White Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes

I am not a huge coffee drinker but I do adore white chocolate mochas (white cafe mochas or whatever they are called in your favourite coffee shop - which I hope is not Starbucks, they don't pay their UK tax!), they taste nice AND give me a caffeine kick, something I find to be a coffee oxymoron. The downside, however, of this fantastic drink is that they are SO expensive at almost three quid a pop it somehow just doesn't seem worth it. I had a go at making one myself at home: 1tsp instant coffee + 1 sachet of options white hot chocolate + milk + hot water + microwave -> something along the lines of 50p perfection. Then it came to me... THE ONLY THING MORE PERFECT THAN A WHITE CHOCOLATE MOCHA WOULD BE A WHITE CHOCOLATE MOCHA CUPCAKE REJOICE!

These cupcakes are fab in the morning, the afternoon, for dessert, for a grab and go breakfast, you name your time and I will find you an excuse to eat it there and then! Take one to work/uni/college and grab it when you are craving a white chocolate mocha (drink) to satisfy your sweet tooth and the caffeine gobbler inside you (and save the pennies).

Orange Butterfly Iced Biscuits

The sun is shining in Liverpool again (I probably shouldn't get used to it) so I thought I'd spend the morning making these lovely little fluttery delights! The dough is as delicate as butterflies themselves so needs to be handled with care, other than that they are easy peasy and can be whipped up pronto. (Or it can take you all morning if you are trying to find a no-revision-worthy activity.)

Two Dogs Dining - something to put a smile on your face :)

Just saw this on Amateur Gourmet's blog I loved it so I thought I'd share it with you wonderful people! I hope it makes you laugh as much as I did!

Vanilla Orange Upside Down Cake

Hannah has been banging on and on and on and on and on and on and on and ON at me for a very long time to make her an upside down cake. OK she asked pretty nicely all ten thousand times but as someone who cannot understand why anyone would want to make a cake as ugly as an upside down cake it felt a lot like someone banging on. Anyway, she was at college and I wasn't at uni so with lots of work nothing to do I wanted to make something yummy for her coming home and I couldn't think of much she'd appreciate more than me giving in and making an upside down cake. I didn't fancy the more traditional toppings (bottoms? who knows) of apple or pineapple and was feeling a little adventurous so I bought some perfect looking oranges from my favourite fruit and vegetable stall in town. I know I keep harping on about the sun but it seriously does influence my baking choices! I was a little skeptical about not taking the skin off the oranges but to my delight and sheer amazement the cake was super scrummy! I still stand by it being pretty ugly and it was a nightmare to photograph but ya know the things you do for love and all that!

This cake is perfect for summery days and goes brilliantly with custard

Very Lemony Cupcakes with an Oozy Centre and Lemon Curd Cream Cheese Frosting

I had some cream cheese that needed using left in my fridge, so what better way to use it than to take the opportunity to share my best Very Lemony Cupcakes with you!? They have an oozy lemon centre and lemon curd cream cheese frosting making them a hit with all lovers of lemon!

 

Giant Double Chocolate Sandwich Biscuits

I crave biscuits often and chocolate all the time even more often and on a student budget it is very difficult to find an affordable satisfyingly yummy chocolate biscuit... OK who am I kidding Aldi's dark chocolate digestives and Lidl's bourbon biscuits are perfectly yummy enough to gobble down nine at a time, I just wanted an excuse to create the biggest yummiest chocolate biscuits I could think of after 5 hours of data analysis (a uni assignment, fingers crossed!). I plonked myself down to watch the Great British Sewing Bee with a cup of tea and one of these bad boys within half an hour of taking the dust cover off my stand mixer. Yes I could have plonked myself down sooner had I simply taken the lid off the biscuit tin, but truth be told these homemade biscuits ARE much more satisfying than the aforementioned budget buys - not to mention significantly larger! (ENORMOUS)

Red velvet sandwich cookies, blueberry crumble bars and ramblings about my baking day with Katie

As you may know from previous posts I was back in North Yorkshire the last two weeks for the Easter break, two weeks isn't long and flew by a little too quickly to get much baking revision done but I did have a wonderful baking day with my best friend growing up, Katie. We chose a recipe each, raced round Tesco buying only own-brand ingredients - she too is a poor poor student - and spent the afternoon baking and jibber jabbering about when we were 9 year old twin mermaids drawing up rotas so we could coordinate outfits (right down to the hair bobble), how ridiculously priced the socks with the frilly lace

Summer Lovin' Cake

I know it's not summer but there have been a few hints that it is on its way - "Really?" I hear my fellow Brits say, "was it not snowing in April this year?!" - and the tiny ray of sun I saw peeking out of the clouds the other day made me feel all summery, not to mention this cake is yummy yummy yummy and so in an attempt to coax the reluctant sun from its hide out behind the clouds and raise everyone's rather wintry spirits I want to share my Summer Lovin' Cake with you all!

This cake looks so much more difficult to make than it is so it is perfect for impressing friends and family at picnics and BBQs. It is made using two different flavoured (and coloured) sponges and provided you have a heart cutter and a loaf tin you are good to go!

Facebook!

I have created a facebook page for the Hungry Hippo Baking Blog! Follow the link through to like it :)

Simnel Cupcakes

I had been wanting to making a mini version of the traditional simnel cake since Easter eggs went on sale in Tesco. However, before I went about doing it myself I discovered Emma from baketheneat.com (check out her fantastic blog!) had created the most perfect simnel cupcakes that were exactly what I had in mind. I left out the booze but they were still fantastic and went down a treat with both mine and Hannah's families.