How To: Starburst Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Hey Nibblers!

     I have literally just finished my last uni exam for this year. I'm peering outside my window and all I see is rain. Usually, this upsets me but, I've feeling quite calm from the pattering sounds hitting my window. Thunder and lighting are going at it with each other but for some reason I'm in such a festive mood. I love christmas. It's just the frantic present hunting trips, crazy parking queues and mountains of food that have me chirping for days. To celebrate my elevated spirits, I thought I would share with you something a little bit quirky. I've never seen a recipe like it before so I hope I've just created something special you could try out for the coming festive season.
     I can't take all the credit for this little invention of mine. It started about seven years ago when my food tech assignment was to bake a cupcake with any topping we wanted. Everyone opted for the normal options of either choc chips, fruits and veggies. I on the other hand forgot to even bring anything from home. So, I quickly called Kelly (as she loved close by) and asked her if she had anything at home. She only had Starburst gummy lollies and as to not be in trouble, I said yes. They turned out to be amazing! The gummy bits basically just melt into colourful puddles of sugar in the cupcake but, it's really quite delicious. I can't explain it well but it's like eating lollies and cake all in one go. It sounds weird but it works. Now, seven years on, I've decided to re-create that and put an extra twist on the original creation and add some peanut butter frosting. Hope you enjoy!

What you'll need: (Makes 12 large cupcakes)
For the cupcakes:

- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/3 cup of milk
- 3/4 cup of Starburst Jelly Babies
(OR your favourite gummy lollies, just roughly cut them into 1x1cm chucks to avoid the cupcake breaking when cooled.)
- 180g of melted unsalted butter

For the peanut butter frosting (optional):
I've just discovered Elise's Youtube channel, 'MyCupcakeAddition' where she makes the most awesome cupcakes, cakes and cake pops and does an awesome job of decorating them.
 I used her 'Buttercream Frosting' recipe and added 2 heaped Tbs. of smooth peanut butter to make the peanut butter flavouring as she does in her  'Giant Reese's Butter Cup Cake' recipe. You should definitely click on the links to check her out!

How to:
1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius (356 degrees Fahrenheit)
2. Line or spray your cupcake tray to prepare for cupcake mixture
3. Beat your melted butter, vanilla and eggs in a mixing bowl then set aside
4. Measure out your flour, sugar, baking powder into a large mixing bowl and mix well together
5. Fold your wet mixture (egg, butter, vanilla) into your dry ingredients bowl combine until well incorporated
6. Mix in your milk and Starburst Jelly babies until well combined
7. Divide equally into lined cupcake tray
8. Pop them into the oven for 18 minutes, checking with a wooden skewer to see if it's cooked
9. Prepare your peanut butter frosting in the meantime using Elise's recipe linked above

10. Take the cupcakes out of the oven and them to cool for about 10 minutes
11. Cut your cupcakes horizontally into equal pieces as if you were making a sandwich
12. Spoon in a generous amount of frosting onto one side and pop the other half on top
13. Nibble away!

      Hope you Nibblers enjoyed this recipe! Just looking at these pictures has made me even more excited! If you want to make these especially festive, just use only red and green gummy lollies! They will taste just as awesome. They do also keep up to a week and a bit if you refrigerate them. Just microwave them for about 20 seconds (depending on your microwave) and they come out as good as if they've just been baked. On that note, I think it's time to put the Christmas tree up! When do you start putting those festive decorations up? I always do it the day I finish my exams. 

      If you do try this recipe out or have any other thoughts, tweet me or leave a comment below! All my contact info in in the 'About Me' tab. Hope you're all having an amazing week. Here's a few more shots of the finished product.

oh peanut butter frostingggg 

Nibble Away!

          

             Jo x. 

How to: Banana Cupcakes

Hey Nibblers!

         I know I've already posted a banana cake recipe but since then, I've started experimenting and after three successful attempts, I just had to share it with you all. It's such a quick recipe that doesn't take much of your time. It's moist and stays light and fluffy the next day. Even if you refrigerate them, just pop them into the microwave for about 30 seconds (depending on how strong your microwave is) and they'll be as amazing as if you just baked them!
          My Mum is one of my hardest critics but she is also one of my biggest inspirations. She's also a lover of bananas. This recipe has her nod of approval and with that, let's get into this.

What you'll need: (With this recipe, I make about 12 large cupcakes)
       - For the cupcake version bake for 18-20 minutes. Check them using the skewer insertion method
         - For a large cake version bake for 40-45 minutes.

- 1 1/2 cups of self-raising flour
- 1/2 cup of brown sugar
        Add 3/4 cup if you love that extra sugar kick.
- 4 small to medium ripe bananas
- 1 1/2 tsp. of baking powder
- 1 Tbs. cinnamon spice
- 1/3 cup of milk
- 3 eggs
- 180g melted unsalted butter

How to:
1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (356 degrees Fahrenheit)
2. Line your cupcake tin with baking paper or grease your tin well
3. Mash your bananas until well combined. Large 1cm chunks of banana is fine

4. Whisk your melted butter, milk and eggs in a medium sized mixing bowl until well combined
5. Add your mashed bananas to your whisked wet ingredients and mix until well combined
6. Combine your self-raising flour, cinnamon, sugar and baking powder and mix together so it looks like a dry marinade mix

7. Fold your dry and wet ingredients together until you can't see anymore flour through the mixture or stuck on the side of the bowls

8. Fill your cupcake tin moulds, dividing it into equals amounts
          (I filled mine about 3/4 of the way up)

9. Pop your tin into the oven for 18-20 minutes
10. Rest these babies cool down (if you can) for 5 minutes before devouring
         (They won't stick to the cupcake paper if you let them rest!)

        Hope you give this recipe a try. If you do, be sure to leave a comment! I'll be happy to answer any questions and be happy to try any requests of yours. Hope you're all having a great week.

Nibble away,

                   Jo x.

Travel Nibbles: 'Laduree' Paris Review

Bonjour Nibblers!

           Kelly and I find ourselves in Paris this week. I have amazing family there and after almost two weeks without any means to a washing machine, we couldn't wait to arrive. It was a horrible 8 hour / overnight train trip from Berlin to Paris but the thought of the amazing pastries, sweets, bread it was well worth the little bit of discomfort. This is my second time in Paris in Winter. But, Kelly and I went at the most perfect time. We didn't have to wear the 6 layers we were wearing in Berlin and were able to cut back to two layers and even were able to wear sunglasses if I had them (I left mine in London.) Anyway, when in Paris, 'Laduree' is one of the main food attractions. Depending on the time you go, the line could go well outside the door so aim for early morning or late lunch hours (3-4PM). We didn't dine here as we we were short on time but did purchase quite a few goodies.

'Laduree' Review
Where: 75 avenue des Champs-Elysées - 75008 Paris                                Website: http://www.laduree.com/douceurs/

Such simple but beautiful packaging

        I don't even know how to start with this review. Let's  just start off with looking at some of the sneaky shots Kelly and I took in Laduree while we were waiting in line.

Macaroon flavours

Inside the magic of Laduree

Gift ideas

Almost at the front of the line!

We couldn't help but buy a gift box for my family. The boxes were so pretty!

         I'll start with service. The lady that served us was amazing. We didn't really understand how the whole system worked but she took her time and was very patient with us. You also don't have to worry about language barriers here because most of the customers inside were tourists so communication was easy. I also loved how everything was laid out and labelled so it was just easy to navigate when ordering.

         Kelly and I decided to grab ourselves a box of 8 macaroons. You can grab just one but if you buy 4 or more they pop it into a Laduree box for free! Since we waited for about 20 minutes, we wanted to go all out and invest in these 8 macaroons. I can't remember the exact pricing but it was roughly €2.60 each (approx. $3.70 AUD).

Our Macaroon purchase

        We each picked 4 flavours each. We ate half of each macaroon over the 4 days we were in Paris just so we could enjoy the flavours together They were:
- Chocolate
      My favourite! I did not expect it to be my favourite as Kelly is the chocoholic of the family. But it was not too sweet and the ganache was just perfect. Melted in my mouth and honestly the best macaroon I've ever had.
- Caramel with Salted Butter
      Kelly's favourite! It was a hit of creamy caramel as soon as you bite into it and then the salty butter hits you after. While I thoroughly enjoyed this half, I thought it was a bit too sweet for me. But eaten as a half was amazing.
- Coffee
      Great coffee flavour, not too sweet and would be so great with a warm cup of tea.
- Green Apple (seasonal flavour, we were there in Feb)
      I love apples but, this was one of my least favourites. The apple flavour was intense which is great but, it didn't hit it with me. Too fruity for winter.
- Rose Petal
       It tastes exactly like a rose petal. I like the rose petal scent but when it comes too flavour, I can't eat a lot of it. It tastes odd to me as it's a flavour I'm not usually accustomed to. But, if you love the rose, go for it.
- Pistachio
       I loved the minty colour of this macaroon. It tasted nutty as it should but compared to the others, would not be a stand out.
- Vanilla
       A very typical vanilla flavour. The Madagascar cream I felt was a bit grainy in texture. It was again a bit too sweet for my liking.
- Coconut
       Too sweet for me but the strong coconut flavour as soon as you bite in was amazing.

       As a whole, the macaroons were amazing. Every macaroon was equal in size and proportion. What I loved was every time I bit into one of those macaroons, the meringue was still so light and crispy and the ganache/cream fillings were full of flavour. They're such a perfect match for each other and even after a few days, it still tasted as if we had first bought them. I've seriously have not had a macaroon better than these Laduree ones. I'm not too sure about the other world-wide branches but I do want to compare them sometime in the future.
        When we were about to check out we also saw an Eclair for sale. There was a Coffee version and chocolate version. We opted for the chocolate. It was about €3.50 (approx. $5 AUD) which is definitely not cheap so we were expecting great things. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to it's name. While it was light and crispy, it didn't have the same 'melt-in-your-mouth' wow factor we were after. Also, I felt we could have paid less for an Eclair else where.
       But, despite the little fall on the Eclair, we did have an amazing time scoffing it down while watching the sunset at the Eiffel Tower and witnessing the first sparkle of the night.

Sunset at the Eiffel Tower - Trocadero

          Hope you're all having an amazing week! I sure know how good it feels to be putting a blogpost up. Last uni assignment are out of the way and only a few exams more to go before celebrations are in order.
Leave a comment down below if you have had an awesome Macaroon experience like mine and what you had! 

Nibble Away,

               Jo x.