CHRISTMAS CUPCAKES BECOME CHRISTMAS PUDDINGS

This is a Christmas cupcake recipe for a much lighter version of a Christmas pudding which is traditional in England. However, the pudding can be so heavy and filling that I have created a cupcake recipe for a much lighter alternative.
Use cupcake recipe 1, 2, 3 or 4. This is the basic cupcake mixture or batter and to this add 1/2 cup--110gm--4oz of sweet mince meat. Add it to the mixture after you have beaten in the 2 eggs. The mixture looks like in the photograph below. I then used paper cases of a larger size which I normally would use for a muffin.
As it is larger I would cook this longer at 375F, 190C or gas 5 for 15 to 20 minutes. Do as usual and watch the cupcakes progress and remove when it is springy to the touch. The time will sometimes depend on where the cupcake tray is. I find that the centre of the oven gives a good even cupcake

When the cupcakes are cooked you can store to serve cold or serve hot. I make a 1 pint--1/2 litre of custard. I use the powdered type or make my own egg custard. Get out a plate for each person and cover with custard as below.

Take the cupcakes out of their cases and place one upside down in the centre of each plate of custard, as below.

In a pan place some sweet mince meat and warm gently, I also add brandy or sherry or port to make it taste really special. Put about 2 teaspoons on the top of each cupcake of this warm sweet mincemeat. I then decorated with some fresh fruit. Sprinkle some icing sugar over to finish off. My son said that these were superb. So hope you enjoy these as much as we have.





Remember to check out the archives. Chutney recipes has a superb recipe for cranberry sauce which makes a great filling for chocolate cupcakes recipe. There are some good soups for cold winter days. My favourite upto now is Catalan and Sweet Potato. Enjoy and have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year. Crazycupcakes

CHRISTMAS CUPCAKES RECIPES

Christmas mincemeat cupcakes recipe. In England one of our traditional foods at Christmas is a mince tart. This is a small pastry pie filled with sweet mincemeat. I thought I would create a recipe for a Christmas mincemeat cupcake.
Ingredients
Recipe 1.
4 oz self raising flour
4 oz butter
4 oz castor sugar
2 medium eggs
2 tablespoons milk or sherry
2 oz sweet mincemeat
Recipe 2.
110 gm self raising flour
110 gm butter
110 gm sugar
2 medium eggs
2 tablespoons of milk or sherry
55gm sweet mincemeat
Recipe 3.
1 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs ,
2 tablespoons of milk or sherry
1/4 cup sweet mincemeat
Method for all Recipes
1. Get all your equipment out, mixing bowl, wooden spoon, paper cases, tablespoon, knife, baking tray, cooling wire rack, scales, sieve and set these out on the work surface. Place the paper cases into the baking tray.
2. Get all the ingredients out.
3. Weigh out the sugar and place in the bowl.
4. Weigh out the butter or margarine and place in the bowl.
5. Weigh out the flour.
6. Using a wooden spoon mix and beat the sugar and butter/margarine together until they are absolutely smooth, this can take up to 2 minutes depending on how soft the butter or margarine is if you do it by hand or quicker with a mixer. The mixture will turn pale and fluffy.
7. Break one egg and add it to the mixture, beat it in until it has blended with the mixture. Repeat with the second egg. Add the milk or sherry and blend.
8. Use the sieve to add the flour to the mixture as this will add extra air to the mixture. Gently fold in the flour or mix in slowly with an electric mixer. The mixture should be a nice type of dropping consistency.
9. Using a spoon divide the mixture into the paper cases and just half fill the cases, filling about 12 paper cases. Using a teaspoon place a teaspoon of mince meat in the centre of each cupcake. Then with the remaining mixture-batter cover the mincemeat so it is trapped in the centre.
10. Switch on the oven temperature 375F, 190C and gas 5. Let the oven get warm. You can put the oven on when you start so it is already warm. Place the tray of cupcakes on a shelf in the centre. They will take 12 to 18 minutes. When the cakes are firm and springy to the touch and they look well risen and golden they will be cooked.
11. Remove from the oven and place on the wire try to cool. Cover with a dusting of icing sugar. They are good eaten warm.
ENJOY

Mixing the butter/margarine and castor sugar. Adding the eggs one at a time and mixing well in.

Adding the flour to the mixture using a sieve. The finished mixture-batter.
Placing a teaspoon of sweet mincemeat on the top of the mixture.
The Christmas mincemeat cupcakes ready to come out of the oven.
Christmas orange chocolate cupcakes for friends to enjoy. I made these cupcakes to take to some friends. The mixture was the chocolate cupcake recipe with grated orange rind added and orange juice. To decorate them I made some orange butter cream-frosting.

Ingredients 50gm--2oz butter or margarine, 125gm--4oz of icing sugar and 1 teaspoon of orange juice. If you need more double the quantity.

Method Mix the butter and icing sugar together. It is quicker with an electric mixer. Add the orange juice. Pipe or spread onto the chocolate cupcakes. Add chocolate sprinkles, fresh satsumas, oranges and chocolate drops. Serve and enjoy.

The archive has lots more ideas for healthy eating cupcakes, pumpkin cupcakes and ideas on how to decorate cupcakes. Enjoy.

CHRISTMAS CUPCAKES

These cakes are a similar size to cupcakes and are on sale in my local bakery. They show Christmas ideas for Candle cakes and Father Christmas cakes.

CHOCOLATE FRUIT CUPCAKES RECIPE

These chocolate fruit cupcakes use the chocolate cupcake recipe for the chocolate orange cupcakes. I like to get some of my favourite chocolate , melt it in a bowl which is in a pan with simmering water. When the chocolate is well melted I dip in pieces of washed and cleaned fresh fruit such as strawberries, blueberries and satsumas. You could use what is in season in your area. I then just place these on the top of the cupcakes. I finish off the cupcakes with a shake of very fine icing sugar or frosting sugar. Serve fresh and enjoy.

Remember to visit the cupcake store and the archives for more recipes and decorating ideas. If you like making soup, casseroles and chutney check out the links for more of my tempting recipes. Enjoy. Crazycupcakes

CHOCOLATE ORANGE CUPCAKES RECIPE

This Chocolate orange cupcake recipe is good for serving at the festive season with friends.
Ingredients
3/4 cup--6oz--175gm butter or margarine
3/4 cup--6oz--175gm castor sugar
1 cup--4oz--115gm self-raising flour
1/2 cup--2oz--60gm cocoa
3 eggs
1 orange, the skin finely grated and the juice extracted
For Decoration
whipped fresh cream
slices of fresh oranges or satsumas
chocolate sprinkles
Method
Cream butter or margarine with the castor sugar in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the grated orange rind. Sift in the flour and the cocoa. Fold in. Add the orange juice. Place the mixture in individual cupcake cases in a baking tray. Cook at gas 5--190C--375F for 12 to 15 minutes.
When the cupcakes are cool set them all out ready for decorating. Whip the fresh cream until it is in firm peaks. Do not over beat. I place the cream in a piping bag and put a swirl of cream onto each cupcake. I then top each one off with a piece of fresh orange or satsuma and sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles. These are rich in textures and full of flavour.
Remember to look at the cupcake store for more ideas and check out my archives for more recipes and decorating ideas
Enjoy.

CHRISTMAS CANDLE CUPCAKES

I decided to make a cupcake that would be great to hold a candle. Lots could be made and they could be used for Christmas to create a great ambiance and then most importantly eaten and enjoyed.

I made some chocolate cupcakes flavoured with dark chocolate and dates added to the mixture. I used some ready made icing to speed up the process. I rolled out the icing and cut out the base circle shapes with a cutter the same size as the top of the cupcakes. I then cut a paper triangular shape and used this for my pattern. I cut out 5 triangles for each cupcake.
I coated the tops of the cupcakes with warm apricot jam and spread this on the top of each cupcake. It became like a type og edible glue. I put the cicles on top of the cupcakes. I then used a small brush to dampen the edges of the triangles and placed them on top of the circle of icing, to form a 3D star. When the triangles had gone hard, I used pink writing icing to decorate the cupcakes and added pink balls to the cupcakes stars. In some of the star cupcakes I did not put a central decoration instead I added the candles and candle holders to the cupcakes.







I am really pleased with the result. Remember to take care with candles.

Enjoy

Remember to look at the archives and cupcake store for more ideas. There are also some great soup, casserole and chutney recipes to try out.

CHRISTMAS REINDEERS CUPCAKE

Remember to look at the cake store and the archives for more recipes and decorating ideas.

In this Christmas idea I have taken one of the painted cupcakes and added lots of the reindeer cupcakes on to it using photoshop. It is like a vast herd of reindeer cupcakes on a planet.

POINTSETTIA CHRISTMAS CUPCAKES

Remember to get more ideas from the Cake Store and the Archives. Crazycupcakes.

Christmas cupcake recipes based on the Christmas Pointsettia plant.
Christmas Cupcakes based on the beautiful shapes, patterns and colours of the pointsettia plant.
This Christmas cupcake recipe is made from the chocolate cupcake recipe with fresh cranberries added to the mixture. I iced it white and then used bought chocolate shapes as the leaves. I then filled in the pointsettia details with writing icing.
This Christmas cupcake is made from the chocolate cupcake recipe with raisins added that have been soaked whisky. Brandy is also good. The cupcakes are iced white and the leaves are made from ready to roll icing. I rolled it out with a rolling pin and cut out the diamond shapes. I finished off with writing icing detail.
This Christmas cupcake is the chocolate cupcake recipe with fresh cranberries added to the mixture. It is iced white and the leaves made from ready to roll icing. The detail is with coloured writing icing. The Cranberry cupcake recipe.
This Christmas cupcake is based on the pointsettia drawing in black and white. I iced the cupcake white and made the leaves from black icing rolled into a rectangle and then cut into diamond shapes. I put in detail with writing icing
This cupcake is based on the bright red leaves of the pointsettia. I iced the cupcake white. I used rolled out red icing for the leaves and writing icing for the details.
The cupcake was the chocolate recipe with grated orange rind added and orange juice. I love the combination of chocolate and orange

The pointsettia plant is also called the flame leaf, Christmas star, Winter rose, Noche Buena or Pascua. It is a sub-tropical plant known for its striking red colour at Christmas time. It's often used as a floral Christmas decoration because of its festive colours. The red flowers are really large bunches of coloured leaves. In the U.K. these are very popular to bring colour to the home or for use as table decorations at Christmas. The shops are now filling up with them.
In South American folklore, Pointsettias are central to the creation myth story of the Mayan Indians. It is believed that Pointsettias are powerful creatures from another world. The plants are native to South America but are now cultivated all over the world .

I hope you get lots of ideas for cupcake recipes and decoration.

Remember to check out the cake store and archives for lots more ideas .

Enjoy. Happy Christmas.