‘Flame’ Cupcakes

You will see from the photos and posting below that I recently made some cupcakes for a friend’s 40th birthday party. As well as the chocolate cupcakes featured above I made some ‘flame cupcakes’ that I put on the top of the cakestand. These looked great and everyone asked me how I made them. As the creation was to replace an actual birthday cake, they had the appearance of flames on the top of the cakestand.

I used a maple cupcake sponge with maple syrup buttercream and then made the sugar flames for the top. This isn’t the easiest thing to do but with some patience and a lot of trial and error you can make some dramatic cakes.

The recipe and instructions are set out below. This will make 12 cupcakes. As to get some really good ones there is a bit of trial and error I suggest making all 12 even if you end up with only 4 or 5 really good flame cakes. The others are tasty even without the sugar shards:

Maple Cake Ingredients

60g butter, softened

150g self-raising flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

110 g dark brown sugar

60ml maple syrup

2 eggs

Maple Buttercream Ingredients

90g butter, softened

160g icing sugar

3 teaspoons maple syrup

Sugar Flames

330g caster sugar

250ml water

Equipment required

1 12-hole muffin pan tray

muffin cases

large heavy based saucepan

sieve

large mixing bowl

electric whisk

• First preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius or 160 if it is fan assisted.

• Put the muffin cases in the muffin tray

Cakes

•Put butter, sieved flour and cinnamon, sugar, maple syrup and eggs in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on slow speed until all the ingredients are mixed together. Increase the speed until the mixture becomes paler.
• Divide the mixture amongst the 12 muffin cases and bake for 20-25 minutes until the cakes start to brown and are firm to the touch.

Buttercream

While the cakes are cooking you can make the buttercream but it shouldn’t be put on the cakes until they are cool (which won’t take long).

• Sieve the icing sugar into a large bowl and beat in the softened butter and maple syrup. I find using a metal the spoon the easiest way to do this, pushing the butter against the bowl using the back of the spoon. Eventually it will all come together in a nice creamy buttercream.

• Using a teaspoon spread the buttercream generously on top of the cakes.

Sugar Flames

Now for the fun bit!
• Combine the sugar and water in a heavy based saucepan.

• Stir over the heat continuously until the sugar dissolves being careful that it does not boil.

• Once all the sugar has dissolved bring it to the boil. Then reduce the heat and leave the liquid to simmer.

• The liquid will start to become golden brown. This will take quite a while (maybe 20 minutes) but it must become this colour before making the flames. If you have a candy thermometer then the mixture should be between 138 degrees Celcius and 154 degrees Celsius. It is not essential to have one however as it is the colour that tells you it is ready to use.

• Remove from the heat and allow the bubbles to subside.

• I then use a granite worktop but you could just use greaseproof paper or a glass chopping board to make the shards. Dip a wooden spoon in the mixture and then drizzle it on to the granite worktop or greaseproof paper moving the wooden spoon back and forth. Here are some photos of the drizzled sugar.

• Allow the sugar to set at room temperature and then using a sharp knife or a metal spatula. It will break up so just keep lifting some off and you get some long strands. Arrange it on the cake with shorter shards at the back and longer ones at the front to give a dramatic effect.

Tips

My tips for these cakes would be:

• Make plenty of sugar shards and work then quickly. Drizzle the sugar syrup and then start to try and lift it fairly quickly to see if it is set. If it is left for too long it goes too brittle.

• Don’t make them more than a day ahead – the next day the sugar starts to melt a bit and they don’t look good. It is fine to make the morning of an afternoon or evening party.

• Place the shards firmly into the buttercream and the cake so that they don’t fall over.

Making the sugar flames

Cupcakes

Cupcakes have been around since the end of the 19th century. I read on the Cupcakestakesthecake blog that their name actually derives from the introduction of the ‘cup’ measuring system rather than their shape. A great way to remember a recipe was one cup of butter, two cups of sugar, three cups of flour and four eggs plus one cup of milk and one spoonful of soda.

They have been popular in the US for a long time and more recently have become a bigger hit in the UK. The Magnolia Bakery opened its doors in New York in 1996 and its popularity has been growing ever since. It even got featured on Sex in the City and everyone who goes know that they will have to wait in line for at least 15 minutes to get buy some of their famous cupcakes. They even have their own cook book.

London has seen the opening of the Hummingbird Bakery, now with two bakeries – one in Notting Hill and one in South Kensington which specialises in American cakes with special emphasis on cupcakes.

Magnolia and Hummingbird both do basic vanilla and chocolate cakes with buttercream or cream-cheese toppings. These are good but there is a lot more than can be done with cupcakes to make them really special. It is becoming more popular to have cupcakes as wedding cakes rather than the traditional iced fruit cakes. With the right stands and some recipe imagination you can create some great spectacles. I was recently asked to make a cake for a 40th birthday and decided to make chocolate cupcakes with some ‘flame cupcakes’ on the top. By using a 4 tiered clear cake stand it was a great centrepiece and a great change from regular brightly coloured cupcakes or a traditional birthday cakes. Picture of the cakes can be found here. A full step-by-step recipe is also on this blog and I will add details about the ‘flame cupcakes’ shortly.

Fabulous Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes

This recipe will make 20 cupcakes. The base is like a brownie mixture which is then topped with a great creamy ganache and chocolate curls.

Chocolate Brownie Cakes Ingredients
250g butter, chopped
150g dark eating chocolate (Bournville or similar)
440g caster sugar chocolate
250mil water
225g plain flour
40g self-raising flour
25g cocoa powder
2 eggs

Ganache Ingredients
300ml double cream
400g dark eating chocolate

Decorations
200g milk chocolate
200g white chocolate
Glace ginger (optional)

Equipment required
2 12-hole muffin pan trays
muffin cases
large heavy based saucepan
sieve
large mixing bowl
electric whisk

• First preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius or 150 if it is fan assisted.
• Put the muffin cases in the muffin tray
Cakes
• Put butter, chocolate, sugar ad water in a saucepan. Melt together on a slow heat, stirring all the time. The mixture will become smooth. Once it is all smooth pour it into a large mixing bowl and leave it to cool for 15 minutes.
• Sift the flours and the cocoa powder and whisk them into the chocolate mixture with an electric whisk
• Whisk the eggs into the mixture
• Don’t worry that the mixture seems runny still. It is like a brownie mix so it is meant to be like that
• Pour the mixture into the muffin cases. These cakes don’t rise hugely so fill the muffin cases to about two-thirds full (but no more). You don’t want them too high as you have to put the ganache on top
• Bake cakes for about 35 minutes

Ganache
While the cakes are cooking you can make the ganache as it needs time to get to the right consistency
• Coarsely chop the chocolate and put into a large bowl
• Pour the cream into a heavy-based saucepan and put on a gentle heat
• Heat until it starts to boil
• Pour over the chocolate and keep stirring until smooth. It may go a slightly strange consistency to start with but be patient and it will become a lovely glossy consistency
• Cover the bowl with cling-film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (an hour if you have time)

Decorating
It is important that the chocolate is at room temperature and has not been kept in the fridge to make the chocolate curls. Personally I think that a combination of white and milk chocolate look great on these cupcakes but I have also used just dark chocolate. Use whatever you think looks good. I have also used chopped glace ginger which looks and taste great

To make the chocolate curls, use a simple vegetable peeler and using reasonable force scrape along the long side of the chocolate bar.

Once the ganache has a nice spreadable consistency, spread it generously on each cake and immediately add plenty of chocolate curls or glace ginger.

Tips
My tips for these cakes would be:
• Try and use big muffin cases and gold or silver ones really make the cakes look special
• Make sure the ganache has become thicker and spreadable (consistency of chocolate spread) before using it otherwise it will run down the sides
• Use plenty of chocolate curls to make they look extravagant
• Try and have something great to serve them on – like a great tiered cake stand or a large white plate

Photos of cupcakes

For the recipe for the cupcakes pictured above: click here

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