The photo above was from my first test run of dairy-free. I chose to use one of my existing vanilla cupcake recipes but simply replace the dairy ingredients with Nuttelex and Soy Milk. As yucky as soy milk may sound to some people (my Twitter feed reacted quite strongly to the thought of it!) you can’t taste it at all in this recipe.

Dairy-Free Vanilla Cupcakes (makes approx 18 regular / 30 mini)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups Self-Raising Flour
• 2/3 cup Caster Sugar
• 2 eggs
• 115g Nuttelex (or any other vegan margarine)
• 1/2 cup Soy Milk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

Method

1. Preheat oven to 175C (160C fan forced). As always, I recommend you use an oven thermometer.
2. Beat the Nuttelex, sugar and vanilla essence together – you don’t need to pre-beat the Nuttelex as it’s already soft.
3. Add in the eggs one at a time and mix until combined. It might look as if it’s seperated at first but will mix together.
4. Sift the flour and add half in with half of the soy milk. Repeat with the remaining half.
5. At this stage, if it seems too thick, add 1-2 tablespoons worth of soy milk, but don’t add too much!
6. Spoon into cases and bake for 15 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.

“Buttercream” Frosting

Ingredients

• 150g Nuttelex
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
• 3 – 4 cups Icing Sugar (sifted)
• 1 – 2 tablespoons Soy Milk

Method

1. Beat Nuttelex with Icing Sugar (and vanilla essence), adding it one sifted cup at a time.
2. It should start to get fairly thick after the third cup – you might not need a fourth. Give it a taste test to see if the balance of sugar and Nuttelex is even. If you find it is too thick, add the soy milk in in very very small amounts (that’s why I’ve written maybe 1-2 tablespoons) until it is at the right consistency to pipe or spread on the cupcakes.

Remember, if it’s too thick and you use a plastic disposable piping bag, it’ll split the sides of the bag. I know this from experience If you’re not sure how thick it should be, it should be thick enough to hold it’s shape but not too thick that when you mix it by hand it is tiring. If you add too much liquid in, you’ll have to add a whole lot more icing sugar to even it out.

Here’s what the second run looked like (using fondant hearts and colouring in the icing)

Happy baking!

After the success of Cupcake Camp Adelaide and repeatedly being told I make great cupcakes I thought I would set up my own little business, Cupcake Treats Michael actually found the domain for me because he knows I love cupcakes and that’s what the business was born around. It’s a side project, but hey, maybe one day it could be something big. I’d like that!

These were my first attempt in a long time with working with fondant. Christmas Cupcakes! I didn’t have my Wilton colours at this stage but this is what I could do with regular green colouring.

These are Malteaser Mini Cupcakes for my very first Cupcake Treats order!

36 Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream icing for Christmas Day

Red Velvet Cupcakes for Cupcake Treats (Silly icing went all melty!)

Vanilla Chocolate Cupcakes (half chocolate half vanilla with buttercream icing)

So yeah that’s where I’m up to! I’ve managed to iron out all the little problems I’ve had over time and now know what works to get the butter just right, and the oven temperature, all of that stuff. The  mini cupcakes look so cute and they’re the perfect size, and I can’t believe I only just discovered them this month.

I also have wholesale access to a bunch of awesome cupcake suppliers now so this makes me even more excited. There’ll be a couple of new recipes coming in January, and some piping techniques to help you get the ice cream swirl that’s so popular.

But finally, thanks to all of you – most especially to my housemates and family who gave me loads of cupcakery for Christmas including PJ’s, a new recipe book, an apron with my name on it (!!!) and some awesome cupcake badges! I just love reading the emails I get sent with new recipes and also the links I get on Twitter when people have come across something cupcake and thought of me. I love all of you for being so awesome. (I have said awesome too many times). If ever you need any help with anything cupcake related don’t hesitate to email me – monnie at cupcaketreats dot com.

Happy New Year and I’ll see you in 2010!

A large plastic piping nozzle (star)

Small Pyrex measuring cup, with tablespoon and teaspoon measurements as well as ml on the side

Cookie cutters! (the use for this will be revealed)

And then with a stop in at Target, picked up this cupcake stand, bringing the total I own to just two.

With the cupcake stand I got I also got 18 silicon cases, and I already have some that I haven’t even used yet. Sooo.. I’m giving six away. Two blue, two green and two pink. They haven’t been used and are dishwasher safe and all that jazz. To enter the giveaway, you must comment on this post (one comment per person please) and live in Australia. I will randomly draw a winner on October 31st and send them to you – freeeee!

Thanks to everyone that commented about the Oreo cupcakes, I actually made way too much cream and put it back in the fridge, and we got to eat it yesterday with some chocolate cake. Delicious! And good luck in the giveaway.

Also, if you do not have an oven thermometer go and pick one up – they are less than $10.00 from cooking stores (I got mine from the General Trader) and will help with the right temp for cooking your cupcakes if your oven is anything like mine is. Also, don’t open the oven until you’re ready to use the skewer to see if they’re ready EVEN if you want to look at them because the temperature can drop significantly any time you open the door.

Ingredients:

• 100g butter (room temp or softened)
• 2/3 cup caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup self raising flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• ½ cup milk

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC or 160ºC fan forced. This is where the oven thermometer comes in handy!
2. Cream butter, sugar and vanilla until all combined. Add eggs one by one and mix until just mixed through.
3. In a seperate bowl, sift the Self Raising flour and cocoa. Add to the mixture with milk. Stir until just combined.
4. Spoon into cupcake cases and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

They will be *just* ready if the top springs back a lot and the skewer comes out completely clean. You don’t want to make them crunchy (like I did the other day) or they are too much like an actual chocolate cake and not fluffy and light enough to qualify as cupcakes.

I would recommend you use Cadbury’s cocoa for this recipe, though some home brand cocoa is just fine but can differ in intensity, so you’ll just have to try it out.

Oh! And I almost forgot: This makes 12 cupcakes, but for SOME reason I always end up with 13.