Cupcakes again

I was a bit lazy last week and abandoned this blog... It was my birthday so I think I have a good excuse ;) My lovely husband treated me to the wonderful Ta'if and since then, I've been smelling of roses, oriental spices and sweetmeats. Mmm.

My day has been frustrating so I decided to do some baking this afternoon. Today I made vanilla cupcakes. The first batch turned out just right and I was really happy but while making the second batch, I realised that there wasn't enough milk left. Oh no. Hence improvisation kicked in. Last night I had glutinous rice with coconut milk mixed in as a night-time snack (I know, I have weird cravings) and had loads of coconut milk left. So it made sense to replace the milk in the recipe with coconut milk. Then, instead of adding the vanilla essence, I added a dash of rose water.

The 20 minute wait while it baked in the oven felt really long! I was worried that it would turn out horrible and would be a waste of my lovely ingredients. (I know it's just the standard store cupboard stuff but I always feel bad when I have to throw out food).

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And so, the verdict: pretty good really!! They turned out a bit softer than expected and maybe a tad too sweet but tasty all in all. In fact, having just eaten another, I think they are rather good! The coconut milk has given them a creamy taste and the rose flavour is just perceptible. I quite like that it's not overly rose flavoured as I think it's nice for the coconut to really take centre stage. Overall, it's quite a subtle cupcake which most people would enjoy and is a nice change from vanilla.

Recipe:

40g butter

120g sugar (perhaps use 80-100g for a less sweet version)

140g self raising flour

120ml of coconut milk

a dash of rose water (Maybe about 1/2 teaspoon or so)

1 egg

Mix the butter and sugar until the butter has turned into a creamy paste. Add flour and mix until the consistency is sandy. Briskly whisk the coconut milk, rose water and a whole egg in a separate bowl and slowly add to the sugar-butter-flour mixture until smooth. Pour into paper cupcake cases in a cupcake tin and put in a pre-heated oven at 170°C. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Easy!

Rose cupcakes

This time it's an edible rose post!

I love baking and one of the things I love to create are cupcakes because they can be made to look so pretty really easily.

Photos from the fruits (sweets?) of my labour: rose, chocolate orange and lime coconut cupcakes

The recipe I normally use is from the Cupcakes book by the Primrose Bakery so I probably shouldn't post it here (copyright restrictions and all...) but what I can say is that you can easily recreate it by adding a teaspoon or so of good quality rosewater (it depends on how strong the particular batch of rosewater is and also how strong or subtle you like the flavour to be) into a standard plain cupcake recipe. The icing is just as easy, add the rosewater and a little drop of food colouring to the usual butter and icing sugar mixture!

So I think that now completes the journey into rose scented and flavoured things in my life that I enjoy. I'm sure I'll come across new things in the future though! And if anyone ever has something to recommend, I'm all ears!