Some of you will know that I managed to volunteer my assistance in another bake sale which happened over the weekend. This one was a festive fundraiser, which meant that I was allowed to break my own rule of not listening to Christmas songs outside of December (someone else had put them on!), and bake some very festive recipes.
After posting about these on Facebook, I got a couple of requests for the recipe, so without further ado I give you Mince Pie Cupcakes.
This recipe makes quite a lot, around 20 cupcakes, but why should that be a bad thing? If you don’t want to eat them all in one go, freeze some.
225g unsalted butter/Stork
225g caster sugar
4 large free range eggs
250g good quality mincemeat (I guess that if you’re really flash, you could make your own)
210g self raising flour
25g cornflour
1 tsp. baking powder
Make sure that the butter and eggs are at room temperature before you start. Preheat the oven to 180/fan 160/gas 4. Line a muffin tray with muffin cases – remember, this recipe will definitely make more than 12 cakes! Cream together the butter and sugar, then beat in the eggs one at a time. If you add a spoonful of flour between each egg, it should prevent the mix from curdling (top tip, folks!). Fold in the mincemeat and stir well. Sift in the flour, baking powder and cornflour and carefully fold into the mix.
Divide equally among the cases – only fill to about 2/3 then bake for about 20-25 minutes until golden. Because of the mincemeat, these cakes are very moist, but a quick check with a skewer will tell you if they’re cooked. Leave the cakes in their tin for about 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
To ice, the recipe I took this from suggests buttercream flavoured with brandy – this time, however, I added a couple of drops of almond essence instead, which was delicious. Another nice festive twist would be some freshly squeezed orange juice and zest.
Then to the fun part – the decoration! I am a firm believer that Christmas pretty much give you carte blanche to go completely over the top here, so don’t be shy. Of course, edible glitter adds a beautifully festive touch (and I think that you can’t go wrong with anything twinkly), or if you want to be really decadent you could go the whole hog with gold leaf. There are countless websites who offer a huge array of delights, but here are a couple for you….
janeasher.com
craftcompany.co.uk
planetbake.co.uk
thelittlecakeshop.co.uk
And, lastly, a photo of the finished article – yes, they did have edible glitter on them, but photo doesn’t really pick that up. Humbug.
Musings of a domestic goddess 