NAUGHTY CUPCAKES: Chocolate Hi-Hat Surprise Cupcakes
Friday November 23 2012
Naughty cupcakes: not just for the holidays, and not just if you’ve been naughty…
THE BEST “HI-HAT” cupcake recipe and information comes from Martha Stewart, so I’m not going to reinvent the wheel here. But, if you know me, you know I have to do my own little tweaks to something I already love. So, just what makes these cupcakes so naughty? It’s a few special ingredients:
- Devil’s Penis Chilies (they can be any dried chilies you have around)
- Chocolate-covered popping candy (any popping candy or Pop-rocks)
- Salted Burnt Caramel (*the whiskey or any preferred alcohol added to the caramel is optional. I added a few teaspoons into the caramel mix.)
You’ll end up with a cupcake with a lovely depth of flavour, a well as layers of wonderful textures.
So I actually didn’t use Martha’s cupcake recipe; I halved my normal salted dark chocolate espresso & soured cream cake recipe. I chopped up the chillies very fine and added them to the batter. You just want a hint of chilli instead of a hot, spicy cake. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes.
Then, this is how you create the heart-shaped cone in the middle of the cupcake: use a sharp knife to cut out a cone shape.
Pull out the cone, then cut the top off. You will use this to cover the hole back up.
Have your caramel and popping candy ready, and be sure to remember which tops go with which cupcakes, so they fit properly.
Fill each hole with caramel – about 3/4 way full, then add your popping candy, then another layer of caramel on top.
Replace the cupcake tops.
Then, make your marshmallow frosting as per Martha Stewart’s Hi-Hat Cupcake recipe.
Now this part is fun!
Be sure you pour your melted chocolate glaze into a taller/deeper glass jug or bowl. If you use a shallow bowl, it won’t be deep enough to dip your whole hi-hat.
Then, dip, bab, DIP!
You don’t actually have to dip the entire marshmallow top in, as some of the chocolate will drip down. Your dipped hi-hat cupcake should then look like this:
& Decorate as you wish.
You can eat it straight away, whilst the chocolate is still gooey. Yum! Hope you enjoy your naughty cupcakes… and the special holiday season.
Edible Sprinkle Cupcake Cases by Jen’s Just Desserts
Sunday November 11 2012
As some of you know, I’ve been working on my ideas around completely edible desserts, which should mean no mess, no waste, and lots of fun! … like these edible sprinkle cupcake cases. 
Firstly, you will need a cupcake tin. I’ve used a mini-cupcake-tin with 24 holes. I just think the mini-size make these even more fun (plus I wanted them to be perfect bite-sizes).
You will also need SPRINKLES & lots of them. A big bowl-full should do you. I make custom mixes of sprinkles, as in the photo below. Just be sure you don’t use any sprinkles that are too big or heavy, as it will be harder to evenly coat your edible case. I used a selection of nonpareils, lightweight sugar pearls, sparkling sanding sugar (the bigger grains) and 2mm silver balls/dragees.
You can use any cupcake recipe you want. I used a standard victoria sponge recipe, which yields just enough for a 24-hole mini-cupcake pan.
VICTORIA SPONGE RECIPE
- 150 grams unsalted butter, softened/room temperature
- 150 grams caster or superfine sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 150 grams self-rising/raising flour
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
- 1 tablespoon of milk
Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 10-13 minutes until cooked through.
I have a set of “(also available through Amazon), but any mini-muffin or cupcake pan will do.
This is what they will look like in the oven…
Once cooked, if you have sprayed your tin sufficiently, the mini-cupcakes should just pop out of the pan.
I used a mini-2-pronged fork, but any fork will do, or something else just to make sure the cupcake stays in place while you dip it into the melted chocolate.
I melted white chocolate in a bain marie (glass bowl/jug over hot water) with a little vegetable oil to thin it out. You can follow detailed instructions here. “Un-thinned” or regular melted chocolate will will take too long to dry and create too thick of a shell, in my opinion. 
Allow all the extra chocolate to drip off (be patient!) and then use your fingers to sprinkle the sprinkles onto the melted chocolate. You’ll have better control of the sprinkles, and you will avoid getting any chocolate drippings in your sprinkles.
Allow your cupcake cases to fully set by popping them into the fridge for a minimum of 15 minutes.
And then, VOILA! your cupcakes in your edible sprinkle cases are ready to frost (and eat & enjoy!)
You can also serve them alongside a matching “sprinkle cake” 
Chequered Pumpkin Cake in Shades of Autumn (+ Salted Burnt Caramel Drizzle)
Wednesday October 24 2012
So I had some cake-xperimentation time recently & as I was planning to attend a Clandestine Cake Club meeting to which members were requested to bring cakes with “a taste of autumn” theme, I immediately thought: PUMPKIN! But, of course I had to put a little “JJD” twist on it, so here it goes… the recipe for the cake, the frosting, the drizzle + instructions on how to achieve the chequered effect. Now, this cake isn’t perfect, as I didn’t really measure the height of each cake, didn’t tort with a spirit level, etc., but this was really fun to do! It took me 2.5 hours from start to finish (including cooling time), so please don’t let these long instructions put you off.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius & grease-line-grease 4 cake pans. (I use Wilton’s cake release spray).
CAKE INGREDIENTS (This recipe makes 4 x 7 inch layers.)
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs (room temperature)
- 1 1/2 cups caster sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups pumpkin (canned or fresh cooked/pureed)
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 2 cups AP or cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- dash of nutmeg + other seasonings/spices you prefer
CAKE INSTRUCTIONS
- Mix all the wet ingredients together in 1 bowl: oil, eggs, buttermilk
- Add the sugars and mix well
- Then add the pumpkin and mix until all ingredients incorporated
- Gradually sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt & spices
- Mix until the flour is fully mixed into the batter
The next part can be done as a “one bowl wonder,” so please read my previous information on this process.
Bake the cakes for 30 minutes, or until they’re cooked through. Allow to cool, then trim the tops so they’re all level.
To create the chequered effect, I measured the diameter of the cake, divided by half, then divided by four to determine the correct widths of the “template” I made to cut concentric circles.
Use your template to create concentric circles, mixing the colours from each of the four layers. To be honest, I lost track, but you get the gist…
I made some cream-cheese-buttercream:
CREAM CHEESE BUTTERCREAM RECIPE:
- 250g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
- 150g full fat Philadelphia Cream Cheese (yep, straight from the fridge)
- mix the butter & cheese together until light & fluffy
- add/sift in 4-5 cups of icing sugar until a stiff consistency is achieved
Then, I used a small piping bag with a 1/2 cm hole cut out to pipe the frosting in between each circle. I stacked each layer one on top of the other…
I should also mention that you can use Wilton’s Checkerboard Cake Set, which will achieve 3 layers…
…and then I decorated it! The caramel drizzle was very easy to make:
My SALTED BURNT CARAMEL RECIPE: RECIPE – (makes enough to fill a jam jar): 70 ml cold water + 170 g caster sugar + a few dashes of sea salt + 130 ml double cream… • Swirl around the sugar& water in a saucepan until dissolved. • Bring to the boil, without stirring, until it’s a dark brown colour (just starting to burn), which is about 10-12 mins. • Swirl around some more. • Take off the heat then whisk in cream carefully. • Allow to cool then pour into your jar (or eat/use immediately)
And then cut into your cake to reveal your checkerboard. Imagine making this with all different colours, too, though I do love how autumnal this turned out!
Eat & enjoy…
10-Minute RKT (Rice Krispies Treat) Mug
Wednesday October 3 2012
I had a few spare minutes in the “test kitchen” tonight, and I was initially going to make another RKT sugar skull. Instead, I ended up messing around with pre-made RKT (Rice Krispies Squares here in the UK). The “correct” way I previously posted is a bit more involved, and I think you can totally see the difference in this shortcut method in terms of the lack of smoothness of this RKT, as no crushing was involved, but for those who lack time &/or want a fun project to do with children, I think this works a treat! And, hey, I’m a fan of things that look (& taste!) homemade…
How easy is this? You just need some regular-old shop-bought fondant & the Rice Krispies Squares; the original, marshmallow ones.
I used 3 of the squares…
& then smushed them into the required shapes: the circle base, the mug part, & the handle.
I smushed some more until a mug shape was achieved, then stuck it in the freezer whilst I worked on the fondant; just a few minutes…
Colour & roll your fondant…
Then cover your mug…
Attach your mug handle, fill as desired, & literally 10 minutes later you’ll have an edible mug. Enjoy!
Rice Krispie Treat (RKT) Skulls – Part 2: Pimp My RKT!
Monday October 1 2012
HI again! If you’re reading this, I’m hoping that you’ve read up on the first part of “RKT Skulling.” If not, please refer to my previous post on how to create the base Rice Krispie Treat skull.
I’m afraid I wasn’t able to take too many pictures during this part of the process, but hopefully my text + images below will be helpful to you as you embark on pimping out your RKT skull. LOL! I decided on a sugar skull, as I really do love the idea of Día de los Muertos & remembering the dearly departed.
So, you start with fondant, or I guess it’s also called sugarpaste. This was some leftover Renshaw Regalice Fondant/Sugarpaste in lilac (250g), which I originally wanted to colour a dark blue. But as I started kneading in the Ice Blue Sugarflair gel paste, I kinda started diggin’ this funky pattern it created, so I decided to stop mixing in the colour & left it as-is…
You’ll see I left the fondant quite thick: about 3-4 mm, just to ensure it was thick enough to cover any lumps & bumps on the RKT skull.
Cover the RKT skull as you would any other cake. You won’t need any frosting or ganache for the fondant to stick onto the RKT. Carefully mould the fondant around your skull, making sure you press along the eye sockets, nose, cheekbones, teeth, and beneath the chin. Tuck the rest of the fondant underneath the skull.
You can use any point colours you wish, mixing up food colour with alcohol, but I wanted to try painting in white. You can see the instructions right on the packet of this ClassiKool Magic Ice White. I would say start with 1/2 a teaspoon of the Magic Ice White + 5 drops of the rejuvenator spirit. I also sprinkled in a pinch of silver lustre dust for some depth.
This is one of my medium-tipped paint brushes: a no. 5 from the Little Venice Company brush set, which didn’t work too badly. I think I’d use a slightly thinner one next time.
For the pattern/design, I was inspired by a sugar skull scarf print (just acquired from Accessorize at Munich Airport- yay!) but there are some amazing sugar skulls out there to be awed and inspired by!
Paint to your heart’s content… You can even add embellishments like silver ball/dragees; just affix them with royal icing. But I decided the blue and white looked quite cool in the end, without any extra bling. So that’s mine… Now happy skull-pimping to you!!
Just in Time for Halloween: Rice Krispie Treat (RKT) Skulls
Monday October 1 2012
I love me some skull cake! …and not just for Halloween. You can check out the ones I’ve created on my Jen’s Just Desserts Facebook Page. I’ve been lucky enough to own the “Wilton 3D Skull Pan” for a few years now, but I know how irritated peeps are by the limited quantities of these specialty pans here in the UK & Europe (& other geographies) AND how expensive they are – I’m pretty sure mine was only $25 on sale.
But everyone should be able to enjoy skull cakes, right? Especially at this time of the year with Halloween & Día de los Muertos approaching (ooh sugar skulls!!) So I thought I’d share at least one way that I have found to make edible skulls out of Rice Krispie Treats (RKT). It’s a bit less expensive, and these are small, about 4 x 3 inches, so they’re light enough to put on top of cakes, or even big cupcakes. You could do this in the largest skull cake pan, too, if you want to have a non-cake-filled version, if that makes sense?
I found the larger-sized one of the 3D plastic moulds here in the UK on Ebay, as well as a medium-sized one. Just do a web search on “Skull Mould.” Otherwise, the one I am using here is Wilton‘s 3D version (Wilton 2115-2164 Halloween 3D Skull Candy Mold), but their site is showing SOLD OUT. Just search Amazon & you’ll find the metal skull pan AND this mould for sale. But even if you cannot find the moulds, with this RKT technique, you could just freehand the skull shape, as you will eventually decorate it with frosting, or fondant cover, or chocolate, right?
So, you start with the basic RKT recipe – seriously, I’ve used this a few times now when making odd-shaped cake toppers… it works a treat & I’m sure a number of you will be converts/addicts, too!
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 package (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows
- (I used 2 of the mini-marshmallow bags @ 170g each)
- - OR -
- 4 cups miniature marshmallows
- 6 cups Kellogg’s® Rice Krispies® cereal
- (I reduced this to 5 cups to make a more dense mix)
Start by crushing your cereal in a freezer bag. This will make smaller pieces that you can cram into detailed crevices.
Follow the recipe & melt your butter & marshmallows. I used my big ol’ wok, just coz it’s nice & wide for stirring.
Once your butter & marshmallows have melted together, pour in your crushed Rice Krispies and mix well. If you’ve ever made “normal” RKT, you’ll notice that this is a bit more wet & dense, but that’s what you want…
Once thoroughly mixed, pour your RKT onto a baking sheet/pan covered with parchment paper.
Let it cool for a minute or two, then use the parchment paper to squish the mix as tightly as you can.
Spray your skull mould.
Take your RKT and cram it tightly into the mould. Good thing they’re clear so you can see if you’ve reached all the nooks & crannies… With the cake release spray, they should just pop right out.
Then, you take both halves and push them together with your fingers until the seams are no longer visible and then you have a full skull. Voila! I would pop this into the fridge for about an hour to set completely before covering with your frosting &/or fondant of choice. The fun part is the decorating!
But as I said above, you can actually just shape your skull by hand, now that you can see the shape below…
I’ll be decorating my skull later, and I can’t wait to see what you do with yours!
Enjoy!
Jen
Polka-Dot (Inside) Cake: Multi-coloured / Multi-flavoured
Thursday September 27 2012
So I finally got around to trying out a “Polka-dot Cake.” I think most of the versions I’ve seen have been plain vanilla; white cake + various balls in different colours. I thought to myself: “What if you could incorporate different flavours as well as colours?” And so I did it!
Here’s the inside & outside of my ube (purple yam) & pandan (young coconut) polka-dot cake, frosted with an ombre vanilla + ube cream cheese buttercream. But, the possibilities of flavour and colour combinations are endless: lemon/lime, chocolate/caramel, chocolate/orange, peanut butter/chocolate (ok, anything with chocolate!)
For the “dots” or cake balls, you can really use any cake or cupcake recipe you want to. An easy one I use is equal ratios of butter/caster (superfine) sugar/self-rising flour:
- 160g butter
- 160g caster (superfine) sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 160g self-rising flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (or other flavouring of your choice)
- 2 tablespoons semi-skim milk
- Same process as making cupcakes; bake at 180 degrees Celsius. This will make about 25-30 cake balls. You will need extra as some balls will not be perfectly round & sadly unusable.
These silicone cake pop moulds are from Robert Dyas (UK). I got mine for about 8 GBP. Spray the top (the side with the holes) and bottom with cake release spray & fill a little over the bottom side’s rim. Close the top over the bottom & secure. (These click/lock into place).
I weighted the top of the silicone mould with a small cake tin to prevent the top from raising as the cake balls bake & rise. Cook for about the same time as you would cook cupcakes. You can use the holes at the top to insert a toothpick to see if the balls are done after about 15-20 minutes.
When the cake balls are done, they will sadly not be perfectly formed. Use a sharp knife to trim off any excess. Any that cannot be trimmed to make perfect spheres can be eaten / taste-tested.
You should end up with lovely round-ish balls.
Then, use the same recipe you used for the cake balls – maybe try a different flavour… I doubled the recipe, which was enough to fill 2 x 8-inch cake pans.
Use some of your “main cake batter” and coat the bottom of your cake pan with it about 1 cm deep, & then “stick” your cake balls into a circular pattern, each one about 1 cm apart onto that layer of batter. Use the remaining “main cake batter” to cover the cake balls completely. You should still be able to see the tops of the balls.
Bake for about 30 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Use a toothpick to see if the “main cake batter” is cooked through. I also do testers simultaneously to test, as you can’t cut into the cake.
Stack the 2 layers with the “bumpy sides” down. Fill and frost as you wish. The cream cheese buttercream I used is:
- 250g unsalted butter
- 150g full fat Philadelphia Cream Cheese
- 1 tsp extract of your choice
- 3-4 cups of icing/confectioners sugar
For this type of buttercream effect, here’s a useful YouTube video (check at around 1:55): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD9HFlNnlbU
Enjoy!
Peanut Butter Cupcakes + PB & Marshmallow Frosting… My Current #1 Most-Requested Flavour!
Sunday September 16 2012
I grew up with peanut butter & <grape> jelly sandwiches in Virginia & California, & love anything with peanut butter (PB) even now. When I first moved to the UK over a decade ago, I have to say that people were like, “Whaaaaat?” Having now served PB variations of cupcakes, macarons, brownies, cookies, etc. at various parties, it seems I have converted a few peeps & now PB & Marshmallow is my most-requested/ordered flavour. YAY! I personally love my choc/vanilla cake, filled with caramel & marshmallow, topped with PB <& sometimes jelly> frosting, but that might be a bit much for some. LOL. But here is the recipe for my basic PB cupcakes & PB & marshmallow frosting, which will make a dozen large cupcakes…
The ones pictured below are topped with my mini-oreo filled white chocolate lips. 
Here is the RECIPE:
- 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (no sugar added)
- 1/3 cup room temp/softened butter
- 3/4 cup caster/superfine sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups regular (all-purpose) flour
- 3/4 cup milk
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- pinch of salt (optional)
…and the METHOD:
Preheat oven to 175 Celsius/350 F. Line a 12-muffin/cupcake tin with greaseproof cupcake cases.
Mix together butter, PB & caster sugar in a large mixing bowl until light/fluffy/creamy. Then add 2 large eggs & mix until eggs fully incorporated. Sift in the flour & baking powder, & alternate with adding in the 3/4 cup milk. Add the pinch of salt if it needs it.
Fill your cupcake cases to about 2/3 full with the batter, and bake for 20-23 minutes, until done. Let cool, then frost…
For the FROSTING:
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 1/2 cup crunchy PB (I prefer the crunch in the frosting, but you can also use smooth)
- 2 -3 cups icing/confectioners sugar
- optional: dash vanilla extract &/or pinch of salt
- AND/OR add 1/2 cup full-fat Philly cream cheese to get a creamier frosting when creaming the butter & PB together
Cream butter & PB until smooth & creamy. Add icing sugar gradually until the frosting is light and fluffy…
Pipe as you wish, but I normally leave a “hole” in the centre of the PB frosting so I can add the marshmallow filling inside….
For the MARSHMALLOW FILLING: Cindy Palcwyn offers the best recipe as part of her “Campfire Pie” instructions. Alternately, you can use Marshmallow Fluff.
…then voila! PB & marshmallow cupcakes. Yummmm! Enjoy!
Jen’s Salted Dark Chocolate / Espresso / Soured Cream Cake Recipe
Wednesday August 22 2012
So, I made my favourite chocolate cake again tonight, and thought I should share the recipe. This recipe produces a really rich, most cake, which couples well with creamy fillings/frostings. As it’s not an overly sweet cake, I find it accompanies fruit quite well, but can also “take” sweeter fillings like caramel, marshmallow, peanut butter (& grape jelly).
These pictures show my “Almond Joy” cake, just to provide an example of one way this recipe can be used.
You will need a big bowl for this recipe, as it yields a lot of batter, enough for 2 x 8 or 9 inch pans.
Here’s the RECIPE:
- 1 cup espresso (or strong coffee like Starbuck’s via) – prepared & cooled
- ½ cup plain vegetable oil
- 1 cup soured cream
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or I use a little less vanilla bean paste)
- ½ to 1 teaspoon good quality sea salt, depending on how salty you want your cake (I use a few pinches of Hawaiian red sea salt)
- 1 cup Green & Black’s organic cocoa powder
- 2 cups plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 cups caster or superfine sugar
And, here are the INSTRUCTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 350F/175C
- Prepare your espresso & let cool to room temperature
- Mix your oil, soured cream, eggs, coffee & vanilla in a bowl until combined and smooth
- Add in your sugar and salt and mix until blended
- Sift in your cocoa powder, flour, baking soda & baking powder
- Mix until just combined and smooth
- For cake: bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean
- For cupcakes: bake for approx 18-22 minutes depending on the size of your cupcakes
This is my favourite cake filling, which is a mascarpone & whipped (double) cream mix of 250g mascarpone + 250 ml double cream + 1 tsp vanilla, which you whip up with a hand blender until it’s thick and fluffy… then fold in the filling(s) of your choice. I have added “almond ding” & coconut here. This type of frosting must be kept cold due to the dairy content.
Then, I normally cover with a dark chocolate ganache, which is 200g dark chocolate + 200g double cream. I didn’t even smooth the ganache (LOL!) as I knew it would all be covered up… 
…with coconut. In case you don’t know how to do this: you put your cake in a deep & wide pan and just “throw” the coconut onto the cake (this cake is too big to roll in the coconut), but you must do this whilst the ganache is still wet. 
Then, decorate as you wish… 
And, serve and enjoy! This type of “filled cake” can be achieved by using the Wilton Tasty-Fill Pan: http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?sku=2105-157 
Pimp My Oreos – The Chocolate Kiss Re-Mix
Monday August 20 2012
How much fun would these be for a bridal shower or hen party? These are chocolate covered Oreos, and I swear they’re not too difficult to make.
You need to find the right moulds. Mine are from the US, and I did find a supplier / seller who will ship these “Oreo Lip Chocolate moulds” internationally. This is what they look like: deep enough to completely cover Double-Stuff Oreos.
Oh yes, you’ll need some white chocolate, milk or dark (or I mix a semi-sweet chocolate), and a packet of Double-Stuff Oreos.
So, STEP 1: I used white some melted chocolate and coloured it with a bit of Sugarflair gel paste colour (1 set in red and 1 set in pink). Fill the lip part of the mould first and let it set.
STEP 2: Once your white chocolate lips have set, pour a small amount of your milk or dark chocolate (or more white chocolate) over the lips and “stick” your Oreo flat against the chocolate. This will stop your Oreo from rising up…
STEP 3: Once your Oreo is stuck to the “bottom” chocolate, pour chocolate over the top to completely cover the Oreo, and nearly to the top of the mould. Be sure you tap the moulds against your countertop to get rid of any air bubbles.
STEP 4: Allow your chocolate covered Oreos to set completely at room temperature. I would not recommend putting them into the fridge, as they will lose their gloss. Once they’re set, they will just pop out of the mould.
You can use a bit of royal icing to pipe special messages along the side of your chocolate covered Oreos. Enjoy!
