Gluten Free Painted Brown Sugar Cupcakes

I heard someone on the radio the other day say "Idleness is only a coarse name for my endless capacity for living in the present". It rang so true to me. I've been so involved in the present lately, that I've not had time to look back and blog those delicious hand painted cupcakes from my mad tea party.

 

Better late than never, here they are now, with a special thank you to the very talented Natasha for showing me via her wonderful website Amelies House, (click here) how to paint on cake. It was my first try, and I loved the results.

for the cupcake bases:
125g unsalted butter
125g light muscovado sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
125g gluten free plain flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum, or gluten free baking powder such as Barkart



1. Turn the oven to 180C (160 fan) and place medium cupcake cases in a 12 muffin baking tray. Cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl, until smooth and fluffy.

2. Throw in the eggs one at a time and beat well, adding a spoonful of flour after each one.

3. Next sieve the flour and baking powder into the mixture, stirring gently until the batter is combined.

4. Spoon the batter into each cupcake case, until they are approximately two-thirds full (you want to leave enough room for the cakes to rise).

5. Place in the oven for 20 minutes. You'll know the cakes are done when a skewer comes out clean.

6. Take out of the oven and leave for a few minutes, before moving the cupcakes in their cases to a wire rack or plate to cool.

for the icing:
gluten free white ready rolled icing (I used Silver Spoon icing)
2 tablespoons raspberry or apricot jam
Sugarflair colour tint pastes, to decorate


7. Gently boil the jam over a low heat, then leave to cool. Once the cupcakes are also cool, brush the tops with a little of the boiled jam to glaze.


8. Roll out the ready made icing and cut out rounds, one for each cupcake, using a cookie cutter. The cutter I used was 58mm.


9. Place a cut round of icing on the top of each cupcake, and press down lightly to make it stick.

10. Using Sugarflair edible colour pastes, a small paintbrush, and a little water if necessary, paint faces or any other designs onto the icing. Leave to dry before serving.

 

 

 

These cupcakes were idly baked while listening to Grinderman's eponymous debut album

The Idle Cheat's Blackcurrant Coulis Icecream

Ok, so this shouldn't strictly be included in my idle baking journal as there's neither cake nor oven in sight, but the weather is beautiful, the living is (relatively) easy, and the first of our blackcurrants have been picked from the fruit patch. We only started the fruit and herb patches this January, so you can imagine my excitement this week when it came to picking our first ever produce. I decided there was nothing for it but to make my first ice cream as well, featuring the blackcurrants as the stars of the show.

But I hadn't counted on how quickly they would age. Even with refrigeration, the blackcurrants only lasted 3 days before they were about to turn bad. So, without the right ingredients in the house to make the icecream I had planned, I turned to plan B: a blackcurrant coulis. That way I could cook up the berries quickly and then integrate the sauce into the shop bought icecream that was already in the freezer. Voila the idle cheat's Blackcurrant Coulis Icecream. A lot less work than actually making icecream, and delicious to boot.

Recipe

Serves 4

Inspired by Nigel Slater's recipe at BBC Food Website

1 bowl of blackcurrants or another berry fruit

3 tbsps water

2 tbsps caster sugar

450ml or 500ml tub of vanilla icecream (or a dairy free alternative, such as Worthenshaw's Freedom dessert range)

small carton of single cream to serve, plus extra blackcurrants, both optional

1. Take the icecream out of the freezer and leave it in its tub, with a plate underneath, to start melting.

2. To make the coulis, first wash the blackcurrants and pull the stems off them.

3. In a small saucepan over a high heat, bring the blackcurrants, sugar and water to the boil.  Then simmer for 5 minutes. Once the blackcurrants are bursting their juices, bring the pan to a boil for another 2 minutes.

4. Next take the saucepan off the heat and leave it to cool.

5. When the icecream has almost melted, spoon it carefully into a large mixing bowl.

6. Pour two thirds of the blackcurrant coulis into the icecream, and stir them together, which will turn the mixture a lovely marbled pink colour.

7.  Spoon the pink coulis icecream back into the icecream tub. Then pour the remainder of the coulis on top of the mixture, before stirring it in gently.

8. Put the lid back on the icecream tub and place back into the freezer. Use within 1 month.

9. Serve with extra blackcurrants, and some single cream if you're that way inclined.

If you'd like an even quicker dessert, just make the coulis, leave it to cool, and then drizzle it over the shop bought icecream scoops when you come to serve them, perhaps with some fresh berries and madeleines.

This coulis icecream was idly made to the sounds of PJ Harvey's album Let England Shake