The first week of the Great British Bake Off saw contestants challenged to make a walnut cake. Inspired by what she saw, Sophie Turhnam from Sophie Victoria Cupcakes shares her twist on the classic bake... What better inspiration for getting into the kitchen than the start of a new series of The Great British Bake Off! As each week goes by I will share with you my cupcake spin on the classic bakes attempted by the contestants. Following on from the 1st episode of the bake off, I’ve chosen to bake walnut cupcakes with coffee buttercream swirls. So make sure you check back each week to see how you can turn the bake off challenges into…you guessed it – cupcakes!
For the Walnut Cupcakes (makes 12)
For the cakes 110g butter, softened 110g caster sugar 110g plain flour 50g walnuts (finely chopped) 2 tsp baking powder ¼ tsp salt ½ tsp vanilla extract 2 eggs For the Coffee Frosting: 300g icing sugar 100g butter, softened 10ml instant coffee (cooled) For the decorations: 12 Walnuts (chopped or whole) Step 1: For the Cupcakes: • Whisk together the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt until smooth. Then add the eggs, vanilla extract and mix until smooth again. • Finely chop the walnuts and fold into the cake batter (as Paul Hollywood said on this week’s bake off, each walnut should be chopped into 8 pieces…not that he’s being precise now!) *TOP TIP* Roll the walnuts in flour before adding them to the cake batter, this will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of your cupcakes. • Line a 12 hole muffin tin with cupcake cases and spoon the mixture into the paper cases about 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes until well risen and springy to touch, then put on a wire rack to cool. Step 2: For the Coffee Frosting: • Sift the icing sugar and beat together with the butter, add the instant coffee (once cooled) and mix thoroughly. • Spoon your icing into the piping bag and pipe buttercream swirls onto the cupcakes, starting from the outside, going in. I have used a large closed star nozzle to create large, high swirls. Check out my last blog for cupcake heaven magazine on how to create perfect cupcake swirls. • To finish place a walnut on top of each swirl, I have done mine whole but you can chop yours up and sprinkle on top if you prefer.
