Chocolate Cola Cupcakes

I think Nigella likes to put Cola in everything, hams, cakes you name it! These cakes really entice children as the thought of cake, cola and icing all together sounds too good to be true.

I used the Odlums recipe for these cakes, but instead of a two layered cake I made cupcakes instead. I didn't use the recommended icing either and instead made a chocolate buttercream from the Hummingbird Bakery as I thought it would be better for piping with. Together they are a match made in heaven. Rich, chocolately and very more-ish.

I made these for the Bake Sale I helped with a few weeks ago and decorated in a few different ways....

Smarter than the average bear

Fizzy cola bottles

Add some antlers and the bears magically turn into reindeer

Or how about some sugar paste flowers?

Chocolate Cola Cake - Adapted from Odlums 
I love the Odlums website, it so definitely retro but perfect for being so.


Ingredients
350g Odlums Self Raising Flour 
300g Caster Sugar 
3 heaped tablespoons Cocoa (sieved) 
Good pinch of Bread Soda 
225g Butter 
225ml Cola 
125ml Milk 
2 Eggs (beaten) 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees or 160 degrees fan.

Sieve flour, cocoa and bread soda into a bowl. 

Slowly melt butter in a saucepan with the cola. 

In a jug mix the eggs, milk and vanilla extract. 

Add the cola and milk mixtures to the dry ingredients. Mix throughly but gently. 

Use an ice-cream scoop to evenly distribute the batter between the bun cases. 

Bake for about 15 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. 

Allow to cool on a wire rack. 

Decorate to your hearts content. 

Chocolate Buttercream Icing - Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days

400g icing sugar

100g cocoa powder

160g unsalted butter

80ml whole milk

In the freestanding mixer, combine the butter, icing sugar and cocoa until and mix until sandy in texture. Add the milk and mix until smooth.


Decorations - 
I used sugarpaste for the reindeer / bear snouts, stamped out with the lid from the vodka bottle (the only reason I keep a bottle of vodka around!) Coloured with chesnut. The ears are a piece of chesnut fondant with a smaller piece of pink inside, shaped with boning tool. The eyes are also made from sugarpaste. I made the antlers with melted chocolate freehand, melt the chocolate, leave to cool slightly, pop into a freezer bag or piping bag and pipe out shapes onto a sheet of greaseproof paper. 
For the flowers, I stamped out coloured sugarpaste with a PME flower stamper. I then left them to harden in an egg box to give them shape. The leaves are cut free hand and shaped with a boning tool. 

Lemon Drizzle Cakes with Lemon Curd - 'Curdzles'

If I were to magically become a UK resident (again!) and could enter The Great British Bake Off, this would be my signature bake. I make this cake more often than any other. Sometimes in squares, or loaves or cupcakes. Whatever form it comes in, it's amazing!

I've made this recipe so many times, I could nearly do it with my eyes closed. Until Friday. I baked two dozen cupcakes for the cake sale with the plain flour I had out on the counter and not the self raising the recipe calls for. I only noticed when I peeped in through the glass door of the oven and alarm bells started ringing. 'Why aren't they rising?' I was shouting at everyone in the house. The cat didn't care. Chub didn't care. I flamin' well cared though and started a sit down protest by the oven willing them to rise, until I realised what I had done. There wasn't a chance in hell they were going to rise. They were still edible. I ate two of them. Probably more to take them out of my sight than anything else. I'm not sure what to do with them now, they are asleep in the freezer now until I can figure out a plan as I just can not make myself throw them out.

The second time around, I added a little home-made lemon curd to the centre before baking, which was delicious. But I think anything with a lemon curd inside would be delicious really.

The recipe I use comes from an old baking book that my Mam found for me in a second hand shop (in fact the local Fred's Fashions as it used to be known back then!) many years ago when I first started taking an interest in baking.

Lemon Drizzle Cakes - Practical Cooking Baking
Makes about a dozen cupcakes or 1 loaf or 7inch square cake


Ingredients
125g butter
175g caster sugar, I usually use vanilla caster sugar
2 large eggs
175g self-raising flour
2 lemons, preferably unwaxed - otherwise wash really well in warm water
50g granulated sugar


Method
Preheat the oven to 180 or 160 fan assisted. 
In a freestanding mixer, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy and pale in colour. 
Beat the eggs and gradually add them to the butter and sugar mix. 
Add the flour, I do this in the freestanding mixer and it works perfectly without making the sponge dense. 
Add the zest and the juice from one lemon to the mixture. 
Spoon into the prepared tins. (If you would like to add the lemon curd, spoon a little of the cake mixture into the base of the tin, add a teaspoon of curd and then top with more cake, until the case is two thirds full - pic above)
Bake in the preheated oven until a skewer comes out clean, checking after 15 minutes. 
Remove from oven but leave the cakes in the tin. 
Meanwhile, zest the remaining lemon and mix with 25g of the granulated sugar. Reserve. 
Squeeze the lemon juice into a small saucepan with the remaining sugar. Heat gently, stirring occasionally. When the sugar has dissolved simmer gently for 3-4 minutes until syrupy. 
Skewer the cakes all over. 
Sprinkle the lemon zest and sugar over the top of the cake and then drizzle over the syrup and leave to cool.

Lemon Curd - Adapted from Rachel Allen Bake
Makes 250ml


Ingredients
75g butter
150g caster sugar
Finely grated zest and juice of 3 lemons
2 eggs
1 egg yolk


Method
Place the butter, sugar, lemon zest and juice into a medium size saucepan. 
Sieve the eggs and egg yolk into the saucepan, this breaks up the egg white and prevents long strands of cooked eggs through the mix. 
Put the saucepan onto a low heat and stir until the mixture has thickened and will coat the back of a spoon. 
Remove the pan from the heat and pour into a sterilised jar. 

In case you're wondering - this is how stressed the cat was about the non-rising cakes.....