next :)

Ingredients:

250g/9oz unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

250g/9oz golden caster sugar (or normal caster sugar)

4 eggs, beaten

250g/9oz self-raising flour

1 vanilla pod, split, seeds removed and reserved (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

3 small Bramley apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges (or any other type of cooking apple, if not apple of your choice)

2 tbsp Demerara sugar

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

*My ingredients:

1 cup + 2 tbsp butter

1 1/3 cup sugar

4 eggs, beaten

1 tbsp vanilla

2 1/3 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup milk

1 cup fresh blueberries

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

...Reasons for changes:

more vanilla - just because I love vanilla and always add more than the recipe calls fore :)

extra flour - when I done my conversions I wrote down 2 full cups instead of just the 1 needed

milk - to offset the extra flour

blueberries - I didn't have any apples on hand, but had a load of fresh berries

more cinnamon - same as vanilla

Sorry for all the changes SSB, but desperate times call for desperate measure LOL

Steps:

-Heat the oven to 350°F.

-Spray 8-inch springform pan, then line the base with baking paper.

-Beat the sugar and butter together until the mixture turns pale and fluffy.

-Beat eggs with vanilla.

-To butter mixture add eggs, flour, baking powder, and milk. Beat together quickly to make a smooth batter.

-Pour into the prepared pan. (I had enougb batter left over to make 6 muffins as well).

-Sprinkle the berries on top of the batter, pressing in with the bottom of a measuring cup.

-Sprinkle with the brown sugar and cinnamon over top.

-Bake for 1 hour 5 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean and the sponge is risen and golden.

-Leave to cool for a few mins, then release the tin and cool the cake completely on a wire rack.