6 great cupcakes in a jiffy

I have been trying  many cupcake recipies of late.  All have been found wanting, until this one.  I wanted a cupcake that was versatile, not too sweet, had a good, light cake, but not crumbly, and that was delicious.  Not much to ask?  So many of the recipies just did not stack up, too sweet, cakes that did not rise well, etc. even Nigella did not come up to the mark.

Well here is a recipie that I adapted from one that Matt Preston's friend Carol, put up on Taste (click here for the link).

This makes 6 large cupcakes or 10ish small ones.  That's perfect for our family. The cakes turn out with a rounded top, they are not the flat type of cupcake I have often seen.  I have not included Icing recipie, as I'm sure you have your favourite one.  You can easily double the recipe, or more if you want!  Vary the flavours once you have mastered the cakes, the next one I am going to make is coconut and lime.  Just remember to remove a little of the flour (no more than a tablespoon) if you are going to add a dry ingredient like coconut or cocoa for chocolate cakes.

The icing will ice 6 cupcakes, and is based on Magnolia Bakery's Buttercream - which in turn is an old fashioned buttercream recipe.  I have also included the measurements for a large cake, as once you use this icing you will want to use it again. I use vanilla extract in the icing, not a vanilla bean - it seems to work better, taste to see if it strong enough for you.  You can use any flavouring you like, try zest of lemon or almond extract.  You can also add food colouring to the icing.

Two things to remember about the icing 1) the butter MUST be very soft.   2) when you think it is mixed enough, mix it for another couple of minutes.

EASY APPLE SLICE

The original recipie comes from one of the 4 ingredients books.  It is so easy, and versitile it will become a staple.  You can have everything in the cupboard, and just buy some sour cream and away you go.  It's a great one to have up your sleeve.

You can use any type of stewed fruit - in fact, this is a good recipie for using up fruit near the end of its shelf life.  Try peaches, apples of course, apricots, berries  - the list goes on.  You can also vary the cake mix if vanilla sounds a bit boring.  Go gluten free with a gluten free cake mix.

Flat bread

This is a flat bread that comes out very soft and chewy.  Most important to roll it out as thin as you can, and also to have the pan very hot when you cook it.  You can vary the flour by using all SR flour if you don't have any of the other kinds.   In fact, you can play around with the flour, using wholemeal, or adding some spelt, changing the mix etc.  See what suites you.

Atta flour is a south Indian flour, used for flatbreads and available in most Australian supermarkets.

 

Mayonnaise in 10 seconds flat

When I saw Matt Preston do this on Masterchef I did not believe it actually worked, in fact I made the mayo an hour earlier than I needed to because I did not believe it.   But it does!  It's the same basic mayonnaise recipie I have tried to make lots of time, but using a different method. Believe me I have tried dribbling in the oil, I have tried using the blender - but mayonnaise has never worked for me at home.

Well, here is the link online: http://tenplay.com.au/channel-ten/masterchef/recipes/slow-roasted-lamb-with-flatbread-and-mayo.  I have just put the method into this recipie, as it seems to make more sense that way.  To make it you need a stick blender and its cup.  
A couple of things to remember:

• be gentle with the ingredients
• the yolk needs to be whole
• put the basket of the stick blender over the yolk, so that the blades immediately blend the yolk
• then gently bring it up the blender cup to make the mayonnaise.