Hot chocolate cupcakes

Page 173 - Hot chocolate cupcakes

Another simple but effective recipe...

I thought that you wouldn't be able to taste the hot chocolate powder as it's not as strong flavoured as cocoa, but actually they did taste of chocolate - just not as rich as the usual Hummingbird chocolate cupcake recipe.

Would make these again as an alternative to vanilla or chocolate cupcakes.

Walnut and honey loaf

Page 163 - Walnut and honey loaf

I think what made this cake extra AMAZING was the Britland homemade honey!!

When I read the recipe, I though this might just be a fairly plain loaf with a few nuts and not a lot of flavour. HOWEVER - the sponge was lovely and moist, with a good amount of honey flavour. And the sticky honey syrup on top gave it an extra dimension. I'd definitely again, subject to dad giving me more honey to use of course :-)

Coffee and chocolate loaf

Page 160 - Coffee and chocolate loaf

This was a bit of a let down - I'm not sure if it was the recipe or how I made it - but either way it was quite dry and just not that interesting. It didn't taste of coffee especially, although perhaps it's because my coffee wasn't strong enough?

The recipe says you can throw in some chocolate chips so perhaps that might have helped, but the only way this might get eaten is with some cream or ice cream!!!

Banoffee cupcakes

Page 159 - Banoffee cupcakes

Yum! What's not to like about a banana cupcake with a toffee custard frosting???

I love banana flavour cake, although I do dread the custard frostings as they're a bit of a faff and I don't like waiting for it to cool etc, but it does give the cupcakes a different edge and the tinned Caramel is one of my favourite things in the world so this recipe really works. I did contemplate putting a bit of caramel in to the centre of each cupcake as I love it so much but though I should stick to the recipe as I've promised myself!

Apple and oatmeal cookies

Page 156 - Apple and oatmeal cookies

The prospect of making a cookie recipe was daunting as I've never really made a successful cookie reecipe before, but also exciting as it's nice to bake something a little different to cakes.
The texture of these was really nice, they were more soft than crunchy although I would try to get them more chewy if I made them again. As per the last apple recipe I made, they just didn't really taste of apple - although the oatmeal and cinnamon in itself was lovely.

I would definitely make them again, although perhaps just missing out the apple or adding some other dried fruit instead!

Spiced apple cake with brown sugar frosting

Page 153 - Spiced apple cake with brown sugar icing

I halved this recipe as the Hummingbird layer cakes are notoriously huge and it's a good job I did as this was big enough...

I was a bit scared about making the icing as it's made from whisked egg whites cooked over simmering water, but actually it was time-consuming but simple to do, I just had to set the timer to make sure I whisked it for long enough as I would have given up otherwise!

This cake has the texture of a lovely carrot-type cake, but without as much of the flavour. When I was cooking the apples for the sponge, it smelt amazing and I was looking forward to a warm, spicy flavoured cake although in all honesty I found it a bit dull tasting. If I make it again I would definitely add more apples than the recipe says and perhaps grate them less finely than I did too.

However - mum's on a diet and ate two slices after her lunch so it must have been fairly tasty!

Brandy chocolate mini cupcakes

Page 149 - Brandy chocolate mini cupcakes

This is the last of the alcoholic cocktail cupcakes, and I can't say I'm too sad as I don't like the messing around involved in making tiny little cupcakes that are barely a mouthful each.

That said, I think these were my favourite of the four recipes as they're chocolate orange flavoured which is one of my favourite cupcake flavours. I thought that the icing tasted quite strongly of brandy, but I was assured by the parents that this isn't the case - perhaps they're more hardened to the taste than I am ;-)

They looked beautiful and would be great for a party or celebration, but I won't be rushing to make them again due to the fiddliness!