(I turned on the kitchen light so that this whole picture will look bright, REAL bright.)
This is not the first time that I've made this recipe. It is extremely easy, and can be easily doubled. There is no need for frosting or icing because they taste good without them. Unless you are going for the appearance, the frosting/icing will not be required. If not, don't waste any moment to gobble these little cakes down.
Taken from cupcakestakethecake@blogspot, it was said that:
A "cup" cake in 19th Century America might have been a small cake, but it wasn't necessarily so. They were so called because the ingredients for them were measured in cups instead of weighed, as had been the custom. According to "Baking in America" by Greg Patent, this was revolutionary because of the tremendous time it saved in the kitchen.
...the cakes were likely called "number" cakes because of a mnemonic device for remembering the recipe: 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.
The formula became known as the one-two-three-four cake, and today's cupcakes are mostly still made with similar traditional cake ingredients.
I got this recipe from Nigella while watching her show. She's always been one of my favourite cooks as her recipes are extremely easy to prepare (she herself likes fuss-free cooking too) and have proven to be fail-proof. One can never go wrong with this recipe because it is just whizzing up all the ingredients together before adding in the milk, how wrong can this go wrong?
As for the taste, variations can be made very easily as the cake is generally a yellow cake. I've eaten it plain, with the icing, with the icing and topped with chocolate shavings, with chocolate chunks inside, with chocolate rice on top, with blueberries inside... I would say the choice is endless as one can play with anything he/she likes.
I pretty much like the icing because it's not just plain sugar sweetness. Though it's still sweet, the icing is accompanied with a squeeze of lemon to make the icing glossy and at the same time, offset the sweetness in the icing. Sweetness coupled with a hint of sourness... yum! It can also be used for cakes and cookies. Very versatile. The icing will set and harden in a fridge hence it looks like a meringue on top of the cupcake. But most of these cakes won't be able to see the next day, and even if they do, eating hardened icing is another form of enjoyment. (especially with my friends around!) 🙂
Nigella's Royal Cupcakes*adapted from here*
(she just called it cupcakes, but to me it looks really royal-looking, especially with the icing)
(she just called it cupcakes, but to me it looks really royal-looking, especially with the icing)
125g self-raising flour
125g caster sugar
125g soft unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
Half a teaspoon real vanilla extract
125g caster sugar
125g soft unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
Half a teaspoon real vanilla extract
Approximately 2 tablespoons milk
(method from the website as well, so it's not me when it says "I".)
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and line the tin with the muffin cases.
- It couldn't be simpler to make cup cakes: just put all the ingredients except for the milk in the processor and then blitz till smooth.
- Pulse while adding milk, to make for a soft, dropping consistency, down the funnel. Or using a bowl and wooden spoon, cream the butter and sugar, beat in the eggs one at a time with a little of the flour.
- Then add the vanilla extract and fold in the rest of the flour, adding the milk to get the dropping consistency as before.
- I know it looks as if you'll never make this scant mixture fit 12 bun cases, but you will. I promise you this mixture is exactly right to make the 12 cup cakes, so just spoon and scrape the stuff in, trying to fill each case equally, judging by eye only of course.
- Put in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cup cakes are cooked and golden on top. As soon as bearable, take the cup cakes in their cases out of the tin and let cool, right way up, on a wire rack.
- Once they're cool, use teaspoons to coat the cupcakes with icing and leave each a moment to dry only slightly, on the surface, before sticking on a rose, daisy or whole stash of decorations.
Icing
300g icing sugar
2 egg whites
juice of ½ lemon
2 egg whites
juice of ½ lemon
- Whip icing sugar and egg whites till peaks formed. (For sweeter icing, use up to 350g of icing sugar)
- Add in juice of lemon and continue whipping till glossy and of spreading consistency.
- Top cupcakes with icing. Serve.
Just a handy tip, in order to prevent the cake batter to become tinted, freeze the berries before folding it into the batter to prevent breakage.
Enjoy! 😀
Jasline says
Hi Dr. Lill! Yea, it's a pity that websites can't upload smells and tastes. Thanks! 😀
Dr. Lill says
mmmm.... sounds delicious. Great photographs too!