Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes and Stout Cupcakes for RSPCA Cupcake Day 2016

Today is RSPCA Cupcake Day 2016, and my workplace is again participating this year.  I have stepped back from organising duties, and this year, Justine is organising it.  Gay T and I are assistants.

I made Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes, pictured at the top of this post, and Stout Cupcakes: (reposing on a teatowel that was a Christmas gift from Gay T):

I made 12 of each, from recipes in Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.

First up, here are some process shots from the Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes (recipe online here): 

 
The only change that I made was to put the raspberry jam inside the cupcakes instead of on top by cutting a cone in the top of each cupcake, filling the hole with jam that I had warmed and sieved to remove the seeds, and replacing the cone with the tip cut off on top:

 
Here's a peek inside the peanut butter and jelly cupcakes (I had a "spare" to taste):

Here are the stout cupcakes (recipe online here):

 
These really packed a punch - they are strongly flavoured of spices and stout.

Instead of using the glaze suggested by Martha, I frosted my cakes with the frosting from Nigella Lawson's Guinness Cake recipe to soften the blow of the other strong flavours (as I didn't think I needed even more stout in the icing)

The PBJ cupcake was without a doubt my favourite, but it is quite sweet, so I think that the stout cupcakes will appeal to those with an inclination for earthier, less sweet baked goods. I like to cater for all tastes!  #rspcacupcakeday

Cherry Bread Pudding (Kirschenmannle)

Bread pudding is a fabulous way to use up stale bread. Because I rarely am able to finish a loaf of bread before it goes stale, I often have to make breadcrumbs or throw out the bread, depending on the state it is in.  However, a delicious and non-wasteful alternative solution is to make bread pudding.

I also had some frozen cherries in the freezer, so Kitchenklatsch's recipe for Franconian Cherry Bread Pudding seemed like the perfect bread pudding for me to make.  Kirschenmannle, the German name for the pudding, means "little cherry man" - how cute is that!

I just used ordinary stale white bread rather than rolls, buns or French sticks - it worked just fine.  I like the fact that this recipe folds meringue through the bread mixture, making it different to a typical bread pudding.  It also uses milk rather than cream, so it is lower in calories than rich creamy custard bread puddings.

I had some pudding warm for dessert with a scoop of icecream at home, and took the cold leftovers into work and cut it into squares as "cake" for my colleagues the next day.  It seemed to go down a treat, so that is definitely a win.

In the winter, bread pudding is a warming, comforting dessert, so when you are next scratching your head about what to do with your stale bread, I can highly recommend this cherry bread pudding.

Anne of Green Gables' Nut Cake for Melbourne Cake Club - Novel Cakes

On the table reposed a nut cake which she had baked that morning. . .a particularly toothsome concoction iced with pink icing and adorned with walnuts. Anne had intended it for Friday evening, when the youth of Avonlea were to meet at Green Gables to organize the Improvement Society. But what were they compared to the justly offended Mr. Harrison? Anne thought that cake ought to soften the heart of any man, especially one who had to do his own cooking, and she promptly popped it into a box. She would take it to Mr. Harrison as a peace offering.

Chapter II, Anne of Avonlea, L M Montgomery

The Melbourne Cake Club met last week at The Oriental Tea House in Little Collins Street.  Our theme this month was Novel Cakes - that is, cakes that are inspired by novels.

Dalya brought a Lemon Drizzle Cake containing mashed potato and topped with Candied  Potato Peelings, inspired by The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by A Burrows and M Shaffer: 

Sue made an adult Gingerbread Cake with Caramel and Cream in the shape of a castle, inspired by Hansel and Gretel by The Brothers Grimm:

My cake, pictured at the top of the post, is inspired by the passage in Anne of Avonlea where Anne realises she has sold Mr Harrison's cow by mistake, and decides to take him her nut cake as a peace offering.

Here are my slices of all of the cakes:

My nut cake is made to a 1902 recipe for Hickory Nut Cake that I found on World Turn'd Upside Down.  A quick search revealed that pecan nuts are a type of hickory nut, so I made my cake with ground pecan nuts.  This is the unadorned cake:

It is surprisingly light and spongy, and delicious to eat.  The icing adds a touch of sweetness:

Here' s a peek inside:

The recipe is as follows:

113g butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup milk
2 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 egg whites
1 cup ground pecan nuts

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease and line 2 x 9" round cake tins.

Sift the baking powder and the flour together in a medium sized bowl, and add the ground nuts. 

Bake for 60 minutes or until cooked through.  Unmould onto a wire rack to cool. 

For the incing, mix  together 1 1/2 cups icing sugar with a tablespoon of vanilla extract and sufficient hot  water to form a stiff paste. Colour with pink food colouring to taste.  Spread half the icing in the middle of the cake and half on top of the cake, and top with walnut halves.  Serve!

EwE - Grilled Portabello "Benedict" - Eggs-actly

This week's Eating with Ellie theme is Eggs-actly, chosen by yours truly.  Yep, I was trying to be a smarty pants, but I love the theme.

I chose Grilled Portabello "Benedict" from So Easy.  If you like hollandaise sauce, move away now, because this recipe doesn't have any.  Instead of an English muffin, the base is a grilled Portabello mushroom.  Instead of a huge slice of ham, there is a slice of pan-grilled bacon.  Instead of a fried egg, there are scrambled eggs.  And instead of hollandaise sauce, there is basil pesto.

I was really pleased with how tasty this dish was - it's a winner in my books.

To see what the other Ellie cooks made for Eggs-actly, visit the LYL section of the EwE website. 

TWD - Philadelphia Blueberry Corn Tart

For Tuesday with Dorie this week, I made the Philadelphia Blueberry Corn Tart.  Yes, it's quite a mouthful - try saying that quickly!

This tart is basically a honey-flavoured cheesecake, topped with blueberry and corn jam.  The jam is not very thick, so mine actually dyed the crust and the cut surfaces of the tart a vivid purple, and I seemed to have purple juice everywhere.

This was a very pleasant tart.  The corn adds a sweet but unusual flavour element, and the chunks of corn and blueberry in the topping add texture.

I liked the filling a lot and think it has many applications.  The topping is something that I am not sure I'd make again, even though it tasted fine.  It was just too messy and didn't really grab me enough to go another round.

To see what the other Dorie cooks baked this week and what they thought of it, visit the LYL section of the Tuesdays with Dorie website. 

EwE - Garlic Mash - One Potato, Two Potato

For Eating with Ellie this week, Margaret chose the theme of One Potato, Two Potato.  This was an easy one as most people like potatoes and Ellie has a few potato recipes.

I chose Ellie's Garlic Mash from So Easy.  Basically, you steam the potatoes with the skin on (which is interesting!), then mash them up with a good dose of garlic and chicken stock.  These potatoes were quite flavourful, although I would probably cut back on the 4 cloves of garlic next time.

I served my Garlic Mash as a side with Provencal Chicken, another Ellie recipe:

To see what the others made this week, visit the LYL section of the EwE website.

Karen Martini's Sisterly Banana Bread

Banana bread is a favourite among the office crowd, so when I had a glut of overripe bananas, it was a no-brainer to turn to a banana bread recipe to use them up.  I had printed off Karen Martini's Sisterly Banana Bread recipe some time ago, so now was the opportune time to finally make it.

As you can see, Karen's recipe makes a rather handsome banana bread.  It also tastes wonderful, and I had two people ask for the recipe (a record!).  If you have some sad bananas around just begging to be used up, do give this banana bread recipe a try.