Loseley Valentine Cupcakes

Loseley Valentine Cupcakes

Give this Valentine’s Day a twist of sheer loveliness in the form of Valentine Cupcakes with Loseley Summer Meadow Butter.

These little delights will bring an element of light, fluffy love and happiness to the table on the key date of the year to unlock all hearts. (Makes 10 small cupcakes)

Ingredients:

For the Cakes:

Egg (free range please) 1
plain flour (or use self raising and omit the baking powder) 75G
Sugar 50g
Loseley Summer Meadow Butter 62g
Baking powder 1/2 tsp
Pixley Berries blackcurrant cordial 3 tsp
Pink food colouring (optional) few drops

For the Frosting:

If you will be spreading rather than piping your frosting you will need rather less.

Loseley Summer Meadow Butter 75g
Icing sugar 250g
Pixley Berries blackcurrant cordial 1 – 2 tbs

Method:

Add the eggs, butter, flour, sugar, baking powder & salt to a bowl and beat with a hand whisk until blended. Add the cordial and briefly mix again. The batter should be loose enough to dollop off a spoon.

Line a bun tin with fairy cake cases. Fill each case 2/3 with batter and bake at 190C / GM 5 for about 12 minutes.

Chef’s Tip:

The secret to fluffy buttercream is to beat the butter really well before you add any sugar. The trick is to make the butter cream in the food processor to prevent the kitchen being covered in clouds of icing sugar. If you make it with a hand mixer you will need to add the icing sugar slowly to the butter.

Put the butter in the food processor bowl and process for a minute or so, until soft and fluffy. Pour in the icing sugar and cordial, put the lid back on and cover with a damp tea towel, and process again. Scrape the sides down adding more cordial or icing sugar if needed and process again.

Decorate your cakes, using sprinkles and love hearts.

Both raw cake batter and the frosting freeze well.

Loseley Summer Meadow Butter is packed in a 250g tub and costs £1.39p.

Loseley Chilled Foods are available from the chilled cabinet of local independent grocers, Waitrose and Ocado. Visit www.loseley.com for more information.

Christmas Made Easy With Heart Of Gold's Christmas Cake Cupcakes

The season of goodwill is fast approaching so why not keep your spirits up and be of good cheer with this healthy and incredibly easy-to-make alternative to Christmas cake, made with Heart of Gold Rapeseed Oil!

Heart of Gold is a 100% natural, pure, rapeseed oil grown, produced and bottled by farmer Nick Bradley on his farm overlooking the picturesque Vale of Belvoir, on the Lincolnshire/Leicestershire border.

Bursting with flavour - chef Tristan Welch of Launceston Place deemed it tasted ‘like a summer’s day!’ - and oozing with healthy goodness, Heart of Gold is grown, pressed, triple-filtered (for maximum purity, taste and nutritional content) and bottled in the same square mile, making it a completely sustainable and traceable British product, originating from fields right in the Heart of England.

Rapeseed oil enjoys many health and culinary benefits. It has been proved to contain only half the saturated fat of olive oil and is packed with Vitamin E (a natural antioxidant) and Omegas 3, 6 & 9. In addition, it’s free from preservatives, trans-fats and artificial colourings, all of which make it the ideal choice for lowering cholesterol and promoting a healthy heart.

It can be used either cold or hot - where its high flashpoint makes it particularly versatile, but what many people don’t realise is that rapeseed oil can be used in baking as well!

This delicious Christmas Cake Cupcake recipe has been devised for Heart of Gold by local Lincolnshire cupcake supremo, Kate Elizabeth of Enchanting Cakes www.enchanting-cakes.com and the results are simply mouth-watering. The quantities of mixed fruit and marzipan can be altered according to taste, and the mixture can equally well be used for one whole cake, or doubled up for a super-sized one!

Say goodbye to the days of sad-looking Christmas cake, still sitting there in its tin at Easter, and welcome the arrival of a light, moreish and healthy Christmas cake cupcake, which you can whip up in a matter of minutes – although be warned, it will probably be devoured just as quickly!

Heart of Gold Christmas Cake Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

Equipment


Mixing bowl

Electric whisk/ wooden spoon

Spoon/ ice cream scoop

Spatula

12 cup muffin pan

12 muffin cases



Ingredients

3oz (75g) unsalted butter OR Margarine *butter will produce a richer sponge*

3oz (75g) Heart of Gold Rapeseed oil

6 oz (175g) Dark brown sugar

3 eggs

8oz (225g) self-raising flour

3 1/2 oz (100g) mixed dried fruit

2oz (50g) chopped golden marzipan


Before you start

Line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin cases.

Pre heat oven, 180oC, 160oC fan oven, gas mark 4.


How to make

1. Using a wooden spoon or electric whisk if possible soften the butter in a bowl until it forms a creamy soft texture.

2. Add in the Heart of Gold rapeseed oil and combine with the butter.

3. Add in the dark brown sugar and mix well with the butter/rapeseed oil.

4. Add the eggs one by one into the mixture until all 3 are well mixed in. Adding the eggs one by one also prevents from spoiling the mixture if you happen to come across a bad egg.

5. Sift in the self-raising flour and bring the mixture together.

6. Finally stir in the mixed dried fruit and marzipan.

6. Divide the cake mixture between the 12 muffin cases using a spoon or ice cream scoop.

7.Place on the middle shelf in the oven for 20 minutes. If are unsure if the cupcakes are baked after 20 minutes gently press the top of one of the cupcakes. It should feel spongy and bounce back up.

8. Once baked remove from the oven and allow to cool on a cool wire.

Decorate with some Christmas sparkle and enjoy!