These cakes are so easy to make and yet the results are frivolous, fun and fabulously frothy! They can be baked in a conventional oven or for a more “pudding-like” texture, they can be microwaved. ![]() Whatever the reason for baking cakes in cups, and there may be more practical reasons, such as not having a large cake tin, or not having enough ingredients to make a large cake, the fact remains, that there are TWO types of cupcake, and it’s the 19th century British version that I have baked today, albeit a VERY luxurious one, with coffee, chocolate, vanilla and cream! BUT, the original cupcake came from much humbler beginnings a thrifty housewife or “downstairs” cook who finding themselves with an excess of cake mixture at the end of the baking day, would pop the extra batter in a china tea-cup and bake it….a cupcake would probably have been some excess fruit cake mixture, which was then baked in a couple of tea cups……the poor culinary cousin of the “Queen Cake”, which, was also baked individually and boasted plump currants, rose-water and almonds and was to be found in the more affluent of households during the 19th century. Little Coffee Cup Chocolate-Chip Cakes with Vanilla Cream FrothĪt this stage of the post, there may be some of my American friends who are saying “hold on a minute, the cupcake in an American invention”, and, they will be correct when it comes to the modern interpretation of a cupcake…….by that I mean the little cakes (or not so little as is often the case) that have icing a mile high swirled or piped over the top of them, in different flavours and with fruit, sprinkles and other highly decorative edible decorations adorning them. ![]() Little Coffee Cup Chocolate-Chip Cakes with Vanilla Cream Froth The Original Cup Cake Little Coffee Cup Chocolate-Chip Cakes with Vanilla Cream Frothįorgive me if I have a little rant, but I am not a cupcake baker…….I make fairy cakes, butterfly cakes, buns and little cakes, but not cupcakes! I know, I know……I need to move with the times, but the thing is this, I am a little worried that our very long tradition of British baking is about to be swept out to sea by a deluge of cupcakes, whoopie pies, muffins (NOT the correct yeast ones either!) and cake pops……NOW, I know there will be lots of my lovely “blogger” friends who make and blog all of the above American style cakes and bakes, and that’s JUST fine, really! In fact I have visited their blogs and have salivated and drooled over them….and in the case of cake pops, I have admired their patience and skill when making them…….but, I just don’t bake them myself, I can admire them from afar and if I am lucky, I get to taste them, but I am going to stick to my old-fashioned fairy cakes, just call me an old British Bun Baker! So, if you are all still speaking to me, can I introduce my CUPCAKES! This recipe is based on the VERY old, and British version, of baking cakes in small tea cups…….
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