Today was one of those funny days where deep down inside know you want to do something exciting and spectacular … but you don’t know what it is yet. All day I felt this buzz in the pit of my stomach, but I had no clue what to do to switch it off. The answer only hit me at 4 p.m.
I got up today expecting to have a couple of friends round for coffee and a chat, so I started off by vacuuming the lounge and sprucing up the place. My guests told me they were going to be running some errands prior to their arrival, and that they would call once they were done (they have never been to my place before). Long story short, they got caught up with things and could not make it over in time for tea. R. was well pleased because that meant he could now devour the cupcakes I had made this very morning. He’s been eyeing them off ever since they came out the oven, but he knows better than to sneak one without permission. Hehe.
However, before he got his paws on the cakes I decided to snap away at them for practice. In case you haven’t noticed, my photos aren’t that great compared to some other food blogs out there in food blogland. I have been trying but I don’t seem to be getting it. My sister bought me a dSLR for my birthday last year and I am still getting my head round the settings. Today I worked on some exercises to get sharper images and preserve some semblance of colour without fiddling too much post productively.
Light fades very fast these days, and I only decided to start snapping away at these round about the 4:20 p.m mark. Not the best time to be unprepared. I rushed thru many of the photos and failed to use a tripod because I was a silly goose … I thought I had it all under control. But inevitably the best framed photos all came out with blurry edges and smears. Serves me right. These few photos were what could be used out of the thirty or so shots I took.
Anyway, if you are interested in this recipe you will be glad to know it is pretty simple and straightforward. I use my basic chocolate sponge recipe, cut holes in them, fill the cakes with raspberry jam and top them with fluffy raspberry cream. I use this recipe so often that these days I don’t refer to a recipe anymore.
Ingredients:
- 125 g soft, unsalted butter
- 90 g white sugar
- 50 g light brown sugar
- 3 whole eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 200 mls whole milk
- 1/2 tbsp white vinegar (to sour the milk)
- 1 tsp instant coffee granules
- pinch of salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 200 g all purpose flour
- 50 g dark unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder
Cream the butter + sugar until light and fluffy. Then add the vanilla and the eggs, one at a time. Scrape down the bowl in between.
Mix the milk + vinegar + coffee granules in a cup. The vinegar sours the milk to mimic the acidity of sour cream which gives the cakes a nice soft crumb. The coffee deepens the flavour of the cocoa, and produces a richer chocolate flavour.
Sift the rest of the dry ingredients together and add this to the egg and butter mixture in batches, alternating with the soured milk.
Mix until just combined and then scoop out equal quantities into paper cases. Bake for 20 – 25 mins at 180ºC. Cool on wire racks and core out the centres when they are still hot, using an apple corer.
Once the cakes are completely cool fill them with raspberry jam (or whatever filling you wish) and top them with freshly whipped cream and garnish with chocolate shavings.
Raspberry Whipped Cream
- 200 mls heavy cream
- 1 tbsp raspberry jam or raspberry puree
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar or vanilla sugar.
-Place everything into a very cold bowl and whip until fluffy. I also added two drops of red food dye to emphasize the pink hue of the cream.
-Spoon mixture into a piping bag with a large star tip nozzle and pipe swirls on the top of each cake.
So there you have it. Today I made cupcakes and took some of the best photos I have ever done, ever. A personal best. In today’s lesson I learnt mainly how to control appartures and f-stops. Tomorrow I shall play with my ability to adjust depth of field (whatever that means).
~ Enjoy ~
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