Cupcakes

It's 11.30 AM...Most of my colleagues are on their way to our cafeteria to eat the sandwiches they have brought along with them from home. I am also on my way out of my office, carrying a tray of plain vanilla cupcakes... Not because it's my birthday, not to share with my colleagues for lunch.... Nope! I've got a different purpose for these delicious cupcakes!

My colleague Kari and I are both passionate bakers - trading recipes for great cakes, sharing tips and tricks, as well as equipment with each other - and avid followers of Passion for Baking, a beautiful and inspirational blog by Manuela Kjeilen. So when we saw that Manuela would be coming to the Norwegian Food Festival in Ålesund to hold a seminar on decorating cupcakes, we knew we just had to sign up for it!

Nearly two hours after we left the office, we are strolling along the different booths at the Food Festival - sampling syrups, cheeses and lots more - as we still had some time left before the seminar....but at 6 PM, the waiting is finally over... the seminar and the fun starts!

After showing us how to make vanilla cupcakes, several types of icing and frosting, Manuela brings out the piping bags and icing tips she prefers to use for decorating the cupcakes. She explains the different techniques for each tip, and continues by showing how to use fondant and silicon molds to create other types of decorations.

Soon after, all participants are having a go at the same techniques - trying to decorate our cupcakes as professionally as Manuela.With a piping bag filled with dark chocolate frosting and a Wilton "1B" tip, I have a go at creating frosting roses on top of my cupcakes... with pretty good result, even though I say so myself.

24 cupcakes, a lot of icing and a couple of sticky fingers later, I show Manuela the final result, have a little chat in Dutch (as Manuela is half Dutch half Norwegian) and say goodbye!

Thank you for a lovely seminar, Manuela! I am already looking forward to your book coming out!

Blueberry Apricot Muffins

It's raining cats and dogs outside, there's nothing on TV...so what do you do? Well, that's when I start to bake. Mainly because afterwards I will be able to crawl up on the couch underneath my duvet with a cup of hot cocao, a newly baked muffin and continue to read the book I started yesterday. Then the rain outside seems a whole lot more cosy than half an hour ago...especially when I remember the lovely summer's day that I picked the blueberries I used in these muffins!

Today I tried to bake muffins with the wholegrain spelt flour I found this weekend at one of the larger supermarkets down in the village....and the result: DE-LI-CIOUS!!!

Blueberry Apricot Muffins
(makes about 18 muffins)

Ingredients:
125 gr butter
1 dl sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla sugar
1 dl dried apricots, finely chopped
2 tsp baking powder
1,5 dl wholegrain spelt flour
3 dl all-purpose flour
1,5 dl milk
2 dl blueberries (preferably frozen)

1.) Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2.) Mix the butter with the sugar in a medium sized bowl with a handmixer, until light and airy.
3.) Add the eggs one at a time.
4.) Add the vanilla sugar, the apricots, the baking powder and the two types of flour, and stir well.
5.) Add the milk and the blueberries, and stir until it becomes a smooth batter.
6.) Line a muffin pan with paper muffin forms, or put double paper muffins forms unto a baking tray.
7.) Use two spoons to divide the batter over the muffin forms, approximately 1 tbsp of batter per form.
8.) Bake the muffins for 15 to 20 minutes on the middle rack of the oven, until golden brown. Check with a cake needle that the muffins are baked completely.
9.) Transfer the muffins to a rack to cool, after they have cooled down in the muffin pan for 5 minutes first.

Enjoy!

Some days...

...nice surprises come by mail...

Thank you so much, Marèse! I really love the cupcake tea sieve you sent me! It was put to use straight away!

Cupcakes

Today my husband and I are in Trondheim....He to get his motor bike fixed....Me to do some shopping.

One of the stores here in Trondheim that I always have to stop by, is the Danish shop named Søstrene Grene Handelskompagnie. So when I spotted these cute cupcake bowls, I just had to get them!

Cupcakes...

...were made, decorated and delivered to the neighbours today to celebrate their newly born son.

Congratulations!

Vanilla cupcakes

(makes about 20 cupcakes)

Ingredients:

230 gr butter

230 gr sugar

230 gr all-purpose flour

15 gr baking powder

1 tsp vanilla essence

4 eggs

1.) Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

2.) Pour all the ingredients into a medium large bowl and mix well.

3.) Put paper cupcake forms into a baking tray for muffins and add a heaped tablespoon of the dough into each form.

4.) Bake the cupcakes for 20 minutes on the middle rack of the oven.

5.) Let the cupcakes cool down for 5 minutes in the baking tray, before removing them to a rack to cool down more.

6.) Decorate with buttercream frosting and coloured marzipan as desired.

Enjoy!

Tea Time!

When I read fashion magazines, I normally don't immediately afterwards run to the nearest store to get some of the "hot new items" displayed (I'm definitely NOT a fashionista), but a couple of weeks ago I did just that!

I was on my way home from work and saw in the Norwegian women's magazine "KK" (aka "Kvinner og Klær"; "Women and Clothes") that the Dutch / Norwegian design team behind the jewellery brand Arts & Crafts was launching a jewellery line called "Tea Party" - a range of necklaces and bracelets with very cute cupcake pendants. With my love for baking cupcakes, I just had to have these necklaces. So I ran to the nearest store and ordered my favourites from this jewellery line. Last week they finally arrived.... :-)