Boozy Barefoot Cupcakes

Increasingly I am being approached by companies to receive samples of their products, I have to admit it gives me a touch of the warm & fuzzies that someone has read my blog & wants me to try out their stuff! That said I am quite fussy & have probably said thanks but no thanks to more offers than I have accepted. (One day I might build up the courage to share the most random offer I have ever received!) If it's an exciting new product or a brand with a unique point of view, then I will usually say yes. What I promise to you is that I'll always be honest when I have received a product to try & I will always give you my honest opinion. Policy statement over :-)

It seems one of the big baking trends at the moment is using alcohol in recipes, so when Barefoot Wines sent me a cupcake recipe using their new Moscato, I thought I'd see what the fuss was all about? I had to convert the recipe to metric from cups & sticks, but the quantities seemed to work out ok.

For the cakes
120g butter
225g caster sugar
2 eggs
60ml milk
60ml Barefoot Moscato
1tsp baking powder
200g plain flour
Pinch of salt

For the frosting
250g mascarpone
500g icing sugar
2 tbsps Barefoot Moscato
1tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate sprinkles for decoration

1. Cream together the butter & sugar until light & fluffy, gradually beat in the eggs then the wine & milk until you have a lovely smooth & creamy batter.

2. Sift in the flour, salt & baking powder & mix until all combined. Line a 12 hole bun tin with paper cases & divide the mixture evenly. Bake in the oven at 190c/GM5 for 14-18 minutes until well risen & just turned golden on top.

3. To make the frosting, beat together all the ingredients until smooth. I found chilling it in the fridge until ready to use made it a little easier to handle. When the cakes are completely cooled, top with frosting & some chocolate sprinkles.

The result is a lovely fluffy, buttery cake, I can't honestly say I can taste the wine, but it certainly adds a certain something to the flavour. Enjoy with a delicious chilled glass of the left over Moscato, well you can't let it go to waste can you? If you're inspired to try out cooking with wine, have a look at the Barefoot recipe archive.

Before I go I just wanted to share one other thing with you. Barefoot Wines began in California in 1965, their ethos 'there's no point in doing well if you're not doing any good' is evident in the number of community projects they are involved in. I was especially interested in their Barefoot Friendly Beach Rescue Tour. I grew up on the beautiful North East coast line & cannot imagine why people would want to spoil it by dumping rubbish on it. The reality is they do, so Barefoot have teamed up with Surfers Against Sewage to encourage volunteers to come along to beach clean up events. Click here for more details of this great initiative.

Till next time, Rebecca x

Tynemouth Sands - Barefoot Friendly Beach Rescue Tour visits on 26th August

Rebecca Bakes Bread....and it was edible!

Bread, glorious bread, all hail the mighty loaf! For those of you who have been reading for a while you will have realised that I have a lot of favourite foods, but bread has got to be my biggest downfall! Whether it's mothers pride, a crusty cob or gourmet loaf with bits in I love it all. Not good for a girl who has a tendency to hold on to a few excess pounds! I have made my own bread in the past, but I'll be honest I've cheated & used a breadmaker. The breadmaker was sacrificed from my kitchen to make way for my beautiful Kitchen Aid mixer & seeing as that came with a dough hook, I thought it was time I tried it out.

I was going over to Mum's for dinner on Sunday to try out Marks & Spencers new giant ravioli, yes that one off the telly. It was like gold dust trying to find it, whoever said TV advertising isn't effective anymore clearly underestimated the pulling power of an M&S ready meal! I have to say it was delicious...but I digress, the relevance is that I decided to make an olive ciabatta to go with the coveted giant ravioli.

I didn't follow a recipe, I just messed around with quantities based on what I remembered from using the breadmaker. This is roughly what I used...

450g strong white flour
400ml warm water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 tsps quick action yeast
2 tbsps olive oil
Handful of chopped green olives

There's not much of a method involved, I chucked it all in the mixer, with the exception of the oil & olives, combined it using the dough hook until it turned into a lovely stretchy dough. I added the olives, then finally drizzled the oil over the top. Next is the hardest bit for me...waiting! I covered the bowl with a tea towel & popped it in the airing cupboard for about an hour, after which it had pretty much doubled in size.

OK so doesn't look all that appetising at this point!

Using extra flour to stop it sticking, I gave it a quick knead to combine the oil then shaped it into something resembling a loaf. It baked it in the oven at 180c for about 45 minutes.

Ta da! Was really chuffed with my loaf & it tasted lovely too. There's something very satisfying about baking your own bread & it really is easier than it looks! Do you have a favourite loaf? Till next time, Rebecca x

Week 52 - Coffee & Walnut Cake

Hello cake mates, it's with a tinge of sadness that I'm bringing you the final treat from Rebecca Bakes Cakes. The past 52 weeks have gone really quickly & I'm honestly dead chuffed that I've done it! It was this time last year that I made a batch of Spiced Apple Muffins & had the crazy idea to bake something every week for a year & blog about it. Reading back over those early posts it's funny to see how my writing has changed & as it turns out I've enjoyed the writing just as much as the baking! My biggest triumph was probably the Malteser Cookies that became finalists in the My Dish chocolate lovers competition. Biggest disaster, the Crumpets in week 44, you can relive the whole debacle with video commentary.

But enough reminiscing...lets stick to the matter in hand & get onto the cake. As you know I do have a day job working in the marketing department for Douwe Egberts coffee, therefore it seemed fitting to finish on a classic coffee & walnut cake. In a final shameless plug for one of our products, it was made with Pure Indulgence instant coffee!

For the cake
250g butter
225g caster sugar
4 eggs
2tsps vanilla essence
250g self raising flour
2tbps instant coffee dissolved in 25ml warm water
80g walnut pieces

For the frosting
100g butter, softened
400g icing sugar
1tsp vanilla essence
1tbsp instant coffee dissolved in 10ml water

To decorate (optional)
Walnut halves
Chocolate coffee beans
Chocolate sprinkles

1. Cream the butter & sugar together until light & fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each one, next add the vanilla. Sift in the flour & fold together until you have a lovely smooth batter. Finally stir in the coffee & walnuts until all combined.

2. Line the bottom & grease the sides of 2 cake pans. Divide the mixture between the pans, bake in the oven at 180c/GM4 for around 25 minutes until they are well risen, golden & springy to the touch. Lift out & leave to cool in the pans.

3. To make the frosting cream together the butter & sugar, then add the vanilla & coffee. Beat well until you have a silky smooth texture. I had quite a subtle coffee flavour in my icing, you could easily increase the amount you use if you like a stronger taste or cut it out completely for a vanilla frosting?

4. Next level off one of the cakes & spread a thick layer of the frosting on the top. Place the second cake on top of that & cover it with the remaining frosting. Decorate at will!

So there we go, all done! Thank you to everyone for reading over the last 52 weeks & for all your lovely comments & emails. I have a feeling this won't be the last you see of me, I think I've been bitten by the blogging bug & will be back. But for now, that's all from Rebecca Bakes Cakes, it's been a blast. Take care, Rebecca x

p.s. I've put together a round up of all my creations. Click here to see it...