Monday 15 November 2010

A bear, however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise


The Love Bakery book is fast becoming my favourite cupcake book. If I fancy baking something different it is definitely my go to book at the moment. The recipes are incredibly easy to follow, don't require lots of strange ingredients (well buttermilk but I don't consider that strange anymore) and the cakes I've made from it have all been a success, which I can't say for many other cookbooks I have!

I first made these cupcakes last week on a whim after work when I'd had a bit of a shitty day and needed cheering up. They were very tasty, however not quite right as I was missing one vital ingredient, honey for the frosting, so decided to re-bake them yesterday to see how they tasted when made properly. There is only once word to describe them - DELICIOUS.

All pretty in it's gingham case (from Sainsburys)

gasp...naked! 

The cake is a pretty basic cupcake with two apples (peeled and grated) added to the batter, which makes the cake incredibly moist. I used some plump Pink Lady apples as they're my favourite but you could use any apple you like. It also has a generous amount of cinnamon and this really brings out the apple in the cake.

I'm not a great fan of honey (even though my husband insists I should be because I love Winnie the Pooh so much) so when I tried the honey cinnamon frosting yesterday I was a little disappointed in it as it tasted a bit too honey-ish for me (go figure - it had 2 x tbsp of honey in it!) and had decided that if I were to make these again, I'd frost with custard frosting instead. However, when I came back from work today I had one with a cup of tea and the honey-taste had mellowed a bit and was much nicer. Or maybe I'm just growing to like it? In fact I much preferred this, the proper frosting, to my vanilla version I did it with the first time. Also the cake is still very fresh and moist. This recipe is definitely one I'd recommend -  an all round fabulous cupcake for the colder months of the year.

 First attempt with a vanilla frosting

naked vanilla frosted cupcake

You can get the Love Bakery book from The Book People for the bargain price of £4.99. 

As wonderful as these cupcakes are, before you bake a batch and sit down with a pot of tea to scoff them all remember the wise words of Pooh “When having a smackerel of something with a friend, don't eat so much that you get stuck in the doorway trying to get out.”

9 comments:

Baking Addict said...

My book arrived today and I am totally in love with it!! I can't stop staring at it. Ihere will be some serious cupcake baking going on soon :)
I think I may have to make these ones first, yours look so gorgeous.
I'm always too greedy and will end up getting stuck in the doorway!

Katie said...

Looks delicious. You can't beat the flavours of apple and cinnamon. Not tried it with honey either, will have to give it a go

The Caked Crusader said...

I adored these when I made them a few weeks back. It's a lovely book with out of the ordinary recipes that are so simple to make
I'm not a honey fan either but I'm starting to love it in my baking.

Mel said...

Hmm these sound tasty. I tried parnsip cupakes the other day, after i tried parsnip cake in scotland, but they were really dry and I think I baked them too long. They had the potential to be tasty though!

blackbookkitchendiaries said...

i need to get my hands on this book:) thanks for sharing.

Highland Monkey's said...

what can I say except for yummy!

I heart cupcakes said...

@Baking Addict - its such a good book with really easy to follow recipes which turn out really well! Hope you've made something lovely from it! Can't wait to see your blogs about it.

@Katie - I wasn't sure about the honey but it really worked. One of my favourite cupcakes for sure

@Samantha - I saw your blog about them and knew I had to bake them when you said how fabulous they were! I fully agree re the book - its so gorgeous

@Mel - I think I have a recipe for parsnip cupcakes in a book. I reckon they'd be quite nice.

@Blackbookkitchen - it's very cheap from the Book People and I'd definitely recommend it

@Highland Monkey -thanks :)

Manny said...

Those cakes were great :) I'm glad you're getting to like the honey seeing as you love Pooh Bear so much :) And sorry I forgot to check this before we went away, that's a fail on my part!

I heart cupcakes said...

Manny - I know if I didn't eat the honey you'd scoff them all and end up stuck in a doorway like Pooh ;)