Author: Jen

Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

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Without a doubt, these are my most requested cakes. A light banana sponge, topped with a cream cheese icing. They are also a fantastic way to use up bananas which have gone a bit past their best. The older they are, the easier they are to mash up.

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Banana Cupcakes

  • 150g margarine
  • 150g golden caster sugar
  • 175g self raising flour
  • 3 eggs
  • 1.5 tsp baking powder
  • 2 medium sized ripe bananas

First of all, line a muffin tray with paper cases. This recipe generally makes between 14 and 16 cupcakes (depending on how big your cases are and how much batter you eat). Preheat the oven to 160°C.

Mash up the bananas using a fork or a potato masher and set to one side.

In a separate bowl, mix together the margarine, sugar, flour, eggs and baking powder. When the batter is light and fluffy, mix in the bananas.

Divide the mixture evenly into the cases (fill to about 2/3 full) and bake in the oven until risen and golden, usually between 15 and 20 mins.

Cool on a wire rack and make the cream cheese icing.

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For the cream cheese icing

  • 225g cream cheese
  • 60g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
  • 275g to 350g icing sugar (sifted)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat the butter until smooth. add half the cream cheese and beat together until combined. Add the vanilla extract, followed by icing sugar, a bit at a time, until it reaches the desired consistency. Carefully mix in the remaining cream cheese. This is already a soft icing, if you beat all the cream cheese in at the beginning, it becomes too gooey to go on the cupcakes but still tastes delicious!

Spoon the icing on to the top of the cupcakes and smooth over with a small palette knife.

You can leave them like that or add a bit of decoration. I tend to top with caramelised dried banana chips.

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Vanilla Cake with homemade Blackberry Jam

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After collecting a lot of blackberries out and about, I decided to make some jam. Then as we don’t eat jam much in this house, I made a cake to use the jam! This cake has three layers of vanilla sponge, vanilla buttercream and a blackberry jam filling.

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Blackberry Jam

  • About 500g blackberries
  • 500g Jam Sugar
  • Juice of half a small lemon
  • A sugar thermometer

If you are using jam jars, wash and sterilise them ready for the jam (500g of fruit filled 2 jam jars with plenty left over for the cake).

Put all the blackberries in a saucepan (preferably a deep one) and squeeze in the lemon juice. Heat the blackberries over a medium heat. They will start to break down a bit. Take off the heat once the fruit is mostly juice (I left some chunkier blackberry bits in for texture in the jam).

Add the sugar and pop back on the heat. Bring to a boil and pop the sugar thermometer in. Heat the mixture until it reaches 105 degrees. Take off the heat and fill the jam jars. Leave to cool.

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Vanilla Sponge Cake

I wanted a couple of jam layers in this cake so I used 3 x 8 inch sandwich tins.

  • 300g self raising flour
  • 265g margarine
  • 265g caster sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 4 eggs

Grease the cake tins with margarine then dust with flour. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together until smooth.

Split evenly between the 3 cake tins. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes until risen and golden. Once done, remove the cakes from the tins and leave to cool on a wire rack.

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Vanilla Buttercream

  • 300g softened butter
  • 400-500g icing sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp milk.

Beat the softened butter until smooth. Add the milk and the vanilla extract.

Gradually add the icing sugar and beat until really smooth and creamy. I used a lilac food colouring to give mine a purple tinge.

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To assemble the cake, spread a thin layer of buttercream on the first layer, then dollop a large amount of jam on top. Do the same with the second layer and place on the first. Add the third layer and cover the whole cake with buttercream.

I decorated the cake with a few blackberries and some mint leaves.

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