Happy St Patrick's Day


To all the Irish people out there and all the people that wish they were Irish, Happy St Patrick's Day to you!



To celebrate St Patrick's Day i wanted to create something different that i haven't done before and that was when i thought of making a cupcake with a shamrock hidden in the centre of it when you cut into it. You might think it sounds difficult but it is easier than you think.

Here is how you create a Shamrock Cupcake:

To create the shamrocks:

Ingredients
100g softened butter
150g self-raising Flour
150g caster sugar
3 tbsp milk
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp green food colouring (the food colouring gels work better)

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4. 
  2. Grease and line a 20cm tray bake tin
  3. Mix together the butter and caster sugar until pale, smooth and creamy. 
  4. Add in the milk and eggs with a little bit of flour to prevent the mixture from splitting. Once combined sift in the flour and mix together. Once mixed add in the vanilla extract and the food colouring until fully combined together. If the colour is not green enough to your liking then add in more of the food colouring.
  5. Pour the mixture into the tine and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until a cake tester or knife comes out clean.
  6. When cooked, let the cake cool down on a wire rack for a few minutes then put in the fridge to cool down further. 
  7. Once the cake has cooled down in the fridge then you can cut out the shamrock shapes either using a cutter or a stencil. Just be sure they are not too big in size otherwise they wont fit inside the cupcake mixture, about 1 inch high. Cut out as many as you need for the cupcakes you are going to make.
Now onto making the cupcake:

Ingredients

100g softened butter
150g self-raising Flour
150g caster sugar
3 tbsp milk
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
75g cocoa powder (optional, depending on if you want to make chocolate cupcakes)
Shamrock shaped cake pieces

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4.
  2. Put muffin cases into a 12-hole muffin tin to make bigger cupcakes. 
  3. Mix together the butter and caster sugar until pale, smooth and creamy. 
  4. Add in the milk and eggs with a little bit of flour to prevent the mixture from splitting. Once combined sift in the flour and cocoa powder (if using) and mix together. Once mixed add in the vanilla extract until fully combined together.
  5. Now here comes the part where the shamrock pieces are needed.
  6. Spoon a small amount of the cake mixture into the muffin case, then stand up a shamrock piece in the middle of the mixture and then cover over with more of the cake mixture until fully covered. (See right)
  7. Carry on doing this technique until you are all out of the cake mixture.
  8. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until risen and golden brown. 
  9. Once cooked, lift the paper cases out of the tray and allow to cool on a wire rack.
  10. When the cupcake has cooled down then you can decorate them however you like, whether it is with the Ireland Flag, a shamrock or using orange, green and white colours to make a nice swirl pattern. If you need a butter cream recipe then check out the one below:
Butter cream Recipe:

Ingredients
100g softened butter
225g sifted icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
few drops of food colouring of your choice

Method
  1. Beat together the butter and icing sugar until you get a thick creamy icing texture. Add in the vanilla extract and the drops of food colouring and mix until the colouring is fully combined. You may need to add in more food colouring it all depends on what colour you desire to have.
  2. Once fully combined spoon the mixture into a piping bag and pipe onto the cake. 

Happy Baking and Happy St Patrick's Day! 
Don't forget to have a Guinness or two today!

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