Well here it is, my first blog post! I am now officially a blogger! And what better way to begin my baking blog adventure with the first birthday cake, or in these cases cakes, of the year! (pardon the puns – I’m sure you’ll get used to them!)
January 14th is a very spacial day indeed, it’s my fantastic boyfriend’s birthday and thus a very good excuse indeed to take over the kitchen and have a play – and that’s exactly what I did with these beauties.
Being a lowly intern, and not on the highest salary, cakes prove a very nifty little gift – not only are they cheap they to pack more of a punch than most presents as obviously, they are edible and who doesn’t like edible gifts!!
I have to say these cupcakes were a very pleasant surprise. I went in blind not knowing exactly what I was going to come out with, other than they would predominantly be pecan flavoured as my boyfriend is nuts about pecans… True freestyle.
There is something very warming and comforting about maple and pecan together – especially when a hint of cinnamon comes along to join the party! It transports me back to days spent snuggled by fire or wrapped up warm on a frosty walk. And that’s what I wanted to capture in these cupcakes and for them to be served as a big warm hug and the honeycomb, I feel, elevates them to that special occasion level.
I began by making a simple vanilla cupcake batter (eggs, butter, flour, sugar, vanilla) to serve as a foundation on which to build up the flavour
A recipe of my final creations, which were a very pleasant surprise indeed, can be found below:
INGREDIENTS
For the cupcakes:
2 Eggs
125g Softened Butter
125g Muscovado Sugar
175g Self-Raising Flour
½ tsp. Vanilla Extract
4 tbsp. Maple Syrup
1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
6 Pecans
For the Icing:
4tbsp. Maple Syrup
250g Softened Butter
500g Icing Sugar (Sifted)
For the Pecans
2tbsp. Maple Syrup
12 Pecans
For the Honeycomb:
200g Caster Sugar
5tbsp. Golden Syrup
2tbsp. Bicarbonate of Soda
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180°C and line your cupcake tin. Next, combine the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Then add the soft butter, flour, vanilla and maple syrup in the bowl and mix together until you have a smooth batter.
Toast 6 pecans in a dry frying pan on a low heat. Once toasted, crush using a pestle and mortar. Once crushed, grind the pecans until you have almost a butter-like-texture. Mix 2 tbsp. of this mixture into your batter. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 cases then place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
For the icing, beat the soft butter until it becomes pale. Then slowly add the sifted icing sugar 1 tbsp. at a time – this will ensure a silky smooth icing. Once all the icing sugar has been added, drizzle in the maple syrup and beat again until light and fluffy. Fill a piping bag and pipe swirls or roses onto the cooled cakes.
To make the pecans place the maple syrup and pecan nuts in small frying pan and gently heat, stirring until the pan is dry and the pecans are glossy. Pour onto greaseproof paper, separate then leave to cool and dry
For the honeycomb, melt the caster sugar and syrup in over a gentle heat so that the mixture doesn’t bubble. Turn up the heat a little and simmer until you have an amber-coloured caramel. Then as quickly as you can turn off the heat, tip in the bicarbonate and beat in with a wooden spoon until it has all disappeared and the mixture is foaming. Scrape into the tin immediately but be careful, as the mixture will be very hot! Leave to set.
Decorate cakes with coated pecans, honeycomb and eat!
A little Tasty 