Ice-Cream Cone Cupcakes

My daughter wanted to learn how to make cupcakes and muffins.  I like new ideas for baking, but although this idea is not new, it is very effective, so she had a choice between making traditional cupcakes or having a go at making ice-cream cone ones. They really are very simple.












Ingredients

Your normal cupcake or muffin recipe mixture
Flat bottomed ice-cream cones
Buttercream in your favourite colour and flavour
Extra decorations

There really is no point putting quantities.   bought a standard box of ice-cream cones. Make sure they are flat bottomed otherwise you won't be able to stand them up. Any leftover mix can be made into standard cakes and if there is buttercream left it can either ice the other cakes or stay in the fridge for a few days.

Spoon the muffin mix straight into the cones until about 3/4 full, place each one in a muffin pan to stop them toppling over, then bake them on the middle shelf for 20 minutes at Gas 6.

When they come out, the mix should have risen just above the cone.  Lift them onto a cooling rack, leave until completely cool then either pipe or spread on the icing and decorate.

They are best eaten within 24 hours as the cones go soft.  Miraculously the cones don't burn in the oven, so there is no need to foil them or cover them at all.  I think my daughter made a fantastic job of these and considering this was also her first time piping buttercream, she can be really proud of how they turned out.

Maple Syrup Muffins

I've always got a bottle of maple syrup in the larder and usually it's only poured over pancakes as I've often been wary of baking cakes with it as it has such a strong flavour.  But today my mouth has been watering at the thought of eating something cakey with it, so instead of heading for the chocolate muffin recipes I have, I decided to do a basic mix and then add in a bit of maple syrup.  I was still a bit hesitant about quantities, so I used half golden and half maple and I think the balance is just right.

4oz butter, softened
4oz caster sugar
4 tbsp maple syrup, plus extra for drizzling
4 tbsp golden syrup
2 eggs
8oz self raising flour
4 tbsp milk
cinnamon and icing sugar to dust

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add all other ingredients and mix well.  Put into muffin cases and bake at Gas 5 / 190C / 375F for 25 minutes.

 

When the muffins are just out of the oven put two skewer holes in, drizzle over extra maple syrup, sprinkle with a tiny dusting of cinnamon and then a layer of dusted icing sugar.






These are so delicious warm.  My youngest son had just gone to bed by the time they were cool enough to eat, but he heard the Mmmmmms coming from downstairs and was allowed to come down to enjoy the first batch with us. Next time I bake them I'm tempted to top them with  a maple flavoured icing .

Beer and Mustard Bread

My son has wanted to be a chef since he was four years old.  Whether he continues with that career choice remains to be seen, but he does like to be given opportunities to get in the kitchen as often as possible.  He doesn't err towards baking sweet things like I do, but savoury and side dishes.  Today he wanted to make bread.  An ordinary white loaf didn't appeal.  He wanted to make a cheese and onion loaf, but our meagre amount of cheese in the fridge soon put an end to that.

Undeterred, he found a recipe for beer and mustard bread and after getting permission from his father to raid his stock of Boddingtons, he set about making his own loaf.  

His first loaf was quite intricately designed, he says, to be a 'sharing' loaf.  He served it on a wooden bread board with butter on the side with our main meal today and every single bit of it has gone.

Involving Children

I've not met a child yet that doesn't like baking and I've not met a child who is not prepared to taste their own creations. It can be a fabulous way to introduce new tastes and textures to fussy eaters. It allows them to be creative and best of all - to get messy.

Having two of my four children born with severe food intolerances brought home to me the importance of knowing where food comes from, what's in it and how it's made. At times I've bought things for the children and then searched for recipes to make my own version - more often than not the children enjoy the homemade version more. Other times the factory wins over me, but its fun messing around with the ingredients.

Children should not find baking intimidating. If you're not confident yourself, your children will pick up on that, so don't feel pressured to start teaching them anything too complicated to start with. With my children, I started with muffin mixes. They're not as precise as sponge mixes so they inevitably come out more successful than fairy cakes. Also, biscuit mixes and cookies. A plain biscuit mix can lead to all variations of creations, and all it takes to change the flavour is a little flavouring extract, or to change colour, some food colouring.

I usually double up quantities when my children want to bake. That way I can split doughs and cake mixes between them. It saves arguments over who gets most, stops them constantly elbowing or knocking each other when trying to work and also gives them the chance to make a whole batch of goodies. They love having their own working space, but if your kitchen doesn't allow for this, try to put them side by side with their own doughs or mixes. One may like to add a flavouring to theirs, another might prefer a colour or keeping it plain. You can really see a child's individuality come out when they're left to their own devices.

My younger two love making biscuits. This week they wanted to make their own jammie dodgers. They made a basic biscuit dough, rolled it out and then used different shaped cutters. With just a little supervision when rolling out pastry, as kids tend to roll it until it's like a sheet of paper, they got some really good results.  They tasted great too.  In fact they hadn't even cooled properly before they were all eaten.

 

Any flavour jam can be used to fill them. My children chose my homemade blackcurrant jam for these ones, but we've had just as good results from a jar of shop bought jam.