Mince Pie Cupcakes

Lovely little mince pie cupcakes with brandy buttercream - perfect for the festive season

Makes 12 cupcakes

You will need:

For the Cupcakes
115g unsalted butter
112g caster sugar
2 eggs lightly beaten
150g mincemeat - preferably without suet added (I used home-made mincemeat which had quite a high alcohol content!!)
105g self raising flour
1 tablespoon corn flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon mixed spice

pinch of salt

For the frosting

75g unsalted butter at room temperature
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
245g sieved icing sugar
1 tablespoon brandy

To make the cupcakes
Preheat oven to 180c (170c for fan assisted)

Sieve together the flour, baking powder, cornflour, spice and salt
Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy

Beat in the vanilla essence
Gradually beat in the eggs a bit at a time
Fold in the mincemeat
Gently fold in the seived flours and spice with a metal spoon, careful not to over mix

Divide mixture between 12 cupcake cases and bake for 15-20 minutes (check after 15) until golden and a skewer inserted should come out clean

To make the frosting
Beat the butter until creamy, then beat in the milk and vanilla essence.
Gradually beat in the icing sugar until smooth and creamy, then beat in the brandy.
Either pipe or spread the frosting and decorate with Christmassy sprinkles or a little sieved icing sugar

Spread the love

Praise indeed......

Wedding Cupcake Tower

Phew!  The day arrived. A bright and chilly autumnal day in a little village in West Sussex. A beautiful bride, a handsome groom and a GREAT BIG CAKE! 

Black & White Giant Cupcake

Choc & vanilla layer cake in a white candy case

Quite a big Donut

Made with a silicone donut pan I purchased today just for a bit of fun

The naked cake  

The Donut with it's lush chocolate ganache and sugar sprinkles

BIG cake

Light chocolate sponge giant cupcake made for Amber's 16th birthday

Lots of shimmer spray and a bubblegum cherry

and the obligatory small cakes :-)

Wondrous Wilton

My new Wilton giant cupcake tin bakes a whole lot better than the silicone version I have - the bake looks much more even. I researched a bit and decided to bake both halves separately as some reviews say the top would be done before the bottom. Anyway, success! 

Choccy Pressies! Christmas Discount

For the chocaholic in your life a lovely 8% discount on divine choccy pressies from the Chocolate Trading Company!  Just use the following code XMASCHOC8

Sugar Crafty - Part 4

Only three weeks to go now and I've been adding the finishing touches to the sugar roses. I've completed about half of them. A time-consuming but extremely satisfying labour of love for a gorgeous bride